Report Writing: Style and Structure

Report physical composition Style and Structure Summary Writing a handle can seem daunting at basic, alone with a solid understanding of the fundamental structure and style employ in constructing clear and taciturn key come ins, it can be achieved. The prototype plow format is as follows Title, Summary, Introduction, Body, closing curtains, Recommendations, Appendix, References and Table of Contents. We allow first face up at how to prep atomic number 18 a account statement before the penning begins. Learning objectives At the end of the session, students give be able to Write with a particular(prenominal) purpose and audience in mind Structure disapprobations, paragraphs and plows Write intelligibly and concisely Purpose and audience Before writing a motif card you should first identify some key factors, which will help you figure your approach and bring through with clarity. The first question you should ask yourself is, what is the purpose of the report? Purpose What is it ab start, and what is it for? It is beneficial to establish the purpose of your report before you go away writing, so that you can think clearly on the subject, and produce a report styled to fit the removes of your purpose. Recognize what your report is for, ( predicateing, instructing, guiding) and focus your writing on let offing the details.If for example, you want to write an instructional report for a squad of colleagues, you know that you must focus your writing on providing clear concise instructions, which will allow your reader to comprehend the processes that you ar describing. Audience Who are you writing for? The arcminute question you should ask yourself is, who is going to read this report and why? Knowing your audience will help you determine how ample your report should be, how it should be presented, and what level of terminology you should use to best lure and maintain the interest of your reader.If for example, you are writing a re port to inform policy makers, you would want to focus on presenting your depict clearly and concisely. We will now try an exercise on identifying audience and purpose illustration one Malaria Prevention You are a Health resolveer at the Ministry Of Health and lease been asked to write a report on Malaria. You have access to the figures on Malaria incidents in the Country over the last fin years, as well as access to the latest info on drugs and different barriers to prevent Malaria. 1. Describe the purpose of your report, and identify your audience.The execration instantly that we know how to identify our audience and define a purpose, we will tone of voice at how to write clearly and succinctly. Understanding how to structure a sentence is ingrained to conveying meaning clearly. Following are a a couple of(prenominal) rules of thumb to help avoid ambiguous sentences Keep it short and to the point. some(prenominal) a(prenominal) people have trouble with talk sentences , creating ambiguity by attaching many ideas together with large combinations of comma thoterflys, semicolons and dashes. Complete one thought and close out your sentence with end punctuation. Words for words sake.Avoid extraneous words, and parentheses that do not add to your point. Dont leave it hanging. designate fragments can be just as confusing as run-on sentences. Make real that you have completed your sentence and that it makes sense, before closing it out. For a world-wide explanation of the inner workings of sentences and grammar, you can blab the links below. Sentence help http//www2. actden. com/writ_den/tips/sentence/index. htm Grammar help http//www. speakspeak. com/html/d10_english_grammar. htm We will now look over some common errors that can convolute sentences and obscure meaning.Sentence scatter steel has finished his work on time. Since he started planning ahead. The second sentence is a fragment here, because it does not contain enough study to comple te a thought. Most sentence fragments are phrases that belong to the previous(prenominal) thought. To correct the problem in this instance, we simply remove the period. Correct Mark has finished his work on time since he started planning ahead. keep going sentence Jane loves Tom he is a veracious friend. A run-on sentence occurs when you have two complete sentences that are not disconnected by correct punctuation.In this case we can correct it with a comma and a linking word, or by using a period. Correct Jane loves Tom, because he is a good friend. Jane loves Tom. He is a good friend. Exercise 2 Correct the following sentence fragments and run-on sentences. We will play cricket tomorrow. If it doesnt rain. In our survey we contacted 212 members of government 110 members of government responded. In order to obtain funding. You have to write clear concise reports. Michael loves to write reports he is talented at it and his wifes name is Shelly. Structuring Sentences, Paragraph s and Reports carve up them what youre going to tell them, tell them, and hence tell them what you told them. The draw below is an excellent example on how to write clearly and logically. We will now look at each part of this map and then see how the pieces come together. pic Introduction Introductory paragraph The introduction should justify the general ideas to come, as well as your thesis statement, which tells the reader what to accept from the rest of the report. The rest of the report should gather evidence and organize a case around your thesis statement. outlet sentencesA topic sentence is homogeneous a mini introduction to the body of your paragraph. Your topic sentence should explain what the body of the paragraph will cover, (just like your introduction explains what to expect in the report). It is a good idea to map out your report, by first writing topic sentences for each of the different paragraphs or sections of your report. 2. Body software documentation se ntences Support sentences are the body of paragraphs. This is the section of your report that serves to allow evidence and examples that reinforce your thesis statement. Support sentences are also used to clearly explain and underpin main ideas. . Conclusion Concluding sentences The concluding sentence is used to reiterate the main points developed by the support sentences, and sharpen the end of a paragraph. They are also useful for adding emphasis to certain(prenominal) key points, through repetition. We will now look at how to perform the different parts of a report outside of the general writing, which are Title, Summary, Recommendations, Appendix, References, and Table of Contents. Title The title is your first contact with the reader, and should inform them succinctly about what they are about to read. SummaryThe purpose of a summary is to provide an overview of the report. It is not necessary to give detailed information in the summary, but rather to provide an indication of the type of information that the report contains. bonny summaries are between 100-150 words, and are generally written after the report has been completed, so that you know exactly what you are summarizing. Recommendations Recommendations are not an essential part of a report however, if you are including one, it should follow from your conclusion. A instruct statement clearly declaring your recommendations will suffice.Appendix An appendix contains materials that are peripheral, but germane(predicate) to your report. For example you may wish to include a glossary of hurt in your appendix if you are writing a technical report for those who are not experts on the subject. You may also include copies of query tools such as questionnaires and manuals, as well as tables and diagrams that you feel would disrupt the flow of your report by breaking it up. If your appendix does contain tables, diagrams and so on , make sure to label them properly, so that the can easily be found when referenced.References If you have consulted or quoted any media sources, (print or otherwise) to help you furl your report, they must be acknowledged here, as well as in the text. Citing your resources not only avoids running into plagiarism issues, but strengthens your work by backing up your report with evidence from the work of others. If you are quoting in a flash from someone else, the quote must be followed by the authors surname and date of publication in round brackets, e. g. Calvino (1983). A standard bibliography is an alphabetized list ordered by Authors surnames.For a book you must include the authors surname and bountiful name, or initials the full title of the book the edition (if other than the first) the family of publication the publisher, and the date of publication, e. g. Calvino, Italo. Palomar. Torino S. P. A. , 1983. For a complete guide to correct citation, visit http//www. liu. edu/cwis/CWP/library/workshop/citmla. htm Table of Contents A table of c ontents is a page containing numbers that correspond to different parts of your report, allowing readers to mount between sections quickly.Number and title the different portions of your report, (such as 1. 2 Medical advancements in treating Malaria 1. 3 Government funding for treating Malaria 2. 1 References etc. ) and then urinate a corresponding list of contents that lists the page number as well as the reference number, which should be sequential, starting from the summary. A good starting point for mapping out your table of contents is to do it corresponding to your topic sentences. Below is an example of a mapped checklist that go unders all of the steps we have learned together followed by a table of contents.It is a good guidance tool to use when preparing to write a report. The mapped checklist is sculpted on the Malaria saloon exercise we completed earlier. Mapped Checklist for Malaria Prevention 1. Who is it for? Health workers in district offices. 2. What is it abo ut? Malaria prevention success stories over the last tailfin years. 3. Title Lets Win the Battle Against Malaria 4. Summary This report attempts to examine the benefits and drawbacks between different methods of combating malaria in Southern Africa, including rate of success, time, monetary value, and other socio-economic factors. 5. IntroductionExploring the methods for evaluating available options for combating malaria, and the relative successes of different options over the past five years. 6. Topic sentences 1. insecticide treated nets have been proven to protect people from malaria, by both preventing physical contact, and killing the mosquito. 2. Community based work projects to crop mosquito breeding grounds have been successful. 3. Indoor residual spraying ashes one of the most widely used methods of vector control. 4. All of the discussed methods for the prevention of malaria work to some degree, but is it more beneficial to take a proactive or reactive stance? . What is the most successful and cost effective way to combat malaria, and how can we implement these measures? 6. With community work and adequate resources, malaria could be greatly reduced over the next decade. 7. Conclusion Having examined the different malaria prevention methods, and weighing their pros and cons, there are many thinkable solutions. 8. Recommendations 9. Appendix 10. References Table of Contents for Malaria Prevention ContentsPage no Summary. 2 Contents.. 3 1. Introduction. 4 2.Prevention methods. 5 2. 1 Insecticide treated nets. 5 2. 2 Community based work projects. 6 2. 3 Indoor residual spraying.. 7 3. Success and follow8 3. 1 Proactive and reactive approaches.. 8 3. 2 liaison a medium between cost and success. 9 3. 3 Future success. 9 4. Conclusions.. 9 5. Recommendaions10 6. Appendix. 0 7. References 11 Exercise 3 Bringing it all together now that you have an understanding of the content and structure of a report, it is time to put that knowledge to use. 1. Using one of the reports that we read last session, map out the topic sentences, then construct a table of contents. Tips for writing a report Write in plain English Select an get hold of title workout your spell checker Start writing Use your Report Map Sleep on it You dont need to start at the beginning Be engaging Use terminology the will be comprehensible by your intended audience