Chapter 12: Packaging and Delivering Research

In the chapter:

Understanding your research client’s expectations
Presenting information to meet expectations
Using e-mail and the Web to deliver research results
Providing source information for research results
Presenting statistical information

Preparing an Executive Summary

An executive summary, sometimes also called an abstract, or simply a summary, is a concise statement of your research findings.

When it comes to executive summaries, shorter is better. If you can keep it to less than a single page, that’s great. In any event, an executive summary should not be long-winded.

Usually, an executive summary accompanies a long research project or white paper. (A white paper is a report or briefing, often containing dense supporting information, usually focused on a technology or marketing issue.) Sometimes, there is no paper but only an executive summary accompanied by other supporting material.

You’ll find that the best way to prepare an executive summary is to write the full paper first, or at least prepare and organize your research materials.

An executive summary needs to be concise partially because it may be the only thing that your research client reads. This is never truer than if your client is a major company and an executive is reviewing your research. That’s where the name executive summary comes from—often the busy executive doesn't have time to look at all the details.

Your summary needs to be thorough as well as concise, providing as much detail as you can in a short space. It should:

Include the essential points of your research results.
Follow the framework for your more detailed report, so that readers have a conceptual framework for evaluating research results.
Organizationally speaking, you can divide your full-length research report into sections with headings. These headings can then be used as the basis for the points in your executive summary.
Highlight any recommendations (for further research, or for action) if applicable.

As you write your executive summary, you should remind yourself:

What is the research about?
Why is the research, and the results, important?
What do the research results include?

What you should include in an executive summary depends upon the situation. Obviously, space is limited, and you must decide what is most important to include.

The following are elements often included in an executive summary of research results:

The purpose and scope of research (and research paper if applicable)
Research methodology and any important methodological issues
The results of the research
Recommendations for further research or other actions
Highlight information about sources

Here’s how one top researcher and writer goes about creating an executive summary. She advises:

It’s easiest to write an executive summary if you’ve first written a research report. With the report in hand, you can scan it to understand the structure and content of the report. Try to become clear about the main gist of the research results, and prepare an outline that includes key information and concepts grouped in a logical progression.

With the outline in mind, consider what headings or subheadings should be to make organization of the executive summary clear at a casual glance. Try to keep these headings sparse and simple.

Using your outline of key information and concepts, and with the heading and subheading structure in place, fill in the details using a professional style.

Read your executive summary aloud to make sure that it makes sense and is consistent.

For more about delivering research results, please see Chapter 12...

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