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What does analysis look like in a research report?

For the kinds of research projects that you complete in more advanced classes, you'll need to perform your own independent analysis of the facts you find. The end result of that analysis is generally a well-reasoned report or presentation that presents an overall claim and then describes how the evidence supports that claim.

Do you know what this kind of analysis looks like? Use the activity below to find out. Select the statement in each pair that represents analysis rather a simple reporting of facts.

analytical statement
Seeing the real effects of battle on television transformed Americans' relationship to war.

During the Vietnam war, for the first time, Americans saw footage of a battle's aftermath.

Identifying a cause-effect relationship is one type of analytical thinking.
Identifying a cause-effect relationship is one type of analytical thinking.
analytical statement
In their attempts to reach a younger, perhaps more cynical crowd, the government diminished the real dangers of infectious disease.e.

In 2011, three years before the Ebola outbreak, the CDC released a series of posters and other publications that referenced a zombie apocalyps

Only one these statement identifies an effect of the government's actions in relation to a potential pandemic. That statement, to be convincing, would need to be supported by plenty of evidence and reasoning.
Only one these statement identifies an effect of the government's actions in relation to a potential pandemic. That statement, to be convincing, would need to be supported by plenty of evidence and reasoning.
analytical statement
The nucleus of an atom contains protons, electrons, and neutrons. Even these particles have internal structure.

Physicists are on the brink of changing everything that we know about the atom.

One of these statements would appear as evidence in an analytical research report while the other could work as the report's overall point.
One of these statements would appear as evidence in an analytical research report while the other could work as the report's overall point.
analytical statement
Facebook and Pinterest both encourage users to share their buying habits at the point of purchase, though they do so in different ways.

In the age of social media, when everything about one's life can be shared instantly, advertising is less about broadcasting than word of mouth.

The first sentence states a fact about two social media sites. The second sentence interprets the meaning of this fact—which is one type of analysis.
The first sentence states a fact about two social media sites. The second sentence interprets the meaning of this fact—which is one type of analysis.

Complete

 

Of course, to be qualified to make these kinds of statements, you'll need to make sure you have located all of the most important information on the topic and that you've carefully considered what that information means in the larger context of the assignment.