2. 17
“Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.” ― William Pollard, Minister and Scholar
Writing Reports

3. After completing the chapter, you will be able to:
Explain what a report is.
Develop plans for informal and formal reports.
Write an informal report using standard guidelines for formatting.
Research information for formal reports using primary and secondary research.
Write a formal report using standard guidelines for formatting.
Describe the parts of a formal report.

4. Reports
Reports are documents used to present information in a structured format.
Progress reports are written in a specified format and periodically submitted (monthly, quarterly, annually).

5. Reports 1. What is a report? 2. Describe a progress report.

6. Planning Reports First step is to identify the purpose and audience
Focus and organize the topic.
Develop an outline.
Select an approach.

7. Planning Reports Focus and organize your topic (planning stage).
Identify and name the topic.
Plan the introduction.
Outline the main ideas.
Think ahead to the closing.

8. Planning Reports Develop an outline chronological/sequential
order of importance
cause and effect
problem-solution

9. Planning Reports Select an approach direct indirect
start with a general statement of purpose
follow with supporting details
works best if message is positive or neutral.
indirect
list supporting details to prepare the reader
works best for tough arguments or if the message is negative

10. Planning Reports 1. What is the first step in writing a report. 2
Planning Reports 1. What is the first step in writing a report? 2. List four steps in the planning stage of a report. 3. What are the four basic types of organization?

11. Writing Informal Reports
Informal reports are documents that do not require formal research or documentation.
short, no more than a few pages long
may be first person

12. Writing Informal Reports
Parts of an informal report:
introduction states the purpose
body contains the information
conclusion states a brief summary of main points
Types of informal reports:
periodic reports
informal study reports
idea and suggestion reports

13. Writing Informal Reports
Periodic reports
written according to a specified schedule: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.
provide status of a project
report facts and figures over a specified period
summarize an ongoing activity

14. Writing Informal Reports
Periodic report in body of

15. Writing Informal Reports
Periodic report as with attachment

16. Writing Informal Reports
Informal study reports
information gathered by:
reading related documents
conducting informal interviews
reviewing competitive products
making observations after a site visit or meeting
sections of report:
method (describing the method used to obtain the data)
findings and conclusions (including the procedure used)
recommendations

17. Writing Informal Reports
Example of informal study report

18. Writing Informal Reports
Idea and suggestion reports
be assertive in offering your opinion
begin with positive remarks, then tactfully make suggestions for change
be specific
group your ideas by subject

19. Writing Informal Reports
Idea and suggestion report in memo

20. Writing Informal Reports 1
Writing Informal Reports 1. What are the three basic parts of an informal report? 2. List three types of informal reports.

21. Researching Formal Reports
Formal reports focus on a main topic that can be divided into subtopics for complete and clear coverage.
Research includes
primary research (conducting your own research)
secondary research (using someone else’s research)

22. Researching Formal Reports
Primary research
interviews
effective method of gathering qualitative data
may be conducted individually or as a focus group

23. Preparing for Personal Interviews
Interviewing to obtain information is a skill that requires preparation and practice. These guidelines will help you conduct successful interviews.
Identify the topic of the interview and the information needed.
Develop objective questions and maintain your objectivity during the interview.
Explain the purpose of the interview when setting up the appointment.
Establish the time, place, and duration of the interview (continued)

24. Preparing for Personal Interviews
Indicate how long the interview will take.
Choose a comfortable setting where you will not be interrupted.
Explain the purpose again at the beginning of the interview and ask the interviewee if there are any questions before getting started.
If you are going to record the interview, ask for permission to do so in advance.
If you take notes, use abbreviations and record key phrases. Do not attempt to create a word-for-word record. If necessary, stop at the end of each answer to summarize and confirm what you have written.
Follow up the interview with a thank-you note.

25. Researching Formal Reports
Primary research
surveys
effective method of gathering quantitative data
use representative sampling
experiments

26. Creating a Survey Make the questions easy to answer.
Write questions that have a choice of answers, such as yes/no, multiple choice, or agree/disagree/strongly agree/strongly disagree. These are known as closed-ended questions and make it easy for the responder to give an answer. Open-ended questions, those that are subjective, take more time to answer and tally.
Write objective questions.
Write questions that do not lead respondents to a particular answer. Biased questions produce biased data (continued)

27. Creating a Survey Put the questions in a logical sequence.
Group items and, when possible, give them headings.
Keep the survey short.
If you ask too many questions, the respondent may not want to take the time to complete the survey.
Include space for comments.
Often the best information comes from unstructured responses.

28. Researching Formal Reports
Sample survey

29. Researching Formal Reports
Secondary research
information assembled and recorded by someone else
consider reliability and credibility of sources
What are the author’s credentials?
What is the reputation of the publication in which the source material appears?
Is the source a mainstream publication or an unknown?
Is the information current?
What is the copyright date?
Are more current sources available?

30. Researching Formal Reports
Researching online
Much misinformation on the Internet, so verify everything
Reliable sources
government
trade organizations
educational institutions
news outlets

31. Researching Formal Reports
Crediting sources
Plagiarism is the use of another’s work without permission and is illegal.
Copyright legally protects the material’s owner from the distribution of his or her work without permission.
automatic as soon as a creative work is in tangible form
Materials published by the US government are usually in the public domain.
Footnote to cite a source and follow the format in an appropriate style guide.

32. Researching Formal Reports 1
Researching Formal Reports 1. What is the difference between primary research and secondary research? 2. List three types of primary research.

33. Avoiding Plagiarism
You can avoid plagiarism when referencing the work of others by using the following guidelines.
Keep in mind, there is a difference between referencing and copying the work of others.
Referencing the work by paraphrasing it or even making a direct quotation from it is acceptable if the source is credited.
However, copying the work of others is illegal, unless the owner has given you permission to do so (continued)

34. Avoiding Plagiarism
Place material that is directly quoted inside of quotation marks.
When quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing information from any source, use a consistent system for crediting these sources. Depending on the number and types of sources, you may choose to use footnotes, a bibliography, or text references to a works-cited list.
Consult a style manual, such as The Chicago Manual of Style or the Modern Language Association (MLA) handbook, for guidance and examples of various styles for footnotes, bibliographies, and other methods of listing sources. (continued)

35. Avoiding Plagiarism
Always look for copyright information on sources you use.
If you plan to rely on or quote an extensive amount of the source material, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder to do so.
Never cut and paste material from any electronic source, such as the Internet or electronic books. This is a bad habit that can easily lead to accidental plagiarism (it is still plagiarism whether or not you intended to plagiarize) (continued)

36. Avoiding Plagiarism
Most information on the Internet is copyrighted and, therefore, you cannot use the material without permission. You may, however, reference the material.
Be aware that material does not have to bear a copyright notice to be copyrighted. Any material is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is in tangible form.

37. Avoiding Plagiarism 1. What is plagiarism. 2
Avoiding Plagiarism 1. What is plagiarism? 2. When is material copyrighted?

38. Writing Formal Reports
Know the readers
Make the purpose clear
Make the report believable
Make the report readable
graphics can improve readability
tables
illustrations
charts
graphs
photographs

39. Writing Formal Reports 1
Writing Formal Reports 1. List the four basic guidelines that pertain to all narrative business reports. 2. Identify three graphic elements that may make a report more readable.

40. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Title page
Table of contents
Executive summary
Introduction
Body
Conclusions and recommendations
Citations
List of illustrations or tables
Glossary
Appendix

41. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Title page
name of report
name of person or group for whom report was written
name of author of report
date report is distributed

42. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Table of contents
necessary to show what is in report
may be labeled Table of Contents or Contents
lists the major sections and subsections with page numbers

43. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Executive summary
summarizes main points
provides overview for entire report
appears before introduction

44. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Introduction
history or background
purpose or justification for report
tells method of gathering information
scope of the report
defines terms

45. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Body
subject information
presentation is influenced by:
subject of the report
your place in the organization
reader bias
reader knowledge
readability

46. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Conclusions are the summary of what reader should take away from report.
Recommendations are actions the writer believes the reader should take from the report.

47. Standard Parts of Formal Reports
Other elements
citations
list of illustrations or tables
glossary
appendix

48. Standard Parts of Formal Reports 1
Standard Parts of Formal Reports 1. What four elements appear on the title page? 2. What does the table of contents list? 3. What is an executive summary? 4. In which section is all of the information, data, and statistics presented?

49. Reports are documents that communicate important information to individuals within or outside of the organization.
Planning a report is the most important stage of writing a report.
Informal reports cover routine matters, are typically short, and generally do not require formal research.

50. Formal reports require gathering data and information through primary research (that you do) or secondary research (research by someone else).
When writing a formal report, know your readers, make the purpose clear, make the report believable, and make the report readable.
The parts of a formal report vary according to the purpose and topic.