306: Checklist for the Report
The purpose of a report is to present information and ideas in a way that the reader will find useful. Often, it is to recommend action that the research indicates the reader should take. The headings below reflect a broad superstructure for conventional reports. Generally, one size does not fit all. Your report could be organized in many ways, depending on the needs and expectations of your readers.
q Announces the topic of the report.
q Tells or reminds the reader why you are writing.
q Does so in a way that persuades the reader the report is worth reading.
q Provides any background information the reader will need or want, including a statement of the problem: its existence, its seriousness, its causes.
q Provides the reader an overview of what is to come.
q Tells the things your reader wants to know about the way you obtained facts and ideas presented in the report.
q Persuades the reader these methods will produce reliable results.
q Presents in clear and specific terms what you found out.
q Includes material that is relevant to the reader; excludes material that isn’t.
q Presents the generalizations you draw from your facts.
q Persuades the reader that you are reasoning soundly (for example: why one solution is better than another).
q May include a discussion of the solutions, including alternatives (their advantages and disadvantages).
q Tells the conclusions, and how the recommendations are based on them.
q May state or restate the solution and the reasons for choosing it.
q May acknowldge objections and either accommodate or refute them.
q Tells the significance—from your readers’ viewpoint—of your facts and generalizations.
q Tells what the reader should do--the steps for implementing the solution.
q May make the recommendations stand out by putting them in a bulleted or numbered list.
q Uses any visual aids that the reader would find useful.
q Uses designs for the visuals that are neat, effective and easy to read.
q Visuals are labeled, referenced, and (if possible) close to the reference.
q Looks neat and attractive.
q Provides easy access for the reader to specific parts of the discussion.
q Uses at least one level heading.
q Uses headers and footers for page #s and other relevant info.
q Includes front and end matter.
q Employs correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
q Takes into account all the report’s interested parties.