How to present a written investigation

Once the data obtained has been collected, selected and organized in a systematic way, comes the presentation phase, either in written or oral form of the research. The work of organizing ideas can be articulated through the elaboration of diagrams and subsequent development of the agenda. The work of producing the text is articulated through the construction of well-constructed paragraphs. These topics are dealt with in argumentative writing.

Next, technical aspects (index, bibliography, notes, citations) will be presented that will characterize and differentiate the written presentation of the research from other types of writings.

If the written presentation is rather long, it is a good rule that it be divided into several chapters. It is appropriate for each chapter to deal with a sub-problem and, as far as possible, be autonomous from the other chapters. The subdivision of the text into sections is useful only for very long writings, it is necessary that these be relatively autonomous, while it is necessary to avoid a subdivision of the text so detailed as to lead to sections or subsections that are too short.

When the research is subdivided into chapters, it is appropriate to provide an index that must contain the list of chapters and possible sections, with an indication of the corresponding pages of the text. Usually the index appears on the second page of the written text.

 The bibliography is a list of all the written texts used in the research field. It is generally ordered alphabetically, according to the name of the author of each text used.

 The presentation of an investigation is something very personal that must follow an order, since this is the final result of a great work and effort.