REPORT WRITING

REPORT is a purpose oriented objective piece of writing. A report is written for various purposes; that is, to
inform, to suggest, to plan, to interact, to inter-communicate, to decide, to conclude, to persuade, and to instruct
(or to teach).
The following aspects are important in understanding the purpose of reports:
Making Decisions:
Besides all these functions, a report is basically the part of decision making process which helps in evaluation,
assessment, and judgment. There can be many sorts of decisions which an individual and an organization needs
to take before launching of a new project, before making amendments in the existing set-up, and to ensure the
smooth working of an already working operation. From launching of a new product to planning a new city,
report is the initial step, which clarifies the situation and brings up reality in to the planning.
Collection of data:
A successful report relies on Data in the form of facts and figures to be logical and for precision. Real life
decisions are made on the basis of realistic data collected through research methods. A report based upon
imaginary data and guess work eventually proves to be worthless, impractical and a complete failure at the end.
For example if a road construction plan is taken off on the basis of a false report giving fictitious statistics about
the need, durability, physical conditions, lands situation, width, breadth, sanitation, sewage etc. ,very soon will
be proved disastrous. These kinds of faulty projects are the result of incomplete research and wrong
information, finally, creating more problems and wastage of precious resources, energy, and time.
Planning your reports:
Before start writing think about your areas of discussion, set your limits and make points of your major aspects.
The major points can be turned into headings during the actual report writing process. Different techniques can
be used as a process of collecting ideas before starting the final first draft of report, like brain storming, freewriting, outlining and rough-sketching.
Title:
Decide a creative and expressive title to take an effective start. The selected topic must be a defining one to
guide the reader about the main contents of the report. It is better if the title explains the aim or purpose of the
report. It should not be one-word title, as it appears too short at definition. On the other hand it neither should
too long to be wordy, verbose or over expressive.
The Seven Cs of Effective Written Communication:
1. Completeness
i. Provide all necessary information
ii. Answer all possible questions in mind of a reader, as Who? What? When? Where? Why?
iii. Give something extra only when desired.
2. Conciseness
i. Eliminate wordy expressions, e.g. At this time- wordy Now-concise
ii. Include only relevant material
iii. Avoid unnecessary repetition.
3. Consideration
i. Focus on You instead of I or We

ii. Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver

iii. Emphasize positive , pleasant facts
4. Concreteness
i. Use specific facts and figures
ii. Put action in your verbs
iii. Choose vivid, image building words
5. Clarity
i. Choose precise, concrete and familiar words
ii. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs
6. Courtesy
i. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative
ii. Use expressions that show respect
iii. Choose nondiscriminatory sentences
7. Correctness
i. Use the right level of language
ii. Check accuracy of figures, facts and words
iii. Maintain acceptable mechanics of writing
Introduction:
According to the nature of the report, some of the following introductory elements can be included
:
Purpose or Aim; Determine the specific purpose:(informational, persuasive, negotiation, refusal,
explanation, offer, evaluation etc.)

Authorization; give clear information about the writer, sender and receiver or the reader of the report.

Sources: mention the source, the method, the names of the institutions and the ways through which data
is collected

Scope: mention the implications of the report-on what areas the findings can be applied-political,
economic, religious etc.

Definitions: provide the basic definition of the problem, technical terms repeatedly occurring in the text
etc
Background: give the historical background of the problem if there is any, to facilitate the reader to
comprehend.

Limits: set clear limits of your topic to avoid irrelevance, repetition, to make it more precise, direct and
purpose oriented.

Brief mention of results: mentally prepare the reader about conclusion by giving a short synopsis of
perceived results.

Layout: give a list of major headlines to be discussed.

Body (discussion, Text)

1. Present all relevant facts accurately and impartially. Do not let your personal feelings and
prejudices affect the facts.
2. Organize your report by the inductive (direct approach or the process of using information
already in the knowledge in order to understand a particular situation or to find the answer to a
problem), or deductive plan (indirect approach or a method of discovering general rules and
principles from particular facts and examples). In western countries, the planners prefer
deductive method.
3. Emphasize important ideas by showing details, showing them at prominent places with the
highest degree of headings that are appropriate, and using stylistic means such as capitalization,
underscoring, boldface, italics, extra space and repetition.
4. Include visual aid-graphs, tables, and pictures-whenever they help in clarifying information for
your readers.
5. Use headings to guide the reader through the report, but write your sentences and paragraphs
giving more details so the headings can stand alone- as if the headings did not exist. In short
reports use not more than two or three levels of headings.
6. Use topic sentences for most paragraphs, and use an introductory paragraph in the beginning of a
major new section that contains two or more subdivisions.
7. Apply the Seven C writing principles. Throughout the report, make your writing easy to read.
Use understandable words, sentences averaging16 to 20 words in length, concrete nouns, few
adverbs, few adjectives, and paragraphs whose average length is seven type written lines.

Terminal Section: (Conclusion, Summary, Recommendations)

1. Remember that a summary condenses the text, conclusion evaluate and infer from the text, and
recommendations offer specific courses of action.
2. Do not include any new material in the terminal section of the report.
3. Usually list summary points in the same order as topics discussed in the text.
4. Conclusion must be clearly partial taking a decisive position in favour or against the topic