# 6 Writing the report

Following your analysis, you will need to write up your findings and recommendations in a final report. You will need to write in plain English and avoid jargon. However, the writing style is still formal and you should avoid emotive language (unless it is a direct quote from a participant).

Figure 21 The last stage of applied policy research is writing the final report

Typically your report will include the following:

- an executive summary
- the research question and methodology used
- a summary of the literature review
- a summary of the research carried out, any information found and their relevance to the issue
- an analysis of the research and its implications
- suggestions for reform and any practical considerations. As part of your recommendations you can suggest further research is needed.

You must continue to research ethically while writing your report and continue to be guided by the principles you learnt about in Section 2. You will now have an opportunity to reflect on this further in the next activity.

## Activity 9 Research ethics and writing the report

You should allow yourself 15 minutes to do this activity.

Your duty to research ethically continues when writing your report. How might the duty to act with respect, honesty, fairness and care affect the way you write up your final report?

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### Comment

When writing the report, you must behave honestly, and so you cannot report something that does not have sufficient evidence to back it up. You also have to include and account for counter-evidence (that is, evidence that contradicts your primary finding or recommendations). Finally, you will need to include a statement of the limitations of the research overall.

OpenLearn - Carrying out research for policy and advocacy work
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