Report Writing
Reports are documents which presents specific, focused content -often the result of an experiment, investigation, or inquiry to a specific audience.
Purpose of Report WritingTo give the information.To records events for decision
making.To recommend specific action.
Types of Reports Formal or InformalShort or LongInformational or AnalyticalVertical or LateralInternal or externalPeriodic ReportFunctional
◦Accounting◦Marketing◦Financial
Proposal Report
Five stages of Report WritingDefine the problem and purposeIdentifying and organizing the
issues for investigation Conduct ResearchAnalyzing and Interpreting dataConclusions and
Recommendations
Defining Problem Statement of problem
◦ What needs to be determined?◦ Why is the issue important?◦ Who is involved?◦ Is there trouble? If yes, where?◦ When did it start?◦ How to resolve the issue?
Statement of Purpose◦ To investigate◦ To determine◦ To identify◦ To analyze◦ To select
Identification of areas affecting investigationIdentify the factors that influence cause
and/or affect the problem. Three types:◦ Informative or factual data◦Explanatory of hypothetical◦Comparative factors
• Preliminary Outline
• Gathering Background information◦Primary Research◦Secondary Research
Conducting ResearchIdentify information through
Questionnaires/ Surveys/ Interviews/Observations
Collect dataSurveys
◦Reliability◦Validity
• Types of questions◦Open-ended or Closed-ended◦Multiple options/ Grades/ Ranking
While administering questionnaires…
Detailed instructionsShort and easy questionsCollation of data, e.g.
table/graphs/chartsLeading and suggestive
questions should be avoid
Evaluation and Analysis of Data
Quantitative or Qualitative analysis
Interpretation of resultsDrawing ConclusionsRecommendations
Structure and LayoutFront Matter1. Letter of Transmittal2. Frontispiece3. Title page4. Copyright Notice5. Preface (By Author)6. Acknowledgement7. Table of Contents8. List of Illustrations9. Glossary and List of Symbols10. Abstract and Executive Summary
Copyright Symbol
Three elements:
The copyright symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word "Copyright," or the abbreviation "Copr."
The year of first publication of the work.
The name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner.
Example: copyright © 2002 John Doe
Cover Title of the reportAuthorsName of OrganizationDate of submission of report
Structure and Layout
Main BodyIntroduction
◦Purpose (Why and What )◦Scope ( areas and factors covered)◦Limitation◦Perspective (expectations from the
report)◦Research Methodology◦Results and Discussion/ Findings◦Conclusions and Recommendations
Back MatterAppendicesList of ReferencesBibliography
AppendicesMaterial needed to support main bodyKind of material included
◦Questionnaire◦Statistical calculations◦Sample of forms◦ Illustrative material◦Specimens◦Transcripts◦Corrspondance◦Summaries of specific results◦
List of ReferencesUsed to give credit to the work
quoted in reportAcknowledge the sourceFollow Alphabetical orderGiven in the form of
◦Footnotes◦Author-Date reference
FootnotesUsed if there are small number of
referencesMade at the end of pageText to be acknowledged numbered as
subscriptE.g. The results are in keeping with the
recent findings at the Marol1 branch.
1. Sanjay Upadhyay, “The working of the Micro Finance Department, Western Region”, Management Review, April 2010, 22-27.
ReferenceBook:
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Department of Community Health, 2008. Report on longeivity and health concerns. New Delhi: Govt. of India
Reference
Anthology (different authors writing different chapters)Salovey, P., Bedell, B. T., Detweiler, J. B., & Mayer, J. D. (2000). Current directions in emotional intelligence research. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed.). (pp. 417-520). New York: Guilford Press.
ReferenceThesisRosete. D. (2007). Does
Emotional Intelligence play an important role in leadership effectiveness. Unpublished dissertation. University of Wonglongong. Wonglongong.
ReferenceJournal
Ross, S. M., & Offermann, L. R. (1997). Transformational leaders: Measurement of personality attributes and work group performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 23(10): 1078-1086.
ReferenceConferenceSinha, A., (2005) Creativity and
innovation: The only survival tool. In: Ghosh, B. (ed.) Managerial Growth and Innovation. Proceedings of fifth International Conference of Innovation and Creativity. 3 – 7 March 2005. New Delhi: University of Delhi. Pp. 44-65
Exhibition CatalogueIndus Art Gallery. 2008. Printing
Technology. Catalogue of an exhibition at Indus. January 17 to February 5, 2008. Mumbai Indus Gallery
Online sourceMayer J D, Salovey P and Caruso
D R. 2003. Calculation for local consensus scoring pattern. Psychotheme Journal (online) 17(2). Available from: http://www.unh.edu/emotional-intelligence/ei.com/ (Accesed July 7, 2009)
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