This was given as a part of the course of Research & Evidence-Based Medicine given to fourth-year medical students (2018)

1. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITING RESEARCH
REPORT
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD1
Lecture 15
Level 8
Year 4

2. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
Objectives
• Explain how to write research report format
• Discuss the ten reasons why reports fail
• Describe making of oral presentation
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD2

3. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
Traditional written reports tend to be produced in the following format.
1- Title Page
• This contains the title of the report, the name of the researcher and
the date of publication.
• If the report is a dissertation or thesis, the title page will include details
about the purpose of the report, for example ‘A thesis submitted in
partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy’.
• If the research has been funded by a particular organization.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD3

4. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
2- Contents Page
• In this section is listed the contents of the report, either in chapter
or section headings with sub-headings, if relevant and their page
numbers.
3- List of Illustrations
• This section includes title and page number of all graphs, tables,
illustrations, charts, etc.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD4

5. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
4- Acknowledgements
• Some researchers may wish to acknowledge the help of their
research participants, tutors, employers and/or funding body.
5- Abstract/Summary
• This tends to be a one page summary of the research, its purpose,
methods, main findings and conclusion.
6- Introduction
• This section introduces the research, setting out the aims and
objectives, terms and definitions. It includes a rationale for the
research and a summary of the report structure.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD5

6. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
7- Background
• In this section is included all your background research, which may be
obtained from the literature, from personal experience or both.
• You must indicate from where all the information to which you refer
has come, so remember to keep a complete record of everything you
read.
• If you do not do this, you could be accused of plagiarism which is a
form of intellectual theft.
• When you are referring to a particular book or journal article, find out
the accepted standard for referencing from your institution
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD6

7. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
8- Methodology and Methods
• In this section is set out a description of, and justification for, the
chosen methodology and research methods.
• Remember to include all the practical information people will
need to evaluate your work, for example, how many people took
part, how they were chosen, your time scale and data recording
and analysis methods.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD7

8. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
9- Findings/Analysis
• In this section are included your main findings. The content of this
section will depend on your chosen methodology and methods.
• If you have conducted a large quantitative survey, this section may
contain tables, graphs, pie charts and associated statistics.
• If you have conducted a qualitative piece of research this section
may be descriptive prose containing lengthy quotations.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD8

9. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
10- Conclusion
• In this section you sum up your findings and draw conclusions
from them, perhaps in relation to other research or literature.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD9

10. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
11- Recommendations
• Some academic reports will not need this section.
• However, if you are an employee who has conducted a piece of
research for your company, this section could be the most
important part of the report. It is for this reason that some written
reports contain the recommendation section at the beginning of
the report.
• In this section is set out a list of clear recommendations which
have been developed from your research.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD10

11. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
12- References
• Small research projects will need only a reference section.
• This includes all the literature to which you have referred in your report.
• A popular method is the Harvard system which lists the authors’ surnames
alphabetically, followed by their initials, date of publication, title of book in
italics, place of publication and publisher.
• If the reference is a journal article, the title of the article appears in inverted
commas and the name of the journal appears in italics, followed by the
volume number and pages of the article. This is the method used in this
book.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD11

12. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
Example list of references
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD12

13. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
13- Bibliography
• Larger dissertations or theses will require both a reference section and a
bibliography.
• As discussed above, the reference section will include all those publications
to which you have referred to in your report. If, however, you have read
other work in relation to your research but not actually referred to them
when writing up your report, you might wish to include them in a
bibliography.
• However, make sure they are still relevant to your work including books to
make your bibliography look longer and more impressive is a tactic which
won’t impress examiners.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD13

14. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
WRITTEN REPORT FORMAT
14- Appendices
• If you have constructed a questionnaire for your research, or
produced an interview schedule or a code of ethics, it may be
useful to include them in your report as an appendix.
• In general, appendices do not count towards your total amount of
words so it is a useful way of including material without taking up
space that can be used for other information.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD14

15. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
TEN REASONS WHY REPORTS FAIL
• 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.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD15

16. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
• Another method of presenting your research findings is through
an oral presentation.
• 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.
• 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.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD16

17. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
TO PRODUCE A GOOD ORAL PRESENTATION
MAKING PRESENTATIONS
Arrive early, make sure equipment works and that you have
everything you need.
Show that you are interested in what you are saying and try to keep
audience interest by using visual aids and altering tone, pitch and
gestures.
Don’t shrug off questions or patronize your audience pitch your
presentation at the right level.
Never let an audience leave without taking away a record of what
you have said.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD17

18. Research Methodology and
Evidence Based Healthcare (EBHC481)
REFERANCE BOOK
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DR. EMAN ABD ALHALIM MD, PHD18
• Practical Research Methods
• DR CATHERINE DAWSON
• First published in 2002 by
• How To Books Ltd, 3 Newtec Place,
• Oxford OX4 1RE, United Kingdom
• http://www.howtobooks.co.uk