The document outlines the seven major components of a research report: title page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and references. It provides guidance on what to include in each section, such as using a 10-12 word title, a 120 word abstract summarizing the study, stating the research problem and questions in the introduction, and describing the methodology and data analysis in the method section. It emphasizes providing sufficient evidence and data to back up results and conclusions in the results and discussion sections.

1. WRITING THE RESEARCH REPORT
• THERE ARE SEVEN MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE RESEARCH REPORT:
1. TITLE PAGE
2. ABSTRACT
3. INTRODUCTION
4. METHOD
5. RESULTS
6. DISCUSSION
7. REFERENCES

2. WRITING THE RESEARCH REPORT
1. TITLE PAGE
• YOUR PAPER TITLE SHOULD SUMMARIZE THE MAIN TOPIC OF THE PAPER IN ABOUT 10
TO 12 WORDS.
• YOU SHOULD PROVIDE A CLEAR AND DESCRIPTIVE TITLE.
2. ABSTRACT
• THIS SHOULD BE A COMPREHENSIVE SUMMARY WHICH IS ABOUT 120 WORDS.
• THE ABSTRACT SHOULD DESCRIBE THE KEY FOCUS OF THE STUDY, ITS KEY
METHODOLOGICAL FEATURES, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT FINDINGS.

3. 3. INTRODUCTION
• IT SHOULD PRESENT THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE.
• CLEARLY EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY AND SITUATE IT IN ANY RESEARCH
LITERATURE THAT IS RELEVANT TO THE STUDY.
• IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, RESEARCH QUESTIONS WILL TYPICALLY BE STATED IN
MORE OPEN-ENDED.
• STATE HYPOTHESIS AS THE RESEARCHER HOPES TO "DISCOVER," "EXPLORE A
PROCESS," "EXPLAIN OR UNDERSTAND," OR "DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCES."

4. 4. RESEARCH METHOD
• THIS SECTION INCLUDES INFORMATION TELLING
• WHICH RESEARCH PARADIGM IS USED?
• HOW THE STUDY WAS DONE?
• WITH WHOM IT WAS DONE?
• WHY THE STUDY WAS DESIGNED AS IT WAS?
• HOW THE DATA WERE COLLECTED AND ANALYZED? AND
• WHAT PROCEDURES WERE CARRIED OUT TO ENSURE THE VALIDITY OF THE
ARGUMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS MADE IN THE REPORT.

5. 5. RESULTS
• THE OVERRIDING CONCERN WHEN WRITING THE RESULTS SECTION IS TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT
AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE.
• REMEMBER THAT ASSERTIONS MUST BE BACKED UP WITH EMPIRICAL DATA. THE BOTTOM
LINE IS THIS: IT'S ABOUT EVIDENCE.

6. • YOU WILL NEED TO FIND AN APPROPRIATE BALANCE BETWEEN DESCRIPTION
AND INTERPRETATION IN ORDER TO WRITE A USEFUL AND CONVINCING
RESULTS SECTION.
• YOU MUST ALWAYS PROVIDE DATA (I.E., DESCRIPTIONS, QUOTES, DATA FROM
MULTIPLE SOURCES, AND SO FORTH) THAT BACK UP YOUR ASSERTIONS.
• TO HELP COMMUNICATE YOUR IDEAS IN A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REPORT, IT
CAN ALSO BE VERY HELPFUL TO USE DIAGRAMS, TABLES, FIGURES, ETC.

7. 6. DISCUSSION
• THIS IS WHERE YOU INTERPRET AND EVALUATE YOUR RESULTS
PRESENTED IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION.
• BE SURE TO STATE WHETHER YOUR HYPOTHESES WERE SUPPORTED.
• YOU SHOULD STATE YOUR OVERALL CONCLUSIONS AND OFFER
ADDITIONAL INTERPRETATIONS IN THIS SECTION OF THE REPORT.
• EVEN IF YOUR RESEARCH IS EXPLORATORY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO FIT
YOUR FINDINGS BACK INTO THE RELEVANT RESEARCH LITERATURE.
• YOU MAY ALSO MAKE SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH HERE.

8. • ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
• 1. WHAT DOES THE STUDY CONTRIBUTE?
• 2. HOW HAS IT HELPED SOLVE THE STUDY PROBLEM?
• 3. WHAT CONCLUSION AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS CAN BE DRAWN FROM THE STUDY?
• 4. WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY?
• 5. WHAT ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH IN THIS AREA?

9. 7. REFERENCING
• REFERENCING IS A STANDARDIZED METHOD OF ACKNOWLEDGING SOURCES
OF INFORMATION AND IDEAS THAT YOU HAVE USED IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT
IN A WAY THAT UNIQUELY IDENTIFIES THEIR SOURCE.
• DIRECT QUOTATIONS, FACTS AND FIGURES, AS WELL AS IDEAS AND
THEORIES, FROM BOTH PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED WORKS, MUST BE
REFERENCED.
• WHAT EVER REFERENCING STYLE YOU OPT FOR YOUR RESEARCH, IT MUST
BE USED THROUGHOUT THE RESEARCH.

10. • BIBLIOGRAPHY
• A REFERENCE LIST ONLY INCLUDES BOOKS, ARTICLES ETC THAT ARE CITED IN THE TEXT.
• IN CONTRAST, A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS A LIST OF RELEVANT SOURCES FOR BACKGROUND OR FOR
FURTHER READING.
• LEARN CITATION THROUGH VARIOUS SOFTWARE.
• MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007 AND ONWARD PROVIDES EASY OPTIONS FOR CITATION.

11. PLAGIARISM
• PLAGIARISM IS DEFINED AS “TAKING AND USING THE THOUGHTS, WRITINGS AND
INVENTIONS OF ANOTHER PERSON AS ONE’S OWN” (CONCISE OXFORD
DICTIONARY).
• DIFFERENT FORMS OF PLAGIARISM
• VERBATIM OR NEAR VERBATIM COPYING OR PURPOSELY PARAPHRASING PORTIONS OF
ANOTHER AUTHOR’S PAPERS OR UNPUBLISHED REPORT WITHOUT CITING THE EXACT
REFERENCE.
• COPYING ELEMENTS FROM OTHER’S PAPERS SUCH AS EQUATIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
• COPYING SENTENCES WITHOUT CITING THE SOURCE.

12. THANKS
Regards,
Arranged By:
Syed Burhan Rafay Bukhari
Visiting Lecturer
Dept. Gender Studies
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan
burhanrafay@gmail.com
Contributed By:
MS. USHNA TARIQ
Visiting Lecturer
Dept. Gender Studies
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan