•A report is a nonfiction
account that presents
and/or summarizes the facts
about a particular event, topic,
or issue.
• The idea is that people who
are unfamiliar with the subject
can find everything they need
to know from a good report.
What is a Report?
• In technical terms, the
definition of a report is pretty
vague: any account, spoken or
written, of the matters
concerning a particular topic.
This could refer to anything
from a courtroom testimony to
a grade schooler’s book report.
What is a Report?
•Report writing is a formal style of writing
elaborately on a topic.
•The tone of a report is always formal.
For example – report writing about a school
event, report writing about a business case,
etc.
Types of content in a report
• Details of an event or situation
• The consequences or ongoing effect of an event or situation
• Evaluation of statistical data or analytics
• Interpretations from the information in the report
• Predictions or recommendations based on the information in
the report
• How the information relates to other events or reports
Three Types of Report
•Academic report
•Business reports
•Scientific reports
[Link] Report
•Academic reports
test a student’s
comprehension of the
subject matter, such
as book reports,
reports on historical
events, and
biographies
[Link] Reports
Business reports
identify information
useful in business
strategy, such as
marketing reports,
internal memos, SWOT
analysis, and feasibility
reports
3. Scientific Reports
Scientific reports
share research
findings, such as
research papers and
case studies, typically
in science journals
Structure of a Report
• The structure of a report depends on the type of report
and the requirements of the assignment. While reports
can use their own unique structure, most follow this
basic template:
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
Executive summary
Just like an abstract in an academic paper, an
executive summary is a standalone section that
summarizes the findings in your report so readers
know what to expect.
These are mostly for official reports and less so for
school reports.
Introduction
Setting up the body of the report,
your introduction explains the overall topic
that you’re about to discuss, with your thesis
statement and any need-to-know background
information before you get into your own
findings.
Body
The body of the report explains all your major
discoveries, broken up into headings and
subheadings.
The body makes up the majority of the entire
report; whereas the introduction and conclusion
are just a few paragraphs each, the body can go on
for pages.
Conclusion
The conclusion is where you bring together all
the information in your report and come to a
definitive interpretation or judgment.
This is usually where the author inputs their
own personal opinions or inferences.
References/Sources
• [Link]
• [Link]
writing/introduction-essential-elements