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Writing the Research Report

Contents of the Proposal. Introduction (Chapter 1)IntroductionBrief review of literatureStatement of problemHypothesisReview of Literature (Chapter 2). 2. Contents of the Proposal, cont'd. Methods (Chapter 3)ParticipantsInstruments and measurementsProceduresDesign and analysisFigures and t

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Writing the Research Report

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    1. Writing the Research Report KNES 510 Research Methods in Kinesiology 1

    2. Contents of the Proposal Introduction (Chapter 1) Introduction Brief review of literature Statement of problem Hypothesis Review of Literature (Chapter 2) 2

    3. Contents of the Proposal, cont’d Methods (Chapter 3) Participants Instruments and measurements Procedures Design and analysis Figures and tables References 3

    4. The Proposal Process Order of events Proposal and your advisor Proposal to committee Proposal meeting What you do What your committee will do The outcome 4

    5. How to Write the Results Section This is what you found, your unique contribution to knowledge. Organization By hypotheses Validating outcomes first Important characteristics Most important first Incorporating tables and figures Reporting statistics 5

    6. What to Include in the Discussion Section Rules Discuss results, not what you wish they were. Relate results to hypotheses. Relate results to introduction and literature. Relate results to theory. Recommend applications. Summarize and state conclusions. 6

    7. Five Commandments for Writing the Discussion Thou shalt not say “more research is needed.” Thou shalt not resort to methodological cop-outs. Thou shalt not try to solve humanity’s problems. Thou shalt not swallow a thesaurus. Thou shalt not become Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes): “I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.” 7

    8. Tables and Figures Do you need a table or figure? What do tables and figures do? Basic: store data Intermediate: show trends Advanced: deep structure (e.g., trends by groups) 8

    9. Useless Table 1 9

    10. Useless Table 2 10

    11. Useful Table 11

    12. Preparing Tables Getting information from a table is like extracting sunlight from a cucumber (Farquhar & Farquhar, 1891) Basic rules Like characteristics should read vertically. Heading should be clear. Reader should understand without referring to the text. 12

    13. Improving Tables Order columns and rows so they make sense (e.g., seldom alphabetically). Round off multiple decimal places (only to the level measured). Use summary rows and columns. Do not duplicate the text. 13

    14. Preparing Figures Do not duplicate the text or tables. Consider which type of figure to use. Should show trends. Do not make figures visually distracting. Make figures easy to understand. 14

    15. Good Figure 15

    16. Useless Figure 16

    17. Basic Writing Guidelines Obtain official documents on thesis and dissertations policy. Department Graduate school Writing style manual (e.g., APA) Review previous theses or dissertations. Allow twice as much time as you expect. When several things can go wrong, the one that will go wrong is the one that will cause the greatest harm. 17

    18. Format: Journal Versus Chapter Reasons for journal format; limitations of chapter style Structure of journal format 1.0 Preliminary materials 1.1 title page 1.2 Acknowledgments 1.3 Abstract 1.4 table of contents 1.5 List of tables 1.6 List of figures 18

    19. Format: Journal Versus Chapter, cont’d 2.0 Body of the thesis or dissertation 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Method 2.3 Results 2.4 Discussion 2.5 References 2.6 Tables 2.7 Figures 19

    20. Format: Journal Versus Chapter, cont’d 3.0 Appendixes 3.1 Extended literature review 3.2 Additional methodology 3.3 Additional results 3.4 Other additional materials 4.0 One-page curriculum vitae 20

    21. Successful Journal Writing Give thought to picking a journal. Read the journal’s publication guidelines. Read papers from the journal. Review process for journals What to send What to expect How long Decisions Revising Publication lag 21

    22. Writing Abstracts Thesis and dissertation abstracts: read your graduate school rules. Abstracts for published papers: usually short. Read the journal’s rules. Conference abstracts: often longer. Read the rules. Contents of abstracts Problem Methods Results What’s important 22

    23. Oral Presentations Know the time limit. Practice (a lot). Leave time for questions. Preparing visual materials. 6 x 6 rule Light letters on a dark background 23

    24. Oral Presentations, cont’d Time frame for 15-min presentation Introduction: 3 min Statement of the problem: 1 min Method: 3 min Results: 3 min Discussion: 2 min Questions: 3 min 24

    25. Poster Presentations Advantages over oral presentations Rules Know how much space. Provide material to attach. Mount on contrasting backgrounds. Use figures or tables when possible. Use large lettering. Parts of a poster: introduction, problem, method, results discussion, conclusions, references 25

    26. Setup for Poster 26

    27. Next Class Turn in full proposal. 27

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