UNIT – IV :

Report Writing – Structure of Reports – Long & Short Reports – Formal &
Informal Reports – Writing Research Reports, Technical Reports –
Norms for including Exhibits & Appendices.

REPORT WRITING
DEFINITION:
Report writing is the process of organizing and presenting information in a
clear, concise, and objective manner for a specific audience. It involves
gathering data, analyzing it, and presenting it in a format that is easy to
understand and relevant to the topic at hand.
– The University of Wisconsin Writing Center

Report writing is the art of communicating information that has been acquired
through research or investigation in a formal, structured manner. It involves
synthesizing information, drawing conclusions, and making recommendations
based on the findings.
– The American Management Association

STRUCTURE OF REPORTS
(A)-Front Matter
1) Letter of transmittal (Cover letter)
2) Title page
3) Executive summary
4) Table of content
5) List of figures/ Illustration
(B)-Body of the report
6) Introduction
7) Findings and Documentation
8) Conclusion and Recommendation
(C)-Back Matter
9) Appendices, References, and Glossary

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TYPES OF REPORTS
1. Informational reports
Informational reports provide facts and data only and do not present any
analysis or recommendations.
For such reports, writers collect and organize information but do not analyze
the facts for readers.
Here are some situations where businesses use informational reports:
A trip report describing an employee’s visit to a trade show is informational.
Weekly status reports about an ongoing project are also informational.
Monthly sales reports, progress updates, and legal compliance reports are also
considered informational reports.

2. Analytical report
An analytical report is a corporate report that examines data, provides
conclusions, and makes recommendations to enable stakeholders to
determine the best course of action.
To help illustrate this more clearly, here are some examples of analytical
reports:
If you are writing a criteria comparison report to evaluate multiple locations
for a new automotive manufacturing plant, you will compare the sites
factoring in how they stack up with one another using the same parameters
and then make a recommendation.
A report analyzing a new technology’s impact on a business sector’s
productivity and profitability is another example.
Other reports that provide recommendations are feasibility studies (e.g., for
expansion opportunities) and justification reports (e.g., for equipment
purchases or procedural changes).

3. Research report
This is a document that presents the findings and analysis of a research study
conducted on a particular topic.
The report must follow a specific methodology to analyze the data.
For example, marketing teams can send surveys to customers to learn more
about their buying behavior before launching a new product.
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Research that seeks to understand competitors in the industry, growth
potential, and market prospects would also be considered a research report.

4. Marketing report
The main objective of a marketing report is to evaluate the performance of the
marketing campaigns implemented by your team.
By doing so, the report gathers all the KPIs of your marketing channels and
summarizes them in order to evaluate their effectiveness.
By analyzing metrics such as SEO, social media, customer engagement, and
more, the marketing report gives you a good overview of which strategies are
working and which can be replaced or improved.

5. Annual report
This type of report is mainly used by listed companies or nonprofits and
presented to show shareholders the activity and financial health of the
business or organization during the year.
The initial section of an annual report typically presents an overview of the
company’s operations throughout the year, including a detailed analysis of its
financial performance and strategic initiatives.

In addition, it may include short and medium-term forecasts, outlining the

company’s anticipated goals and objectives for the coming year.
The second part focuses on the financial statement of the business. It is
composed of different financial reports and graphs indicating the costs of
operations, turnover, profit margin, etc.

6. Explanatory report
The main purpose of this type of report is to explain a complex subject in a
way that everyone can understand.
This type of report can take many forms, such as instructional manuals, user
guides, or informational brochures.

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For example, medical companies need to make explanatory reports to allow
the largest number of people to understand how the drugs work step by step
and their effect on the body.
Manufacturers of industrial machines must also create technical and
instructional documents that are easy to understand.

7. Progress report
A progress report is exactly what it sounds like — measuring progress (or the
lack thereof).
This document explains in detail how far you’ve gone toward the completion
of a project.
Such a report is typically written for a supervisor, colleague, or client.
You might write it on behalf of or by working with your teammates to produce
a progress report.
For example, you might need to produce a progress report once a week or
monthly, or as a completed percentage of project milestones (25% done, 50%
complete, etc.)

LONG & SHORT REPORTS

LONG REPORTS
1. Cover Page: As the name suggests this is the first page or cover page of the
report and it has the title of the report, the report number and the date.

2. Title Page: The title page consists of the following information:

- Title of the report (short and unambiguous)
- The name/names of persons who prepared the report
- The name/names of persons or organization who authorized the report
- Date of submission

3. Letter of transmittal: This is the introduction to the report very similar to

the preface to a book. It can be written in the first person using personal
pronouns and the style can be relatively informal compared to the rest of the
report. It discusses the various issues that the report contains including the
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scope of the report, the methods used for the findings and drawbacks and
limitations, if any. It also highlights the major findings of the report, the
conclusion and the recommendations. It acknowledges and thanks persons
who have helped in the completion of the report and also thanks the
organization or persons who have asked for the report.

4. Table of contents: It is a kind of map or a reference page of the report. It is

an outline of the report, indicating the coverage, sequence and hierarchical
importance of the information in the report. The different topics in the report
are identified together with their page numbers for easy access and reference.
One should list the contents with their relevant headings in the same order as
they appear in the report to avoid confusion. The visuals in the report can be
listed separately for convenience but if there are very few visuals, they can be
put in the content list. The table of contents is an important document because
it helps people to locate specific information in an otherwise long report.

5. Executive Summary: This finds place just after the table of contents. It is a
summary of the report and includes all the relevant and significant
information that the actual report contains including the introduction, the
findings, the recommendations, the conclusions and relevant illustrations of
charts, graphs and pie diagrams if any.
Busy executives prefer reading the executive summary rather than the long
report to get a preview of the report.

6. Introduction: This tells us the main purpose of the report together with
the scope of the report, its contents and limitations if any. It also talks about
the methodology used to collect data (both from primary and secondary
sources), like sampling and questionnaires and the different statistical tools
used for analysis.

7. Contents : This gives a detailed discussion of the results of the findings

using the different research tools. A lot of information in the form of graphs,
charts and tables help in understanding the details of the report. It is

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recommended to substantiate the findings with visual inputs for better
comprehension. The body of the report is divided into a number of sections
which is further subdivided into sub-sections. All of them will require
headings and therefore use the numbering system of decimals to distinguish
the different sections and subsections.

8. Conclusion: This is a summary of the main points of the report together

with relevant recommendations. Use the SWOT (strength, weakness,
opportunities, threats) analysis for recommendations.
- It also gives a detailed result of the investigation.
- It also answers all the questions raised in the report initially.
- puts forward problems if any in achieving the objectives
- gives clear and definite recommendations
- states briefly the action to be taken - states how it can help in any future
course of action

9. Appendix: This contains all the reference material and documents which
have been used directly or indirectly in the writing of the report. Moreover,
some of the documents and research material may be too long and therefore it
would not be possible to include them as part of the report, hence they are
included in the appendix. Information included in the appendix are sample
questionnaires, statistical data, statistical formulas, copies of important
documents used, other instruments of survey etc. Each of the appendices
needs to be numbered and captioned. The documents need to be arranged in a
logical sequence. Avoid including irrelevant appendices.

10. Glossary: The glossary contains all the technical terms which have been
used in the report. The terms are arranged alphabetically as in a dictionary to
facilitate the reader to locate any particular term/ word. It also explains how
the words are used and gives a brief about the rules followed while
abbreviating technical words.

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11. Bibliography: It is a list of secondary sources used while preparing the
report. All textual sources whether published or unpublished should be
acknowledged. It is generally written in the following manner:
- the name(s) of the author
- title
- name of publisher, place of publication
- year of publication and edition if any

12. Index: It is a detailed listing of names, places, subjects, together with the
page number where they are mentioned. It is organized in an alphabetical
manner. A reader is able to locate information regarding any topic with the
help of the index.

SHORT REPORTS
Short reports are both a bane and a blessing. Busy executives dislike the
number of short reports they have to go through, yet the only redeeming fact
is that they are short. A short report is concise, accurate, unbiased, all
inferences depending on supporting evidence to help readers make an
informed decision.
Short reports are usually less than five pages and do not need the elaborate
outlines and structuring of the long report. The three basic sub-sections are
introduction, investigation/contents and conclusion / summary. Simple
headings and sub-headings help the reader to follow the text of the short
report. Avoid using a running text. Instead, break up the text in terms of its
thematic units. This would also help the report from becoming visually
tedious.
A five-step formula may be adopted while preparing the report.
 Planning
 Research
 Drafting
 Editing
 Concluding/Recommending

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A short report generally has three sections to it.
1. Introduction
2. Contents (discussion, text)
3. Terminal section (summary, conclusions, recommendations)

1. Introduction: It includes the purpose of the report, the individual or

organisation which has authorized it, the scope, background and limits of the
report.

2. Contents: It presents all the relevant facts accurately and impartially. There
is no scope for personal bias and prejudice.
Organization of the report should be done logically with emphasis on
important ideas. Important details need to be highlighted either through
appropriate headings, capitalization, italics, or repetition.
Inclusion of visuals like charts, maps, pie diagrams graphs etc to focus and
clarify important information.
Use of headings and sub-headings to help the reader go through the report
with ease.

3. Terminal section: It has a summary of the entire text together with

conclusions which have been drawn from the main text. There are
recommendations sections which define the course of action.

Short reports could have two kinds of formats:

1. Memo Style
2. Letter Style

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FORMAL & INFORMAL REPORTS
FORMAL REPORTS
A formal report is an official report that contains detailed information,
research, and data necessary to make business decisions. Some examples are
annual reports, expense reports, incident reports, and even safety reports. The
format to follow includes front, main, and back sections.

TYPES OF FORMAL REPORTS

1. Research reports gather and explain data; these reports are informational.
Module 4: Research discusses research methods to obtain the data you’ll use
in these reports.

2. Proposals may be internal to a company in addressing a business situation,

or they may come from a solicited or unsolicited sales situation. Formal
proposals will include details of the proposed solutions and costs.

3. Feasibility reports are a specific type of analytical report. When an

entrepreneur or business manager has a new idea, it is prudent to fully
explore the idea before making major investments. Some think of this report
as a precursor to developing a full business plan. While a business plan may
take many months to develop, a feasibility report can be developed in much
less time, and it still provides excellent direction for decision makers.

4. Business plans are typically informational reports about what a new or

existing company plans to do over the next period of time. A business plan
may take on a bit more of an analytical tone rather than a strictly
informational tone when it is shared with potential investors. In some cases,
the business plan may be presented with a request for funds; in those cases,
the writing is gently more persuasive.

5. Other complex recommendations may also come in the form of a formal

report. These recommendations result from a business problem that an
individual or team has been asked to solve.
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BENEFITS OF A FORMAL REPORT
1. Clarity: A formal report focuses on key aspects of any given project. Such
defined sections and parts help the reader to easily comprehend what’s being
said. A formal report contains no jargon or unnecessary writing aspects that
could mislead the reader and helps boost clarity.

2. Decision-Making Tool: Modern business organizations operate with a

multitude of information daily. Formal reports deduce large pieces of
information into sections that can be used to make decisions more quickly and
aptly.

3. Offers accuracy: Formal reports contain plenty of facts and figures. It has
concrete information that leaves no room for ambiguity. And this is what
makes a formal report a completely reliable and accurate document.

4. Objectivity: A formal report is neutral and unbiased. And if an analysis is

put forth, then it is clearly backed up with hard-hitting facts and figures. This
makes the formal report a great citation to be used in other reports!

5. Valuable Source of Information: Formal reports act as a valuable source

of information that can be used in the future. They are pieces of evidence of
everything that happened in an organization and how they tackled it.

The benefits of formal reports are endless and that is why it is pivotal that you
create one in the most perfect way possible. So without further ado, let’s dive
straight into learning how to create formal reports!

INFORMAL REPORTS
Informal reporting is a type of business reporting where the information
presented doesn't need to be formatted or structured in any specific way.
These reports include critical but brief information. They are typically much
shorter than formal reports and have lesser sections.

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TYPES OF INFORMAL REPORTS
1. Meeting minutes are a type of informal report that summarizes the
discussion and results from a meeting. These reports are informational. They
are summaries, not a direct collection of all statements from all attendees.

2. Expense reports are informal reports that nearly always have a prescribed
format. These reports consist primarily of amount of expenditures by type of
expense. There is little to no free writing.

3. Status updates may be internal to a company in addressing a business

situation, or they may be external in providing the status of a project to
another organization. These reports are short and tightly focused to the
purpose. They are informational reports.

4. Trip or conference reports are used to summarize and transmit learning

from a trip or conference. They are informational, and they increase the value
of the trip or conference as they share what was learned with others.

5. Proposals or feasibility reports for smaller or simpler projects can also

be considered informal reports. These are analytical, as they provide analysis
and propose a direction to take.

INFORMAL REPORTS MAY HAVE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL AUDIENCES.

THE FORMAT OF THE REPORT SHOULD ALIGN TO THE RECIPIENT:
Memos are used for internal communication.
Letters are used for external communication.
Web postings are typically used for external communication, but institutions
that have private networks may use these posting for internal communication.
Email may be used for internal or external reports depending upon company
policy.

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WRITING RESEARCH REPORTS
1. Define the Context for the Report
As is obtainable when writing an essay, defining the context for your research
report would help you create a detailed yet concise document. This is why you
need to create an outline before writing so that you do not miss out on
anything.

2. Define your Audience

Writing with your audience in mind is essential as it determines the tone of
the report. If you’re writing for a general audience, you would want to present
the information in a simple and relatable manner. For a specialized audience,
you would need to make use of technical and field-specific terms.

3. Include Significant Findings

The idea of a research report is to present some sort of abridged version of
your systematic investigation. In your report, you should exclude irrelevant
information while highlighting only important data and findings.

4. Include Illustrations
Your research report should include illustrations and other visual
representations of your data. Graphs, pie charts, and relevant images lend
additional credibility to your systematic investigation.

5. Choose the Right Title

A good research report title is brief, precise, and contains keywords from your
research. It should provide a clear idea of your systematic investigation so
that readers can grasp the entire focus of your research from the title.

6. Proofread the Report

Before publishing the document, ensure that you give it a second look to
authenticate the information. If you can, get someone else to go through the
report, too, and you can also run it through proofreading and editing software.

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TECHNICAL REPORTS
A technical report is a document written by a researcher detailing the results
of a project and submitted to the sponsor of that project." TRs are not peer-
reviewed unless they are subsequently published in a peer-review journal.

IMPORTANCE OF WRITING A TECHNICAL REPORT

1. Efficient communication
Technical reports are used by industries to convey pertinent information to
upper management. This information is then used to make crucial decisions
that would impact the company in the future.
Examples of such technical reports include proposals, regulations, manuals,
procedures, requests, progress reports, emails, and memos.

2. Evidence for your work

Most of the technical work is backed by software.
However, graduation projects are not.
So, if you’re a student, your technical report acts as the sole evidence of your
work. It shows the steps you took for the research and glorifies your efforts
for a better evaluation.

3. Organizes the data

A technical report is a concise, factual piece of information that is aligned and
designed in a standard manner. It is the one place where all the data of a
project is written in a compact manner that is easily understandable by a
reader.

4. Tool for evaluation of your work

Professors and supervisors mainly evaluate your research project based on
the technical write-up for it. If your report is accurate, clear, and
comprehensible, you will surely bag a good grade.

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HOW TO WRITE A TECHNICAL REPORT?
1. Approach
When writing a technical report, there are two approaches you can follow,
depending on what suits you the best.
Top-down approach- In this, you structure the entire report from title to
sub-sections and conclusion and then start putting in the matter in the
respective chapters. This allows your thought process to have a defined flow
and thus helps in time management as well.
Evolutionary delivery- This approach is suitable if you’re someone who
believes in ‘go with the flow’. Here the author writes and decides as and when
the work progresses. This gives you a broad thinking horizon. You can even
add and edit certain parts when some new idea or inspiration strikes.

2. Structure
A technical report must have a defined structure that is easy to navigate and
clearly portrays the objective of the report. Here is a list of pages, set in the
order that you should include in your technical report.

Cover page- It is the face of your project. So, it must contain details like title,
name of the author, name of the institution with its logo. It should be a simple
yet eye-catching page.

Title page- In addition to all the information on the cover page, the title page
also informs the reader about the status of the project. For instance, technical
report part 1, final report, etc. The name of the mentor or supervisor is also
mentioned on this page.

Abstract- Also referred to as the executive summary, this page gives a concise
and clear overview of the project. It is written in such a manner that a person
only reading the abstract can gain complete information on the project.

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Preface– It is an announcement page wherein you specify that you have given
due credits to all the sources and that no part of your research is plagiarised.
The findings are of your own experimentation and research.

Dedication- This is an optional page when an author wants to dedicate their

study to a loved one. It is a small sentence in the middle of a new page. It is
mostly used in theses.

Acknowledgment- Here, you acknowledge the people parties, and

institutions who helped you in the process or inspired you for the idea of it.

Table of contents– Each chapter and its subchapter is carefully divided into
this section for easy navigation in the project. If you have included symbols,
then a similar nomenclature page is also made. Similarly, if you’ve used a lot of
graphs and tables, you need to create a separate content page for that. Each of
these lists begins on a new page.

Introduction- Finally comes the introduction, marking the beginning of your

project. On this page, you must clearly specify the context of the report. It
includes specifying the purpose, objectives of the project, the questions you
have answered in your report, and sometimes an overview of the report is
also provided. Note that your conclusion should answer the objective
questions.

Central Chapter(s)- Each chapter should be clearly defined with sub and sub-
sub sections if needed. Every section should serve a purpose. While writing
the central chapter, keep in mind the following factors:
 Clearly define the purpose of each chapter in its introduction.
 Any assumptions you are taking for this study should be mentioned. For
instance, if your report is targeting globally or a specific country. There
can be many assumptions in a report. Your work can be disregarded if it
is not mentioned every time you talk about the topic.
 Results you portray must be verifiable and not based upon your
opinion. (Big no to opinions!)

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  Each conclusion drawn must be connected to some central chapter.

Conclusion- The purpose of the conclusion is to basically conclude any and

everything that you talked about in your project. Mention the findings of each
chapter, objectives reached, and the extent to which the given objectives were
reached. Discuss the implications of the findings and the significant
contribution your research made.

Appendices- They are used for complete sets of data, long mathematical
formulas, tables, and figures. Items in the appendices should be mentioned in
the order they were used in the project.

References- This is a very crucial part of your report. It cites the sources from
which the information has been taken from. This may be figures, statistics,
graphs, or word-to-word sentences. The absence of this section can pose a
legal threat for you. While writing references, give due credit to the sources
and show your support to other people who have studied the same genres.

Bibliography- Many people tend to get confused between references and

bibliography. Let us clear it out for you. References are the actual material you
take into your research, previously published by someone else. Whereas a
bibliography is an account of all the data you read, got inspired from, or
gained knowledge from, which is not necessarily a direct part of your
research.

3. Style ( Pointers to remember )

Let’s take a look at the writing style you should follow while writing a
technical report:
 Avoid using slang or informal words. For instance, use ‘cannot’ instead
of can’t.
 Use a third-person tone and avoid using words like I, Me.
 Each sentence should be grammatically complete with an object and
subject.

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  Two sentences should not be linked via a comma.
 Avoid the use of passive voice.
 Tenses should be carefully employed. Use present for something that is
still viable and past for something no longer applicable.
 Readers should be kept in mind while writing. Avoid giving them
instructions. Your work is to make their work of evaluation easier.
 Abbreviations should be avoided and if used, the full form should be
mentioned.
 Understand the difference between a numbered and bulleted list.
Numbering is used when something is explained sequence-wise.
Whereas bullets are used to just list out points in which sequence is not
important.
 All the preliminary pages (title, abstract, preface..) should be named in
small roman numerals. ( i, ii, iv..)
 All the other pages should be named in Arabic numerals (1,2,3..) thus,
your report begins with 1 – on the introduction page.
 Separate long texts into small paragraphs to keep the reader engaged. A
paragraph should not be more than 10 lines.
 Do not incorporate too many fonts. Use standard times new roman 12pt
for the text. You can use bold for headlines.

4. Proofreading
If you think your work ends when the report ends, think again. Proofreading
the report is a very important step. While proofreading you see your work
from a reader’s point of view and you can correct any small mistakes you
might have done while typing. Check everything from content to layout, and
style of writing.

5. Presentation
Finally comes the presentation of the report in which you submit it to an
evaluator.
 It should be printed single-sided on an A4 size paper. double side
printing looks chaotic and messy.
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  Margins should be equal throughout the report.
 You can use single staples on the left side for binding or use binders if
the report is long.

6. Wrap up(Conclusion)
 A well-structured and designed report adds credibility to your research
work. You can rely on bit.ai for that part.
 However, the content is still yours so remember to make it worth it.
 After finishing up your report, ask yourself:
 Does the abstract summarize the objectives and methods employed in
the paper?
 Are the objective questions answered in your conclusion?
 What are the implications of the findings and how is your work making
a change in the way that particular topic is read and conceived?
 If you find logical answers to these, then you have done a good job!

NORMS FOR INCLUDING EXHIBITS & APPENDICES.

People often get confused about how to reference an appendix to their work,
but the answer's easy – you don't reference the appendix itself. All you need to
do is signpost it in your text, eg (see Appendix A).

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