REPORT WRITING

Module 4
 Let’s Look at these
topics
 Reports: Introduction
 Types
 Technical Reports
 Before Writing
 When Writing
 Language Aspects
 Progress report
Project report
Trip report
Incident report

Work report
Types of Service report
Lab report Reports

Medical report Feasibility

report
Marketing/
Annual report sales report
 TECHNICAL REPORTS
• Primary purpose is to convey information
or the results of a study.
• They do much more than simply convey
information.
• Powerful tools for persuasion.
• necessary information about technical
activities, ideas, and research, and
convey factual information about a
problem or a situation.
• The basic principles for writing all reports
are the same.
 BEFORE WRITING

1. Plan and
Research
• Well-written reports.
• The preliminary step - gather the necessary
information and/or complete any needed
research.
• The thoroughness of the report you produce
depends on the thoroughness of your
preliminary research, of both topic and
audience.
2. Identify the Purpose

• determine the report's purpose.

two general purposes:
 To document work or activities
 To guide decisions
think carefully about whether your main goal is to
influence a decision or to document that you (or
your company, group, or team) have met
necessary requirements and have done a job well.
 The following list categorizes types of reports by their
general purpose.

Reports That Document Work or Activities

• annual reports • periodic reports
• final reports • progress reports
• financial reports • sales reports
• laboratory reports • trip reports
• medical reports

Reports That Guide Decisions

• feasibility studies • personnel reports
• justification reports • preliminary task analysis reports
• management studies • research reports
3. Analyse the Audience

• Understanding that audience's needs

• You need to take the time to thoroughly define the
reader's needs, biases, expectations, and other
perceptions that might influence the effect your document
might have.
4. Define the Central Problem

• Make sure you frame the

report in terms of a
problem you are being
asked to address.

• All reports are based on a problem

or unresolved situation of some
sort; it's essential for you to
understand that problem at the
outset and use it to guide the
document's development.
Quick tips for finding the real issue behind your
report during the planning process:

 Think of the document in terms of an issue

your text will solve.
 State the problem in question form.
 5. Develop a scheme and document
specification

• Plan the schedule and specifications for completing the

document.
• The writing process runs more smoothly if you take the
time to write a document specification.
If you're working in a team,
• have a team meeting and decide who is going to be
responsible for various sections of the report .
• set deadlines for writing and editing.
If you're working alone,
• set a realistic schedule for yourself—one you can stick
to—that takes into consideration research and production time
as well as writing time.
 WHEN WRITING
• Organize the information according to the type of the report.
• Standard Components of a Formal Report:
1. Front Matter 2. Text
Cover Introduction (Title Briefing)
Title page/abstract Body (The Evidence)
Letter of transmittal Conclusions (The
Table of contents Evaluation)
List of figures and tables Recommendations
Executive summary Notes
3. Back Matter
Appendixes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Sample for Title Page
Sample for Table of Contents
 LANGUAGE ASPECTS
Writing style in academic writing
• Avoid colloquial or informal/ personal language.
Eliminate all 'filler’ and unnecessary words.
• Avoid biased language
• Do not directly address the reader and do not ask
rhetorical questions. Remember that the use of
personal pronouns does not fit into an objective,
scientific paper.
• Avoid ambiguous, imprecise or vague words . Try to
avoid impersonal expressions.
• Be clear, concrete, specific, precise and direct.
• Do not use 'wordy' expressions either.

• Abbreviations and contractions

Limit the use of abbreviations in academic writing.
Avoid contractions

• Scientific papers should be written with correct

grammar, spelling and punctuation.
 Reporting numbers
• Write out numbers at the beginning of a sentence.
• Spell out cardinal numbers from one to nine and ordinal
numbers from first to ninth. Numbers below 10 are usually
written as words. Also write out hundred, thousand and million
in words.
 Punctuation
• To enhance readability
• Use punctuation marks correctly.
• Do not use commas instead of full stops.
• To separate items in a list, use a colon.
• Commas are used between each item and end the
last item in the list with a full stop.
• Do not use excessive punctuation.
 Writing paragraphs
• Organize the text in paragraphs and ensure that
paragraphs are more or less evenly distributed.
• Structure paragraphs along a topic sentence.
• Develop a paragraph in a systematic way.
• Be consistent in tense use throughout paragraphs.
• Pay attention to transitions between and within
paragraphs:
• Include transitions between paragraphs to
maintain coherence.
• Link sentences within paragraphs using signal
phrases, connecting phrases as well as
reference words. Paragraphs should be
coherent and presented as a whole.
 Sentence Structures
• Avoid complex sentence structures.
• Use correct, simple and compound sentences.
• Focus on one idea per sentence and emphasize the most
important element. The most important agents should be
used as a subject. Avoid using first person pronouns
('I', 'we') as well as personal experience in academic writing.
• Eliminate redundancies and avoid unnecessary repetition of
words.
• Never begin a sentence with conjunctions such as 'for', 'and',
'or', 'but'.
 Tenses and Structures
• Use present tense to explain or discuss:
– continuing objectives
– general principles or laws
– data or results
– procedures or instructions
Use past tense (or the past perfect) to state or describe

– what the objectives were

– what equipment was used
– what procedure was followed
– what happened
• An abstract, as well as a method and results
section are generally written in the simple past.
• An introduction, as well as a discussion and
concluding section are typically written in the
simple present.
• Reduce the number of nouns and, if appropriate,
try to replace nouns with their verb form. Too
many nominalizations (use of nouns instead of
verbs) may produce a text which is difficult to
read.
  Passive and active voice
The passive voice is usually used in engineering reports
where the writing is intended to be impersonal and
objective. A passive sentence uses a form of the verb ‘to
be’ plus the past participle of the verb often made by
adding ‘ed’ to the verb. In a passive sentence, the
human subject is placed last or can be removed from
the sentence.
The active voice emphasises the human subject or
agent by placing it first in the sentence. If no
human is directly involved in the action of the
sentence, then it is appropriate to use the active
voice.

The important issue in the choice between active

and passive sentences is placing the key aspect —
whether the activity (passive) or the agent (active)
— at the beginning of the sentence
 Word choice
• Define novel or specific characters (concepts,
symbols,...) on first use in the text.
• Choose the most specific term and always use
names consistently throughout your paper. In a
technical or scientific paper clarity and
unambiguity are of utmost importance.
 REFERENCES

• Anderson, P. V., Technical Communication: A Reader-

Centered Approach. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning,
2007.
• Raman, Meenakshi, and Sangeeta Sharma. Technical
Communication: Principles and Practice. Oxford
University Press, 2015.
• Woolever, Kristin R. Writing for the Technical Professions.
Longman, 2008.