The structure of a Report & the process of writing a Report EIT, Author Gay Robertson, 2017

What is a Report structure? A report includes the following sections: Title page Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction Findings and/or Discussion Conclusion Recommendations (Not always included in a report) References

Title page and table of contents A title page gives the title of the report, this page forms the cover of the report and should use the entire first page The title page will also include the author of the report and the completion date The table of contents is a list of the sections/headings of the report using numbering for sections and indenting to show levels with page numbers included This should be on its own page; even if the table of contents only takes half a page it should be separate from the executive summary

Executive Summary Although this is the first section of the report, it is usually written last This section gives a complete summary of the key information in the report It is information, not descriptive Use an impersonal tone It may outline: The purpose of the report What methods were used to collect the information The key findings and key conclusions or recommendations

Introduction The introduction explains the purpose of the report and explains how the investigation was carried out Information such as the timeframe or when the report was due and any necessary background information The main goal of the introduction is for the reader to: Know what the report is about Know why the report was written Know where the information/research come from

Findings and/or Discussion Findings are the facts found during your research Numbered Major findings listed first, followed by numbered minor findings It is important to give facts and not your own personal thoughts or opinions on the topic and no interpretation should be given at this point A Discussion would be included if you are required to analyse or interpret the findings, it may discuss how different findings relate or how different each finding is

Conclusion This is where you summarise the key findings of your report, the numbered major conclusions should be written first, followed by numbered minor conclusions It is important that your conclusion are based on your findings and answer the question the report was produced to provide, or complete the objective of the report The conclusions should include enough thought and information for recommendations to be made from them No new information can be introduced in the conclusion Each conclusion must match up with the numbered findings

Recommendations Must be based on the numbered conclusions; should be practical and specific; should be well organized with the most important first This section is for you to provide your opinion, whether the solution is: A solution to a problem An action that should be taken What should be done about a situation Possible changes that should be implemented Each recommendation must match a numbered finding and conclusion

References Your sources that are used are referred to in your report should be listed here Typically this would be using a reference style known as APA However for the purposes of this course you simply need to identify who/what was your sources for your research and a link to the source – generally a URL

Putting it all together On the next screen you will see a report about this cute little puppy

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The report writing process …. Objective Planning Collecting Information Organising Information Audience Structure Finishing

Collecting Information Organising Information Objective Collecting Information The objective Identify the scope of your investigation Identify the purpose … To inform? To convince? Planning the report How much time to write it? What stages can you divide it into? Set deadlines for the stages Collecting information What do I need? Where do I find it? Survey, organisations, Google, publications? How much is needed? Organising information Relevant or irrelevant? Sort under main headings Planning Organising Information

The audience Structure Often 3 different audiences The casual reader/big boss who wants the main message as painlessly as possible The interested reader who wants more detail but doesn’t want to grapple with all the gory technical details The guru who wants the whole story Structure To address all 3 audiences effectively Include an abstract for the big boss (executive summary) A main body for the interested non-specialist A technical appendix for the guru

Finishing the report Finishing the report Structure alone is not enough for clarity – you must write clear sentences Complete short sentences Avoid jargon and strive for simplicity One theme per paragraph Don’t use too many styles eg Heading1, Heading2 and Normal are enough Avoid All Caps as they are difficult to read No underscore Use customized numbering to show levels Include header and footer as required by your organisation

Okay, let’s go use the workbook