Slides Planning and structuring your report

Features of good reportsA good report is: • Well structured • Relates results to purpose • Uses appropriate writing style • Has correct use of referencing • Answers the brief and conside

Planning and structuring your

report

Dr Michelle Reid

Study Adviser, University of Reading

Overview of the workshop

• What are the features of good

To start you thinking…

What do you want from this workshop?

Work in small groups:

• Each person to write on a post-it one question they hope to have answered by the end of the workshop

• Swap post-its with another group

• Discuss the questions within the group and share your answers

What is a report?

Reports

• Formally structured

• Informative and fact-based

• Written with a specific

purpose and reader in mind

• Always include section

What is a report? (cont)

Features of good reports

A good report is:

• Well structured

• Relates results to purpose

• Uses appropriate writing style

• Has correct use of referencing

• Answers the brief and considers the audience

• Includes appropriate amount of relevant data

• Uses clear expression, avoids jargon

Writing for an audience and purpose

Reports are informative – they are aimed at delivering information to an audience for a specific purpose.

Identifying the audience and purpose of your report will help you to:

– Decide what to include

– Be relevant and concise

– Give the audience the information they need

Audience and purpose

Read the report brief carefully and decide:

• Who is your report for (more than one audience)?

• What does the audience know already?

• What does the audience want to find out?

• Why does the audience want the information – what

actions will they take based on the information?

Audience and purpose:

Audience and purpose:

worked example

Who is the audience?

- The Union, especially the student welfare officers, and bar / facilities managers

What do they know already?

- The revenue the Union gets from alcohol sales

- How the Union runs drinks promotions

- The Union’s suppliers and their prices

(As they have the info, you may not need to tell them all this in your report)

Audience and purpose:

worked example

What do they want to find out?

- How alcohol manufacturers target the student market.

- How much of their market is made up by student sales.

- The advertising techniques and strategies they use to appeal

to students.

- Are alcohol manufacturers trying to expand their student

market – future trends?

Audience and purpose:

- To consider whether the Union needs to run awareness

campaigns and offer more alternatives to alcoholic drinks.

A common report structure

• Abstract / Executive Summary

Where does it go in my report?

• Does it provide background to your research?

(Introduction or Literature Review)

• Does it describe the types of activity you used to

collect evidence? (Methods)

• Does it present factual data? (Results)

Where does it go in my report? (cont)

• Does it interpret the results and place them in the

context of the background research? (Discussion)

• Does it make recommendations for action?

(Conclusion)

Activity: Analysing sections of a report

Working in small groups – each group has an extract from a report and has to decide:

• Which section of a report does your extract come from?

• How do you know – what is it about the content and style that tells you this?

[Use own examples]

Planning Top Tips

• Make an outline structure of your report headings

• Group similar ideas under the same heading

• Plan what goes into each section

• If you are unsure where in your report some

information should go…ask yourself ‘what function does this information perform?’

Where do I start?

• How do you start writing a report?

• Which sections do you write first and why?

• What sections do you find most challenging to write and why?

3) Introduction (to establish your research questions and

the purpose of the report)

4) Discussion and Conclusion (interpret your findings in

light of the research purpose / question)

5) Abstract (you can’t summarise what you’ve written

until you’ve written it!)

What makes a good report?

• Read the brief carefully

• What does the audience know and what do they want to find out?

• Check which sections you need

• Remember reports are meant to be informative

• Write simply and precisely

What makes a good report? (cont)

• Spend more time on your discussion section

• Make sure your references are complete and

accurate

• Plan your time

• Proofread carefully

Writing up Top Tips

• Write up as you go along if possible – avoids having

to write lots in a rush at the end

• Have a separate sheet / file for each section and add notes when you think of them

• Link your findings back to your research questions and to your background reading – do your findings confirm or contradict what others have found out?

Further resources

LearnHigher report writing webpages

www.learnhigher.ac.uk/learningareas/reportwriting/home.htm

For guides and exercises on all aspects of reports.

Report writing (Napier)

www2.napier.ac.uk/getready/writing_presenting/reports.html

A clear and easy to follow introduction to report writing with

interactive exercises on report structure and layout

Unilearning (Wollongong, Australia)

http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/main.html

Includes different types of report (business, technical, field,

scientific) as well as sections on writing style.

Any questions?

Thank you and good luck with your

report writing!