Chapter: 05

Report Writing

Prepared By:
Md. Ujjal Hossain
Lecturer, Department of Business Administration
Institute of Science and Technology,
National University, Bangladesh
 Report
• A report is a document that presents information in an organized
format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries
of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost
always in the form of written documents.

Report is a fractional presentation of findings recommendations.

Report format are likely to vary with the researcher / research

firm conducting the projects, the client for whom the project is
being conducted and the nature of project itself. Hence the
following is intended as a guideline from which the research can
develop a format for the research project at hand.
 Types of Report
Based on Based on Based on function Based on Based on Based on Based on Based on
communication mode frequency length formality organizational delivery
media issues report

-Oral report -Internal -Informational -Routine -Short report -Formal report -Memo -Vertical
-Written report report report report -Long report i. Statutory -Letters report
-External -Interpretive report -Special report -Lateral
report -Analytical report report ii. Non- report
-Descriptive report statutory
report
-Informal
Report
 Steps of Report Writing
Step 1: Problem Definition
Step 2: Development of an Approach to the Problem
Step 3: Research Design Formulation
Step 4: Fieldwork or Data Collection
Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis
Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation
 Basic Format of a Report

There are three parts of a formal report

Introductory
Part:
Body Part:
Appended
Part:
 Basic Format of a Report

Introductory Part
 Title Fly: Title of the report, your particulars and Date of Submission should appear in this page. You have to print
title, your name and Exam. Roll in the shelf side of the report.
 Title Page: (Specimen Given Below)
Topic: Internship Report/ Report on customer attitude measurement on online shopping
-A study on E-commerce business(B2C) in Bangladesh

Submitted To: Supervised By: Submitted By:

Md. Ujjal Hossain Students Name:
Controller of Examinations Lecturer Roll: Registration: Session:
National University Department of Business Administration Program: Major:
Gazipur- 1704 Institute of Science & Technology (IST) Institute of Science & Technology (IST)
National University National University

Date of Submission: ...............................

 Basic Format of a Report

Introductory Part
• Declaration
 Certificate of Supervisor
 Letter of Transmittal
 Acknowledgement
 Executive Summary: This is the summary of the whole report and should
contain paragraph illustrating the brief outcome of every chapter of the
report i.e. it summarizes the objectives, scopes, methodologies, findings,
conclusions and recommendations.
 Table of Contents
 Acronyms (i.e. Elaborations of Abbreviated words)
 List of Tables and illustrations
 Body Part:
Chapter Chapter Name Chapter Contents
Number

Chapter-1 Introduction Origin, Objectives, Methodologies, Scope,

and Limitations of the report.

Chapter-2 Company Overview (Contents depend on the topic)

Chapter-3 Theoretical framework / As per the Author and Experiment

Literature Review
Chapter-4 Analysis & Evaluation
Body Part:
Student have to analyze the data using the methods mention in
the methodology of the report, the results should be analyzed
and evaluated in accordance with the research problems and
issues.
Example: (For business students) A student doing internship or
working with a project can conduct an analysis or evaluation of
customer attitude measurement on online shopping
-A study on E-commerce business(B2C) in Bangladesh
Can use following types of study;
Statistical analysis like Mean, Median, mode Standard
deviation, Anova Test, Likert Scale etc

Chapter-5 Findings, Recommendations  

and Conclusions
 Appended Part:
•Bibliography: It should be written sequentially (maintaining Alphabetic Order)

•Appendices: Detail Calculations, Questionnaire (if primary data is used), Tables, Photocopies
of related pages from the data of secondary sources etc.

Bibliography (Specimen)
Books & Articles:
•Camerdella and Watson- Introduction to International Business, Insurance and Risk
Management, in The Global Environment of Insurance (GEI 203); McGraw Hill Higher Educat
on 1999.
•Pedoe, Arthur, and Colin E. Jack, Life Insurance, Annuities and Pensions, 3d ed.. Tornoto:
University of Toronto Press, 1978.
Web References:
www.economic-observerbd.net www.crab.com.bd
www.reportlinker.com www.crislbd.com
www.sho.gov.bd www.tradefinancemagazine.com
 A. Prefatory

1. Title Fly
Only the exact title of the report nothing else.
 A. Prefatory

2.The title page

The title page should include the title of the report, information
(name, address, telephone) about the researcher or organization
conducting the research, the name of the client for whom the report
was prepared, and the date of the release.
 A. Prefatory

3.Letter of transmittal
A formal report generally contains a letter of transmittal that
delivers the report to the client and summarizes the researcher’s overall
experience with the project, without mentioning the findings. The letter
should also identify the need of further action on the part of the client
such as implementation of the findings or further research that should
be undertaken./To the principle for receiving this report with his / her
signature.
 A. Prefatory
4.Letter of authorization / Acknowledgement:
A letter of authorization is a written by the client to the researcher before work
on the project begins. It authorizes the researcher to proceed with the project and
specifies its scope and the terms of the contract. Often it is sufficient to refer to the
letter of authorization in the letter of transmittal. However, sometimes it is necessary
to include a copy of the letter of authorization in the book./Giving acknowledge to
the all of teachers / or others /those are co-operate to this report.
 A. Prefatory

5. Executive summery
The executive summery is a extremely important part of the report as
this is the often the only portion of the report that executives read. The
summery should be concisely describe the problem, approach, and the
research design, that was adopted. A summery sections should be
devoted to the major results, conclusions and recommendations. The
executive summery should be written after the rest of the report has
been completed.
 A. Prefatory

6. Table Of Contents
Table Of Contents should list the topics covered and the
appropriate page numbers. In most report only the major headings
and subheadings are included. The table of contents followed by
1.list of tables,
2.list of graph,
3.list of appendices,
4.list of Exhibits
 C. Appendix

1.List of Table And Illustration

Example:
Table 1: Table title , Table page
Chart 1 : Chart title , Chart page
Diagram1: Diagram title , Diagram Table page
Illustration: (Small Picture only) Title, Page
 C. Appendix
2.Reference:
 www.BBC.org.uk/consumer survey/ 2008/uk
domain.com/7.42pm, on April 2010.

 Kottler, Phillip(2008, Page381), Principle of

Marketing, Pearson, New Delhi.
 C. Appendix

• Bibliography
The list of books and resources that have been not used in this
research.
But the study of which has helped the researcher a lot in
understanding the research.
 Importance of Tables, Diagrams and Charts in Writing Report

Visual representations help us to understand data quickly. When you show an effective
graph or chart, your report or presentation gains clarity and authority, whether you're
comparing sales figures or highlighting a trend.

But which kind of chart or graph should you choose? If you click on the chart option in
your spreadsheet program, you'll likely be presented with many styles. They all look
smart, but which one works best for your data, and for your audience?

To figure that out, you need a good understanding of how graphs and charts work. This
slides explains how to use four of the most common types: line graphs, bar graphs, pie
charts, and Venn diagrams.
 What is a chart?
A chart, also called a graph, is a graphical representation of data, in
which the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart,
lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart.
Main types of charts:
Bar chart Line chart Pie
chart
 Pie Chart
The pie chart shown below represents the percentage of people who own various pets.
As you can see, the 'dog ownership' slice is by far the largest, which means that most
people represented in this chart own dogs as opposed to cats, fish and rodents.

Pet Ownership

5% Dogs
15%

Cats
55%
25%
Fish

Rodents
 Line Graph
The line graph below shows changes in the amount and type of fast food consumed
by teenagers from 1985 to 2015.

Consumption of Fast Food by Teenagers

Number of times eaten per year

120

100
80 Pizza

60 Fish&Chips
40
Hamburgers
20

0
1985 1995 2005 2015
 Bar Chart
The bar chart shows the monthly spending in dollars of a family in the USA on three
items in 2010.
Monthly Expenditure

500

400 Food
300
Gas
200

100 Clothing
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr
 Table
A table is a means of arranging data in rows and columns. The use of
tables is pervasive throughout all communication, research and data
analysis.
 Tabl
e
The table illustrates the proportion of monthly household income four
countries
spend on food and drink, housing, clothing and entertainment.
Food and Drink Housing Clothing Entertainment

France 25% 31% 7% 13%

Germany 22% 33% 15% 19%

UK 27% 37% 11% 11%

Turkey 36% 20% 12% 10

Graphs And Charts That Perfectly Illustrate our
life

You can find this video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0BG5bppVUQ

 Writing About Graphs, Charts and Tables
• Underline key words.
• Write related words - turn nouns into verbs, verbs
into nouns, adjectives into adverbs, etc.
• Write opposite words, similar words, synonyms,
etc.
• Circle and highlight the graph. Use arrows.
• Identify trends. A trend is the overall idea of
the graph.
• Don’t write about everything on the graph. Pick the
biggest, the smallest, the main points, the main
trends. Group similar things together.
• Don’t use “I feel”, “as I have written,” “as you can
see,” etc. Keep it academic.
 Writing About Graphs, Charts and Tables
Introduction
•First sentence: Describe the graph. You can use some slightly different words or word forms from
those on the question paper, but be careful to give the full information. Start "The graph shows"
• Second sentence: This gives the trend or trends. You can put two trends in this sentence or only
one -
you could keep the other one for the conclusion. Start "Overall, ...“
Paragraph 1: Trend 1
•Start with a sentence with no number. “City size increased sharply over the period.” “The most
obvious trend in the graph is that women are having fewer babies.” “Oil production has increased
slightly in all the countries in the graph”
• Follow this sentence with an example (sentence with number) and perhaps another example
(another
sentence with number). Keep
alternating. Paragraph 2: Trend 2
• Start with a sentence with no number.
“City size increased sharply over the
period.”
• Give an example (sentence with
Why cite your sources?
To avoid honor code violations (student issue)

To avoid plagiarism (scholarly community issue)

To avoid copyright violations/legal action (public

issue)

To give credit to others for their hard work

To direct reader to more information about your

topic
When to cite your sources:
Any time you use information in a paper that you
got elsewhere, you should cite your source

When paraphrasing, summarizing, giving conclusions

from a study, etc.

When directly quoting from a source

When in doubt, cite!

What is APA?
Standard style used by scholars and students in
the social sciences to cite sources

Developed by the American Psychological

Association

Gives guidelines for formatting research papers

and citing sources

• Manual looks like this:

How to format an APA paper:
General guidelines:
 Times New Roman font, 12pt, double-spaced, 1-inch margins
 Pages are numbered consecutively throughout

APA formatted papers include:

 a title page with running head
 an abstract (if required)
 in-text citations throughout body

 reference list with full citations

Title Page Format:
In-text Citations
These are your short, parenthetical citations that you place
in the body of your text immediately following the
material you are citing

Point to a corresponding full citation in your reference list

Usually include the author’s last name and the

publication year
 The study concluded that people like pie (Jones, 1998).

Can also include page number (if directly quoting

from source)
 “I like pie” (Jones, 1998, p. 50).
In-text Citations
Three ways to cite in-text:

 1. As in previous examples, add the parenthetical citation

to the end of the material paraphrased.
 The study concluded that people like pie (Jones, 1998).

 2. Write the author’s name into the text and put the year
in parentheses after.
 Jones (1998) concluded that people like pie.

 3. Write as much of the citation as possible into the text (but

don’t forget parenthetical page numbers if you quote directly.)
 In 1998, Jones concluded that “people, on average, like pie” (p. 50).
In-text Citations
In-text Citations
 What if…

 There are two or three authors?

 (Smith & Jones, 1998)
 Smith, Jones and Leery (1998) conclude that…
 “I like pie” (Smith, Jones, & Leery, 1998, p. 50).

 There are more than three authors? Use et al., which just means “and
others”
 Jones et al. (1998) concluded that people like pie.
 People like pie (Jones et al., 1998).

 There is no personal author? Use a corporate author. If there is no corporate

author, use the first few words of the title in the reference list
 Pie is unhealthy (USDA, 2010).
 Pie is really good for you (“Why Pie is Wonderful,” 2010).

 There is no date? Use n.d., which just stands for “no date”
 (Smith & Jones, n.d.)
Reference List Format
Start your reference list on a new page (also numbered)

Use the word “References” as your title, centered

Arrange references alphabetically by the first word of

the citation (usually the author’s last name)

Indent all but first line of every reference from left

Double space throughout with no extra spaces

between title or references
Reference
sReferences are formatted slightly differently
depending on the type of source

Most commonly cited sources for research papers

are scholarly books and journal articles. These can
be print or electronic

There is a quick citation guide on the library

website with the format and examples of every type
of source you will encounter
References: BOOKS
References: BOOKS
References: eBOOKS
For an ebook, less publication information is needed. Just make sure you
include the name of the source in brackets, followed by “Retrieved from” and the
permalink.
References: Journal Articles
Journal articles begin like a book, but have different publication information.
Instead of the place of publication and publisher, you have a journal title, volume
and issue number, page range within the journal, and a doi (digital object
identifier) or permalink.
References: Journal Articles
DOI stands for “digital object identifier.” It is a unique number assigned to article
so that its information can be shared or retrieved quickly. Include it only if
given; otherwise use “Retrieved from” and the database OR permalink.
References: Journal Articles
All the information you need for the citation is on
the article record in the database.

PROQUEST EDUCATION JOURNALS

ERIC JOURNALS

WORLDCAT ARTICLES
1.Chandrashekara, P and Shivakumar, S. (2010), Marketing
Management, Himalaya Publicatin House.
2.Kotler, P. and Kotler, P. (2010), Principles of Marketing, Frenchs Forest,
N.S.W. Person Australia.
3.Keller, k. (2013), Strategic Brand Management, Pearson Education UK.
4.Malhotra, N, Nunan, D. and Birks, D. (2017), Marketing Research,
Person Education UK.