Components of a research report

It’s an assignment on applied social research. The five chapters in a research report are the areas to be analyzed. You are to examine the importance of Chapters 1 to 5 of research reports, discussing the value of each chapter and stating the end result. Please use references from 2015 to date. You can break the chapters down to aid better understanding and should have a little introduction and conclusion

Research reports are a critical component to the collective wisdom of society. Here, research allows companies, organizations, or individuals leverage the learnings of their predecessors to improve goods and services. These goods and services will in turn help improve the quality of life for society overall. In many circumstances, research reports allow society to continue initiatives that can not be completed in a single lifetime. By properly documenting research, society is better able to continually improve on the work of others. This ultimately results in an ability to better improve products and services for the benefit of the world. Research also allows society to apply new innovations and learnings to older problems in an effort to reassess prior outcomes or beliefs. We have seen this done on numerous occasions throughout human history. For example, it was once thought that the Earth was the center of the universe. Here, all the other planets, stars, asteroids, and moons revolved around the earth. However this research was challenges as civilization was better able to develop better technologies in which to challenge prior conventions. Here, upon further observation, it was later found that the earth actually revolved around the Sun in a rather predictable manner. Likewise, for a long period in human history it was believed that the world was flat. However, again through research it was discovered that the world was round. Societal history is riddled with instances similar to this as it relates to leveraging research in a manner that would ultimately help benefit society and the world (Adler, 2018).

When reviewing the importance of chapters 1 through 5, it is clear that each chapter is apart of a larger whole. Here, each chapter builds on one another to create a comprehensive research report that is accessible to each reader. As a result, each chapter has it own unique value relative to the others. For example chapter 1 is heavily predicated on introductions and background information. Introductions and background information are critical in relation to the entire research proposal. Not only is this chapter designed to engage the reader, it is also important as it sets the foundation for the entire research proposal. It provides the reader with the critical inputs necessary to critically review the research material within the report. Likewise, the introduction provides a quick overview on the contents of the research proposal as a means of preparing the reader (Babbie, 2018).

The introduction is also important as it provides the research objectives and questions related to the overall subject matter. Research objectives are important as it outlines what the benefits of the study will be for society overall. These objectives vary, but often help to expand critical research elements. By knowing what the overall objective of the research is, readers can better assess the validity of the outcomes while also judging the merits of the research. Likewise the introduction also provides insights into the limitations of the study overall and how improvements can be made in future iterations of the study. This is significant as it allows a consistent process of improvement for subsequent studies looking to improve the overall body of knowledge related to a particular subject. Likewise, it also allows the casual observer to make better informed inferences about the assumptions or outcomes made throughout the study (Berger, 2019).

Chapter 2 is related to conceptual clarifications and literary reviews. This chapter draws heavily from Chapter 1 and expands upon the concepts within the chapter. Here, this section is designed to help provide readers with an overview and effects of the problem being reviewed by the researcher. In also attempts to provide evidence as to how the current research attempts to bridge any gaps within the subject matter. This chapter is relation to other 5 chapters is important as it provides the literary framework that is leveraged throughout the study. Readers can then reference this literature and review in a manner that helps them better determine the merits of the researchers foundation. This also allows readers to obtain a better grasp of the foundations that are inherent within the overall structure of the research being conducted. The overview portion of the chapter helps to expand on the introduction and provide relevant context to readers as to the importance of the research subject matter (Engel, 2016).

Chapter 3 is another critical element of the research report. Here, the chapter describes the research methodology used to arrive at the overall conclusions. This chapter along with Chapter 4 is arguable the most important of the five chapters. Here, the research methodology is predicated on a particular philosophy and data collection process. It is important of the research report to have clear distinctions related to the overall methodology to give readers a better grasp of the methodology used to arrive at the researchers conclusions. This is particularly true as it relates to data collection. For example, in many studies, data collections may not be statistically significant due to lack of data inputs. Likewise, the data may be concentrated in a particular region or sector of the United States, thus skewing the result and observations of the research. Studies that rely on surveys or questionnaires may word the questions in such as manner as to skew the overall results. As a result, it is important for the research report to delineate each of these areas to allow for a critical evaluation of the methodology. In addition to an evaluation, this section can be utilized by subsequent researchers to improve the overall structure of the research. This improvement of methodology ultimately helps to better substantiate the claims of the overall research report. By improving upon prior work, this ultimately provides a foundation by which results can be measures and re-evaluated to improve overall outcomes (Faulkner, 2016).

Another element of Chapter 3 is the overall ethical considerations of the research. This too is becoming a much more critical element of research. Here, due in part to social media, the rapid transfer of information, and the availability of data, it is important to mitigate the ethical components of research. This is important as unethical research methods can have adverse consequences on both the researchers and the institutions that represent. With social media being so prevalent in the world, negative publicity can cause unnecessary harm to the reputation of the researchers and the institutions they represent. As such, it is critically important to utilize the highest ethical standards in an effort to help lower any consequences or negative publicity resulting from the overall research methodology (Calhoun, 2017)

Chapter 4, much like Chapter 3 is very important as it relates to the overall synthesis of the information presented in the report. Chapter 4 serves as a data presentation, analysis and discussion section in the report. Along with Chapter 3, this chapter is a vital component with the overall research report. While Chapter 3 described the methodology, the philosophy, the construction of the of the data collection process, and ethical considerations of the research; Chapter 4 provides the overall observations. This portion of the report ultimately leverages the researchers insights to properly determine what they believe the overall outcomes of the research are and how they came to their conclusions. Of all the sections in the research report, this section has the most heuristics and biases within it. Many of the observations are based primarily on the research outcomes but also on the researchers beliefs and psychological makeup. Here, it is important to clearly state when observations are opinions and when observations are factual. This allows the reader to clearly differentiate between the two and draw their own conclusions as to how to analysis and interpret the research findings. In many instances, readers must combine Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 in an effort to draw their own conclusions as to the research outcomes and their overall validity. The presentation and discussion portion of the research report is therefore the section that synthesizes all the information from the prior chapters. The background from chapter 1, the literature review of chapter 2, and the research methods and data collection processes of chapter 3 are all synthesized in this section of the research report. As a result it is important to provide clear and concise observations grounded in facts so that readers can properly interpret the findings of the report (Bhattacherjee, 2019).