Writing reports
- What is a report?
- Different types of reports
- Sections and stages
- Steps for writing analytical reports
- Additional components
- Presentation
- Report outline – an example
What is a report?
A report is a clearly structured document that presents information about an investigation that you have undertaken. The clear structure allows specific parts of that information to be easily located by the reader.
Different types of reports
There are many different types of reports. At university, however, the most common types of report you may be asked to write are:
- Analytical reports which focus on investigations into events, organizations, situations, issues and processes. Their purpose is often to provide the reader with information that can be used to make decisions and take further action. They are common in the social sciences, business courses, and engineering
- Practical/Scientific reports which give an account of what has happened in a test situation, a practical session or as part of an experiment. They are common in science-based courses.
Your assessment guidelines should make it clear which type of report is required of you
For information on preparing Practical/Scientific Reports see the learning guide Writing practical reports.
This guide refers specifically to Analytical Reports. Note that if there are any apparent contradictions between the advice given here and your assessment guidelines, it is important to follow the assessment requirements. For example, you may be required to include some, but not all, of the sections discussed in this guide.
Sections and stages
The following table shows the most common sections typically contained in the two different types of reports and the various parts or stages making up each section. The headings in a report are used to identify the content of each section and stage.
Table 1: Sections and stages of a report and the headings used
Sections |
Stages |
Headings |
|
Analytical Reports |
Practical/Scientific Reports |
||
Preliminary Section - |
|
Title Page |
Title Page |
Table of Contents |
Table of Contents (if required) |
||
Executive Summary/Abstract |
Abstract/Synopsis |
||
Main Section or body of the report - |
Stage 1 |
Introduction |
Introduction |
Materials and Methodology |
|||
Stage 2 |
(Headings identifying the aspect dealt with in each sub-section) |
Results |
|
Discussion |
|||
Stage 3 |
Conclusion |
Conclusion |
|
Recommendations (if required) |
|
||
Supplementary Section – Contains extra information |
|
References/ Bibliography |
References/ Bibliography |
Appendices |
Appendices |
||
Your assessment guidelines may also require you to include additional components such as:
- Letter of Transmittal
- Literature Review
- Glossary of terms and abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
Steps for writing analytical reports
Once you have your topic, you should follow a series of steps:
Step 1: Consider both your word count and your time frame
The word count only refers to the main section of your report. The Executive Summary, Letter of Authorisation, Acknowledgements, Glossary, Appendices and Reference List/Bibliography are not normally included in the word count. Plan in advance how much time you have available to research and complete your report. You may find it helpful to draw up a timeline and set planning goals.
Step 2: Analyse your topic carefully
In analysing your topic, you can ask yourself a series of questions:
- Who is the intended audience for the report, and what do they want to know? What exactly are you required to report about? To help identify what is required, underline or highlight the key words in the topic. These tell you what content to focus on in your research.
- What is the purpose of the report? Some purposes are to record, to inform, to instruct, to analyse or to persuade in relation to a particular issue
- What is the scope of your report? What aspects of the topic are you to cover?
- What are the limits of the report? There are three kinds of ‘limits’ you need to consider here. These include limits to the information part of the topic, which confine it to a particular place, time or group. Also, there are limits placed on the number of words and the time you have available. Sometimes, too, there are limits on the resources available.
Step 3: Make an initial plan
To develop your initial plan:
- Brainstorm your ideas. Develop a technique for doing this effectively - for example, by mind mapping or by asking questions such as What? Who? Where? When? How? Why? in relation to your topic
- Select the ideas relevant to the aims of your report and to the questions your reader/s want answered
- Organise these ideas into a preliminary plan, grouping related ideas together into headings and sub-headings
Step 4: Locate your information and take notes
Consider how best to investigate your topic. For example, do you need to draw your information mainly from journal articles or books, etc? Or are you required to prepare and/or conduct a survey or interview with individuals/groups, and then report on your findings? Gather the information you require, keeping in mind the aim and structure of your report. Record the sources of you information, including full bibliographic details, in a systematic way.
Step 5: Prepare the first draft
The main section is usually the best place to start. Once you have written that, you can go on to write the other two sections.
The main section
Suggestions for drafting the various stages of the main section are given below. The order you write these is not necessarily the order given here. Start on the section you feel most confident about writing.
Stage 1: Introduction
The purpose of the Introduction is to orientate your reader to the whole document, and to give your report a context. You can do this by including:
- a clear statement of purpose – why this topic is being investigated
- background to the report – why the report was requested and by whom
- scope and limits of the report – what issues are covered in it, what issues are not covered and why
- the methods of investigation – how you investigated this topic
You may also include:
- a brief reference to the theories or ideas which you intend to discuss in more detail in your findings. Note that in larger reports these theories and ideas can form a separate section within the main body called the Literature Review
- a definition of any relevant terms
- an outline of the structure of the report
Stage 2: Presentation of the findings and analysis
Stage 2 is central to your report as it includes both the presentation and the analysis of your findings. Here you describe what you found out from your investigation, and analyse what those findingsmean. You may find the following suggestions helpful in writing Stage 2:
- Adapt you preliminary plan if necessary to organise your ideas under headings and sub-headings
- Be clear about what points you want to make to report your findings. Put what you consider to be the most important points first, followed by those of lesser importance. Support each of these points with relevant evidence, elaboration or explanation
- Add any diagrams (eg. graphs, tables, figures, etc) to support and present your material visually. Each diagram must have a title, and be numbered consecutively
- Analyse the meaning or significance of your findings. This involves pointing out the findings that most strongly answer the question/s you were investigating. You may relate the findings to the expectations you had, based on theory and the findings of other investigations
Stage 3: Conclusion and Recommendations
The purpose of the Conclusion is to restate in a shortened form the most significant points from your investigation and analysis and to make a general statement about the significance of these. This prepares the reader for any recommendations you go on to make. Note that no new information should be included in this section.
The purpose of the Recommendations section is to make suggestions about the action(s) or future direction(s) that should be taken as a result of your conclusions. These should be written in order of priority.
Note that in some reports, the recommendations are presented as part of the Conclusion. This allows any recommended action to follow directly on from the conclusion which it leads from. Check to see which format is required in your report. In either case, all recommendations should follow logically from the conclusions you have made
The Supplementary section
This comprises additional information that allows the reader to verify your sources and check more detailed data.
Reference List or Bibliography
This contains a list of all the sources you have either used or referred to in your report.
Always check your course online referencing resources.
Appendices
The Appendices contain any supplementary materials you have used to gather your information such as articles, brochures, statistics, spreadsheets, charts, etc. They are used as Appendices to avoid too much detail in the main section of the report, which could distract from the flow of the discussion. Although they are not inserted into the report itself, it is important that they are referred to in the main section of the report. Each Appendix needs to be labelled and numbered and listed in the Table of Contents.
The Preliminary section
To complete the report for submission, extra information is attached before the main section.
Title Page
In addition to the ‘student assignment cover sheet’ that you attach to all written assignments, you also need to include an official title page for your report. This page should include:
- the title of the report
- the name of person or organisation for whom the report has been prepared
- your name (or for a group report, the names of all those in the group who prepared the report)
- the date of completion or submission
- the organisation/section/department receiving the report
Table of Contents
The Table of Contentsoutlines the different sections of the report, and shows the reader where to find them. It contains a list of all the headings, sub-headings, tables/figures, appendices, etc, and their corresponding page numbers. The Table of Contents can be generated electronically using Word.
Executive Summary
An Executive Summary gives the reader a general overview/summary of the whole report without them having to read the entire document. It should be able to stand alone as a separate document if required. The Executive Summary needs to be written last, because it summarises the information contained in the whole report.
This section usually includes:
- the background to the report
- the purpose of the report, i.e. an explanation of why the report was required
- the scope and limits of the investigation including brief details of the general procedure, i.e. what was investigated, and how the investigation was conducted
- the important findings or results of the investigation, and the conclusions which you drew from the results, i.e. an explanation of whatoutcomesthe investigation provided
- recommendations for action, if required, i.e. suggestions for what future action needs to be taken
Step 6: Evaluate your draft carefully
Once you have completed your first draft check that:
- you have followed the guidelines in your course information booklet. Check particularly the requirements relating to word length,format, layout, presentation and referencing.
- your writing style is appropriate. Analytical reports are written in a formal style using relatively short sentences
- you have connected your points logically, and used appropriate linking words and phrases
- each paragraph deals with one main idea
- your claims are supported by evidence, using references where appropriate
- your examples are relevant to the points being made
- you have referenced your work appropriately
- your grammar, spelling and punctuation are correct
Additional components
Some reports also require:
Letter of Transmittal
The purpose of a Letter of Transmittal is to acknowledge the completion and handing over of the report. It should include who authorised the study, the terms of reference, a statement about the issues which were investigated as well as their scope and limitations, and a summary of the conclusions and recommendations. This letter is prepared by the person or group who conducts the investigation, and is part of the Preliminary Section.
Literature Review
A Literature review is a critical review of published work related to the topic of the report. This Review is generally only required for lengthy, in-depth studies or investigations into an hypothesis. It forms part of the main section of the report, usually after the Introduction.
Glossary
The Glossary is a list of specific terms and abbreviations used in the report, together with their meanings. If relatively short, and essential for a clear understanding of the report, the Glossary can be placed in the Preliminary Section, otherwise it belongs in the Supplementary Section.
Acknowledgements
The Acknowledgements lists the names of anyone who may have given you valuable assistance in preparing the report. It is generally included in the Preliminary Section after the Title Page.
Presentation
A significant aspect of any report is the way it is presented. Check your course information booklet for instructions about how you are expected to do this. The following is a general overview, in terms of sequence and format, of what to consider as you finalise your document prior to presentation:
Sequence
The different sections of your report will generally be put together according to the following sequence (including whatever sections are required in your assignment):
- Title page
- Letter of transmittal
- Acknowledgements
- Table of contents
- Executive summary
- Introduction
- Presentation of information (the findings) and analysis
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
- Reference List
- Glossary
- Appendices
Format
Use a clear and consistent system to enable the reader to readily identify the stages of your report. Common systems include headings, spacing, numerals, capital letters, dot points, bold fonts. In particular:
Headings
Use a maximum of three levels: one level for the major headings, one level for the sub-headings, and one for further sub-headings. These different levels are indicated by different font sizes and styles.
Numbering
A decimal numbering system is commonly used, with single numerals (I, 2, 3,…) for the main headings, one decimal (1.1, 1.2, 1.3,…) for the second level of headings and two decimals (1.1.1, 1.1.2,…) for any third level headings.
Report outline – an example
An example of a report outline, given below, shows the three different sections (Preliminary, Main and Supplementary), and how the stages in the main section have been developed into three levels of numbered headings. Note that only the main section is numbered.
Table 2: Outline of a typical report showing sections, headings and numbering
Section |
Heading and numbering |
|---|---|
Preliminary Section |
Report on the proposal to establish a national music centre in East Greenwood |
Table of Contents |
|
Executive Summary |
|
Main Section: Stage 1 |
1.0 Introduction |
1.1 Background to the initiative |
|
1.2 Summary of the State Arts Council’s proposal |
|
1.3 Aims and objectives of the proposal |
|
Main Section: Stage 2 |
2.0 Key Findings and Analysis |
2.1 National need for a Music Training and Resource Centre |
|
2.2 Analysis of findings |
|
Main Section: Stage 3 |
3.0 Conclusion |
3.1 Feasibility |
|
3.2 Funding |
|
3.3 Locale |
|
4.0 Recommendations |
|
4.1 Establishment of links at: |
|
Supplementary Section |
Reference List |
Appendices |
|
Appendix I |
|
Appendix II |
Further reading
Further information about report writing can be found in the following:
Eunson, B 1994, Writing and presenting reports, TheCommunication Skills Series, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Queensland.
Guidelines for essay and report writing , 1995, Elton Mayo School of Management, UniSA, Adelaide.
Winckel, A & Hart, B 1995, Report writing style guide for engineering students, 4 th edn, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Wake, B 1995, Report writing: financial accounting B, Literary Project, ACUE, Adelaide.
Windschuttle, K & Elliott, E 1999, Writing, researching, communicating, 3 rd edn, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Sydney.