REPORT WRITING

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REPORT WRITING

• Key Skills Communication Level 3

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Aims

• By the end of this session, students will be able
  to
• Recognise the process involved in producing a
  report.

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WHY WRITE A REPORT?

• A report is a piece of structured writing
  produced after investigation and thought.
• It is written for a particular person or group.

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WRITING A REPORT

• A report is based upon
• FACT AND DESCRIPTION
• But may also contain
• OPINION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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STYLE/LANGUAGE

• Styles of reports can vary quite a lot. At one
  end of the scale there are elaborate, complicated
  ones like those produced by Government committees
  and at the other end are those drawn up by
  someone as part of their job or by community
  groups to raise a particular issue.

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• We are going to look at a conventional report
• This can then be adapted to suit the needs of
  your own report writing task.

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What we are going to look at

• The areas covered are
• Gathering/Researching Information
• Layout
• Brainstorming
• Using headings
• Organising Information
• Example of a completed Report
• Proofreading, editing and re-drafting

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GATHERING/RESEARCHING INFORMATION

• Before you write your report you will need to
  make sure you have all the relevant information.
  There are various ways of doing this
• Using the Internet
• Using non ICT sources such as books, journals,
  magazine articles
• Asking questions/using a questionnaire

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LAYOUT

• TITLE
• (What it is about)
• TERMS OF REFERENCE
• (Why is it being written/who is it for?)
• PROCEDURE
• (How you found the Information)

• FINDINGS
• (What information you found)
• CONCLUSIONS
• A summary of what you have found)
• RECOMMENDATIONS
• (What you think should happen from your findings)

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BRAINSTORMING

• Brainstorming is a way of getting your ideas down
  on paper. It doesnt matter what you write at
  this stage as you are just jotting down your
  ideas relating to the topic.
• Dont worry if your ideas are not in the right
  order at this point, just write them down.
• Use Mind genius for mind mapping
• A brainstorm for a report should include

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• The reason you are writing
• How you found out your information
• What you found out
• The facts or evidence you have
• What you recommend should happen

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USING HEADINGS

• A report usually contains the following headings
  which need to have relevant information to
  support them.
• These headings will help you to organise your
  report.
• The headings are

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• TITLE
• TERMS OF REFERENCE/PROCEDURE
• FINDINGS
• CONCLUSIONS
• RECOMMENDATIONS

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ORGANISING INFORMATION

• Now you will have to think about the order of
  your information.
• You will need to decide what information you want
  to put under each heading.
• The order or sequence of your report will always
  be the same.
• It will just be the information that changes.
• A report will contain

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A TITLE

• The first thing you need to give the report is a
  title. This is a brief statement of what the
  report is about.
• Usually the report will start
• A Report on
• (whatever subject your report is on)

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EXAMPLE OF A TITLE

• A REPORT ON THE PROBLEMS OF CROSSING BRIDGE ROAD

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TERMS OF REPFERENCE

• These supply a brief background to the
  circumstances that made the report necessary and
  the reason you are writing it.
• They are sometimes called the objective or the
  purpose of the report.

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EXAMPLE TERMS OF REFERENCE

• There have been many accidents on Bridge Road.
  This report will examine why these accidents are
  happening and ways they can be reduced.

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PROCEDURE

• This is where you outline where you got your
  information for the report.
• This could be from written material or
  documentation, oral evidence or a practical
  examination or observation.
• Remember to include a bibliography of all sources
  used.

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EXAMPLE OF PROCEDURE

• Information was compiled by
• Gathering police figures for the number of
  accidents in Bridge Road in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
• Counting the number of cars, buses and lorries
  travelling along Bridge Road on Thursday 18th
  November 2006, between 8am and 9am.
• Conducting a survey of all voters at the local
  election on 11th December 2006 asking them if
  they felt traffic was a problem on Bridge Road
  and requesting them to choose a method of traffic
  calming. The options were a) speed bumps b) a
  pedestrian crossing c) lollipop person

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FINDINGS

• This is where you outline the facts or evidence
  you have found. Facts must be presented in an
  ordered, logical way.
• Only include relevant material the facts that
  the reader needs to know and the things that will
  support your opinions and recommendations.

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EXAMPLE OF FINDINGS

• It was found that
• In 2004 27 pedestrians were injured on Bridge
  Road
• In 2005 34 pedestrians were injuredon Bridge Road
• In 2006 1 person was killed and 37 pedestrians
  were injured on Bridge Road

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EXAMPLE OF FINDINGS 2 -

• On Thursday 18th November 2006, 144 cars, 8 buses
  and 37 lorries travelled along Bridge Road
  between 8am and 9am.
• 98 of residents felt there was a problem with
  traffic.
• 21 felt that speed bumps would alleviate the
  problem.
• 75 felt that a pedestrian crossing would
  alleviate the problem.
• 2 felt that a lollipop person would alleviate
  the problem.

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CONCLUSIONS

• This should follow logically from the findings.
• It should conclude your findings.

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EXAMPLE OF A CONCLUSION

• Over the past three years the number of
  pedestrians being injured on Bridge Road has
  risen. In 2006 there was also a fatality.
• At rush hour there is a large amount of traffic
  passing along Bridge Road. On weekdays, during
  rush hour a large number of heavy goods vehicles
  pass along the road.
• The majority of local residents felt that there
  was a problem with traffic and most felt there
  was a need to do something about the problem.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• It is useful to look back at your Terms of
  Reference and your Conclusion to help you make
  practical suggestions or recommendations.
• This means you outline what you think would be
  the best thing to do.

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EXAMPLE OF RECEOMMENDATIONS

• We therefore recommend that
• Another route is found or created for heavy goods
  vehicles to pass through the town.
• A traffic calming measure is installed on Bridge
  Road preferably a pedestrian crossing.

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ENDING YOUR REPORT

• You should now put
• Your name and/or your organisations name
• The date

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PROOFREADING, EDITING AND RE-DRAFTING

• Write a first draft of your report
• Check it for sense and meaning and ask yourself
  could it be improved
• Check for spelling
• Check again, this time for punctuation
• When you are satisfied, re-write the report and
  check again.

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WHAT IS A BIBLIOGRAPHY?

• The bibliography must be in alphabetical order.
• This must be by the surname of the author.
• Always provide a header stating Bibliography at
  the end of your work.
• REMEMBER
• Failure to acknowledge
• another writers work or
• ideas will be considered
• Plagiarism!

• BIBLIOGRAPHY is the list of sources you've used,
  and it is usually placed at the end of your essay
  or report.
• Traditionally it was a list of books you'd used,
  but now it can include books, Internet sites,
  e-mails, video tapes and other sources.
• If you are writing a college essay, it is
  important to show that you have read the right
  books and used them in your research.
• A bibliography is just what you need.

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Example

• Minton, D. (2003) Teaching Skills in Further
  Adult Education London Thomson Learning. First
  published by Macmillan Press Ltd 1991.
• (2) Castling, A. (2001) Competence-based
  Teaching and Training London Thomson Learning.
  First published by Macmillan Press Ltd. (1996)
• (3) Rogers, A. (2002) Teaching Adults England
  Open University Press. First published by Open
  University Press. (1986)

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FOR CITING BOOKS/INTERNET SOURCES

• This means
• The surname of the author.
• The initial of the author.
• The date of publication.
• The title. (underlined)
• The country/city where was published.
• The name of the publisher.

• CITING means formally acknowledging the resources
  from which you have obtained information.
• You do this within your piece of writing. It
  allows readers to immediately know where you
  found a piece of information. It's like quoting
  somebody, then putting their name in brackets
  after the quote so everyone can tell who you were
  talking about.

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CITING INTERNET SOURCES

• How do I do it? - Website entry
• Author. Date. Updated date of page. Title of
  document
• Type of medium. Address. Access date
• Robinson,D. 1996-2003 updated 10 December, 2003
  The Geography Site online, http//www.geography-
  site.co.uk/ Accessed 20 December 2003
• or
• Robinson, David 2003updated 4 December, 2003
  Physical Geography, Niche and Corrie
  Glaciers,online http//www.geographysite.co.uk/p
  ages/physical/glaciers/corrie.html Accessed 20
  December, 2003