University of Vocational Technology

Faculty of Engineering Technology

Department of Construction Technology
Bachelor of Technology in Construction Technology & Resource Management

CT40611
Research Methodology & Concept Design of Projects
Tutorial 09

Name : H.P.D.T.P. Dayananda

REG. No. : BED/18/B1/01
Instructed By: Lec. Piyumika Abeyrathne
Batch : 2018/2019
Date of sub : 12/10 /2020
01. What is a research report?

• A research report is a completed study that reports an investigation or exploration of a

problem, identifies questions to be addressed, and includes data collected, analyzed, and
interpreted by the researcher.

02. What are the differences between research report and a research proposal?

Research report Research proposal

• A research report is prepared after a • A research proposal is prepared

study is completed. before a study begins.

• A research report communicates what • A research proposal communicates a

was actually done in a study, and researcher’s plan for a study
what resulted.

03. What are the stages of writing a report?

1. First clarify the nature of the planned report, and its intended audience. If any examples of
past reports are available, read as many as you can-both good and bad.

2. Identify any predetermined requirements, for example maximum word length, formatting,
such as double spacing or required referencing style, and so on. Ideally you should
familiarize yourself with past projects, etc. so that you have an idea of the final product
before you start.

3. Throughout the duration of the research you should be collecting together the information
necessary to complete the report, such as your review of literature, analysis of the primary
data, list of references and so on.

4. Prepare an outline plan of the report. At the bare minimum, this should be a list of chapter
headings. Ideally you should be able to have more detail-include likely subheadings as well.
The more detailed your initial outline, the easier you will find the process of writing up the
first draft of the report.

5. Write a first draft of the report. You should not anticipate the first draft being your final
submission.

6. Evaluate the content of the first draft, either through reading it yourself or, preferably, getting
somebody else to read it with a critical eye.

7. Rewrite and re-evaluate the report as appropriate. You may need to do this more than once!
 8. Final editing and proof reading. Once you have got this far, the temptation is to skip over the
final proof reading and simply submit the project. Do carefully read over to check spelling
and grammar.

9. Submission of the report!

04. What are the three main sections of a report and briefly describe each?

1. The Introductory section

a) Title page

b) Acknowledgments (if any)

c) Table of contents

d) List of tables (if any)

e) List of figures (if any)

f) Abstract

2. The body of the report

2.1. Introduction

a) Statement of the problem

b) Significance of the problem

c) Purpose

d) Statement of Hypothesis

e) Assumptions

f) Limitations

g) Definition of important terms

2.2. Review of related Literature (analysis of previous research)

2.3. Design of the study

a) Description of research design and sources of data

b) Sampling procedures

c) Methods and instruments of data gathering

 d) Statistical treatment

2.4. Analysis of data

Text with appropriate

a) Tables

b) Figures

2.5. Results and discussion

a) Major findings (reject or fail to reject Ho)

2.6. Summary and conclusions

a) Conclusions

b) Recommendations for further investigation

3. The Reference sections

a) References/Bibliography

b) Appendices

05. What are the subsections of each main section and briefly describe each?

1.The Introductory section

a. Title page

• Title page identifies the title of the report, the name of the researcher, the
name of the guide, institution, month and year of submission.

• The title should communicate what the study is about. A well-constructed

title makes it easy for the reader to understand and determine the nature of
the topic

b. Acknowledgments (if any)

• This page permits the writer to express appreciation to persons who have
contributed significantly to the research.

c. Table of contents

• The table of contents is an outline of the report that indicates the page
number on which each major section and subsection begins.
d. List of tables

• A list of all the tables included in the report along with the page numbers
should be provided.

e. List of figures

• A list of all the figure included in the report along with the page numbers
should be provided.

f. Abstract

• The abstract is a brief but comprehensive summary of the research report. It

includes a concise statement of the goal of the research, the type of
participants and instruments, outlines the methods, major results and
conclusions. Abstract must be limited to a specific number of words, usually
between 100 and 500 words.

o What you research aim was

o Key background theory

o What data were collected from whom, and how

o How it was analyzed

o Key findings

2.The body of the report

Introduction

• The introduction section provides the theoretical framework of the study within
which the research has been conducted, background information of the topic as
well as the need for and rationale for the research, to make the material more
logical, useful and interesting for readers.

• The introduction begins with a description of the research problem or topic and
includes objectives, significance of the problem, research questions, statement of
hypothesis (if any)

• It also includes the assumptions of the study (if any), definition of important
terms, limitations and delimitations of the study.

o WHAT you have done- aims/objectives

o WHY you have done it- justification

o HOW you have presented the report- structure/ signposting.

3. Review of related Literature

• The review of related literature indicates what is known about the problem or
topic

• Its function is to educate the reader about the area under study.

o What do we know?

o What we do not know (research gap)

o How you study fits the research gap

o What you may expect to find (hypotheses)

o Relate the literature to your study

o Be critical if appropriate

4.Design of the study

• This section provides a detailed description of the methodology used in the study.
E.g. population, sample size and sampling techniques and tools used in the study.

• The purpose of this section is to describe in detail how a researcher performed

the study so that someone should be able to replicate the study based on the
information that a researcher provides in this section.

• For a qualitative study, this section may also include a detailed description of the
nature and length of interactions with the participants. The description of
participants includes information about how they were selected and mainly
representative of the population.

• The description indicates the purpose of the instrument and the validity and
reliability of the instrument

o Methodology

o Information needs

o Research design

o Research strategy

o Methods

o Sample
 o Procedure

o Analysis

Is it repeatable to the reader?

5.Analysis of data

• This section describes the statistical techniques or the inferential interpretations

that were applied to the data and the result of these analyses.

• Tables and figures are used to present findings or graphic from which add clarity
in findings for a reader.

6.Results and discussion

• The results section is to tell the reader what was found in the study.

• It includes the descriptive statistics for the relevant variables (e.g. mean, standard
deviation). Then tell the reader what statistical test you used to test your
hypothesis and what you found.

• The discussion section is where the researcher interprets and evaluates the results

• The discussion of a research report section presents the theoretical and practical
implications of the findings and make recommendation for the future research.

 Results

o There is no one correct way to present your results. Some ways could be:

o Address each of your hypotheses, research questions

o By independent and dependent variable

o By research method

o By participant (qualitative interviews)

7.Summary and conclusions

• Conclusions is a summary of the main ideas that come out from the discussion.

• It draws all arguments and findings together.

• It indicates whether hypothesis were accepted or rejected.

 • It summarizes major findings of the study.

• The purpose of this section is to evaluate interpret the result, especially with
respect to the original research question.

 Conclusion

o What the key findings were.

o Should relate to aims/objectives in introduction.

o May include recommendations for future research.

8.The Reference sections

• References/Bibliography

o The references section provides the reader with all the information needed to
seek out and obtain all original sources used in the research. It is written in the
alphabetical order.

• Appendices

o This section provides a place for important information. It includes tools

prepared by the researcher and used in the study. It may be lettered, interview,
names, raw data and data analysis sheets.

 References

o Must be consistent with text.

 appendices

o Must relate to the research, but not be directly related.

06. What are the key weaknesses of a research report?

• Abstract – lacks specific detail

• Introduction – no justification, aim and objectives unclear

• Literature review – not related to the research question, no critical awareness, limited
sources, limited relevance, inappropriate theory.

• Methodology – lacking specific detail, justification, limited awareness of reliability,

validity, generalizability.
 • Results – focus on graphs, limited analysis, lacking relevance

• Discussion – not revisiting the literature, simply repeating results, lack of awareness of
the implications of the findings

• Conclusions – unrelated to results/ discussion

07. What are the general presentation weaknesses?

• Word limits not adhered to

• Inappropriate formatting

• Inappropriate use of visual material

• Incorrect spelling and grammar

• Lack of signposting/ linking