Research Format and Design

Research Format and Design

Every research report has established formats irrespective of field of study or discipline. Although, there may be minor differences, but that may be mainly on the methods of data collection and analysis. The structures or formats remain the same which can be largely divided into three parts: preliminaries, text and reference.

 

Page Layout

This talks about text position in a document. As stated in the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, every page should be as follows:

 

Use a 1 inch (2.54 cm) margin on all sides of each page - left or right, top and bottom. Text position should be only in the front page (i.e. text appears on one side of the paper - the reverse side should be blank).

 

Justification

Left justify your margins; meaning that the left margin will be flush to the left side of the page and the right margin will be uneven (APA, 6).

 

Paragraph

A paragraph is a subdivision of a written work that is made up of one or more complete sentences, that usually deals with one point or single issue. It begins with an indented line. According to APA Manual 6^th ed., every first line of paragraph should be indented five to seven spaces or a standard tab key space (½ inch).

 

Page Numbering

This is also called pagination. It is an act of putting numbers (Roman numerals or Arabic numerals) on the pages of a document or book. Page numbering indicates the sequence of presentation in a work. It is one of good qualities of academic work. In line with APA Manual 6^th ed., format: number all pages of the paper, beginning with the title page. The number should be in the top right corner (1 inch from right and ½ inch from the top page edges). Preliminary pages are numbered in Roman numerals (i, ii, iii…) while the main pages are numbered in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3…) starting from chapter one to reference page (last page).

 

Headings

Heading is a word or phrase that is placed at the beginning of a document or passage. It is the basic issue in the passage (subdivision). In other words, headings are subtitles or divisions in a research work. In line with APA  publication Manual, 6^th  edition, heading styles can be in these forms: bold (its font size should be more than the body), centered (it should be placed at the middle line above sentence(s) it is heading), uppercase (it can be in capital letter), and lowercase (it can also be in small letter).

 

Font Size and Spacing

Font size is the point size of letters in a document. Font size of thesis (project) work should be 12 points, except titles and headings. APA recommends using of 12-pt Times New Roman font.

  Spacing on the other hand, is the gaps between letters or words and lines in a book or document. It should be double line spacing except if there is block in-text quotation and in reference list.

 

Paper Size

Paper size, is the size of paper used in printing thesis work. Paper is being cut in different sizes. There are A2 (which is the half of A1), A4 (the half of A3), A5 (the half size of A4), etc, paper sizes. Hence, the paper size of thesis should be A4 size paper.

 

Cover Page

A cover page of project work should contain title of the report, author’s name (byline) and institutional affiliation identifies the location where the author conducted the research, months and year of publication. It shares the same contents with title page. In other words, they contain the same thing.

Cover page should be precise and professionally organized as much as possible. This is because it is the first appearance and contact in a work. Although, thesis or books in general are not being judged by their covers but covers summarily tell much about works. © Oformatism