Assessment 2 Report Structure

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Assessment 2 Report Structure

There have been a number of questions on what goes in different sections of the report.  In the following, I refer to Assessment 2 Marking Guide and one of the assigned readings, Reading 5.2: “Souvenirs: What and Why We Buy”, that provides a good illustration of the components of the report that are incorporated into the marking criteria.

This Souvenirs article has clearly labelled sections that can illustrate the components of the report.  As I refer to this article in discussing sections of the report (bolded) that students had questions regarding what should go in those sections, it would be useful to look at the structure of the Souvenirs article (IN CAPS) when reading the material below:

  • INTRODUCTION

Like the Souvenirs author, you will have a brief Introduction section in your report.  Your Introduction should be no more than 10% of the report.

 

  • LITERATURE REVIEW section in which the author discusses the past academic literature and research on souvenirs that helped frame his research. You likewise will have a Literature Review section in your report.

You should discuss literature that helped frame your research questions and thus is related to your findings.  This literature can be assigned unit readings or other academic literature.  Most importantly, the literature included in your Literature Review should be relevant and connected to your interview questions (helped inform them) and to what you found out in your research.

You should not discuss your interview findings in the Literature Review.  Like the Souvenirs author, you should only discuss academic literature in your Literature Review.  The Literature Review should be no more than 20% of your report.

 

  • DATA COLLECTION AND METHODOLOGY section in which the author discusses what he did in his research study. This is equivalent to the Methodology section in your report.

You will likewise discuss your methodology, or how you did your study.  Much of the methodology is outlined in the instructions for Assessment 2 (i.e., drafting interview questions, etc.).  In this section, you will discuss how your research study was carried out.  Your  Methodology should be no more than 10% of your report.

 

  • RESULTS (this is equivalent to Findings section in your report) under which there are sub-headings

For the Souvenirs study, the results subheadings identify the main themes coming out of the research the author conducted: Souvenir Purchases, Souvenirs as Gifts, Souvenirs as Memory, Souvenirs as Evidence, Effect of Purchase Motivation on Souvenir Purchase.

For your study, you will have subheadings according to the main themes/findings that come out from your interview.   Under those subheadings, you like the Souvenirs author, will present your findings in the text of the report.  I previously gave the example of “The Tourist Body and Tourist Experiences” as a Findings subheading if your interviewee discussed how the body played a crucial role in his/her tourist experience like those discussed in Reading 4.1: “An intimate rendezvous with nature’? Mediating the tourist-nature experience at three tourist sites in Borneo”.  In this article, Kevin Markwell discussed the pain and exhaustion that some members of the tour group experienced when climbing up Mt. Kinabalu, their insect bites while hiking, and the memorable experience of being touched by baby orangutans.  I said “The Tourist Body and Tourist Experiences” could be a subheading if your interviewee discusses aspects of experiencing place through the body such as how they felt while hiking, while getting a spa treatment, having a great meal, getting food poisoning, etc.

The Findings is a major section of your report and of your assessment marks.  Your Findings should be around 30-35% of your report.

 

  • DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Like the author of the Souvenirs article, you can combine Discussion and Conclusions in one section in your report.  Also like the Souvenirs article author, you will discuss and relate your findings to the relevant literature.  As noted in the UIG and in the Marking Criteria, you “MUST integrate relevant academic literature into the discussion of your findings. In other words, we want you to be able to compare what your interviewee has said with what the literature tells you about the dimensions of the tourist experience (such as motivation, satisfaction, behaviours and impacts.”

 

The Discussion and Conclusions is a major section of your report and of your assessment marks.  Your Discussion and Conclusions should be around 30% of your report.

 

 

 

  • REFERENCES

Like the Souvenirs author, you will include in your References all the non-original material you used in your report (i.e., academic literature, unit materials).

 

Note: Unlike the Souvenirs article, which has an abstract, you will begin with an Executive Summary and a Table of Contents as this is a report.  Additionally you will have an Appendices section which will include your signed consent form, your interview schedule (approved questions), and the transcript of the interview.  I am asking for the interview schedule as a separate document because as the interview evolves, the order of the questions asked may change.  You may be asking more probing questions or following up on what the interviewee says and you may not get to all the planned questions.  Also your interviewee may answer questions as s/he discusses the trip so you will not have to ask a question if s/he has already provided the information.

 

The Executive Summary, Table of Contents, References, and Appendices will not be counted in the 2000 word count.

 

Hope this is helpful in clarifying the structure and components of the report.  You can also check the Academic Skills Quick Guides on Literature Review and Executive Summary for more information on how to write those sections.

 

 

Report structure for Assignment 2

Report structure Suggested format and contents
Executive summary

(1 para, no more than 2)

 ·       Clearly and briefly state the objective, main findings, and major conclusions of your research (1-2 paragraph)

·       Do not include details, write succinctly
Table of contents Format correctly:

·       Headings, subheadings are spelled correctly

·       Only include the page number that marks the beginning of the heading

·       Page numbers in the TOC match the page numbers of items as they appear in the text

·       The numbers and headings in TOC are consistent with those used in the main body of text
1.0  Introduction

(1 para)

 ·       Briefly introduce the research topic (the aim or objective of the report)

·       Outlines all the sections/information you are going to present

·       Do not present any findings or results in the introduction
2.0 Literature review

(2.1 Travel motivation)

(2.2 Destination selection)

(No more than 20% of your report)

 ·       Critically review the studies that has been done previously and published, and summarise the key ideas and important findings. (you will link them to your findings/results in the Discussion section).

·       Literature can be your prescribed readings or other academic literature, and should be relevant and connected to your interview questions (strongly recommend use your prescribed readings of this unit)

·       Do not discuss your findings/results
3.0  Methodology

(1 para, no more than 2)

 What you did for this research and how you did it. For example, you wrote a list of interview questions and turned in for approval, how you did your interview (e.g. where you did it, how long, recorded or not), transcribed your recording, and analysed your transcript.
4.0 Findings/results

4.1…

4.2…

(30-35% of your report)

 ·       Present your findings/results obtained from interpreting the data you gathered

·       Present the information clear, concisely.

·       Report facts, no personal options are included
5.0 Discussion

5.1….

…..5.2 …

(30% of your report)

 Discuss the results and integrate relevant academic literature (from your literature review) into the discussion of your findings.
6.0 Conclusion

(1 para, no more than 2)

 ·       Briefly summarise main findings/results, and main points of discussion.

·       Findings in conclusion must be consistent with the information presented in results and discussion section

·       Don’t include any new information in the conclusion
Reference list ·       List all the references that have been cited in the report

·       All in-text references and reference list should be written in Harvard style (follow SCU Harvard LibGuide)
Appendices ·       Signed consent form

·       Your interview schedule (approved questions),

·       Transcript of the interview

 

 

The Executive Summary, Table of Contents, References, and Appendices will not be counted in the 2000 word count.