The document provides guidance on planning and writing reports by outlining the key sections of a report and explaining the importance of planning. It describes the typical sections of a report including introduction, methods, findings, discussion and conclusion. Examples are provided of content that could be included in each section to help the reader understand what type of information belongs in each part of the report.

1. Postgraduate Academic
Writing: Reports
You will be able to…
Identify what goes in each section of a report
Explain the stages of planning and writing a
report
Assess your current methods of report writing
Rhian Wyn-Williams,
skills@ljmu.ac.uk

2. Planning your report is essential because…
… a report communicates the findings of an investigation. So, think of planning it as going for a
walk: get to your destination clearly and logically, without detours.
A report has clear sections that tell
the reader:
what you did
why and how you did it
what you found out
why that is important
I’m going to show you descriptions of
what you might find in each section
of a report. Can you tell me which
section it is?

3. Introduction? Methods? Findings? Discussion?
Conclusion?
• Number of participants
• Apparatus or materials used
• Step by step procedure of how you carried the research out
• State your experimental method
• Detail the kind of data you collected and how you collected it

4. • How your results prove or disprove your hypothesis
• Comparison of your results with other investigations or literature
• 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
• Lead to recommendations (this can be a separate section)
Introduction? Methods? Findings?
Discussion? Conclusion?

5. • What you have read, researched, discovered
• Present an outline of what was found as a result of your study
• Graphs and tables
• Briefly explain the results using clear headings
• Never present raw data in this section
Introduction? Methods? Findings? Discussion?
Conclusion?

6. • Present the main findings from the research
• Restate the questions/problems that led to the preparation of the
report
• But don’t restate too much of the report (keep it brief)
• Link back to the purpose of the report
• Lead to recommendations (this can be a separate section):
• Actions to be taken
• Areas to explore further

7. • The reasons for undertaking the study
• Definitions of any specialised terms in the report
• The scope of the investigation (what is covered and what is not)
• Introducing the reader to the subject area
• Presents your objectives and hypotheses
• Gives context through a literature review

8. Analyse
the brief
Research
and plan
Writing
Plan
Write
To achieve such a clear structure, you need to plan. When
does planning start?

9. Ask yourself key questions:
What is the purpose of the report? What is it
asking to me to do? Think of its scope.
Who is it for?
You may need to develop aims and objectives.
Start to note down your answers to these
questions and some initial thoughts:
What information do I need?
How will I get that information?
Analyse
the brief

10. • How you go about your research
and gathering your information
will vary greatly depending on your
subject and the actual brief, but
you will always need to read.
Why?
• When reading, never write
everything down – go back to your
initial questions, aims and
objectives.
Research
and plan

11. A grid like this can help you keep track of your reading and analysis, and think
about how you will use or refer to it in your writing:
Author, title Topic Key idea Strengths/Weaknesses How to use
Bill Johnston (2010)
The First Year at
University: Teaching
Students in
Transition: Teaching
Students in
Transition (Helping
Students Learn)
Effect of
stress on
university
students
Students need to
have differences in
study practices
made clear at the
outset: this is
primarily the
responsibility of
the university
Very small sample
Longitudinal study
– appropriate
methods
Compare to
(Jones, 2014) who
emphasises
responsibility of
the student –
introduction (as
background)
Compare with own
methods-
introduction
Compare to own
findings -
discussion
Don’t forget, use diagrams like mind maps too if you prefer
Research
and plan

12. They can also help you keep track of your research and think about how you will
use it in your discussion and conclusion sections:
Aim Objective Finding Links to reading Analysis
Do your findings
challenge what
you have read, or
offer further
evidence for
established
arguments? How
do they compare?
What these
findings mean to
you in relation to
the brief – discuss
them, draw
conclusions,
consider
limitations and
recommendations.
Don’t forget, use diagrams like mind maps too if you prefer
Research
and plan

13. Writing
Plan
Now make a detailed paragraph plan
for each section, with notes on where
your reading will fit in.
Your analysis of the brief, your aims
and objectives and your focused
research and notes have already
started to give you a structure.

14. 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?
Examples: illustrate your point with examples.
Do: What do I do with this information? How is it
relevant? Keep thinking ‘So what?’. Relate to brief and
particular section.
Writing
Plan

15. The potential issues caused by the entanglement of cables and tubing at hospital bedsides
are numerous and can often seriously compromise patient care and recovery. For example,
in an intensive care unit a mess of cables that becomes caught and pulled can disconnect or
snap a critical fluid line leading to the rapid deterioration of a patient’s condition (Imhoff,
2004). This could then be made more dangerous by anyone trying to reconnect the line by
pulling back at the cabling, potentially damaging a number of other life supporting systems.
Patients have also been known to become strangled by tubing this is more common in
paediatric care where child patients become restless and induce further tangling by moving
about (Garros et al., 2003). In circumstances when a patient is bed-bound for an extended
amount of time, movement and exercise can enhance recovery and reduce loss of muscle
strength (Burtin et al., 2009). However, the way that most wired monitoring systems are set
up limit the area in which a patient can move by effectively tethering them to the machine.
This has a wider impact on the NHS by contributing to bed shortages because patients take
longer to recover to the point at which they can be discharged. A product is therefore
required that can replace the current system of bedside cables and tubing to improve
patient safety and recovery, which would be beneficial to the individual patient and
alleviate some of the pressures on the health system.
Read this introduction. Can you see WEED in it?

16. The potential issues caused by the entanglement of cables and tubing
at hospital bedsides are numerous and can often seriously
compromise patient care and recovery. For example, in an intensive
care unit a mess of cables that becomes caught and pulled can
disconnect or snap a critical fluid line leading to the rapid
deterioration of a patient’s condition (Imhoff, 2004). This could then
be made more dangerous by anyone trying to reconnect the line by
pulling back at the cabling, potentially damaging a number of other
life supporting systems. Patients have also been known to become
strangled by tubing this is more common in paediatric care where
child patients become restless and induce further tangling by moving
about (Garros et al., 2003). In circumstances when a patient is bed-
bound for an extended amount of time, movement and exercise can
enhance recovery and reduce loss of muscle strength (Burtin et al.,
2009). However, the way that most wired monitoring systems are set
up limit the area in which a patient can move by effectively tethering
them to the machine. This has a wider impact on the NHS by
contributing to bed shortages because patients take longer to recover
to the point at which they can be discharged. A product is therefore
required that can replace the current system of bedside cables and
tubing to improve patient safety and recovery, which would be
beneficial to the individual patient and alleviate some of the
pressures on the health system.
What the paragraph is
about
Explanation/evidence
Examples/evidence
D: showing relevance
to question/issue, the
‘so, what?’

17. In that introduction, we can
also see how the student
has used careful planning to
include the main features of
a report introduction. We’ll
now analyse some more
examples to see how you
can write effectively.
Write

18. Methods
A copy of the adapted survey used in the current study is
available in appendix G. The survey was re-created using a
SharePoint survey form, and was hosted on the internal company
intranet, accessible by a specific URL, as this was the most
efficient way to distribute the survey to a large number of
participants. The survey took approximately five minutes to
complete per respondent (as evidenced in the pilot). The survey
was secured as ‘read-only’ so that no changes could be made by
any respondents, and was configured to prevent participants
submitted multiple responses (and potentially skewing the data).
Six petri dishes were prepared with agar and inoculated with
the bacteria. The plates were incubated for ten hours.
Notice the use of the past tense, and the level of detail that is used.

19. Results/Findings
• Notice the use of calculations, graphs, figures or tables or
quotations
• You could be summarising key findings from secondary
literature here too
• Use a logical order: maybe try using your objectives as a
guide
For each of these graduates, the data reveal that they were all
seeking ways to improve their pedagogy and achieving success
in different ways. Angela suggested that in her second year of
teaching she had changed in that she was planning in a "more
child oriented" way. Ahmed discussed a similar experience:…

20. It was expected that the leaves would show a far higher rate of decomposition
in the shore zone, where there are more chances for sediments to rub against
them. However the two zones show no significant difference in leaf
breakdown, although these results are non-conclusive due to the limitations
of this experiment. The two zones of leaf decomposition were physically too
close, and over the incubation period reeds were observed growing close to
the limnetic zone. This may have negatively affected the accuracy of the
results by reducing the differences in habitat at these sites, as seen in other
experiments (Jones et al. 2017). The results also had large standard
deviations, possibly due to these physical constraints or human error in
weighing leaves.
Further studies with more diverse zones and precise procedures should be
undertaken in order to explore leaf decomposition and rates of energy
transfer more effectively.
Comparison of results
with hypothesis or
expected results
Suggested
explanation for
unexpected
results
Awareness of
and
explanation for
limitations
Recommendation
to overcome
limitations
Discussion (could have separate
conclusion/recommendations)

21. but, however, on the
other hand, yet
CONTRAST
for example, that is ILLUSTRATION
similarly, moreover,
furthermore, in addition
EXTENSION
therefore, consequently,
as a result, thus
CONCLUSION
then, after that,
ultimately
THE NEXT STEP
As discussed above,…
Before proceeding to
examine X, it will be
necessary to …
When considering all the points
outlined above …
A contrasting approach is ….
Signposting and transition phrases help clarity and link sections.
The Manchester University Phrasebank is useful too
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/summary-and-transition/

22. What will you start trying to do to
make improvements to your report
planning?

23. Next Steps
Next week:
PG Dissertations: Writing about your
methodology
Academic Writing: reflections
Week starting 30th March:
Editing and Proofreading
Dissertations: Question Time
Academic Writing: case studies