Nov 1: Team Report Project

Teams:

1. Pat L., Alex R., Devin W., Jon Z.
2. Westin B., Ted C., Megan F., Andrew H.
3. Mohammed A., Kevin M., Dan R., Carolyn S.
4. Ahmed A., Lindsay H., Jim M., Brandon P.
5. Jawaher A., Greg E., Meghan L., Adam W.
6. Chad C., Tom F., Dan H., Luke R.

Steps in Report Writing

Proposals and reports depend on research. The research may be as simple as pulling up data with a computer program or as complicated as calling many different people, conducting focus groups and surveys, or even planning and conducting experiments. Care in planning, proposing, and researching reports is needed to produce reliable data.

In writing any report, use these five steps.

1. Define the problem
2. Gather necessary data
3. Analyze the data
4. Organize the information
5. Write the report

Academic vs. Business Writing (Academic Center and the University of Houston-Victoria)

Formal reports contain formal elements such as a title page, a transmittal, a table of contents, and a list of illustrations. Informal reports may be letters and memos or even computer printouts of production or sales figures. But all reports, whatever their length or degree of formality, provide the information that people in organizations need to make plans and solve problems.

• Writing at work focuses on problem solving.
• Work-related writing targets multiple audiences with different perspectives.
• Writing at work may be read by unknown readers.
• Writing produced at work can be used indefinitely and can be used in legal proceedings.
• The format for work documents varies greatly from the format for academic documents

Team reports: Task

Write a short to medium length formal report to the director of marketing explaining whether Martha’s Kitchen should develop an Internet presence, and if so, to what extent
(i.e. should they offer online sales, promote existing products or offer expanded services, etc.) You will need some solid figures about the demographics of Internet users, their surfing habits, the types of products they purchase online, and growth trends in online commerce.

Report Components

Generally, a report will include the following sections:

• Title Page
• Exeutive Summary / Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Body
  - Purpose
  - Scope
  - Background
• Recommedations
• References
• Appendices

Reports can be called information reports if they collect data for the reader such as sales and quarterly reports. Analytical reports interpret data but do not recommend action. They include annual, audit, and make-good or pay-back reports. Recommendation reports recommend action or a solution and can include feasibility, justification, and problem-solving reports.

Title page

• Introduction
• Background
• Discussion of the Problem
• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• Works Cited

Cover page

Title

Table of Contents

Introduction

• prepares readers for the discussion that follows

Most introductions contain three parts:

1. Purpose

• What did your research discover or prove?
• What kind of problem did you work on?
• Why did you work on this problem?
• Why are you writing this report?
• What should the reader know or understand?

2. Scope

• How did you work on the research problem?
• Why did you work on the problem the way you did?
• Were there other obvious approaches you could have taken to this problem? What were the limitations you faced that prevented your trying other approaches?
• What factors contributed to the way you worked on this problem? What factor was most important in deciding how to approach the problem?

3. Background Information

• What facts does the reader need to know in order to understand the discussion that follows?
• Why was the project authorized or assigned?
• Who has done previous work on this problem?
• What theory or model informed your project?
• What facts are already known that support or don’t fit the theory?
• What will the reader know about the subject already and what will you need to tell them so they can understand the significance of your work?

Body

Discussion of the Problem
Conclusions
Recommendations

• Part One: “Theories, Models”
• Part Two: “Materials, Methods”
• Part Three: “Presenting Data”
• Part Four: “Interpreting Data”

Conclusion

• A very short section that introduces no new ideas.
• Important because it is your last chance to convey the significance and meaning of your research
• It is also a place to raise questions that remain unanswered and to discuss ambiguous data.
• The conclusions you draw are opinions, based on the evidence presented in the body of your report,
• …but because they are opinions you should not tell the reader what to do or what action they should take.
• Save discussion of future action for your section on recommendations.

Appendices & Index

Using & Documenting Sources

Works Cited

• Citation—attributing an idea or fact to its source in report body
• Documentation—listing bibliographic information readers would need to locate original sources

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Content in part attributed to Locker, Kitty O. and Donna Kienzler. Business and Administrative Communication, 8/e. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 2008, and The Owl at Purdue University.

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