About writing reports

Below there is a general description of making a report. It is a kind of a

schedule for a report and does not necessary fit to every kind of reports
e.g. the ones you are making at the travel. Anyway it is good to keep it in
mind because you will later make more reports that have to live up to the
demands.

A report:
A document giving a written account, a narrative, of something that one has
observed, heard, done, or investigated, whether prepared on an ad hoc or as a
required basis. One of the most common formats for presenting reports is IMRAD:
Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion

An essay:
A short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and
generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.
An essay can be freer, more personal, in form, but it has to live up to the same
analytic standards as a report.

These additional elements often used in both forms to persuade readers include:
headings to indicate topics, to more complex formats including charts, tables,
figures, pictures, tables of contents, abstracts and nouns summaries, appendices,
footnotes, hyperlinks, and references.

The most important in short:

1) Decisions: Make up your mind – not what you want to tell – but
what you want your reader to learn. This requires some thinking, but
it will help you making -
2) Thesis: A relevant, interesting and juicy “title and wording”, a
thesis, to guide your writing. Then the reader will not get bored –
neither will you.
3) Preconditions: To make it clear for the reader you will have make
all relevant preconditions clear, or else the reader will not know how
to evaluate your experiences. You have to make your choices here
on behalf of the reader.
4) Analysis: Personal opinions and statements are ok, but in a report
you need to have arguments, an analysis, that the reader can verify
– and learn from. Verify how?
5) Data: Arguments are linked to data, facts, to sources, open for the
reader. Arguments and analyses based on data is what can teach the
reader.
6) Conclusion: A relevant conclusion is possible - when you have a
relevant title and thesis, an argumentation, analysis based on data,
and it is all correlated. Everybody has learned something.
7) So: This could make a good report, but it is up to you and your work
with it

Descriptions – repeating/copying – known knowledge

Discussions - arguments – conclusions – new knowledge

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The questions, relating writing reports, are mainly about:
The content: The perspectives in the respective topic – what to discuss
and argue for
The set up: How to work it out, what to include, make a logical
structure
The thesis: The question/topic you want to examine/investigate, the
problem you
want to solve …

A general structure
Title
Introduction
Thesis
Relevance of the topic
Human outlook
Target group
Preconditions
Methods
Analysis
Evaluation
Further perspectives
Conclusion
Sources, references
The whole mentioned structure might not be valid for all your reports. You
have to decide separately for every report

In general
The classical, scientific model for reaching, gaining new information:
Make a thesis, describe the preconditions, select and collect
data/information, analyse
the selected data/information, evaluate the results of the analysis,
confirm the thesis –
or not. Conclusion and perspectives
Write in a language you are familiar with, but include “professional”
terms, when
ever it is possible and relevant, and if you are familiar with them
If you use your personal definitions and perceptions of things and
contexts beware that
you explain their meaning precisely

Title
The title can be very short, but has of course to relate to the topic. The
title can be the
same as the, short, thesis, but does not have to.

Introduction
What has led you to choose the topic
Personal experiences, environmental or political circumstances or ..

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Thesis. “Problemstilling”
Define the question, the thesis, you want to analyse
Write in precise, maybe a few sentences. You maybe follow up with a
further
argumentation for the choices you have made
(Maybe mention what you do not deal with, if necessary for making it
clear)
It is important that the thesis lead up to something to investigate,
discuss, find out. Or
else it is too easy to only describe, instead of to analyse

The relevance of the chosen topic

Argue for why the topic is worth working with. How is it important, for
who/for what

Your human outlook

What are your own starting points for your work with the content of the
report

Your view upon society

E.g. do you consider the society as a traditional, a modern, late modern
or post-modern
society

Target group
(If it is about pedagogy e.g.)
The target group defines the academic level in the report and maybe the
used language
code

The theories and methods

Mention the theories, the writers you find relevant in this context e.g.
pedagogical
theories, sociological theories etc.
Also the used methods, e.g. if you use qualitative (interviews) or
quantitative
investigations, statistical comparisons etc.
The theories, the methods can also be intertwined in the analysis

Analysis
The analysis is a discussion, investigation, argumentation in relation to
the topic.
A description of a topic, without investigation and discussion, is not
enough. This is
in general an important aspect.
You can refer to the theories and sources in the text, maybe with foot
notes, and you
can quote them.

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 It has to be clear when it is you, or when it is another author, who is
responsible for
what you are writing and stating
Statements and opinions are good, but you have to link them to
arguments, sources
and data if you want to use them in the analyses and explanations.

Evaluation
Relate your analysis with your thesis. Are your results from the analysis
corresponding?
with your thesis, or is it not? You can also evaluate your methods used.

Further perspectives
Maybe the discussion in your report can be valid in a broader scale or
other, similar,
topics

Conclusion
A summary of what your analysis shows, the relevance of your methods
and the thesis
that was your starting point. It has to be related to the title/thesis.
There has to be clear links between the thesis, the analysis and the
conclusion
You do not present new aspects in the conclusion

Sources. References
Make clear and refer to what sources you use the discussion in your
analysis.
Use different sources, maybe even contradicting sources
Remember: Make a reference list

Own experiences
Use your various experiences, e.g. your travels, school time whenever it
is possible and
relevant.