Reports

Each discipline or subject sets specific report formats for you to follow. Always abide by these formats exactly, because often a certain percentage of the grade for a report is awarded for presentation and using the correct format. Reports are usually written for research or lab-based assignments. While report writing is different from essay writing, the techniques described earlier for planning, researching, organising and referencing your material still apply. Report formats use subheadings to divide the text and make more use of tabulated and diagrammatic presentation of information. The nature of report formats varies, depending on the discipline and the assignment. Use the following guidelines as a checklist:

• Report title: a clear description of what the report is about.
• Abstract: a short summary of the whole report (see above). Usually separated from the rest of the text on a separate page.
• Introduction: a brief discussion of the problem or topic being dealt with.
• Literature review: a brief review of the literature (described and analysed).
• Research question: a clear statement of the research question or problem. Sometimes this is included in the introduction to the report.
• Methodology: a description of the when, where and how of the study. Include information on the sample (number of participants, where they were recruited and how they were selected); the data collection techniques used (interviews, surveys, observation, experiments); and how the data was processed, presented and analysed.
• Results: present and describe your findings. Some report formats allow you to combine the results and the discussion, while others prefer the two sections to be dealt with separately.
• Discussion: analyses the results by linking them to the existing empirical and theoretical literature that you summarised in your literature review. Note any similarities and differences (where relevant) between your findings and those reported in the literature.
• Conclusion: With the research question in mind, make some conclusions based on your analysis of the data.
• Note any problems encountered, limitations of the methodology, possibilities for improvement of the study and areas for future research.
• Provide a list of references.