2. A survey report is a formal piece of writing based on a research.
You have to write about the facts and generalizations.
Facts are sentences where you use percentages and proportions like in
the following:
51 % of the people would not work longer hours even for more
money. (percentage)
Only 5 % of workers found their jobs boring and hated their work.
(percentage)
Over half of the people (64 %) who work in the ABC company said
that they the money they get is not enough for their living expenses.
(proportion)
Five out of ten of the people (50 %) working in the ABC company said
that the equipment they use is not modern enough to make them
perform faster in doing their jobs at the company. (proportion)
3. One in ten of the employees (10 %) said they are not
happy about the wages they get in their job.
(proportion)
A large proportion of the employees said there are not
enough opportunities of professional improvement in
the work place. ( 80 %) (proportion). This suggests
that the company should give in service training to
their employees to make them perform better and feel
satisfaction about their performance. (Generalization)
55% of young people go to the cinema at least twice a
month (fact – percentages) This shows that the cinema
is still quite a popular form of entertainment among
young people (generalization)
4. A little more than half of the young people prefer to go
to the cinema (55 %) (proportion) . On the other hand,
only 30 % said they would prefer to watch a theatre
performance rather than going to a movie. (one in three
would be interested in going to a theatre performance)
This shows that theatre performances are a second
alternative for getting entertainment among teenagers.
(generalization)
Homework: The following survey shows the spending
patterns of the people in the U.S. between the years 1966
– 1996.
By looking at the chart one can easily see that the eating
pattern and the money spent on food has changed a lot
in the life of the people in the U.S.
5. In 1966, 44 % of the family budget (a little less than
the half of the money the American made) was spent
on buying food and groceries, however in 1996 only a
little more than the one sixth of the family budget went
to buying food items and groceries. (14 %). It dropped
by two thirds. On the other hand, while American were
spending only 7% of their money at restaurant, the
amount has risen to 14%. It has almost doubled. This
shows that the people in the U.S. preferred to eat out
more than they used to in the period of 30 years.
Between 1966 -1996 there has been a great change in
the use of technology and computers in the life of the
Americans. (The use of computers has increased
significantly among the people in the U.S.) While only
1 % of the total income was being spent on computers
6. Likewise, the reading habits of the people have also
changed within the period of 30 years. In 1966, 6 % of
the money earned would go to buying books and
magazines, whereas, in 1996 it has decreased to only 1
%. This shows that people used other means of media
like the internet and computers instead of books to
learn and read about world events in the U.S.
There can easily be seen an increase in having a vehicle
among the people due to the increase in salaries in the
U.S. In 1966 only 23 % of the money was spent on
owning a car but in 1996 it has risen to 45%, which
shows the fact that the Americans gave a lot of priority
for being mobile and active in their private lives.
7. However, as oppose to the increase in the amount
money spent to own a vehicle, the spending for petrol
has not changed at all. In 1966, 9% of the income was
going to spending for petrol. It was almost the same
in 1996, 8% .
The amount of money spent on furniture decreased
from one tenth of the total income to only 8 % . The
slight fall in the money spent for furniture might be
due to the fact that American tended to spend less
time in their homes during the last thirty years.
In conclusion, increased amounts of money spent on
cars, computers, and eating out were the result of the
change in life style.
