REPORT WRITING TECHNIQUES.docx

REPORT WRITING TECHNIQUES.docx

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REPORTWRITINGTECHNIQUES

REPORTWRITINGTECHNIQUES

WHATISAREPORT?

AReportmaybedefinedasadocumentinwhichagivenproblemisexaminedforthepurposeofconveyinginformation,reportingfindings,puttingforwardideasand,sometimes,makingrecommendations.

Reportwritingisaspecialisedformofwrittencommunication.Manyoftheruleswhichmustbeobservedwhenwritingareportaretherefore,equallyapplicabletowrittencommunicationsingeneral.

TherearethreeCardinalRulesofReportWriting:

-

a）Accuracy

b）Brevity

c）Clarity

Thesearenoteasilymastered."Hardwritingmakeseasyreading".AReportwritermustconstantlystrivetomakehis/herreader'staskaseasyasthesubjectmatterpermits.

THEFOURSTAGEMETHODINREPORTWRITING

StageI:

Preparationofreport

StageII:

Arrangementofreport

StageIII:

WritingofReport

StageIV:

RevisionofReport

STAGEI:

PREPARATIONOFAREPORT

1.YourPurpose

a）Findoutexactlywhatyouhavebeenaskedtodo.Inotherwords;trytogetconcise"TermsofReference."

b）Establishclearlyinyourmindthesubject,scopeandpurposeofyourreport.Thepurposewillgenerallybea

combinationofsomeorallofthefollowing:

-

-Togiveinformation,eithergeneralordetailed

-Toreportfindings;

-Toputforwardideas;

-Torecommendacourseofaction.

2.YourReader

Askyourself:

-

a）Whatdoesmyreaderwanttoknow?

b）Whatdoesheknowalready?

c）HowcanIgraftnewknowledgeontohisexistingknowledge?

d）Whatkindofterminologywillheunderstand?

e）Howwillhe/sheusemyreport?

Rememberthatyouhavetomeettheneedsofaspecificreader（s）.Ishis（ortheir）outlookExecutive,Administrative,

ttechnicalorPractical?

3.YourMaterial

a）Collectfactsandideasaboutyoursubjectbyexperiment,observation,reading,conversation,

interviewingetc.Thismaybeabiggerjobthantheactualwritingofthereport.

b）Checkthefactsforaccuracy.

NOTE:

JotDownAllYourFactsandIdeas.Recordtheminnoteform.Anyordermaybefollowed

atthisstage,ascircumstancesdictate.Ifanymaindivisionofyoursubjectareobvious,however,youcanallot

aseparatepageorindexcardtoeachofthem.Forinstance,anInformationSystem

DevelopmentProjectmaydivideitselfnaturallyintoTechnical,FinancialandAdministrativeaspects.

STAGEII:

ARRANGEMENTOFAREPORT

Observanceofthefollowingtenpointswillhelpyoutoconstructaconcise,logicalandwellarrangedreport:

-

1.Writedownyourpurposeinonetersesentence.

Thiswilltestyourunderstandingofyourtaskanddeteryoufromincludingunnecessarypoints.Thenchooseatitlethat

makesyourpurposeplain.

2.ConsideryourcollectedFactsandIdeas.

Rejectanywhichonsecondthoughtsareneitherhelpfulnornecessarytoyourpurpose.Addnotesofanyotherswhich

nowappearessentialordesirable.

3.Reviewanymaindivisioncritically,andrevisethemifnecessary.

Ifyoucouldnotmakegroupingsearlier,considernowwhatthemaindivisionsshouldbe.Chooseasectionheadingfor

eachmaindivision.

4.Decidetheorderinwhichyouwillpresentthemaindivisions.

Theywillformsectionsofyourreport.Numberyoursectionheadingssothattheycanbeeasilyreferredtoinany

discussionsofyourreport.

5.Withineachdivision,arrangeyourmaterialinanorderwhichyourreaderwilleasilyfollow.

Leadthereaderstepbystepfromtheknowntotheunknown.Iftherearefewitemsinanyonegroup,youcannumber

themonyourexistingsheetorcard.Iftherearemanyitemsunderanyoneheading,youmayprefertore-writethem,in

yourchosenorder,onafreshsheetorcard.Carefulpreparationofthiskindistheonlywaytoclarifyacomplexsubject.

6.MakesureyourConclusionorRecommendationssquarewithyourfacts.

DecidewhethertogrouptheminasectionoftheirownwhichwillformanaturalConclusiontoyourreport,ordistribute

themamongthesectionstowhichtheybelong.Youmayuseevenusebothmethods,statingyourConclusions

andRecommendationsSectionbysection,andre-statingthemwithcumulativeforceinyourConclusion.

7.ReviewyourTitleandSectionHeadingscritically.

Theyshouldidentify,andnotmerelydescribe,thesubjectmatterunderthem.Brevityisdesirable,butthreeorfour

precise,informativewordsarebetterthantwovague,ambiguousones.

8.ConsiderwhatuseyoucanmakeofIllustrationstosupplementorreplacewords.

"Agooddiagramisoftenworthmorethanapageofwriting."

9.ConsidertheAdvisabilityofusingFootnotes.

Ifusedwithdiscretiontheymayhelptheunimpededflowofnarrativeorargument.However,Footnotesshouldbeasbrief

aspossible.

Footnotesmaybeusedto:

-

a）Givesourcesofquotationsorreferencesmentionedinthetext;

b）Indicateauthoritiesorsourcesofadditionalinformation;

c）Explainpassagesinthetextwhichmaybecleartosomereadersbutnottoothers.

10.ConsiderwhetheryoucanliftanyFactualdetailsoutoftheMainDivisionsandplacethemin

Appendices.

Appendicesperformfunctionssimilartothoseoffootnotesbyremovingdistractingdetailsandthusenablingthereaderto

followthemainlineofthoughtwithoutinterruption.Youmayofcoursehavethesummarizetherelegateddetailsinthe

Reportitself.

STAGEIII:

WRITINGTHEREPORT

1.ReportStyle

Decidewhatthetoneofyourtextshouldbe.Alucid,business-likeandbalancedexpositionisusuallydesiredinBusiness,

ScientificandTechnicalReports.Achallengingorcontroversialapproachmay,however,occasionallybejustified.

2.Arrangement

Considerwhetheryoucanhelpyourreaderbynumberingorletteringparagraphsoritemswithinthesections.Any

numberingschememustbemaintainedconsistentlyandmustbesetoutonthepagesothatitisclearlysubordinatetothe

sectionnumbering.

3.Illustrations

Thinkofyourillustrationsasyouwrite,sothatreadingmaterandvisualitemsmaybecloselylinked.Everyillustrationshould

bereferredtoatleastonceinthetextandshouldbeaccompaniedbyanidentifyingcaptionortitle.Ifyouhavemore

than2or3illustrations,itmaybeadvisabletonumberthemforreference.

4.Introduction

Yourreportwillneedanintroduction-whichmaybewrittenlastofall.Theintroductionistheplacefora

broad,generalviewofyourmaterial.AvoiddetailswhichbelongproperlytothemainsectionsorAppendices.

Inyourintroduction:

-

a）Statethenameandappointmentoftherecipient.

IfthereportistogotoseveralpeopleappendaDistributionListsub-divided,ifnecessary,intotwoparts.

As:

-ForActionRecipients

-ForInformationRecipients.

b）Dateyourreport;

c）UseClassifications,

Suchas"Secret","Confidential"and"Private"onlywheretheygenuinelyapply.

d）Defineyoursubjectandindicatebroadlyitsextent,compositionandsignificance.

e）StateyourpurposeandTermsofReference,andindicatehowfaryouareabletocarrythemout.

f）Providebackgroundinformation,

Informationinwhichyourreaderwillneed,andwhichhemaynotknoworclearlyremember.

g）Statefully,orsummarize,yourResults,ConclusionsandRecommendations.

h）AnnouncethearrangementofyourMainsections.

i）DefineTechnicaltermsandwords（Jargons）thatyouintendtouseinaspecialsense.

MakeyourIntroductionasinterestingasyoucan,forinstancebysinglingoutpointsofimmediatepracticalorfinancialsignificance,butbewareofsensationalismordistortionofthefact.

5.THEMAINSECTIONANDAPPENDICES

ConcentrateonwritingoneofyoursectionsorAppendicesatatime.Youmayneedtodosomeorallofthefollowingin

eachsection:

-

a）Statefactsobtainedandindicatesource;

b）Analysesthesefacts;

c）Statetheconclusionsorrecommendationsbasedonthem;

d）Describetheprocedurefollowedinyourinvestigationsorexperiments;

e）Referto,orsummarize,mattersfullypresentedinanAppendix.

Onceyouhaveovercomethefirstinertia,forgeaheadfrompointtopointinthesequenceyouplannedwhen

arrangingyourmaterial.Whatyouareproducingisa"DraftReport",subjecttorevision.

Itismoreimportanttoachieveaflowingstylethantoworryatthisstageaboutnicetiesofgrammar,oreventhe

exactobservanceoftheadviceonthispage.

6.THECONCLUSION

Yourconclusionshoulddosomeorallofthefollowing:

-

a）summarizethediscussioninthemainsections;

b）summarizefindingsandinferences;

c）Makerecommendationsbasedonyourfindingsandinferences;

d）StateclearlywhatactionshouldbetakenasaresultofyourRecommendations,andbywhom;

e）Emphasisefinallythesignificanceofyoursubjectmatter;

f）Referbrieflytoanywiderconsiderations,outsideyourtermsofreference,onwhichyourreportmayhaveabearing.

"ConclusionandIntroductionarecloselyinterdependent"

IfyoumerelysummariseyourConclusionandRecommendationsinyourIntroductionyouwillstillneedtogivetheminfull

inyourConclusionsection.IfyougivetheminfullinyourIntroductionsection,youmaydecidenottorepeattheminyour

Conclusion.

TheConclusionshouldhaveasectionheadingofitsown,tomarkitoffclearlyfromthelastmainsection.

YoumaydecidetomakearadicalchangeintheIntroduction-MainSection-Conclusionsequenceofthereportby

placingtheConclusionimmediatel