Amity School of Business

REPORT WRITING

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Report Writing
Successful report writing, just like any other academic writing assignment, requires: professionalism in-depth knowledge of the subject discussed concentration exceptional writing skills Report writing is the result of researches, analysis, and investigations, which is presented in a written form. Research report writing Business report writing Science Report Writing
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Research Report Writing

Amity School of Business

Writing a research report, the main purpose of this academic assignment should be remembered which is to communicate the results of research, field work, or any other activity. Successfully written research report presents the concrete evidence of the research conducted. In report writing, one must consider clarity, organization, and content. Research reports have a fairly consistent structure that can and should be used to organize the information clearly. Be careful when relying on external sources of information in report writing.

Do not use standardized sections; one can omit some sections and add others that are unique to the subject matter discussed in the report
Do not forget to check for the specific requirements and guidelines, as one may end up producing quality, but out of topic assignment.
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Business Report Writing:

It is an essential part of the communication process in the business environment. Business report writing standards grow in complexity to meet the needs of a rapidly developing environment. To write a financial, statistical or an audit report the scope of research should be found out and isolate the problem to collect relevant data. Business report writing starts with the executive summary that is written in a non-technical manner. The typical audience for business reports is upper level managers with little or no technical knowledge. Do not forget to state the precise quantitative tools that will be used to achieve the desired results. It requires not only in-depth knowledge of statistical tools, but also general information about the tools used in similar studies to estimate the accuracy and relevancy of the selected tool. Utmost care should be given to findings and interpretation of the results, since the conclusion and future research suggestions are based on this section.
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Science Report Writing

Similar to a business report, science report writing communicates research in disciplines as engineering, architecture and planning to the audience with basic scientific knowledge. Science report is often required as a coursework in undergraduate papers within scientific disciplines. Science report must have:
aim, which is the primary objective method, which explains how the project was researched results, which present the findings conclusion, which includes further research suggestions and researchers own subjective opinion on the subject matter discussed.

When writing a science report, statistical evidence in the form of tables and graphs should be included in appendices.

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Main components of a research report

The research report should contain the following components: TITLE and COVER PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION (Statement of the problem in its local context, including relevant literature) OBJECTIVES METHODOLOGY RESEARCH FINDINGS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS REFERENCES ANNEXURES (Data Collection Tools; Tables)

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Style of Writing
Simplify. Keep to the essentials. Justify. Make no statement that is not based on facts and data. Quantify when you have the data to do so. Avoid large, small; instead, say 50%, one in three. Be precise and specific in your phrasing of findings. Inform, not impress. Avoid exaggeration. Use short sentences. Use adverbs and adjectives sparingly. Be consistent in the use of tenses (past or present tense). Avoid the passive voice, if possible, as it creates vagueness (e.g., patients were interviewed leaves uncertainty as to who interviewed them) and repeated use makes dull reading. Aim to be logical and systematic in the presentation

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Layout of the Report

A good physical layout is important, as it will help the report:

To make a good initial impression, encourage the readers, and give them an idea of how the material has been organised so the reader can make a quick determination of what he will read first.
Particular attention should be paid to make sure that there is: An attractive layout for the title page and a clear table of contents. Consistency in margins and spacing. Consistency in headings and subheadings, e.g.: font size 16 or 18 bold, for headings of chapters; size 14 bold for headings of major sections; size 12 bold, for headings of sub-sections, etc. Good quality printing and photocopying. Numbering of figures and tables, provision of clear titles for tables, and clear headings for columns and rows, etc. Accuracy and consistency in quotations and references.
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Common Weaknesses in Writing

Writing is always a challenging job, which requires courage. Starting is usually most difficult. Dont be afraid to make mistakes, otherwise you will never begin ! However, it is good to be aware of common pitfalls, which you might try to avoid. An almost universal weakness of beginning report writers is omitting the obvious.

On the other hand, some data (e.g., exact geographical location on the globe)
could be left out which are usually in. Endless description without interpretation is another pitfall. Tables need

conclusions, not detailed presentation of all numbers or percentages in the cells.

The chapter discussion, in particular, needs comparison of data, highlighting of unexpected results, opinions on problems discovered, weighing of pros and cons of possible solutions not merely a dry summary of findings.
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Amity School of Business

Neglect of qualitative data is also quite common. Still, quotes of informants as illustration of findings and conclusions make the report

lively. They also have scientific value in allowing the reader to draw
his/her own conclusions from the data you present. Sometimes qualitative data (e.g., open opinion questions) are just

coded and counted like quantitative data, without interpretation,

whereas they may be providing interesting illustrations of reasons for the behavior of informants or of their attitudes. This is serious maltreatment of data that needs correction.

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