Your Extended Investigation written report and oral presentation are both addressed to “an educated, non-specialist audience.” This is a specific communicative challenge: your reader is intelligent and capable of following complex argument, but does not have your subject expertise. Writing for this audience requires a distinctive balance of clarity, precision and accessibility.
Think of this reader as someone with a university education, but not in your research field. They:
- Can follow logical argument and evaluate evidence
- Are unfamiliar with specialised jargon in your discipline
- Expect clear explanation of technical terms when used
- Are interested in the significance of your work, not just the technical details
- Are capable of reading complex prose — but should not have to decipher it
KEY TAKEAWAY: Writing for a non-specialist audience does not mean “dumbing down.” It means explaining technical concepts clearly without patronising the reader, and connecting your findings to their broader significance.
Every specialised term must be explained when first used:
- “Cognitive load — the amount of working memory used to process information — was measured using a standardised test battery.”
- Do not assume the reader knows what “operationalisation,” “p-value” or “thematic coding” mean.
Use technical vocabulary when it is genuinely the most precise term. Avoid jargon that adds complexity without adding precision.
- Poor: “The hermeneutical paradigmatic framework undergirded the epistemological positioning of the researcher.”
- Better: “The study interpreted participants’ responses in the context of their own stated experiences.”
Complex nested subordinate clauses make academic writing inaccessible:
- Difficult: “The data, which was collected during a period characterised by unusual external conditions that were not anticipated by the researcher, may have been affected by these conditions, which are discussed in the limitations section.”
- Clearer: “The data may have been affected by unusual external conditions during collection. These are discussed in the limitations section.”
Non-specialists need to understand why your findings matter. Include explanations of:
- Why the research question is worth asking
- Why the methodology chosen is appropriate
- What the findings mean in real-world terms
- What the implications of the conclusions are
STUDY HINT: After writing each section, read it aloud. If you stumble, or if any sentence requires re-reading to understand, revise it. Clarity in research writing is a discipline, not an accident.
While writing accessibly, maintain an appropriate academic register:
- Objective tone: Minimise first person in the report (though first person is increasingly accepted in qualitative and reflexive research — check VCAA requirements)
- Hedging language: Use appropriately qualified claims (“the evidence suggests,” “this may indicate”)
- Formal vocabulary: Avoid colloquial expressions, contractions, and casual language
- Passive voice (use carefully): Academic writing has traditionally used passive voice to emphasise the process over the agent (“Participants were surveyed” rather than “I surveyed participants”), but overuse reduces clarity
For a non-specialist reader, the connections between evidence and conclusions must be explicit:
- After each piece of evidence, state what it shows
- Before drawing a conclusion, briefly remind the reader of the evidence
- Use transitional phrases that make logical relationships clear: “This suggests…”, “This is consistent with…”, “However, this finding is complicated by…”
EXAM TIP: Written tasks in Extended Investigation may ask you to “write for an educated, non-specialist audience.” In practice, this means: clear sentences, defined terms, explicit reasoning, and connecting findings to their broader significance. Avoid unexplained acronyms, unexplained statistical concepts, and specialist jargon without definition.
| Instead of… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Methodology (when you mean methods) | Research methods |
| Paradigm (unless specifically needed) | Approach or framework |
| Utilise | Use |
| Subsequent to | After |
| A significant majority | Most |
| Commensurate with | In line with |
Precision over pretension. Choose the clearest word that carries the needed meaning.
COMMON MISTAKE: Equating complexity with quality. Academic writing is not impressive because it is difficult to read — it is impressive because it presents complex ideas as clearly as possible. If a simpler sentence would convey your meaning without losing precision, use it.
REMEMBER: Your assessors are the primary readers of your report, but the task asks you to write as though your audience is an educated non-specialist. Write the report with that audience in mind — and the clarity required will also serve your assessors well.
