Presenting Insights

and Findings:
Written Reports

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 
Written
Presentation
and the Research
Process

20-2
The Written Research Report

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Guidelines for Short Reports

Tell reader why you are writing

Remind reader of request

Write in an expository style

Write report and hold for review

Attach detailed materials in appendix

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Components: Short Report
Memo or Letter-Style

Introduction
 Problem statement
 Research objectives
 Background
Conclusions
 Summary and conclusions
 Recommendations

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Components: Short Report Technical

• Prefatory Information (all)

• Introduction
(all, plus brief methodology and
limitations)
• Findings
• Conclusions
• Appendices
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The Long Research Report

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Report Modules

Prefatory Information
Introduction
Methodology
Findings
Conclusions & Recommendations
Appendices
Bibliography

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Components: Long Report
Management

Prefatory Information

Introduction
(includes brief methodology
& limitations)

Findings

Conclusions &
Recommendations

Appendices

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Components Long Report: Technical

Prefatory Information
Introduction
Methodology
(detailed)
Findings
Conclusions
Appendices
Bibliography

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Prewriting Concerns

What is the report’s purpose?

Who will read the report?

What are the circumstances?

How will the report be used?

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The Outline

Major Topic Heading

A. Major subtopic heading
1. Subtopic
a. Minor subtopic
1) Further detail

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Types of Outlines

Topic Sentence
Demand Demand for
A. How measured refrigerators
1. Voluntary error A. Measured in terms f
2. Shipping error factory shipments as
a. Monthly reported by the U.S.
variance Department of
Commerce
1. Error is introduced
into year to year
comparisons

20-13
Grammar and Style Proofreader
Results

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Considerations for Writing

Readability

Comprehensibility

Tone

20-15
Avoiding Overcrowded Text

Use shorter paragraphs

Indent or space parts of text

Use headings

Use bullets

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Appropriate Data Displays

20-17
Sample Findings Page: Tabular

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Charts for Written Reports

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Components of a Whole or
Frequency

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Relationships or Comparisons

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Sample Findings Page: Graphical

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Findings Page Templates

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Appropriate Data Displays

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Text Presentation

Wal-mart regained its number-1 rank in the Forbes 500 due

to its strong sales performance (11% increase; $351.1
billion). Although Wal-mart surpassed number-2-ranked
ExxonMobil in sales, Wal-mart’s profitability ($11.2 billion)
was far below the oil giant ($39.5 billion).
Some credit several challenging public relations
problems with the lower-than-expected level. Number-6-
ranked General Electric also outperformed Walmart in
profits with $20.8 billion. GE’s robust sales growth (27.4%)
is an indication that it will likely challenge both Walmart
and ExxonMobil in the future.

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Alternative Text Presentation

• Oil giant and energy exploration leader ExxonMobil is the most

profitable company in the Fortune 500 due to record crude oil prices
increasing its profits to $39.5 billion, compared to $11.2 billion for
Wal-mart.
• ExxonMobil’s profits jumped 9% on a 2% increase in sales, while Wal-
mart’s profits increased a mere 0.5% on an 11% increase in sales.
• General Electric provided a 27.4% increase in profits on a 7.1%
increase in sales, and outperformed Wal-mart on profits ($20.8 billion
to $11.2 billion).
• Although Wal-Mart regained the top spot in the Fortune 500, its
performance shows signs of weakness in profitability.

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Parts of a Table

Body

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 Tabular Presentation

Wal-mart regained its number one rank in 2007 by increasing its sales 11 percent
over its prior year’s sales. But it still trails in profitability.
Revenue Sales Profit
Company Rank ($, millions) Growth Profits Growth

Wal-Mart 1 $351,139.0 11.2% $11,284.0 0.5%

Exxon 2 $347,254.0 02.2% $39,500.0 9.3%

Mobil
General 6 $168,307.0 07.1% $20,829.0 27.4%
Electric

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Sample Graphics within Report

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Sample Line Graph

2008 2009 2010

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Sample Area Chart

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Sample Pie Charts

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Sample Bar Chart

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Pictograph

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Geographs

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3-D Graphs

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Preparing & Delivering
the Written Report

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Preparing & Delivering
the Written Report

Prefatory Information

Introduction

Methodology

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Preparing & Delivering
the Written Report

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Preparing & Delivering
the Written Report

20-40
Preparing & Delivering
the Written Report

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Oral
Presentation
and the
Research
Process

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Model for
Presentation Planning

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Questions Guide the Plan

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Audience Analysis

Seven Questions to Understand Your Audience

• Who are they?

• Why are they here?
• What keeps them up at night?
• Why should they care about the presentation?

• What do you want them to do?

• Should you expect resistance?
• How can you best reach them?
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Visualization Tools

Slides

Notes

Handouts

21-46
Visual Design Principles

Visual Preparation

Flow Aids

Visibility

Whitespace

Picture Supremacy

Photographic Framing

21-47
Design Flow Aids

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Graphs
for Orals

21-49
Ethics in Business Research
 What are Research Ethics?

• Ethics are norms or standards of behavior

that guide moral choices about our
behavior and our relationships with others
• The goal is to ensure that no one is
harmed or suffers adverse consequences
from research activities
 Ethics and Business Research

• Ethics in business research refers to a code

of conduct of behavior while conducting
research.
• Ethical conduct applies to the organization and
the members that sponsor the research, the
researchers who undertake the research, and the
respondents who provide them with the
necessary data.

52
 Ethics and Business Research
• The members that sponsor the research should
do it in good faith, pay attention to what the
results indicate, and pursue organizational rather
than self-interest.
• Ethical conduct should also be reflected in the
behavior of the researchers who conduct the
investigation, the participants who provide the
data, the analysts who provide the results, and
the entire research team that presents the
interpretation of the results and suggests
alternative solutions.
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 Ethical Treatment of Participants

• Begin data collection by explaining to

the participant the benefits expected
from the research
• Explain to the participants that their
rights and well-being will be
adequately protected, and say how
this will be done
• Be certain that interviewers obtain
the informed consent of the
participant
 Benefits

• In direct contact with the participant, the

researcher should discuss the study’s benefits
after his/her introduction;
• Neither overstate nor understate the benefits;
• Sometimes, the actual purpose and benefits of
the study must be concealed from the
participants to avoid introducing bias;
• But concealing the objectives of the research
leads directly to the problem of deception.
 Rights and Obligations of the
Researcher
• The purpose of research is research
• Objectivity
• Misrepresenting research
• Protect the right to confidentiality of both
subjects and clients
• Dissemination of faulty conclusions
• Advocacy research
 Ethical Issues

• Philosophical questions
• Societal norms
• Codes of behavior
Rights and Obligations of the
Respondent
• The obligation to be truthful
• Privacy
• Deception
• The right to be informed
 Ethical principles
However, they have been usefully broken
down by Diener and Crandall (1978) into four
main areas:
• whether there is harm to participants;
• whether there is a lack of informed consent;
• whether there is an invasion of privacy;
• whether deception is involved

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 Deception

• Deception occurs when the

participants are told only part of the
truth or when the truth is fully
compromised. Two reasons
suggested for deception are:
– To prevent biasing the participants before the
survey or experiment; and
– To protect the confidentiality of a third party (e.
g., the sponsor)
 Issues Related to Protecting
Participants

• Informed consent
• Debriefing
• Right to Privacy/Confidentiality
• Data Collection in Cyberspace
 Informed Consent
• Securing informed consent from participants is
a matter of fully disclosing the procedures of the
proposed survey or other research design before
requesting permission to proceed with the study.
• If there is a chance the data could harm the
participant (offering only limited confidentiality,
a signed form detailing the types of limits should
be obtained.
• For most business research, oral consent is
sufficient.
 Informed Consent Procedures for Surveys

• Introduce yourself.
• Brief description of the survey topic.
• Geographical area of the respondents and target sample.
• Sponsor’s name.
• Describe purpose of research.
• Time estimate for completing the interview
• Promise anonymity and confidentiality (when
appropriate).
• Tell the interviewee that participation is voluntary.
• Tell the participant that item-nonresponse is acceptable.
• Ask permission to begin.
 Debriefing Participants
• Debriefing involves several activities following
the collection of data:
– Explanation of any deception.
– Description of the hypothesis, goal, or purpose of the
study.
– Post study sharing of results.
– Post study follow-up medical or psychological
attention.
• The use of deception is questionable; when it is used,
debrief any participant who has been deceived.
Ethical Issues related to the Client/
Rights to Privacy
• All individuals have a right to privacy, and researchers
must respect that right.
• The privacy guarantee is important not only to retain
validity of the research but also to protect participants.
• The researcher protects participant’s confidentiality in
several ways:
– Obtaining signed nondisclosure documents.
– Restricting access to participant identification.
– Revealing participant information only with written consent.
– Restricting access to data instruments where the participant is
identified.
– Not disclosing data subset.
 Rights to Privacy
• Privacy is more than confidentiality.
• A right to privacy means one has the right to
refuse to be interviewed or to refuse to answer
any question in an interview.
• To address these rights, ethical researchers do
the following:
– Inform participants of their right to refuse to answer
any question or participate in the study.
– Obtain permission to interview participants.
– Schedule field and phone interviews.
– Limit the time required for participation.
– Restrict observation to public behavior only.
 Other ethical and legal
considerations
• Data management
• Copyright
• Reciprocity and trust
• Affiliation and conflicts of interest

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 Ethics Code of conduct or expected societal
norms of behavior.

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/
whatis/index.cfm

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Codes and
Policies for
Research
Ethics

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Codes and
Policies for
Research
Ethics

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