How to Write a Survey Research Paper – Pro Tips with Example
Writing a survey research paper is a major part of assignments assigned to students to assess their understanding and skills. This study involves conducting a survey on a specific topic and drawing conclusions from the results. Based on those conclusions, the researcher will craft the entire survey paper.
These write-ups are of several types, have a proper paper format, and follow a simple writing style. If you do not follow the best practices, you might write the research report but might not get the best out of it.
In this article, we will provide you with top workable tips that will help you write your survey papers. For that purpose, you can also use the services of a research paper writing company. If you are also facing issues with the perfect survey research write-up, this article should be your go-to guide.
What Is a Survey Research Paper?
The tool used for collecting data from a group of individuals through their answers to the questions and presenting that data in a comprehensive and compiled form is called a survey research paper. The surveys your research will be based on have 9 different types, which may vary topic wise.
Types of Surveys Used for Research Paper Data Collection:
- Descriptive Surveys
- Longitudinal Surveys
- Exploratory Surveys
- Explanatory Surveys
- Correlational Surveys
- Analytical Surveys
- Experimental Surveys
- Cross-Sectional Surveys
- Panel Surveys
Each of them has different use cases and data collection methods, you can explore them further to choose the right one for you.
Workable Tips to Write a Survey Research Paper
Writing a comprehensive survey paper becomes easier if you get the right information, an expert guides you, and you practise writing it repeatedly. Here are some effective expert tips to get the best out of your survey research paper.
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Understand the Requirements First
This seems quite obvious but understanding the assignment requirements before you start working on it is as important as doing the literature research. This works as a digital map, if you do not set the direction right, you are certain to reach the wrong destination. This means reaching the destination is important but reaching the right one is more important.
So, spend a good time on understanding the right destination and the best directions to reach it. You should check the guidelines carefully, like total word count, its breakdown, font size, formatting required, and suitable research method.
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Make a Plan & Outline
Once you read the guidelines multiple times and understand the requirements, it’s your sign to make a research plan and outline for the paper. Creating a good research plan includes selecting the methodology you will be using, your preferred data collection tool, and how you will be reaching the respondent.
When you make an outline for your survey paper, consider the following points:
Planning
The preferred research design for the researchers for the survey paper is qualitative research and is widely used. Once you have the complete plan sorted in your mind and noted on mind mapping apps, you should move to make a comprehensive paper outline. Most of the research papers have kind of the same outline and follow a certain pattern to put up the things.
Formatting
You should include all the necessary pages essential for the basic formatting of a research paper. Those pages include a title page, abstract (if the research paper is lengthy), introduction, literature review, methodological approaches, results, discussions, conclusion/verdict, bibliography, and appendixes.
Some sections might be optional depending on your topic requirements and length. Such as an abstract page will be added if your paper is lengthy, and appendices if your research has some extra details that would be irrelevant to your topic but can be good to add to the paper.
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Research the Topic Thoroughly
Researching the topic thoroughly is just like investigating a crime like an expert detective, with no chance of mistakes. The purpose of digging the subject deeper is to identify gaps in literature and research. As we discuss the qualities or characteristics of a good survey paper, we will find that better research is that which fills a gap in the existing research. If your work does not fill a gap, this could not be called deeper research.
Imagine choosing a topic, doing research and writing the complete research paper to find out your research does not fill the knowledge gap or does not add value to the field.
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Create a Strong Research Statement
A strong research statement which compels the reader to go through the entire survey research paper is necessary to make an impact. The examiners only read a research paper if they think it’s really worth spending time on. To make them read the paper, you should make it engaging and cast a positive impact from the beginning.
To make your research statement worth getting attention, you should craft it from the first principles and avoid copying anything from other researchers. Creating unique statements, which trigger the interest and make the readers want more should be your preferred strategy.
Tips to Write a Strong Statement
Here are some best practices to make your statements strong and engaging:
- Avoid Jargon
- Use easy-to-understand language
- Keep it concise
- Talk research, not researcher
- Utilise formal account
- Give your independent view of the issue
Following these best practices can make the process of research statement creation easier for you and give you clarity of mind.
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Add Relevant Details Only
Because the research papers are often long-form write-ups, the chances of going off track become more relevant. While writing your survey research paper, you should try to be as relevant as possible and add the most important and to-the-point details only. If you go off track and add unrelated information and data, getting the purpose and understanding the value your research brings becomes more difficult.
If you find some important information that does not fulfil the scope of your research topic, you can add it to the appendices section. However, adding them to the main chapters could result in making your work irrelevant and impressing the examiner seems more difficult. Just like destroying your hard work with your own hands.
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Keep Your Writing Style and Language Simple
First of all, you need to understand that the purpose of writing the survey paper is not to show your language and vocabulary off. Keeping the language and writing style simple will make your paper stand out. If this seems difficult for you, acquiring help with a research paper can be a beneficial and time-saving step.
Because most of the students tend to add more and more technical jargon and think they would succeed in impressing the examiners this way. Remember, if you sound desperate to impress the reader with your writing style, you might not succeed. Because this works as the sales concept, if you sound salesy, you would rarely get any sales.
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Proofread and Edit Survey Paper Before Submission
Proofreading your research paper and making essential edits before you submit it for final review is important to ensure the accuracy of the writing. Having basic mistakes in the grammar, structure, or language of your writing might sabotage your image as a good researcher.
You should spare a considerable amount of time proofreading the write-up but before you start reading it, you must distance yourself from the paper for 2-3 days and start with fresh eyes. To get the best of your proofreading and editing efforts, you must re-read the research several times.
Read the paper for the first time to find and resolve the basic structural mistakes, and for the second time, read for any grammar and punctuation mistakes. Read for the final time to check for spelling mistakes and make sure your writing is ready to be submitted.
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Cite the Sources Properly
Have you ever heard of the term “unintentional Plagiarism”? Well, this does sound like an excuse but that’s not. If you do not add the proper citations for the sources you took the inspiration from or helped you conduct the research. To add the proper references, you should follow a consistent referencing style, preferably as suggested in your university research guidelines.
At this stage, the point of understanding the assignment first becomes more relevant and the researcher feels the importance of it. Citing the sources with a consistent and suggested referencing style will build more reputation of the work.
To ensure you do not miss out on citations, you should utilise bibliographic cards or some other techniques so you add all the relevant citations without missing any.
Survey Paper Example
Below is a survey research paper abstract taken from Academia, reading it will enhance your understanding of the topic.
Conclusion
To wrap up the topic, we can say that writing the research papers based on the survey results is easy but can be tricky if you are not aware of the best practices you need to follow. From understanding the requirements to submitting the survey paper after proofreading and adding proper citations, every step has its own importance.
In this article, the research paper writing experts have provided some valuable insights on how you can write better survey research papers. The provided tips are workable and most relevant ones, implementing them can make your paper more accurate and impressive. Thus, it ultimately grabs you more marks and credibility.
