· Have you ever faced any problems when writing a report or an article? What kind of problems did you have?
Read the text below and say if the statements after it are true or false.
Definition of the research paper
The research paper is a typewritten paper in which you present your views and research findings on a chosen topic. Students usually work on the ‘term paper’ or the ‘library paper’ or the ‘diploma paper’, postgraduates work on their dissertations. No matter what the paper is called, the task is essentially the same: to read on a particular topic, evaluate information about it, and report your findings in a paper.
The research paper cannot be written according to a random formula but must conform to specific format. The format governs the entire paper from the placing of the title to the width of the margins, and to the notations used in acknowledging material drawn from other sources.
The format of scholarly writing is simply an agreed-upon way of doing things – much like etiquette, table manners, or rules of the road.
Interpreting the facts
After gathering all the necessary information, you must decide upon the most logical way to present it. Perhaps the key word is logicalbecause it is through logic that you will take disparate facts and order them into a meaningful pattern. Logic will help you to discover a pattern from the facts and the results of the study; discovering a pattern and developing a viewpoint are key issues in interpretation.
Clear presentation of information can be accomplished only if you take the time to think about your task before you begin to write. Presentation of information in a logical manner will be enhanced if you cover all aspects of your topic. In covering all aspects of the topic, you will find that you will have answered many of the readers’ questions before they have had a chance to ask them.
The following outline represents the various kinds of information that it is necessary to include in most technical reports. In addition, the outline breaks a long technical report down into these components: introduction, body, and conclusion. Part 1, labelled The Problem, consists of the kind of information that must be included in the introduction of any technical report.
I The Problem
Introduction to the Problem
Statement of the Problem
Background (summary of the known and the unknown)
Definitions of Unfamiliar Terms (Operational Terms for Experiment)
Value of Study or Experiment
Limitations of Study or Experiment
By stating the problem precisely, the writer clearly and concisely defines the writing task for the reader. If purpose is always in mind, clear presentation of ideas will not be far behind.
The other parts of the Problem section are self-explanatory except for the Definition of Unfamiliar terms. You should remember that it is necessary to define any word that the reader might not understand. This is the point of definition section of any report: to define the terms used in the reports so well that they are clear to the audience.
The next four steps of the outline represent the body of the report.