...Reports Academic Writing: A Guide to Tertiary Level Writing | 61 Basic Report Writing What Is a Report? A report is a specific form of writing that is organised around concisely identifying and examining issues, events, or findings that have happened in a physical sense, such as events that have occurred within an organisation, or findings from a research investigation. These events can also pertain to events or issues that have been presented within a body of literature. The key to report writing is informing the reader simply and objectively about all relevant issues. There are three features that, together, characterise report writing at a very basic level: a pre-defined structure, independent sections, and reaching unbiased conclusions. Having a Pre-Defined Structure At a very basic level, a report can be distinguished from an essay by the creation of headings into which information is organised. Broadly, these headings may indicate sections within a report, such as an Introduction, Discussion, and Conclusion. Within the main section(s) making up the body of the report (the Discussion in the example just given), there is often an opportunity to create your own structure according to the literature you have sourced, your development of ideas, and the task assigned. An example of a report structure is presented below. Two versions are provided in which the first version indicates main sections and sub-sections through indenting, and the second does so through...
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...recommendations of the report or document it precedes. Information in the summary should be presented in the same order that it appears in the report. In some cases, the Executive Summary will be all that the audience will read; therefore, it needs to present the essential points efficiently. Your goal is not only to summarize the contents of the plan, but also to generate the reader's interest so he or she will continue reading the plan. When your objective is to secure funding for a new business, begin with a brief description of the business, product, and market. Then summarize the qualifications of the people involved in the business. Finally summarize what is being requested (money), how it will be used, and what are the expected returns on investments. Write the Executive Summary last. For more detailed information, refer to the Executive Summary page: http://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/writingresources/exec_summaries.cfm Writing the Executive Summary When preparing the Executive Summary after the report is written, you should do the following: Review the report Summarize the purpose of the report, the problem addressed, and your findings, conclusions, and recommendations Support your recommendations by listing the major headings and briefly summarizing these sections. Eliminate all nonessential detail and use minimal technical language. Do not include information in the Executive Summary that is not in the report. [pic] For additional materials on Writing Business Papers...
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...BUSA 2105, Fall 2015 Sections 01 and 03 Communicating in the Business Environment Instructor: Melanie Strickland Brown Office: Howard Jordan – Room E-mail: brownme@savannahstate.edu Mobile/Text Msg: 912-398-9823 Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday from 5:00-6:00 p.m.or by phone/text most of the time COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will cover basic principles of effective business communication. Written communication components include reports, positive and negative letters, emails, and resumes and cover letters. Oral communication components include brief summaries of exercises, a mock interview, a team presentation, and meeting management skills. Also, the class will cover cross-cultural communication, personal interaction skills, and business etiquette with a focus on electronic communication. Written documents and oral presentations must include correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. PREREQUISITES: 1. You must have successfully completed (grade C or better) CSCI/CISM 1130, Computer and Its Applications. 2. You must have successfully completed (grade C or better) ENGL 1102, English Composition II. Remember: You are responsible for insuring that you have met the prerequisite requirements. If you are on the official roll of this course, you are certifying that you have satisfactorily completed these prerequisites prior to enrolling in BUSA 2105. If, at any time, we discover that this certification is invalid, you will be withdrawn...
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...9 Formal Reports and Proposals he distinctions between formal and informal reports are often blurred. Nevertheless, a formal report is usually written to someone in another company or organization. Occasionally it is written for a senior manager in the same company, or for someone with whom the writer has little regular contact. Usually it is longer than an informal report and requires more extensive research. Unless you are a consultant, you are unlikely to be asked to write a formal report often. When you are, there may be a lot riding on it— including your reputation. The purpose of this chapter is to show you how to write a formal report and how to put together the kind of proposal that often precedes it. As Figure 9-1 shows, many of the elements of formal reports are the same as those for informal ones.You need to pay the same attention to headings, lists, and illustrations, for example. Although much of the advice in the previous chapter could be duplicated in this one, the emphasis here will be on those areas where there’s a difference. T Figure 9-1 Contrasting Features of Informal and Formal Reports Informal Formal Reader often internal often external or distant within organization Length • usually short • several sections • usually long (3 pages or more) • sections and subsections Tone • personal • contractions • more impersonal • no contractions Summary integrated on separate page Introduction ...
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...business report ........................................................... 2 1.1 What is the purpose of this report? .................................................... 2 1.2 Who are the readers of this report?..................................................... 2 1.3 What are the report’s main messages?................................................ 3 1.4 How will the messages be structured?................................................ 3 2 Structuring your business report ....................................................... 4 2.1 Covering letter/memorandum.............................................................. 4 2.2 Title Page............................................................................................. 5 2.3 Executive Summary ............................................................................ 5 2.4 Table of Contents................................................................................. 5 2.5 Introduction ......................................................................................... 6 2.6 Conclusions/recommendations ............................................................ 6 2.7 Findings and discussion........................................................................ 8 2.8 References............................................................................................. 8 2.9 Appendices ........................................................................................... 8 3 Writing your...
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...how to create a manual. Not to say the Library does not have much to offer for a manual. When contemplating between the Library and the Online Learning System (OLS), we believe that the OLS would have more content, which would make it easier to create a hearty manual. After breaking down each of the two candidates, we found that the Library has more to offer than just some databases that hold books and a program that tells its users whether they have plagiarized or not. In the end, our decision is to write the manual over the Library and its many benefits and services to students at University of Phoenix. Thank you for your time, Team B University of Phoenix Library The library consists of services ranging from Mathematic and Writing tutors to a range of databases that hold vast amounts of information to aid the student attending the University of Phoenix in their journey to a higher education. The intent of this manual is to enlighten the student on the Library’s basic services and functions of each area. Upon reading this manual, the student will have sufficient knowledge on...
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...Effects Of Social Networking Site Writing a research report The following is a general guide to writing a research report focused on GIS, spatial analysis, or modeling. See the general resources page for other guides for writing and research. This presents some standard conventions for writing journal articles but highlights where you may want to make changes for a class report or thesis. Journal article. The 'standard' format used by most journals is a bit restrictive because it reflects traditional publishing practices. Figures and tables, for example, are usually attached as separate pages at the end of your text instead of being embedded in the text itself because it is easier to photograph them for publishing and the text itself is easier to typeset. Class report. Class reports are less restrictive in form and content than journal articles but they still share many characteristics. Conventions such as line double spacing and use of 12 point serif fonts like Times New Roman are designed to make it easier for your reader to review the paper and provide annotations where necessary. Take special notice of the "Top 10 Checklist" as these are items that are particularly important for class reports. Quick Links: Report structure General Considerations Top 10 Checklist References Report Structure The paper should be divided into sections that make the logical sequence of the argument clear. Common sections are described below. Treat these as what they are...
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...Professional Development Funding I am writing this memorandum to request Kaplan College to sponsor a Business Writing course that I wish to enroll in at the University of Miami. I spend a fair amount of time at work communicating via emails, notes, letters, and reports and many of these documents are read by our internal and external customers. And I believe that a Business Writing course will improve not only my job skills, but productivity as well. In my current position as a librarian, I am responsible for communicating with students, faculty and staff members, publishers, and vendors about academic issues on a daily basis using email, memos, and reports. I also compose, edit and publish user guides with instructions on how to access and use various library resources. And I annually submit a report that provides details on how the learning resource center is complying with federal and SACS regulations. By focusing on the particular types of documents that I use on a daily basis, this course will help me to improve the skills needed to write and edit business documents that are concise, correct, and clear. This course will assist me in developing my business writing skills that will allow me to better meet the needs of this organization through effective communication. After this course, my productivity will increase because I will no longer spend extra time on the phone and writing emails, clarifying details. Guides and reports will be designed in a way that maximizes...
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...Welcome to Writing Essays, the RLF’s online guide to everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about writing undergraduate essays. The guide is a toolbox of essay writing skills and resources that you can choose from to suit your particular needs. It combines descriptive and practical elements. That is, it tells you what things mean and what they are; and it uses examples to show you how they work. Writing Essays takes you through the whole essay writing process – from preparing and planning to completion. Writing essays is structured progressively and I recommend that you use it in this way. However, you will see from the sidebar that the guide is divided into a number of main sections. Click on any one of these and you will see that it’s divided into shorter sections or subsections. So you can either read it straight through from start to finish or you can go straight to the area that’s most relevant to you. Writing Essays does not cover every type of writing you will do at university but it does cover the principal types. So you will find guides to essay writing, dissertation writing, and report writing. You will also find a section dealing with the differences between writing for the humanities and writing for the sciences and social sciences. The information and guidelines in these sections will provide blueprints you can apply elsewhere. You will see in the topbar options above that there is also a glossary of terms used in this guide; and a list of...
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...Research Paper Reference Guide Grades 4 & 5 Linden Public Schools Linden, New Jersey FOR THE TEACHER A NOTE TO THE TEACHER The purpose of the research paper is to familiarize students with the research process. It was designed in binder format to provide you with materials to make facilitating the research process easier. Feel free to reproduce sheets as needed or to make overhead transparencies for whole class instruction. Parents/guardians are an integral part of a child’s education. Please include them in the research process. A sample parent letter to encourage their participation can be found in the appendix. This binder consists of: • Teacher Section • Student Section • Appendix I hope you find this binder a valuable research resource. Research Paper Requirements 1. Librarians and teachers across the curriculum need to use the same research criteria at their respective grade levels. 2. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Joseph Gibaldi, will be used as the definitive guide. In addition, materials appropriate for each grade level need to be provided. 3. A research report/ paper will be written at each grade level. This report will be based on the respective criteria for each grade level. Topics may be assigned from disciplines other than Language Arts. 4. The research paper will count as one assessment grade for the marking period. Grade 4 • Choosing and limiting topics (developing thinking skills). • Title page. • Paraphrasing (paraphrasing...
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...Explaining the Report Format (BUSM3119 & BUSM3201 Assessment 1 Semester 1 2015) This document complements the Course Guide and Assessment Criteria for Assessment 1. Therefore, it should be read together with the Course Guide and Assessment Criteria for Assessment 1. The document tries to explain in a simple manner the format that Assessment 1 markers will be looking for in your Reports for BUSM3119 and BUSM3201 Assessment 1 in S1 2015. You are strongly encouraged to be creative in how you develop your subheadings and arguments within the body of the Report. For the Melbourne Campus: I am happy to discuss the format of the two reports with individual students via email or telephone calls. For the SIM campus students: please contact your Tutor or Lecturer to discuss issues related to this Course, including the two Assessments. This document is to aid you in developing a format which will help you to express your ideas well. I am using a shortened example (based loosely on some past marked assignments) to show possible subheadings that you may include in your Assessment 1. Note that your assessment MUST be original, with appropriate references that follows the Harvard Referencing Guide! Students are also expected to write better reports than the example provided here. Each report must address the assessment criteria in the Course Profile. I expect the structure of your reports to have: 1. Title Page 2. An Abstract or an Executive Summary 3. Table of Contents 4...
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...Writing Reports By the end of this section you should be able to : O BJECTIVES • • • • • • • • Understand the purposes of a report Plan a report Understand the structure of a report Collect information for your report Organise your information Use an appropriate style of writing Present data effectively Understand how to lay out your information in an appropriate way C ONTENTS • • • • • • • • • • • • • Writing reports Different types of reports Stages in report writing Terms of reference Planning your report Collecting information Organising information Structuring your report Style of writing Layout Presentation Redrafting and checking Checklist W riting reports A report is a statement of the results of an investigation or of any matter on which definite information is required. (Oxford English Dictionary) Reports are a highly structured form of writing often following conventions that have been laid down to produce a common format. Structure and convention in written reports stress the process by which the information was gathered as much as the information itself. Different types of reports During your time at university you may be asked to write different types of reports, depending upon the subject area which you have chosen. These could include laboratory reports, technical reports, reports of a work placement or industrial visit, reports of a field trip or field work. Reports vary in their purpose, but all of them will require a formal...
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...A Guide to Report Writing September 2008 CONTENTS Page 1. 2 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................1 PREPARATION ................................................................................................................................2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................2 PURPOSE ..............................................................................................................................2 PLANNING ..............................................................................................................................2 RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................2 CONTENTS OF A REPORT ............................................................................................................3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................3 TITLE PAGE ...........................................................................................................................3 CONTENTS PAGE ...................................................................................................................3 THE SUMMARY ....
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...Writing Reports By the end of this section you should be able to : O BJECTIVES • • • • • • • • Understand the purposes of a report Plan a report Understand the structure of a report Collect information for your report Organise your information Use an appropriate style of writing Present data effectively Understand how to lay out your information in an appropriate way C ONTENTS • • • • • • • • • • • • • Writing reports Different types of reports Stages in report writing Terms of reference Planning your report Collecting information Organising information Structuring your report Style of writing Layout Presentation Redrafting and checking Checklist W riting reports A report is a statement of the results of an investigation or of any matter on which definite information is required. (Oxford English Dictionary) Reports are a highly structured form of writing often following conventions that have been laid down to produce a common format. Structure and convention in written reports stress the process by which the information was gathered as much as the information itself. Different types of reports During your time at university you may be asked to write different types of reports, depending upon the subject area which you have chosen. These could include laboratory reports, technical reports, reports of a work placement or industrial visit, reports of a field trip or field work. Reports vary in their purpose, but all of them will require a formal...
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...UNIVERSITY Aberdeen Business School A GUIDE TO REPORT AND ESSAY WRITING: Interpreting assignment instructions and structuring your work Copyright © 2006 The Robert Gordon University Conditions of Use All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or storage in any information retrieval system, without prior written permission. Please address all enquiries to: The Robert Gordon University Aberdeen Business School Garthdee Road Aberdeen AB10 7QE The Robert Gordon University Website: http://www.rgu.ac.uk Aberdeen Business School Website: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/abs/ |Introduction | The purpose of this guide is to provide you with information on how to structure a report or an essay. It is important to emphasise, for coursework purposes, that lecturers may place special emphasis on certain elements of the report or essay content. Please therefore take particular note of any specific instructions that you are given by a lecturer. It is recommended that you refer to this guide each time before you begin work on a new coursework assignment. Separate guidance will be provided on the more detailed requirements for writing a dissertation. |Planning your work ...
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