MUBAS

LAN – EAP – 122

Report Writing

January, 2022

Lecturer: Romeo Katanga

romykatanga@gmail.com
Year 1 - Semester 2
Outline
 Understanding a Report
 Types of Report Writing
 Understanding the
 Report
Engineers, scientists and technicians
working for an organization must write
reports.
 Reports are the written records of events
and progress of work.
 They assist professionals and management
in making decisions or they may become the
working documents for employees to
carryout a task.
 Unlike an essay, which sets out to defend a
writer’s view about a topic and does not
have to feature headings, a report discusses
a topic in a structured, easy-to-follow format.
 The reports may be;
a. Formal and Informal report
b. Written and Oral report
c. Internal and external report
d. long and short report
e. Technical and popular report
f. Descriptive
g. Analytical
h. Persuasive reports
a. Formal and Informal Report
• A formal report tends to be longer; although,
again, the quantity of pages or words is not
defined. It may start at ten pages and in
some cases exceed one hundred pages.
• It is designed for circulation outside and
within an organisation
• These are reports that are prepared in
prescribed forms, according to some
established procedures to proper authorities
are called formal reports.
• An Informal report tends to be shorter,
although the quantity of pages or words is
not defined.
• Usually, it has specific topics grouped in
paragraphs, and these topics tend to
have simple headings.
• An informal report is one that is
prepared not by following any
prescribed rule or formality.
b. Written and Oral Report
• Written report is a visual aid to
communication. It is a report that we
write and then transmit to our users.
• It is always preferred because the
writer tries to present the data
accurately and precisely, and it is
more appropriate.
• An oral report is a report that is given
orally. It is frequently used in the
form of oral presentations and at
different types of business meetings.
c. Internal and External Report
• An internal report is a document that
communicates important information
to inform people inside the
organization.
• These documents are designed to be
viewed and evaluated only by
individuals working within the
institution.
• An external report is a term used to
refer to any type of organizational
report that is prepared with the
general public in mind.
• Typically, the content found in the
document will not include information
that is considered proprietary, with only
data that is considered acceptable for
public consumption included in the
report.
• Businesses usually prepare these types
of reports as a means of providing
disclosure of relevant information to
consumers and others who are
interested in the general operations of
the companies
d. Long and Short Report
• A short report is also called informal
report while a long report is sometimes
referred to as formal report.
• A short report is often no more than a
single page of statement containing
facts and figures in the most concise
manner. It is like a memorandum and
does not need a cover.
• This style of report is often casual and
relaxed. The style of writing includes use
of first person such as “I” and “We” in
sharp contrast to long report where full
names of people are used.
• A long report always has a title,
introduction, body, and then conclusion.
It is always more than one page in
length.
• It sometimes contains a covering letter
that mentions all the details that are
included in the long report.
• At the end of the long report, there is
bibliography and appendix.
• It is common to have a long report
printed and bound with hard cover.
• The tone in a long report is restrained
and somber in contrast to a short letter.
e. Technical and Popular Report
• A technical report is described as a
written scientific document that
conveys information about technical
research in an objective and fact-
based manner.
• This technical report consists of the
three key features of a research i.e.
process, progress, and results
associated with it.
• Some common areas in which
technical reports are used are
agriculture, engineering, physical,
and biomedical science.
• Popular reports are reports that aim
at informing citizens about the
financial condition of the state/ local
government in a convenient and
friendly manner.
• They are expected to be concise, short
in length, and present public sector
accounting information in a simplified
way, usually summarizes the data in
the form of tables and graphs
f. Descriptive/Informative
• Informative reports describe
situations without any analyses,
interpretations or recommendations.
• They present information in a manner
that readers can do their own
analyses, interpretations and
recommendations.
• The reports convey facts by indicating
what is or what was and what will be.
 Kinds of informational reports
i. Progress and Project reports: task and time
related documents that describe tasks.
ii. Situation reports: related to events or
conditions such as what has happened in a
particular situation - workplace or
equipment.
iii.Site visits report: describe visits, trips,
observations or actions taken at a location
other than the writer’s work station - Field
trip.
iv. Process descriptions and instructional
reports: describe how something is done -
processes.
g. Analytical reports
• Analytical reports build on
information, going beyond the mere
giving of data.
• They try to find causes of a problem
and show consequences.
• The reports review to determine what
caused something, analyse and
evaluate data.
• Analytical reports usually deal with
why something is so.
 Kinds of Analytical Reports
i. Evaluation reports: present data and the
writer’s judgement of that information.
These reports are fairly long.
ii. Feasible reports: assess the practicability
of a proposed project or change. Assist in
deciding the course of action to take -
proposal.
iii.Laboratory and Test reports: this is a
presentation of research results or
testing and should include: purpose,
methods, results, conclusion &
recommendations.
i. Persuasive reports
• Persuasive reports are purposed to
influence decisions in determining a
course of action.
• They are concerned with the action
oriented question - “what next?”.
• The report must contain data and
must give interpretation of the data.
• Most often, the title and the body of
the report must contain specific
words intended to persuade.
 Kinds of Persuasive Reports
i. Proposals: they propose a change, a
solution, an action. This is a strong
statement that shows what should be
done, how, when and why?
ii. Responses to Requests for Proposals
(RFPs): indicate what an entity can do to
meet a stated need and specify how it
can do so. Bids are submitted for that
purpose.
 Types of Reports
 There are a few different types of reports,
depending on the purpose and to whom you
present your report;
i. Academic report: Tests a student’s
comprehension of the subject matter, such as
book reports, reports on historical events,
and biographies
ii. Business reports: Identifies information
useful in business strategy, such as marketing
reports, internal memos, feasibility reports
iii. Scientific reports: Shares research findings,
such as research papers and case studies,
typically in science journals
 Quality of Report Content
 Presentation is a key element in
successful report writing. Formatting,
revising and proof reading are
important process for good report
writing.
 All reports should have an executive
summary that presents the essential
elements of the report from the
introduction through to the
recommendations and outcomes.
 It should be easy for the audience to
understand, be visually appealing and
easy to read.
 An ideal report should be;
i. Accurate
ii. Objective
iii.Clear
iv. Concise
a. Accuracy
• A report must be accurate
• If the information presented is
factual, it should be verified by tests,
research, documentary authority, or
other valid sources
• Information that is opinion or
probability should be distinguished as
such and accompanied by supporting
evidence
b. Objectivity
• A report must be objective
• Objectivity demands that logic rather
than emotion determine both the
content of the report and its
presentation.
• The content should be impersonal ,
with no indication of personal feelings
and sentiments of the writer.
• Essential to objectivity is the use of
the denotative meaning of words – the
meaning that is the same, in-so-far as
possible, to everyone.
 • Denotative meanings are found in a
dictionary, they are exact and
impersonal and their meaning
contrast with connotative meanings,
Wor which permit associated,
Denotative emotive,
Connotative or
Meaning
d figurative
Meaningovertones, e.g.;
open, armed death, injustice,
War conflict freedom, cruelty,
necessary evil, soldiers,
destruction bombing or
orphans
employment, job paying bills, happiness,
curse of Adam,
Wor accomplishment,
k satisfaction, adulthood,
alarm clock, income,
c. Clarity
• A report must be clear
• The information must be clear and
understandable to the reader
• The reader should not have to ask:
“What does this mean?” or “What is the
writer trying to say?”
• Writer helps to ensure clarity by using
exact, specific words in easily readable
sentence patterns, by following
conventional usage is such mechanical
matters as punctuation and grammar,
and by organising the material logically
d. Conciseness
• A report must be concise
• Conciseness is “saying much in a few
words”
• “Unnecessary wordiness is
eliminated, and yet complete
information is transmitted”
• Busy executives appreciate concise,
timesaving reports that do not compel
to wade through bogs of words to get
to the essence of the matter
Example
Wordy: After all is said and done, it is my
honest opinion that the company and all its
employees will be better satisfied if the
new plan for sick leave is adopted and put
into practice
Concise: The company should adopt the
new sick leave plan.
• Revise a report until it contains no
more words than those needed for
accuracy, clarity, and correctness of
expression
Considerations in Writing a Report
 A report is written to be read by
someone else.
 Now, if this is the central goal, a lot of
your focus should fall on that “someone
else”, and on giving them what they
need, in a format that will work for
them, so that they read what you’ve
written and rapidly agree with it.
 The following are the important
considerations you need bear in mind
when writing; purpose of the report,
knowing the audience, structure/format
a. Knowing the purpose
• This is the major aim: the reason
you’re writing the report in the first
place.
• Because it determines the kind of
report you write, it’s a critical (and
often neglected) first step.
• Give it a think. Are you writing a
factual, instructional or leading
report? Remember:
- Factual reports aim to inform.
- Instructional reports aim to
explain.
- Leading reports aim to persuade.
• Once your major aim has been defined
this way, your subsidiary aims will fall
into place - you inform in order
to explain, and inform and explain in
order to persuade.
• This starting point gives you vital focus,
and drives absolutely everything else.
b. Knowing the Audience
• Before you start writing your report,
consider its audience
• A report must ensure that its target
readers can:
- read it without delay;
- understand everything in it without
much effort;
- accept its facts, findings, conclusions
and recommendations; and
- decide to take the action
recommended.
 • Achieving this demands more than
presenting the facts accurately. You must
communicate acceptably and intelligibly to
the reader.
• We can get a clearer picture of our reader
by asking three questions:
- What does the reader know?
- What are the reader's attitudes?
- What does the reader want?
Note: Sometimes it can be difficult to answer
these questions, especially when writing for a
varied readership. If so, aim for the most
important or primary reader.
c. Decide on Structure
• When writing a report, you should structure
it so that it can be easily read and digested.
• While each report will vary in the sections
you should include, you can use the
following report components:
i. Titlepage vi. Procedure
ii.Index (or Contents) vii. Implications (or Issues)
iii.Thesis (or Terms of viii. Solutions (or
Reference or Recommendations)
Abstract) ix. Conclusion
iv.Introduction (or x. Appendices
Executive Summary) xi. Bibliography (or
v. Background
References)
 • If the report is short, the front cover can include
any information that you feel is necessary, such
Title as the author(s) and the date prepared.
• In a longer report, you may want to include
a table of contents and a definition of terms.
• The summary consists of the major points,
conclusions, and recommendations. It needs to
be short, as it is a general overview of the report.
Summar • Some people will read the summary and only
skim the report, so make sure you include all of
y
the relevant information.
• It would be best to write this when the report is
finished so you will include everything, even
points that might be added at the last minute.
• The first page of the report needs to have an
introduction.
• Here you will explain the problem and inform the
Introduc reader why the report is being made.
tion • You need to give a definition of terms if you did
not include these in the title section, and explain
 • This is the main section of the report that can
include technical terms or jargon from your
industry.
Body • There should be several sections, each clearly
labeled
• Information in a report is usually arranged in
order of importance with the most important
information coming first.
• Alternatively, you might choose to order your
points by complexity or time.
Discussio • If you wish, this optional section can be
n included at the end of the main body to go over
your findings and their significance.
• This is where everything comes together. Keep
Conclusio this section free of jargon as many people will
just read the summary and conclusion.
n
Recomm • This is where you discuss any actions that need
endati- to be taken. In plain English, explain your
recommendations, putting them in order of
ons
d. Report Writing Style
• There are several points that you will need to
consider when you are writing your report:
i. Keep it simple
 Don’t try to impress; rather

communicate.
 Keep sentences short and to the point.

 Do not go into a lot of details unless it is

needed.
 Avoid using unnecessary jargon and

ensure that your abbreviations are

standardised.
 Don’t confuse your reader
 ii. Use the active voice
 Your tutor will be able to advise

whether the report should be

written in the ‘active’ or ‘passive’
voice.
 Active voice makes the writing

move smoothly and easily.

 It allows you to write short,

punchy sentences. For example;

The active voice reads as follows: ‘I
recommend ...’
The passive voice reads: ‘It is
recommended that ...’
iii.Mind your grammar
 Read the report aloud and have
someone proofread it for you.
 Remember that the computer
cannot catch all the mistakes,
especially with words like
“red/read” or “there/their.”
 You may even want to wait a day
after you write it to come back
and look at it with fresh eyes.
iv. Use of language
 Most reports should avoid the use of
subjective language, e.g., to report on
a change in colouration from a
“stunning green to a beautiful blue” is
to project your own values onto a
measurable outcome.
 What does the term “beautiful” mean
to you? What will it mean to your
reader? Such subjective, or personal
language commonly has no place in
the more objective field of report
writing.
e. Report Presentation
• You will want to present your report in a
simple and concise style that is easy to
read and navigate.
• Readers want to be able to look through a
report and get to the information they
need as quickly as possible. That way the
report has a greater impact on the reader.
• There are simple formatting styles that
can be used throughout your report that
will make it easy to read and look
organized and presentable.
• For example:
 • Use just one font in your report. An
easy-to-read font such as Arial or Times
Font New Roman is best for reports.
• Section headings can be a different font
from the main text if you prefer.
• Use lists whenever appropriate to
Lists break information into easy-to-
understand points.
• Lists can either be numbered or
bulleted.
• You can use headings and subheadings
Heading throughout your report to identify the
s and various topics and break the text into
Sub- manageable chunks.
heading • These will help keep the report
s organized and can be listed in the table
of contents so they can be found
 Stages in Report
Writing
a. Clarifying your terms of reference
• The terms of reference of a report are
a guiding statement used to define
the scope of your investigation.
• You must be clear from the start what
you are being asked to do.
• Knowing your purpose will help you
to communicate your information
more clearly and be more selective
when collecting your information.
b. Planning your work
• Careful planning will help you to write
a clear, concise and effective report,
giving adequate time to;
- Consider the report as a whole
- Break down the task of writing the
report into various parts.
- How much time do you have to
write the report?
- How can this be divided up into the
various planning stages?
- Set yourself deadlines for the
various stages.
c. Collecting your information
• There are a number of questions you
need to ask yourself at this stage;
- What is the information you need?
- Where do you find it?
- How much do you need?
- How shall you collect it?
- In what order will you arrange it?
• You may have much of the
information you need already such as
results from a laboratory experiment
or descriptions of your methods of
data collection.
• However, there may be other material
which is needed such as background
information on other research
studies, or literature surveys.
• You may need to carry out some
interviews or make a visit to the
university library to collect all the
information you need.
- Make a list of what information you
need.
- Make an action plan stating how
you are going to gather this.
d. Organising and structuring your
information
• One helpful way of organising your
information into topics is to
brainstorm your ideas into a ‘spider
diagram.’
- Write the main theme in the centre
of a piece of paper.
- Write down all the ideas and
keywords related to your topic
starting from the centre
- Each idea can be circled or linked
by lines as appropriate. For
instance;
e. Writing the first draft
• Since there are different types of
reports, always check with the person
commissioning the report (your
tutor/lecturer, your placement
supervisor) to find out precisely what
your report should include and how it
should be presented.
f. Checking and re-drafting
• Once you have written the first draft
of your report you will need to check
it through.
• Assess your work in the following
areas:
- Structure
- Content
- Style
• Look at the clarity and precision of
your work.
 Common Layout of a Report
• Most reports have a progressive
numbering system. The most common
system is the decimal notation system.
• The main sections are given single
arabic numbers - 1, 2, 3 and so on.
• Sub-sections are given a decimal
number - 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and so on.
• Sub-sections can be further divided into
- 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3 and so on.
• An example structure would look as
follows;
1. Introduction
1.1 ———————
1.1.1 ———————
1.2 ———————
1.2.1 ———————
2. Methodology
2.1 ———————
2.1.1 ———————
2.1.2 ———————
 Another Layout
November 5, 20XX
Prepared by: Sally Smith
ABC Company

This report is to provide an update on the XYZ project that is due on

December 5th. This project will result in the creation of a new
employee handbook that will include updated rules and regulations as
well as the approved increase of paid-time-off. This handbook will work
to increase employee awareness of workplace expectations as well as
inform them of the new benefits that have recently been implemented.
Summary of work completed:
As of this date, I have completed the following for the XYZ project:
 Verified all information that will be in the handbook with upper
management and HR
 Drafted a table of contents
 Formatted layout of handbook
 Composed the first 12 pages of handbook
Tasks to be accomplished by November 12, 20XX:
 Compose five more pages of handbook.
 Proofread and edit all pages that have been completed up to this
date.
 Have the manager of HR read handbook content to ensure
accuracy.

Conclusion
The XYZ project is on track to be completed by the scheduled date.
This project currently has no obvious obstacles or issues, but if they
should arise they will be promptly addressed.
End of Presentation
Thank you!!!!!