1. TYPES OF REPORTS NOOR SHAHARIAH BT SALEH
Faculty of science, Technology and Human Development
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn

2. WHAT IS A REPORT?

3. A report is
A VERY FORMAL DOCUMENT that is written for a variety of purposes, generally in the SCIENCES, SOCIAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING and BUSINESS disciplines.

4. A report also Consists of findings to a specific or given task.
Considered to be a legal document.
Needs to be precise, accurate and difficult to misinterpret.
Conveys and records information to be used practically.
Is organised into discrete units of specific and highly visible information.
A report also
Ungroup to move, recolor, or delete levels.

5. TYPES OF REPORT

6. REPORT CAN COME IN THE TYPES OF:
ANALYTICAL
PERSUASIVE
INFORMAL
REPORT CAN COME IN THE TYPES OF:
To solve problems
Information is
analysed
Conclusions are
drawn and
recommendations
are made.
Inform or instruct
present
information
Provide details of
events, activities
or conditions
No analysis on
situation, no
conclusion, no
recommendations
An extensive of
analytical reports:
main focus is to
sell an idea, a
service, or
product
Example:proposal

7. BUSINESS REPORT

8. Periodic operating reports- To monitor and control production, sales, shipping, service etc.
Situational report- To describe one-time event (trips, conferences, seminars)
Investigative/informational - To study problems and supply facts – with little analysis

9. Compliance - To respond to government agencies and laws (to show obedient).
Justification/ recommendation - To recommend on management and as tools to solve problems and make decisions.
Yardstick - To establish criteria and evaluate alternatives by measuring against the “yardstick” criteria.

10. 7. Research reports - To study problems scientifically by analysing a problem, developing hypotheses, collecting data, analysing data, and drawing conclusions.
8. Proposals - To offer to solve problems, investigate ideas, or sell products and services.
9. Incident/ accident -To give information on accident that happens at the work place.

11. SHORT REPORT

13. The importance of short reports
It tells whether
Work is being completed
Schedules are being met
Costs have been controlled
Sales projections are being met
Unexpected problems have been solved

14. Provides organised relevant data of any topic- money, travel, time, equipment.
It is practical and straight to the point.
It is written to subordinates, employers, vendors and clients.

15. Memo (within organisation) Letters (for clients)
Short reports are sent as
Memo (within organisation)
Letters (for clients)

16. Organising Short Reports
Help the reader by using:
Bullets or numbers
Headings
Visual (when necessary)

17. There are two systems:
The conventional system:
A report with two layers of heading
Takes Arabic numerals -1,2,3
The subsections – (a), (b), (c)
Third layer – (i), (ii), (iii)
The decimal (Dewey) system:
The numerals are separated into various levels of heading.
1.0……….
1.1………..
1.1.1……..
1.1.2…….
…….

18. The conventional system
The decimal system

19. Include those information:
Purpose
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations

20. Purpose
Start with the reason of writing and what you will discuss.
Provide summary of key events and details.
Findings
Longest part of the report and contains the collected data – prices, personnel, equipment, events
Gather the data from the research- personnel observations, interviews
Provide the results

21. Conclusion
Tells the meaning of the data
Summarise what happened: review the action taken, explain the outcome
Recommendations
Inform the specific actions that the company or client should take – market new products, hire more staff etc.
Based on the collected data and the conclusions

22. ACCIDENT / INCIDENT REPORTS
Document unexpected events.
Employers, government inspectors, insurance agents and attorneys – must be informed.
Can be submitted as a memo or form.

23. When?
An accident
A machine breakdown
A delivery delay
A cost overrun
A product slowdown
Example

24. WHEN TO WRITE A SHORT REPORT?
Engineering
To outline a proposal of a project
To report the progress of a project
to present research and findings from a project
To detail the technical aspects of innovations
To present results from a feasibility or cost-benefit analytical study.
Education and health science
Practicum reports based on the experiences at practical school or hospital.
Ongoing journal entries are written up into a report at the end of term.
Science and some social sciences
Laboratory reports outline, analyse and evaluate results from experiments.
Feasibility studies reports investigate the possibility of something and make recommendations.
Case study reports are usually found in social welfare, social work and psychology.

25. LAB REPORTS AND SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
Persuade others
Detail data, procedures and outcomes
Become part of the accepted body of scientific knowledge
Provide an archival record

26. Format of a typical lab report
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and methods
Results
Discussion
References and literature cited

27. Lab report template
Title
A brief, concise, yet descriptive
Statement of the problem
What question(s) you try to answer?
Include any preliminary observations or background information
Hypothesis
Possible solutions
In complete sentence
Testable

28. Materials – all items used
Procedure
In a paragraph
To be repeated
6. Results (data)
Data, observations, or additional notes
Attach a separate sheet(s)
Label all tables, graphs and charts
7. Conclusions
Accept or reject hypothesis
Explain the rejection and acceptance
Summary of data – highest, lowest, averages
Learned things and what can be applied
Possible errors occurred

29. Example of lab report

30. FIELD TRIP REPORT
A description of what, when, where, why who and how questions.
To learn issues in the real world based on observation and contribution/ participation.
Take notes – materials presented, investigations

31. Guidelines of work or group project
Introduction
Venue, aims, what was investigated
Field observations
Detail explanation on what was observed, comment on the significance
Photographs, field sketches
Day by day account
Conclusions
Mention the key issues (bullet points)

32. Example of a field trip report

33. Assignment 1
Cover

34. References
www3.cutr.usf.edu/...REPORT~1/.../ACC_IN~1.D OC - United States
oc_longreport.pdf