Report Writing

The word report has been derived from the Latin word ‘Reportare’ which means to carry back. Report is a description of an event narrated to someone who was not present on the scene.

C.A. Brown defines a report “as a communication from someone who has some information, to someone who wants to use that information.”

Report writing:

Report writing is a formal written communication which is written for a specific purpose. It includes the description of those procedures which have been followed for collection and analysis of data, their significance and the conclusion drawn from them, and the recommendations if required.

Types of report

Observation Report

Observation means to watch certain phenomena, and then to prepare the report about the phenomena, which has been seen. These kinds of reports are prepared on the basis of personal observations. E.g. you may be required to write a report on an experiment you saw being conducted in the laboratory, a process you observed and an event you have seen as an eye witness.

Survey Report

A survey report is prepared when we have to carry out the survey of any particular area or field. Survey of any field may be done to estimate the damage, to consider the feasibility of a proposal or to compare two sites etc.

Report of Trouble

This is one of the most common types of report because troubles do occur very frequently in industrial sector. Wherever machines, instruments or tools are used, they may go wrong. Break downs may occur because instructions were not properly given or properly understood and carried out. Accidents also occur very frequently. Workers may be wounded or killed, fire accidents may take place; rules and regulations may be violated, leading to accidents, thefts may take place and many such accidents occur quite frequently. These are called the troubles which frequently happen in industrial sectors, and to prepare the reports on these troubles are called the trouble report. These types of trouble reports are prepared for the following purposes:

a.     To inform the authority about the trouble.

b.     To estimate the cause of trouble.

c.      To fix responsibility for the trouble.

d.      To estimate damage or injury due to the trouble.

e.      To report what was done to restore normally, to correct the situation and to rectify the trouble.

f.       To suggest ways for the prevention of such trouble in future.

Laboratory Report

A laboratory report is an account of various steps, finding and conclusions put together in a logical order. Writing laboratory report is considered to be an essential part of scientific investigation and experimentation. There are number of experiments which are performed in labs, so the students have to prepare the reports regarding experiments and their findings. These reports contains following elements.

a.     Heading                b. Experiment No.                   c. Date

d. Statement of objects       e. Apparatus used                   e. Method or procedure followed

      f. Observation                   g. Conclusion                          h. Signature

Progress Report

When a long-term project or work is undertaken, the administration keeps itself informed through progress report. The project may be the construction of a bridge or building, the installation of equipment in a factory, or the investigation of some problem etc. A student, who undertakes a research project, will be required to submit progress reports periodically, generally they contains the following information:

a.     Name of the work of project

b.     Total work to be completed

c.      Date  d.Work completed to date

d.     Work to be completed  e. Possible date for completion

e.      Signature and designation

     CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD REPORT

¡  Accurate: Accuracy of facts is very essential for a good report. A good report contains accurate and unbiased information. The report based on correct information can only lead to right decisions otherwise the purpose of report will not be fulfilled.

¡  Simplicity: A good report must be written in simple and lucid language. It must be easy to understand as otherwise it would be of no use.

¡  Relevance: The facts presented in the report must not only be accurate but relevant to the subject. It is essential for a good report that every fact related to the subject content should be included.

¡  Precision: Conciseness and coherence are must for a good report. In a good report, the writer is very clear about the exact purpose of the report.

¡  Completeness: A good report must be complete in all respects. It must contain all the required facts, information, analysis and conclusion.

¡  Objectivity: Recommendations and suggestions made in the report must be impartial and unbiased.

¡  Grammatically Accurate: The language used in the report should be grammatically correct. It is one of the basic requirements of a good report.

¡  Reader Oriented: The facts and details should be presented in a manner which is very clear to the reader.

¡  Orderly: It is an orderly presentation of facts about some activity, event or program.

PURPOSE:

                To provide information about the organizational activities, progress, plans and problems.
          To record events for future references in decision and policy making.
          To justify some controversial issues.
          To design a new procedure for the company’s annual growth.
          To persuade reader about the need for an action


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Notice Exercise: CBSE 12th English Core

Questions from Flamingo

Job Application Exercise