INI 223 S

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INI 223 S

• Feb. 26, 2004
• Organizing Your Paper

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Feb. 26 2004

• Lecture and discussion on report writing and
  presenting a strong argument
• Arrange oral presentation schedule
• Group work if needed

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What is Your Goal?

• What purposes could your paper serve?
• Who do you expect or want to read your paper?
• Will all audiences read the same parts of your
  paper?

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Dividing your report into sections

• Brief summary (write this after everything else)
• Table of Contents
• General interest version
• Introduction and rationale (why the topic is
  important)
• Background, findings
• Analysis
• discussion and conclusions
• recommendations
• Implementation Plan
• Appendices

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Summary

• Is often called Executive Summary, since it is a
  brief version of the report that touches on all
  the highlights
• Is not a condensed version of the report, but one
  that focuses on the rationale, argument and
  conclusions and recommendations
• Should be 1 paragraph to a couple of pages in
  length

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Table of Contents

• Can be coarse or detailed
• Can include table of figures or appendices
• Needs to include page numbers of sections for
  easy access
• Permits readers to go to the sections that most
  interest them

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Introduction and Rationale

• Why is this topic worth studying?
• What is the context for the study? Why is it
  topical right now?
• What your report includes and why the sections
  that follow and appendices
• Outline of research question or hypothesis and
  methodology
• Any other goals of the report

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Background and Findings

• These sections should outline the background or
  baseline data for your study, the detailed
  methods used to supplement the background
  information and why the particular methods were
  chosen to throw light on the research question
• Your findings are then presented, with details in
  the appendices and summary charts or text in the
  body of your report

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Analysis

• If statistical or other analysis is required, it
  can be presented in a separate section, or in
  text with the detailed data appendicized
• Analysis is sometimes combined with the
  Discussion
• This section contains the heart of your argument
  and should focus on how the research provides
  insight into your question or hypothesis

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Presenting Your Argument

• Make strong claims
• Using reliable evidence
• Organizing your paper using evidence and
  arguments
• (from Booth, W. C., Colomb G.G. and J. M
  Williams, Claims and Evidence in The Craft of
  Research Chicago U. of Chicago Press, pp 94-110)

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Making Strong Claims

• Substantive claims say something definite,
  ideally new and interesting
• Contestable claims that challenge what your
  reader may already believe and that require
  explanation
• Specific claims dont be too vague
• Plausible claims can guide your research

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Offering Reliable Evidence

• Accurate
• Precise
• Sufficient
• Representative
• Authoritative
• Vivid

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Preparing your argument
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Discussion and Conclusions

• Here, you put your analysis and argument into the
  perspective of the other literature and any other
  relevant information
• Be careful to cite contrary information,
  explaining how your new data cast light on the
  studies that will be cited by your detractors
• Often discussion and conclusions are merged in
  one longer section

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Recommendations

• This is an important feature of practical reports
  and is essential in most consultants or
  government papers
• Can be framed as options, with the pros and cons
  of each articulated and the preferred one chosen
  and then detailed in further more specific
  recommendations
• It is useful to identify WHO should carry out
  each recommendation, so they dont fall between
  the cracks as the buck is passed back and forth

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Implementation Plan

• This section outlines a workplan for
  accomplishing the recommendations
• Timelines, responsibilities and interlocking
  tasks need to be laid out
• Sequencing issues and joint activities need to be
  specified
• External events which are important to the
  implementation (planned elections, grant
  deadlines, annual events like budgets, etc.) need
  to be scheduled into the plan

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Appendices

• Include raw data, or detailed information like
  charts, graphs, interview transcripts or
  questions, which would interrupt the flow of the
  text
• Bibliography is essential
• List of participants may be appropriate

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Announcements and Group Work

• Review of Annotated Bibliographies
• Next Weeks Class
• Schedule for Oral Presentations
• Group Work