Report tips

1. Tips for Reporting
Information
“EITHER WRITE SOMETHING WORTH READING OR DOING SOMETHING WORTH
WRITING.”- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

2. Report Writing
 It does not report on anything that is untrue or cannot be supported with
evidence.
 Some reports have:
A Title Page
Table of Contents
Overall Summary
Introduction
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations
You will only need to write the “body” (Intro,
findings, conclusions, and recommendations for
this report!

3. Remember, news and features
don’t contain reporter opinion.
 While all readers would agree, it’s not a “tragic fire.”
 Without a survey or other way to show this, it’s not accurate to say
“everyone owns an iPod.” What is the source? Who researched this?
 And even if “Greenville High School is better off because she won
the award,” the reporter shouldn’t be the one to say it.
 It is not biased and t does not report on anything that is untrue or
cannot be supported with evidence.

4. The Title The title is your readers’ first contact with the
report. Its aim is to inform them of the report’s contents. It
should be brief, but it must contain enough information to
distinguish it from other, similar reports. Try to write it
using ordinary English grammar, rather than the ‘headline’
style that is sometimes adopted; for example, a good title
might be A comparative survey of computer programs for
business using the PC rather than PC business program
comparison survey.
The Title

5. INTRODUCTION
Purpose- States the purpose of the report
Includes what the report will recommend
(This is a theme that will run throughout the entire report. It is the
thesis for what you are reporting on and its purpose.
Example The purpose of this report is to investigate the
reasons behind the rise in computer gaming addiction
among teenagers. The report will also recommend
preventive measures for computer gaming addiction.

6. Background
Background
Provides information on the problem or situation that gave rise to the
investigation
May refer to secondary data, e.g. newspaper report (i.e. data that was
discovered by someone else or sources that are mentioned or referenced )
- This will have it’s own section in the body of the report

7. INTRODUCTION
Method of Investigation
States how investigation was carried out, e.g. questionnaires issued to
[how many people] for [how long]
This is called primary data (i.e. data that is discovered by you, the writer
of the report)
May include references to secondary data

8. Consider the Rhetorical
Situation
Scope
States the areas of investigation, e.g. reasons, consequences, etc., i.e.
what information you need in order to meet your purpose
First scope item is respondents’ profile
There should be at least 3 other scope items

9. Conclusion
The conclusions should arise naturally from the evidence that is
presented in the previous sections. You might include, for example,
statements on what has happened, what the situation is and what
might happen. You might also consider further action that could be
taken, and an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of
various courses of action. If appropriate, you should give your
opinion, in the light of your experience and the evidence that you
have presented, what a preferred course of action would be. If there
are any gaps in your knowledge which prevent you coming to a
decision, then you should make that clear and perhaps outline what
further investigations would be necessary to provide fuller
information. You should not include any new information that does
not appear in the main body of the report. You should not make
statements that you cannot support from the evidence.

10. Recommendations
Recommendations are not always called for in a report, but if they
are included, they should follow on logically from the conclusions.
Usually a brief statement of what should or should not be done is
sufficient. It helps the reader if the recommendations are set out as
brief statements.

11. Include:
Why is the report being written? It is important to set out your brief for the
report. You need to give the circumstances which made the report necessary and
what you hope to achieve by writing it. It may be necessary to give some
background information so that there is a framework into which your readers
can fit the information you are presenting. Of course, you need to use your
judgement to decide how much detail to include, and this will largely depend on
your assessment of the people who will be reading the report.
The introduction answers the questions: Why is the report being written? What
kinds of information does it contain? How is the problem being approached? For
whom is the report being written?