14797258_111115_091415Guide

lines for preparing the report

In business, the information provided in reports needs to be easy to find, and written in such a way that the client can understand it. This is one reason why reports are divided into sections clearly labelled with headings and sub-headings. Technical information which would clutter the body of the report is placed in the appendix. The structure of a report and the purpose and contents of each section is shown below. TITLE PAGE report title your name submission date

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY overview of subject matter methods of analysis findings recommendations TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION BODY list of numbered sections in report and their page numbers terms of reference outline of reports structure headings and sub-headings which reflect the contents of each section. Includes information on method of data collection (if applicable), the findings of the report and discussion of findings in light of theory states the major inferences that can be drawn from the discussion makes recommendations list of reference material consulted during research for report information that supports your analysis but is not essential to its explanation

CONCLUSION

REFERENCE LIST APPENDIX

Executive summary

The executive summary provides the reader with an overview of the reports essential information. It is designed to be read by people who will not have time to read the whole report or are deciding if this is necessary; therefore, in your executive summary you need to say as much as possible in the fewest words (Weaver & Weaver, 1977). The executive summary should briefly outline the subject matter, the background problem, the scope of the investigation, the method(s) of analysis, the important findings arguments and important issues raised in the discussion, the conclusion and recommendations. The executive summary should not just be an outline of the points to be covered in the report with no detail of the analysis that has taken place or conclusions that have been reached. The executive summary stands as an overview at the front of the report but it is also designed to be read alone without the accompanying report (this would often occur in the workplace); therefore, you need to make sure it is self sufficient and can be understood in isolation. It is usually written last (so that it accurately reflects the content of the report) and is usually about two hundred to three hundred words long (i.e. not more than a page).

Introduction
The introduction presents: the background to the issue (i.e. why was the report commissioned), the objective or purpose of the report a definition of the research problem/topic a definition of the reports terms of reference (the what, where, and when of the research problem/ topic) an outline of the reports structure an overview of the reports sections and their relationship to the research problem an outline and justification of the scope of the report (the boundaries the report is working within) a description of the range of sources used (i.e. personal investigation, interviews, statistics and questionnaires) acknowledgment of any valuable assistance received in the preparation of the report While there will be some duplication in the contents of the executive summary and the introduction, the purpose of the executive summary is to provide a summary of the findings of each section of the report. The purpose of the introduction, however, is to outline what the report will cover and how these issues address the research problem.

The Harvard or Author-Date or System of Referencing

The Harvard System of referencing incorporates information on:

the author of the material cited, the date of publication and where necessary, the page number(s). This information is placed in a bracket within the sentence of the idea you are discussing. This information allows the reader to look up the full bibliographic information from the attached reference list. Harvard style references can be given in three ways: The rationale of the free market is essentially opposed to the collective nature of unionism in the labour market (Ewer, Smith and Keane, 1991, p1). Notice the reference comes before the punctuation ending the sentence, in this case, a full stop. OR Ewer, Smith and Keane state that the rationale of the free market is essentially opposed to the collective nature of unionism in the labour market (1991, p1). OR Ewer, Smith and Keane (1991, p1) state that the rationale of the free market is essentially opposed to the collective nature of unionism in the labour market. The way you decide to refer will depend upon factors such as the authority of the source and whether you wish to focus on the idea rather than the author. When to include page numbers? No Page Numbers: When you wish to use an author's central idea or argument, for example, you must cite the author's name and the year of publication, but you may leave out page numbers as the original text will have referred to that central idea many times within the text. This will be the case where you summarise the central argument of an entire article. Page Numbers: When you refer to just one idea of many in a publication, however, you must include page numbers. This allows your reader in follow-up reading to find what might be a quite small piece of information inside what could be a large article or book. This is often the case with direct quotations or paraphrased sentences/ paragraphs/ sub-sections of an article. Look at the paragraph below to see how a writer has referenced source material of different kinds.
The work of van Lawick-Goodall (1971), Name and year only (refers Kortlandt and van Zon (1968), and Wright to main idea of the source). (1972) shows that present-day chimpanzees, orangutans and macaque monkeys are capable of using simple tools and bipedal Page number included as the

locomotion. Wright (1972, p305) concluded after tool using experiments with a captive orang-utan, that manipulative disability is not a factor which would have prevented Australopithecines from mastering the fundamentals of tool technology. However, while there is an unquestionable validity in comparing the behaviour of present-day apes with early hominids, it is important to note that, as Howells (1973, p53) says, "a Pantroglodyte is not and cannot be the ancestor of man. He cannot be an ancestor of anything but future chimpanzees". However, the modern chimpanzee shows a type of intelligence closer to that of man than is found in any other present-day mammal. van Lawick-Goodall argues that: ... the chimpanzee is, nevertheless, a creature of immense significance to the understanding of man ... He has the ability to solve quite complex problems, he can use and make tools for a variety of purposes (1971, p244-245).

text refers to only one idea from the source.

Direct quote, so a page number MUST be included.

A quote longer than three lines is indented (quotation marks are not included but the page number is).

Nafisa Rounok Lecturer Deptt. Of Finance Jagannath University