Report Writing

AFTERSCHOOOL centre for social entrepreneurship www.afterschoool.tk PGPSE – Online Post Graduate Programme in Social Entrepreneurship

Report Writing

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Report Components • Title Page – – – –

Name of report (all caps) Name, title, organization of receiver Author’s name, title, organization Date submitted

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Report Components • Table of Contents – Show beginning page number where each report heading appears – Connect page numbers with leaders (spaced dots)

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Report Components • Executive Summary – – – –

One of most important parts of report Synopsis (overview) of report Concentrate on what management needs to know Summarizes • • • • • •

Purpose Scope Methodology Findings Conclusions Recommendations www.afterschoool.tk

Report Components • Executive Summary – – – – – – –

Organized same as report Style and tone same as report Avoid unexplained jargon/abbreviations Do not refer to figures/tables presented later Should not contain exhibits or footnotes Include headings/make skimmable Length should be generally 1/10 of whole report

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Executive summaries should be the last pieces of reports to be written since they are the most important sections of the reports!

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Report Components • Introduction – – – – –

Explain problem motivating report Describe its background and significance Clarify scope and limitations of report Describe data sources, methods, key terms Close by previewing report’s organization

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Report Components • Body – Discuss, analyze, interpret research findings – Arrange findings in logical segments following outline – Use clear, descriptive headings/skimmable

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Report Components • Conclusions – Explain findings in relation to original problem

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Report Components • Recommendations – Make recommendations on suggested action to be taken

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Report Components • Appendix – All items must be referred to in the text and listed on the table of contents – Items of interest to some, but not all, readers • For example, data questionnaires or computer printouts

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Report Components • References – List all references in section called “Works Cited” or “References” – Include all text, online, and live sources – Follow style manual for citing sources

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Other Specifics on Report Writing • Single- or double-spaced • About 2500 words (not counting appendix) • Tables of Contents will help you organize and write report—write early! • Headings of same level must be consistent – First, second, third levels

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Headings Same-level headings must be written consistently! (For example) Level 1: CENTERED UPPER-CASE Level 2: Centered Upper-case and Lower-case Level 3: Centered, Underlined, Upper-case and Lower-case Level 4: Flush left, Underlined, Upper-case and Lower-case Level 5: Indented, underlined, lower-case paragraph heading ending with a period. www.afterschoool.tk

Visual Aids 1. Introduce 2. Label/Number/Informative Title 3. Discuss

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