14   PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION OF REPORT

The information you have gathered is less important; it is the use and action on the results, which matters more. 

Having collected the information, you are now faced with the task of assembling what you have gathered and making sense of it all. All this is to be done in time for facilitating decision-making. Many a time valuable data are rendered valueless by remaining unanalysed.

Steps for converting raw data into useful information are: 

• Organizing data 
• Preparing description and generating interpretation 
• Drawing conclusions and making specific recommendations. 
• Writing the report 
• Presenting the report 
• Disseminating the findings 

Organize the Information 

In order to organize the information, first check that the schedules and diaries are complete. Fill the gaps, if any, by going over your field notes.
Go back to the original objectives and intention of the study. Just as the sources of information and methods of data collection should be in keeping with the objectives of the study, the same way the original purpose and problem should drive the analysis so that the conclusions are linked to the objectives. Regularly weigh the available information in relation to your objectives with a view to sifting usable data from that which is not of immediate relevance.
Write out the list of issues (themes, indicators) including the key ideas.
Note down any emerging ideas that are repeating and substantive, but not included in the original plan of study.
Organize the data around the assembled issues and ideas. Presumably, your schedules contain both quantitative and qualitative information. Different methods of analysis are used for the two types of data.

Quantitative Information 

It will be far easier for you to handle quantitative information given in response to multiple- choice questions or closed questions. Just transfer the data to different tables under the same choices or categories as provided against different questions, and count the responses. For example, in respect of the question on the reasons for not watching TV in the TV centre, (chapter 9) tally and count the total answers against each response category and tabulate as under:


You may find that answers to some closed questions are qualified against such response category as - ‘Any other (please specify)’. Make a note of all such different responses. Club the responses, which are similar in nature. Enter the different response categories in the appropriate tables and record the frequency i.e. number of respondents against each response category. 

If you continue with the above-mentioned example, after taking into account reasons given against - ‘Any other (please specify)’ the table may finally take the following form: 



Complete the tabulation work in respect of all issues, indicators etc. 

Look again at the original proposal to see why exactly each set of information was collected. Go back to the aims and specific objectives of the study. For example, were you interested to see the relationship between the level of education of the respondents and the frequency of watching TV? If that was so, proceed to transfer the data from the master tables into specific tables as shown below :



In the same way, tabulate the entire information in specific tables as per the objectives you had set before the start of the study and those that appeared significant during the course of the study. 

Once the data are stated in numbers, it can be handled with mathematical or statistical techniques. You do not require advance knowledge of statistics to do that. All you need to use is simple descriptive and inferential statistics. 

Descriptive Statistics 

These are relatively simple concepts used in everyday life like averages, percentages and distribution. 

Inferential Statistics 

These are somewhat more complicated, but can be learnt with some training. The two main categories are :

• Examining differences between groups such as ‘before and after’ or ‘with and without’ (see chapter 5), and 
  
• Examining relationships between variables such as ‘cause and effect’ relations e.g. relation between distance of home from the TV centre and frequency of watching TV. 

Qualitative Information 

There would also be qualitative data in the form of suggestions, opinions, attitudes etc., of the respondents. After going through the whole range of responses to each open-ended question, evolve a minimum number of broad categories into which different responses can be fitted. Then proceed to tabulate the frequency of responses against each category for each question separately as suggested above. 

As regards in-depth interviews, focused group discussions, observations etc, read the full text of all data sessions from beginning to end. Look for passages (paragraphs or sentences) that relate to the original topics planned in the study, and emerging themes. Mark these passages. 

Cluster the passages by their major themes. 

Review the various sub-groups within the major themes, and see that listing is complete. 

Also select unedited phrases or extracts from the text which most aptly describe the respondents’ insights for quotation in the final report. 

This way, you will find your data organized in a few tables and clusters of passages. 

Describe and Interpret the Information 

Once you have organized the information and data, you have to interpret the same to see the interconnections. 

Look at the frequencies of different response categories and tables carefully. Taking one at a time, try to work out what is happening, and what exactly the evidence suggests. Preparation of graphs, charts etc based on the data can also help you think systematically and logically about the data. Look for a pattern or a trend.
	At times, the very fact that there is no pattern might be significant.
	As for the qualitative data, determine the significance of each piece of evidence, looking for anything that supports or rejects your original idea or which is relevant to your objectives.
	However, do not stop at the description of isolated facts. The facts need to be put into context for proper interpretation. For example, the finding that children come to school without taking any food is not of much value, unless the circumstances leading to the situation are also gone into.
	Consider what the findings mean. In other words, try to grasp and understand the data merging separate pieces of information into a composite body of knowledge. Working with qualitative data particularly requires capabilities to develop good insights.
	Feel comfortable to discuss the findings and the picture emerging from the analysis with your colleagues and other information users. Different perspectives can help clarify the picture and strengthen your conclusions.

Draw the Right Conclusions 

• Taking each specific aim of the study set down the conclusions that apply to each one. 
  
• If the evidence is not sufficient, don’t try to strengthen it artificially. Just say the things as you find them. 
  
• If you are confident of drawing a conclusion on the basis of your experience and observations when the evidence is lacking, qualify your statement like this: ‘while not entirely borne by evidence, the researcher feels this to be the case’. 
  
• Having set out all conclusions, try to look at them as a whole to see whether there are any internal contradictions. 
  
• After having sifted all the evidence, consider whether any additional information would be useful. It may not be possible to collect such information readily, but it may be desirable to recommend that such information may be collected in future. 

Make Specific Recommendations 

Flowing logically from the conclusions, make precise recommendations. For example, the study on needs assessment should conclude with your concrete suggestions about specific themes and topics of the programmes, and treatment of the message. 

The recommendations should also indicate who should be responsible for taking what action. For example, to simply recommend that schedule of telecasts should be planned in advance is not sufficient. Complete and self contained recommendation would read like this: ‘The District Collector should set up a Co-ordination Committee of different user departments to plan the quarterly schedule of telecasts in advance to remove the element of adhocism in programme planning’. And ‘It should be the responsibility of each user department to inform at least one week in advance their respective beneficiaries about the dates and topics of telecast for better utilization of telecasts’.  Write the Report  No research study is complete without a written report supported by oral presentation and discussion with the concerned group of programme planners and producers. Write the report in a simple, clear language, following a fairly standard format.

First, in the introduction provide the general background and the context within which the study was undertaken.  Then, set out the purpose of the study, specifying the objectives and aims. Mention the limitations, if any, imposed in terms of time and resources in completing the study.  The next section should describe the overall design of the study, cover the methods used and any problems experienced in their applications. Mention the population size and the nature of the sampling frame.  Describe the sequence of events and problems experienced, during the study, for these may have implications for the future study

It would also be worth to include copies of the forms and schedules used for data collection. But these can go as appendices to the main report.   Then, come down to the section giving findings or results of the study. The reader likes it better if the findings are contained in a discursive and logical narrative, flowing and easy to read style. However, mention the tables, which support a particular finding but like forms most tables may be given in the appendices

Discuss the findings, and give your interpretation of the results. However, it should be clear to the reader what exactly are results and what are your interpretations. 

This should be followed by conclusions of the study concisely giving your specific recommendations and plan of action. In the end give a summary of the report. 

Presentation of the Report 

The value of any completed research is realized only when the results are communicated to those who could make use of them such as programme planners and producers. Without it, the only person to benefit from the work will be yourself. Don’t let your hard work disappear in the files. Reporting the findings has the explicit purpose of completing the circuit that takes the programme planners and producers from the process of knowing to a decision to do something about what they come to know.  However, merely making the research report available to them is no guarantee that it would be read by them. It is often worth providing an opportunity for all concerned to get together in a meeting to discuss the report.  Prepare yourself well to present the study before the group, and answer to their queries. Speak with conviction of experience. Bring out the power of information collected by you to generate concern and mobilize interest among all concerned.

Dramatize your presentation making use of transparencies showing tables, graphs, charts, figures, photographs etc. Show video clippings, if available. The more intensely you share your information, the more likely it is that it would be acted upon.

In the end, disseminate the findings and the recommendations with the suggested plan of action in the form of a summary, and follow it up as often as the opportunity comes your way. Make it interesting and easy to read Disseminate your findings