RESEARCH
PLANNING
AND REPORTING
If you are thinking of research that will qualify you for a higher degree, you are looking towards an
eventual dissertation or thesis for which high standards will be set, if it is to have any value. This
document provides some guidelines that it would be wise to follow in order to save yourself time and
money. You will need to talk to a statistician at an early stage, but at the same time you must be very
clear about what you want to do. Reading this will help you.
What a dissertation should do
(starting with the original proposal)
BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT A RESEARCH PROPOSAL, THINK ABOUT THIS.
A research proposal describes the reasons for doing a particular piece of research, and sets out the
methods by which the research will be conducted. The eventual dissertation (or thesis) describes a study,
or research, which has been done. It is therefore a report of research done and a proposal must at every
stage look towards that eventual report. The proposal and the dissertation are thus strongly linked, and
what has been said in the proposal will most likely be said again in the thesis. Knowing how the report is
to be structured helps in structuring the research. In particular, it helps in advance to know how the
gathered information is to be analysed, so that appropriate methods of data collection can be used. These
can often give trouble if not considered well in advance of actual research.
What is described here is mostly the report after the research has been done. This includes research done
only in the library, but usually also covers some kind of structured fieldwork.
Once a dissertion has been accepted for a degree, the university is considered to be its publisher. Further
publication, e.g. in a journal, can be lot shorter but should conform to the same structure..
General arrangement
Steps 1 and 2 as described below generally form part of your proposal. Step 1 is expressed in the present
tense, and can remain so even when it becomes part of the eventual dissertation. Step 2 will be expressed
in the future tense at the proposal stage, and in the past tense at the reporting stage, i.e. in the dissertation.
These steps do not necessarily represent chapters, but the order in which they are tackled. Different
elements are described in more detail below.
To meet normal academic as well as international standards, a report is usually arranged in this order:
1. Theoretical background (this includes problem statements and literature review, linking the
current problem to studies that have gone before, and identifying what theories apply to the
particular problem you want to find answers for).
2. Methods of research (suggested by the theory, but what you actually do in order to obtain results
and answers).
3. Results of research (presented as frequency tables and/or graphs, usually giving levels of
significance).
4. Interpretation of results (discussion, conclusions, etc., the main place where your own opinion
can be expressed, and even then it must be fully justified. You can also express your opinion
when reviewing the literature, but only as it applies to the literature itself).
1
, Title page, Table of contents, etc.
TITLE PAGE
This page prominently displays the full title of the study (better if it is not too long), followed by the
writer’s name in full, with university ID number. After that, the purpose of the dissertation, e.g. “in
partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of …”, the Department in which it is being submitted,
the supervisor’s name, and the date of submission.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Use the computer facility for tables for this, if you can handle it, but make the borders invisible. In fact,
you may find it easier not to let the computer do it, but to make your own table for insertion when
everything is complete. Three columns are normal, and a row for each numbered section of the
dissertation, although lesser numbers representing subdivisions can be omitted. Thus column 1 is for
chapter or section numbers, column 2 gives the heading which matches the number, and column 3 (a
small one) the page on which the chapter or section starts. Appendices should also be listed in the Table
of Contents, and in a long dissertation separate tables can also be provided for tables and figures.
DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Keep these short; no more than a page should be used. The dedication is optional, but acknowledgements
should mention all those who helped with both the study and the writing.
ABSTRACT
This is simply a summary, in no more than 500 words, of the whole report. Try to say in a sentence why
the research was done. In another sentence, how it was done. And then, in no more than three
concluding sentences, what the results were, what they signified, and what recommendations could be
made.
Chapter 1 – Introduction
This is supposed to present the motivation, or reason, behind the study. Usually the reason is that the
researcher has often been asked a particular question, and has been unable to provide an answer. This
provides the ‘research question’. This chapter can also summarize what was done to answer the question,
by giving a brief description of what is in the remaining chapters, but should leave the detail to the
chapters that follow.
No part of this chapter should be expressed in the future tense. In fact, DO NOT USE THE FUTURE
TENSE AT ALL in the course of your dissertation. It is a report, not a proposal.
Chapter 2 – Literature review
This chapter examines in detail all the literature sources that were consulted, especially where they relate
to the topic of the study. Keep full notes of these, especially of the bibliographic details required in the
List of References (see below). The purpose is to show how the writer found, through reading, what
questions were worth asking and possible to answer. The literature may suggest many answers, which the
researcher should mention. Some of these answers may be ones the researcher is seeking to find through
fresh research. In such cases, it must be made clear why the researcher thinks a new answer can be
found; perhaps the research is being done on a different population, perhaps the study described in the
source was inadequate in some other way. This must be made clear.
Here, as in all the chapters, other people’s opinions and words should always be attributed, i.e. given an
origin, with the surname of the person and year of publication given, possibly with the page. This is keyed
to a full ‘List of References’ given later, but if there is more than one author with the same surname, then
the initials should be given as well, even if possible a first name when it appears in a sentence in the text
and not between brackets. If the same author has published more than one thing in the same year, then
the years are followed with a letter, e.g. 2006a, 2006b, etc., arranged alphabetically by title. All this is
2
PLANNING
AND REPORTING
If you are thinking of research that will qualify you for a higher degree, you are looking towards an
eventual dissertation or thesis for which high standards will be set, if it is to have any value. This
document provides some guidelines that it would be wise to follow in order to save yourself time and
money. You will need to talk to a statistician at an early stage, but at the same time you must be very
clear about what you want to do. Reading this will help you.
What a dissertation should do
(starting with the original proposal)
BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT A RESEARCH PROPOSAL, THINK ABOUT THIS.
A research proposal describes the reasons for doing a particular piece of research, and sets out the
methods by which the research will be conducted. The eventual dissertation (or thesis) describes a study,
or research, which has been done. It is therefore a report of research done and a proposal must at every
stage look towards that eventual report. The proposal and the dissertation are thus strongly linked, and
what has been said in the proposal will most likely be said again in the thesis. Knowing how the report is
to be structured helps in structuring the research. In particular, it helps in advance to know how the
gathered information is to be analysed, so that appropriate methods of data collection can be used. These
can often give trouble if not considered well in advance of actual research.
What is described here is mostly the report after the research has been done. This includes research done
only in the library, but usually also covers some kind of structured fieldwork.
Once a dissertion has been accepted for a degree, the university is considered to be its publisher. Further
publication, e.g. in a journal, can be lot shorter but should conform to the same structure..
General arrangement
Steps 1 and 2 as described below generally form part of your proposal. Step 1 is expressed in the present
tense, and can remain so even when it becomes part of the eventual dissertation. Step 2 will be expressed
in the future tense at the proposal stage, and in the past tense at the reporting stage, i.e. in the dissertation.
These steps do not necessarily represent chapters, but the order in which they are tackled. Different
elements are described in more detail below.
To meet normal academic as well as international standards, a report is usually arranged in this order:
1. Theoretical background (this includes problem statements and literature review, linking the
current problem to studies that have gone before, and identifying what theories apply to the
particular problem you want to find answers for).
2. Methods of research (suggested by the theory, but what you actually do in order to obtain results
and answers).
3. Results of research (presented as frequency tables and/or graphs, usually giving levels of
significance).
4. Interpretation of results (discussion, conclusions, etc., the main place where your own opinion
can be expressed, and even then it must be fully justified. You can also express your opinion
when reviewing the literature, but only as it applies to the literature itself).
1
, Title page, Table of contents, etc.
TITLE PAGE
This page prominently displays the full title of the study (better if it is not too long), followed by the
writer’s name in full, with university ID number. After that, the purpose of the dissertation, e.g. “in
partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of …”, the Department in which it is being submitted,
the supervisor’s name, and the date of submission.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Use the computer facility for tables for this, if you can handle it, but make the borders invisible. In fact,
you may find it easier not to let the computer do it, but to make your own table for insertion when
everything is complete. Three columns are normal, and a row for each numbered section of the
dissertation, although lesser numbers representing subdivisions can be omitted. Thus column 1 is for
chapter or section numbers, column 2 gives the heading which matches the number, and column 3 (a
small one) the page on which the chapter or section starts. Appendices should also be listed in the Table
of Contents, and in a long dissertation separate tables can also be provided for tables and figures.
DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Keep these short; no more than a page should be used. The dedication is optional, but acknowledgements
should mention all those who helped with both the study and the writing.
ABSTRACT
This is simply a summary, in no more than 500 words, of the whole report. Try to say in a sentence why
the research was done. In another sentence, how it was done. And then, in no more than three
concluding sentences, what the results were, what they signified, and what recommendations could be
made.
Chapter 1 – Introduction
This is supposed to present the motivation, or reason, behind the study. Usually the reason is that the
researcher has often been asked a particular question, and has been unable to provide an answer. This
provides the ‘research question’. This chapter can also summarize what was done to answer the question,
by giving a brief description of what is in the remaining chapters, but should leave the detail to the
chapters that follow.
No part of this chapter should be expressed in the future tense. In fact, DO NOT USE THE FUTURE
TENSE AT ALL in the course of your dissertation. It is a report, not a proposal.
Chapter 2 – Literature review
This chapter examines in detail all the literature sources that were consulted, especially where they relate
to the topic of the study. Keep full notes of these, especially of the bibliographic details required in the
List of References (see below). The purpose is to show how the writer found, through reading, what
questions were worth asking and possible to answer. The literature may suggest many answers, which the
researcher should mention. Some of these answers may be ones the researcher is seeking to find through
fresh research. In such cases, it must be made clear why the researcher thinks a new answer can be
found; perhaps the research is being done on a different population, perhaps the study described in the
source was inadequate in some other way. This must be made clear.
Here, as in all the chapters, other people’s opinions and words should always be attributed, i.e. given an
origin, with the surname of the person and year of publication given, possibly with the page. This is keyed
to a full ‘List of References’ given later, but if there is more than one author with the same surname, then
the initials should be given as well, even if possible a first name when it appears in a sentence in the text
and not between brackets. If the same author has published more than one thing in the same year, then
the years are followed with a letter, e.g. 2006a, 2006b, etc., arranged alphabetically by title. All this is
2
