Types of Reports What makes a good report? How to Write Reports Clarity and Structure Figures and Tables (floats) Technical Issues Sales Proposals Computer Reports Anatomy of a Report Future of Reports Further reading Conclusions

1. Business Writing
Gihan Aboueleish

2. Outlines
 Types of Reports
 What makes a good report?
 How to Write Reports
 Clarity and Structure
 Figures and Tables (floats)
 Technical Issues
 Sales Proposals
 Computer Reports
 Memos
 Activities & Practices.
 Anatomy of a Report
 Future of Reports
 Further reading
 Conclusions
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

3. Before we start
Discussion : what you find most difficult in
writing a report…

4. The Purpose....
 The report exists to provide the reader with
useful information
 Should this drug be licensed?
 How do we fit non-linear regressions?
 It succeeds if it effectively communicates the
information to the intended audience
 It fails otherwise!!
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

5. Which Reports?
Sales Reports
Inspection Reports
Annual Reports
Audit Reports
Feasibility Reports
Progress Reports
White Papers
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

6. How We Communicate3
• CVs, Resumes
• Email, Web site, FAQs
• Letters, Newsletters, Brochures, Articles,
Catalogs
• Advertisements, Notice Board,
Pamphlets, Signs, Press Release
• Presentations, multimedia, talks
• Reports, Manuals, Proposals, Books

7. Classification of Reports
 Formal Reports and Informal
Reports
 Information Reports
 Analytical Reports
 Recommendation Reports

8. Getting Started
First and foremost…
DON’T PANIC!

9. Clear
Clarify what it is you intend before writing

10. Clear
Clearly state your intent in the lead

11. Clear
One topic per communication

12. Clear
Provide supporting detail

13. Edit!
If everything else is cut, will your message
still be clear?

14. Make points briefly
Don’t get hung on an issue

15. Correct
Check the facts

16. Correct
Do not rely on spell check

17. Correct
Do not rush

18. Correct
Dictionaries and thesauruses are
the writer’s friends

19. Conclusions
 Writing is a skill to learn
 Need practice
 Large set of rules, do’s and don’ts
 But it is very personal
 Use all the feedback (from lab reports,
vacation essays, dissertations,…)

20. Idea
Collect
Focus
Order
Draft
20 Revise

21. Idea
Others Personal
21

22.  Talk back to your internal critic. Train
yourself to recognize and write down
critical thoughts as they go through
your mind. Learn why these thoughts
are untrue and practice talking and
writing back to them.
-Robert J. Mckain

23. Collect
yourself others
23

24. Focus
24
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

25. illust ion
rat
Order
narration comparison/
contrast
process analysis
persuasion
cause/ f
ef ect
25

26. Draft
Answering your Ideas on
questions paper
Making sense of what you know
26

27. Revision
audience clarity
27

28.  Hard writing makes easy
reading. Easy writing makes
hard reading.
William Zinsser

29. Editing
Grammar
Words
Punctuation
29

30. Getting Started
Habits That Will Result in a Poor Habits That Will Result
Paper in a Successful Paper
 Procrastinating  Prewriting
 One-draft writing  Developing
 Massive self-criticism  Revising
 Thesaurus abuse  Tweaking
 Writing Center
 Marriage to first draft
Habits That Guarantee Failure  Conferencing
 No Process
 No Paper
 Plagiarism

31. Understand Your Assignment
(Then Forget About It For Awhile)
 Thoroughly read your assignment
prompt.
 What, specifically, is your topic?
 Who is your audience?
 How long should your essay be?
 Are there special requirements?
 Ask questions if you don’t
understand.

32. Getting Ideas
 After figuring out your assignment - you
need to generate ideas before you begin
drafting.
 Forget about the end product for a bit
and just get creative.
 Try listing, mapping, free-writing,
journalist questions, cubing, or any other
method that works for you.

33. Listing;
 Listing is a good 
Topic: Essay About An
way to quickly Important Place
gather many ideas  List:
on paper.  Bed, my comfy chair, the
 Simply make a list mountains, the ocean,
my office, the garden,
of as many ideas anywhere with a book,
as come to you as Starbucks, home, the
quickly as shower, the right state of
possible. mind…

34. Mapping;
 Mapping is a form of
free association that
Aesthetics
creates a visual image Energy
of ideas and their
connections. Using Comfort Tastes
Smell
mapping can give you Favorite Place
not only ideas for an Starbucks
essay - but connecting Hanging out
with friends
ideas that may turn Books
into paragraphs.
Writing Studying

35. Free writing;
Starbucks
 Write, write, write and don’t stop.
Free-writing means taking an Coffee calls from shelves and
idea and running with it wherever walls. I can’t not stop in. Who
it leads. Don’t think about it - just will be waiting for me today?
keep writing. When you free Chatting till I have to run to
yourself and just allow the ideas class, my latte sloshing with
to come, you might end up with a each step. I don’t even mind
great essay topic /or a marvelous when it splashes on my
idea (Product – plan - ….) that fingers: my sugar-free, non-fat
you wouldn’t have thought of liquid gold. Keeping me sane.
otherwise.
The barista knows my name.
Here I sip the taste of home.

36. Journalist Questions;
 Use the standard questions every
journalist must answer.
The Taste of Home
 Who
 What
Who: Either alone or with friends.
 When
What: Coffee, coffee, coffee!
 Where
When: Day, night, when studying, when
 Why socializing, when thinking, when chilling…
 How Where: Starbucks, Coffee Haus, my
office, home, pretty much anywhere
 Thinking of different ways to Why: Energy, inspiration, comfort, mental
answer those questions might lead and emotional health
to a fresh perspective on your How: With all the senses engaged.
topic.
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

37. Cubing;
 Similar to Journalist Questions, Describe it: Engage the senses - how does it
cubing involves considering your look and taste and feel - what do you hear and
topic from six different angles. smell?
 Describe it (colors, shapes, sizes, Compare it: Like finding my muse.
etc.) Associate it: A luxurious bubble bath; slipping
into silk pajamas.
 Compare it (What is it similar to?)
Analyze it: It gives me a moment to breathe in
 Associate it (What does it make my surroundings, to organize my thoughts.
you think of?) When drinking a cup of coffee with friends, I am
sharing my real self.
 Analyze it (Tell how it's made) Apply it: Coffee can be an effective and
 Apply it (What can you do with it? relatively safe energizer. It can help get through
massive amounts of graduate school readings.
How can it be used?)
Argue for or against it: Strangely, I think of
 Argue for or against it home and comfort when I drink a cup of coffee
during the day, despite the fact that no one in
my home is terribly fond of coffee. When I make
coffee at home, it never seems to be as
comforting as coffee I share with friends at work.
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

38. The VRD (Very Rough Draft)
 The VRD is rough - very rough.
 Take your idea and start writing about it.
 Don’t worry too much about spelling, punctuation,
organization or grammar. Just make sure it’s marginally
readable.
 It’s like free-writing - but attempts to stick to the topic and
gets typed.
 It CAN be nutty, horrible, abysmal, disorganized, slangy and
even silly.
 The idea is to just get started.
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

39. Anne Lamott’s
Three Draft Essay
 After gathering ideas, you can think of your essay writing
process in three drafts:
 The Down Draft: Just get it all down ( the VRD).
 The Up Draft: Then fix it up (revision and organization).
 The Dental Draft: Check every ‘tooth’ carefully - work on word
choice and sentencing to make it sound better (tweaking).
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

40. Read IT Out Loud
 During the revision phase - read your paper slowly, out
loud to yourself.
 Better yet, read it out loud to a friend or tutor.
 Even better - have someone read it out loud to you!
 You will be amazed what paper issues you can ‘hear’ that
you missed when reading.
 If parts are awkward, confusing, choppy or repetitive,
you’ll notice.
 You might feel a little silly - but it may mean the difference
in your paper grade.
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

41. Formatting And Requirements;
 If you haven’t already - it’s time to revisit
your assignment sheet.
 Notice the requirements for paper length,
font, margins, etc.
 Does it need a cover sheet? A creative title?
 What should be included in your folder with
the final draft?
 After all your hard work - don’t loose points
by neglecting the requirements.

42. Finish It!
 At this point - if you’ve gone through the process - you should be
proud of your essay.
 If you’ve also gone to the Writing Center and conference with me -
you should be proud and confident.
 Give it one last check for those sneaky, ‘dum’ errors (like writing
‘to’ instead of ‘too’ or ‘your’ instead of ‘you are’)
 And all that’s left to do is…
Staple it - put it in a folder with the process
and celebrate!
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

43. How We Communicate
• CVs, Resumes
• Email, Web site, FAQs
• Letters, Newsletters, Brochures, Articles,
Catalogues
• Advertisements, Notice Board,
Pamphlets, Signs, Press Release
• Presentations, multimedia, talks
• Reports, Manuals, Proposals, Books

44. Which Reports?
Sales Reports
Inspection Reports
Annual
Reports
Audit Reports
Feasibility Reports
Progress Reports
White Papers

45. Classification Of Reports
 Formal Reports and Informal Reports
 Information Reports
 Analytical Reports
 Recommendation Reports

46. 5 Steps to Report Writing
1. Define the problem
2. Gather the necessary information
3. Analyze the information
4. Organize the information
5. Write the report

47. Organizing Reports
 Comparison/contrast
 Problem-solution
 Elimination of alternatives
 General to particular
 Geographic or spatial
 Functional
 Chronological

48. Words, Words, Words
 UK English and US English
 International English and Indian English
 Denotation and Connotation
 Let me know when you’re free next week for a meeting.
 Could you let me know what times you have free?
 Tone
 Terry is hung up on trivial details.
 Terry is meticulous and takes care of details that others
sometimes ignore.

49. Writing Style
 Brief writing style
 Omit needless words
 Combine sentences
 Rewrite
 Campus Jewelers’; main objective is to increase sales.
Specifically, the objective is to double sales in the next
five years by becoming a more successful business.
 Campus Jewelers’; objective is to double sales in the next
five years.

50. Anatomy Of A Report
 Cover Page
 Title Page
 Letter of Transmittal
 Table of Contents
 List of Illustrations
 Executive Summary
 Report Body

51. Report Body
 Introduction
 Purpose and Scope;Limitations, Assumptions, and Methods
 Background/History of the Problem
 Body
 Presents and interprets data
 Conclusions and Recommendations
 References or Works Cited
 Appendixes
 Interview transcripts, questionnaires, question tallies, printouts,
and previous reports

52. Letter Of Transmittal
 Background
 Summarize conclusions and
recommendations
 Minor problems. Thank those who helped.
 Additional research necessary
 Thank the reader. Offer to answer questions.

53. Sales Proposal
 Budget
 Objectives
 Strategy and Tactics
 Schedule
 Results
 Closing

54. Document Design
 Use no more than 5 fonts.
 Use no more than 5 colors.
 Use glossy paper.
 Use white space.
 Use templates.
 Use parallelism.
 Avoid double emphasis.

55. Future Reports
Proposals
 250-page reports
 90-minute oral presentation
 50-page summary
 Reports
 Multi-media
 Web

56. Technical Report

57. Introduction
 Will present how to write a technical report
 Covers the following standard technical report sections
 Summary
 Introduction
 Theory
 Method
 Results
 Discussion of Results
 Conclusions
 Is itself structured in this way!

58. Introduction (Content)
 Defines the generic features of a technical report.
 Gives the specific requirements for lab reports,
design documents and dissertations.
 Presents a methodology for writing a report.
 Describes signposting, captioning, quoting, citing,
and referencing.
 Provides references that can be used for further
reading.

59. Theory ;
 Technical reports have a standard structure
 Technical reports may not be read “cover to cover”
 Standard sections have evolved to same information to
be extracted from document in different levels of detail!
 (some) Repetition and signposting is good.
 Section labelling, figure and table captioning, equations,
references and citations.

60. The Standard Structure
 Summary of the report
 Purpose, approach, main findings in brief
(½ – 1 page)
 Introduction
 To the presentation rather than the subject.
 Purpose of study
 Methodology
 Results
 Main findings & conclusions
 Introduction to the presentation itself

61. The Standard Structure
 Conclusions
 Purpose of study
 Methodology
 Results
 Main findings & conclusions
 Further work
 References
 All the sources used and cited in the body of the report.
 Appendices
 Supplementary or more detailed information that supports
or expands the report (possibly for reference).

62. Front and End Matter
 Give further structure and information to the report
 Front matter
 Table of Contents
 Table of Figures
 Table of Tables
 Abbreviations
 End matter
 Glossary
 Index
 Should be automatically generated whenever possible

63. Variations on a Theme
 Different reports will have different structures
 E.g.
 Lab report
 Dissertation
 Software design Document
 Refer to references for general guidelines
 Follow your publisher’s or institution’s
guidelines for specific cases

64. Memo

65. Memos are written messages sent among people working in the same
company. Memos can be written for a number of reasons :
Inform staff about
decisions/actions/events.
Request information / action /events.
Remind staff of action
needed/procedures/changes in policy.
Provide information on work related
65
topics.

66. CONTENT;
 Memos generally deal with only one
subject.
 For two unrelated subjects, write two
different memos.

67. Constructing Memos
What is the Reason for Writing?
Who is your Audience?
Can be low-tech, high-tech or multiple
Better to provide a parenthetical
definition with terms.
What response do you expect from your
Audience?

68. Language;
 The language you use in your memo will
mainly depend on
 your position,
 the position of the reader
 the subject matter.
 The general rule is to “keep it short and
simple”.

69. STYLE & TONE
 controlled by the audience within your company;
 Casual tone
 When writing to a co-worker whom you know well
 Formal tone
 When writing to a manager
Remember; that your employer and co-workers
deserve the same clear and concise writing that
your customers do

70. WRITING DATES IN MEMOS
 Date – In officialmemos ,write full date while in
unofficial memo, it is acceptable to use short forms
e. g. Official : 7 March 2009
Unofficial : 7-3-2009

71. Organizational Markers;
Heading
 Headings
Bulleted  Organize your work and make
List information easy for readers to follow
 Numbered or bulleted lists
 Help readers see comparisons and
contrasts readily Underlining
 Underlining or boldfacing
 Emphasizes key points. Do not overuse
this technique; draw attention only to
main points and those that contain
summaries or draw conclusions

72. Memo Format;
 Some companies use a standard form
while others have their memo printed
on their letterheads
 The memo may be on a half sheet or
a full sheet
 Basically, the memo consists of two
parts
 The identifying information at the top
 The message itself

73. Memo Format;
If your memo is going to more than
TO: one reader, make sure you list them in
the order of their status in your
company
Write your name (and job title, if necessary for
FROM: the reader.) You may write your initials after your
typed name to verify the memo comes from you
Give the full calendar date
DATE:
This serves as the title line of your memo.
Summarize your message/purpose precisely
SUBJECT:

74. Memo Wizards & Templates
 MS word provides three different
templates ;
 Elegant
 Professional
 Contemporary

75. FIVE PARTS OF A MEMO
To:
From:
Date:
Sub:
75

76. Part One : To
To: Mrs. Sharon Jones, Supervisor
From:
Date:
Re:
76

77. Part Two: From
To:
From: Dianna Moreno, Bookkeeper DM
Date:
Re:
77

78. Part Three: Date
To:
From:
Date: March 2, 2007
Re:
78

79. Part Four: Subject
To:
From:
Date:
Sub.: Acceptance of Retirement Party
Invitation
Subject= Focus +
Topic
79

80. Part Five: Intro + Discussion
To: Mrs. Jones, Supervisor
From: Dianna Moreno, Bookkeeper DM
Date: March 2, 2007
Re: Acceptance of Retirement Party
Invitation
My husband and I will be able to attend Mr. Tran’s
retirement party on April 21. We will bring potato
salad.
80

81. Part Six: Conclusion
To: Mrs. Jones, Supervisor
From: Dianna Moreno, Bookkeeper DM
Date: March 2, 2007
Re: Retirement Party
My husband and I will be able to attend Mr. Tran’s
retirement party on April 21. We will bring potato
salad.
Call me if you have questions: (714) 555-7355.
81

82. Lab Report /Dissertation

83. Lab Report Structure
 As standard +
 Theory
 Method or Experimental Procedure
 Results
 Discussion of Results
 It is acceptable to use “mini reports” if
separation of Theory/Method/Results and
Discussion would otherwise make structure
awkward.

84. Theory in a Lab Report
 Background is what is known or assumed
 Sets context for specifying what results there will be and context
for their discussion.
 States what is expected from the experiment or study
 May (should?) include properly cited evidence of wider reading
than contents of lecture notes, lab script.
 You can cite the script where the script provides sufficient detail.
 You must include development of formulae that are not given in
the script that you will later rely on in the discussion!

85. Dissertation
 As Standard +
 Background and/or Literature Review
 Method
 Results
 Discussion
 Detailed Front and End Matter
 E.g. Table of contents
 Table of figures
 Appendices

86. Background Knowledge
Purpose is to define what was known about

the subject covered in the report before the
work was done4
“If I have seen further it
is by standing on the
shoulders of giants.”
[Newton, 1675]

87. Background for a Dissertation
 Assumptions
 Basic “textbook” knowledge of the field
 State of the art prior to the work
 Detailed discussion of any of the available
technical literature
 text books
 journal articles
 conference proceedings
 web sites
 that added to your knowledge of the field.

88. Background for a Software Design
Document
 Review of existing solutions
 Review of related software systems
 Justification for choice of programming
languages and frameworks
 Design methodologies
 Non functional specifications

89. Theory (Review)
 Why write?
 Theory
 Standard structure
 Variations on a theme
 Background knowledge

90. Introduction (Contents)
 Theory
 Method
 Results
 Discussion of Results
 Conclusions
 References

91. Method
 Method of writing a report
 Repetition is good!
 How to repeat yourself
 Signposting
 Numbering
 Citations and References
 Writing a method

92. How to write a report
 Start in the middle
 You have done the work so you know what your approach was.
 You have the results so you just have to write them up!
 Ensure that you understand the background, write it up and
use it to evaluate the results.
 Gather your references and ensure that they are cited in the
background sections and other sections as appropriate.
 Write the conclusions and the introduction (in that order)
 Write the summary

93. Repetition is Good!
 Form of technical report has developed to allow different classes of
readers to make use of the materials in different ways:
 Only summary may be read by a researcher looking for information
or a manager seeking an “executive summary”.
 Only conclusions or introduction may be read by someone
interested in the subject but only wanting to adopt the main
findings.
 The whole document may be read by someone wishing to follow-up
on the work published.
 It is important that each part tells the same story at the appropriate
level of detail.
 Repetition and signposts help the reader who is not reading the
document sequentially.

94. How to Repeat Yourself
 Say what you will say (in brief) in the
Summary
 Say what you will say (in more detail) in the
introduction
 Say what you have to say (in full in the body)
with signposting
 Say what you have said (in the conclusions)
 Emphasise the good bits in an extended
abstract or executive summary

95. How to Signpost
 Open each section with a statement of context:
 In the [last section] we ….
 In [this section] we now …
 Close each section with a statement of context:
 In this [section] we ….
 In the [next section] we will …
 Provide cross references
 As we saw in [a previous section] …
 As we will show in [a later section] …
Business Writing -
Gihan Aboueleish

96. Title
Should be informative, “punchy”, can include puns, humor.
Good
 The perfidious polynomial (punchy, alliterative)
 Diagnosing diabetes mellitus: how to test, who to test, when to test
(dramatic, informative)
Bad
 Some bounds on the distribution of certain quadratic forms in normal
random variables (boring, vague)
 Performing round off analyses of statistical algorithms (boring, vague)

97. Table Of Contents
 Shows the structure of the document
and lets the reader navigate through
the sections
 Include for documents more than a
few pages long.

98. Abstract/Executive Summary
Describes the problem and the solution
in a few sentences. It will be all the big
boss reads!
Remember the 2 rules
 Keep it short
 State problem and solution

99. The Introduction
 State the question, background the
problem
 Describe similar work
 Outline the approach
 Describe the contents of the rest of the
paper
 in Section 2 we ...
 in Section 3 we ...

100. Further Sections
 Describe
 Data
 Methods
 Analyses
 Findings
 Don’t include too much technical detail
 Divide up into sections, subsections

101. Conclusions/Summary
 Summarize what has been discovered
 Repeat the question
 Give the answer

102. Appendix
 This is where the technical details go
 Be as technical as you like
 Document your analysis so it can be
reproduced by others
 Include the data set if feasible

103. References
 Always cite (i.e. give a reference) to
other related work or facts/opinions
that you quote
 Never pass off the work of others as
your own – this is plagiarism and is a
very big academic crime!!

104. How to cite
 In the text
Seber and Wild (1989) state that…..
 In the references
Seber, G.A.F and C.J. Wild. (1989).
Nonlinear Regression. New York: Wiley.

105. Writing clearly
 Structure alone is not enough for clarity
– you must also write clear sentences.
 Rules:
 Write complete short sentences
 Avoid jargon and cliché, strive for simplicity
 One theme per paragraph
 If a sentence contains maths, it still must make
sense!

106. Figures and Tables (Floats)
Golden rules for Figures and Tables:
 Describe float in text (integration), make
sure it matches description
 Place after the first mention in the text
 Make sure float conveys the desired
message clearly: keep it simple!
 Provide informative captions

107. Figures
 Always label and give a caption under the figure
 Be aware of good graphics principles: avoid
 chart junk
 low data/ink ratio
 unlabelled axes
 broken axes
 Misleading scales
 See Cleveland, “The Elements of Graphing Data”,
“Visualising Data”
 Using a good graphics package (R!) helps enforce good
practice

108. African elephant
Asian elephant
8
Human
Giraffe
Horse
Chimpanzee Cow
Donkey
Gorilla
6
Sheep Pig
Rhesus monkey Jaguar
log(Animals$brain)
Brachiosaurus
Bad! Grey wolf
Potar monkey
Goat
Triceratops
Kangaroo Dipliodocus
4
Cat
Rabbit
Mountain beaver
2
Guinea pig
Mole
Rat
Golden hamster
0
Mouse
0 5 10
log(Animals$body)
10
8 Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

109. African elephant
Asian elephant
8
Human
Giraffe Horse
Donkey
Chimpanzee Cow
6 Sheep
Gorilla
Log Brain weight (gm)
Rhesus monkey Pig
Jaguar Brachiosaurus
Potar monkey Grey wolf
Goat
Triceratops
Kangaroo
Better! Dipliodocus
4
Cat
Rabbit
Mountain beaver
2
Guinea pig
Mole
Rat
Golden hamster
0
Mouse
0 5 10
Log Body weight (kg)
Figure 1. Plot of log Brain weights (gm) versus log
body weights (kg) for 28 species
10
9

110. Tables
 Always label and give a caption over the
table
 Be aware of rules for good tables:
 avoid vertical lines
 don’t have too many decimal places
 compare columns not rows

111. Multiple Prefix Symbol
1012 tera T
109 giga G Too busy
106 mega M
103 kilo K
10-1 deci d
Multiple Prefix Symbol
1012 tera T
Better
109 giga G
106 mega M
103 kilo K
10-1 deci d
11
1 Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

112. Multiple 101 109 106 103 10-1 Horizontal
2 hard to read
Prefix tera giga mega kilo deci
Symbol T G M K d
Multiple Prefix Symbol
1012 tera T
Vertical
109 giga G easier to
106 mega M read
103 kilo K
10-1 deci d
11 Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish
2

113. Number of
Processors Time (secs)
Busy – too
1 28.35221 many DP’s
4 7.218812
8 3.634951
16 1.929347
Number of
Time (secs)
Processors
Better
1 28.35
4 7.21
8 3.63
16 1.92
11
3 Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

114. Technical Issues
 Sectioning
 Table of Contents
 Spelling and Grammar
 Choice of word processor

115. Sectioning
 Proper division of your work into
sections and subsections makes the
structure clear and the document
easy to follow
 Use styles in word/ sectioning
commands in Latex
begin{section}….end{section}

116. Table of contents
 Provides “navigation aid”
 Make sure TOC agrees with main body of
text
 If you use styles (Word) and sectioning
commands (Latex) this will happen
automatically

117. Spelling and Grammar
 Use a style manual/dictionary if in doubt
 Spell check!!!!
 Proofread!!!!
He meant…
 This technique can also be applied to the
analysis of golf balls
He typed….
 This technique cam also by applies to the
analysis or gold bills

118. Choice of word processor
 Word or Latex?
 My spin…..
 Use Word for a short document with
few figures and tables and little
mathematics
 Use Latex for a longer document with
many figures and tables and lots of
complicated maths.

119. Conclusions
 Structure is vital
 Write clearly
 Good clear simple illustrations
 Spell-check and proofread
 Reference all material used or quoted

120. Elements of style: Report Structure
 There are no “set in stone” rules for the structure of your report but most reports will include some or
all of the following***
 Title Page
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Experimental Method
 Theory
 Experimental Results
 Discussion and Conclusion
 References
 Appendices of raw data and calculations where appropriate.
***some sections have to be in a report
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

121. Elements of style: some key Dos and Don’ts
DO: DON’T:
 include an abstract that concisely
summarises the outcome of  just list instructions on how to
the experiment-including perform the experiment
numbers!
 give detailed arithmetic or
 use the appropriate tense-you
are reporting on an algebraic calculations
experiment that has been  use jargon or undefined
carried out in the past abbreviations
 ensure all figures have  make excessive use of
appropriate numbered personal style of “I” or “we”
captions (but we often use
 ensure you reference all source impersonal “we”!)
material appropriately (see  give long lists of experimental
later) results in the main text of
 consider when words should the report-use appendices if
begin with a capital letter really necessary
 re-read and review your report
critically before handing in for
marking

122. Elements of style: use our template for report writing
Title first word starts with a capital
Jack A Surname1 and (if joint) Jill Surname2
School of Physics and Astronomy
The University of Manchester
First Year Laboratory Report
Nov 2003
This experiment was performed in collaboration with T Partnername.
Abstract

123. Conclusions
 Structure is vital
 Write clearly
 Good clear simple illustrations
 Spellcheck and proofread
 Reference all material used or quoted

124. Assessment of reports: criteria
 All reports are assessed according to standard criteria relating to:
 Presentation and Organisation
 Use of English (spelling, grammar etc.)
 Use of Figures, Tables and References
 Clarity and Conciseness
 Physics Content
 Each of these five areas is scored out of a maximum mark of 10, with
a resulting total mark out of 50.
 Feedback should be provided from marker. Feedback is crucial in
learning the art of writing reports.
 If you are unsure about something, ASK!!
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

125. Assessment of reports: criteria

126. Assessment: examples of real reports
 Activity:
 You have been provided with two anonymous (but real!)
reports, and are requested to grade each of them using
the criteria in the previous slide.
NO CONFERRING!!!
 You will then submit your total mark using the ‘clickers’.
 We will look at the distribution of marks.

127. Numbering
 Numbering important parts of the report helps with
signposting
 Figure 2 shows ….
 Better than the figure on page 3 shows
 Things that should usually be numbered
 Parts, Chapters and Sections
 Figures and Tables
 Equations
 Things that can be numbered
 Citations

128. Number Sections
 It is easier to use signposting if you label your sections and
subsections.
 Dissertation or larger document
 Part I
 Chapter 1.
 Section 1.1
 Sub section 1.1.1
 Report or shorter document
 Section 1
 Subsection 1.1
 Sub-subsection 1.1.1
 Word processors can make section labelling automatic and cross-
referencing semi-automatic. Learn to use those features.
 Local rules often override general guidelines

129. Citations and References
 Why cite at all?
 A rich reference list is considered evidence of wider
reading.
 Critical appraisal of the references with citations in the
body of the report is evidence of your understanding of
the materials and how your work builds on from them.
 Your cited sources provide a frame of reference against
which you can evaluate your report’s contribution to
human knowledge

130. Citations
 Two main styles:
 Numeric
 According to Shakespeare [1] winter’s discontent is
now made glorious by “this son of York”.
 “Now is our winter of discontent made glorious
summer by this son of York” [1].
 Symbolic
 According to Shakespeare [1597] winter’s discontent
is now made glorious by “this son of York”.
 “Now is our winter of discontent made glorious
summer by this son of York” [Shakespeare, 1597].

131. Referencing
 Numeric Style
[1] William Shakespeare, Richard III (Act I, Scene I), Quarto 1,
1597.
+ Easy to use if references do not have to be sorted
− Difficult to maintain if references need to be presented as
a sorted list.
 Symbolic (Harvard) Style
Shakespeare, William 1597. Richard III (Act I, Scene I),
Quarto 1.
+ Easy to maintain a sorted list of references.
– More verbose when citing.

132. Referencing
 Technical Report
 References at end of document
 Poor support for “End notes” in some word
processors
 Different publications often have different
styles
 Consider use of a bibliographic database
and citing tool to automate citing and
formatting of references.

133. Quoting
 Never quote documents without citing
sources.
 Copy-and-paste of large amounts of
text, even with quotation marks and
full attribution is considered
plagiarism.
 If you like what someone had to say on
a subject, rewrite it in your own words!

134. URLs
 With more of the world’s knowledge accessible via the
Internet it is unrealistic to ban URLs from reference lists.
 Do not rely solely on hyperlinks to present URLs
 A paper report will not be read on a browser!
 Cite them like any other resource
 Cite them as you would a book or article.
 Use as much detail as possible:
[1] William Shakespeare, Richard III. Online at URL:
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=53 (Project
Gutenberg., 2002)
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

135. Writing a Method
 You are reporting what you did so use
past tense!
 Do not quote from the lab script:
 Wrong: “take measurements of x and
record results in your lab book”
 Right: “we took measurements of x and
recorded the results in our lab book”

136. Don’t rewrite the instructions!
 It is acceptable to refer to the
instructions if you did not divert
from the suggested method.
 But cite the original source
 We performed x as suggested on
Section y (page 2) of the lab
handout [2].

137. Assessing the Audience
 Any piece of written material is aimed at a specific audience:
 Who are your readers? Professors, managers, engineers, scientists, or
technicians? What terms will you have to define? What background
information will you have to include?
 Why is audience reading the document? Is the document supposed to
inform or to convince?
 How will they read your document? Will they read it straight through
like a story or will they turn to specific sections?
Based on http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/workbooks/intro.html#audience

138. The audience
Often 3 different audiences
 The casual reader/big boss who wants the main message
as painlessly as possible
 The interested reader who wants more detail but doesn’t
want to grapple with all the gory technical details
 The guru who wants the whole story

139. What To Do?
To address all 3 audiences effectively,
 Include an abstract for the big boss
 A main body for the interested non-specialist
 A technical appendix for the guru
Thus, a structure emerges!
Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

140. To Succeed...
The report must be
 Clear
 Well structured, clear, concise, suitable for the intended
audience
 Professional
 statistically
correct, correctly spelled, produced with a
decent word processor
 Well illustrated
 illustrations that aid understanding, integrated with text

141. Thank You