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REPORT WRITING

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A report is a clearly structured document in which the writer presents

findings of an investigation.

Information obtained from research or from undertaking a project is

delivered in a precise, concise writing style organised under a set of

headings and sub-headings, which enable the reader to find data quickly.

A research report is a written document that communicates the

purpose, scope, objective(s), hypotheses, methodology, findings,

limitations and finally, recommendations of a research project to others.

The last stage of a marketing research process.

It is more than a summary of findings; rather it is a record of the research

process.

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Significance Of Report Writing

A Research Report is considered a major component of the

research study for the research task remains incomplete till

the report has been presented and /or written.

Even the most brilliant hypothesis, highly well designed and

conducted research study and the most accurate and reliable

findings are of any value unless they are effectively

communicated to others.

The purpose of research is not well served unless the findings

are made known to others. Research results must invariablyenter the general store of knowledge.

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Steps in report writing

Logical Analysis of the subject matter

Preparation of the final outline

Preparation of the rough draft

Rewriting & polishing of the rough draft

Preparation of the final bibliography

Writing the final draft

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Logical Analysis of Subject Matter

It is the first step which is primarily concerned with thedevelopment of a subject. There are two ways in which to

develop a subject

(a) logically and

(b) chronologically.

The logical development is made on the basis of mental

connections and associations between one thing and another

by means of analysis.

Chronological development is based on a connection or

sequence in time or occurrence.

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Preparation of the final outline

It is the next step in writing the research

report. Outlines are the framework upon

which long written works are constructed.

They are an aid to the logical organisation of

the material and a reminder of the points to

be stressed in the report.

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Preparation Of The Rough Draft

The researcher now sits to write down what

he has done in the context of his research

study. He will write down the procedure

adopted by him in collecting the material for

his study along with various limitations faced

by him, the technique of analysis adopted by

him, the broad findings and the varioussuggestions he wants to offer regarding the

problem concerned.

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Rewriting and polishing of the rough draft

This step happens to be the most difficult part of reportwriting.

Usually this step requires more time than the writing of the

rough draft. The careful revision makes the difference between a mediocre

and a good piece of writing.

While rewriting and polishing, one should check the report for

weaknesses in logical development or presentation. The researcher should also check the mechanics of report

writing.

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Preparation of the final

bibliography Next in order comes the task of the preparation of the final

bibliography.

The bibliography, which is generally appended to the research

report, is a list of books in some way pertinent to the research

which has been done.

It should contain all those works which the researcher has

consulted.

The bibliography should be arranged alphabetically and may

be divided into two parts; the first part may contain the

names of books, and the second part may contain the names

of magazine and newspaper articles.

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Writing the Final Draft

This constitutes the last step.

The final draft should be written in a concise form

and in simple language.

A research report should not be dull, it should beable to maintain the interest of the reader.

Examples based on general observations should be

included in the final draft so that It becomes easy tocommunicate research findings to the readers.

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Layout Of a Report/Contents of a Report

The layout of the report means as to what the research report shouldcontain.

A comprehensive layout of the research report should contain:1. PRELIMINARY PAGES- The preliminary section includes front pages

of the report. These are as under:a) Title page-This contains the title of research, Designation of

researcher(By whom project is submitted),Name of

Institution/organization/university to which project is beingsubmitted, Purpose for which project is submitted.b) Preface- It contains in brief the background, scope, purpose and

general nature of the research upon which the report is beingconducted.

c) Acknowledgement page-In this section the researcher acknowledgesthe help and assistance of various people for this research.

d)Table of Content: This table explains the contents of the research

along with the sections and page numbers on which they can befound.e) List of Tables and Graphs: Here the researcher give the index of all

the tables and graphs used in the research and page numbers onwhich they can be found.

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2. MAIN TEXT-

The main text provides the complete outline of the research

report along with all the details.

It is the major and the main part of the report.

It contains the following sections:-

1. Introduction-This is the first chapter in the body of the

report. The purpose of introduction is to introduce the

research project to the readers. It should contain:a) Brief introduction of the topic and the company.

b) Scope of the study

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c) Objectives of the study

d) Literature review-This includes a brief summary of previous

research work related to topic, which has been done by other

persons in the past.

e) Research Methodology Used-This includes a brief summary of

what data collection techniques were used, what was the

sample size, which sampling method was used and which

technique or test was used for analyzing data.

2. Data analysis and Interpretation-It contains a detailed

presentation of the findings of the study, with supporting

data in the form of tables and charts.

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3. Statement of Findings and Recommendations-After dataanalysis and interpretation, the research report must contain

a statement of all the findings in a summarized form.

Moreover it should contain Suggestions regarding howproblems identified in the report may be resolved. They

should be given in a numbered list and should be feasible and

realistic. There should be a logical relationship between the

results and the recommendations.

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4. End Matter- At the end of the report, there are twomore selections, namely, bibliography and appendix.

Bibliography gives information on various references made by

the research. This is classified into four parts, namely, books,

journals, newspapers and magazines and websites. While

mentioning the reference books used, the order should be as

follows.

Authors Name, Title of the book, Publishers name, Place of

Publication and Year of publication.

It should be noted that while mentioning authors name

surname should come first.

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Ex: The researcher has used, Philip Kotlers, Principle ofMarketing Books, it should be written as follows, Kotler Philip,Principles of Marketing, Printing Hall of India, New Delhi, 12thedition 2008.

If a research article in a journal is referred, it should beexplained as follows, Authors name, Title of the article, Nameof the journal, year and month of publications volume andpage number.

It should be remembered that the title of the article would

always be in quotations. If there are two or more authorsinstead of writing all names, first authors name followed byetc, all.

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Ex: If an article is written by three authors, it ismentioned as follows Arun etc all

Understanding service quality perception in

the Health care Industry, journal on servicesmarketing, April - June 2008 volume XXV pagenumber 143-160.

In case of appendix, certain importantdocuments like copy of questionnaire, balancesheet, etc are attached.

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TYPES OF REPORTS

There are mainly two types of reports:

1. Technical report or base report-

In this report the main emphasis is on detailed

description of a research study.

It is the report which the other researchers want to

see because it contains all the details about what

was done and how it was done. The general outline of a technical report is as

follows:

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(i) A brief review of the main findings are presented just in two

or three pages.

(ii) Description of general objectives of the study.

(iii) Methods used in the study. For Ex. if sample study is done

then type of sample design used. i.e. sample size, sampling

method etc.

(iv) Data collection, its nature whether primary or secondary,

Method of data collection etc.

(v) Data analysis and their findings in the form of tables and

charts.

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(vi) A detailed summary of the findings and recommendations.

(vii) Bibliography of various sources used for the study must be

given alphabetically.

(viii) Appendices for all the technical matter relation to

questionnaire.

2. Popular Report or management report-

Sometimes the client has no idea about research background

and he is interested more in results rather than the

methodology. In this case the major communication medium

is the management report.

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In other words, a popular report is one which lays more

emphasis on description of research results and their

implications in taking actions rather than the detailed

description of the research procedure.

This report gives emphasis on simplicity. Simplification is

achieved by minimization of mathematical details and

liberal use of diagrams and charts.

The general outline of a popular report is as follows:(i) Emphasis is given on the findings of most practical

aspects and the implication of these findings.

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(ii) Suggestions for action on the basis of the findings of the

study is the main section of the report.

(iii) Description of objectives of the study.

(iv) A brief and non-technical description of the methods and

techniques used.

(v) The main body of such kind of report contains data analysis

described in a simple manner with minimum use of diagrams,

charts etc.

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Reports can also be classified as: Oral and Written Reports

ORAL REPORT- an oral report is any presentation ofinformation through the spoken word.

There are three major differences between oral and written

reports:a) Oral reports lack visual advantages. Charts,diagrams or

pictures can be used to a limited extent.

b) The pace of presentation cannot be controlled and regulated

by any one from an audience, who is being presented an oralreport. In contrast, whenever a certain point is not clear in awritten report the reader can read it two or more times,ifneeded slowly and more carefully.

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c) Since a written report is bound to receive considerable

attention and scrutiny from the readers the report-writer is

likely to work hard to produce an accurate report of a high

quality. In contrast, an oral report will not be so precise nor

will the reporter give as much time in its presentation since itcannot be subjected to same degree of scrutiny as writtten

reports because of the extremely limited time at the disposal

of the audience for indicating its reaction.

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On the Basis of time interval:

The reports could be daily, weekly,monthly ,quaterly, or annual.

On the Basis of function:

a) Informational- It is a factual(containing facts and figures)report on a particular subject and it neither contains an

analysis nor conclusions.

b) Examination- in addition to giving facts on a subject matter, it

also analyese them but it does not specify conclusions or

recommendations though the reader can draw conclusions

on the basis of factual information and analysis contained in

the report.

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c) Analytical- This report not only presents and analyses data butit also draws conclusions and if necessary, makerecommendations.

On the basis of relationship between reader and writer:

a) Administrative- It is a report that is written within anorganization.

b) ProfessionalIt is written by an outside professional expert

to an organization.

c) Independent- This report is generally prepared by non-profitresearch organizations and published for the benefit of thegeneral public.

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On the basis of Employment status of authors:

a) Private- This type of report is prepared in a business

organisation.

b) Public- This type of report is prepared in a government or

public institution.

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PRECAUTIONS FOR WRITING RESEARCH

REPORTS

A research report is a channel of communicating the research

findings to the readers of the report. A good research report is

one which does this task efficiently and effectively. As such it

must be prepared keeping the following precautions in view:

1. Research report should be long enough to cover the subject but

short enough to maintain interest.

2. A research report should not be dull. it should be such as to

sustain readers interest.

3. Technical jargon or technical terms should be avoided in a

research report. The report should be able to convey the

matter as simply as possible.

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4. Readers are often interested in acquiring a quick knowledgeof the main findings and as such the report must provide aready availability of the findings. For this purpose, charts,graphs and the statistical tables may be used for the various

results in the main report in addition to the summary ofimportant findings.

5. The reports should be free from grammatical mistakes andmust be prepared strictly in accordance with the mechanicsof report-writing such as the use of quotations and use of

abbreviations in footnotes and the like.

6. Appendices should be enlisted in respect of all the technicaldata in the report.

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7. Bibliography of sources consulted is a must for a good reportand must necessarily be given.

8. Index is also considered an essential part of a good report and

as such must be prepared and appended at the end.9. Objective of the study, the nature of the problem, the

methods employed and the analysis techniques adopted must

all be clearly stated in the beginning of the report in the form

of introduction.

10. Report must be attractive in appearance, neat and clean,

whether typed or printed.

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11. A research report should be original in nature(original work).

It must contribute to the solution of a problem and must add

to the store of knowledge.

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Drawing Conclusions

The Conclusions researcher draw from his results should be

focused on answering the questions he asked at the beginning

of the research.

When making conclusions from data,there are a number of

common problems that should be avoided:

a) Confusing belief with truth: Survey questions measure belief

,not truth. for ex. When questions about future behaviour

are asked ,people rarely tell how they actually behave, at the

time they are filling out the survey, they believe that they willact in a certain way ,which is rarely how they actually

behave.

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b) People Want Everything: Given a large enough population, there is

going to be a group of people who want every possible combination

of features, and given a list of possible features abstracted from an

actual product, everyone will very much want everything. And why

not? What is wrong with wanting it cheap, good and fast, eventhough one may know it is impossible? Thus, Surveys cannot be

used to determine which features no one wants- there is no such

thing-but a survey can tell how people prioritize features and which

ones they value most highly.

c) People Exaggerate: Generally, while presenting themselves, peoplealways present themselves as they would like themselves to be

rather than how actually they are. Generally people exaggerate

their positive features while expressing their opinions.

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d) People will choose an Answer even if they dont feel stronglyabout it-When asked to choose from a list of options, even ifpeople feel that their feelings, thoughts, or experiences lieoutside the available options, they will choose an answer.

e) People try to Outguess the survey: When answering any

question, it is common to try to understand why the personasking the question is asking it and what he or she expects tohear. Due to this reason, it is important to avoid leadingquestions. Pre-testing an interviewing survey respondents is agood way to such type of questions.

e) People Lie-Certainly not all people lie all the time abouteverything, but people do exaggerate anf fasify informationwhen they have no incentive to tell the truth. For ex. Ifsomeone asks for an address that he can send a prize to, it is

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It is unlikely that people will lie about being able to receive

mail there, but if he asks about their household income and

they feel that it does not benefit them to answer honestly,

they are less likely to be as truthful.

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Suggestions And Recommendations

Once Conclusions are drawn, the next step for the researcheris to make recommendations.it is a mistake to makerecommendations until clear conclusions have been drawnbecause it does not provide the client with the benefit of thethe logic behind the recommendation.

Recommendations are offered only if the conclusions supportor require them to be made. If the researcher concludes thatthe program is effective based on the results and that thereare no areas for improvement, no recommendations are

needed, if however, it is concluded that there are reas inwhich the program is weak, the researcher has theopportunity and the responsbility to provide specificrecommendations based on the conclusions.

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Making recommendations requires the researcher to understand

the realities of the client organization, so that the

recommendations can be acted on.

Tips For Developing Recommendations:

1) Understand the limitations of the client organization forimplementing the recommendations offered.

2) Ensure each recommendation is based on at least one conclusion.

3) State recommendations in language that the client can

understand.4) Do not compromise into not making a feasible recommendation

when it is warranted, based on a clear conclusion.

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ANNEXURE

Attachments are a valuable way of removing detail from a

report . The more common terms for describinmg them are:

attachments,Appendices,Annexes.

Annexure provide a place to those items which do not fit in

the report being too much detailed .

The type of materials which are to be placed under annexure

are as follows:

a) The work of any past research which is used in the current

report.

b) Copy of questionnaire

c) Detailed statistical Tables

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Organizational Details like copy of balance sheet or other finalaccounts.

Significance of Annexure

The appendices are used as an area for storing information

which is important to the arguments raised in the researchbut because of its length, detail would otherwise interruptthe flow of arguments in the research.

Requirement For All Attachments

1) All the materials included under annexure should be eithernumbered or letters can be assigned to them. The Letters orNumbers should be allotted in the order in which they arementioned in the text.

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2) They must be mentioned in the report itself. A note in

brackets may be used.

3) They must be listed in or immediately after the table of

contents.

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Bibliography

The Bibliography contains the detailed information on books,

references, journals and other materials ,showing the title of

the books/reports used in the preparation of the reports,

names of authors, publishers, the year of publication and, if

possible, the page numbers. The Bibliography should be arranged in an alphabetical order.

Bibliographies tell readers where they can locate information

about a topic. It is a list of sources of information for a report.

A Bibliography reference is written in the following mannerand arranged alphabetically to facilitate the readers:

i) Books:

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a) One Author: Authors Last name, Authors First Name, Title

of book, Place of Publication, Name of publishing house,

Page numbers used.

b) Two Author: First authors Last name, First authors Firest

name, Second authors Last Name, Second authors Firstname,Title of book, Place of publication, Name of publisher,

Page numbers used.

c) More than two Authors: First authors last name, First

authors first name et al ,Title of book ,place of Publication,Name of Publisher, Page numbers used.

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ii) Periodical Article: A periodical is a publication that is published

periodically,like a newspaper,a magazine, and a journal.

a) Author Known: Authors last name ,Authors first name, Title of

article in Tiltle of periodical, Volume number, place of Publication,

publisher, date of periodical, Section number, Page numbers ofarticle.

For ex. Dudley, James et al. The Science of Genius and the Logical

mind in New York Times,V.213,no.35,New York, NY: Times

Publishing Inc., February 23,2001.Section C,Pg,12,17.

b) UnKnown Author: Title of Article in Title of Periodical, Volume

number, Place of Publication, Name of publisher, Date of

periodical. Section or Volume Number, Page numbers of article.

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iii) Internet Web Page:

a) Author known: authors last name,authors first nameTitle

of Web Pge(online),Place ofpublication,publisher,web page

address,date site visited by you.

b) Unknown Author: Title of web page(online),place of

publication, Publisher, web page address, date site visited by

you.

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Significance of Bibliography

1) Bibliography is a detailed listing of the sources from which

knowledge and specific information was acquired.

2) Bibliography acts as a mediator between the reader and

research report.

3) Researcher always needs new and latest books for his

research work. Research work is always qualitative if good

books are consulted. such books may be searched in

bibliographies.

4) Generally Bibliographies provide reliable informations i.e.author, title, edition, publishers place, name and year, page

numbers.