Dr. Antar Abdellah Fadwa Al Amri

Once you have completed your research and analyzed your data, there are three main ways of reporting your findings journal articles journal articles written reports oral presentation

If you are a student your college or university may have strict rules and guidelines which you have to follow when writing up your report. You should find out what these might be before you start your research as this could influence your research methodology

As a student you need to

Complex statistics simple the time to read Read only conclusions methodology justify your methodology complex terminology Simple language

Traditional written reports tend to be produced in the following format.

Title Page Contents Page List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Background Methodology and Methods Findings/Analysis Conclusion Recommendations Further Research References Bibliography Appendices

 There is no logical structure.  Ideas are not well thought out.  Work is disorganized.  Assumptions are made which cannot be justified by evidence.  There are too many grammatical and spelling mistakes.  Sentences and/or paragraphs are too long or too obscure.  It is obvious that ideas and sentences have been taken from other sources.  There is too much repetition.  There is too much irrelevant information.  Summary and conclusions are weak.

it might be worth considering producing an article for a journal. Most academic journals do not pay for articles they publish, but many professional or trade publications do pay for your contribution, if published.

 If you are thinking about writing for a trade publication, approach the editors by letter, asking if they might be interested in an article. Include a short summary of your proposed article.  Produce a succinct, clear, interesting and well-written article – ask friends, tutors or colleagues to read it and provide comments.  Make sure there are no mistakes, remembering to check the bibliography.

 Gain advice from someone who has had work published. Also you might find it easier to write an article with someone else – some tutors or supervisors will be willing to do this as it helps their publication record if their name appears on another article.  You may find that you will do most of the work, but it is very useful to have someone read your article and change sections which do not work or read well.  It is also useful to have people comment on your methodology or analysis assumptions which could be criticised by other researchers. If it is your first article :

 This may be at a university or college to other students or tutors, at a conference to other researchers or work colleagues, or in a work place to colleagues, employers or funding bodies.  Many researchers find that it is better to provide  both a written report and an oral presentation as this is the most effective way of enabling a wider audience to find out about the research, especially if you also reproduce your written report on-line.  If you want people to take notice of your results, you need to produce a good presentation.

 MA defense / oral examination  Oral presentation

 PowerPoint is a useful presentation graphics program which enables you to create slides that can be shared live or on-line.  You can enhance your presentation with animation, artwork and diagrams which  make it more interesting for your audience.

 Produce aide memoirs, either on cards, paper, OHP transparencies or presentation software such as PowerPoint. Arrive early and make sure the room is set and all the equipment is available and that you know how to work it. Try to relax and breathe deeply. Acknowledge that this is your first presentation and people will tend to help you along.

 Make it clear from the outset whether you are happy to be interrupted or whether questions should be left for the end.  If you have invited questions, make sure you make every effort to answer them.  Look around the room while you are speaking – if it’s a small group, make eye-contact with as many people as possible.  Present interesting visual information such as graphs, charts and tables in a format which can be viewed by everyone. This could be OHP transparencies, slides, PowerPoint or handouts.

 Alter the tone and pitch of your voice, length of sentence and facial/ hand gestures to maintain audience interest. Show that you are interested in your subject.  Produce a paper or handout which people can take away with them.  Talk to people after your presentation and ask them how it went, whether there are any improvements they might suggest for future presentations.

 Don’t Rush in late, find that the overhead projector doesn’t work and that you have no pen for the whiteboard.  Don’t Worry about showing your nerves. Everybody gets nervous when they first start giving presentations and your audience should know this.  Don’t Read straight from a paper you have written.

 Don’t Get cross if you are interrupted and have not mentioned that you don’t want this to happen. Invite questions and then do not answer them or patronise the inquirer.  Don’t Look at your notes, never raising your head.  Don’t Produce visual information which people can’t see, either due to its size or print quality.

 Don’t Present in a monotone voice with no facial/hand gestures. Make it clear that your subject bores the pants off you.  Don’t Let the audience go home without any record of what you have said.  Don’t Run away never to be seen again

Thank You Fadwa Al Amri