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Report Writing: Style and Structure: Module I4 Session 06
Report Writing: Style and Structure: Module I4 Session 06
Learning objectives
At the end of the session, students will be able to:
Purpose
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Audience
Who are you writing for?
The second question you should ask yourself is, who is going to
read this report and why? Knowing your audience will help you
determine how long your report should be, how it should be
presented, and what level of terminology you should use to best
attract and maintain the interest of your reader. If for example, you
are writing a report to inform policy makers, you would want to focus
on presenting your evidence clearly and concisely.
Module I4 Session 06
Malaria Prevention
You are a Health worker at the Ministry Of Health and have been
asked to write a report on Malaria. You have access to the figures on
Malaria incidents in the Country over the last five years, as well as
access to the latest info on drugs and other barriers to prevent
Malaria.
The sentence
Now that we know how to identify our audience and define a
purpose, we will look at how to write clearly and succinctly.
Understanding how to structure a sentence is essential to conveying
meaning clearly. Following are a few rules of thumb to help avoid
ambiguous sentences:
Keep it short and to the point. Many people have trouble with
run-on sentences, creating ambiguity by attaching many ideas
Module I4 Session 06
We will now look over some common errors that can convolute
sentences and obscure meaning.
Sentence Fragment
Mark has finished his work on time. Since he started planning
ahead.
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Run-on sentence
Jane loves Tom he is a good friend.
A run-on sentence occurs when you have two complete sentences
that are not separated by correct punctuation. In this case we can
correct it with a comma and a linking word, or by using a period.
Correct
Jane loves Tom, because he is a good friend.
Jane loves Tom. He is a good friend.
Exercise 2
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Module I4 Session 06
Introduction
Introductory paragraph
The introduction should explain the general ideas to come, as well as
your thesis statement, which tells the reader what to expect from the
rest of the report. The rest of the report should gather evidence and
organize a case around your thesis statement.
Topic sentences
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3. Conclusion
Concluding sentences
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Title
The title is your first contact with the reader, and should inform them
succinctly about what they are about to read.
Summary
Recommendations
Recommendations are not an essential part of a report; however, if
you are including one, it should follow from your conclusion. A brief
statement clearly declaring your recommendations will suffice.
Appendix
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References
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Table of Contents
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1. Who is it for?
Health workers in district offices.
2. What is it about?
Malaria prevention - success stories over the last five years.
3. Title
Lets Win the Battle Against Malaria
4. Summary
This report attempts to examine the benefits and drawbacks
between different methods of combating malaria in Southern Africa,
including rate of success, time, cost, and other socio-economic
factors.
5. Introduction
Exploring the methods for evaluating available options for
combating malaria, and the relative successes of different
options over the past five years.
6. Topic sentences
1. Insecticide treated nets have been proven to protect people
from malaria, by both preventing physical contact, and killing
the mosquito.
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6.
7. Conclusion
Having examined the different malaria prevention methods, and
weighing their pros and cons, there are many possible solutions.
8. Recommendations
9. Appendix
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10. References
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Exercise 3
Bringing it all together
1. Using one of the reports that we read last session, map out
the topic sentences, then construct a table of contents.
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Start writing
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Sleep on it
Be engaging