Writing Research Reports

Researchers need to be able to write an intelligble research report and writers need to know how to make use of the research that they do. In my opinion freelance writing and research are inextricably intertwined. When you write an article for a magazine then you write for a particular audience, an audience that may not be the same as those who read articles online. Research reports are a very specialized area of writing as they tend to follow a pre-defined format.

Ingredients of a Research Report

Most forms of writing require an introduction and the research report is no different. Very often the introduction to a research report will talk about the background to the present research, this might involve a brief review of literature and existing research in the field leading up to why the present research is necessary.

The next section of a research report may give a brief overview of the key findings that emerged from the report before listing the intended aims of the research and documenting how the research was undertaken. How this is written will depend very much on the type of research that you are writing about. If you have undertaken survey research that involves a large number of people then you would be using quantitative methodology i.e. a method that is based on ascertaining how many people responded to a certain question in a particular way. When television newscasters or newspapers talk about research it is very often a form of survey research, thus viewers and readers will be presented with information that might say 70% of people say that they would not vote for a particular political party next time around. Reports such as this can be misleading as they rarely include information such as sample size and how that sample was chosen and can leave people with the mistaken impression that 70% refers to all voters, when that is not the case.

When researchers write up their report convention dictates that they state how many people took part in the research and how and why that particular group of people were chosen. The report should also state what the original research question was i.e. what they were trying to find out, if we stick with voting then the research may have been attempting to discover the number of people who voted one way in the last election campaign and whether and why they may have decidred not to vote the same way this time around.

Ethical research is based on two broad areas:

• A detailed account of the research methods and why this particular method was chosen
• A statement of respondent confidentiality

The methodology should state what the research aimed to do and why it was considered necessary. Once the method and ethical questions have been dealt with the research should restate the findings and engage in a brief discussion as to how these conclusions were reached. Research is funded by a number of different bodies, some of whom ask for recommendations for future action based on the research and some of whom ask for recommendations and policy suggestions - this last is usually because the research has been commissioned by Government or by other statutory agencies such as a city council.

Very often researchers find that a project not only provides answers, it throws up other questions and some research reports will use these to suggest what further research might be necessary.

Freelance Writing and Surveys

If you make your living by freelance writing, you may find that sometimes there is not enough work to bring in the income that you need. Many freelance writers use other methods of making money such as becoming an affiliate and introducing Google Adsense on their blog. Some people bolster their money from freelance writing by undertaking surveys.

Surveys may offer cash prizes or a fixed sum for undertaking the survey while others offer free gifts, grocery or holiday vouchers. Some people swear by surveys as a way of providing extra income, others find them a chore. If you do decide to undertake surveys try to get a feel for what you will need to do. Some surveys only take a few minutes of your time and you can fit that in as a break from writing while others may take longer and need more thought. The fact of the matter is that when you get started on freelance writing, filling in surveys is a way of lessening any cash shortfall.

Freelance Writers and Freedom of Speech

Many freelance writers write for newspapers, television and radio, only recently some of these writers have been arrested and then deported from China for speaking and writing what they saw as the truth. We in the west value freedom of speech but it would seem that both the US government and the government in the UK would like to place limits on it. One of the reasons oppressive governments are able to carry on is because they silence all voices, and that includes the written word, that speak out against them.

Freelance Writing and Freedom

Many people who write and who become involved in working as freelance writers also value freedom of speech. When governments try to prevent citizens from speaking or writing against what is going on in a given country then they become dictatorships rather than a government of democratically elected representatives. If government in the UK and the US continue to monitor what we write then western democracy fails. freelance writing freedom of speech

Freelance Research in the Community

Community research usually involves the evaluation of a voluntary sector project such as a refugee forum or family support centre. I've been involved in contract research for the past five years and during that time I have evaluated a number of projects, developed a set of benchmarks for social inclusion, investigated the need for a wet centre and examined how faith communities deal with substance misuse among other things.

Getting Involved

Community research usually means that you develop a relationship with the organizations you are working with and this can mean more than one project with some organizations. Generally speaking you always end up doing more work than you tendered for because that is the nature of the beast.

If you like people, want to help your community and would like to influence policy makers and funding organizations then you might enjoy a career in research, it's not for the faint hearted however. A career in research usually comes on the back of years of academic study learning and honing your craft with the help of supervisors and project leaders. It is however, extremely rewarding, like any other form of freelancing income is not guaranteed and it can be months between one project and the next - you can also spend days working on a research bid and not be awarded the project.

You do have to love your work, there's a lot of interviewing involved, data analysis and creative report writing. Just like anything else that is worthwhile you have to be prepared to put in a lot of hard work and accept that some of what you do is for love rather than money. But I have yet to meet a contract researcher or research consultant as we're sometimes known who would want to give up research.