REPORT WRITING

WHAT IS A REPORT?

• A REPORT IS USUALLY A PIECE OF FACTUAL WRITING, BASED ON EVIDENCE,

CONTAINING ORGANIZED INFORMATION OR ANALYSIS OF A PARTICULAR TOPIC.
• IN SHORT, A REPORT IS A FORMAL DOCUMENT WRITTEN FOR A SPECIFIC
AUDIENCE TO MEET A SPECIFIC NEED.
• IT MAY CONTAIN FACTS OF A SITUATION, PROJECT OR PROCESS; AN ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION OF DATA, EVENTS AND RECORDS; INFERENCES OR CONCLUSION
DRAWN FROM OBJECTIVE DATA; OR SUGGESTIONS, AND RECOMMENDATION.
• IT IS A FACTUAL AND SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT OF A SPECIFIC BUSINESS OR
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY.
• IT HELPS IN THE ANALYSIS OF A CONDITION, SITUATION OR A PROBLEM.
 WHY DO WE NEED TO WRITE A
REPORT?
SIGNIFICANCE:
• NUMBER OF BUSINESS DECISIONS AND RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS ARE MADE
BASED ON INFORMATION PRESENTED OR RECOMMENDATION MADE IN
REPORTS.
• REPORT PROVIDES INFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING ESSENTIAL FOR
EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING
• REPORTS HELP IN PLANNING NEW VENTURES AND IN EVALUATION MAN
AND MATERIAL
• PROBLEM SOLVING
• REPORTS SERVE AS A MEASURE OF THE GROWTH, PROGRESS AND SUCCESS
OF AN ORGANIZATION.
 MAJOR COMPONENTS OF AN
EFFECTIVE REPORT
• PURPOSE--WHY
• TARGET AUDIENCE—FOR WHOM
• STRUCTURE– HOW ( PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION)
 LENGTH

• MAY VARY
• FROM ONE PAGE TO 1000 PAGE
• FOR EG. REPORT ON A INFORMAL BUSINESS TRIP TO
ECONOMIC SURVEY OF INDIA PRESENTED IN THE
PARLIAMENT BEFORE BUDGET SESSION
 PURPOSES OF WRITING A REPORT

• PRESENTING DATA
• DESCRIBING PROBLEM AND SUGGESTING SOLUTIONS
• DISCUSSING AND ANALYZING DATA
• RECORDING EVENTS AND HAPPENING
• ANALYZING A SITUATION OR CONDITION
• GIVING FEEDBACK, SUGGESTIONS OR RECOMMENDATION
 TYPES OF REPORTS:

• INFORMATIONAL AND ANALYTICAL REPORTS

• ROUTINE AND SPECIAL REPORTS
• ORAL AND WRITTEN REPORTS
• FORMAL AND INFORMAL REPORTS
 INFORMATIONAL AND
ANALYTICAL REPORTS:
• AN INFORMATION REPORT PRESENTS FACTS OF A CASE, PROBLEM,
CONDITION OR A SITUATION WITHOUT ANY ANALYSIS,
INTERPRETATION OR RECOMMENDATION. THE WRITER HAS TO
COLLECT, COMPILE AND ORGANIZE FACTS FOR THE READER. EG.
REPORT ON SEMINAR OR TRIP
• AN ANALYTICAL REPORT PRESENTS DATA WITH INTERPRETATION
AND ANALYSIS. HERE THE WRITER HAS TO SHOW HIS BROAD
UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUBJECT IN ORDER TO COMMENT ON
VARIOUS ASPECTS RELATED TO THE REPORT. FOR EXAMPLE, PROJECT
REPORT, MARKET RESEARCH REPORT ETC.
 ROUTINE AND SPECIAL REPORTS

• ROUTINE REPORTS ARE PREPARED ON PERIODIC BASIS, THAT IS

DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, QUARTERLY OR ANNUALLY
• THEY MAY ALSO BE CALLED PERIODIC REPORTS
• THE SUBJECT OF THE REPORT MAY VARY FROM PRODUCTION REPORT
TO MARKET RESEARCH
• ROUTINE REPORTS MAY BE INFORMATIONAL OR ANALYTICAL IN
NATURE
• EXAMPLE OF ROUTINE REPORTS: DAILY PRODUCTION REPORT,
MONTHLY SALE REPORT
 SPECIAL REPORTS:

• A SPECIAL REPORT IS PREPARED AND PRESENTED TO CONVEY

SPECIAL INFORMATION RELATED TO A SINGLE CONDITION,
SITUATION, PROBLEM OR OCCASION.
• FOR EXAMPLE: A COMPANY MIGHT LAUNCH A NEW PRODUCT BASED
ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE SPECIAL REPORT.
• THE OTHER EXAMPLES OF SPECIAL REPORTS CAN BE INQUIRY
REPORT, THESIS, DISSERTATION, RESEARCH REPORT ETC.
• SPECIAL REPORT CAN BE INFORMATIVE OR ANALYTICAL IN NATURE.
 ORAL AND WRITTEN REPORTS

• ORAL REPORTS ARE INFORMAL AND FACE-TO-FACE

PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION. EXAMPLE MAY INCLUDE
ORAL REPORTING OF ACCIDENT, SALE, PRODUCTION OR
JOINING.
• ORAL REPORTS ARE USEFUL FOR PRESENTING BRIEF
INFORMATION RELATED TO ROUTINE ACTIVITIES.
• AS ORAL REPORTS PROVIDE QUICK FEEDBACK THEY MAY
EXPEDITE A WORK AND LEAD TO FAST ACTION AND DECISION.
 WRITTEN REPORTS:

• WRITTEN REPORTS ARE MORE CONVENTIONAL THAN ORAL

REPORTS.
• MOST BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL REPORTS USE THE
WRITTEN MODE OF PRESENTATION BECAUSE THE
ORGANIZATIONS USING THESE REPORTS NEED TO
MAINTAIN PROPER RECORD FOR FUTURE USE AND
REFERENCE.
 FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL
REPORTS
• A FORMAL REPORT IS USUALLY THE RESULT
OF THOROUGH INVESTIGATION OF A
PROBLEM, CONDITION, OR SITUATION.
• FORMAL REPORTS ARE COMPARATIVELY
LONGER AND NEED ELABORATE DESCRIPTION
AND DISCUSSION. THE LENGTH MAY VARY
FROM FEW PAGES TO HUNDRED PAGES.
• THEY USUALLY FOLLOW A FIXED FORMAT
WITH PREDETERMINED ELEMENTS,
ACCORDING THE INFORMATION PRESENTED.
 NON-FORMAL REPORTS:

• A NON-FORMAL REPORTS ARE A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF A

SPECIFIC BUSINESS OR PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY.
• IT IS USUALLY WRITTEN TO PROVIDE INTRODUCTORY
INFORMATION ABOUT A ROUTINE AFFAIR.
• AS THEY ARE ROUTINE REPORTS THEY CAN BE PRESENTED
IN PRINTED FORM OR MEMO FORMATS.
• EXAMPLES ARE LABORATORY REPORTS, DAILY
PRODUCTION REPORT, TRIP REPORTS.
 FORMATS OF REPORTS

• PRINTED FORM
• LETTER FORMAT
• MEMO FORMAT
• MANUSCRIPT FORMAT
 STRUCTURE OF A REPORT

• TITLE PAGE
• SUMMARY
• TABLE OF CONTENT
• BODY OF THE REPORT
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCING
• APPENDICES
 LANGUAGE, STYLE AND VISUAL
AIDS
• LANGUAGE OF THE REPORT SHOULD BE FORMAL, ACCURATE AND
PRECISE.
• USAGE OF JARGONS, CLICHÉ OR FOREIGN EXPRESSION SHOULD BE
AVOIDED.
• THE IDEA SHOULD BE PRESENTED IN A SIMPLE AND COHERENT
MANNER.
• CLARITY AND BREVITY ARE ESSENTIAL FEATURES FOR A REPORT.
• COMPLEX DATA CAN BE PRESENTED IN THE FORM OF GRAPH, CHART,
TABLE
 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD
REPORT
• ACCURATE IN FACTS; CLEAR AND PRECISE IN LANGUAGE.
• INCLUSION OF RELEVANT DETAIL ONLY
• UNITY AND COHERENCE
• OBJECTIVE AND IMPARTIAL WITH RECOMMENDATIONS
AFTER LOGICAL ANALYSIS
• CLEAR PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS
• READER ORIENTED
 EDITING AND PROOF READING

• EDITING AND PROOF READING IS MUST BEFORE FINAL

SUBMISSION OF THE REPORT
• READ THE TEXT TWO TO THREE TIMES TO FIND OUR
MISTAKES
• FOCUS ON SPELLINGS AND GRAMMAR
• READ IT UPSIDE DOWN TO FOCUS ON TOPOLOGY
 CRUX OF THE MATTER

• A REPORT IS A FORMAL DOCUMENT WRITTEN FOR A

SPECIFIC AUDIENCE TO MEET A SPECIFIC NEED.
• TYPES, STRUCTURE AND FORMATS
• LANGUAGE
• EDITING
 REFER THESE BOOKS TO KNOW
MORE ABOUT THE TOPIC:
• TECHNICAL ENGLISH BY DR. HEMAMALINI, WILEY
PUBLICATION
• TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION BY MEENAKSHI RAMAN AND
SANGEETA SHARMA , OXFORD PUBLICATION
• EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION BY M RIZVI,
MCGRAW-HILL