1. Understand the report - Reports aim to inform the
reader about actions that have been undertaken and their results. They are formally structured in sections. Check with your
tutor which sections are needed in your report.
2. Find the aims and objectives– Read your brief carefully and identify
the aims of your research (general goals) and its objectives (specific
stages).
These will be different for different types of reports. TORs. 3. Write it right! - Keep your
writing style clear and concise. Avoid complicated phrases, jargon, colloquialisms and subjective descriptions. Keep to the
3rd person or passive voice.
4. Introduce your work - your introduction should
explain what your subject is (background and major debates), why it’s worth studying (use literature review to identify
gaps) and how you’re going to approach it (what hypotheses are you testing?).
5.
Describe methods clearly – this section should be clearly written and detailed enough to enable the reader to replicate
your research exactly.
6. State your results - Use graphs, tables, diagrams or pie charts
but don’t present the same data in two different graphic styles. Describe your data in writing and add any statistical
analysis, but don’t interpret or critique in this section.
7. Interpret your findings
- This section is where you interpret and discuss your results. Link these with the aims you set out in your introduction.
Note the strengths and limitations of the study, and the implications of your findings.
8.
Present Conclusions – Summarise the main points of your findings and discussion and show how they answer the original
brief (TOR`s). You might also make some recommendations for future actions or research. Conclusions should not contain new
material.
9. Reference Accurately – Check your course work/ handbook or brief for the preferred style
of referencing. Acknowledge every idea – not just those you quote directly. Give short references in the text,
and full references in your reference list.
And finally…
10.Compose your executive summary - though this
will come before your introduction in the finished piece, you should not write it till after the report is finished. It should
summarise your work in about half a page, including your aims and objectives, methods, key findings and recommendations.
