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Topics:: Academic Writing Technical Writing Business Writing

- A report is a document that presents factual information on a particular subject after independent investigation, without opinions or recommendations. - A typical report structure includes an executive summary, introduction, main body with numbered sub-sections, and conclusions/recommendations section. - The main body should clearly and concisely discuss each theme relating to the subject, and all information must be relevant to the brief and audience.

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71 views18 pages

Topics:: Academic Writing Technical Writing Business Writing

- A report is a document that presents factual information on a particular subject after independent investigation, without opinions or recommendations. - A typical report structure includes an executive summary, introduction, main body with numbered sub-sections, and conclusions/recommendations section. - The main body should clearly and concisely discuss each theme relating to the subject, and all information must be relevant to the brief and audience.

Uploaded by

Dark Gardian
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Topics:

• Academic writing
• Technical writing
• Business writing
Report:

to relate details of (event or


incident);to recount ,factual description of
anything
Report:
• A report is a document that presents information in an
organized statements of facts relating to a particular
subject prepared by a reporter after making independent
inquiry or investigation with or without opinions or
recommendations.
Report writing:

• Clear purpose to write a report.


• Particular(fix) purpose and Audience.
• Report is short ,sharp and concise
• Report concentrates on facts.
Purpose:

• It generally sets outs and analyses a situation or problem, often


making recommendations for future action. It is a factual paper,
and needs to be clear and well-structured.
Reports may contain some or all of the following elements:

• A description of a sequence of events or a situation;


• Some interpretation of the significance of these events or situation, whether
solely your own analysis or informed by the views of others;
• An evaluation of the facts or the results of your research;
• Discussion of the likely outcomes of future courses of action;
• Your recommendations as to a course of action; and
• Conclusions.
Not all of these elements will be essential in every report.
• If you’re writing a report in the workplace, check whether there
are any standard guidelines or structure that you need to use.
• For example, in the UK many government departments have
outline structures for reports to ministers that must be followed
exactly.
Report Writing

• Getting Started: prior preparation and planning

The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader


through your thinking to a course of action and/or decision. It’s
worth taking a bit of time to plan it out beforehand.
Step 1: Know your brief

• You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including


what you are studying and for whom the report should be
prepared.
• First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that
you are clear who the report is for (if you're a student then not
just your tutor, but who it is supposed to be written for), and
why you are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do
at the end of reading: make a decision or agree a
recommendation, perhaps.
Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times

During your planning and writing, make sure that you keep your brief in mind:
who are you writing for, and why are you writing?
• All your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require you to be ruthless in
your reading and thinking. Anything irrelevant should be discarded.
• As you read and research, try to organise your work into sections by theme, a bit like
writing a Literature Review.
• Make sure that you keep track of your references, especially for academic work.
Although referencing is perhaps less important in the workplace, it’s also important
that you can substantiate any assertions that you make so it’s helpful to keep track of
your sources of information.
The Structure of a Report

• Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do


check what’s set out in any guidance.
• However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the
very least an executive summary, introduction, the main body of
your report, and a section containing your conclusions and any
recommendations.
Executive Summary

• The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a


brief summary of the contents. It’s worth writing this last, when
you know the key points to draw out. It should be no more than
half a page to a page in length.
• Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy
'executives' a quick summary of the contents of the report.
Introduction

• The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a


brief summary of the problem under discussion. It should also
touch briefly on your conclusions.
Report Main Body

• The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way


that leads the reader through the issue.
• You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings
relating to themes or areas for consideration. For each theme, you
should aim to set out clearly and concisely the main issue under
discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It may also
include experimental results. All the information that you present
should be related back to the brief and the precise subject under
discussion.
Conclusions and Recommendations

• The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the


information, including any experimental results. It may include
recommendations, or these may be included in a separate
section.
• Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could
be improved, and should be specific, achievable and
measurable. If your recommendations have financial
implications, you should set these out clearly, with estimated
costs if possible.
A Word on Writing Style

• When writing a report, your aim should be to be absolutely


clear. Above all, it should be easy to read and understand,
even to someone with little knowledge of the subject area.
• You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using plain
English, and shorter words rather than longer, with short
sentences.
A Word on Writing Style
• You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use specialist language,
you should explain each word as you use it. If you find that you’ve had
to explain more than about five words, you’re probably using too
much jargon, and need to replace some of it with simpler words.
• Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be written for a
particular person, check whether you should be writing it to ‘you’ or
perhaps in the third person to a job role: ‘The Chief Executive may like
to consider…’, or ‘The minister is recommended to agree…’, for
example.
A Final Warning

• As with any academic assignment or formal piece of writing, your work will
benefit from being read over again and edited ruthlessly for sense and
style.
• Pay particular attention to whether all the information that you have included is
relevant. Also remember to check tenses, which person you have written in,
grammar and spelling. It’s also worth one last check against any requirements on
structure.
• For an academic assignment, make sure that you have referenced fully and
correctly. As always, check that you have not inadvertently or deliberately
plagiarised or copied anything without acknowledging it.

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