What is a report?

A report is a written presentation of factual information based on an investigation or research.

Reports form the basis for solving problems or making decisions, often in the subjects of
business and the sciences.
Technical Report Writing:
A formal report designed to convey technical information in clear and easily accessible format.
It is divided into sections that allow different readers to access different levels of information.
The ability to produce a clear,concise and professionaly presented report is a skill you need to
develop.

A report must have:

1. Title Page:
Gives the title of the report.the student name/number,the name of the person the report is being
submitted to and the completion date.
2. Table of Contents
Shows the section of the report,gives headings,subheadings and page numbers.
3. Abstract or Executive Summary
Gives the summary of the report outlines the report’s purpose,methodology,findings,main
conclusion and recommendations.
Mainly written in past tense.
4.Terms Of Referance:
Briefly discuss the purpose and scope of the report pointed out the main issues or problem to be
identified.
5.Procedure:
Outlines the method used to collect the informatione.g interviews.
6. Introduction (or Terms of Reference and Procedure)
Outlines the context background and purpose of the report.Define terms and sets limits of the
investigation.then the readers can easily identify what the report is about how information was
gathered and why the report is needed
7. Findings and/or Discussion
Findings means what was found in the research or investigation.Gives the facts only no interpretation by
the writer of the report.
Tables,graphs and diagrams can be used.Must be relevant to the issues and problems identified in the
term of the reference.
8. Conclusions:
Brief statement of the keys finding of the report,Arranged the main conclusion come first.Should
relate directly to the objevtives set in the terms of reference or introduction.
9. Recommendations
the opinions of the writer of the report about the possible changes or solutions to the
problems,including who should actions,what should be done,when and how it should be done.
10. References
A list of the sources that are used in and reffered to in the report
Use APA referencing style.
A report may also contain:
1. Bibliography
Lists any sources that were read for the research but were not cited in the report.
2.Glossary:
This sections consist of;
A list of specified terms,words or concepts and their meanings.
3. Appendices
Additional relevant information.May include interview question surveys,glossriesetc.
The major part of the report consists of introduction,Findings and Discussion,conclusion and
recommendations.
4.Imporant Remarks:
Organization of the report.figure captions should be below the figure.table captions should be
above the table.do not start a section with afigure or a table.spell check grammer check.
Progress Reports
A progress report provides information on the status of an undertaking. It is typically produced at set
intervals over the duration of a project. The length of a progress report varies, depending on the type of
project, the frequency of reports, and who is reading the report. Below are general guidelines for writing
a
progress report. If your supervisors have different requirements, you should, of course, defer to them.
Progress reports follow fairly standard formats.
Introduction
An introduction must do these two things:
!"Announce the subject of the report
!"Announce the purpose of the report
In other words, tell your readers what you are talking about and why. Make clear what work
you are reporting and why.
Project Description
Briefly describe the work being done, being sure to state its purpose and scope. The scope
statement breaks the work down into its component tasks.
Work Completed
Tell the reader what you have accomplished to date. In a long running project, requiring several
progress reports covering several periods, you might divide this section further as follows:
Summary of work accomplished in preceding periods
Work accomplished in the reporting period
Work Planned for Future Periods
Work planned for the next period
Work planned for future periods
Appraisal of Progress
Evaluate your progress. Indicate where you are ahead of plan and where you are behind.
As in all writing, don’t complicate your progress reports any more than necessary, but do answer
thoroughly these three basic questions
1) What have you done?
2) What are you going to do next?
3) How are you doing