INTERIM

AND
SUMMARY REPORT
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

SNEHA SARA VARGHESE

The Interim Report

Should provide the content:
- Introduction
- Literature Review
- Methodology

The Interim Report - Structure

Contents:
-

Full Name (& Student Number)

Title of Dissertation
Aim & Objectives
Literature Review
Methodology
References

The Interim Report - Content

Title
Aim & Objectives

- A general introductory paragraph should lead to

the statement of;
the Research Aim,
followed by the statement of 3 to 4 specific Research
Objectives that you believe can be achieved during
the Research process.

- It should;

investigative objectives and therefore problem-based,

i.e. rather than solution-based,
With the need to analyse rather than merely
describe.

The Interim Report Content

Literature Review

- To place your Research into relevant contexts;

i.e. matched to specific Objectives.
- Refer to other works done similar to the Aim &
Objectives of our Research.
- Appropriate contexts might be subject-based;
What has been done in this subject area before

- Or problem-based;
How this kind of problem been approached in
previous studies

- Only include citations/extracts from relevant

literature
relevant to the topic/subject of our Research

The Interim Report Content

Methodology
- must detail the way in which the Objectives of
your Research are to be achieved.
This means not only a description of the methods to
be used, but also a discussion of the logic of those
methods.

- It should justify why these methods are used

The discussion should, therefore, include
consideration of alternatives and demonstrate the
appropriateness of the approach being proposed.

The Interim Report Content

Methodology
- It should not just be merely itemising a datacollection approach.
- If basing your research upon a previously used
methodology;
- Identify those methods have been judged to be
appropriate in the
past in previous work
- Create our own identified way

References

- A reference list for each of the citations in your

Interim Report should appear under this
heading.
Only include those references which you have
actually cited.

- This list of references can be presented using

The Interim Report

Plagiarism should not be done
- If it is not ours, if we have read it from somewhere else,
then we must reference it.

References, must appear in the form:

- Author (Date), Title, Publisher.

Citations, must appear in the form:

- (Author, Date)

SUMMARY
To SummarizeREPORT
a Research Article:
Writing the Summary
Like an abstract in a published research article,
the purpose
of an article summary is to give the reader a
brief overview
of the study.
To write a good summary, identify what
information is
important and condense that information for
your reader.
The better you understand a subject, the easier
it is to
explain it thoroughly and briefly.

Determine your focus

The first thing to do is to decide why you need to
summarize the article.
If the purpose of the summary is to take notes to later
remind
yourself about the article you may want to write a
longer summary.
However, if the purpose of summarizing the article is
to
Reading
the
Article
include
it in
a paper you are writing, the summary
Allowfocus
enough
should
on time
Before
you
can write
about
the research,
you
how the
articles
relates
specifically
to your
paper.
have to understand it.
Can be time consuming
Only when you can clearly explain the study in
your own words to someone who hasnt read the
article are you ready to write about it.

Scan the article first

when reading a new article from start to finish, find

the main points.
Briefly look at each section to identify:
- the research question and reason for the study
(Introduction)
- the hypothesis or hypotheses tested (Introduction)
- how the hypothesis was tested (Methodology)
- the findings (Results, including tables and figures)
- how the findings were interpreted (Discussion)
Underline key sentences or write the key point
Although the abstract can help you to identify the
main points, you cannot rely on it exclusively,
because it contains very condensed information.
Remember to focus on parts of the article that are

Read for depth, read interactively.

After highlighting the main points, read each
section again
- to know if the design of the study address the
research
questions
- to see how convincing the results are.
- to know what does the study contribute toward
answering
the original question
- to find out the aspects of the original question
that remain
unanswered

Plagiarism
Plagiarism should be avoided.
- Take notes in your own words. Using short
notes or summarizing key points in your own
words helps you to rewrite the ideas into your
own words later.
- If you find yourself sticking closely to the
original language and making only minor changes
to the wording, then you probably don't
understand the study

Write a first draft

Use the same order as in the article itself.
Adjust the length accordingly depending on the
content of your particular article and how you will
be using the summary.
State the research question and explain why it is
interesting.
State the hypotheses tested.
Briefly describe the methods (design,
participants, materials, procedure, what was
manipulated [independent variables], what was
measured [dependent variables], how data were
analyzed.
Describe the results, were they significant
Explain the key implications of the results. Avoid

 The results, and the interpretation of the

results,
should relate directly to the hypothesis.
Focus on content, not length
Condense later as needed.
Try writing about the hypotheses, methods
and results
first, then about the introduction and
discussion last.
If you have trouble on one section, leave it
for a while
and try another.
If you are summarizing an article to include
in a paper

 Edit for completeness and accuracy.

- Add information for completeness where necessary.

- More commonly, if you understand the article, you will
need
to cut less important information.
- Stay focused on the research question, be concise
and avoid generalities.

Edit for style.

- Expect your readers to be interested, don't make them

struggle to
understand.
- Include all the important details; don't assume that the
are already understood.

Eliminate wordiness, including most adverbs

Use specific and concrete language.

-Use precise language and cite specific
examples to
support assertions.
- Avoid vague references

Use scientifically accurate language.

Rely primarily on paraphrasing, not direct
quotes.
- Direct quotes are seldom used in scientific
writing.
- Instead, paraphrase what you have read.
- To give due credit for information that you
paraphrase,

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dissertation on Interim Report by Ian Perry
Summarizing a Research Article 19972006, University of Washington