report writing techniques-3 new

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Report WritingTechniques-3

Orientation – BBA, ACE

Presented by:Moon Pradhan



The Literature Review

A literature review surveys:

scholarly articles,

books and

other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings)

relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providinga description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work.

To offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic.

"the literature" means the works you consulted in order to

understand and investigate your research problem



What is it?

An account of what has been published on a topic by accredited

scholars and researchers.

as a separate assignment

sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography

more often a part of introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis

to convey to your reader:

what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic

what their strengths and weaknesses are

must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the

problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis).



Which Literature?

Journal articles:

Good especially for up-to-date information.

They offer a relatively concise, up-to-date format for research,

All reputable journals are refereed (i.e. editors publish only themost relevant and reliable research).

Books:

Tend to be less up-to-date as it takes longer to be published.

Text books are unlikely to be useful for including in yourliterature review as they are intended for teaching,

They do offer a good starting point from which to find moredetailed sources.



Conference proceedings:

Can be useful in providing the latest research, or research that has not

been published.

Also helpful in providing information on which people are currently

involved in which research areas,

And n tracking down other work by the same researchers.

Newspapers:

The information they provide will be of very limited use for your literature

review.

Often newspapers are more helpful as providers of information about

recent trends, discoveries or changes, e.g. announcing changes in

government policy,

But you should then search for more detailed information in other

sources.



Theses and dissertations:

Can be useful sources of information.

However there are disadvantages:

they can be difficult to obtain since they are not published, but are

generally only available from the library shelf or through interlibrary loan;

the student who carried out the research may not be an experiencedresearcher and therefore you might have to treat their findings with more

caution than published research.

Government/corporate reports:

many government departments and corporations commission or carry out

research.

Their published findings can provide a useful source of information, depending on

your field of study.



Internet:

the fastest-growing source of information is on the Internet.

bear in mind that anyone can post information on theInternet so the quality may not be reliable,

the information you find may be intended for a generalaudience and so not be suitable for inclusion in yourliterature review (information for a general audience isusually less detailed)

more and more refereed electronic journals (e-journals) are

appearing on the Internet if they are refereed it means that there is an editorial board that

evaluates the work before publishing it in their e-journal,

the quality should be more reliable (depending on the reputationof the journal).



And not to forget: CD-ROMS:

at the moment, few CR-ROMs provide the kind of specialized,detailed information about academic research that you need

However, more and more bibliographies are being put onto CD-

ROM for use in academic libraries, so they can be a veryvaluable tool in searching for the information you need.

Magazines:

Specialized magazines may be more useful (for example

business magazines for management students) Usually magazines are not useful for your research except as a

starting point by providing news or general information about newdiscoveries, policies, etc.

You can further research in more specialized sources.



Why Literature Review?

lets you gain and demonstrate skills in two areas:

information seeking:

the ability to scan the literature efficiently

to identify a set of useful articles and books

critical appraisal:

the ability to apply principles of analysis

to identify unbiased and valid studies.



LR must do these things:

be organized around and related directly tothe thesis or research question you aredeveloping

synthesize results into a summary of what isand is not known

identify areas of controversy in the literature

formulate questions that need furtherresearch



Components

Problem formulation

which topic is being examined and what are its issues?

Literature search

finding materials relevant to the subject being explored

Data evaluation

determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the

understanding of the topic

Analysis and interpretation

discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature



should comprise the followingelements:

An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration

Division of works under review into categories

those in support of a particular position,

those against,

those offering alternative theses entirely)

Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies

Conclusions

which pieces are best considered in their argument,

are most convincing of their opinions,

make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development oftheir area of research



consideration should be given to:

Provenance (the place of origin) What are the author's credentials?

Are the author's arguments supported by evidence

(e.g. primary historical material, case studies, narratives,statistics, recent scientific findings)?

Objectivity

Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is certain pertinent

information ignored to prove the author's point?



consideration should be givento:

Persuasiveness

Which of the author's theses are most/leastconvincing?

Value

Are the author's arguments and conclusionsconvincing?

Does the work ultimately contribute in any significantway to an understanding of the subject?



Literature review: an example

On the optimal container size in automated warehouses

Y. Roll, M.J. Rosenblatt and D. Kadosh, Proceedings of the Ninth ICPR

Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are being introducedinto the industry and warehousing at an increasing rate. Forecastsindicate that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future (see [1]).Research in the area of AS/RS has followed several avenues. Earlywork by Hausman, Schwarz and Graves [6, 7] was concerned withstorage assignment and interleaving policies, based on turnover ratesof the various items. Elsayed [3] and Elsayed and Stern [4] compared

algorithms for handling orders in AR/RS. Additional work by Karasawaet al. [9], Azadivar [2] and Parry et al. [11] deals with the design of anAS/RS and the determination of its throughput by simulation andoptimization techniques.



Several researchers addressed the problem of the optimal handlingunit (pallet or container) size, to be used in material handling andwarehousing systems. Steudell [13], Tanchoco and Agee[14],Tanchoco et al. [15] and Grasso and Tanchoco [5] studied various

aspects of this subject. The last two references incorporate thesize of the pallet, or unit load, in evaluation of the optimal lot sizesfor multi-inventory systems with limited storage space. In a reporton a specific case, Normandin [10] has demonstrated that usingthe 'best-size' container can result in considerable savings. Asimulation model combining container size and warehouse

capacity considerations, in an AS/RS environment, wasdeveloped by Kadosh [8]. The general results, reflecting thestochastic nature of the flow of goods, are similar to thosereported by Rosenblatt and Roll [12]. Nevertheless, container sizewas found to affect strongly overall warehousing costs.

In this paper, we present an analytical framework for approximatingthe optimal size of a warehouse container. The approximation isbased on series of generalizations and specificassumptions. However, these are valid for a wide range of reallife situations. The underlying assumptions of the model are

presented in the following section.



Notice how the writer has:

grouped similar information: "Steudell [13], Tanchoco andAgee[14], Tanchoco et al. [15] and Grasso and Tanchoco [5]studied various aspects of this subject."

shown the relationship between the work of different researchers,showing similarities/differences: "The general results, reflectingthe stochastic nature of the flow of goods, are similar to thosereported by Rosenblatt and Roll [12]."

indicated the position of the work in the research area history:

"Early work by Hausman, Schwarz and Graves [6, 7] "

moved from a general discussion of the research in AS/RS to themore specific area (optimal container size) that they themselvesare researching i.e. they relate previous work to their own todefine it, justify it and explain it.



Ask yourself questions like these:

What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question thatmy literature review helps to define?

What type of literature review am I conducting?

Am I looking at issues of theory? methodology? policy?

quantitative research (e.g. on the effectiveness of a new procedure)?

qualitative research (e.g., studies )?

What is the scope of my literature review?

What types of publications am I using (e.g., journals, books,government documents, popular media)?

What discipline am I working in (e.g., nursing psychology, sociology,medicine)?



And these:

How good was my information seeking?

Has my search been wide enough to ensure I've found all the relevantmaterial?

Has it been narrow enough to exclude irrelevant material?

Is the number of sources I've used appropriate for the length of my paper?

Have I critically analysed the literature I use?

Do I follow through a set of concepts and questions, comparing items toeach other in the ways they deal with them?

Instead of just listing and summarizing items, do I assess them, discussingstrengths and weaknesses?

Have I cited and discussed studies contrary to my perspective?

Will the reader find my literature review relevant, appropriate, and useful?



Also these….

Is there an objective basis to the reasoning, or is the authormerely "proving" what he or she already believes?

How does the author structure the argument?

Can you "deconstruct" the flow of the argument to see whether orwhere it breaks down logically (e.g., in establishing cause-effectrelationships)?

In what ways does this book or article contribute to ourunderstanding of the problem under study, and in what ways is ituseful for practice?

What are the strengths and limitations?

How does this book or article relate to the specific thesis orquestion I am developing?



To be noted:

It's usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with

the name of a researcher.

Instead, organize the literature review into sections that

present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory.

You are not trying to list all the material published, but to

synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of

your thesis or research question



Traps to Avoid

Trying to read everything!

The idea of the literature review is

not to provide a summary of all the published work that relates to your research,

but a survey of the most relevant and significant work.

Reading but not writing!

Writing can help you to understand and find relationships between the work

you've read,

so don't put writing off until you've "finished" reading

Don't think of what you first write as being the final or near-final version.



Writing is a way of thinking, so allow yourself to write as many drafts as you

need, changing your ideas and information as you learn more about the

context of your research problem.

Not keeping bibliographic information!

Always keep this information in your notes.

Always put references into your writing.



Citation Rules:APA Format and MLA Format



APA citation style

refers to the rules and conventionsestablished by the American Psychological Association for documenting sources used in

a research paper.

APA style requires both in-text citations and areference list.

For every in-text citation there should be a fullcitation in the reference list and vice versa.



Reference Citations in Text

In APA style, in-text citations are placed within sentences andparagraphs so that it is clear what information is being quoted orparaphrased and whose information is being cited.

Examples:

Works by a Single Author

The last name of the author and the year of publication are inserted inthe text at the appropriate point.

from theory on bounded rationality (Simon, 1945)

If the name of the author or the date appear as part of the narrative citeonly missing information in parentheses.

Simon (1945) posited that

In 1945 Simon posited that



Works by Multiple Authors

When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time thereference occurs in the text. In parenthetical material join the names with anampersand (&).

as has been shown (Leiter & Maslach, 1998)

In the narrative text, join the names with the word "and."

as Leiter and Maslach (1998) demonstrated

When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first timethe reference occurs.

Kahneman, Knetsch, & Thaler (1991) found

In all subsequent citations per paragraph, include only the surname of thefirst author followed by "et al." (Latin for "and others") and the year ofpublication.

Kahneman et al. (1991) found



Works by Associations,Corporations, Government Agencies

The names of groups that serve as authors (corporate authors)are usually written out each time they appear in a text reference.

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2007)

When appropriate, the names of some corporate authors arespelled out in the first reference and abbreviated in allsubsequent citations.

The general rule for abbreviating in this manner is to supplyenough information in the text citation for a reader to locate itssource in the Reference List without difficulty.

(NIMH, 2007)



Works with No Author

When a work has no author, use the first two or three words of thework's title (omitting any initial articles) as your text reference,capitalizing each word.

Place the title in quotation marks if it refers to an article or chapter of a

book. Italicize the title if it refers to a book, periodical, brochure, or report.

on climate change ("Climate and Weather," 1997)

Guide to Agricultural Meteorological Practices (1981)

Anonymous authors should be listed as such followed by a comma andthe date.

on climate change (Anonymous, 2008)



Specific Parts of a Source

To cite a specific part of a source (always necessary forquotations), include the page, chapter, etc. (with appropriateabbreviations) in the in-text citation.

(Stigter & Das, 1981, p. 96)

De Waal (1996) overstated the case when he asserted that"we seem to be reaching ... from the hands of philosophers" (p.218).

If page numbers are not included in electronic sources (such as

Web-based journals), provide the paragraph number precededby the paragraph symbol or the heading and following paragraph.

(Mönnich & Spiering, 2008 ¶ 9)



Reference List

References cited in the text of a research paper must appear in aReference List or bibliography. This list provides the informationnecessary to identify and retrieve each source.

Order:

Entries should be arranged in alphabetical order by authors' last names. Sources without authors are arranged alphabetically by title within the same

list.

Authors:

Write out the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work.

Use an ampersand (&) instead of the word "and" when listing multipleauthors of a single work. e.g. Smith, J. D., & Jones, M.

Titles:

Capitalize only the first word of a title or subtitle, and any proper names that

are part of a title.



Pagination:

Use the abbreviation p. or pp. to designate page numbers of articlesfrom periodicals that do not use volume numbers, especiallynewspapers.

These abbreviations are also used to designate pages inencyclopedia articles and chapters from edited books.

Indentation:

The first line of the entry is flush with the left margin, and allsubsequent lines are indented (5 to 7 spaces) to form a "hangingindent".

Underlining vs. Italics:

It is appropriate to use italics instead of underlining for titles of booksand journals.



Two additional pieces of information should be

included for works accessed online:

Internet Address:

A stable Internet addresses should be included and should direct thereader as close as possible to the actually work.

If the work has a digital object identifier (DOI), use this.

If there is no DOI or similar handle, use a stable URL.

If the URL is not stable, as is often the case with online newspapersand some subscription-based databases, use the home page of thesite you retrieved the work from.

Date:

If the work is a finalized version published and dated, as in the caseof a journal article, the date within the main body of the citation isenough.

However, if the work is not dated and/or is subject to change, as inthe case of an online encyclopedia article, include the date that you

retrieved the information.



Articles in Journals,Magazines, and Newspapers

References to periodical articles must include the followingelements:

author(s), date of publication, article title, journal title, volumenumber, issue number (if applicable), and page numbers.

Journal Article, one author, accessed online

Ku, G. (2008). Learning to de-escalate: The effects of regret inescalation of commitment.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 105(2), 221- 232. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2007.08.002

Journal Article, two authors, accessed online

Sanchez, D., & King-Toler, E. (2007). Addressing disparities consultationand outreach strategies for university settings. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research , 59(4), 286-295. doi:10.1037/1065-

9293.59.4.286



Journal Article, more than two authors, accessed online

Van Vugt, M., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2008). Leadership,followership, and evolution: Some lessons from thepast. American Psychologist , 63 (3), 182-196. doi:10.1037/0003-

066X.63.3.182

Article from an Internet-only journal

Hirtle, P. B. (2008, July-August). Copyright renewal, copyrightrestoration, and the difficulty of determining copyright status. D-

Lib Magazine , 14 (7/8). doi:10.1045/july2008-hirtle

Journal article from a subscription database (no DOI)

Colvin, G. (2008, July 21). Information worth billions. Fortune ,158(2), 73-79. Retrieved from Business Source Complete,

EBSCO.

Journal Article



Magazine article, in print

Kluger, J. (2008, January 28). Why we love. Time , 171(4),54-60.

Newspaper article, no author, in print As prices surge, Thailand pitches OPEC-style rice cartel.(2008, May 5). The Wall Street Journal , p. A9.

Newspaper article, multiple authors,

discontinuous pages, in print Delaney, K. J., Karnitschnig, M., & Guth, R. A. (2008, May5). Microsoft ends pursuit of Yahoo, reassesses its onlineoptions. The Wall Street Journal , pp. A1, A12.

Magazines, Newspapers



Books must include the following elements:

author(s) or editor(s), date of publication, title, place of publication,and the name of the publisher.

No Author or Editor, in print

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2003). Springfield, MA: Merriam- Webster.

One Author, in print

Kidder, T. (1981). The soul of a new machine . Boston: Little, Brown & Company.

Two Authors, in print

Frank, R. H., & Bernanke, B. (2007). Principles of macro- economics (3rd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Corporate Author, Author as Publisher, accessed online

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2000). Tasmanian year book 2000 (no. 1301.6). Canberra, AustralianCapital Territory: Author. Retrievedfromhttp://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/CA2568710006989... $File/13016_2000.pdf

Edited book

Gibbs, J. T., & Huang, L. N. (Eds.). (2001). Children of color: Psychological interventions with culturally diverse youth . San Francisco: Jossey -Bass.

http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/CA25687100069892CA256889000CA9FC/

http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/CA25687100069892CA256889000CA9FC/



Dissertations

should include the following elements:

author, date of publication, title, and institution (if you accessed themanuscript copy from the university collections).

If there is a UMI number or a database accession number, include it atthe end of the citation.

Dissertation, accessed online

Young, R. F. (2007). Crossing boundaries in urban ecology: Pathways to sustainable cities .Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (AT 3276815)

Essays or Chapters in Edited Books

References to an essay or chapter in an edited book must include the following elements: essay orchapter authors, date of publication, essay or chapter title, book editor(s), book title, essay orchapter page numbers, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

One Author Labajo, J. (2003). Body and voice: The construction of gender in flamenco. In T. Magrini(Ed.), Music and gender: perspectives from the Mediterranean (pp. 67-86). Chicago: University ofChicago Press.

Two Editors

Hammond, K. R., & Adelman, L. (1986). Science, values, and human judgment. In H. R. Arkes & K.

R. Hammond (Eds.) Judgement and decision making: An interdisciplinary reader (pp. 127-143).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

E l di Di i i



Encyclopedias or Dictionariesand Entries in an Encyclopedia

References for encyclopedias must include the following elements:

author(s) or editor(s), date of publication, title, place of publication, andthe name of the publisher.

For sources accessed online, include the retrieval date as the entry may

be edited over time.

Encyclopedia set or dictionary

Sadie, S., & Tyrrell, J. (Eds.). (2002). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (2nd ed., Vols. 1-29). New York: Grove.

Article from an online encyclopedia

Containerization. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved May 6, 2008, fromhttp://search.eb.com

Encyclopedia article

Kinni, T. B. (2004). Disney, Walt (1901-1966): Founder of the Walt Disney Company.In Encyclopedia of Leadership (Vol. 1, pp. 345-349). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Publications.



Research Reports and Papers

must include the following elements:

author(s), date of publication, title, place of publication, and name ofpublisher.

If the issuing organization assigned a number (e.g., report number,contract number, or monograph number) to the report, give that

number in parentheses immediately after the title.

If it accessed online, include the URL.

Government report, accessed online

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2005). Medicaid drug price comparisons: Average manufacturer price to published prices (OIG publication No. OEI-05-05- 00240). Washington, DC:Author. Retrieved from http://www.oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-05-05-00240.pdf



Research Reports and Papers

Government reports, GPO publisher, accessed online

Congressional Budget Office (2008). Effects of gasoline prices on driving behavior and vehicle markets: A CBO study (CBO Publication No. 2883).Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved fromhttp://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/88xx/doc8893/01-14-GasolinePrices.pdf

Technical and/or research reports, accessed online

Deming, D., & Dynarski, S. (2008). The lengthening of childhood (NBER WorkingPaper 14124). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.Retrieved July 21, 2008, from http://www.nber.org/papers/w14124

Document available on university program or department site

Victor, N. M. (2008). Gazprom: Gas giant under strain . Retrieved from StanfordUniversity, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development Web site:http://pesd.stanford.edu/publications/gazprom_gas_giant_under_strain/



Audio-Visual Media

must include the following elements:

name and function of the primary contributors (e.g., producer, director),date, title, the medium in brackets, location or place of production, andname of the distributor.

If the medium in indicated as part of the retrieval ID, brackets are notneeded.

Videocassette/DVD

Achbar, M. (Director/Producer), Abbott, J. (Director), Bakan, J. (Writer), & Simpson, B.(Producer) (2004). The corporation [DVD]. Canada: Big Picture Media Corporation.

Audio Recording

Nhat Hanh, T. (Speaker). (1998). Mindful living: a collection of teachings on love,mindfulness, and meditation (Cassette Recording). Boulder, CO: Sounds True Audio.

Motion Picture

Gilbert, B. (Producer), & Higgins, C. (Screenwriter/Director). (1980). Nine to

five [Motion Picture]. United States: Twentieth Century Fox.



Undated Web Site Content, Blogs, and Data

For content that does not easily fit into categories such as journalpapers, books, and reports keep in mind the goal of a citation isto give the reader a clear path to the source material.

For electronic and online materials include stable URL or

database name. Include the author, title, and date publishedwhen available.

For undated materials include the date the resource wasaccessed.

Blog entry Arrington, M. (2008, August 5). The viral video guy gets $1million in funding. Message posted to http://www.techcrunch.com



Professional Web site

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2008). Biofuels . Retrieved May 6,2008, from http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_biofuels.html

Data Set from a database

Bloomberg L.P. (2008). Return on capital for Hewitt Packard 12/31/90 to 09/30/08 . Retrieved Dec. 3, 2008, from Bloomberg database.

Central Statistics Office of the Republic of Botswana. (2008). Gross domestic product per capita 06/01/1994 to 06/01/2008 [statistics]. Availablefrom CEIC Data database.

Entire Web site When citing an entire Web site (and not a specific document on that site), no

Reference List entry is required if the address for the site is cited in the textof your paper.

Witchcraft In Europe and America is a site that presents the full text of manyessential works in the literature of witchcraft and demonology(http://www.witchcraft.psmedia.com/ ).

http://www.witchcraft.psmedia.com/

http://www.witchcraft.psmedia.com/



Style

Make your top-level headings a large size.

Make your 2nd-level headings at least 3 point sizes smaller than thetop-level heading.

In general, a document reads better if you use sans-serif fonts (e.g.

Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma) for headings, and serif fonts (e.g. Times NewRoman, Georgia) for the main body.

Use consistent fonts.

Comic Sans MS is an evil font.

1.5 spacing is generally a good spacing to make a report readable.

Leave a new line between paragraphs if they are not indented.

Stick to one convention, and don’t deviate.

The grammar checker isn’t the smartest thing on the planet, but use it.



General tips and hints

Save, save, and save often .

Put a copy on your online account, and email it to yourself once in awhile.

Whoever is proofreading your report should never be the first to readyour report.

A strip from Calvin and Hobbes comes to mind

(Calvin tries to gets his future self to write his book report for him):

Mom: So is the report done or not?

Calvin: Oh it’s done. I just haven’t read it.

Print it out, look over it in print form before binding and handing it in.

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