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Report planning andReport planning and
ResearchResearch
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Ten Truths About Business
Reports1. Everyone writes reports.
2. Most reports flow upward.
3. Most reports are informal.
4. Three report formats (memo, letter,
and manuscript) are most common.5. Reports differ from memos and letter
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6. Todays reports are written oncomputers.
7. Some reports are collaborative efforts.8. Ethical report writers interpret facts
fairly.
9. Organization is imposed on data.10.The writer is the readers servant.
Ten Truths About Business
Reports
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Report Functions
Informational reports Analytical reports
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Report Formats
Letter format (outside the organization)
Memo format (with in the organization)
Manuscript format (longer formal reports)
Printed forms (repititive data ,monthlyetc)
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Introduction
Identify the report and its purpose.
Present a brief overview of the
reports organization, especially for
longer reports.
When readers are unfamiliar with the
topic, briefly fill in the backgrounddetails.
Writing Informational Reports
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Body
Group facts or findings into three to five
roughly equal segments that do notoverlap.
Organize by time, component, importance,
criteria, convention, or some other method.
Writing Informational Reports
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Body
Supply functional or talking heads (atleast one per page) to describe each
section. Use an informal, conversational
writing style unless a formal tone isexpected.
Use bullets, numbered and letteredlists, headings, underlined items, andwhite space to enhance readability.
Writing Informational Reports
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Summary/Conclusion
When necessary, briefly review the
main points and discuss what action
will follow.
If relevant, express appreciation or
describe your willingness to provide
further information.
Writing Informational Reports
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Typical informational business reports
Periodic reports
Describe production, sales, shipping, service,and other recurring activities.
Trip, convention, conference reports
Describe an event, summarize three to five
main points, itemize expenses, and estimatethe events value.
Writing Informational Reports
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Typical informational business reports
Progress and interim reports
Explain continuing projects, including workcompleted, work in progress, future activities, a
completion date.
Investigative reports
Examine problems and supply facts; provide littanalysis.
Writing Informational Reports
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Student Progress Report
DATE: ~~~~~~
TO: ~~~~~~
FROM: ~~~~~~
SUBJECT: ~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Background~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Work Completed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~~~~~~~~~ Page 2 ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Work To Be Completed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Student Progress Report
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Writing Analytical Reports
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Introduction
Explain why the report is being written. For
research studies, include the significance,
scope, limitations, and methodology of theinvestigation.
Preview the reports organization.
For receptive audiences, summarize theconclusions and recommendations.
Writing Analytical Reports
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Findings
Discuss the pros and cons of each
alternative. For receptive audiences,
consider placing the recommendedalternative last.
Establish criteria to evaluate alternatives.
In yardstick studies create criteria to use
in measuring each alternative consistently.
Writing Analytical Reports
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Findings
Support the findings with evidence: facts,
statistics, expert opinion, survey data, and
other proof.
Use headings, enumerations, lists, tables,
and graphics to focus attention.
Writing Analytical Reports
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Typical analytical business reports
Justification/recommendation reports
Make recommendations to management; providedata to solve problems and make decisions.
Feasibility reports
Analyze problems and predict whether alternativeswill be practical or advisable.
Yardstick reports Establish criteria and evaluate alternatives bymeasuring against the yardstick criteria.
Writing Analytical Reports
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Audience Analysis andAudience Analysis andReport OrganizationReport Organization
Indirect Pattern
If readers
need to be
educated
If readers
need to be
persuaded
If readers
may be hostile
or disappointed
Report
-----------------------
-----------------------
-----------------------
-----------------------
-----------------------
-----------------------
-----------------------
-----Main Idea ----
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Applying the Writing Process
to ReportsStep 1
Step 2
Step 3Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Analyze the problem and purpose.
Anticipate the audience and issues.
Prepare a work plan.Implement your research strategy.
Organize, analyze, interpret, illustrate
the data.
Compose the first draft.
Revise, proofread, and evaluate.
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Work Plan for a Formal Report
Statement of problem
Statement of purpose
Sources and methods of data collection
Tentative outline
Work schedule
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Researching Report Data
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Locating secondary electronic data
Electronic databases
The Internet
World Wide Web search toolsGoogle MSN search
Ask Jeeves Yahoo!
Evaluating Web sources
How current is the information?How credible is the author or source?
What is the purpose of the site?
Do the facts seem reliable?
Researching Report Data
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Tips for searching the Web Use two or three search tools.
Understand case sensitivity.
Prefer uncommon words.
Omit articles and prepositions.
Use wild cards.
Know your search tool.
Learn basic Boolean search strategies.
Bookmark the best pages.
Be persistent.
Repeat your search a week later.
Researching Report Data
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Researching primary data Surveys
Interviews
Observation
Experimentation
Researching Report Data
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Documenting Data
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Learning what to document Another person's ideas, opinions, examples, or
theory
Any facts, statistics, graphs, and drawings that arenot common knowledge
Quotations of another person's actual spoken or
written words
Paraphrases of another person's spoken or written
words
Documenting Data
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Dont Document These
Your own ideas.
Common knowledge (i.e., what an averagecollege graduate who hasnt done this research
would know). Information youve found in multiple sources
(e.g., Shakespeare died in 1616), unless itscontroversial (e.g., Shakespeares plays werewritten by Queen Elizabeth).
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Manual note taking suggestions Record all major ideas from various sources on
separate note cards.
Include all publication data along with precise
quotations.
Consider using one card color for direct quotes
and a different color for your paraphrases and
summaries.
Documenting Data
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Electronic notetaking suggestions Begin your research by setting up a folder on your
hard-drive that will contain your data.
Create separate subfolders for major topics, such
as Introduction, Body, and Closing.
When on the Web or in electronic databases you
find information you may be able to use, highlight
(i.e., drag with your mouse) the passages you
want to save, copy them (using control-c), pastethem (using control-v) into documents that you will
save in appropriate subfolders.
Documenting Data
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Learn to paraphrase Read the original material carefully so that you can
comprehend its full meaning.
Write your own version without looking at the
original.
Do not repeat the grammatical structure of the
original, and do not merely replace words of the
original with synonyms.
Reread the original to be sure you covered themain points but did not borrow specific language.
Documenting Data
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Three Major Systems
English, foreign language, andhumanities scholars use the ModernLanguage Association (MLA) citationsystem.
Journalists and scholars in history, art,and philosophy follow The Chicago StyleManual.
Researchers in psychology and othersocial sciences use the American
Psychological Association (APA) style.
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Chicago manual
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Use superscript (raisednumber in the text)
Use foot notes / end notes
Reference containsauthors name, title ofpublication, date and pagecited
Number citations throughout
For footnotes leave 1 &half inch line
Supply the list ofreferences (Bibliography)at the end of report.
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Sample note:
4. Donald N. McCloskey, Enterprise
andTradein Victorian Britain: Essays
in HistoricalEconomics (London: George
Allen and Unwin, 1981), 54.
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Make it at the last page
Centre the heading incapital 2 inch from the top
page Include all references
cited in the report
Arrange itemsalphabetically by authors
last name or by the firstentry of reference
Single space within anddouble space betweenreferences
Indent the second andsucceeding lines ofreferences.
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Sample bibliographic entry:
McCloskey, Donald N. Enterprise andTradein Victorian England:
Essays in HistoricalEconomics. London: George Allen and
Unwin, 1981.
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Note form Bibliographic form
numbered yalphabetized[When alphabetizing, use the author's last name for your entry; if it is not
given, simply go on to the next item in order (the ti tle of the book or
article, for example) and use that to alphabetize the entry.]
yauthor = first name and then last name yauthor = last name, comma, then first name
ylocation of publication, publisher, and year inparentheses
yno parentheses for location, publisher, andyear
yuses commas to separate items yuses periods to separate items
lists specific pages from which you took
information
ylists entire books, complete chapters, or
journal articles to which you referred
yfirst line indented 5 spaces; subsequent lines
are notyfirst line not indented; subsequent lines are
indented 5 spaces
Sample note:
4. Donald N. McCloskey, Enterprise
andTradein Victorian Britain: Essays
in HistoricalEconomics (London: George
Allen and Unwin, 1981), 54.
Sample bibliographic entry:
McCloskey, Donald N. Enterprise andTrade
in Victorian England: Essays in
HistoricalEconomics. London: George
Allen and Unwin, 1981.
Chicagomanualofstyleformat
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APA
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Start the reference list ona new page
Type the word
References center top ofpage
Double space ALL LINESbetween and within
entries Use a hanging indent
format
Arrange alphabetically
If same first author arrange by year ofpublication
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Citation Essentials
You must give enough information in theparenthetical cite for the reader to locate theentry in the reference list without difficulty.
Include the last name of author(s), date of
publication and page number at an appropriatepoint in text.
Eg. (Collins, 2000, p. 232)
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Citation Essentials
If you cannot find an author, cite the first fewwords of the reference list entry (usually the titleand year).
Eg. The homepage of UW-Green BaysProfessional Program in Nursing (2003) hasa PowerPoint presentation about APA format(American Psychological AssociationWriting, 2003).
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The List of References
The reference list at the end of the paper
provides sufficient information for
readers to identify and retrieve each
source. The reference list includes onlysources
cited in the text.
All references cited in the text must
appear in the reference list.
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Preparing the Reference List
Arrange entries in alphabetical order bysurname of the first author.
APA guidelines specify additional rulesfor special cases. (e.g., multiple worksby same author).
Entries are single spaced, doublespaced between entries, with the secondand subsequent lines indented fivespaces.
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Examples of Source
Entries(APA)
A book with one author:
Rodriguez, R. (1982).A hungerofmemory:TheeducationofRichardRodriquez.Boston: Godine.
An article in a magazine:
Auletta, K. (2001, January 15). Final offer.The New Yorker, 40-46.
Part of an online document:Elston, C. (n.d.). Multiple intelligences.Retrieved June 6, 2001, fromhttp://education.com/teachspace/
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Online Document
Elston. C. (n.d.). Multiple intelligences. Retrieved
June 6, 2001, from
http://education.com/teachspace/
Provide author, date, title data as for print
sources.
Add information regarding how and when you
retrieved the source.
If source has no publication date, use n.d.
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MLA style
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Most citations should
contain the following
basic information: Authors name
Title of work
Publication
information
Works Cited
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Citation Essentials
You must give enough information in theparenthetical cite for the reader to locate theentry in the reference list without difficulty.
Include the last name of author(s) & page
number at an appropriate point in text. Omit commas
More than one author with the same last name
(W. Wordsworth 23); (D. Wordsworth 224)
More than one work by the same author
(Joyce, Portrait121); (Joyce, Ulysses 556)
Different volumes of a multivolume work
(1: 336)
Citing indirect sources
(Johnson qtd. in Boswell 2:450)
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Citation Essentials
If the source has no known author, then use an
abbreviated version of the title:
Full Title: California Cigarette Tax Deters
Smokers
Citation: (California A14)
If the source is only one page in length or is a
web page with no apparent pagination:
Source: Dave Polands Hot Button web column
Citation: (Poland)
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BookByatt, A. S. BabelTower. New York: Random House,
1996.
Article in a Magazine
Klein, Joe. Dizzy Days. The New Yorker5 Oct. 199840-45.
Web page
Poland, Dave. The Hot Button. Roughcut. 26 Oct.1998. Turner Network Television. 28 Oct. 1998.
Works Cited: Some Examples
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EndEnd