Writing your academic report

The main point of writing report is to show that you know something now that you did not know before you started writing your research. Offer descriptions and explanations on what you are doing: a personal theory. You have tested the validity of your knowledge of the field and other people's learning. You have also tested the validity against other people's feedback.

You contribute to the social good.

When writing, develop a sense of audience. You can write to anyone: policy makers, organisations of individuals.

When writing to others, we explain what we know and how we have come to know it. When writing for the world, we want to influence social and political audience.

A writerly text is when the writer writes for himself rather than for a reader. You experiment with ideas, play with different styles. It can be narrative, poetry or fictional nature.

A readerly text says what it needs to say, without ambiguity. It is written directly for a reader with clear signposts to help them to navigate the text. We say straightforward words and give directions to access the meaning.

Through writing we can show that we have developed our personal theory of practice. We show that we are competent.

Writing seldom comes easy to anyone. We need to think on what we want to improve, how we can improve it and how we can check the progress.

The process can be divided into different steps:

1. Planning

2. Composing

3. Editing

4. Revising

When planning we decide on the topic, draw up the action plan and move into action. The planning should suit our schedules.

Composing is when we actually start the writing. We should not leave everything until last minute. It might be helpful to draw up a separate action plan for writing schedule. This is a very creative time and new ideas emerge.

We should do light editing as we go. This can include changing of words or sentence structure. Once we have finished a draft of a chapter, for example, more editing should be done at the level of paragraphs.

Revising is a bigger job. We look at the entire report and change pieces of text, move them around and refine the ideas.

The report content

When we write, we move from one concept to another. We move from "telling" to "communicating". Writing a report means to move from story telling to communicating with the reader. Story telling, means building up the layers of the story. We move from description to explanation.

* Description. We say what we have done.

* Explanations. We explain why we have done it.

* Research. We have tested the validity of the theory. This needs to be methodological and rigorous.

When communicating to the reader we think about the best way to communicate the story to the reader. The story consists of multiple levels and we need to know how we show these levels. We might choose text, tables or visual aids. We then move to descriptions, analysis, critical reflection, explanation, research, critical reflection. We need to show the development of all of those levels and choose the best way to show the transformation.

Reflection can be critical, dialectical and meta-reflection. Critical reflection is when you reflect on what you have done within your personal research context. Dialectical reflection is when when you reflect on the wider social, cultural and historical context in which the research is situated. Meta-reflection, is when we review the entire project through a critical eye.

Communicative competence

Communicative competence means that we are able to make ourselves understood by another person for a particular purpose. Therefore, what we say should be comprehensible (allow to be understood), truthful, authentic and appropriate.

With communicative competence people can talk and resolve social dilemmas.

Structure

In our report we explain how and why our practice contribute to a wider good. We consider the following questions:

* What do I want to investigate? We need to contextualise the study. We can explain who we were at the time, the context and what prompted us to do the research. Was there a problem? Why there was a problem? It might be useful to give the description of the practice and show the reader on why we want to investigate it.

* Why do I want to investigate it? Outline your own professional values. What made you take the action? Was there something that went against your values? Link your research issue to the professional values and say how you justify your actions and checked with others.

* How do I gather data to show before research situation? What picture of the context you can paint? Produce some kind of data or evidence to show the reader on why you want to investigate or evaluate the situation.

* What did I think I could do about it? Spell out your options or any possible solutions. Say that you consulted with others to help you decide what to do. Explain why you decided on that point of action but had other action plans available and why did they not work out.

* What I decided to do about it? What actions did you take? Was it straightforward? Did you try out several strategies? Did you change your mind? What happened? Account for your actions in a direct way. Say the obvious. Check on anything missing if unclear. Write it down and imagine you are telling the story to another person.

* How did I gather data to generate evidence to show what happened? Produce ongoing sets of data and start turning them into evidence by relating the data to identified criteria linked with your values. Suggest how you might of influenced the research situation. Explain what data gathering techniques you used. Why those and not others? What patters begin to emerge? Tell your reader what evidence to look out for and for its significance in helping you make judgements about your practice. Evidence can make many forms including field notes, reflections, videos, transcripts, e-mails and texts. Put the evidence in the main body of your text. Place examples and summarise of raw data as appendixes to your text, other data go into the data archives.

* What did I learn? Produce ongoing descriptions of action and also document the learning from the actions. Describe what practice you did and what was the learning from it.

* How can I account for my learning? Use variety of techniques to communicate your learning process and give explanations to show integrated nature of actions and learning. You should write short reflections after the descriptions, use different fonts for descriptions and explanations, write descriptions under one section heading and explanations and learning reflections under another. Aim to include evidence of your learning form data. For example a diary entry to show progress in thinking or video extracts to show earlier and later behaviour, accompanied by explanatory notes.

* How do I evaluate the quality of influence to my own and other people's learning? You need to evaluate whether you helped people grow mentally, physically and spiritually. Locate evidence in the text to show that you have helped them.

* How do I show I bring this learning into my new educational practices? Check that you still see areas that need adjusting. Other issue might have arisen that need attention.

* How does the project extend me as a professional? By evaluating your practice you demonstrate professional care and responsibility for the wellbeing of others. You are holding yourself accountable for your actions.

* How do I communicate the significance of what I have done? The action research may potentially influence new learning.

* How do I show that I have checked the conclusions to be fair and accurate? Outline the validation procedures arranged to test your knowledge claims. Say who the validators were and why you chose them. How the report become authentic?

* How have I modified my practice based on the learning? Explain what influence your study have on your practice. Explain how it has influenced your professional and personal development. Possibly development of others and changes to structures and organisations.

Structured academic report

The basic structure of academic report:

1. Contains a claim of knowledge and contribution to knowledge of the field.

2. Shows understanding of the context and research.

3. Show development of understanding and practice.

4. Contains material worthy publication.

5. Is error-free and technically accurate with full bibliography and references.

You may adapt this structure to your own context. Different pieces could be moved into different chapters as this is not a fixed structure:

* Title.

* Abstract. Job to be done. Explain what the research is about. It should use 250-400 words, written in the presence tense, outline the structure, purposes, methods and significance of the work. It specifies the claim of knowledge. Keep it concise. The report need to do what the abstract says.

* Content, including list of appendixes.

* List of illustrations, figures and tables.

* Introduction. Give an overview on what you have done in the research, why and outline the potential significance. It should outline the project and main findings. Explain why you wanted to do the research in terms of realising your educational values. Outline the main findings and present their significance to yourself, others and potentially organisations. Articulate your claim of knowledge and its significance for local and wider context. Flag up key issues. Give an overview of chapters and content. Refer to main literature and conceptual frameworks. set out your research question and how the study represents the justification.

* (a) Background to the research. Focus on the issue you were addressing and why. Set out the reason for undertaking the research. Present the main themes found in the literatures. You may identify 3 or 4 different conceptual frameworks. Briefly outline the background and context if appropriate. Spell out values inspired by research. Show that these values are in your conceptual framework through understanding and engagement. Focus the readers attention on the reasons for doing the research and how you planned to do it. You need to show improvement in the situation, your own learning and helping others.

* (b) Contexts. Provide background information on reasons for the research and potential implications. Provide your personal and situational context by saying who you are and where are you located. Provide relevant research context by saying what research has been undertaken in this area. Provide historical and social context by explaining what circumstances influence the current situation. Provide policy context by explaining what policy exists for the area. Explain any relevant and professional context. Say whether there is a slippage between policy recommendation and real life practice. Include sufficient background information to help the reader understand why the research was important and its potential relevance for new practice such as organisational development.

* (c) Methodology and methods. Give an outline for the research design, justify your choice of design, including your chosen methodology and demonstrate awareness for good ethical practice. Give an explanation of the overall research design. Answer questions: Who was involved as participants and validators? Why those people? Where did the research take place? How long did it last? What were the main issues? Why action research other than another methodology? Which research methods were used? Explain models of data collection and analysis, identification criteria for judging the validity of claims and justification for their selection. How was evidence generated? How was evidence organised to support the knowledge claim? How was critique built in? How did you consistently question your assumptions? How did you ensure ethical conduct? Have you put copies of your ethics statement and blank copies of your letter of permission into the appendixes? How did you test the validity of your claim? How do you explain its significance?

*(d) Your project. Tell the story of the research in a clear and systematic way. Explain what actions you took, what happened and how you monitored progress and gathered data. Present data gathered and show how you generated the evidence. Be clear about the difference in descriptions of data ( what happened) and explanations of data ( your interpretations and significance of what happened). Descriptions of data will show the progress of the research at various stages. It might be useful to add the table of chronological table of events, different research circles and summaries. Match with action plan outlined in earlier chapter. If they deviated, explain why. Interpretations of data provide a summary of your findings and claims. Explain how you have done a content analysis. Show how the claims are supported by the data, explain how the data will generate or have already generated evidence. Identify criteria by which you wish your knowledge claim to be judged and show how this criteria act as signposts to guide your work.

* (e) Significance of your research. Show the significance of the research and its potential implications. Answer the questions: How has it contributed to your personal learning? Are you doing things differently? Better? In what way? How has it contributed to the professional learning of others in your workplace? How the research influenced other people? Are they doing things differently? Could this collective change stand as organisational change? What contribution are you making to the knowledge of your field? Can you say that you are contributing to educational theory through the production of your own theory of practice?

Has your research have potential to influence future research and generating useful knowledge?

* (f) Modification of practice. Explain how your practice has improved through your research. Refer back to your Introduction. Revising your research aims and questions. Have you justified your claim that you have improved your practice? You are saying that you have generated your own theory and contributing the knowledge. You know that you still need to develop your thinking.

* Body of text organised into chapters and sections.

* Conclusions. Round off the report well and remind the readers of some key points. Conclude the work neatly. Revisit some of the key issues addressed in the report. Say that you have enjoyed doing the project and cannot get onto the next one.

* References. check all your references and citations are included in your list of references. Check you have used appropriate referencing system. Study how journals and books reference text.

* Appendixes. Present raw data here. Appendixes should be organised and labelled accurately. Say where the archive data may be found and summarise its content.

The checklist

Here is a checklist for presenting your report.

* Have you organised the report so that the reader can see the main themes and arguments?

* Do you give explanatory statements?

* Do you say what your knowledge claim is?

* Does the report have sections headings and subheadings? Are they concluded and summarised?

* Have you identified a research issue, explained your reasons for doing your research and set out your overall aims?

* Is the research question evident? Have you addressed it consistently? Can you show how you generated your theory from studying your practice?

* Is the context of the research well described? Have you shown importance for your workplace?

* Have you shown a link with your values position?

* Have you shown links with other works and research?

* Have you shown how your research may influence future policy?

* Have you shown how you developed coherent action plan?

* Have you explained why you choose action research methodology?

* Have you descried what actions you took to contribute to improving the situation and why?

* Have you described which particular techniques you used to monitor your actions and thinking and gather data?

* Have you explained why and who else was involved?

* Have you explained how the data was gathered and analysed?

* Have you explained the significance of the data, and show how you turn them into evidence, by testing them against identified criteria?

* Have you shown how you undertook formative evaluation through working with identifiable action research cycle?

* Have you described your validation procedures? Have you presented and discussed the outcomes of the validation?

* Were the authenticity, accuracy and relevance of your research agreed during the validation?

* Have you explained the implication of the study for personal and professional practice in relation for better understanding of your own practice?

* Have you explained how your work contributes to organisational change?

* Have you explained how the work could contribute to developmental and organisational theory?

* Have you taken care in presenting your references?

* Have you proofread the text at least 3 times?

Bibliography:

McNiff J 2016 You and your action research project. London ; New York : Routledge; Fourth edition.

Collis J & Hussey R 2014 Business Research A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Hampshire UK; Palgrave Macmillan;

Fourth Edition