Points to remember
The following are the major points introduced in this chapter. Ensure that you are very confident with their meaning, content, context and significance.
1
Reporting relates to the dissemination of the information collected through the
study.
2
Of the factors that affect the writing of the report, ethical considerations,
the reader and the purpose of the report are most important.
3
The most common outlets of the results of a study are newspapers, newsletters,
conferences, monographs, journal articles and books.
4
The structure of the report varies with the type and nature of publication.
5
The main parts of a report are the abstract, introduction, method, results,
discussion, conclusion, recommendation and references. Some of these parts are
optional.
6
The criteria that mark a good report are clarity, precision, legibility,
completeness, objectivity, fairness, verifiability, impersonality and ethics.
7
With regard to presentation, consideration must be given to whether to use the
first or third person, active or passive voice, and past or present tense, and
also to the type of language.
8
The structure of reports is more uniform in quantitative than qualitative
research.
9
Report writing is more complex when both qualitative and quantitative paradigms
are employed or in stepwise conversion of the data from qualitative to
quantitative.
10
Manuscripts should be subjected to rigorous self-assessment before they are
submitted for publication.
11 The
structure of a book may be similar to that of other reports but consideration
must be given to its nature, scope and size.
12 The
politics of publishing constitutes a very important factor and requires adequate
consideration.