A report could be described as a formal statement of the results of an investigation, or of any matter on which definite information is required, made by some person or body.
Reports may be presented orally or in written form. In a report situations are analyzed, conclusions drawn, alternatives considered and recommendations made. Reports are concise and have a specific structure. A good report is one you don't need to reread to understand the point. Modules which require you to write reports give you practice in presenting information in a way relevant to employment.
Purpose of Reports:
1. To share information:
Large organizations rely more on the written word than smaller organizations where information can be passed on verbally.
2. For decision making:
Reports are the basis of significant decision making in industry, commerce and public services.
Types of Reports
Given below are the major types of reports. They can be classified on the basis of their use and structure.
They are listed as follows:
I. Detailed Data Report:
The data in Detailed Data Reports can be broken out by any demographics contained in the survey. In addition to internal comparisons among subgroups and trend results from the most recent company survey, the detailed data reports display valuable external normative comparisons. Detailed Data Reports can be retrieved online. Survey data is also transferable back to clients in a variety of formats, including delimited text, Excel, SAS or SPSS files.
II. Survey Analysis Worksheet:
Survey Analysis Worksheets provide a consistent guide to the determination of entity-specific strengths and opportunities for improvement. By seeing how their results fare, item by item, relative to a set of high and low thresholds (cutoff numbers), report recipients can assess whether they share strengths or opportunities with the rest of the organization, or have unique issues to address. Taking into account both normative data and organization-wide results, these worksheets make it possible for local personnel to make quick, yet informed, judgments concerning their specific results
III. Employee Meeting Report:
Since effective survey follow-up often depends on the time and effort required by managers to present local, entity-specific results to their employees.
IV. Key Driver Analysis:
Based on statistical analysis of opinion survey results, increase the likelihood of improvement over time, and, develop easy-to-understand measures to calibrate survey performance that are both relevant to management and meaningful to employees.
V. Deviation Report:
In order to quickly identify departments and units with survey scores that deviate significantly from company-wide averages and/or benchmarks.
VI. Employee Feedback Report:
Feedback usually takes the form of a Special Survey Report which allows senior management to point out the overall strengths that are reported by the survey, give its views concerning areas of opportunity, and present its plan for following up. The Report displays results for selected survey items and discusses findings in language which all employees can understand.
Components:
The components of a report normally conform to a standard pattern of presentation. This is because they are conventional working documents which must be easily consulted for specific information. The standard pattern of presentation of a report aids the report reader in the same way that the layout of a recipe book helps someone who is cooking. This inevitably leads to repetition, but this is desirable (unlike in a novel).
The following are the major components of report writing:
1. Title page
This should be on a separate sheet. The title should help people who have to identify and retrieve the report, for example for filing, and should not resemble the title of another report. With the title should be the name of the author and the date of completion. The appearance should be neat, uncluttered and businesslike.
2. Summary / abstract
This should be written separately from the report. It gives a brief and factual survey of what is contained in the report itself with the material summarized in the same order. It should give readers enough information to assess the importance of the material and its relevance to them.
3. Table of contents
This should be on a separate sheet of paper listing the contents chronologically by page number. The titles of each section should make it informative.
4. Introductions
This is to let the reader know what the writer is driving at and what the line of argument is. The necessary background should be stated with an obvious statement of intent and an indication of how the subject is to be developed. The aim is to give the reader an initial frame of reference to assist comprehension and assessment.
This should explain why the work was undertaken, the scope of the work and the limitations imposed. Care has to be taken to avoid giving the conclusions of the report here
5. Main texts
This should be divided into numbered sections with appropriate and informative headings. The sequence should be logical, although not necessarily chronological. The body of the report should contain a description of all investigations carried out, a statement of facts discovered, clear arguments and opinions arising from the investigations and the facts uncovered by them.
6. Conclusions
These should be firm, unqualified statements summarizing the findings and inferences of the sections of the main text. No new ideas should be introduced at this point, but it is acceptable to hint at recommendations.
7. Recommendations
Recommendations should be stated with the readership in mind. There is no need to justify them. That should already have been done.
8. Acknowledgements
This section may come after the title page. It should give credit for personal help given, stimulating and influential ideas and permission to quote from unpublished work.
9. References and bibliography
References to publications will have been made in the text. They should be listed in a references list. A separate bibliography may also be included to cite all material used in putting together the work.
Students should use the APA format for referencing and check how to provide In-text citations in assignments when writing up their reports.
10. Appendices
Appendices should contain relevant detailed and/or descriptive information which, although likely to be of interest to the reader and supporting the conclusions, would interrupt the flow of the argument if included in the main text. Appendices should not normally be longer than the report itself.
Making of a Report
A report must contain the factors like:
1. Data:
The report should maintain an accuracy level for the data to be entered.
2. Audiences:
The readers have to be considered while making a report.
3. Sources:
The sources play a vital role in construction of a report
The following describe the major requirements of reports:
1. Definition:
An appropriate description is a must.
2. Scope:
The scope plays a vital role in a report.
3. Collection of data:
The data must always be cross checked from multiple sources and never have a single source.
4. Organize data:
The data collected must then be properly organized and presented in a neat manner. All topics should be placed in an appropriate order.
5. Outline:
An outline must always be present to give a rough idea of how the report will appear on completion and how will the process of construction proceed.
6. Audiences:
Above all the audiences take the top most position when any point has to consider for addition in the report.
7. Revision:
Finally a revision must be done before submission to conform the accuracy of the report.
Final Stages
The final stages are considered after the report has been constructed. They contain those points which are essential to make the reports appealing overall.
Some of the guidelines are listed below:
1. Read your report:
The report must be read by the creator to make sure no elements are left behind.
2. Reread the report:
Let a third person read the report because the creator may describe a topic in an unclear manner as he/she may assume that all understand that topic in the manner they do.
3. Check the grammar and spellings:
Do a thorough check on the language and spellings as the language used may not meet a particular standard expected from professionals.
4. Accept advice from people:
Always be open enough to accept advice on the report as many may be better at it and can help in the improvement of the project.
5. Simplify the data:
Present the information in a simplified manner. It is not unprofessional to write in simple language.
6. Design:
The design must always be simple and straightforward. Pay special attention to the cover page and last page.
7. Overall layout:
A report is not a fashionable article or essay. It is expected to be straightforward. No patterns or flowers are required. At the most a border could be added.
8. Uniqueness:
Never should a design and layout be copied. Always keep a simple but different theme than previous work that has been done.
9. Delivery:
The report is expected to be handed over with respect and not in a poor manner. The manner that the report is submitted reflects the nature and character of its creator.
Common mistakes
The following are common mistakes of writing a report:
1. Failure to read the entire Source.
2. Faulty parallelism.
3. Unclear pronoun reference.
4. Misspelled words.
5. Failure to proofread.
6. Failure to review the report.
The following are the reasons of the mistakes made:
1. Lack of experience:
Most people make mistakes due to lack of experience. Those making a report for the first time may have problems in their language. As they have never made a report before they cannot priorities the data. Constant practice will improve the skills to develop a report
2. Lack of interest:
Most people who find their work as a punishment will take less interest in the project at hand. This will cause the creators to make many errors in their report.
3. Lack of time:
Most newcomers take the time limit very lightly and when time is short they make too many mistakes
4. Hesitation:
Many people hesitate to take advice from others and even to cross check their work. This can lead to errors that may be missed by the creator.
Scope of report writing
The scopes of the report writing are listed as follows:
1. Determining the scope of the report.
2. Understanding the Target Audience.
3. Collection of Information.
4. Formatting and organizing the report.
Advantages of report writing
The advantages of the report writing are listed as follows
I. Practical for large groups:
Information can be transmitted without gathering everyone concerned together at once.
II. Readers can go at their own pace:
The receivers of the information can take it in much quicker, reading at twice the speed of listening.
III. The information can be presented objectively:
Heat and emotion can be removed from the subject.
IV. Arguments can be presented coherently:
A structured format is available to present a case backed up with facts and figures.
Conclusion
The above report described how difficult t is to create a report. This shows that if a report is to be created then utmost care must be given in the creation and analysis of the report. The data taken for the same must be carefully studied and only after the information is found to be appropriate should it be added.
