Writing Good Reports Using Word to Present Research Findings & Program Outcomes

Writing Good Reports Be organized and logical in your presentation Use clear & meaningful Headings Use subheadings where appropriate Create an Outline Use the outline to guide your headings and subheadings

Writing Good Reports Use Easy to Understand Tables & Graphs Don’t put too much information in one table Don’t “overcomplicate” your charts and graphs Present the information at the level and language appropriate to the audience Only use “jargon” with appropriate audiences Write in a clear, direct style that’s easy to follow

Writing Good Reports Spell Check Grammar Check Cite all references appropriately

Writing Good Reports Make it look nice Headings & subheadings should be appropriately sized and not overpowering Major Headings at 14-point Subheadings at 12-point (bold or underlined) Use a true type, readily accepted font – usually Times New Roman Body text should be 12-point, and unless otherwise noted, double-spaced Appropriately size and space paragraphs

MS Word 2003 Using Word Processing Effectively

Word Screen Ruler Bar Task Pane Views Status Bar Formatting Tool Bars Menu Bar

Viewing Documents Different ‘views’ in Word are useful for different tasks View Menu or Toolbar at bottom of page to change view Most people view a document in “Normal” or “Print Layout” when constructing

Normal vs. Print Layout Margins

Outline The outline view is sometimes a useful starting point for a report This view lets you organize your document by creating headings & subheadings Can be used to create: Table of Contents Power Point Slides

Outline View In outline view, type your headings & press enter Outline view has its own toolbar To go to the next level, you can hit the Tab key, or use the “promote” & “demote” keys You can move items up or down in the outline & add & delete items If you’d rather view the outline without formatting, toggle the Formatting Button

Modifying Your Outline Task Pane

Modifying Your Outline Headings & subheadings should be appropriately sized and not overpowering Major Headings at 14-point Subheadings at 12-point (bold or underlined) Use a true type, readily accepted font – usually Times New Roman or Arial Body text should be 12-point, and unless otherwise noted

Using Outlines Once you have an outline, you can switch to Normal or Page Layout View to add your text, tables, etc. You can also use your outline to create Power Point slides File Menu Send To MSOffice Power Point

Hands-on Exercise 1 Open a new document in MS Word 2003 Change to “Outline” View View Menu  Outline Or, Outline Icon

Hands-on Exercise 1 Create a basic outline with the following elements: Introduction Background Organization Issue Literature Review Research Question or Project Goal Methodology Data Methods Analysis Results Limitations Recommendations Current process Future Research

Hands-on Exercise 1 Modify Your Outline: Change the font to Times New Roman 14-point for major headings 12-point, bold for minor headings 12-point for regular text Try moving the elements of your outline using the icons to the left of each entry & then the toolbar Change to Print Layout View, then back to Outline Send your outline to Power Point

Formatting & Editing Documents

Basic Formatting Bold Different Colors Border Underline Highlight Paragraph Spacing Italics

Typography: Terms to Know Mono-spaced typeface Proportional typeface Font Type size Point size Format Font command Typography Typeface Times New Roman Arial Courier New Serif typeface Sans serif typeface

Format Font Command Type size Font color Preview pane Type style Special effects Typeface

Page Setup - Margins Select Orientation Margin settings Margin tab Preview box

Page Setup - Layout Settings Layout tab Preview box

Page Breaks Soft page break Hard page break Column break Continuous

Paragraph Formatting Spacing Indents Alignment Line Spacing Preview box

Line and Page Breaks Keep lines together Window/Orphan control

Hyphenation Tools Menu + Language command Options

Tabs Alignment Leader character Position of tab stop

Borders and Shading Borders tab Additional line styles Line color Line style Line width Click for bottom border only

Column Formatting Preview box Column width Preset column specifications Spacing between columns

Moving and Copying Text: Terms Cut Copy Paste Windows Clipboard Paste Special command Office clipboard Undo Redo

Find Command Case sensitive Search text Whole words only

Replace Command Automatic replacement Search text Selective replacement Replacement text

Go To Command Go to what Enter page number Click Go To

The View Menu & Zoom Command Zoom box Print Layout View button Two page display

Enhancing Documents

Bullets Customize options Choose style Click OK to choose

Lists Customize options Choose style Click OK to choose

Page Numbers Insert menu Alignment Position Format options

Headers and Footers Header area Footer area Header and Footer toolbar

Sections Break Types Page break Column break Text wrapping break Section Types Next Page Continuous Even page Odd page

Table of Contents Table of Contents tab Preview pane TOC features

The Microsoft Clip Organizer Insert Picture Insert Picture + Clip Art Insert clip art button Enter keyword to search for clips Pictures found

The Insert Symbol Command Choose insert Select font type Select symbol

Microsoft Word and the Internet Embed Hyperlinks Insert Menu Hyperlink Add the URL Descriptive name HTML Save As Web Page command

Useful Tools

Spell Check Word not found in dictionary Suggested change Change button AutoCorrect button

AutoCorrect Automatic corrections Table of common mistakes Enter additions to table of common mistakes

AutoText Preview Predefined AutoText entries Name of AutoText Entry

Thesaurus Tools Menu Language Command Thesaurus Look Up Meanings Replace Cancel

Grammar Check Missed correction Detected error Suggested Correction

Hands-on Exercise Since I’m very particular about spelling & grammar (and about tools that make life easier) – lets complete the exercise related to this topic: Hands-on Exercise 3 in your book Page 103 Uses the “Language Tools” document Complete steps 2 through 6

Templates & Wizards

Rather than moving you through each point, a template is pre-constructed Point & Click to change/add/delete elements For things you do often, create your own custom templates Wizards allow you to create custom templates Also found in the template window

Mail Merge Concepts Main Document Standardized text Merge Fields Place holders for address list Address List Information that varies from letter to letter

Mail Merge Go to the “Tools” Menu Choose “Letters and Mailings”

Mail Merge Wizard Option button Click Next

Mail Merge Wizard

Enter data Click to write letter New Entry button

Mail Merge Wizard

Click link to address block Preview of greeting line Click link to greeting line Address block field Click to preview letters

Mail Merge Wizard Click to preview letters Merge to printer

Copyright Protection Copyright Infringement of a Copyright Public domain Fair use Footnote Endnote Insert Footnote command

Footnotes & Endnotes Used to cite or clarify Insert Menu Reference Footnote Footnote or Endnote Location Numbering scheme For academic work, see journal for format instructions

Presenting Research & Outcomes Choose the Correct Style

Presenting Your Research You should modify your report style to suit your audience There are typical formats for business reports and for academic research Differ slightly Can be overlapped / modified Be clear with your client on the style / info they prefer

Presenting Your Research Report Structure - Business Setting: Title Page Table of Contents Introduction Methodology / Procedure Executive Summary Report Content Appendices, References

Presenting Your Research Report Structure - Academic Setting: Title & Abstract Background / Introduction Literature Review Research Question Data & Methodology Results & Discussion Conclusions Appendices, End Notes, References

Questions?