REPORT WRITING

1. REPORT WRITING Dr.V.BASTIN JEROME Assistant Professor of Commerce, St.Joseph's College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli - 2

2. Research Report • It is a channel of communication between research findings and the readers of the report • A report is a statement of results, events, conditions, progress or interpretation of information

3. Essay Report Investigates, presents and analyzes information to help make decisions or account for decisions. Establish a proposition or responds to a question or proposition Has linked and fluent paragraph structure Has defined sections with (sub)-headings and numbering Uses fluent sentence structure to express ideas. Uses lists and bullet points for clarity and brevity

4. EssayReport Ideally, completely text based Includes diagrams, tables and graphs Large amounts of supporting information are included in appendices. Supporting information is woven into the text

5. Types of Report • Informational • Decision report (begin with problems, ends with decisions and action problems) • Research report

6. Research report • Technical report - Insists on • Methods employed • Assumptions made • Detailed presentation including limitations and supporting data • Popular report • Simplicity • Attractiveness

7. Categories of report • Reports categorized by FUNCTION • - Informational reports • - Analytical reports • Reports categorised by TIME • - Progress reports • - Periodic reports • - Special reports • Reports categorised by FORM • - Memo • - Letter • - Manuscript

8. Steps In Report Writing • Logical analysis of the subject-matter 2. Preparation of the final outline 3. Preparation of the rough draft 4. Rewriting and polishing 5. Preparation of the final bibliography 6. Writing the final draft

9. Aspects of report • Substance/ theme/content - Adhere to the study objectives - Selective and objective • Format (layout) • Presentation - Purpose - Duration - Audience - Place - Area - Cost - Message

10. Stages of report writing • Organization of the report • Writing-up of the report • Documentation of the report - A good report must be properly documented in terms of notes, appendices, references and bibliography.

11. Layout of the Research Report • Preliminary pages B) Main text C) End matter

12. Preliminary section • Title page • Declaration • Certificate • Abstract • Table of contents • List of tables • List of figures • List of abbreviations

13. Main body of the report a) Introduction and description of the study • Introduction • Statement of the problem • Significance of the study • Scope of the study • Definition of important terms used in the study • Objectives • Hypothesis • Period of study • Geographical area of the study • Limitations of the study • Chapterisation

14. Main body of the report continues….. b) Review of literature - Critical analysis of the previous research c) Design of the study - Procedure used - Methods of gathering data - Description of data

15. Main body of the report continues….. d) Presentation and analysis data - Text - Tables - Figures - Analyses - Results - Interferences e) Findings and Suggestions - Brief restatement of the study - Description of procedure used - Main findings and suggestions - Recommendations for further research

16. Reference section • Bibliography • Appendix or appendices • Index

17. REFERENCING References defined as “A set of data describing a document or part of a document, sufficiently precise and detailed to identify it and enable it to be located. (British Standards Institute (1990) p3) * Major source: University ofSouthampton, 2003

18. When should you use references in your reports? When quoting directly from someone else’s work. When paraphrasing the work of another author When using something as background reading, but where it still has influenced over your thinking towards your piece of work ... (*In your future research: When referring to previously published work of your own.)

19. REFERENCESFOOTNOTES/NOTES BOOKS • Maan, R.S., ‘Social Change and Social Research’, New Delhi: Concept Publishing House, 1998, P.27 • Ibid, P.28 • Maan, op. cit., PP.138-140. (Previous Reference)

20. EDITED BOOKS • Michel, V. P., ‘Ethical Issues in Business Research’ (Edited), Rose J., ‘Business Research in Developing Countries’, John Wiley & Sons, 1998, PP.15-20

21. JOURNALS • Drucker, Peter F., ‘What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits’, Harvard Business Review, 4, July-August, 1998, PP.88-93.

22. NEWS PAPER ARTICLES • Kumar Naresh, ‘Exploring See for Economic Progress’, The Economic Times (Bangalore) August 7, 1989, P.5

23. THESIS DISSERTATION • Aggarwal B.P., ‘A Study of Organisational Effectiveness Through R & D Programmes’, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Rohtak, IMSAR, MDU, 1986, PP.92-94.

24. QUOTING FROM SECONDARY SOURCE • William, G.S., ‘A Study of Organisational Capital Structure and Level of Profitability’, Department of State Bulletin, 59, 1986, quoted in Michel, P., Economic Development through Liberalisation, New York, Longman, 1981, PP.40-41.

25. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS • Government of India, ‘India 2003: A Reference Annual’, New Delhi: Publication Division, 2004, PP.127-129.

26. INTERNET • http://www.mdurohtak.com/imsar/thesis/2002/anilkhurana/professional growth of it industry.pdf • http = Hyper Text Transfer Protocol • www = World Wide Web • HTML = Hyper Text Markup Language • PDF = Portable Data File

27. The audience Important points to be remembered while writing reports 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

28. Important points to be remembered while writing reports remember the 5 Cs Clarity Conciseness Coherence Correctness Courtesy

29. Important points to be remembered while writing reports • ACCURATE True facts, precise wording, supporting data, reference to sources • OBJECTIVE Content: include all the relevant information (do not be biased)impersonal style (e.g. do not use emotional words...) • PROFESSIONAL statistically correct, correctly spelled, produced with a decent word processor • WELL ILLUSTRATED illustrations that aid understanding, integrated with text

30. Principles of theses writing • Being direct • Keeping tone appropriate • Being specific • Avoiding too much of passive voice • Using verbs • Using paragraphs to break text in to readable units • Keeping structure short • Watching the pace • Putting qualifying ideas in separate sentences

31. Precautions to be taken • Colloquial, conversational or other modes of expression- in appropriate • Personal pronouns such as I WE, YOU, ME, OUR , and US should not appear • A theses should not consist of reporting of Personal experiences • Sentences should be in the patience • The researcher should have a good reason for the use of present and feature • No grammatical error • No typing error • Should be well document

32. Precautions to be taken continues….. • Present well thought out ides • Well organized works • Clear assumptions justified with evidence • No grammatical errors no spelling mistakes • No obscure or too long sentences with out giving credit to sources • No repetition • No irrelevant information • Strong and effective summary and conclusion • Topic headings only identify the topics.

33. Conventional wordings/ Sentences used in Report Writing The purpose of this report is to ... 2. The report was requested by Mr Jasons, Sales Manager. It was concluded that ... The recommendations are that ... should be ... This report has been written because .... The objectives of this report are to .... The main findings were that ... It was to be submitted to the Sales Manager by 02 November 2006. This report examines (presents) .... . 10. 200 respondents, chosen by the random sample method, were surveyed. Of these, 167 were invited for interview. The findings indicated that... 12. The major finding of the investigation was that ... 13. This report was requested on 14 October 2006.

34. Rewrite the following sentences to improve objectivity The enormous increase of 32 percent proves the sales department has done a superb job. The proposed procedure is bad because it would require 15% more employees. The enormousincrease of 33 percent was a result of the amazing growth in city population of 10,000 during the past year. The horrible effect on employees from the change in parking regulations will be one of creating massive traffic problems. You can hardly imagine the effect of incentive pay on employee morale. I feel certain that the new plan is better than the old method. Most of us agree that a monthly status meeting will be helpful.

35. Blue words out, red sentences in The enormous increase of 32 percent proves the sales department has done a superb job. The sales department has increased sales by 32 percent during the past quarter. The proposed procedure is bad because it would require 15% more employees. The proposed procedure would require 15 percent more employee time. The enormousincrease of 33 percent was a result of the amazing growth in city population of 10,000 during the past year. The city population increase of 10,000 during the past year represents a 33 percent growth rate The horrible effect on employees from the change in parking regulations will be one of creating massive traffic problems. The change in parking regulations will create additional traffic congestion. You can hardly imagine the effect of incentive pay on employee morale. Incentive pay improved employee morale in the following ways:... I feel certain that the new plan is better than the old method. The new plan is more effective than the old method for the following reasons:... Most of us agree that a monthly status meeting will be helpful. In the quarterly staff meeting 15 out of 18 members of staff supported having a monthly meeting.

36. Technicalities referencing (in-text and end of text) footnotes if necessary Paragraphing Times New Roman, 12, spacing: 1.5

37. Typical mistakes abstract (summary) vs. introduction unclear structure in the abstract referencing: unclear sources (in the text and in the references/bibliography) unreliable sources (Wiki?) spelling and grammar (spellchecker) insufficiently researched lack of objectivity (advertising or report?, writer emotionally attached → biased) out-of-date facts and figures Plagiarism - use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author

38. More Detailed Structure of a Report • Title • Executive summary / Abstract • Table of Contents • 1. Introduction • 1.1 Purpose of the report • 1.2 Issues • 1.3 Research methods • 1.4 Limitations and assumptions

39. Structure of a Report • 2. Discussion • 2.1 Literature Review • 2.1.1. Issue #1 • 2.1.2. Issue #2 • 2.2 Method • 2.2.1 . Procedure • 2.2.2 . Sample Size • 2.3 Discussion and analysis of data • 2.3.1. Issue #1 • 2.3.2. Issue #2 • 2.3.3. Reliability /accuracy of data

40. Abstract/executive summary Describes the problem and the solution in a few sentences. It will be all the big boss reads! Remember the 2 rules • Keep it short • State problem and solution

41. AGHHHH! • He wrote Although solitary under normal prevailing circumstances, raccoons may congregate simultaneously in certain situations of artificially enhanced resource availability. • He meant.. Raccoons live alone but come together to eat bait.

42. Tables • Always label and give a caption over the table • Be aware of rules for good tables: • avoid vertical lines • don’t have too many decimal places • compare columns not rows

43. One Option:Conventional Outline Form I. First-level heading A. Second-level heading B. Second-level heading 1. Third-level heading 2. Third-level heading a. Fourth-level (1) Fifth-level (a) Sixth-levelII. First-level heading A. Second-level heading B. Second-level heading Etc.

44. Another Option:The Decimal System 1.0 First-level heading1.1 Second-level heading 1.2. Second-level heading 1.2.1 Third-level heading 1.2.2 Third-level heading 1.2.2.1 Fourth-level 2.0 First-level heading2.1 Second-level heading 2.2 Second-level heading.

45. Organization of a Report on the History of Manufacturing in New York Main Heading Possibilities Organization by time I. Introduction II. Before 1750 III. 1750-1800 IV. 1801-1850 V. Etc.

46. Organization of a Report on the History of Manufacturing in New York Main Heading Possibilities Organization by place I. Introduction II. Northern region III. Eastern region IV. Southern region V. Etc.

47. Organization of a Report on the History of Manufacturing in New York Main Heading Possibilities Organization by quantity I. Introduction II. More than 500 employees III. 20-500 employees IV. Less than 20 employee V. Conclusion

48. Combination Division FormsFirst division by time; Second division by factor • I. Introduction • II. Before 1750 A. Food B. Chemicals C. Textiles D. Etc. • III. 1751-1800 A. Food B. Chemicals C. Etc. • IV. Etc.

49. DO’S and DON’TS Too busy Better

50. DO’S and DON’TS Horizontal hard to read Vertical easier to read