To: Nancy Myers

From: Madison Kelley

Date: May 13, 2021
Subject: APLED 121 – Chapter 17 Summary

Chapter 17
SHORT, INFORMAL REPORTS

Report Definition
 Reports come in different lengths and levels of formality, serve different and often
overlapping purposes, and can be conveyed to an audience using different
communication channels
Online reports
 Can write and send a report as long as you have access to a device
Types of Reports
 Categories of reports
o Incident reports
o Investigative reports
o Trip reports
o Progress or status reports
o Lab or test reports
o Feasibility/recommendation reports
o Research reports
o Proposals
Criteria for Writing Reports
 Organization – short report should have these five basic units: identification lines,
headings and talking headings, introduction, discussion, and
conclusion/recommendations.
o Identification Lines – identify the date the report is written on, names of the
people who sent the report, and the subject of the report. Subject line should
have a topic and a focus.
o Headings and Talking Headings – headings is words or phrases that highlight the
content in a particular section of a document. Talking heading are more
informative than headings
o Introduction – the introduction supplies an overview of the report. It can include
three or more optional subdivisions, such as: Purpose-Topic sentence(s)
explaining why you are submitting the report (rational, justification, objectives)
 and the subject matter of the report. Personnel-Names of others involved in
the reporting activity. Dates-What period of time the reports covers.
o Discussion – the discussion section of the report can summarize many topics,
including your activities, the problems you encountered, costs of equipment,
warranty information, and more.
o Conclusion/Recommendations – the conclusion section of the report allows you
to sum up, relate what you have learned, or to state what decisions you have
made regarding the activities reported. The recommendation section allows you
to suggest further action, such as what the company should do next.
 Development – first answer the questions: who, when, why, where, what. Second, when
providing information be specific.
 Audience – your audience can be high-tech, low-tech, lay, or include multiple readers
 Style – is conciseness and highlighting techniques.
Incident Reports
 Documents an unexpected problem that has occurred.
o Purpose and Examples – if a problem occurs within your work environment that
requires analysis (fact-finding, review, study, etc.) and suggested solutions, you
might be asked to prepare an incident report (also called a trouble report or
accident report)
o Criteria – to write an incident report

Investigative Reports
 Investigative report asks you to examine the causes behind an incident
o Purpose and Examples – it documents the incident and why the event occurred
o Criteria – what you would find in an effective investigative report

Trip Reports
 Report on job-related travel
o Purpose and Examples – when you leave your work site and travel for job-related
purposes, your supervisors not only require that you document your travel
expenses (food, mileage, hotel) and time while off-site, but also they want to be
kept up to date on your work activities.
o Criteria – what you will include in an effective trip report

Progress Reports
 Is a document of the status of an activity, explaining what work has been accomplished
and what work remains
o Purpose and Examples – progress you are making on a project, whether you are
on schedule, what difficulties you might have encountered, and what your plans
are for the next reporting period. Your audience might ask you to write progress
(or activity or status) reports—daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
 o Criteria – overview of what you will include in an effective progress report

Lab Reports (also referred to as test reports)

 Lab or test report lets you document the status of and findings from a laboratory
experiment, procedure, or study
o Purpose and Examples – knowledge gained from a laboratory activity must be
communicated to colleagues and supervisors so they can benefit from your
discoveries. You write a lab report after you have performed the lab activity to
share your findings.
o Criteria – components of a successful lab report

Feasibility/Recommendation Reports
 Accomplishes two goals. First, it studies the practicality of a proposed plan. Then, it
recommends action.
o Purpose and Examples – one way a company determines the ciability of a project
is to perform a feasibility study to document the findings and then to
recommend the next course of action.
o Criteria – components of an effective feasibility report

The Writing Process at Work

 Prewriting – outline
 Writing – rough draft
 Rewriting – final draft