Report Writing

Cover
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 The purpose of reports
	Read the brief!
	Who are the audience?
	What is the purpose?
	What do your audience know already?
	How are reports read?
	How are reports written?
	Differences between reports and essays
	Types of reports
	What if your report has an unfamiliar structure?
2 Gathering your information
	Aims and objectives
	What do you need to find out?
	How will you find this information out?
	Planning your time
	Recording your findings
	Writing up as you go along
	Planning your report
	Managing group reports
3 Structuring your report
	Which section should this go in?
	Title and contents pages
	Abstract / Executive summary
	Introduction
	Methods
	Results
	Discussion
	Conclusions and recommendations
	References
	Appendices
	What if your report has a different structure?
4 Business plans, reflective placement reports, project proposals and dissertations
	Business plans
	Reflective placement reports
	Project proposals
	Projects and dissertations
5 Presenting your findings
	Tables
	Graphs
	Photographs
	Diagrams
	Maps and plans
	Interviews and observations
	Labelling your tables and figures
	Referencing unusual sources
6 Demonstrating critical thinking in reports
	What is critical thinking?
	Critical thinking in reports
	Demonstrating critical thinking
7 Writing concisely
	Give yourself a target
	Write to express, not to impress!
	Use technical terms appropriately
	Use words with accuracy and precision
	Use of first person
	Use of tenses
	Cut unnecessary words
	Check and proofread
	Report writing checklist
8 Report writing at work
	Differences between academic and work reports
References
Useful sources
Index