Research Methodology

Links: ideas into cohesive paragraphs, rather than breaking them down into a list of dot-points | Uses graphics wherever possible (tables, graphs, illustrations) | Rarely uses graphics | May need an abstract (sometimes called an executive summary) | Will only need an abstract if it is very long, or if your lecturer asks for one Specifically | 5. According to academicview.hubpages.com the different between essay and report is explained as follows; Essay An essay is an argumentative piece of writing which is ideal for comparing and contrasting. An essay allows the author the luxury of calling upon ones own experiences and knowledge. This particular type of writing is less formal than a report and consequently less factual. If you were tasked with writing about the future of the European Union it would be reasonable to expect your tutor to request that in essay format. The rational for that is because it will require a degree of opinion, although the opinion should be built on a foundation of knowledge and fact. An essay can be a clever tool for informing your tutor that you have not only researched the subject, but also understood it to a degree whereby one can offer creditable opinion. An easy mistake to make with an essay is to present a series of facts and other people’s statements only turning that into sentences. It is fine to employ the words of others as long as they are accredited and used to provide evidence of your own analytical thinking. To return to the hypothetical topic of the European Union, it would be ideal to exhibit your knowledge of past and current policy but also stress what you think about the nature of future policy. You are using knowledge and facts to form an educated opinion of your own. What do the facts suggest to you? One thing to note though is that, although there is a certain amount of fluency expected that’s not to say one can abandon the structure completely. Out with the Introduction, Main Body and Conclusion the main body should be sub categorized by topic. For instance each point should have its own paragraph. Reports Reports are distinctive from essays as it is a formal piece of written communication. A report tends to have a very strict structure were by the input has rigid limitation. For example, Executive Summary, Purpose/Introduction, Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations; a report will also expect a title page, a contents page and a page on references/sources. A point worthy of note is making sure that one uses formal language. Also make sure you stick to the structure. Avoid imputing any opinions under the Findings heading. This section is exclusively for stating fact. Also I recommend taking note of your sources on an on going basis. You cannot use a quote or a fact which you have not attributed to a source.