Oxford Dictionary Notes on 'Writing a Report'

 WRITING A REPORT

A report describes a study, an investigation, or a project. Its purpose is to provide recommendations or updates,and sometimes to persuade the readers to accept an idea. It is written by  asingle person or a group who has investigated the issue. It is read by the people who require the information. 

TIPS 

Report can vary in length but a good rule to remember is that they should be as long as necessary and as short as possble.

THINK ABOUT THE READER 

You need to make the objective of the report clear so that the people who are reading the report know why they are reading. Thinking about the readers and what they need to know will help improve your report.

1. Is the purpose of the report clear throughout?

2. Can the readers find the infromation they need?

3. Will diagrams or tables make the information clearer?

4. Should I just present the facts or include the recommendations as well?

ORGANIZING YOUR REPORT 

A typical report should follow the structure outlined below. Shorter reports might not need all the sections but they should at least include the highlighted sections.

1. TITLE 

Your title should tell the reader exactly what the reports is about.

2. CONTENTS LIST 

If your report has a number of sections it is important to include a table of contents so that the readers can find the information they want. A good way to structure a report is to use numbered headings: 

2.0 - Research 

2.1 - Focus groups 

2.2 - Technology for accessing the internet

3. SUMMARY 

This section is often called Executive Summary. It tells the reader what what the objectives of the report are as well as the main findings, conclusions and any recommendations.

4. INTRODUCTION

This should give the reader the background to the report : why you are writing it. You should also include what the report will cover (and what it won't) and how you got information you have based the report on.

5. BODY OF THE REPORT

The main body of the report will follow the structure in the Contents list. It will give precise information about the research you have carried out and what you have discovered from it. The information here should be mainly factual and not based on opinion. Tbales, charts and bulleted lists can make the information clearer. Some of the more detailed information can go into appendices and the bibliography. 

6. CONCLUSIONS 

This is where you give your opinions on the facts that you have discovered.

7. RECOMMENDATIONS 

If you have been asked to give recommendations, they should be based on your conclusions. You should also let the reader know what you predict will happen if your recommendations are followed. 

8. APPENDICES 

In a long report, you should put very detailed information in the appendices with cross references to them in the body of the report. 

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY 

If your report refers to a number of the other publications, you should list these in a Bibliography. 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The summary below gives some useful language in context. In the language bank are some other phrases that you can use in reports. Notice that the language used should be CLEAR, ACCURATE and FORMAL. We and I are often used in internal reports, for example for describing research. 

LANGUAGE BANK 

-- STATING OBJECTIVES

the purpose/aim/objective of this report is to... 

This report aims to...

This report presents/gives information on...

-- OUTLINING RESEARCH 

We asked (two developers) to... 

We conducted out research by... (e.g. the problem/the cost/several companies)

We surveyed... (e.g. a total of 250 employees)

We compared A and B.

The group was made up of... 

-- PRESENTING FINDINGS 

We found that, on the whole,...

According to the majority of respodents...

Overall, people preferred... 

50% of those surveyed said (that)...

-- GIVING CONCLUSIONS 

In conclusion that ...

The research shows/demonstrates (that)...

The research shows/demonstrates + Noun

(e.g. the effect of ...)

From the research/the evidence we conclude that...

-- GIVING RECOMMENDATIONS 

We recommend that...

It is recommended that...

The best solution is/would be to...

(e.g. to adopt design A )

The best solution is/would be + noun 

(e.g. a reduction is office hours)

If we do A, we will see B. 

This will ahve an impact on + noun 

(e.g. costs/productivity/the business)