Information about Writing Reports

Contents

Types of Reports
The Writing Process
Identify a Report Topic
Understand the Audience
Focus and Refine the Topic
Create a Working Bibliography
Evaluate and Synthesize Resources
Taking Notes on What You Read
Organize Ideas and Create Structure
Write the First Draft
Revise and Edit the Report
Citing References

Types of Reports

There are several different types of papers or reports that you may be called upon to write throughout your academic career and beyond. Below is a brief description of four different types.

• Descriptive Report: A descriptive report discusses or explains a topic of interest. Typically a substantial amount of research is required in order to provide a comprehensive explanation of a topic.
• Literary Paper: A literary paper analyzes the works of an author. The analysis can be accomplished by comparing and contrasting different works, or by analyzing various elements within a specific work. Your analysis of the literary work(s) should also demonstrate that you have read what other authorities have written about the work.
• Argumentative Paper: An argumentative paper builds a logical argument for a particular position on an issue and supports that argument with research. Typically, an issue has two opposing points of view. When building your argument, you argue for your position and against the other.
• Position Paper: A position paper states a position and supports it with research. The position paper differs from an argumentative paper because it is not necessary to argue against any opposing points of view.
  

The Writing Process

Writing a report requires hours of work. Approaching the task systematically helps you break down a large job into smaller, more manageable tasks. The logical steps for writing a report are listed below and explained in this module.

Step 1: Identify a Report Topic

Step 2: Understand Your Audience

Step 3: Focus and Refine Your Topic

Step 4: Create a Working Bibliography

Step 5: Evaluate and Synthesize Resources

Step 6: Take Notes on What You Read

Step 7: Organize Your Ideas and Create Structure

Step 8: Write the First Draft

Step 9: Revise and Edit the Report

Step 10: Cite Your References

Step 1: Identify a Report Topic

Identifying something to write about is the first step in writing a report. In some situations, you might be assigned a topic or given a range of topics from which to choose. In other situations, the choice may be completely up to you.

The best way to begin searching for a topic is to conduct some initial research. One way to begin is to review your course textbook(s) for topics that are of interest to you, but might not be covered in great detail during the semester. The table of contents and subject index can help you identify components of a topic. The author index can help you identify leading thinkers in the field. Next, extend this initial topic search by conducting a more complete assessment of the different topics you have in mind with a more complete search using references available at the library or on the World Wide Web.

As you begin your search for a topic, keep the following in mind:

• Select a topic that is of interest to you. Nothing is more tedious than researching and writing about a topic that is of little interest or relevance to you. Keep in mind that you'll spend a large amount of time on the topic you select. If you've been assigned a topic, find a way to make it interesting and relevant by applying it to areas such as your career goals, political points of view, hobbies, etc.
• Select a topic for which you have some background knowledge. Learning about a topic or subject in which you have no prior knowledge often requires learning the terminology, jargon, and/or lexicon of the subject. While it is interesting to learn about new things, make sure that you have the background knowledge necessary to comprehend the articles and books you will be reading.
• Select a topic for which you will be able to find references. If a topic is too current, you may have difficulty finding the references you need to write the report. If the topic is outdated, you may have difficulty finding references that are current. Therefore, as you conduct your initial topic search, make sure you will have access to enough references to allow you to complete the report.
  

Step 2: Understand the Audience

Along with identifying a topic for your report, you should begin to learn more about the audience who will read your report. In some instances, your professor may be the only member of the audience. In other situations you might be asked to write for a specific audience. Use the following questions to help you understand the needs of your audience.

• Who will read the report? Will the report be read by adults, children, members of a certain profession, other students, a potential employer, a civic group?
• For what reasons will different individuals read the report? Will they read it for pleasure, or do they require the information to help them accomplish a goal?
• What are the expectations of the readers? Do they expect this paper to provide them with all the information they will need, or will they read this paper in conjunction with other resources?
• How much do the readers of the report already know about the topic? To what level of detail should the report be written so that it is not too basic nor too advanced for the audience?
• What is the level of interest in the topic? Is the topic of great interest to the audience or is their interest minimal?
• What are audience members' prevailing attitudes about the topic? Does the audience generally agree with the position that you will argue or do they support opposing positions?
  

Step 3: Focus and Refine the Topic

After you have conducted your initial research about the topic and identified the audience for whom you are writing, you can begin to narrow your topic.

There are a number of techniques that writers use to help them focus and refine their topics. A few of them are described below.

• Freewriting. Freewriting consists of writing off-the-top-of-your-head for either a predetermined period of time (perhaps ten to fifteen minutes) or until a predetermined amount of text (one to two pages) has been written. The purpose of freewriting is to generate ideas by letting your thoughts flow freely. Therefore, when you use the technique of freewriting you do not necessarily have to be concerned about the organization of ideas, grammar, or spelling. The ideas you generate can subsequently be shaped to help you refine your topic.
• Clustering. Clustering, like freewriting, involves generating ideas off-the-top-of-your-head. In clustering, however, the purpose is to develop a visual representation of your ideas (similar to a concept map - see the Concept Maps module). Concepts can then be connected by drawing arrows between them.
• Keeping a journal. Many writers find it useful to keep a journal of ideas that come to them as they begin a research paper. This journal will help you remember ideas that naturally come to you during different times of the day or night.
• Asking journalistic questions. Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How? Journalists use these questions to help them ensure they are getting the full story, but writers can also use them to help them explore different angles or aspects of a topic.
• Brainstorming. Similar to freewriting, a brainstorming session can help you develop ideas that are connected to your topic (see Brainstorming module). As with freewriting you can choose to brainstorm for a set period of time or set number of ideas, or you can develop a brainstorming list over a longer period of time.
  

Step 4: Create a Working Bibliography

A working bibliography is an organized set of bibliographic information about resources found during your research that might be helpful as you write your report. You might choose to create an index card for each resource or you can store the information in a computer file. In essence, however, you want to record information that will help you do three things:

• Keep track of resources that you have identified as being potentially relevant to your topic.
• Create a tool that you can use to help you locate the resource in the physical library or electronically through the Internet or World Wide Web.
• Capture information that you will need when it comes time to create the bibliography. Because you will want to use the working bibliography to create the final bibliography included in your report, be certain to capture the information you will need to correctly cite that reference. Refer to the appropriate writers' handbooks to ascertain what bibliographic information you need to record. For example, if you are expected to cite references using the guidelines prescribed by the American Psychological Association (APA), you will want to refer to that association's publication guide. (See the module on Search Strategies and Source Evaluation for more help with finding and citing credible resources.)

Generally speaking, record the following for books and periodicals:

For Books	For Periodicals
library call number	library call number
names of authors, editors	names of authors
title and subtitle of book	title and subtitle of article
edition or volume number	title of periodical
publisher's name	volume and issue
place of publication	date of issue
date of publication	page numbers

Also consider writing notes to yourself about the reference, so that the reason you identified it as relevant remains meaningful to you. If the reference is a book, consider jotting down chapter titles; if it is a periodical, jotting down ideas from the abstract that precedes the article may be useful.

Step 5: Evaluate and Synthesize Resources

Once you have identified resources, begin to evaluate whether they will be useful to you. General questions to help you ascertain this are:

• Does the information pertain to your topic? Does it provide the type of information you need? Titles can sometimes obscure the contents of a chapter or book.
• Does the resource provide information at the right level of detail? Is it too general, too technical, or too theoretical?
• Is the reference a primary source or a secondary source? A primary source is an original document or manuscript. A secondary source is based upon the work of primary sources. For example, the report of a scientific study would be a primary source and an article synthesizing the results of several studies would be considered a secondary source.
• Is the author someone who is recognized in the field as an expert? Authors who have written more than one book or article on the topic and are frequently cited by other scholars are likely candidates for the title of "expert."
• Does the author cite high quality sources to support his or her ideas? A writer who cites other high quality sources demonstrates that he or she has researched the topic.
• Was the article published by a popular magazine or a scholarly journal? Popular magazines typically provide very general information about a topic, while scholarly journals and books provide greater substance and depth to the topic.
• How recent is the reference? While it is very possible that an important work on the topic may be a few decades old, has there been more current work on the topic? Try to balance older books and articles with more current resources.
• Is the writing objective and unbiased? Does the author present both sides (or all sides) accurately? As you know, if you read a position or argumentative paper on a topic, the author has adopted a stance. Therefore, you need to ensure that you read other views on the topic and understand the opinions of other authorities.
  

Step 6: Taking Notes on What You Read

After you have evaluated the various resources on your topic, begin reading the information and take notes on what you read. Eventually you will organize these notes to create the structure of your report. Historically, students have taken notes on index cards which are later used to organize the structure of their reports. More recently, however, students are using computers to take notes which they later cut and paste into the report document.

There are three basic ways to take notes when researching a topic. In each case, you will want to write down the specifics about where you found the information as well as the corresponding page numbers so that you can cite the author appropriately. Good records about references and citations help to prevent plagiarizing information.

• Summarize. When you summarize information, you condense a lengthy description or argument into a few sentences so that you communicate only the main ideas.
• Paraphrase. When you paraphrase information, you explain someone else's ideas in your own words without condensing it substantially.
• Direct Quote. When you quote someone directly, you use his or her exact words. Typically, direct quotes are used when you feel the original author's exact words are important.

Step 7: Organize Ideas and Create Structure

Once you have finished taking notes on what you have read, begin to organize your ideas and create a structure for your report. Your report should have three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Each section serves an important function.

• Introduction. The introduction of the report begins with a broad statement and communicates very general ideas about the topic.
• Body. The body of the report communicates the main points and supporting ideas.
• Conclusion. The conclusion of the report summarizes and restates the main ideas and ends with a general statement about the topic.
  

There are a variety of ways that you may choose to structure your ideas within the report. A few structuring techniques are described below:

• General to specific: begins by discussing a main point in general and then moving to more specific information.
• Chronological: provides information in a date and/or time sequence.
• Problem-solution: discusses a problem and then offers possible solutions for the problem.
• Familiar to unfamiliar: discusses what is familiar to the reader prior to discussing unfamiliar or new information.
• Comparison: compares two ideas to each other on the basis of similarities and differences.
• Causation: explains a cause-and-effect relationship between two ideas.
  

There are two tools that can help you organize your ideas:

• An outline helps you identify main ideas and supporting ideas. See more information about outlining.
• A concept map helps you group ideas that support a main idea. If you need more information, complete the iStudy module on Concept Maps.
  

Step 8: Write the First Draft

Once you have developed the basic structure for your report, you can begin writing. Your goal in writing the first draft is to get your ideas onto paper. Experts indicate that there is no set process to follow, so use the process that works for you. A few suggestions that might help you get started are provided below.

• Write a paragraph that describes what the report is about.
• Freewrite for a set period of time or amount of text.
• Re-read the information you have gathered.
• Write the sections that you feel most comfortable with first, then write the others.
• Divide your outline into sections and tackle one section at a time.

When you write your first draft, it is not important to worry about grammar, spelling, or the most appropriate word choice. The trick is to keep writing and not get bogged down by trying to write a perfect first draft. During the editing and revision stages you will be able to make necessary changes.

Step 9: Revise and Edit the Report

Step 10: Citing References

During the editing process you should also ensure that you have correctly cited the references that you have used. Failure to do so can be construed as plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's ideas in your paper without giving the author credit for them. Plagiarism is a serious offense and may result in expulsion from the University.

All ideas that you borrow from other authors must be cited. This includes ideas that you have summarized, ideas that you have paraphrased, and direct quotations. In general, everything other than common knowledge or knowledge that is not traceable to a specific source should be cited.

There are several different guidelines for citing references. For example, MLA Style is the system set forth by the Modern Language Association. APA Style refers to the system devised by the American Psychological Association. CBE Style is recommended by the Council of Biology Editors. A fourth style is called the Chicago style. Hard copy style manuals may be purchased for each of these documentation formats.

Getting in Style
Internet help on APA and Chicago style formats can be found in many places. Information on APA style can be found at: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html.

You can find information on the Chicago style at: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html.

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