Principles of Organising the Material for a report, Process of Writing, Order of Writing

1.                  Report Writing

What is a Report?

According to Bruce Cooper, a report is “an account of something……………… an answer to a question or a demand from another person for information”.

Atkinson and Reynolds say that a report “presents in organised form the information that has been requested by an authorised person.”

C. A. Brown defines it as “a communication from someone who has information to someone who wants to use that information”.

The most elaborate definition of a report has been given by John Mitchel: “A technical report is a written statement of the facts of a situation, project, process or test; how these facts were ascertained; their significance; the conclusions that have been drawn from them; the recommendations that are being made.”

According to these definitions, a report is

1.     A formal statement of facts or information or an account of something.

2.     Is presented in a conventional form.

3.     Is written for a specific audience.

4.     Includes information about the procedure of collecting data and the significance of such data.

5.     Contains conclusions drawn from that data.

6.     Often includes recommendations.

Importance of Reports

All decisions in a business, industry or the government these days are taken on the basis of information provided and the recommendations made in reports. People in higher positions who are responsible for decision making spend most of their time either preparing reports or reading them. An executive who cannot write a good report or get one written is a useless one. Reports help executives to perform their functions and discharge their duties in an efficient way.

Certain developments in the business world have increased the importance of reports in modern times.

1.     Modern businesses have grown extremely in size. They cover hundreds of locations and employ thousands of people. It is not possible for the people at the top to know everything about what is going on where. They have to depend on the reports submitted to them by their subordinates.

2.     Modern businesses have become very competitive as well. It is impossible for any business to survive without continuously evaluating its processes and procedures and keep improving them to enhance quality or cut costs. For doing so, they have to depend on reports prepared by experts in their respective fields.

3.     Businesses and industries have to update their knowledge of markets for the sale of their products and the procurement of raw materials. They have to get surveys conducted and get reports regarding the latest conditions prevailing and the developments taking place in the markets.

4.     To obtain information about the changing trends and tastes of the public, they have to depend on reports produced by market specialists.

Qualities of a Good Report: A report must have the following qualities to be useful to any business:

1.     It should be based on verified factual information and valid proofs.

2.     It should be clear and easy to understand. The language used should be simple and unambiguous.

3.     It should be unbiased and impartial. A report which deliberately tries to distort the facts this way or that is of no value.

4.     There should be no linguistic or factual errors in it

5.     No duplication of information.

6.     It should be concise and to the point and should not contain any irrelevant information which does not have a bearing on the issue.

7.     It should have adequate information to enable the decision makers to take decisions that can benefit their organisation.

8.     It should not lose focus and be oriented towards producing the best results. There should be no beating about the bush. No irrelevant information should be included in it.

9.     It should be well organised and structured so that it is possible to locate the required information without much effort and any delay.

10.                        It should conform to the ethical standards of report writing.

11.                        It should be written in a language which is reader oriented. A report which the targeted audience is unable to understand has no value at all.

Types of Reports:

Reports may be

                                                                                                              i.      Oral – Face to face, ephemeral, Save reporter’s time, Take more time of the receiver                             

ii. Written – Permanent, Record, Skimming possible. Time saving. Only relevant parts may be read.

Written reports may further be divided into two categories:

i.                    Formal                     ii. Informal – Brief, written like a memorandum

Formal reports can further be divided into three categories:

i.                    Informational         ii. Interpretive          iii. Routine – Progress Report, Lab Report, Inspection Report, Inventory Report, ACR,

1.     Informational – Reports which only provide the required information and do not include analysis of the collected data and any conclusions drawn from it are known as informational reports.

2.     Interpretive – Interpretive reports are reports which include not only the information collected but also an analysis of the data so collected and the conclusions arrived at after the analysis. They may also include recommendations.

3.     Routine – There are some reports which have to be submitted regularly and periodically as a part of the conduct of business of an organisation. Generally, these are submitted on printed forms available for the purpose and are periodical in nature.

Elements of a Report

A long formal report normally consists of the following elements:

Front Matter

Cover, Frontispiece, Title, Copyright, Forwarding Letter, Preface, Foreword, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, List of Illustrations, Abstract and Summary

Main Body – Introduction, Discussion/Description, Conclusions, Recommendations

Back Matter – Appendices, List of references, Bibliography, Glossary, Index, Addenda, Corrigenda

A.    Front Matter:

1.     Cover – The cover protects the report from damage. The outside page of the front part of the cover carries the following information:

i. Title of the report                           ii. Its number if any         iii.  Date           iv. Classification

Sometimes, the name of the author and the authority for whom the report has been written is also given on the cover.

2.     Frontispiece – It is generally found in bound reports meant for wide circulation. It is like a display window meant to arouse the curiosity of the reader. It is generally a map, photograph, drawing etc.

3.     Title page – It is generally the first right hand page of the report. It carries all the information given on the cover. In addition to it, the following information is found on the title page:

i.                    Sub-title if any

ii.                  Name of the author

iii.                Name of the authority for whom the report has been written

iv.               Contract, project or job number

v.                 The name and designation of the approving authority if approval is required.

vi.               Distribution list if copies of the report are sent to any other persons than the primary recipient of the report

4.     Copyright Notice:- This is a notice given generally at the back of the title page informing the people that the rights regarding the reproduction of the material in the report are reserved by the author or the publisher or both and nobody else can reproduce any part of the matter contained in the report in any form without the prior written permission of the holder of these rights. Any infringement of these rights is punishable by law and the person or agency that does so can be sued in a court of law and damages can be claimed for this kind of infringement.

5.     Forwarding letter: The forwarding letter may be of one of the following two types:

i.                    Covering letter – If the forwarding letter is a simple covering letter, it only serves as a record of the fact that the report is being submitted by the author to the receiving authority. A forwarding letter of this type is not included in the report and remains with the receiving authority.

ii.                  Introductory – If the forwarding letter is of the introductory type, it contains all the information given in the introduction in addition to the fact of submitting the report. When the forwarding letter is of the introductory type, there is no need for a separate introduction as it contains all the information to be given in the introduction. An introductory letter of submission is printed in beginning of the report.

6.     Preface – The preface is written by the author. In it, he introduces the report and offers it to the reader. But it does not give any judgement about the subject matter of the report. However, the author may express in it the hope that it will be useful to the reader/s and serve the purpose for which it has been written.

7.     Foreword – The foreword is a kind of introduction to the report written by someone other than the author, who is an expert in the field which the report is related to. It may be called an assessment of the value of the report by a person who is regarded as an authority on the subject.

8.     Acknowledgements – It is that part of the report in which the author expresses his sense of gratitude to all the people who have helped him in any way in preparing the report. The people who have provided the information required, the authors whose works he has referred to or cited in the report, the people who have assisted him in collecting the information, in typing its contents, in printing it or in any other way are thanked in this section.

9.     Table of Contents – The table of contents gives the names of the chapters of the report and their page numbers. Sometimes, only the first page is given and sometimes, the first and the last page both are given.

10.            List of Illustrations – A separate list of illustrations (tables, charts, graphs, maps etc.) is given if there is a large number of them. It gives the number, the title and the page reference of the illustrations.

11.            Abstract and Summary – Most reports contain a brief account of the contents of the report in the form of a summary or abstract.

The summary gives the substance of the report without the illustrations. It contains in a nutshell the important findings, the method of analysis, the important conclusions and the major recommendations. 

The abstract is a condensed summary of the contents of the report. It is shorter than the summary. It is approximately two to five percent of the original or five to ten percent of the summary.

Some reports contain only the summary and some only the abstract. There are some which contain both. Whether a report should have both or only one of the two depends on the requirements of the primary recipient of the report.

B.     Main Body of the Report

               The main body of the report is divided into four parts, three of which are always there in every report and the fourth is included only if the authorising authority wants it.

1.     Introduction - The introduction is the starting point of the report. It includes the following types of information:

i.                   Why the report is being written.  Authorisation for writing the report and the terms of reference. What the author has been asked to do.

ii.                 Topic of the report.

iii.              Historical and technical background – A very brief account of the work that has already been done on the topic by other people.

iv.               Scope and limitations of the study -What new ground the present report is going to cover and what it does not propose to do. The scope refers to the aspects of the subject that have been dealt with in the report and the limitations tell the reader about the aspects that lie outside the scope and have not been covered in the report.

v.                 Methods of collecting data used for the study and the sources of information

vi.               How the material has been organised.

vii.            Definition of special terms and symbols.

2.     Discussion or Description

This is the major part of the report.  It may be divided into sections and sub-sections.

It presents the data collected in an organised form, discusses the significance of the data, analyses the data and gives the results.

3.     Conclusions – This part states the logical inferences drawn and judgements formed on the basis of the analyses of the data. In other words, it gives the findings of the report. The conclusions must be supported by what has gone before. If their number is large, they may be itemised and numbered in the decreasing order of importance.

4.     Recommendations – Recommendations are not found in every report. They are given only if the authorising authority has asked for them. Sometimes, the authority may reserve the right to decide what action has to be taken and the recommendations, if given without having been asked, may be taken as an insult to the authority.

C.     Back Matter

1, Appendices – During the course of the report, the author may refer to several documentary sources. It is not always possible to include their full text in the report. Besides, there may be many readers who are not interested in reading them. But some readers may want to read them. These documents are given in this part for the benefit of such readers.

2. List of references – In this part, the author lists all the works which he has referred to in the report. It includes the name(s) of the author(s), the year of publication of the book or the article, the name of the publisher or the journal along with its number, and the page(s) where the referenced information is to be found. It may be noted that this list is given in an alphabetic order and includes only the sources which have actually been accessed by the author and referred to in the report.

3. Bibliography - Bibliography is the alphabetically arranged list of the books or other written sources which contain information on the topic. Bibliography differs from the list of references in one important respect and that is that it may contain even those titles which have not been actually accessed by the author and referred to in the report but which deal with the topic of the report. Another important difference is that it does not give the page or pages where the relevant information is to be found.

4. Glossary – The glossary lists the technical terms and other difficult words used by the author which the reader may not be familiar with and explains their meanings. What should or should not be included in the glossary depends on who is going to read the report.

5. Index – The index is a quick guide to the material and its purpose is to help the reader to locate the information he wants easily and quickly. All the topics and sub-topics dealt with in the report are listed here alphabetically and the page number or numbers where they occur are given.

6. Addenda – If after the printing of the report, it is found that something which should have been included in it but has, somehow, been left out is inserted at the end under the head of addenda which means an item which has been added afterwards.

7. Corrigenda – Corrigenda means a list of corrections. Even after the most careful proof reading, some typographical errors may be left in the report. A list of these errors may be given at the end along with the page number and the corrected version under this head.

Principles of organisation of material

1.    Logical Ordering – According to Importance

i.                    Least important to most important in interpretive

ii.                  Most imp. To least imp I informational

iii.                Category wise – general statement followed by particulars of dif. categories            

iv.               Comparative – first one then another     

v.                 Chronological – as things occur in the order of time

vi.               For and against

2.     Coordinating –

Topics of equal rank put at the same level

Give them equal imp.

3.     Subordinating

Major topics kept at the top

Subtopics under each subordinated to them

Those at the third level subordinated to sub topics and so on

4.     Numbering

To establish relationship between topics and sub topics, two methods of numbering

I, II, III

A B C

1 2 3

a b c

i ii iii iv

(a)  (b) (c)

5.     Phrasing

Words, phrases, sentences for indicating topics and subtopics (Headings) to follow the same pattern

6.     Dividing – Do not divide a topic or sub topic if it is a single whole

But if it has several parts, divide them. Do not put them together

7.     Preparing outline – Study the mat.        

Decide the possible ways of organising it,   

 Choose one pattern     

Divide the matt. Into topics and sub topics

Prepare a tentative outline deciding which mat. Can come under which topic. Or sub topic.

Carefully examine it         Make changes if necessar

Writing the report

Process of writing

i.                     Study the mat. And visualise the entire report

ii.                   See that you do not use another’s words. Use your own wording

iii.                  Follow the outline closely taking up th topics and sub topics one by one and discussing them

iv.                 Don’t wait . Start writing immediately. Even if you feel awkward; Soon you will find the going easy

v.                   Do not allow your chain of thoughts to be interrupted. Write rapidly.

Order of writing

Discussion or description

Conclusions

Recommendations

Appendices

Introduction

Preface

Summary

Abstract

Glossary

Index