The Research Report Chapter 22

Criteria for Evaluating Research Reports Fundamental Criterion--communication with the reader or readers Writing Criteria: Completeness--whether the report provides all the information readers need in a language they understand. Accuracy--whether the reasoning in the report is logical and the information correct. Clarity--whether the phrasing in the report is precise. Conciseness--whether the writing in the report is crisp and direct. SLIDE 22-1

Model of the Communication Process Report Writer Report Reader Encoder Message Decoder SLIDE 22-2

An Example of an Inaccuracy in a Report A. An Error in Addition or Subtraction “In the United States, 14 percent of the population has an elementary school education or less, 51 percent has attended or graduated from high school, and 16 percent has attended college.” An oversight such as this (14+51+16 does not equal 100 percent) can be easily corrected by the author, but not so easily by the reader, because he or she may not know if one or more of the percentage values is incorrect or if a category might have been left out of the tally. SLIDE 22-3

An Example of an Inaccuracy in a Report B. Confusion between Percentages and Percentage Points “The company’s profits as a percentage of sales were 6.0 percent in 1997 and 8.0 percent in 2002. Therefore, they increased only 2.0 percent in five years.” In this example, the increase is, of course, 2.0 percentage points, or 33 percent. SLIDE 22-4

An Example of an Inaccuracy in a Report C. Inaccuracy Caused by Grammatical Errors “The reduction in the government’s price supports for dairy products has reduced farm income $600 million to $800 million per year.” To express a range of reduction, the author should have written, “The reduction in the government’s price supports for dairy products has reduced farm income $600-800 million per year.” SLIDE 22-5

An Example of an Inaccuracy in a Report D. Confused Terminology Resulting in Fallacious Conclusions “The Joneses’ household annual income increased from $10,000 in 1970 to $30,000 in 2000, thereby tripling the family’s purchasing power.” While the Joneses’ household income may have tripled in 30 years, the family’s purchasing power certainty did not, as the cost of living, as measured by the consumer price index, more than tripled in the same period. SLIDE 22-6

Structure of the Research Report Title Page: subject, name of organization for whom report is made, name of organization submitting it, date Table of Contents: the divisions and subdivisions of the report, list of tables and figures Summary: necessary background, important results and conclusions, sometimes recommendations Introduction: background information on the study including events leading up to it, definition of terms, specific objectives of the research details of method including type of research design, how data was collected, type of sampling plan used, and why these procedures were chosen; results and supporting tables and figures Body: Conclusions and Recommendations: what was found with respect to each of the stated objectives, sometimes recommendations as to appropriate course of action Appendix: copy of questionnaire, coding form, maps, detailed tables SLIDE 22-7

Presenting an Oral Report Duration: *1/3-1/2 allotted time for formal presentation *Remainder for question-and-answer interaction General Purpose Specific Objectives Evidence Conclusions General Purpose Specific Objectives Conclusions Evidence Structure: or Tools: *Maps--Show where *Diagrams--Show how *Charts--Show how much SLIDE 22-8

Tips for Preparing Effective Presentation Visuals Keep them simple. Deliver complex ideas in a manner that your audience can understand. Present one point per exhibit, with as few words and lines as possible. Use lots of exhibits. Less is more when you are speaking. Use one minute per visual. Visuals should make their impact quickly. Highlight and emphasize significant points. Use bullets, font sizes or styles, color, or by some other means. Make the visuals easy to read. Use large, legible typefaces and limit the typefaces to one or two different types and no more than three sizes. Be careful with the use of color. While color can add interest and emphasis, it can also detract if used without planning. Plan your color scheme and use it faithfully throughout. Build complexity. If you have a complicated concept to communicate, start with the ground level and use three or four exhibits to complete the picture. Prepare copies of exhibits. Hand them to the audience before or after your presentation. If people have to take notes, they won’t be watching or listening closely. Number the pages in the handout. You will have a better reference for discussion or a question-and-answer period. SLIDE 22-9

Pie Chart Relative Sales of the Crosby Company’s Three Leading Products Last Year Z 17% x 59% y 24% Comments: Especially useful for static or single point in time comparisons Use no more than six slices Begin the division of the pie at the 12:00 o’clock position Arrange the sections clockwise in decreasing order of magnitude Report whole percentages on the chart SLIDE 22-10

Line Chart Sales of the Crosby Company’s Three Leading Products for the Past Ten Years x y z Sales in Thousands of $ Year Comments: Especially useful in depicting dynamic relationships such as time fluctuations of one or more series When time is one of the variables, use the x-axis to represent time Use a distinctive color or symbol to represent each series or variable SLIDE 22-11

Stratum Chart Sales of the Crosby Company’s Three Leading Products for the Past Ten Years x y z Sales in Thousands of $ Year Comments: Also called a stacked line chart Amounts for each variable are shown by the areas between the lines as the lines are totals or cumulative Especially useful for showing relative magnitudes and changes over time When time is one of the variables, use the X-axis to represent time Use a distinctive color or cross hatching to represent each series or variable Limit the chart to displaying no more than six components SLIDE 22-12

Bar Chart Sales of the Crosby Company’s Three Leading Products for the Past Year Product z Product y Product x 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 Sales in Thousands of $ Comments: One of the most widely used chart forms When time is one of the variables, use the X-axis to represent time Permits many variations Pictograms Grouped bar chart Divided bar chart SLIDE 22-13

Crosby Company’s Market Share Changes Last Year Map Chart Crosby Company’s Market Share Changes Last Year More than a 5% increase 2 to 5% increase -2 to +2% change -2 to -5% decrease More than a 5% decrease Comments: Especially useful when the focus is on geographic areas and the relative changes occurring in them since data maps allow the display of quantitative or statistical information When using shading, crosshatching, or color to display different magnitudes, keep the group intervals approximately equal and use a limited number of shadings -- 4 to 7 and no more than 10. Run the shading from light to dark with darker shadings indicating greater magnitude SLIDE 22-14