RECENT ASSIGNMENT

- Students are required to investigate and prepare a REPORT on a contemporary Australian social issue.
- The length of the report should be approximately 1000-1500 words.
• Topic – The Australian Government has asked you to conduct research and report on the impact of Australia’s ageing population. You will need to plan your research, review, and discuss literature before presenting conclusions and recommendations in your report
REPORT STRUCTURE:
Title page
Abstract - provides a summary of the report and its findings
Table of Contents
Introduction – provides background for the topic of investigation as well as definitions of key terminology and concepts
Methods – a description of the means for gathering information
Discussion – a review key data and literature in relation to the topic of investigation
Conclusions and Recommendations – summarises the report aims, and findings with relevant recommendations
Reference List – UQ Harvard referencing
Appendices - includes any graphs, images, tables etc referred to in the body of the report
• The Australian Government has asked you to conduct research and report on?the impact of Australia’s ageing population.?You will need to plan your research, review and discuss literature before presenting conclusions and recommendations in your report.
• Impact means effects
• This means:
• You need to talk about how having more older people will affect Australia.
• focuses much more on conclusions and recommendations. That means you will write a lot more about what the government should do about the changes in Australia's population and why they should do these things.
- When I am reading sources for this question I should look for/think about:
Information on how the ageing population will affect Australia
My own ideas and opinions even if these involve things that happened after 2015 when the report was written. (although I will need to support these with evidence and examples from sources later).
Things the government could or should do about Australia's aging population.
STRUCTURE EXPLAIN:
1) Title page:
research Report Topic and word Count
2) Abstract:
summarises report aim.
-providing an overview of the main sections of the report.
3) Table of contents:
lists all subsections and page numbers
4) Introduction structure:
(provides background for the topic of investigation as well as definitions of key terminology and concepts)
- Provides background information which gives the reader a general idea of the research area.
- Provides definitions of key terms and concepts relevant to the investigation.
- Indicates the research aim and outlines (lists) the headings for the report sections which follow.
- outline of subsections and headings
5) Method structure:
(a description of the means for gathering information)
The method section should explain how you did your research. It should allow another researcher to repeat our work so it needs to include the process you followed and description of the equipment/materials that you used. It should also discuss the process that you followed. For our research, we have been tasked by the government to gain a better understanding of an issue and provide recommendations. Therefore, we will conduct secondary research.
• Method section should consist of three (3) paragraphs:
(1. Research Approach)
- explain the purpose of the research
- explain why secondary research was used
- outline how many sources you used
(2. Sources)
- outline each type of source you use (journal article, website etc.)
- justify the reliability and relevance of each source
(3. Tools)
- list the main research tools used
- outline how the main research tools were used
6) Discussion:
- 3 – 4 paragraphs
- Review of key data and literature in relation to the topic of investigation
- 1 direct quote
- 3 and more in-text references
7) Conclusions & Recommendations:
• Structure of the Conclusions & Recommendation Section
- The conclusion of a research paper needs to summarize the content and purpose of your Research Report.
• Every basic conclusion must share several key parts:
• Aims - Restates the aims of your Research Report
• Impacts & Discussion - restate the impacts and summary of discussion section
• Summarise & Compare Findings - briefly summarise and compare any findings and information from your sources.
• Gaps in Research - identify and state any gaps you discovered while reading sources and writing your Research Report.
• Recommendations - make recommendations based on your research, reading and make a recommendation using cautious language.
The conclusions should relate to the aims of the research and the research statement
8) Reference List:
- 10 sources with 4 academics.
- Single-spaced
- Alphabetical order (A-Z)
- UQ Harvard style
9) Appendices:
(includes any graphs, images, tables etc referred to in the body of the report)
* Charts and Tables Formatting:
-all charts and tables used to supply information are included Microsoft Word (DOCX) or Adobe PDF format.
-Approximately 1,500 words (minimum)
-Arial or Times New Roman Font, Size 11 or 12
-Double Line Spacing.
-line spaces between paragraphs
-Header: name and report title
-Footer: Page number
In-text Referencing and Reference List
MUST:
• use reporting verbs (or structures) when citing a source (e.g. According to Smith (2012))
• use 'quotation marks' around your direct quote
• include a page number for any quote
• use mostly paraphrases
• cite all paraphrases, summaries and quotes in-text using UQ Harvard style
• include a reference list entry for each source cited in-text using UQ Harvard style
All sources you cite in text must match the reference list entry (check author and year).
Please avoid starting a paragraph with source information. Should have a topic sentence.