2. Types of reports
1) BRIEF REPORTS:
These kinds of reports are not formally structured and are
generally short, sometimes not running more than four to five
pages. The information provided has limited scope and is a
prelude to the formal structured report that would
subsequently follow. These reports could be designed in several
ways like working paper or basic reports and survey reports
3. Detailed Reports
This basically consists of technical and business reports.
Technical reports:Thesearemajordocumentsandwouldincludeall elements
of the basic report, as well as the interpretations and conclusions, as
related to the obtained results.
Business reports:Thesereportsincludeconclusionsasunderstoodby the
business manager. The tables, figures and numbers of the first report
would now be pictorially shown as bar charts and graphs and the
reporting tone would be more in business terms.
4. PROCESS OF REPORT FORMULATION
• Preliminary Section
Title Page
Letter of Authorization
Executive Summary
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
• Background Section
Problem Statement
Study Introduction and Background
Scope and Objectives of the Study
Review of Literature
• Methodology Section
Research Design Sampling Design Data
Collection Data Analysis
• Findings Section
Results
• Conclusions Section
Conclusion and Recommendations
Limitations of the Study
• Appendices and Glossary of Terms
• Bibliography
5. Report Structure
1) Preliminary Section
i) Title page
ii) letter of transmittal- This is the letter that broadly refers to the purpose behind the
study.
Iii) Letter of authorization: The author of this letter is the business manager who formally
gives the permission for executing the project
Iv) Table of contents: All reports should have a section that clearly indicates the division
of the report based on the formal areas of the study as indicated in the research
structure.
V) Executive summary: The summary of the entire report, starting from the scope and
objectives of the study to the methodology employed and the results obtained, has to be
presented in a brief and concise manner.
6. 2) Main Report
Problem definition: This section begins with the formal definition of the research
problem.
Study background: Study background essentially begins by presenting the decision-
makers’ problem and then moves on to a description of the theoretical and
contemporary market data that laid the foundation that guided the research.In case the
study is an academic research, there is a separate section devoted to the review of related
literature, which presents a detailed reporting of work done on the same or related topic
of interest.
Study scope and objectives: The logical arguments then conclude in the form of definite
statements related to the purpose of the study. In case the study is causal in nature, the
formulated hypotheses are presented here as well.
Methodology of research: The section would essentially have five to six sections
specifying the details of how the research was conducted.
7. 3) Interpretations of Results and Suggested
Recommendations
This section comes after the main report
and contains interpretations of results and
suggested recommendations. It presents the
information in a summarized and numerical
form.
8. 4) Limitations of the study
The last part in this section is a brief
discussion of the problems encountered
during the study and the constraints in
terms of time, financial or human
resources.
9. 5) End Notes
The final section of the report provides all
the supportive material in the study like
appendices, bibliography and footnotes
10. FORMULATION OF RULES FOR WRITING THE
REPORT
clear report mandate :While writing the research problem and study
background, the writer needs to be absolutely clear in terms of why and
how the problem was formulated.
Clear representation offindings:Complete honesty and transparency in
stating the treatment of data and editing of missing or contrary data is
extremely critical.
Command over the medium: A correct and effective language of
communication is critical in putting ideas and objectives in the vernacular
of the reader/decision-maker.
