This document provides guidance on writing reports, including outlining the typical structure and sections of a report, how to organize content, and critical writing techniques. Key sections discussed include the introduction, literature review, discussion/findings, conclusion, and recommendations. Guidance is provided on writing summaries, using headings and numbering, incorporating evidence and examples, and the differences between reports and essays. Overall, the document offers a comprehensive overview of best practices for writing structured, well-organized reports.

1. Report Writing

2. Session
Outline
• Preparing to write reports
• Organising your reading – planning
• Structure and organisation
of reports
• What goes in each section
• Numbering
• Critical Writing

3. Report Writing Planner
Using a planner like this will
help you stay on track.
Not only does it break the
assignment process down into
days for you, but it also
explains exactly what you
should be doing at each stage.
https://www.kent.ac.uk/ai/ask/

4. Preparing to write
As you read, it can be helpful to use a table
to record the information that you know
you will need later. In addition to the usual
bibliographical details, you can devise your
own list of extra information you want to
collect at the initial reading stage.
Author, title Topic Key
idea/theme
Strengths/
Weaknesses
How to use Further
thoughts:
related to
project
Valentine., G.
(2001) Social
Geographies:
Space and
Society.
Pearson,
Harlow
Gender,
ethnicity and
work
Applies
Marxist
theory to
review why
certain
groups
undertake
different
types of
employment
Written in
2001- Old?
Good
information in
relation to
gender and
ethnicity less
on work life
balance.
Use with
Smith (2002)
information
in paragraph
on workplace
Look at
Valentines
1993 paper?

5. Some alternative approaches:
Adapt headings to your discipline/project:
Author Year Type of
study
Sample Design Data
collection
approach
Key
findings
Sciences/Experimental focus
Humanities/Theoretical focus
Author Year Type of
work
Strengths Weaknesses Relevance to own
study
Taken from The University of Adelaide Writing a literature review
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_writingLiteratureReview.pdf

6. Organisation of Reports
Reports can be set out as below, but you won't always need
all sections.
1.Title or title page
2. Summary/Abstract
3. Contents list
4. Introduction
5. Methodology/Methods
6. Findings
7. Discussion
8. Conclusion
9. Recommendations
10. Appendix
A short report won't need a title page, but should have a
title. The contents list is only needed in long reports.
If you are asked to write a
Literature Review section.
This comes after the
introduction.

7. Summary/ Abstract
• The Summary or Abstract (sometimes called an executive
summary or Resume), is on the first page of a report but
is always written last. A summary includes all the
main points of your report but no examples or
extra information. You always need to write a
summary for dissertations, this is called an
abstract.
• Do not confuse a Summary with an Introduction -
the Summary should summarise the whole
report, while the Introduction tells your reader
WHAT, HOW and WHY, and sometimes describes
the content or structure of the report.

8. Summary or Introduction?
Do not describe the content or structure in a summary. Compare A & B
which one is a summary? Which one describes the content/structure and is
more like an introduction?
A) This forecast will cover the
temperature, rainfall
expectation and wind conditions
for the UK tomorrow.
B) Tomorrow will be cold, wet and
windy everywhere in the UK.
The essence of summary is the absence of detail, not the
absence of information. A) is a description of the content of
the weather forecast B) is a summary of tomorrow’s weather.

9. Think of the abstract as
answering a series of
questions
• What is the purpose of the work?
• What methods did you use for your
research?
• What were the main findings and
conclusions made as a result of your
research?
• Did your work lead you to make any
recommendations for further
actions?
This pilot study examined the nature and
prevalence of bullying/victimization by
peers and teachers reported by 1,284
students (mean age=15.2 years) drawn
from a representative sample of 25 state
schools and private schools in the North of
England. Students completed a self-report
survey containing questions relating to
teacher and peer-related bullying,
measures of psychosocial adjustment, and
personality. The results showed that
students could be clearly differentiated
according to the type of victimization they
had experienced. Students reporting peer
victimization typically showed high levels of
social alienation, poorer psychological
functioning, and poorer self-esteem and
self-image. By contrast, victims of teacher
victimization were more likely to be rated
as less able academically and had less
intention to complete high school. Further
research across the whole of UK is
suggested to ascertain if the findings are
geographically specific.

10. This pilot study examined the nature and prevalence of
bullying/victimization by peers and teachers reported by 1,284
students (mean age=15.2 years) drawn from a representative
sample of 25 state schools and private schools in the North of
England. Students completed a self-report survey containing
questions relating to teacher and peer-related bullying,
measures of psychosocial adjustment, and personality. The
results showed that students could be clearly differentiated
according to the type of victimization they had experienced.
Students reporting peer victimization typically showed high
levels of social alienation, poorer psychological functioning,
and poorer self-esteem and self-image. By contrast, victims of
teacher victimization were more likely to be rated as less able
academically and had less intention to complete high school.
Further research across the whole of UK is suggested to
ascertain if the findings are geographically specific.
Purpose
Methods
Findings and
Conclusions
Recommendations
/ further work

11. Introduction
The introduction should be brief and
answer any of the following questions if
relevant to the question.
• What is the topic and background?
• Who asked for the report and why?
• What is the structure/content?
• What is your method of working? If the method is
long and detailed, put it in an appendix.

12. Literature
Review
• This section may not be required in all
reports.
• Must be linked to your research aims/topic.
• Helps the reader to understand how your
research connects to previous work.
• It is orgainised to show your analysis of
relevant research.
• It should have an introduction and a
conclusion.
• Each body paragraph should deal with a
separate theme or topic.
• The research you read about must be
compared to reach conclusions about
similarities and differences/strengths and
weaknesses.
• It is not written as a list of sources
described and analysed separately.

13. Multiple studies have found evidence supporting an increase in
crop growth in an environment of elevated CO2. In their
research, Cai et al. (2016) attributed this to enhanced leaf
photosynthesis in C3 species like wheat when exposed to such
an increase in the concentration of CO2 in the ambient air. In
addition, Hӧgy and Frangmeier (2008) observed an acceleration
of wheat growth ‘productivity’ under CO2 enrichment, the
amplification of these processes ultimately leading to enhanced
crop growth. Wang et al. (2016) supported these studies,
completing a research project of wheat growth under elevated
atmospheres of CO2 concentrations up to 500ppm. Comparing
wheat crop growth under elevated CO2 conditions with those
in ambient conditions, Wang et al. (2016) were able to
significantly demonstrate that increases in atmospheric carbon
could improve grain growth up to 8%.
This is an example paragraph, from a
literature review section of a report.
Topic Sentence-main idea
of the paragraph
Description and
analysis of research
supporting the main
idea
References
Research Question
How do increased concentrations
of Co2 impact on crop growth?
Transitional
words and
phrases
showing the
relationship
between
sentences and
ideas.

14. Discussion/Main Body
The discussion is the main body of the report. It is likely
to be the longest section, containing all the details of the
work organised under NUMBERED headings and sub-
headings.
Start with the most important information
Follow with the next most important, and so on
You should follow the same rule with each
paragraph:
Begin with the main points of the paragraph
Then write further details or an explanation.

15. Discussion
Your interpretation of the results
Include
• How your results prove or disprove your
hypothesis/research question
• Comparison of your results with other investigations
or literature – from your literature review
• Factors which may have influenced your results
• Implications of the results
• A summary of the main results of the study
• An interpretation of the results in relation to the aims,
predictions or hypothesis
• An interpretation of the results in relation to the
findings of other research in the area

16. Example from a discussion
section of a chemistry report

17. Example
from a
discussion
section of a
psychology
report

18. Conclusion
Conclusions are what you conclude from the body
of the report, and your analysis and discussion.
Conclusions are not further results, extra
discussion, or afterthoughts.
Like a visit to a doctor. The
doctor looks at you, does
some tests and asks questions.
The conclusion is the doctor
saying that you have a
stomach ulcer.

19. Recommendations
The Recommendations are actions to be implemented as a result of the
conclusions.
Conclusion = Patient has an ulcer
Recommendation = Patient to take medicine + stop smoking
• A report prepared for information purposes only will have no
Recommendations section
• A report prepared for persuasion purposes will have a Recommendations
section - no point in persuading someone of the need for action if no
recommendations are given
• Recommendations should not include further results, analysis, discussion or
conclusions
• The Recommendations section should be simple action list.
Eg: Do action X, build factory Y, delete product Z.

20. Appendices
The appendices go at the back of the
report and are for material which is
too long to go in the main report
(usually data or statistics etc)
• Relevant charts and tables should go
in the discussion where readers can
use them.
• Only put them in an appendices if
they would disrupt the flow of the
report.

21. Numbering sections and paragraphs
It is helpful to have a numbering system to:
Support navigation
Enable both you and your reader to refer
to specific sections.
The simplest and most widely recognised
system is the decimal numbering system
with indents.

22. The decimal numbering system
1. Beef burgers
1.1 With cheese
1.2 Without cheese
2. Chicken burgers
2.1 With ketchup
2.2 With Mayo
2.2.1 Standard Mayo
2.2.2 Low fat Mayo
2.3 With barbeque sauce
3. Vegetarian burgers
3.1 TVP
3.2 Tofu

23. 2. Chicken burgers
2.1 With ketchup
Chicken burgers with ketchup are really delicious and the ketchup gives
sweetness to the overall flavour of the burger. So if you like things to taste
sweet, have your chicken burger with ketchup.
2.2 With Mayo
2.2.1 Standard Mayo
If you prefer a creamy taste to a sweet taste then why not have Mayo on your
burger. Many people these days prefer the more sophisticated taste of mayo to
the sweetness of ketchup.
2.2.2 Low fat Mayo
Of course the big problem with mayo is that it has an extremely high fat
content, so why don’t you try the low fat alternative. This mayo is not quite as
creamy but will not make your waistline expand so much.
2.3 With barbeque sauce
Some people do not like sweet or creamy flavours, so what should they have
on their chicken burger? A really good alternative is the rich and smoky
flavour of barbecue sauce.
Example sections organised using
decimal numbering system.

24. Critical Writing -Planning
your paragraphs: WEED
What is your paragraph about?
This will be your topic sentence.
Try writing each of these first
Explanation: what do you mean?
Offer some evidence and
explanation
Examples: make sure that you
illustrate your point with examples.
Do: What do I do with this
information? How is it relevant?
Keep thinking ‘So what?’
Your final sentence should
link back to your opening sentence
or to the next paragraph
The W and D are very
important to developing your
structure and making your
writing flow.

25. There are various causal factors of stress, which itself can have a negative
impact on a person’s health and well-being. According to Directgov (2009),
one in five people experience some form of stress at work, with half a
million reporting that workplace stress had resulted in illness. Jones (2012)
however, in a more in-depth study of the causes of stress, points out that
stress which appears to originate in the workplace may also be a result of, or
affected by, external factors as wide ranging as financial situation,
bereavements, emotional disturbances and personality disorders. This
suggests that methods to relieve stress are important for both individuals’
health and the economy, but also that such methods must take into account
the variety of factors which lead to stress and the necessity for provision of a
range of management methods.
Can you spot WEED? Just from this, could
you guess what the assignment is about? A
paragraph alone should make the topic of
the whole piece clear.

26. The differences between reports
and essays
Both essays and reports need:
• formal style
• careful proof-reading and neat presentation
• introduction, body and conclusion
• analytical thinking
But there are some essential differences

27. A Report An Essay
Usually presents information, analysis or
simple data
Usually presents an argument or
discussion
Is meant to be read in sections Is meant to be read carefully from
beginning to end
Uses numbered headings and sub-
headings
Uses minimal sub-headings, if any. Uses
clear topic sentences and transition
phrases instead
May not need references and
bibliography/reference list
Always needs references and
bibliography/reference list
Uses short, concise paragraphs and can
have lists/dot-points where applicable
Links ideas into paragraphs, should not
have lists or dot point
Uses graphics wherever possible (tables,
graphs, illustrations)
Rarely uses graphics (or put in
appendices)
May need an abstract or summary Will only need an abstract if it is very long,
or if your lecturer asks for one specifically
May often have recommendations and/or
appendices
Seldom has recommendations or
appendices

28. ‘Globalisation’ has been variously defined by differing authors as being either a
phenomenon which is beneficial to all or one that will divide the world’s population
into two groups: the very rich and the very poor. This essay will critically compare
and evaluate these interpretations in relation to global and local economies. Most
mainstream political scientists, economists and political commentators see
globalisation as a benign force which will eventually result in an era where world
incomes will rise and democracy and cultural richness and diversity will prevail.
However, this view is not exclusive; in fact whenever the phenomenon of
‘globalisation’ is raised there is a huge and often heated debate.
Those who see globalisation as an opportunity for all, usually take the position that
a global free trade economy will ultimately benefit developed and developing
nations. Philip Legrain and Thomas Friedman have both written extensively on the
benefits of globalisation and offer persuasive counter arguments to much of the
current criticism of many aspects of global free trade. Legrain insists that we have
nothing to fear from globalisation and argues that it is a chance for mutual
enrichment not a route to global impoverishment (Legrain, 2002). Friedman insists
that the world is now ‘flat’ and that globalisation has paved the way for equal
developmental opportunities both locally and globally (Friedman, 2005).
Johan Norberg and Tom Palmer, senior fellows at the Cato Institute which espouses
individual liberty, free markets, and limited government are both globalisation
enthusiasts. Tom Palmer Senior Fellow believes that ‘globalization is great!’ and
argues that far from creating inequality, exploiting the poorest workers and creating
third world sweatshops, globalisation is good for the environment, is culturally
enriching, leads to peace and accountable democratic government, creates wealth
and leads to benefits for all (Palmer, 2002). Norberg has roughly the same positive
view of globalisation and is highly critical of opponents stating that ‘the anti-
globalisation movement is ignorant and dangerously wrong … and far from
protecting poor people the movement is inadvertently helping to keep them poor’
(Norberg, 2003)
The views outlined above are fiercely challenged by the anti-globalisation
movement who have a fundamentally opposite view which is that in the world we
live in a few "globalise" to their endless benefit, while everyone else suffers
poverty, famine, migration, and war.Chomsky (2003), has a less benign view and
argues that an appropriate definition of globalisation would be corporate
domination of both trade and government, keeping tight control of poor and
developing nations.
Report Essay

29. ‘Globalisation’ has been variously defined by differing authors as being either a
phenomenon which is beneficial to all or one that will divide the world’s population
into two groups: the very rich and the very poor. This essay will critically compare
and evaluate these interpretations in relation to global and local economies. Most
mainstream political scientists, economists and political commentators see
globalisation as a benign force which will eventually result in an era where world
incomes will rise and democracy and cultural richness and diversity will prevail.
However, this view is not exclusive; in fact whenever the phenomenon of
‘globalisation’ is raised there is a huge and often heated debate.
Those who see globalisation as an opportunity for all, usually take the position that
a global free trade economy will ultimately benefit developed and developing
nations. Philip Legrain and Thomas Friedman have both written extensively on the
benefits of globalisation and offer persuasive counter arguments to much of the
current criticism of many aspects of global free trade. Legrain insists that we have
nothing to fear from globalisation and argues that it is a chance for mutual
enrichment not a route to global impoverishment (Legrain, 2002). Friedman insists
that the world is now ‘flat’ and that globalisation has paved the way for equal
developmental opportunities both locally and globally (Friedman, 2005).
Johan Norberg and Tom Palmer, senior fellows at the Cato Institute which espouses
individual liberty, free markets, and limited government are both globalisation
enthusiasts. Tom Palmer Senior Fellow believes that ‘globalization is great!’ and
argues that far from creating inequality, exploiting the poorest workers and creating
third world sweatshops, globalisation is good for the environment, is culturally
enriching, leads to peace and accountable democratic government, creates wealth
and leads to benefits for all (Palmer, 2002). Norberg has roughly the same positive
view of globalisation and is highly critical of opponents stating that ‘the anti-
globalisation movement is ignorant and dangerously wrong … and far from
protecting poor people the movement is inadvertently helping to keep them poor’
(Norberg, 2003)
The views outlined above are fiercely challenged by the anti-globalisation
movement who have a fundamentally opposite view which is that in the world we
live in a few "globalise" to their endless benefit, while everyone else suffers
poverty, famine, migration, and war.Chomsky (2003), has a less benign view and
argues that an appropriate definition of globalisation would be corporate
domination of both trade and government, keeping tight control of poor and
developing nations.