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University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Lecture 6:
Report Writing
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Objectives• By the end of this lecture the student should –
– Understand the different types of report– Understand the essentials elements of a good report– Appreciate how reports have the same fundamental
structure– Understand the step-by-step guide for preparing and
writing a report
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Overview• Being asked to write a report can fill people with
horror
• Writing reports correctly is an essential skill you will need as a student
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal SkillsWhat is a Report?
• A Definition –“A report is a communication of information or
advice, from a person who has collected and studied the facts, to a person who has asked
for the report because they need it for a specific purpose.”
• Using this definition what reports have you produced?
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal SkillsTypes of Report
• Reports can be transmitted in the forms of –– Conversations– Demonstrations– Letters– Memos– fill-in-forms– many-page documents
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
How can we Classify a Report? – Length– Tone– Subject matter– Timing– Importance– Style– Distribution
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Essentials of a Good Report
• It should be -– Unified– Complete– Accurate– Planned– Styled– Clear
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
What is the purpose of the Report?
• Why is the report required?
• Who exactly is it for?
• What do they want it for?
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Fundamental StructureParts Elements
Title Page /Abstract
Introduction
Body of the Report
Final Section
Terms of Reference or Objectives. Procedure or Method
Findings
Conclusions, Recommendations (if requested), Appendices and References
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Abstract• Should be read separately• Not an Introduction• A summary• An advert• Avoid future tense• Avoid “This paper”• No refernces
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Introduction• Clear unambiguous statement of the real
subject• Indication of the purpose• Brief description of the methods to be used• Announcement of the plan
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal SkillsBody of the Report
• This is the report proper• Several sections• All of the facts
– the character of the investigation– detailed explanation of methodology– procedure followed– results obtained
• Analysis
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Final Section
• Characteristics– Introduces nothing new– Harmonises with the introduction– Harmonises with the body of the report– Leaves final impression
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Format
• Layout
• Headings
• Numbering
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal SkillsSection Headings
• Typography and Spacing
• Fussiness
• Independent
• Words or phrases
• Concise
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Long Formal ReportsTypical Structure
• Preliminaries– Title page– Authorisation– Table of contents– List of tables and figures– Acknowledgements– Summary
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Long Formal Reports
Typical Structure
• Main Report – Introduction– Findings and discussion– Conclusions and/or recommendations
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Long Formal Reports
Typical Structure
• Supplements– References and bibliography– Appendices– Index
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Title Page• What is it about?• Who wrote it?• For Whom?• From where?• When?
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
References - Five rules• 1 Any work not your own should be clearly
marked• 2 Any quotations within quotation marks• 3 Every reference in the text should be
listed• 4 Every item in the list must have a
reference in the text• 5 Every figure or photograph must have a
reference in the text
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Format • Author, title, publisher, date of publication• For example –
Gowers, Sir Ernest, Complete Plain Words, Penguin Books, 1995
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Bibliography• Is optional, and provides a guide to background
reading around the report
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal SkillsHow to get started
• Setting objective• Researching and assembling material• Organising material and planning report• Writing first draft• Editing report• Producing report
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Awl Rite on the Knight Eye have a spelling chequer It came with my pea sea It plainly marques for my revue Mistakes I cannot sea. I’ve run this poem threw it, I’m sure your plea’s too no. Its letter perfect in it’s weigh My chequer tolled me sew
University of Sunderland
Professionalism and Personal SkillsProfessionalism and Personal Skills Unit 6
Professionalism and Professionalism and Personal SkillsPersonal Skills
Summary• We have examined
– Types of reports– Essentials elements of a good report– How reports have the same fundamental structure– Provided a step-by-step guide for preparing/writing a
report – Tips on producing the final document