Communication: Higher

Report writing

What is a report?
A report is an objective investigation into a given subject. When you write a report, you must avoid giving your own opinions, and focus instead on presenting information that you gather from other sources.

Reports have a purpose – usually to investigate some issue or problem, or to gather facts for a particular purpose. When you begin to write your report, you must be clear what that purpose is before you begin. If you don’t know why you’re writing something, it can be very difficult for you to put the correct information in it.

Reports are also written with a particular readership in mind. For example, if your line manager asks you to write a report investigating the number of breakdowns on the production line, you must be sure to write using language that is appropriate for the reader – your manager.

Reports should be written in numbered sections, and they use headings as a way of breaking up the information.

People use the word ‘report’ to mean different things – and indeed many different forms of report are acceptable. We’re going to focus on writing formal reports. This style of report writing follows certain conventions and it’s important that you understand these before you begin.

Let’s look at the sections that go into a report.

	Report writing What is a report? A report is an objective investigation into a given subject. When you write a report, you must avoid giving your own opinions, and focus instead on presenting information that you gather from other sources. Reports have a purpose – usually to investigate some issue or problem, or to gather facts for a particular purpose. When you begin to write your report, you must be clear what that purpose is before you begin. If you don’t know why you’re writing something, it can be very difficult for you to put the correct information in it. Reports are also written with a particular readership in mind. For example, if your line manager asks you to write a report investigating the number of breakdowns on the production line, you must be sure to write using language that is appropriate for the reader – your manager. Reports should be written in numbered sections, and they use headings as a way of breaking up the information. People use the word ‘report’ to mean different things – and indeed many different forms of report are acceptable. We’re going to focus on writing formal reports. This style of report writing follows certain conventions and it’s important that you understand these before you begin. Let’s look at the sections that go into a report.