To: Nancy Meyers

From: Blake Wells

Date: February 3, 2022

Subject: Chapter 17 summary

Chapter 17
Short, Informal Reports
Report Definition
- Reports can be done in various ways and have various purposes. The different types of reports
are in two categories, length, and formality. As a result, there are short informal reports, short
formal reports, long informal reports, and long formal reports. Other aspects of reports are
purpose, audience, and communication channel.

Online Reports
- Online reports offer better speed and convenience for both the author and the audience. Online
reports also have many online options to help with the construction of the report.

Types of Reports
- In total there are 8 categories of which short, informal reports fall into. These include.

 Incident reports  Lab or test reports

 Investigative reports  Feasibility/recommendation reports
 Trip reports  Research reports
 Progress or status reports  Proposals

Criteria for Writing Reports

 Organization: There are 5 main elements that need to be included in the short report.

 Identification lines: Includes people involved, date, and subject of the report
 Headings and talking headings: Used to organize and clarify each section.
 Introduction: Provides a good overview of the report (purpose and details).
 Discussion: Provides all the details and events of the report.
 Conclusion/Recommendation: Concludes what has been learned or decisions made
as well as any recommendations for the future.

 Development: Provide the who, what, when, where, and why in detail rather than being vague.
 Audience: Determine the audience type to determine which terminology you will be using.
  Style: Highlighting techniques and achieving conciseness are the focus in terms of style in
reports.

Incident reports
 Purpose: To describe an unexpected incident, and possible recommendations to prevent it from
happening in the future.
 Examples: Store burglary, machine malfunction, improper safety requirements.
 Criteria
o Introduction: What happened, where it happened, and all personnel involved.
o Discussion: Describe exactly what was witnessed. Includes all equipment and damages,
witnesses, police or hospitals involvement, and action taken to solve the problem.
o Conclusion: Explain what caused the problem and possible recommendations.

Investigative Reports
 Purpose: To examine/explain the cause behind an incident.
 Examples: Reasons behind technology failures, structural failures, and investigating theft.
 Criteria
o Introduction: The purpose of the investigative report, who was involved, where and
when the incident occurred, and who sent you to investigate.
o Discussion: Includes all the data found. This includes all the interviews, observations,
difficulties faced, all techniques and equipment used, and test procedures.
o Conclusion: Everything you learned and accomplished while investigating including the
reasoning behind the incident and what actions should be taken next.

Trip Reports
 Purpose: To report details of work-related trips, including expenses, activities, and time spent
off-site.
 Examples: Visiting clients, construction for offsite clients, business meeting off-site.
 Criteria
o Introduction: Includes where, when, and why you are travelling off-site, also includes
who you are travelling with and who authorized you leaving.
o Discussion: Includes all work-related details and difficulties encountered during your
trip.
o Conclusion: What was accomplished, who was met, and all the benefits to the company.
Recommendations includes what should be done after the trip and changes to be made.

Progress Reports
 Purpose: To report the progress of a certain activity, and certain details involved with the
activity
  Examples: Progress on construction, education, progress on a job interview etc.
 Criteria
o Introduction: Includes what the project is, why you are working on it, the difficulties
faced, the people involved, and a mention of the previous reports.
o Discussion: The discussion needs to include the progress that has been made, any
difficulties faced, and an update to how much work still needs to be done.
o Conclusion: Discuss the progress made and how much work still needs to be done along
with the estimated completion date. Also includes any recommendations for the
difficulties faced.

Lab Reports (Test Reports)

 Purpose: To report the findings of a laboratory experiment, procedures, or study.
 Examples: Blood test results to patient, electronics troubleshooting, testing products.
 Criteria
o Introduction: Includes the reason why the report needs to be written, the objective of
the report, and who is authorizing the report.
o Discussion: Describe the equipment used in the tests and include the step-by-step
procedures that were used in the tests.
o Conclusion: Describe the results of the tests and the next steps to fix the problem.

Feasibility/Recommendation Reports
 Purpose: The two purposes are ensuring a plan is practical and to provide the next plan of
action.
 Examples: Construction, manufacturing, web design, and accounting.
 Criteria
o Introduction: What the purpose of the study is, the problem that motivated the report,
and who was involved in the report along with who initiated the report.
o Discussion: State the criteria of the report and then go on to compare your findings to
the criteria.
o Conclusion: State the conclusion of your findings, then state the course of action. This
includes further equipment needed, different location, or financial concerns.

The Writing Process at Work

 Prewriting: Create an outline to organize data.
 Writing: Write the paper.
 Rewriting: Use peer review method to get new point of view and edit paper.