Exam 13: Planning and Preparing a Final Research Report

Zara finished a survey study and found unexpected results - in some cases,the analyses showed that variables were correlated,but Zara had no a priori hypothesis about those variables.She is unsure whether to include these results at all in the final report.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

Throughout your textbook the authors return to the importance of interpreting the findings of a research project.Explain why this is an essential element in a high-quality research report.

As part of her graduate work,Liana conducted an ethnographic study,which included several participant observers - undergraduate students who received course credit for their participation across a full semester.Liana is unsure whether to include the students as co-authors on a conference proposal she is submitting,in which she summarizes the main findings of the study.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her?

Which of the following would NOT be an appropriate start to a statement regarding the nature of the data in the research?

Monisha conducted a narrative study that turned out exactly opposite of what she expected.She ends the report of her study with a brief summary of the findings and a more lengthy discussion of the importance of the research question,including a new literature review that might explain her unexpected findings.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

Describe the difference between a table and a figure.

Before beginning to write a report of your own research study,you should first:

Estrella has completed a qualitative study,and although she coded and organized her data,she did not conduct any statistical analyses.She thus does not want to present a separate results section in her paper.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

Yanfeng completes a qualitative action research study as part of his student teaching experience.His report includes front matter in which he acknowledges the people who helped with the study and an appendix showing his interview questions.When discussing his results,he presents quotations from the participants,who were students in his class.He uses only their initials,to preserve their anonymity.In his conclusions,he notes the next steps he plans to take in the classroom,based on his results.Which of the following pieces of advice is his advisor most likely to give him for revision?

Ami conducted a quasi-experimental study for her thesis.In her final report,she includes one section titled "Results and Conclusions." In that section,she presents statistical analyses,the limitations of her study,and plans for future research.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

One of the main objectives of a research report is to make a case for why the research problem deserves an in depth study.What are some of the reasons why this should be done early in the research report?

Why is it imperative to discuss the potential weaknesses and limitations of a research study?

Kimathi conducted a case study that included a series of interviews.He knows that he should describe his research methods in sufficient detail that someone else could replicate his study exactly,so in a section titled "Methodology," he includes all of his interview questions,and all accompanying follow-up probes,in a lengthy table.Which of the following pieces of advice is his advisor most likely to give him for revision?

Early in a research report,the ________ should be made clear.

Which word or phrase best completes the following phrase: "Correlation does not indicate…"

Marc is working on his dissertation.He wants the introductory section to be thorough and easy to understand,so for any terms that might be ambiguous,he explains how he's defined the term,why he's defined it in that particular way rather than in another way,and an example.Which of the following pieces of advice is his advisor most likely to give him for revision?

Alana has completed a study on the development of political attitudes in adolescence as part of her graduate studies.She begins her dissertation by stating,"Previous research has shown…" and then summarizes the related literature on her topic.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

Explain what the phrase "going too far beyond the data" means in regards to data analysis and interpretation.

Malia did a lot of reading for her dissertation project as she tried to narrow her topic to something that was researchable.She looked at primary and secondary sources,journal articles,Internet sites,and even interviewed a few people who are prominent in the field.She kept careful notes,and when writing the literature review for her project she discussed only those studies that were directly relevant to the research question she ultimately focused on.However,she wants to be sure that her advisors know she completed a comprehensive search of the literature,so she includes a full bibliography chapter,listing all the sources she read.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

Tiffani has completed an experiment with a factorial design and begins to write the section of her report titled "Results." She starts by saying she conducted a factorial analysis of variance and then describes,in sequence,each of the other statistics she ran.Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?