Report writing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFGNKJruxdg

What is a report?

A report is a specific form of writing that is organised around concisely identifying and examining issues, events, or findings that have happened, such as events that have occurred within an organisation, or findings from a research investigation. These events can also pertain to issues that have been presented within a body of literature. The key to report writing is informing the reader simply and objectively about all relevant issues.

Each section in a report is typically written as a stand-alone piece, so the reader can selectively identify the report sections they are interested in, rather than reading the whole report through in one go from start to finish.

What is a business report?

Business reports are a type of assignment in which you analyse a situation (either a real situation or a case study) and apply business theories to produce a range of suggestions for improvement. Business reports are typically assigned to enable you to:

· Examine available and potential solutions to a problem, situation, or issue.

· Apply business and management theory to a practical situation.

· Demonstrate your analytical, reasoning, and evaluation skills in identifying and finding possible solutions..

· Reach conclusions about a problem or issue.

· Provide recommendations for future action.

· Show concise and clear communication skills.

Remember that with business reports, typically, there is no single correct answer but several solutions, each with their own costs and benefits to an organisation. It is these costs and benefits which you need to identify in your report. Further, when writing the report, you need to consider the audience you are writing for: is it the CEO or will the report be available to all staff concerned? It is vital that you ensure an appropriate level of formality, sensitivity, fairness, and objectivity.

Source : http://owll.massey.ac.nz/assignment-types/what-is-a-report.php

There are three types of reports:

Informational Report:

An informational report is a report that will let people know what is going on. It may be that a manager wants an informational report every so often to make sure that the project is going well and as planned. It may be a way to keep a manager informed of what you do on a regular basis. A lot of it depends on who needs the report and why they need the report.

Case Study report

A case study is about a person, company, a product, or an event. If you are writing about a company, you need to make it interesting by writing a few paragraphs about the company and its history. It makes sense to talk about its growth along with the course it has taken that differentiates it from its competitors. After you have introduced the company from different angles, one comes down to the real problem that he wishes to address and the reasons for taking up the problems. It is at the end of the case study that a student must make his suggestions and recommendations for the problems that he has chosen for his case study.

See more for case study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CsL5U8hAlI&list=PLD0AB3753EF7E8B6C

Research report /Paper

Research paper is different from a case study in the sense that a student needs to acquaint himself with various views on the subject matter. This is necessary to develop one’s own views about the subject. Obviously all this requires much reading of the subject matter from as many sources that the student can lay his hands upon. In a research paper, a student needs to refer to other researches that have taken place on the subject. A research paper also requires you to cite other authors, which forms an important part of a research.

Difference between Case Study and Research

Thus the most important difference between a case study and research is that you are not concerned with earlier reviews on the subject and start straightway with an introduction of the company. On the other hand, you not only talk about earlier reviews, you also present your own views about a topic in the end of a research paper.

Another difference between a case study and research pertains to your focus. Entire focus remains on the company that is being presented as a case study. It would be proper to term a case study as a specific case while one can make generalizations in a research paper. If you are writing about gender inequality with respect to their salaries, you may have to do a lot of research in various industries but if you take up a particular company, it becomes a case study.

In brief:

Case Study vs Research

• A research is broader in spectrum than a case study

• Case study requires proper introduction about the company whereas there is no such requirement in a research paper

• Research requires citing other similar works and author’s views whereas you do not need it in a case study.

Report can be presented in two ways,

In a deductive report you move from the general to the specific and the structure of the report looks like::

Introduction
Conclusions
Recommendations
Discussion
References

This order is aimed at an audience who may not read the entire document but need to review just the conclusions and recommendations and then the discussion if further enlightenment is needed. These reports generally are best used for non controversial subjects.

An inductive report involves moving from the specific issues of the case you are using to general summarised information shown usually in the conclusion and recommendations at the end.

In an inductive report you move from the specific to the general and the structure of the report looks like:

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
Recommendations
References

These reports are best for a reader who will read the whole report – from beginning to end. If the findings can be disputed or are controversial then you need to lay out a clear path from your propositions and arguments to the conclusion – the recommendations following from the conclusion are meant to be acted upon.

Management report is the combination of above two ways:

The report asked for in a management report is an amalgamation of the two approaches above. In effect the Executive Summary of 1 to 2 pages is the deductive part of the report and the main body an inductive component.

So the structure of a management report is:

Executive Summary
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
Recommendations
References

Source : http://roymogg.com/2010/12/16/what-is-the-difference-between-inductive-and-deductive-reports/

Differences between reports and essays

A report is a piece of informative writing that describes a set of actions and analyses any results in response to a specific brief. A quick definition might be: “This is what I did and this is what it means.”

You may also have assignments which are not called reports but which are still pieces of informative writing; for instance, some dissertations and project write-ups fall into this category.

A good way to understand the key features of reports is to see how they differ from essays as a type of academic writing.

Reports are…	Essays are…
· Formally structured · Informative and fact-based · Written with a specific purpose and reader in mind · Written in a style appropriate to each section · Always include section headings · Sometimes use bullet points · Often include tables or graphs · Offer recommendations for action	· Semi-structured · Argumentative and idea-based · Not written with a specific reader in mind · Written in single narrative style throughout · Usually do not include sub-headings · Usually do not include bullet points · Rarely include tables or graphs · Offer conclusions about a question

Structure of reports

A key feature of reports is that they are formally structured in sections. The use of sections makes it easy for the reader to jump straight to the information they need.

Unlike an essay which is written in a single narrative style from start to finish, each section of a report has its own purpose and will need to be written in an appropriate style to suit – for example, the methods and results sections are mainly descriptive, whereas the discussion section needs to be analytical.

Understanding the function of each section will help you to structure your information and use the correct writing style. Reports for different briefs require different sections, so always check carefully any instructions you've been given.

· Title

· Abstract

· Introduction

· Literature Survey

· Methods

· Results

· Discussion

· Conclusion

· References

· Appendices

Title

The title needs to concisely state the topic of the report. It needs to be informative and descriptives so that someone just reading the title will understand the main issue of your report. You don’t need to include excessive detail in your title but avoid being vague and too general.

Abstract

(Also called the Summary or Executive Summary)

This is the ‘shop window’ for your report. It is the first (and sometimes the only) section to be read and should be the last to be written. It should enable the reader to make an informed decision about whether they want to read the whole report. The length will depend on the extent of the work reported but it is usually a paragraph or two and always less than a page.

A good way to write an abstract is to think of it as a series of brief answers to questions. These would probably include:

   *    What is the purpose of the work?
   *    What methods did you use for your research?
   *    What were the main findings and conclusions reached as a result of your research?
   *    Did your work lead you to make any recommendations for future actions?

Introduction

(Also called Background or Context)

In this section you explain the rationale for undertaking the work reported on, including what you have been asked (or chosen) to do, the reasons for doing it and the background to the study. It should be written in an explanatory style.

State what the report is about - what is the question you are trying to answer? If it is a brief for a specific reader (e.g. a feasibility report on a construction project for a client), say who they are. Describe your starting point and the background to the subject, for instance: what research has already been done (if you have been asked to include a Literature Survey later in the report, you only need a brief outline of previous research in the Introduction); what are the relevant themes and issues; why are you being asked to investigate it now?

Explain how you are going to go about responding to the brief. If you are going to test a hypothesis in your research, include this at the end of your introduction. Include a brief outline of your method of enquiry. State the limits of your research and reasons for them, for example; “Research will focus on native English speakers only, as a proper consideration of the issues arising from speaking English as a second language is beyond the scope of this project”.

Literature Survey

(Also called Literature Review or Survey/Review of Research)

This is a survey of publications (books, journals, authoritative websites, sometimes conference papers) reporting work that has already been done on the topic of your report. It should only include studies that have direct relevance to your research.

A literature survey should be written like an essay in a discursive style, with an introduction, main discussion grouped in themes and a conclusion.
Introduce your review by explaining how you went about finding your materials, and any clear trends in research that have emerged. Group your texts in themes. Write about each theme as a separate section, giving a critical summary of each piece of work and showing its relevance to your research.

Conclude with how the review has informed your research (things you’ll be building on, gaps you’ll be filling etc).

Methods

(Also called Methodology)

You need to write your Methods section in such a way that a reader could replicate the research you have done. There should be no ambiguity here, so you need to write in a very factual informative style.

You need to state clearly how you carried out your investigation. Explain why you chose this particular method (questionnaires, focus group, experimental procedure etc), include techniques and any equipment you used. If there were participants in your research, who were they? How many? How were they selected?

Write this section concisely but thoroughly – go through what you did step by step, including everything that is relevant. You know what you did, but could a reader follow your description?

Results

(Also called Data or Findings)

This section has only one job which is to present the findings of your research as simply and clearly as possible. Use the format that will achieve this most effectively e.g. text, graphs, tables or diagrams.

When deciding on a graphical format to use, think about how the data will look to the reader. Choose just one format - don’t repeat the same information in, for instance, a graph and a table. Label your graphs and tables clearly. Give each figure a title and describe in words what the figure demonstrates.
For a beginners' guide to data analysis, see Analyse This!

Writing in this section should be clear, factual and informative. Save your interpretation of the results for the Discussion section.

Discussion

This is probably the longest section and worth spending time on. It brings everything together, showing how your findings respond to the brief you explained in your introduction and the previous research you surveyed in your literature survey. It should be written in a discursive style, meaning you need to discuss not only what your findings show but why they show this, using evidence from previous research to back up your explanations.

This is also the place to mention if there were any problems (for instance, if your results were different from expectations, you couldn’t find important data, or you had to change your method or participants) and how they were or could have been solved.

Conclusion

Your conclusions should be a short section with no new arguments or evidence. Sum up the main points of your research - how do they answer the original brief for the work reported on?

This section may also include:

* Recommendations for action
* Suggestions for further research

References

(Also called Reference List or Bibliography)

List here full details for any works you have referred to in the report, including books, journals, websites and other materials. You may also need to list works you have used in preparing your report but have not explicitly referred to - check your instructions for this and for the correct style of referencing to use.

You can find information about how to reference more unusual materials (television programmes, blogs etc) from various websites including the LearnHigher website on referencing. If you're not sure, the rule is to be consistent and to give enough details that a reader can find the same piece of information that you used.

Appendices

The appendices hold any additional information that may help the reader but is not essential to the report’s main findings: anything that 'adds value'. That might include (for instance) interview questions, raw data or a glossary of terms used. Label all appendices and refer to them where appropriate in the main text (e.g. ‘See Appendix A for an example questionnaire’).

A possible structure could be:

1. Introduction: Background to the role, brief description of what the job involves and how to find information about it.

2. Job description and skills: Detailed description of the responsibilities of the role and the skills required.

3. Relevant employers: Which companies hire for this role and what they are looking for.

4. Career prospects: What other jobs might this role lead onto, what is the job market like for this role?

5. Conclusion: What this research has shown about the best ways of becoming employed in this role.

Reference:

http://learnhigher.ac.uk/resources_for_students/Report-writing/Whats-it-all-about/Structure-of-a-report.html

Reference list vs. bibliography

Reference lists (in MLA style called “lists of works cited”) contain a complete list of all the sources (books, journal articles, websites, etc.) that you have cited directly in a document. That means that if there are in-text citations for a source there is a reference list entry, and vice versa.

Bibliographies, on the other hand, contain all sources that you have used, whether they are directly cited or not. A bibliography includes sources that you have used to generate ideas or ‘read around’ a topic, but have not referred to directly in the body of the document.

Which to use

For most assignments, you will be expected to provide only a reference list. If you have used any source in your assignment you are expected to say where you have used it by citing it directly.

Some assignments may require a reference list and a bibliography, or a bibliography in place of a reference list. If this is the case, you will be instructed to in your course materials.

Some referencing styles (for example, Oxford style) always use a bibliography in place of a reference list. Some lecturers may use the term “bibliography” to mean a reference list, so if there is any uncertainty it's best to ask your lecturer

For more http://owll.massey.ac.nz/referencing/reference-list-vs-bibliography.php

realization

Report Writing full discussion