Report Writing: A Guide to Writing the Perfect Report
Everyone has to write them at some point: reports. Whether at school, doing business, or pursuing an academic career, reports must be written. But what is a report, and how do you write a good report?
What is a report?
A report is a piece of writing that gives facts and information about a particular topic, usually following an investigation or analysis. Think, for example, about reports that describe the environment in an office or reports that analyse the context of a song.
When you write a report in school, you’re showing your understanding of a topic, and you show your teacher that you can use your analytical skills to analyse something.
A book report, for example, gives facts about a book, usually covering the plot, the setting, the themes and motives, and the characters of the book. Book reports typically require an opinion because teachers want to see whether you’re able to give your opinion about the book. A book review, on the other hand, is all about the reader’s opinion and is usually built around arguments that support that reader’s opinion. Information on the themes and setting might be part of that argumentation but is only used as support.
What is the structure of a report?
Just like everything else, reports have a specific structure. The exact structure depends on the size of the report and whether there are other requirements set out in the assignment, but most reports follow this structure. Be aware that a Cambridge C2 and C1 assessed in the Proficiency and Advanced exams have a distinct structure that doesn’t fit this structure.
Reports usually have a title page, which lists the title of the report, a subtitle (if required), the authors, a date, and the client or person who commissioned the report. Extensive reports also need a table of contents, mainly when the report contains chapters. The table of contents is followed by an introduction, which, obviously, introduces the report but also sets out its aim and incentives. The body of your report is the part that contains your chapters with the information you’re presenting. Your conclusion summarises the main points of your report and could include other parts required by the client (like a recommendation, an opinion, or steps for improvement).
More on structure: writing the body of your report.
When writing the body of your report, you need to think about the structure of your chapters. Cover the basics while writing your main content: structure your chapters appropriately, structure your paragraphs, and use headers and sub headers to add clarity.
Reports are made to give information, so stick to the most essential part of the information that you’re offering. Leave redundant information out if it’s not required, and have the reader draw their own conclusions based on your findings unless you’re instructed otherwise. This doesn’t mean that you should be sciolistic.
What do you need to think of when writing your report?
When you’re writing your report, think of the following tips:
1. A report informs
The goal of a report is to inform, not to entertain. It’s essential to make reading your report easy, but you’re not writing a novel or something aimed to be very enjoyable to read. You’re presenting facts and information, so avoid witty or playful language and content.
2. Use formal language.
In line with tip 1, you want to stick to formal language. You’re not writing an academic essay, so you don’t have to use academic language, but using formal language increases your objectivity. Avoid informal language and slang.
3. Emphasise clarity
You want to make sure your report is as straightforward as possible so the reader or client can do whatever they want with your findings. Unless instructed otherwise, present your findings so that this can happen. Make sure your language is precise and clear, leaving no room for misinterpretations of the results, which, in turn, could lead to misusage of your findings.
4. Provide evidence for your findings
If you’re analysing something, you want to make sure you provide sufficient evidence for your findings. Sometimes, this can be from a primary source (in the case of, let’s say, a book report) or can be from a secondary source. If your report is about something that you had to experience (like the safety of employees in an office workspace), your evidence comes from this experience.
What are the differences between a report and an essay?
Reports are usually very factual and leave room for the reader’s interpretations. An essay, on the other hand, usually gives the author’s interpretation. Consider an essay on the ethics of Flowers for Algernon compared to Bewilderment. In this essay, the author interprets some aspects of both books and gives arguments that support that interpretation. New data isn’t required to provide these arguments, as close reading and critical thinking could be enough. A report would not do that and would only give factual information about how the topic of ethics is dealt with in both books.
So, whether you’re writing about the office workspace or analysing songs for your English teacher, you now know how to write a report.
