Report writing

 Soft Skills
There are various types of reports depending on the purpose for which they are written. At a very broad level, we can categorise reports into three types:
 * Informative reports - They present facts or information. They are usually objective and provide details of events, processes or activities. The facts are merely presented, not analysed. No conclusion is drawn and no recommendations are made. e.g. a report describing a conference that took place.
 * Analytical reports - They provide analysis and opinions based on facts. They are aimed at problem-solving and may also recommend a course of action. e.g. Market analysis of a particular product or a report investigating the reasons behind the failure of a project.
 * Persuasive reports - They contain both facts and analysis and the main purpose is to sell a product, a service or an idea. e.g. a proposal to set up a cafetaria in a public library.

Report-writing often seems a daunting task. With a bit of careful planning, your task becomes much easier. Just follow each of these steps one at a time to create a good report.


 * Know the purpose - It is essential that you know the exact purpose for writing the report. Find out who the report is for and why it is to be written.
 * Gather and select information - Now you can begin gathering information. There is a wealth of information available on all subjects. Always keep in mind the length of the report you wish to write and gather a suitable amount of data. Ensure that your sources are accurate and reliable. Also ensure that you are using current and updated information; old editions of books and old web pages may give information that is no longer relevant. Apart from secondary sources like books, journals and the internet, you may be required to use primary sources of data like interviews,questionnaires and surveys. Keep a detailed record of all your sources, it will be useful if you need more information or for writing the references for your report.

A good report is not one that gives the most information, it is the one that gives the most relevant information. From the data that you have gathered, select what is most relevant to your report. Avoid too many details unless required and eliminate repetitions.


 * Organise the data - Once the information has been gathered, you need to arrange it in a logical and coherent order. First group together all the facts /ideas that are similar or related, then try to find logical links between these groups. The logic should be simple and easy for readers to understand. You may use a technique called brain-storming to find relationships between ideas. Logical organisation can be brought in using flow-charts or tree diagrams.


 * Writing the report - Write the main body of the report first. The abstract / summary and list of contents can be written later based on your main text. This basic structure can be followed for analytical / persuasive reports:

1. Introduce an idea.

2. Explain and elaborate the idea. Provide definitions of any key terms or technical terms that you are using.

3. Support the idea with relevant evidence.

4. Comment on the evidence and relate it to the main purpose of the report.

5. Conclude the paragraph and provide a link to the next idea.

While writing the report, keep referring to the purpose as well as the expected word limit.

This process may appear time-consuming but it is the key to preparing an accurate report. Check all the facts and figures used in the report. Ensure that all ideas are logically linked. Review the language - spellings and grammar - for accuracy. Rewrite any sentences / paragraphs that seem vague or disconnected. Eliminate repetitions / redundancies. Add or edit information keeping in mind the word limit.
 * Review - editing and proofreading


 * Presentation - Once the content of the report has been finalised, format the report properly. Select a suitable layout, font, colours and so on in order to create maximum impact on the reader.

Effective report-writing requires a focus on three main areas:

1. Conciseness: Readers of reports should be able to read the report quickly and act on it as soon as possible. To ensure this, reports should be brief. Use the fewest possible words and images. Choose only what is most relevant to your purpose. However, do not make your reports so brief that they are not easily understandable for the reader.Explain complex ideas or new concepts. Include details and background information wherever necessary. A report should be comprehensive without being excessively lengthy.

2. Clarity: A report should convey proper meaning to the reader. It is thus essential to write clearly. Your language should be unambiguous; it should not give rise to confusion or different interpretations.Facts, figures and images should be understood without any difficulty. Evaluate whether the report will be clear to a reader; keep in mind that the reader does not have as much background information about the topic as you do. S/he should not be kept wondering what you wrote or why you wrote it.

3. Cohesion and Coherence: A report should provide a complete picture to the reader. A simple logical structure helps readers understand and process the content. Continuity of ideas should be maintained. Every sentence / paragraph should be properly related to the next one. Images, tables and diagrams should be carefully incorporated into the written text. Transitional words and phrases can be used to make the report more cohesive. e.g. Firstly, the next step in the process, another, thus and so on.

ORGANIZATION OF A REPORT

Aims of a report are

(1) Communicate the objectives of the work done,

(2) give the procedures used,

(3) Discussion of results, and

(4) Conclusions.

A report should also give a list of symbols used, and references

that have been cited. Appendices are used to give the details of

data, and an example of calculation of quantities calculated from

observations.

INTRODUCTION OF A REPORT

State clearly the “why” of the work, and its objective. May need

giving motivation.

Understand the purposes of a report

•     Plan a report

•     Understand the structure of a report

•     Collect information for your report

•     Organise your information

•     Use an appropriate style of writing

•     Present data effectively

•     Understand how to lay out your

information in an appropriate way

Stages in report writing

•     Terms of reference

•     Planning your report

•     Collecting information

•     Organising information

•     Structuring your report

•     Style of writing

•     Layout

•     Presentation

•     Redrafting and checking

The terms of reference of a report are a guiding state-

ment used to define the scope of your investigation.

You must be clear from the start what you are being

asked to do. You will probably have been given an

assignment from your tutor but you may need to

discuss this further to find out the precise subject and

purpose of the report. Why have you been asked to

write it ?

Knowing your purpose will help you to communi-

cate your information more clearly and will help you

to be more selective when collecting your informa-

tion.

Planning your

report

Careful planning will help you to write a clear,

concise and effective report, giving adequate time to

each of the developmental stages prior to submis-

sion.

•    Consider the report as a whole

•    Break down the task of writing the report

into various parts.

•    How much time do you have to write the

report?

•    How can this be divided up into the

various planning stages?

•    Set yourself deadlines for the various

stages.

Draw up an outline structure for your report and

set the work within a sensible time scale for com-

pletion by the given deadline.

Some of the most time-consuming parts of the

process are collecting and selecting your informa-

tion, and checking and revising your report.

Collecting

information

There are a number of questions you need to ask

yourself at this stage :-

•    What is the information you need ?

•    Where do you find it ?

•    How much do you need ?

•    How shall you collect it ?

•    In what order will you arrange it ?

You may have much of the information you need

already such as results from a laboratory experiment

or descriptions of your methods of data collection.

However, there may be other material which is

needed such as background information on other

research studies, or literature surveys. You may need

to carry out some interviews or make a visit to the

university library to collect all the information you

need.

•    Make a list of what information you need.

•    Make an action plan stating how you are

going to gather this.

One helpful way of organising your information into

topics is to brainstorm your ideas into a ‘spider

diagram.’

•    Write the main theme in the centre of a

piece of paper.

•    Write down all the ideas and keywords

related to your topic starting from the

centre and branching out along lines of

connecting ideas.

Each idea can be circled or linked by lines

as appropriate.

•   When you have finished, highlight any

related ideas and then sort topics.

•   Some ideas will form main headings, and

others will be sub-sections under these

headings.

•   You should then be able to see a pattern

emerging and be able to arrange your

main headings in a logical order

Title page

This should include the title of the report (which

should give a precise indication of the subject mat-

ter), the author’s name, module, course and the date.

Acknowledgements

You should acknowledge any help you have received

in collecting the information for the report. This may

be from librarians, technicians or computer centre

staff, for example.

Contents

You should list all the main sections of the report in

sequence with the page numbers they begin on. If

there are charts, diagrams or tables included in your

report, these should be listed separately under a title

such as ‘List of Illustrations’ together with the page

numbers on which they appear.

Abstract or summary

This should be a short paragraph summarising the

main contents of the report. It should include a short

statement of the main task, the methods used, con-

clusions reached and any recommendations to be

made. The abstract or summary should be concise,

informative and independent of the report.

Write this section after you have written the report.

Introduction

This should give the context and scope of the report

and should include your terms of reference. State

your objectives clearly, define the limits of the report,

outline the method of enquiry, give a brief general

background to the subject of the report and indicate

the proposed development.

Methodology

In this section you should state how you carried out

your enquiry. What form did your enquiry take ? Did

you carry out interviews or questionnaires, how did

you collect your data ? What measurements did you

make ? How did you choose the subjects for your

interviews ? Present this information logically and

concisely.

Results or findings

Present your findings in as simple a way as possible.

The more complicated the information looks, the

more difficult it will be to interpret. There are a

number of ways in which results can be presented.

Here are a few :

•     Tables

•     Graphs

•     Pie charts

•     Bar charts

•     Diagrams

Illustration checklist

•     Are all your diagrams / illustrations

clearly labelled?

•     Do they all have titles?

•     Is the link between the text and the

diagram clear?

•     Are the headings precise?

•     Are the axes of graphs clearly labelled?

•     Can tables be easily interpreted?

•     Have you abided by any copyright laws

when including illustrations/tables from

published documents?

Discussion

This is the section where you can analyse and inter-

pret your results drawing from the information

which you have collected, explaining its significance.

Identify important issues and suggest explanations

for your findings. Outline any problems encountered

and try and present a balanced view.

Conclusions and recommendations

This is the section of the report which draws together

the main issues. It should be expressed clearly and

should not present any new information. You may

wish to list your recommendations in separate

section or include them with the conclusions.

References

It is important that you give precise details of all the

work by other authors which has been referred to

within the report. Details should include :

•    author’s name and initials

•    date of publication

•    title of the book, paper or journal

•    publisher

•    place of publication

•    page numbers

•    details of the journal volume in which the

article has appeared.

References should be listed in alphabetical order of

the authors' names.

Make sure that your references are accurate and

comprehensive.

Appendices

An appendix contains additional information related

to the report but which is not essential to the main

findings. This can be consulted if the reader wishes

but the report should not depend on this. You could

include details of interview questions, statistical

data, a glossary of terms, or other information which

may be useful for the reader.