Formal Report
Formal Report
• Whether you write an informal report or a formal report is determined
primarily by the occasion for which you are written.
• Formal reports may be written for people inside the organization or for
those outside.
• It is likely that the business employees who write well have a distinct
advantage over their peers.
• It is important to make your reports thorough, concise, attractive,
interesting, and easy to understand.
• The written style for formal reports is about the same as that informal
reports.
• One different is that we do not use contractions in formal reports.
• Also, we minimize the use of first-person pronouns such as I, me, and my
and second-person pronouns such as you, your, and yours.
• In order to avoid to use first-person and second-person pronouns, we may
need to use passive voice more than we would have to.
Formal Report
• The primarily difference between informal reports and formal reports is
physical format.
• Because formal reports are usually long, pages (title page, table of
contents, and so on) needed to be added for easy reading.
• The pages that usually precede the report body of formal report include
these;
– Letter of transmittal
– Title page
– Table of contents
• Also, the pages that follow the body of formal report include these;
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List of tables and/or illustrations
Summary
List of conclusions
Reference materials
• Bibliography
• Appendixes
Analytical Report
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Title
Transmittal Letter (memorandum)
Table of Contents
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Executive Summary
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Summary
Conclusions
Recommendations
Introduction
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Table of Graphics (if necessary)
Table of Figures (if necessary)
Statements of Purpose or Objective
Elements of the Problems
Definitions of Terms
Research Method
Scope and Limitations
The Body of Report
Reference Material
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Bibliography
Appendix
Analytical Report
• When you write an analytical report, you will
collect and present information, analyze it,
and draw conclusions, and make
recommendations.
• Introduction Section
– Write an introductory paragraph or so to attract
the readers’ attention and to encourage them to
continue reading.
– Keep explanation short; most readers do not like
to read a long introduction.
Analytical Report
• Statement of Purpose (Objective)
– State the purpose or the objective of the report
clearly so that readers will easily understand what you
are attempting to convey.
– One statement is ordinarily best for this subdivision.
• Elements of problem
– Some statements of problem may followed by a list of
elements or factors.
– Questions asked in this section should be answered in
the body of the report in order in which they asked.
Analytical Report
• Definitions of Terms
– When you have to use terms that have special
meanings in a particular report, define those terms.
– For only one to three terms, define each one in
parentheses immediately after it appears the first
time in the report or use footnotes.
– Example
The following terms are defined as they are used in this report.
Full-time employee – a person who works at least thirty-two
hours a week.
Late shift – from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Small business – a business that has no more than eight
employees and that has gross sales below $100,000 a year.
Analytical Report
• Research Method
– The extent to which you cover the procedures
used in collecting and analyzing information for a
formal report should be based on the desires of
the readers and the nature of the report.
– In some non routine reports, you should describe
the research method so clearly that if readers
should question the validity of your findings, they
could redo the research if they wanted to.
Analytical Report
• Scope and Limitations
– For some formal reports, a paragraph or so may
be needed to define the scope and to identify
limitations.
– The scope sets the boundaries and may tell what
is not included in the report as well as what is
included.
– For some reports, the statement of the purpose or
objective of the report makes the discussion of
the scope and limitations unnecessary.
Analytical Report
• Body of Report
– The body of the report may be only one major division of
the report, or it may be divided into two or more sections.
– In typical business reports, the main body of material is
presented in a logical, psychological, or chronological plan.
– Logical
• In the logical plan, which is used most frequently, major ideas are
presented first with details following.
• The information of lesser importance follows in descending order
of impotence.
• Spatial (discussing certain parts of organization) and geographical
can be considered as logical.
Analytical Report
– Psychological
• For the psychological plan, the information is presented
according to the effect the facts are expected to have
on the readers.
• The facts that will interest the readers most are
presented first, and the facts the readers are likely to
disagree with are placed last.
– Chronological
• The chronological plan is best when the readers need
to know what happened in a time sequence or what
events took place that resulted in a certain effects
(cause to effect).
Analytical Report
• Preliminary Pages
– After the body section of report, write a summary,
draw conclusion (when applicable), and make
recommendation (when appropriate). Then,
prepare a title page, contents page, list of
illustrations, and a letter of transmital.
Analytical Report
• Executive Summary
– Most readers want to see an executive summary of a
long formal report before they read the entire report.
– In the summary, restate or paraphrase the statement
of the purpose or objective of the report and mention
– but do not describe in detail – the procedures used.
– Include only the highlights of the report, and integrate
these concisely worded statements for smooth, easyto-understand reading.
Analytical Report
• Conclusion
– A conclusion is a statement of what a finding or a
combination of findings means. To draw a conclusion, ask
yourself, “What does this finding (or these findings) mean
in relation to the purpose of report? Analyze all findings
thoroughly and study all possible relationships that exist
among them. On the basis of this thorough study, draw
conclusions that are not only logical but also valid.
– Number the conclusions and single space them with a
double space between them. A good idea is to draw
conclusions as you analyze and present the information in
the report body.
– Some writers record conclusions in the body of the report
and present them in the conclusions.
Analytical Report
• Recommendations
– Base your recommendations on the conclusions
and on the findings.
– When you make alternative recommendations,
present them in the order of feasibility according
to your best judgment.
• Present the summary, the conclusions, and
recommendations on one page when space
permit.
Analytical Report
• Contents Page and List of Graphic Aids
– Prepare a contents page, which shows the page number
for each organizational headings and each first-degree
subject-matter heading, to precede the report summary.
Third-degree headings are usually omitted from the table
of contents.
– For a long report that contains several graphics, a list of
graphics should follow the table of contents.
– Prepare an attractive, well-arranged title page to include
the report title, the name of the person or organization for
whom the report was written, your name, and the date.
– Write a letter (or a memorandum) to transmit the report
to the person for whom it was written. Identify the report
and tell who authorized you to write.
Reference
• Whether you paraphrase, quote verbatim, or use
a graphic aid, make sure to give credit to the
source of the information.
• Example of paraphrasing and of leading in to
quotations are shown next;
Because the average number of letters written each day by
junior executive in the Southeast has risen from seven to
eleven, an increase of slightly more than 57 percent, greater
emphasis should be placed on dictating efficiency.1
1Talmadge
A. Holtzman, “Increase Correspondence Cost,”
Administrative Services, 72 (1990): 16-17