1. Report Writing: Content and Context Dr. Shelley Thomas faculty.weber.edu/sthomas

2. Overview Guidelines Sections Formatting

3. General Guidelines Know your audience Clearly define the report’s scope Clearly define the report’s purpose

4. Report Elements Front matter Report body End matter

5. Front Matter Cover Title page Memo of transmittal Table of contents List of Illustrations

6. More Front Matter Abstract ◦ 100-200 words (but check the guidelines of your journal or assignment description) ◦ Avoid technical jargon ◦ Avoid acronyms (unless they are familiar to your audience) ◦ Use paragraph format ◦ Write this element last

7. Report Body Introduction ◦ Provides a context for your audience  Objective  Problem statement  Scope  Background  Overview of the report’s contents

8. More Report Body Methodology ◦ Answers “What did you do?”  Describes research  Describes what you did  Describes your rationale ◦ Researchers could repeat what you did

9. More Report Body Results ◦ Answers “What did you find?”  Presents the data you found  Discusses a review of the literature  Saves interpretation for the discussion section

10. More Report Body Discussion ◦ Answers “What does it mean?”  Discusses implications of your research  Moves from facts to opinions  Demonstrates technical (or topical) expertise

11. More Report Body Conclusions ◦ Answers “What does this information mean to the larger conversation”?  Provides a well-researched to the question you addressed in the introduction  Discussed results  Provides direction for further research

12. Formatting Use descriptive headings ◦ Sample 1  OR ◦ Sample 1: Gathering Chicken Feathers Use frequent headings and sub-headings Use contrast to make your headings standout

13. Headings Provide overview statements for sections that have sub-sections Avoid stacked headings

14. Methodology To better understand why chickens behave as they do, I observed them for seven months. I also reviewed current issues of The Journal of Chicken Behavior and researched poultry on the USDA website. Observation I observed 46 chickens from January to July … Recent Research The The Journal of Chicken Behavior provided a basis …

15. End Matter Glossary (if required) List of Symbols (if required) References/Bibliography/Works Cited Appendix ◦ Appendix A: Daily Chicken Diary ◦ Appendix B: Title

16. Questions? Comments No chickens were harmed in the creating of this presentation.