Academic Report Writing Structure Uk TextPrintable version of this guide this is designed to be printed double sided on a4 paper, then folded to make an a5 leaflet. When you write a report you are communicating your knowledge about a set of actions to a reader. It does not mean: using long words writing complicated sentences with lots of semi colons and colons some suggestions to help you write academically. be objective – report what the evidence tells you even if it isn't what you hoped to find. Don't present unsupported or personal opinions: for instance, 'unsurprisingly, participants who recycled their refuse more regularly were also nicer people'. be accurate – give clear non subjective descriptions 'light blue' is better than 'sky blue' and definite figures 'after twenty five minutes', '80% of the participants'. Avoid vague or ambiguous terms like 'a long period of time', or 'most of the participants'. be direct – don't leave it to your reader to work out what you are saying! putting the emphasis on a strong verb can help the reader to see the important points: for instance, 'an analysis was performed on the results' is not as direct as 'the results were analysed'. be critical – evaluate your own work as well as that of others. Have the confidence to say if something could have been done better if it had been done differently. be appropriate – identify the purpose of your communication and the audience you are communicating to. It always used to be recommended in academic writing that you used the passive voice 'the experiment was conducted' rather than 'we conducted the experiment'. Many people recognise now that this can make writing pompous and overly complicated. Check any instructions you have for guidelines on this if in doubt, use the passive voice. Reports are written to describe work completed in response to a particular brief, either one that has been given to you, or one you have set up yourself. So sections describing ' what you did and what you found' are likely to be written first. Sections that explain or expand on the purpose of the research should be next: what questions are you seeking to answer, how did they arise, why are they worth investigating? these will help you to see how to interpret and analyse your findings. Once you've established the questions your research is seeking to answer, you will be able to see how your results contribute to the answers, and what kind of answers they point to. Once the main body is finished you can write a succinct and accurate summary of the main features. if you're going to go to the trouble of writing an excellent report, it's a shame to spoil it with careless finishing. If you give yourself time to check details you can make your presentation as good as your content. referencing – your course handbook should explain the style of referencing preferred by your department. If you've lost the details of a source, don't include it – unacknowledged sources could be read as plagiarism. proof reading – print your work off to proof read – you are more likely to spot errors. Use spell and grammar checkers wisely – make sure changes won't affect what you wanted to say. title page, contents, list of illustrations – not all reports will need all of these sections. If yours does, they will probably be the last sections to write, once you are certain that the page order will not change. A well presented report looks professional and gives the impression that its author cared about getting things right – you can lose marks by not doing this properly! check whether your department has advice on the exact format. Much of the information you will need will be accessible online, on blackboard or your dept's website. related exercises: trends this exercise introduces the vocabulary and grammar needed to describe trends. Describing satisfaction choosing between 'satisfy', 'satisfied', 'satisfying' and 'satisfactory', etc. Types of reports can vary greatly they can range from an experimental report to an environmental impact statement. There is however, a basic structure common to most reports, irrespective of their type. What was the problem, how was it investigated, what did you find out and what do your findings mean? a list of the major and minor sections of your report. Organise the sections in a logical sequence: what you investigated, what you found, what interpretations and what judgements you made. What has been achieved and what is the significance of your findings and your discussion? have your aims been successful or not? what do you recommend as a course of action following your conclusion? the skills team run the following relevant workshops: a report is a formal, structured piece of writing that usually presents the findings of some research, an enquiry, or an information gathering process. Magic Water-Writing Paper for Practicing Chinese CalligraphyReports are often thought of as being mainly scientific and technical, but they can be produced in any subject area, for example, to give the results of a survey in the social sciences, or to describe a review of the literature in an arts topic. If you are writing a scientific report, please see our page on scientific writing. this is what i did, and this is what i found you are likely to find that different university departments or organisations have their own preferred structure and format for reports. For example, in industry, firms often issue series of reports which all have a common format. It is vital that you check with your tutor to find out how your report should be structured and presented. As general guidance, reports are usually arranged in sections, each with a clear heading. A simple report is likely to include at least the following: introduction, including aims and objectives methodology findings/results discussion conclusions and recommendations references more complex reports not covered in detail here may have these sections: title page terms of reference, including scope of report contents list of tables and diagrams acknowledgements, i.e. Key points of the report introduction methodology findings/results discussion conclusions and recommendations references/bibliography appendices glossary the main sections of a report can be numbered, and can have sub sections with sub headings, which are also numbered. You will often see reports where the main sections are given single numbers ndash 1, 2, 3 and so on and the sub sections are given a decimal number ndash 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and so on. For example: ms word can help you with this ndash use the multilevel list option on the home ribbon, and use the indent buttons to move between your levels. What are you writing about, why and for whom? what are your objectives? what are you trying to show or prove your hypothesis ? state how you did your research/enquiry and the methods you used. How did you collect your data? for example, if you conducted a survey, say how many people were included and how you selected them. Be very careful about copyright if you are using published charts, tables, illustrations etc. What do they show? were they what you expected? could your research have been done in a better way? these should follow on logically from the findings and discussion sections. Summarise the key points of your findings and show whether they prove or disprove your hypothesis. If you have been asked to, you can make recommendations arising from your research. List all your sources in alphabetical order, using the referencing system recommended by your department. Descriptions of methodology should be sufficiently clear and detailed to allow someone else to replicate them exactly. Scientific reports tend to be written in what is called the passive voice, which is more formal. Law Research Paper Format
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