Writing a Report: How to Prepare, Write and Present Really Effective Reports

238 Pages·2009·0.76 MB·English

by  John Bowden

Writing a Report
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Writing a Report
How to prepare, write and present
really effective reports
John Bowden
ED 8A NDU
S P
I D
V A
E th TE
REIGHTHEDITION D
For Paula, Forever.

Published by How To Content,
A division of How To Books Ltd,
Spring Hill House, Spring Hill Road
Begbroke, Oxford OX5 1RX, United Kingdom
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All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced
or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for
purposes of review) without the express permission of the
publisher in writing.

© 2008 John Bowden

First edition 1991
Second edition 1994
Third edition 1996
Fourth edition 1997
Fifth edition 2000
Sixth edition 2002
Seventh edition 2004
Eighth edition 2008
First published in electronic form 2008

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84803 288 0

Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford
Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions
Typeset by Kestrel Data, Exeter, Devon

NOTE: The material in this book is set out in good faith for
general guidance and no liability can be accepted for loss or
expense incurred as a result of relying in particular circumstances
on statements made in the book. Laws and regulations are
complex and liable to change, and readers should check the
current position with the relevant authorities before making
personal arrangements.
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Preface to the eighth edition xi
Acknowledgements xii
Part 1 The practical side of report writing 1
1 Preparation and Planning 3
Setting your objective 4
Assessing your readership 6
Deciding what information you will need 7
Preparing your skeletal framework 9
Testing and revising your skeletal framework 27
Summary 28
2 Collecting and Handling Information 30
Locating sources of relevant information 30
Obtaining the information 36
Sorting and grouping your findings 51
Evaluating your findings 52
Prioritising your findings 54
Checking your findings 55
Summary 55
3 Writing and Revising Your Report 58
Pre-writing 59
Drafting the main body and appendixes 59
vi / WRITING A REPORT
Reviewing the main body and appendixes 60
Drafting the conclusions, recommendations, introduction
and summary 61
Checking and amending the report 62
Issuing the report 68
Summary 69
Part 2 The Creative Side of Report Writing 71
4 A Style Guide to Good Report Writing 73
Report style 74
Achieving a good style 76
Choosing your words carefully 81
Principles for effective report writing 85
Summary 88
5 Improving the Presentation of Your Report 90
Word processing and desktop publishing 91
Layout and design 94
Typography 102
Illustrations 108
Colour 126
Paper, covers, binding and indexing 128
Summary 134
Part 3 Some Common Types of Report 137
Accident reports 140
Agendas for committee meetings 140
Annual reports 144
Appraisal reports 146
Audit reports 147
Comparative testing reports 150
Duty notes reports 153
CONTENTS / vii
Explanatory reports 153
Feasibility reports 155
Informative reports 156
Instructional manuals 156
Interview reports 158
Investigation into the financial affairs of a company
reports 160
Minutes 161
Process description reports 163
Progress reports 164
Research reports 165
Scientific reports 167
Student project reports 169
Systems evaluation reports 170
Technical reports 172
Technological reports 173
Trouble-shooting reports 177
Appendix 1: Sample Reports 181
Glossary 203
Resources 217
Index 220
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List of Illustrations
1 Mind mapping the information you will need 9
2 An algorithm 20
3 A tally sheet 42
4 A questionnaire 46
5 Three page designs 95
6 Page orientation 96
7 Type alignment 107
8 Lines, arrows, boxes, frames and shading 112
9 A pie chart 114
10 A bar chart 115
11 A pictogram 116
12 A flow chart 121
13 An organisational chart 122
14 An isometric drawing 123
15 An exploded drawing 123
16 A cut-away drawing 124
17 Contrasting backgrounds and type 128
18 Indexing a report 134