Writing the Research Report

KNES 510 Research Methods in Kinesiology

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Contents of the Proposal

Introduction (Chapter 1) Introduction Brief review of literature Statement of problem Hypothesis Review of Literature (Chapter 2)

Contents of the Proposal, contd

Methods (Chapter 3) Participants Instruments and measurements Procedures Design and analysis Figures and tables References
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The Proposal Process

Order of events Proposal and your advisor Proposal to committee Proposal meeting What you do What your committee will do The outcome
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How to Write the Results Section

This is what you found, your unique contribution to knowledge. Organization
By hypotheses Validating outcomes first Important characteristics Most important first Incorporating tables and figures Reporting statistics
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What to Include in the Discussion Section

Rules
Discuss results, not what you wish they were. Relate results to hypotheses. Relate results to introduction and literature. Relate results to theory. Recommend applications. Summarize and state conclusions.

Five Commandments for Writing the Discussion

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Thou shalt not say more research is needed. Thou shalt not resort to methodological cop-outs. Thou shalt not try to solve humanitys problems. Thou shalt not swallow a thesaurus. Thou shalt not become Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes): I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.
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Tables and Figures

Do you need a table or figure? What do tables and figures do?
Basic: store data Intermediate: show trends Advanced: deep structure (e.g., trends by groups)

Useless Table 1

Useless Table 2

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Useful Table

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Preparing Tables
Getting information from a table is like extracting sunlight from a cucumber (Farquhar & Farquhar, 1891) Basic rules
Like characteristics should read vertically. Heading should be clear. Reader should understand without referring to the text.
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Improving Tables
Order columns and rows so they make sense (e.g., seldom alphabetically). Round off multiple decimal places (only to the level measured). Use summary rows and columns. Do not duplicate the text.

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Preparing Figures
Do not duplicate the text or tables. Consider which type of figure to use. Should show trends. Do not make figures visually distracting. Make figures easy to understand.

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Good Figure

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Useless Figure

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Basic Writing Guidelines

Obtain official documents on thesis and dissertations policy.
Department Graduate school Writing style manual (e.g., APA)

Review previous theses or dissertations. Allow twice as much time as you expect.
When several things can go wrong, the one that will go wrong is the one that will cause the greatest harm.
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Format: Journal Versus Chapter

Reasons for journal format; limitations of chapter style Structure of journal format
1.0 Preliminary materials
1.1 title page 1.2 Acknowledgments 1.3 Abstract 1.4 table of contents 1.5 List of tables 1.6 List of figures

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Format: Journal Versus Chapter, contd

2.0 Body of the thesis or dissertation
2.1 Introduction 2.2 Method 2.3 Results 2.4 Discussion 2.5 References 2.6 Tables 2.7 Figures

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Format: Journal Versus Chapter, contd

3.0 Appendixes
3.1 Extended literature review 3.2 Additional methodology 3.3 Additional results 3.4 Other additional materials

4.0 One-page curriculum vitae

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Successful Journal Writing

Give thought to picking a journal. Read the journals publication guidelines. Read papers from the journal. Review process for journals
What to send What to expect How long Decisions Revising Publication lag

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Writing Abstracts
Thesis and dissertation abstracts: read your graduate school rules. Abstracts for published papers: usually short. Read the journals rules. Conference abstracts: often longer. Read the rules. Contents of abstracts
Problem Methods Results Whats important

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Oral Presentations
Know the time limit. Practice (a lot). Leave time for questions. Preparing visual materials. 6 x 6 rule Light letters on a dark background

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Oral Presentations, contd

Time frame for 15-min presentation
Introduction: 3 min Statement of the problem: 1 min Method: 3 min Results: 3 min Discussion: 2 min Questions: 3 min

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Poster Presentations
Advantages over oral presentations Rules
Know how much space. Provide material to attach. Mount on contrasting backgrounds. Use figures or tables when possible. Use large lettering.

Parts of a poster: introduction, problem, method, results discussion, conclusions, references

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Setup for Poster

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Next Class
Turn in full proposal.

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