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Substance of Reports

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SIBY EDWIN
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330 views4 pages

Substance of Reports

Uploaded by

SIBY EDWIN
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SUBSTANCE OF REPORTS

PROPOSAL

Preparation of reports is time consuming and expensive. Therefore, reports must be very
sharply focused on purpose, content, and readership. And to control the outcome of the
product-whether it is a research report, committee/ consulting administrative report, or
student report-it is often preceded by a proposal and its acceptance or modification and
periodic interim reports and their acceptance or modification by the sponsor.
A proposal gives information on the following items:
1) Descriptive title of the study.
2) Names of authors and their background.
3) Nature of the study:
I. Problem to be examined.
II. Significance and need for the study.
III. Background information available Scope of the study-extent and limitations.
IV. To whom will it be useful.
4) Hypothesis, if any, to be evaluated.
5) Data:
I. Sources.
II. Collection Procedure.
III. Methodology for analysis.
6) Equipment and facilities required.
7) Schedule-target dates for completing.
I. Library research.
II. Primary research.
III. Data organization and analysis.
IV. Outlining the report.
V. First draft.
VI. Final draft.
8) Product or tentative outline.
9) Cost estimates.
10) Bibliography.

CATEGORIES OF REPORT

Reports fall into three major categories:


I. Information oriented.
II. Decision oriented.
III. Research oriented.
Research Oriented.
Research reports contribute to the growth of subject literature. They pave the way for latest
information, significant hypotheses, and innovative and rigorous methods of research and
measurement. They broadly have the following organization.

1) Literature survey to find gaps in knowledge.


2). Nature and scope of the study, hypothesis to be evaluated, and significance and K utility
of the study.
3) Methodology for collecting data, conducting the experiment, and analysing the data.
4) Description and analysis of the experiment and data.
5) Findings.
6) Conclusions.
7) Recommendations.
8) Suggestions for further research.
9). Backup evidence and data.
REVIEWING THE DRAFT

The report should be thoroughly reviewed and edited before the final report is submitted. The
following questions MH help to review the draft: 1) Author's purpose?
2) Reader's profile?
3) Content?
4) Language and tone?
5) Length?
6) Appearance?
Author's Purpose
The lack of clarity and explicitness in the communication purpose leads to two major
problems: 0) confusion in determining the mix of content, language and tone, length, and
looks and (2) misinterpretation of the message.
Reader's Profile
The readership may consist of one or more persons or one or more groups. If more than one
person or segment is involved, check whether all of them agree. If not, segregate the common
interest areas from the special interest ones. Then decide on the types and parts of the report
which can satisfy various reader groups. Think of the organization and social membership
and hierarchical level of the reader. An executive authoring a report, for instance, should
know whether the reader is an insider or an outsider to the organization or the cultural system,
an immediate boss or a boss who is two or three rungs removed, a colleague or a subordinate.
An understanding of the reader on these lines helps the author to modulate the content,
language, and tone to suit the reader.
The major discriminating features of the reader' s profile are the cultural, social, religious,
ideological, educational, economic, and age.
Also pay attention to the reader' s interest and familiarity of the subject and the language.
Otherwise, you may be pitching the communication either too high or too low.
Content
The content is the crucial communication axle between the author and the reader. Attention
should be given to the content's focus, its organization, accuracy of facts, and logic of
arguments.
Language and Tone
Since the purpose of communication is to make the reader understand the
message, use the vocabulary, and sentence structures which the reader
understands. The terminology and language structures of a subject
specialist are not familiar to nonspecialist. Even among the specialists,
sometimes there are differences in the usage of terminology and language
structures. For effective communication, the author must climb down or
climb up to the reader' s level-a difficult adjustment for many of us to make.
Length
How long should the report be? This is a matter to be judged by the author keeping in mind
the purpose, the subject, and the reader' s interest. Shorter the content, the more attractive it is
to the reader. But it cannot be so brief as to miss the essential points and the linkages in the
flow of arguments and force the reader to ask for more information. If the length does not
match with the reader' s interest and patience, the author must rework and scale down the
purpose, the focus, or the content.
Appearance
The novelty or presentation is as important as the originality of ideas. Both
are products of creativity and criticalness. Presentation attracts the readers,
and the content holds their attention. Both the product and the package are
equally important.
A research report in research methodology typically has the following
sections:
 Introductory section: Includes a title page, abstract, and table of
contents, and provides background and methodology.
 Body section: Details literature review, study design, analysis, and
results
 Reference section: Cites sources and may include a bibliography,
appendices, and index.

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