Working from examples

Use previous examples of similar assignments, usually available via your library, in order to gain a good sense of how material is organised within your subject and how to make best use of the words available to you, in a style consistent with your subject discipline. (If examples of assignments are not available, look back at the section on journal articles for some steer. See page 126.)
Aspect Check off	each aspect once you have considered it fully.	
■	Abstract
•	How does the author sum up all their research in so few words? What do they include?
•	Look at the rest of the work to consider the choices that the author made about what material
to include and exclude from the main body and the way that they paraphrased their lengthier
sections within the abstract.	
■	Formal structure
•	Are you expected to use chapters or sections or some other format to organise your material?
•	How many words are allocated to each section or chapter?	
■	Introduction
•	What is the range of information contained within the Introduction?
•	How is this material organised?
•	How is each theme introduced?	
■	Methods
•	How are methods described? What level of detail is included? How is this section worded?
•	Are any particular sub-sections typical within your subject?	
■	Results/findings
•	At what level of detail are these described?
•	How are these worded? What do you notice about the writing style?
•	Are tables and/or charts typical?	
■	Discussion/interpretations
•	What proportion of the report is taken up by the discussion?
•	What kinds of issues are covered, typically? (See page 213.)	
■	Conclusions/Recommendations
•	Where are these located within reports/dissertations in your subject?
•	At what level of detail are these discussed?
•	What kinds of conclusions or recommendations are typical?	
■	Citations and references
•	How do authors introduce passing references to other pieces of research within their own? What kind of wording do they use to do so?
•	What kinds of commentary or analysis are typical?
•	How do they pick up on their citations within their references or footnotes?	
■	Appendices
•	What kinds of material, typically, are presented in the appendices?
•	How do authors refer to appendices within their work?