PERORT
What is a Report?
In academia there is some overlap between
reports and essays, and the two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but
reports are more likely to be needed for business, scientific and technical
subjects, and in the workplace.
Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report
concentrates on facts.
Essentially, a report is a short, sharp, concise
document which is written for a particular purpose and audience. 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.
Requirements for the precise form and content of
a report will vary between organisation and departments and in study between
courses, from tutor to tutor, as well as between subjects, so it’s worth
finding out if there are any specific guidelines before you start.
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, always carefully referenced of course (see
our page on Academic
Referencing for more information);
·
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.
Sections and Numbering
A report is designed to lead people through the
information in a structured way, but also to enable them to find the
information that they want quickly and easily.
Reports usually, therefore, have numbered
sections and subsections, and a clear and full contents page listing each
heading. It follows that page numbering is important.
Modern word processors have features to add
tables of contents (ToC) and page numbers as well as styled headings; you
should take advantage of these as they update automatically as you edit your
report, moving, adding or deleting sections.
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.
If it’s not relevant,
leave it out.
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.
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.
