Seven Stages of Report Writing

REPORT

Writing the Report : the Essential Stages

All reports need to be clear concise and well structured. The key to writing an effective report is to allocate time for planning and preparation. With careful planning, the writing of report will become much easier.

Seven Stages of Report are as following :-

Stage One :     Understanding the report Brief

This first stage is the most important stage. You need to be confident that you understand the purpose of your report as described in your report brief or instructions. Consider who the report is for and why it is being written. Check that you understand all the instructions or requirements, and ask you tutor if anything is unclear.

Stage two :      Gathering And  Selecting Information

Once you are clear about the purpose of your report, you need to begin to gather relevant information. Your information may come from a variety of sources, but how much information is need it depends upon the  detail of report. Keep referring to your report brief to help you decide what  is relevant information.

Stage Three :    Organizing your material

Once you have gathered information you need to be decide what will be included in and in what sequence it should be presented. Begin by grouping together points that are related. These may form sections or chapters. Remember to keep referring to the report brief and be prepared to cut any information that is not directly relevant to the report. Choose an order for your material that is logical and easy to follow.

Stage Four : Analyzing your material

Before you begin to write your first draft of the report, take time to consider and make notes on the points you will make using the fact and evidence you have gathered. What conclusion can be drawn from the material? What are limitations or flaws in the evidence? Do certain pieces of evidence conflict with one another? It is enough to simply present the information you have gathered; you must related it to the problem or issuance described in the report brief.

Stage Five : Writing the Report

Having organized your material into appropriate sections and headings you can begin to write the first draft of the report. The structure describe below is adapted and applied to chapters, sections and even paragraphs.

• ·         Introduce the main idea of chapter/section/paragraph
•         Explain and Expand the idea, defining any key terms.
•     Present relevant evidence to support your points.
•     Comment on each piece of evidence showing how it relates to your points.
•      Conclude your chapter/section/paragraph by either showing its significance to the report as a whole or making link to next section.

Stage Six : Reviewing and Redrafting

Ideally, you should leave time to take a break before you review your first draft. Be prepared to rearrange or rewrite sections in the light of your review. Try to read the draft from the perspective of the reader. Writing on a word processor makes it easier to rewrite and rearrange sections or paragraphs in your first draft. If you write your first draft by hand, try writing each section on a separate piece of paper to make redrafting easier.

Stage Seven : Presentation

Once you are satisfied with your content and structure of your redrafted report, you can turn your attention to the presentation. Check that the wording of each chapter/section/sub-heading is clear and accurate. Make sure all your sources and acknowledgement are correctly referenced.  Errors in the presentation or expression create a poor impression and can make the report difficult to read.