Why Starting the Night Before is a Bad Idea...: Writing Your Report

1. Why Starting the Night Before is a Bad Idea...: Writing Your Report

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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 Follow up after the session Discuss with your teacher/supervisor the best structure for your individual project

5. Elements common to all reports • Introduction • Literature review • Methodology/strategy for investigation/technique • Findings of the investigation • Discussion • Conclusions Tell them what you are going to say Say it 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

6. The Introduction Tell them what you are going to say

7. 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

8. 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 ...?

9. The Literature Review

10. 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

11. 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!

12. 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)

13. Structuring the literature review

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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.

17. Methodology

18. 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

19. Findings and discussion

20. 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.

21. Conclusions Tell them what you said

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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.