Study Skills Centre, Student Services How to Write a Report What is a Report? A report is a document that defines a subject or problem, and gathers relevant information and facts in order to present them as completely and accurately as possible. A report may include analysis, judgement, conclusions and recommendations. A report therefore needs to be: • Brief • Understandable • Precise • Logically structured • Descriptive • Aimed at the reader Particularly useful for informing, explaining and persuading. Before Writing the Report It is important to consider WHO you are writing the report for, and why. Key questions to ask yourself: • Who wants the report? • Why do they want it? • What are they going to do with it? • What do they want it to cover? • What will the report not cover? i.e. disclaimer. • What will happen as a result of the report? A report should have a clear objective, i.e. what you are trying to achieve. A clear objective = a clear focus = easier to write. Planning It is important to start off by brainstorming what you have been asked to do. • Write down the purpose of the report in the middle of a piece of A4 paper. • Write down the key ideas/phrases that link to the purpose of the report. • Group pieces of information under the key ideas connecting them by links. • Review the plan, adding or deleting points where necessary. • Check that you have done what the task requires. • Look for a simple structure, and order the key ideas. These will each make up a chapter of your report. Research Check existing knowledge, i.e. what you know already, and what you need to find out. Record the research methods used. Record the sources used. Make notes from the sources, and make sure you reference sources as you go along, as this saves time and difficulties later on. Order your notes and group together points based on your original plan. Check that you have done what the task requires. 1 Study Skills Centre, Student Services Writing the Report – Structure Title page – Highlights the central theme of the report, and includes the title, author’s name, date, and the person or organisation who has commissioned the report (if necessary). Acknowledgements (optional) – Conveys thanks to those who have helped the author in the preparation of the report. Contents – Essential if the report exceeds three pages. Lists the main sections and sub-sections of the report in sequence. The headings should be identical to those used in the report, together with the page number. A list of illustrations and appendices should be detailed. Better to complete this section after writing the report. e.g. Section Title 1 Introduction 1.1 Aims and objectives 1.2 Review of literature 1 1 2 2 Methodology 3 etc 4 etc List of Illustrations Figure 1 Graph showing age of person Page Appendices Appendix A Title Appendix B (sometimes numbered with Roman numerals instead) etc Summary (optional, and sometimes called an Executive Summary) – This is useful if the report is long, and provides the reader with a brief outline of the report. This can act as an introduction to the subject of the full report, a guide as to whether the report is of interest, and as a time saver to a busy reader. The summary should be no more than a page in length. Paragraph one should define the report's purpose, paragraph two should outline what was done and how, paragraph three should report on the main findings, paragraph four should identify the main conclusion, and the final paragraph should outline the main recommendations. To write a quick summary: • Read the report. • Isolate and summarise the central theme. • Read each section, isolate and summarise the main statement in each section. • Get rid of lists, repetition, detailed description. • Replace with general statements. • Combine into a continuous written piece as briefly as possible. Introduction – This sets the scene, and should include the following: • Why the report was written/background? • Terms of reference – determines the scope or parameters of the report, and what you are trying to do. (objective, purpose, and use) • Method of investigation. • Resources available. • Sources used. • Limitations. • Structure of report. Main text – This is the main substance of the report detailing key findings. It consists of data you have found, and what you have found out from it. It should not include opinions, conclusions or 2 Study Skills Centre, Student Services recommendations. This is the longest section of the report, and may contain the most subsections. Conclusion – This should link the terms of reference (what you were trying to do) with the findings to assess the facts. Draws together the main points of the report, presents an overview, and looks at future consequences. NO NEW data should arise here. A conclusion may include recommendations if these arise from the conclusion. Recommendations – These should follow logically on from the conclusion, and be specific, measurable and achievable. They should propose how the situation/problem could be improved by stating the action to be taken. Ideally recommendations should be numbered. Appendices – Consists of supplementary information not required for the main body of the report. Basic checklist for location of materials you are not sure about: Will the reader need to know this? Yes Do they need to know it to follow the argument? No Don’t include in report Yes Put it in the main body No Is it referred to several times? Yes Put in main body No Put in appendix References – These should list bibliographic details of all the materials mentioned in the text, or extracts quoted. You will need to use the British Standard or Harvard method of referencing. See ‘Cite them Right’ for more information. (Shields,G.,Walton,G. (1995) Cite Them Right.3rd ed.UNN) Bibliography – Includes bibliographic details of all material mentioned in the references, plus other material used but not referred to in the main body of the report. This is not always necessary, particularly if using the Harvard referencing system. Glossary – Useful if the report uses a lot of technical vocabulary or acronyms to give definitions. Index – Not always included. Style and Structure Match the style to the reader. The key is to keep the report concise and simple. Avoid jargon and use Plain English. Sentences – Keep them short, no longer than 25 words. Big idea = short sentences. Paragraph – Concentrates on one theme, the first sentence should summarise the topic of the paragraph, paragraphs should be connected with link words so that they carry the reader along. Tense – Reports are normally written in the past tense and the third person. i.e. It is recommended that … However use ‘I’ if appropriate. Notation – Identify the main components of the report for reference and indexing purposes. 1. Number pages 2. Number sections and paragraphs if appropriate 3. Heading 3 Study Skills Centre, Student Services 3.1 3.2 Sub-heading Avoid complicating numbering further with 3.2.1 etc. (This does not apply to the contents page, or summary – instead these pages should be given Roman numerals, i.e. i, ii, iii, iv. The appendices should be given a letter/roman numeral, i.e. Appendix A, or Appendix I etc.) Illustrations – Only include these in the main body of the report if fundamental to the text, or referred to several times. Otherwise place them in the appendix (give caption, figure number and acknowledge the source). Summarise each section of the report with one or two sentences to form a short conclusion. Writing order – Main body, conclusion, recommendations, introduction, then (appendices, glossary, references, bibliography, contents/index – in no particular order), summary and title page. After Writing Check the report for: • Completeness. • Accuracy. • Layout. • Spelling. • Numbers. • Illustrations. • Check the report follows your plan, and answers the question asked. Useful References (British Standard Referencing) Barker, A. (1993) The Right Report. The Industrial Society. Bowden, J. (2000) Writing a report: how to prepare, write and present powerful reports. How To Books Ltd. Bowden, J. (1999) Writing good reports. How To Books. Forsyth, P. (1997) 30 Minutes to Write a Report. Kogan Page. Giles, K. and Hedge, N. (1995) The manager’s good study guide. Open University Press. Hemingway, J. (1993) Report Writing. Briefcase Booklet. Video Arts. (see accompanying video). Oliver, P. (1996) Writing essays and reports. Teach Yourself Books. Silyn-Roberts, H. (2000) Writing for science and engineering: papers, presentations and reports. Butterworth Heinemann. Sussans, J. E. (1991) How to Write Effective Reports. 3rd ed. Gower. Vidal Hall, J. (1992) Report Writing. The Industrial Society Press. All available in the Study Skills Centre – some are available in the library. If at any stage you need extra support, don’t forget that the Study Skills Centre has a large collection of books and other materials on all aspects of study skills, and offers one-to-one tutorials, which are FREE to UNN students. Study Skills Centre, Room 002, Library Building, City Campus. Tel: 0191 227 3526 e-mail: [email protected] 4