Introduction and Essential
Elements of Report Writing
Difference between Essay & Report
Essential Elements to Report Writing
Report writing is a formal style of writing elaborately
on a topic.
The tone of a report is always formal.
For example – report writing about a school event,
report writing about a business case, etc.
Reports are written with much analysis. The
purpose of report writing is essential to inform the
reader about a topic, minus one’s opinion on the
topic.
It’s simply a portrayal of facts, as it is. Even if one
gives inferences, solid analysis, charts, tables and
data is provided.
Mostly it is specified by the person who’s asked for
the report whether they’d like your take or not if
that is the case.
In many cases, what’s required is your
suggestions for a specific case after a
factual report.
That depends on why are you writing
the report and who you are writing it
for in the first place.
Knowing your audience’s motive for asking
for that report is very important as it sets the
course of the facts focused in your report.
The structure of a report is very
important to lead the reader through
your thinking to a course of action
and/or decision.
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?
As you read and research, try to
organize 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.
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.
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.
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
make your writing simple and unambiguous.
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 Director 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 plagiarized or
copied anything without acknowledging it.
Example of a Report for Business
Students
XYZ Case study
Short Business Report: Guidelines
This document provides an outline for our annual
business.
Contents
The report should begin with a table of contents. This
explains the audience, author, and basic purpose of the
attached report. It should be short and to the point.
DATE: March 24, 2022
TO: Mr. Arun Malik
FROM: Piyush Bansal, Marketing team, XYZ company
As per your request, we have prepared an annual business
report for the financial year 2020-2021. Please contact us if
you need any additional information.
Executive Summary
The second page of the document must have a report title
at the top, and provide an executive summary, that is a
paragraph or two that summarizes the report.
It should provide a sufficient overview of the report so that
an executive (who doesn’t have the time or energy to fully
read through the long report) can actually grasp the main
points beforehand.
Most importantly, the summary should contain
(a) the purpose of the report,
(b) what you did (analysis) and what you found (results),
and
(c) your recommendations.
These recommendations should be short and not go beyond
a page.
Report
Next page in the report must contain a title at the top
(the same title that you put on the top of the previous
page. This is the first page that should actually be
numbered, and it should be page 2 (as the table of
contents is not technically part of the report).
This part introduces the reader to your report, sets the
purpose in place and broadly plates out the content of your
entire document.
Throughout your report, keep breaking points and starting
off a new logical thought with a numbered sub-heading
A conclusive paragraph ties up all the information written
before and leaves room for inferences if any
The length of the body of the report will be
determined by necessity to convey the
analysis and conclusions, but should
generally not exceed 10 pages.
Tables and figures must all be labeled.
References could be cited in footnotes, or in
a separate “References” section, if they are
many or if you prefer that format.
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: Analyze 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
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?
Click to add text
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.
For more on finding information:
Research and reading
Steps for writing an assignment
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.
Depending on the type of report, the structure can include:
A title page.
Executive summary.
Continued….
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.
Formatting and presenting your assignment
Step 6: Analyze your findings and draw conclusions
The conclusion is where you analyze 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
organization, 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
finalized.
An executive summary is usually about 100 words long. It tells
the readers what the report is about, and summarize 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/MLA referencing.
APA/MLA 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?
Continued….
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.
