REPORT WRITING

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
Understand the importance of a written report Understand the organization of a written report Learn the use of different types of charts and graphs in a research report Understand the importance of oral presentation

Introduction

It is important for any researcher to present the research material in a systematic and predefined manner. A good research is diluted if it is not presented well by the researcher. There exists a difficulty in communicating the researchers mind to a common person or a person who does not have a solid research background. A proper balance between the thinking of the researcher and the requirement of the sponsoring agency is of paramount importance. In a nutshell, the report must contain all the important ingredients of the research in a systematic and predetermined manner.

Types of research reports

Brief reports

- working papers/basic reports - survey reports

Detailed reports Technical reports Business reports

Organization of the Written Report

1. Title page 2. Letter of transmittal 3. Letter of authorization 4. Table of contents (including list of figures and tables) 5. Executive summary 5.1 Objective 5.2 Concise statement of the methodology 5.3 Results 5.4 Conclusions 5.5 Recommendations 6. Acknowledgements

Organization of the Written Report (Cont.)

7. Body 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Research objective 6.3 Research methodology (sample, sample size, sample profile, sampling techniques, scaling techniques, questionnaire, test statistic, and fieldwork) 6.4 Results and findings 6.5 Conclusions and recommendations 6.6 Limitations of the research 8. Appendices/ Glossary/ References etc. 7.1 Copies of data collection forms 7.2 Statistical output details 7.3 General tables that are not included in the body 7.4 Bibliography 7.5 Other required support material

1. Title Page
An attractively laid out title page is important for making a good first impression on the reader (Parasuraman et al., 2004).

Figure 19.1: Title page

Title Page cont.

The title should be crisp and indicative of the nature of the project as: 1. A study of Customer Satisfaction with the Pizza Hut at Sunshine City, Illinois. 2. Comparative analysis of BPO workers and schoolteachers with respect to their work-life balance. 3. Segmentation analysis of luxury apartments buyers in the National Capital Region(NCR).

4. Factors influencing the Burnout of Nurses in Apollo Hospitals.

5. An assessment of behavioral factors impacting consumer financial investment decisions.

2. Letter of Transmittal
It goes alongside the formalized copy of the final report & it refers to the purpose behind the study. The pattern adopted to address the research-sponsoring agency depends purely on the research-conducting agency.

3. Letter of Authorization
A letter of authorization is issued by the researchsponsoring agency to the research- conducting agency before the actual start of the research. It is a formal letter that authorizes the research conducting agency to conduct the research. It generally includes the name and title of the person(s) who authorizes the researcher to conduct the research. It may include a general description of the nature of the research project, the completion date, the terms of payment, and any special condition of the research project requested by the client or research user (Burns & Bush, 1999).

4. Table of Contents
The table of contents presents the list of topics included in the research report and the corresponding page numbers. It helps the researchers in locating the required information through relevant page numbers. The title page, letter of transmittal, letter of authorization, and table of contents are generally numbered with roman numerals such as i, ii, iii, and so on. First all the major sections of report are listed. The list of tables come next, followed by the list of figures and graphs, exhibits(if any) and finally the list of appendices.

5. Executive Summary

Very often, executives go through the executive summary only. As the first part of the executive summary, the objective of the research work must be clearly highlighted. As the second part, in the category of concise statement of the methodology sampling, the sampling technique, the research design, or any other procedural aspects must be incorporated in one or two paragraphs. As the third part, the results should be incorporated in a brief format. It is really difficult to summarize the results. In the fourth category, conclusions of the study should be arranged. Conclusions are merely statements of what the research generated and what meaning can be attributed to the findings. Recommendations are included as the next item in the research report.

6. Acknowledgements:
A small note acknowledging the contribution of the respondents, the corporates and the experts who provided inputs for accomplishing the study is to be included.

7. Body
The body presents a broad and detailed study of the research. It consists of six sections: background, research objective, research methodology (sample, sample size, sample profile, sampling techniques, scaling techniques, questionnaire, test statistic, and fieldwork), results, conclusions and recommendations, and limitations of the research. The introduction section contains some basic background information that describes the problem at hand. There is no rigid guideline available to decide what should be incorporated in the introduction part and this is left to the discretion of individual researchers; what he or she feels is important to be included in this part of the written report.

Body (Cont.)
The research objective may be incorporated in the introduction section or it can be a separate section. Specific hypotheses constructed in relation to the problem must also be included in this section. The research methodology contains a detailed discussion of sample, sample size, sample profile, sampling techniques, scaling techniques, questionnaire, test statistic, and fieldwork. The results and findings section mainly discusses the outcome of the statistical analyses performed to test different hypotheses. The conclusion is derived from the acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis. The recommendations are generated from the critical thinking of the researcher.

Body (Cont.)
Some of the most common limitations of business research are sampling bias, sample size, time and cost problems, and measurement error, to name a few. The limitations of the research should not be overemphasized rather the aim should be to aid the decision maker in taking the appropriate action. Any information that is of significance to the researcher and reader but cannot be placed in the body part of the research report is placed in the appendix. There is no fixed universally accepted rule regarding the information, which should be included in the appendix, rather it is the researchers discretion, what he or she feels is important to be included in the appendix.

Tabular Presentation of Data

Graphical Presentation of Data

Graphical presentation of data seems to be more appealing when we simply want to convey the trend of data. Some of the basic and most commonly used methods of presenting data in graphs and charts are as follows: Bar chart Pie chart Histogram Frequency polygon Ogive Scatter plot

Bar Chart
Table 19.3 shows the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the food processing sector in India from 20002001 to 2006 2007. With the help of this data, prepare a bar chart.

Figure 19.3: Minitab output (bar chart) for inflow of FDI in the food processing industries sector in India from 20002001 to 20062007

Pie Chart
A travel and tourism company opened a new office in Singapore based on the tourist arrival data from Singapore to India in 2006. Table 19.4 exhibits data related to the number of tourists who arrived from Singapore to India in 2006 (from April 2006 to December 2006). Construct a pie chart for this data.

Figure 19.4: Excel output (pie chart) for number of tourists who arrived from Singapore to India in 2006 (from April 2006 to December 2006)

Histogram
The demand for tractors in India is zooming up. Many new multinational companies are joining the race. Table 19.5 shows the production of tractors in India from 19981999 to 20062007. With the help of the data given in the table, prepare a histogram.

Figure 19.5: MS Excel output (Histogram) for production of tractors in India from 19981999 to 20062007

Frequency Polygon
In India, vanaspati oil prices have gone up as a result of rising inflation. Table 19.6 gives the price of oil on some specific dates from January 2008 to March 2008 in Delhi. Construct a line graph to observe the trend of oil prices.

Figure 19.6: Minitab output (line graph) for the price of vanaspati oil on specific dates between January 2008 and March 2008 in Delhi

Ogive
A construction firm has allowed its employees to participate in a private consultancy in order to create an autonomous environment. The firm has decided that the employees will contribute 10% of their income earned from the consultancy to the organization. After 1 year of launching this programme, the data collected by the firm related to the additional income earned by the employees is given in Table 19.7. Construct a frequency polygon and an ogive with the help of this data.

Table 19.8: Cumulative frequency distribution

Figure 19.7: MS Excel-produced frequency polygon for Example 19.5

Figure 19.8: MS Excel-produced ogive for Example 19.5

Scatter Plot
HDFC Bank was incorporated in 1994 and operates in three core areas: retail banking, wholesale banking, and treasury. By 2007, the bank increased its business in all functional areas especially in the home loans segment. Table 19.9 gives the net income and advertising expenses of the HDFC Bank from 2000 to 2007. Construct a scatter plot with the data given in the table.

Figure 19.9: Minitab output (scatter plot) for net income and advertising expenses

Oral Presentation
Study background

Study findings

Study implications

Oral Presentation
Handouts Slides

Flipcharts & chalkboards

Video & audio tapes

Oral Presentation

Following are some of the guidelines to organize the oral presentation:

Identify the audience and arrange the presentation in accordance with their understanding capacity. Make the presentation in bulleted points and highlight major findings separately. A summary of the written report can be distributed to the audience before starting the presentation for their reference. Simple charts and graphs can also be used to make the audience comfortable with the data. If a researcher is using some software for presentation, important data, figures, and graphs can be exhibited through the hyperlink facility.

Guidelines for presenting tabular data

Table title

Table identification number

Data arrays Measurement units Space, lines and rulings Assumptions details and comments Data sources Special mention

Illustration: tabular data