Transcript Slide 1

Why Starting the Night Before
is a Bad Idea...:
Writing Your Report
Introduction
• The extended project covers many different formats of
projects, for example, a dissertation, performance or
field study. This is reflected in the project report.
• Although this session is aimed at students undertaking
the dissertation project (5000words) it will be useful for
all types of project, as the same principles will apply to
writing all reports.
• The report may be the longest assignment you have
written to date and it can be overwhelming to think about
writing up your work.
• Early planning can help you break down the writing into
manageable sections, give your work structure and help
you get your message across more effectively.
Aims of the session
• To get you thinking early about the structure
(and writing) of your final report
– It is helpful to plan and write your report as
you are doing your research and it can help
direct your research by focusing on what is
really important
• To give you some tips about the literature review
and critical writing
• To help you plan your work
The main elements of the report
• You will be doing projects on varied subjects
• The structure for your report may vary slightly
depending on your topic and discipline, for example,
writing up a science experiment versus exploring a
social phenomenon
• There are elements of the report common to all projects
Discuss with your teacher/supervisor the
best structure for your individual project
Elements common to all reports
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology/strategy
for
investigation/technique
• Findings of the
investigation
Tell them what you are going to
say
Say it
• Discussion
• Conclusions
Tell them what you said
These elements may guide your structure (you may wish to use them as
headings) or you may prefer to combine some of these elements into
different sections or chapters.
Remember there may be additional elements or different names for
these elements in your own discipline
The Introduction
Tell them what you are
going to say
The Introduction
This is where you will introduce the project to the reader.
Think about:
• Describing your topic. What is your aim?
– Do you have a specific question to answer
– Are you exploring a topic in detail
– Are you creating something
• Defining the topic e.g. - a geographical area, a period of
time, a measurement, a material or a social phenomenon
– There may be a number of interpretations of your topic,
make it clear to the reader what you are studying
• Why have you chosen this topic ?
– is it important
– subject of particular interest
– relates to a hobby
– or maybe you future career plan
Activity 1: Have a chat!
Talking to others about your project and asking
questions can be really helpful in clarifying your topic
• Describe your topic/aim
– Individually write one short sentence about your
topic
• Defining the topic
– In a small group take turns read out your sentence
and ask questions about each topic, start to define
the area
E.g.
what do you mean by….?
how would you measure ...?
The Literature Review
What is a literature review?
• Focuses on a specific topic and is organised around and
related directly to your project
• Compiles the research/information that has been
published on the topic by recognised scholars and
researchers
• Provides background for the problem (research question)
or puts the problem into historical perspective
• Informs the reader about the current concepts and state
of research on the topic and any controversies
• Describes the pros and cons of particular studies and
may suggest areas for further research
• Organizes the literature into a narrative
It also demonstrates your skills
• Information seeking: the ability to search the
literature efficiently, using manual or
computerized methods, to identify a relevant set
of articles (and books)
• Organisation
• Appraisal: to identify good evidence/arguments
• Writing: structure and presentation
• It is a creative process
These skills are part of the assessment!
Think about the big picture
• Who has written about your topic?
– policy makers, researchers/academics
• Is there community debate?
– Bloggers, campaigns/interest groups
• Where does the media stand on the issues?
• Think about where will you have to go to access
this information – a library, website…..
In pairs think about where you think you might find
sources for the literature review. (5 mins
discussion)
Structuring the literature review
Chronologically
(historical)
By key
researchers
How can you
order your
literature
review?
Methodologically
Thematically
Developing a clear line of argument
On its own, evidence cannot contribute to academic debate.
The interpretation and presentation of that evidence within
an argument allows the evidence to make a contribution.
Make sure that:
•
There is always a clear link between your own arguments
and the evidence uncovered in your reading
• You include a short summary at the end of each section
• You acknowledge opinions which do not agree with your
argument. If you ignore opposing viewpoints, your
argument will in fact be weaker
Going beyond description
You not only need to show you can extract, interpret and
summarise information but that you can go beyond this and
show connections between ideas, information, sources etc.
Compare and contrast different authors' views on an issue
• group authors who draw similar conclusions
• note areas in which authors are in disagreement
• highlight exemplary studies
• highlight gaps in research
Show how your work
• relates to previous studies/developments
• relates to the literature in general
When to stop
• It is important to keep control of the reading process,
and to keep your research focus in mind.
• Always bear in mind your research question
– Why am I including this?
– It might be interesting but is it relevant?
• Planning your review is the best way of keeping the
focus.
• Decisions need to be made about where to focus your
reading, and where you can refer briefly to an area
but explain why you will not be going into it in more
detail.
Methodology
Methodology
• The reader needs to know how you carried out
your investigation/created something.
• You may be discussing a physical process – an
experiment or a survey or a creative process –
creative writing or making a film.
• It is helpful to break it down into steps and
explain how and why decisions were made
• Use your reflective diary as you are going along
to document this
Findings and discussion
Findings and critical discussion
• How will you present your findings, results or ideas?
– Charts and diagrams
– Map
– Film or painting
– A play or creative writing
– Quotes from an interview
• What do they mean ?
– How have you interpreted your findings?
This part of the dissertation is the really fundamental bit
where you must spell out clearly and systematically an
argument that will lead to a conclusion.
Conclusions
Tell them what you said
Conclusions
• Real conclusions, not just a summary/repetition of the
findings
• The extent to which you achieved what you set out to
achieve
• Possible weaknesses/limitations of the methodology and
interpretations
• Recommendations for the future
• Reflections on doing the project – use diary/activity log to
help you here
– how well you performed at different stages of the
project
– what you would do differently next time and why
– what you have learned about conducting research and
writing a dissertation
Activity 2:
Planning your writing
This is a really good opportunity to think about the
structure of your report
Try using the structure from this workshop
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology/strategy for investigation/technique
• Findings of the investigation
• Discussion
• Conclusions
Writing is a process
• It is important to see the writing stage as part of the
process, not something that happens at the very end .
• It is often not until you start explaining something in writing
that you find where your argument/discussion is weak or
incomplete
–
It is hard to get started but it is best to have a go at
writing - you can always revise it later on
–
You don’t have to start at the beginning, pick a
section you feel confident with and get into a routine
of writing
–
Keep reading and amending your work – each
section will probably need at least two drafts
–
A good structure will help with this
Finishing touches
• The Abstract (if required) – should be written
when you have completed the dissertation
• Presentation is very important, it does make a
difference if your headings are consistent,
everything is labelled properly and all the pages
are there! Try not to print out at the last minute
• Leave time to read through you work . Check for
typos, formatting and make sure all of your
references are correct in the text and in the
reference list
• Ask someone reliable to proof read your
dissertation
Further Reading
• Mounsey C (2002) One Step Ahead: Essays
and Dissertations, Oxford, Oxford University
Press.
• Redman P. (2001) Good Essay Writing: A
Social Sciences Guide. Thousand Oaks,
Sage Publications Ltd
• Thomas, S. A. (2000). How to write health
sciences papers, dissertations, and theses.
Edinburgh; Churchill Livingstone.