Report Writing

Report Writing By Dr Swarna Chourasia PhD-NET(SRF) Faculty & Internal Verifier(MBA) Nest Academy, Dubai, UAE  INTRODUCTION  Report Writing - A report is a written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated. It is a systematic and well-organized presentation of facts and findings of an event that has already taken place somewhere.  A report is a specific form of writing that is organized around concisely identifying and examining issues, events, or findings that have happened in a physical sense, such as events that have occurred within an organization, or findings from a research investigation  Reports generally involve presenting your investigation and analysis of information or an issue, recommending actions and making proposal  SIMILARITIES BETWEEN REPORT & ESSAY • To be written in a formal style • An introduction, body and conclusion • Analytical thinking • Extensive researching for information and evidence to support a conclusion • Careful proofreading and neat presentation.  DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A REPORT AND AN ESSAY • Is a presentation of facts and information, rather than a discussion of various opinions • Is often written for a very specific audience (e.g. an organization that has commissioned a report) • Is structured so that it may be scanned quickly by the reader • Uses numbered headings and subheadings (e.g. 2.1 Executive summary) • Uses short, concise paragraphs and dot points, where applicable • Uses graphics wherever possible (tables, graphs, illustrations) • May need an abstract (sometimes called an executive summary) • Makes recommendations • Does not always need references and a bibliography • Often has appendices.  HOW TO WRITE A REPORT Plan to write a report Ask some questions first: •Who has requested the report? •Why have they asked for a report? •What do they need to know? •How will the report be used? •Who is/are my audience or audiences? (e.g. clients, lecturers, assessors, managers etc.)  ANAYLSIS YOUR PLAN Analyzing your task is very important. Here are some questions to explore: •What type of report is needed? (e.g. experimental report, technical design proposal, business report.) •How long does your report need to be? •What is required in the report? •What is the problem/question to be solved? •What is the aim of the report? •What key points or issues need to be addressed? •What information do you need to collect?  TYPES OF REPORT BUSSINESS REPORT EXPERIMENTAL AND LABORATORY REPORT TECHNICAL DESIGN Aims to: Examine how an REPORT organization can achieve an Aims to :An experiment or objective research Highlight a problem and What was achieved during the suggest a solution. Aims to: Solve a problem course of the experiment Offer information, recommend a design what was concluded and how interpretation (e.g. product this compares with previous surveys), analysis and published results recommendations  THE BASIC STEPS FOR WRITING REPORTS • Step 1: Decide on the 'Terms of reference' • Step 2: Decide on the procedure • Step 3: Find the information • Step 4: Decide on the structure • Step 5: Draft the first part of your report • Step 6: Analyse your findings and draw conclusions • Step 7: Make recommendations • Step 8: Draft the executive summary and table of contents • Step 9: Compile a reference list • Step 10: Revise your draft report  STEP 1: DECIDE ON THE 'TERMS OF REFERENCE  To decide on the terms of reference for your report, read your instructions and any other information you've been given about the report, and think about the purpose of the report: • What is it about?  • What exactly is needed? • Why is it needed?  • When do I need to do it?  • Who is it for, or who is it aimed at?  This will help you draft your Terms of reference  STEP 2: DECIDE ON THE PROCEDURE  This means planning your investigation or research, and how you'll write the report. Ask yourself: • What information do I need? • Do I need to do any background reading? • What articles or documents do I need? • Do I need to contact the library for assistance? • Do I need to interview or observe people? • Do I have to record data? • How will I go about this?  Answering these questions will help you draft the procedure section of your report, which outlines the steps you've taken to carry out the investigation.  STEP 3: FIND THE INFORMATION  The next step is to find the information you need for your report. To do this you may need to read written material, observe people or activities, and/or talk to people.  Make sure the information you find is relevant and appropriate. Check the assessment requirements and guidelines and the marking schedule to make sure you're on the right track. If you're not sure how the marks will be assigned contact your lecturer.  What you find out will form the basis, or main body, of your report – the findings.  STEP 4: DECIDE ON THE STRUCTURE  Reports generally have a similar structure, but some details may differ. How they differ usually depends on: • The type of report – if it is a research report, laboratory report, business report, investigative report, etc. • How formal the report has to be. • The length of the report.  STRUCTURE OF REPORT  Depending on the type of report, the structure can include: • A title page. • Executive summary. • Contents. • An introduction. • Terms of reference. • Procedure. • Findings. • Conclusions. • Recommendations. • References/Bibliography. • Appendices. • The sections, of a report usually have headings and subheadings, which are usually numbered  STEP 5: DRAFT THE FIRST PART OF YOUR REPORT  Once you have your structure, write down the headings and start to fill these in with the information you have gathered so far. By now you should be able to draft the terms of reference, procedure and findings, and start to work out what will go in the report’s appendix.  FINDINGS  The findings are result of your reading, observations, interviews and investigation. They form the basis of your report. Depending on the type of report you are writing, you may also wish to include photos, tables or graphs to make your report more readable and/or easier to follow  APPENDICES As you are writing your draft decide what information will go in the appendix. These are used for information that: • is too long to include in the body of the report, or • supplements or complements the information in the report. For example, brochures, spreadsheets or large tables.  STEP 6: ANALYSE YOUR FINDINGS AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS  The conclusion is where you analyse your findings and interpret what you have found. To do this, read through your findings and ask yourself: • What have I found? • What's significant or important about my findings? • What do my findings suggest?  For example, your conclusion may describe how the information you collected explains why the situation occurred, what this means for the organisation, and what will happen if the situation continues (or doesn't continue).  Don’t include any new information in the conclusion  STEP 7: MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS  Recommendations are what you think the solution to the problem is and/or what you think should happen next. To help you decide what to recommend: • Reread your findings and conclusions. • Think about what you want the person who asked for the report should to do or not do; what actions should they carry out? • Check that your recommendations are practical and are based logically on your conclusions. • Ensure you include enough detail for the reader to know what needs to be done and who should do it.  Your recommendations should be written as a numbered list, and ordered from most to least important. STEP 8: DRAFT THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND TABLE OF CONTENTS  Some reports require an executive summary and/or list of contents. Even though these two sections come near the beginning of the report you won't be able to do them until you have finished it, and have your structure and recommendations finalised.  An executive summary is usually about 100 words long. It tells the readers what the report is about, and summaries the recommendations. STEP 9: COMPILE A REFERENCE LIST  This is a list of all the sources you've referred to in the report and uses APA referencing.  STEP 10: REVISE YOUR DRAFT REPORT  It is always important to revise your work. Things you need to check include: • If you have done what you were asked to do. Check the assignment question, the instructions/guidelines and the marking schedule to make sure. • That the required sections are included, and are in the correct order.  • That your information is accurate, with no gaps. • If your argument is logical. Does the information you present support your conclusions and recommendations? • That all terms, symbols and abbreviations used have been explained. • That any diagrams, tables, graphs and illustrations are numbered and labelled. • That the formatting is correct, including your numbering, headings, are consistent throughout the report. • That the report reads well, and your writing is as clear and effective as possible.  You might need to prepare several drafts before you are satisfied. If possible, get someone else to check your report.  FORMATTING  Formatting and presenting your assignment correctly is important because almost all assignments include marks for presentation. This may include marks for things such as formatting and layout, word count, APA referencing, writing style, grammar and spelling.  FILE FORMAT • Most assignments should be written using MS Word. If you don’t have MS Word go to Office 365 in My Open Polytechnic to download and access your free version. • Assignments can be submitted one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx or .rtf. • Do not submit html files, web pages, CAD files, Visio (.vsd), PowerPoint (.ppt), PDF s (.pdf) or zip files unless these are specifically required for your course   If you're not sure about the file format required contact your lecturer.  FONTS • Use a clear, readable, sans serif font such as Verdana, Calibri, Tahoma or Arial, and be consistent and use the same font throughout. • Use black text on a white background. Avoid colored backgrounds or text in a color other than black unless you have special permission to use them (for example, if you're dyslexic). • Use 11 or 12 point for the body of your assignment.  SPACING • Use 1.5 or double spacing and fairly wide margins. This leaves room for the marker’s comments. • Leave a blank line between paragraphs. • If the questions are short, leave a blank line between each question. If they are long, start each question on a new page. • Left-justify your work (also known as left-aligned). Block-justified (flush left and right) might look tidy, but it’s harder to read as it can result in gaps between words.  HEADINGS • Use bold for headings. Not underlining or italics. • Essays do not usually require subheadings; reports usually do.  TITLE PAGE Most assignments require a title page, which should include the following: • The title and number of the assignment • The course number and name • The due date • Your full name and student number. (This information should be centered, starting approximately one third of the way down the page.)  NUMBERING • Number all pages except the title page. • Tables and figures must be numbered and clearly labelled. Table captions are placed above the table, while captions for a figures go below the figure. • Don't number the items in a reference list.  HEADERS AND FOOTERS Insert a header or footer on each page (except the title page). It should contain: • Your name (last name, first name/s) • Your student number • The course number • The assignment number • The page number. WORD COUNT Include a word count (the number of words in your assignment) at the end of the assignment, before the references and appendices. Your assignment should not be more than 10% under or over the prescribed word count. Remember that the title/title page, reference list and appendices are not included in the word count. Some assessments have word limits - please read our Assessment Word Limit Policy to understand the potential penalties for exceeding the word limit. REFERENCE LIST The reference list comes at the end of the assignment, and should start on a new page labelled 'References'.  WHAT IS APA REFERENCING? APA is the abbreviation of the American Psychological Association, and APA referencing is based on the style of academic writing favoured by the APA.  APA referencing: •Is a system that determines the style and format of your referencing, i.e. how the references are written. •Uses a reference list and in-text citations to acknowledge and identify sources. APA referencing is a system that •shows where you found the information you are using. •acknowledges the creator(s) of that information. •allows your readers to find the information you have used. uses a reference list and in-text citations to acknowledge the source of information.  REFERENCE References •provide details of the original sources of information. •are listed in a reference list at the end of an article, book, or your assignment. Citations •are similar to references but occur in the body of the text. •are used by an author to show which reference supports a particular statement. •are sometimes called in-text references.  Why It's Important To Reference •Research, writing, ideas, pictures, etc. are thought of as belonging to the author or artist. •When you use an author's research, writing and/or ideas as a resource, they don’t become yours, they still belong to the author. •Referencing is used to acknowledge the author's ownership. Referencing also shows - how much research you have done - gives evidence of the validity of your opinion, and - allows readers who are interested in the topic to go back to the original source What needs referencing and what doesn’t? Always reference •the words, opinions and ideas of others – whether you find them in a book, journal, newspaper, report, conference paper, legislation, website, email, blog, on the radio or TV, in a lecture or conversation, or anywhere else. •direct quotes and paraphrases of the words, opinions and ideas of others. •data, statistics, tables, graphs, code, audio and video material, illustrations, photographs or any other type of image. You don't need to reference •your own ideas (as long as they haven’t been published or written in a previous assignment; in this case, you need to reference them.) •common knowledge. This means something that lots of people will know, or information that can easily be found in many sources.  WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? Plagiarism is using someone's writing and ideas without acknowledgement. As plagiarism may be penalized by the Open Polytechnic, it's important that you avoid plagiarizing. You can avoid plagiarizing if you reference your work correctly. Plagiarism, or copying someone else’s work, is cheating. By stealing someone else’s work and passing it off as your own, you lose academic integrity and the respect of others. It is also unfair to other learners who have worked hard to express their own ideas or produce original work. Any final piece of work that you submit must be your own independent work. This is particularly important when working in study groups or having discussions with other learners on assessments. Plagiarism could be: •copying the work of another learner •copying from textbooks, the Web and other work without correct citation •failing to acknowledge sources including your own work, used for other purposes. What you should do •Record the details of all your source documents, i.e. where you found information for your assignment. •Keep detailed notes – they can be electronic or a hard copy (on paper) – make sure you keep your notes in a folder (electronic or paper) so you can find them when you need them. •This is what you need to record: - Where you found the source, i.e. In the Open Polytechnic library; borrowed from [name]; spoke to [name], etc. – you might need to consult the source again. - Your opinion of the source, i.e. useful or not – you don’t want to waste time going back to sources that aren’t useful. - •All the information you’ll need to include in your reference list. Use the  Short guide to APA referencing to see what information you need for the various types of source material. •Write down, or copy, all possible quotes; include the source and the page number(s) for each quote. •Reference as you go; don’t leave all your referencing to the end. •Print out the Short guide to APA referencing and familiarize yourself with the contents. Keep the Short guide to APA at hand with you when doing assignments and, when referencing, look for an example that’s as similar to your source as possible, then copy the format (pattern). And remember, punctuation matters – check to make sure you get the all capital letters, full stops, commas, italics, etc. in the right places.  APPENDICES Appendices are used for information that: • is too long to include in the body of your assignment, or • supplements or complements the information you are providing. (Start each appendix (if applicable) on a new page. If there's just one appendix label it ‘Appendix’ without a number, but if there are more than one label them Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. In the main text of your assignment, refer to the Appendix by the label, e.g. Appendix A.)  TOPS AND BOTTOMS OF PAGES Check the top and bottom of your pages to ensure they avoid: • widows - single lines of text at the top of a page • orphans - first lines of paragraphs at the bottom of a page • tombstones - headings or subheadings alone at the bottom of a page •  SAMPLE OF REPORT Sample report Receiver To: Tony Farmer, Union Safety Officer Sender From: Tim Dixon, Personal Assistant, Creagh Holdings Ltd Date Date: 16 July 20XX Subject heading Report on safety hazards in Main Office of Creagh Holdings, Ltd 1. Purpose You asked me to prepare a report (your memo, dated 4 July) on actual and potential hazards in Reference to original our main office. I was asked to present my findings by 22 July. instructions: Who? What?Where? 2. Procedure 2.1 I inspected the office area at three different times of the day. What was done to 2.2 I discussed hazards with relevant staff working in the main office. investigate the topic. 2.3 I examined previous reports on the topic (see References). Numbered steps in the procedure.  SAMPLE OF REPORT 3 Findings 3.1 Electrical hazards 3.1.1 Although inspected only six months ago, the power plugs to two computers What information in was discovered. the clerical section are crackedacross their backs. Numbered 3.1.2 The starter to one of the fluorescent tubes in the ceiling lighting is faulty; subheadings, staff tabulated items regularly stand on a chair to twist the starter and get the tube working. within these. 3.1.3 The main power input to the office photocopier is worn by constant contact Note the clear, with a filing cabinet. The worn area has been mended by being bound with factual style of insulation tape. presenting the information. Reference to relevant document.  SAMPLE OF REPORT 4. Conclusion 4.1 Electrical hazards in the office are easily rectified without undue expense. There may be other hazards not yet evident; an electrical inspection would be What the useful. information suggests 4.2 Furnishing hazards indicate a need for repair and/or purchase of new to the writer. equipment. Well organized list, 4.3 Other hazards are limited to the state of the carpet and replacement of this summarizes would reduce the risk of more accidents. information. Written objectively and unemotionally.  SAMPLE OF REPORT 5. Recommendations 5.1 Rectify electrical hazards and carry out a full electrical inspection immediately. 5.2 Investigate the cost of repairing and replacing filing cabinets and the letter Clear, precise list of rack. suggested actions. 5.3 Replace the carpet throughout the main office. 6. References Smith, J. (2003). Electrical safety hazards at Creagh Holdings Ltd. Creagh Holdings2003 List of references Safety Reports, 81–83. 7. Appendix A Staff Accident Report Form No. 14443. 9th February 2005 (filed). Creagh Holdings Ltd. Date/time of accident: 8th February 20XX at 11.06 a.m. Staff member involved: White, T Details of injury: Twisted ankle. How did the accident occur? Tripped over frayed carpet. Where did the accident occur? In front of the letter racks, main office. Treatment given? Yes. Applied ice to ankle, appointment with GP arranged. Investigation/follow-up: None at this time A N Other Additional, releva  TYPICAL FORMAT OF REPORT Letter or memorandum:Provided to the person or group who commissioned the report, stating the purpose of the report, brief summary and/or recommendations, and acknowledging others who have contributed. Title page Clearly describes what the report is about. Abstract or Executive summary Approximately 200 words. States the problem, how it was investigated, what was found, and what the findings mean. Table of contents A list of the major and minor sections of the report. Introduction:Sets the scene and gives some background information about the topic. States the aim/purpose of the investigation and outlines of the sections in the body of the report. Main body:Organized into sections: what was investigated, how it was investigated it, what was found (evidence), and interpretations. Conclusion Summary, what the report achieved – did it meet its aims, the significance of the findings and a discussion and interpretation of the findings. Recommendations What is recommended as a course of action following the conclusion? References: A list of all the sources you used. Appendices: Any information (graphs, charts, tables or other data) referred to in your report but not included in the body.  LAYOUT OF THE REPORT Lay out the report for easy reading and comprehension. Many managers will only read the recommendations, but will dip into the report for the details, which they want to find quickly and easily. Use this checklist: • Use white space to de-clutter the page/s • Ensure the separate parts of your report stand out clearly • Use short informative headings and subheadings • Allow generous spacing between the elements of your report • Use dot points/ numbers/ letters to articulate these elements • Use tables and figures (graphs, illustrations, maps etc) for clarification number each page • Use consistent and appropriate formatting • Use formal language • Proofread to ensure accuracy