Report Organization
Engl 2311
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Report Organization
Look at EXAMPLES !!!!
USE the textbook “Writing Formal Reports” advice
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contains GREAT ADVICE
REMEMBER that the example report in this chapter is
generic – it isn’t a template for your report, but it gives a
starting point
DO NOT simply mindlessly mimic the exact formatting,
organization, wording, etc, of a generic report example!
you will need to think about the advice and explanations in
this chapter to make clear decisions about how to format,
organize, and word YOUR report
the example report in the textbook is simply meant to
illustrate a generic report – it’s NOT A TEMPLATE!
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Report Organization
Sections to CONSIDER including
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Letter of transmittal
Title page
Abstract or Executive Summary
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Methods
Results
Analysis
Conclusion or Recommendation
Qualifications or Experience
Glossary
References
Appendix
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Letter of Transmittal
Fancy name for a cover letter
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Often included with “external reports”, especially “unsolicited
reports” (reports that the audience isn’t expecting)
Describes who YOU are, what the report CAN DO for the
audience, and what the NEXT STEP is
Helps the audience to decide whether they should read it
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Think of it as a job letter for the report
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Appeal to the audience
Answer their questions (who is this, what is this, why should I read it?)
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Title Page
Use a format that makes sense FOR THE AUDIENCE
Answer basic questions like:
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Who are you (give more than just a list of names)
What is the report about (use a descriptive title)
When was it written
Who was it written for
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Abstract / Executive Summary
A very short (100-300 word) summary of the entire report
Don’t try to cram in everything
Just use a few sentences to describe:
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The problem or issue the report is about
The solution or recommendation the report presents
The audience (why they should read the rest of the report)
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Table of Contents, Illustrations, etc
DO NOT make formatting typos in these sections
DO use these sections to show the report organization
Think about:
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Subsection levels (complicated or simple?)
Descriptive headings (what makes sense for audience?)
Clear and attractive fonts and layouts
Is a TOC really necessary for a 12-14 page report,
especially if you start each major section on a new page?
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Introduction
This MIGHT include lots of different things:
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Background on the problem or issue
Summaries of your research or recommendations
Descriptions of what the report contains
Explanations of who you are or how the report is organized
Maybe ALL or JUST SOME of the above
Maybe one short or long section, or maybe lots of subsections
The bottom line? Provide only the information that your
audience wants or needs, and give them this
information in a format they can understand and use.
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Methods
Sometimes it’s useful to describe how your group did
things like:
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Research
Investigation
Thinking and Planning
Organizing and Writing
Sometimes it’s useful to describe how your group or
THE AUDIENCE could do things like:
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Research or Investigate a solution or course of action
Plan or Organize a solution or course of action
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Results and Analysis
These types of sections are useful for a
chronologically-organized report (Markel pp.163-178)
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What you did
How you did it
What you found (RESULTS)
What this means (ANALYSIS)
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Conclusion or Recommendation
What should the audience DO?
Often the MOST IMPORTANT section of a proposal
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People are most likely to act on CLEAR, SPECIFIC, and
PRACTICALLY DOABLE things
Whether a recommendation is REALISTIC depends on how you
define it
Even wild ideas might be “realistic” if your clear and specific
recommendation is “you should THINK ABOUT this option”
Successful proposals emphasize
BENEFITS FOR THE AUDIENCE !
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Qualifications or Experience
A section like this is typically for a goods and services proposal
Keep in mind that you can’t invent an identity for your group – you
have to be who you are
A “qualifications” or “experience” section is meant to get legitimacy
with the audience to convince them to take you seriously
There are OTHER ways you can do this, like with a “How We
Researched This Solution” section
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Glossary
A section like this can be very useful if your
report contains a lot of specialized terminology
that isn’t familiar to your audience
Think of this as a mini-dictionary for your report
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
References
If you use “in-text” citations, then this is a necessary
section (contains complete reference information)
If you use “citation-sequence” citations (numbered
footnotes or endnotes), then this is an optional section
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Your audience might still appreciate one page that
summarizes all the sources you used, but it’s not
necessary if your footnotes have complete citations
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Appendix
This section can contain anything “extra”
This might include:
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Information that is useful for the audience, but would
interrupt the flow of the report
Information that helps to establish your credibility (like
show how much work you did)
Examples or other things for the audience to use (sample
letters, emails, presentation slides, survey examples, etc)
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
other possible report elements
Schedules
Procedures
Budgets
Graphics, Tables, or other Visuals
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Report Organization
Document-Level
Elements of document-level organization
Section Headings
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Grouping related paragraphs together
Giving those related paragraphs a descriptive name
Visual Hierarchy within sections
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Using a layout (margins, white space, etc) that matches audience
Providing clear paragraph (¶) breaks
Using bold, italic, or underlined sentences or sections to highlight
important information
Document-level organization helps readers to locate
specific information quickly and easily.
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Organization
¶-Level
Elements of paragraph organization
Using clear topic sentences
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Summarize the main point in the first sentence
Using relevant detail sentences
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All the sentences in an organized paragraph must connect
directly to the topic sentence
¶-Level Organization helps readers to locate specific
information easily, scan documents more quickly,
and read documents without missing information.
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Example (poor organization)
Section headings can help to make complicated memos and reports more
organized. They contribute to overall document organization. In addition
to section headings, clear topic sentences and well organized detail
sentences also help memo and report organization. There are two types
of sentences in a memo or a report. Topic sentences are the first
sentence of a paragraph. They summarize the main point of the
paragraph. Section headings help to show what main points go together.
Detail sentences (the sentences in a paragraph that come after the topic
sentence) contain additional information that relates to the main point of
the paragraph. In conclusion, good paragraph-level organization is
important. Good overall organization is also important. Paragraph-level
organization helps readers to scan memos and reports more quickly.
Overall organization helps readers to use memos and reports more
effectively.
Copyright 2012 by Arthur Fricke
Example (better organization)
Overall Organization
Section headings can help to make complicated memos and reports more
organized. Section headings help to show what main points go together.
They contribute to good overall organization. This is important. Overall
organization helps readers to use memos and reports more effectively.
Paragraph-Level Organization
Clear topic sentences and well organized detail sentences also help
memo and report organization. There are two types of sentences in a
memo or a report. Topic sentences are the first sentence of a paragraph.
They summarize the main point of the paragraph. Detail sentences are
the sentences in a paragraph that come after the topic sentence. They
contain additional information that relates to the main point of the
paragraph. Good paragraph-level organization is important. Paragraphlevel organization helps readers to scan memos and reports more quickly.