Three Days Workshop on

“Designing a Research Report & Research Paper at

Undergraduate Level”

September 10 -12, 2018

Organized by
Academic Section, Directorate of Higher Education, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
 Session 1

Research Process: Designing a Research

Report/Thesis

Dr. Neelam Gohar

Assistant Professor
Computer Science, SBBWUP

September 10, 2018

 Outline
• Research
• Thesis
• Title
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusion
• Appendices and References
 Research
• Research and knowledge exchange are central
to the culture of intellectual enquiry.
• Research informs and underpins our teaching
and allows us to have significant academic,
societal, economic and cultural impacts.
 Thesis
• A thesis is a written record of the work that has
been undertaken by a candidate for a degree.
• Most of all, a thesis is an attempt to
communicate. Science begins with curiosity,
follows on with experiment and analysis, and
leads to findings which are then shared with the
larger community of scientists and perhaps even
the public.
• A thesis is therefore not merely a record of
technical work, but is also an attempt to
communicate it to a larger audience.
 Title
• Title should be brief, specific and informative,
indicating the nature and scope of your
report. Include key words so that your work
can easily be accessed by electronic methods.
• Keywords are ideas and topics that define
what your content is about
 Abstract
• Use it as an opportunity to spur the reader’s
interest.
• The summary should highlight the main points
from your work, especially the thesis statement,
methods (if applicable), findings and conclusion.
• However, the summary does not need to cover
every aspect of your work. The main objective is
to give the reader a good idea of what the thesis
is about.
 Introduction
Your introduction has two main purposes:
1. to give an overview of the main points of your
thesis
2. to awaken the reader’s interest
It is recommended to rewrite the introduction
one last time when the writing is done, to
ensure that it connects well with your
conclusion.
 The introduction should include
• The background for your choice of theme
• A discussion of your research question or
thesis statement
• A schematic outline of the remainder of your
thesis
 Research Questions
• You need to formulate the research questions
that must be answered during the course of
the research project.
• These questions have been selected and
formulated in such a way that the answers will
yield information that is useful or necessary
for accomplishing the research objective.
 Research objectives
• Specific accomplishment the researchers hope
to achieve by the study
• Obtaining answers to research questions
• The action verbs are to assess, to identify, to
find out, to describe, to find, to compare, to
establish, to verify, to calculate, to analyze etc.
 Literature Review
• The background sets the general tone for your
thesis.
• It should make a good impression and
convince the reader why the theme is
important and your approach relevant.
• Even so, it should be no longer than necessary.
Methodology (Materials and Methods)
• The purpose of the methodology section is to
detail how you conducted your research so
that others can understand and replicate your
approach
• For example, if you have carried out
interviews, you do not need to list all the
different types of research interview.
 Research Planning
• One of the remaining design activities to carry
out is to draw up a plan. This refers both to
processing the research project and writing the
research report.
• As for the process of carrying out the research
project, it is not only advisable to draw up a time
schedule with deadlines for various ‘products’. It
is also important to specify beforehand what
activities should lead to these ‘products’.
 Results
• Present your results in a consistent manner.
For example, if you present the first group of
results as percentages, then present all of
your figures in this way.
 Discussion
• In many thesis the discussion is the most
important section.
• Make sure that you allocate enough time and
space for a good discussion.
• This is your opportunity to show that you have
understood the significance of your findings
and that you are capable of applying theory in
an independent manner.
 Conclusion
• Open research questions cannot always be
answered, but if a definite answer is possible,
you must provide a conclusion. The conclusion
should answer your research
question(s). Remember that a negative
conclusion is also valid.
• A summing up should repeat the most important
issues raised in your thesis (particularly in the
discussion), although preferably stated in a
(slightly) different way. For example, you could
frame the issues within a wider context.
 Summary
• Introduction/Aim: What did you do and why?
• Materials and Methods: How did you do it?
• Observations/Results: What did you find?
• Discussion: What do your results mean to you
and why?
• Conclusions: What new knowledge have you
extracted from your experiment?
 Appendices
• Only include selected material that directly supports
your report. Examples of such materials include: The
relevant letters to participants and organizations (e.g.
regarding the ethics or conduct of the project).
• The details or samples of questionnaires, surveys or
other relevant instruments that were developed for the
purpose of the study of background reports or raw
data.
• An appendix typically includes data and supporting
documents used by a writer to develop the written
work.
 References
• to cover works cited
• A reference list, generally, contains only sources
you have cited in-text in your assignment.
• An appendix contains supplementary material
that is not an essential part of the text itself but
which may be helpful in providing a more
comprehensive understanding of
the research problem or it is information that is
too cumbersome to be included in the body of
the paper.
 Task
• Choose a topic to research
• Design research questions
• Create an outline
 References
1. http://www.pngall.com/team-work-png
2. https://www.google.com/search?q=research&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY9OSBse7
YAhWyiKYKHeNYBicQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=662#imgrc=EODOaj992Gs4nM
3. http://student.londonmet.ac.uk/your-studies/mphil--phd-professional-doctorates/research-framework/
4. http://www.logemin.com/arcorp/-
5. https://sokogskriv.no/en/writing/structure-and-argumentation/structuring-a-thesis/
6. https://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/471287/Undergraduate_research_reports_Updat
e_051112.pdf
7. https://www.boomhogeronderwijs.nl/media/6/9789059315723_inkijkexemplaar.pdf
8. http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1919239/How-to-write-a-thesis-A-working-
guide.pdf
9. https://writemypaper4me.org/blog/research-paper-thesis