1. Introduction
2. Findings
3. Conclusions or Evaluation
4. Recommendation
Type of
Informational Report
Report
Purpose
To study a problem
Features
Example
Usually short
future
Longeractions
More complex
or letter, or presented
orally
Definite format
Formal language
Feasibility report
Project proposal
Status report
Evaluation report
Maintenance report
Trip report
Annual report
SHORT REPORT
Places information on the page in a
Informal Reports
Information reports
Progress reports
Justification/recommendation reports
Feasibility reports
Minutes of meetings
Summaries
Information Reports
Information Reports
Introduction
Findings
Conclusion
define purpose.
Describe credibility of data
methods and sources.
Provide background.
Preview what is to follow.
Information Reports
Introduction
Findings
Conclusion
Organize chronologically,
alphabetically, topically, by
importance, or by another method.
Group similar topics together.
Use appropriate headings.
Information Reports
Introduction
Findings
Conclusion
Summarize findings.
Suggest action to be taken.
Express appreciation, if applicable.
Progress Reports
Progress Reports
Specify in the opening the
Progress Reports
Explain the work currently in progress,
including personnel, activities, methods, and
locations.
Anticipate problems and possible remedies.
Discuss future activities and provide the
expected completion date.
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Justification/
Recommendation Reports
Justification/recommendation
reports are written to justify or
recommend something, such
as buying equipment, changing a
procedure, hiring an employee,
consolidating departments, and
so forth.
Justification/Recommenda
tion ReportMemo Format
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Feasibility Reports
Feasibility Reports
Begin by announcing your decision
immediately.
Describe the background and problem
necessitating the proposal.
Discuss the benefits of the proposal.
Describe any problems that may result.
Calculate the costs associated with the
proposal, if appropriate.
Show the time frame necessary for
implementation of the proposal.
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Minutes of Meetings
Meeting minutes
summarize the
proceedings of
a meeting.
Minutes of Meetings
Include name of group, date, time,
Minutes of Meetings
Record the vote
Minutes of MeetingReport
Format
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Summaries
Summaries compress
data from a longer
publication, such as a
business report, a
magazine article, or a book
chapter.
Summaries
Present the goal or purpose of the document
being summarized.
Highlight the research methods (if
appropriate), findings, conclusions, and
recommendations.
Omit illustrations, examples, and references.
Organize for readability by including
headings and bulleted or enumerated lists.
Include your reactions or an overall
evaluation of the document if asked to do so.
Executive Summary
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Stages of Preparing a
Report
Before writing a report, you need to find out the answers to these
questions:
1.WHY are you writing the report?
2.WHO will be reading your report?
3.WHAT are the facts/ideas you have
to include?
4.WHERE can you get the facts and
information?
5. HOW are you going to present the
information/ ideas?
[PURPOSE]
[READER]
[SUBJECT
MATTER]
[SOURCES]
[FORMAT]
Step
PLAN
Task
Clarify the topic or issue
Design questionnaires
COLLECT
Plan observations
Carry
a library and
Internet search for secondary data
Designout
observation
forms
DATA
ANALYSE THE
Distribute questionnaires
Summarize the data obtained from observations
DATA
WRITE THE
Identify
points from interviews
Write
themain
introduction
DRAFT
REVISE
EDIT
A Gantt Chart
Tas
k
No.
ACTIVITY
WEEK
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
9 10
Primary Data:
raw data, collected by a researcher/ writer from
experiments, observations, surveys and interviews
Data which already exist that have been collected
by someone else, for another purpose (e.g.
university records of students grades, number of
cases of dengue in a district)
Secondary Data:
Data which have already been processed by
someone into tables or charts, and published in
books, journal articles, newspapers, reports, web
pages, theses etc.
accurate?
Is there any information you need to add?
Is there anything you could cut out (e.g
unnecessary details)?
Are your points arranged logically?
Is the meaning of any phrases or sentences
unclear?
Have you followed the appropriate format?
FRONT MATTER
Or
PRELIMINARY SECTION
BODY
END MATTER
Or
SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION
Parts of a Report
FRONT MATTER/ PRELIMINARY SECTION
Title Page
a) The title of your report
b) The name and position of the person or the department to whom
Acknowledgements
To express your gratitude to the people who have helped you in the
course of preparing your report.
Table of Contents
To have an overview of the whole report through a list of sections,
headings and sub-headings provided at the beginning of the
report.
List of Illustrations
Enable the reader to locate each item that you have used such as
diagrams, charts, pictures, photos, tables etc.
BODY
Introduction:
report.
c) Purpose and Scope- The purpose is called the objective, aim, goal or
mission of the report. The scope is the range of subjects that you are
going to investigate.
e) Methods- How and where you obtained the information that your
Findings:
Discoveries based on the facts and data collected. The data should
be properly analyzed, itemized and presented in a logical order
to facilitate easier reading and understanding.
Conclusions:
A summary of the main findings and it is a result of logical
deductions made from the information you have presented. It is
from these findings that you draw logical conclusions.
Recommendations:
A statement which proposed solution or specifies a course of action
to take. In other words, putting down your own suggestions
based on the conclusions that you have drawn from the findings.
You should indicate who should be responsible for taking the
action recommended, suggest alternative courses of action but
also state the desired action and readers can select their own
course of action.
List of References:
It is important that you include a list of all the titles of the
books, journals, newspaper articles, etc. that you have
referred to. Using material without acknowledgement is
called plagiarism and is punishable by law.
Appendices (Appendix):
Present additional material which is useful but not essential
for the completion of your report. May include a copy of
questionnaire, maps, diagrams, charts etc.
PROPOSALS
Proposals
- special reports
TYPES OF PROPOSALS
1. Unsolicited proposal :
usually written to obtain business or funding
Solicited proposals:
generally prepared at the request of external
parties who need something done
can also be requested by internal sources like
board of directors, management etc.
3. Internal proposals:
Submitted to decision makers in ones own organization
2 primary purposes:
Proposal structure
Introduction: the key problem or benefit to be
discussed
Background and purpose: how the problem or need
originated: its cause and its history, how the writer
became involved, what previous solutions have been
attempted, and why they did not work; it may also
include the larger context of the problem in terms of
the organization, or broader social and economic trends
Main problem, need, or opportunity (one or two
sentences should summarize the main problem or need
and identify the cause)
Proposal and main support (one sentence)
Research sources and methods (not essential)
Informal Proposals
Introduction
Background
Proposal
Staffing
Budget
Authorization
request
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Informal
proposals
are usually
presented in 2- to
4-page letters or
memos and have
six main parts.
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Informal Proposals
Introduction should provide hook to
APA Citation
Type of Citation Example and Use
1 author
2 authors
Citing specific parts
of a source
Personal
communication:
Citation of a secondary
source
Generic webpage
Webpage:
association as
author
Magazine Online
References
Nor Azni Abdullah (2008).