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Report Tips |
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The Purpose of your report
Your report must have a communicative purpose. You are trying to communicate something to the
reader. The following examples may help you. |
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Explain |
Give the reasons for doing something or saying why something happens |
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Justify |
Explain why something should be done |
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Decide |
Explain why a certain decision is best |
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Compare |
Compare/Contrast different things or different aspects of one thing in
order to make a choice or a decision. |
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Recommend |
Make recommendations regarding something |
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Developing your thesis
The thesis says what the report is about. It defines
what you are going say and do.
Your report must have a purpose and this purpose is
your thesis.
The thesis must be stated clearly. Usually, it is
placed towards the end of the introduction although it can be elsewhere.
It is essential that the thesis is both clear and
complete.
I find the easiest way to do this is to imagine that
your report is answering a question.
This not only helps you develop your full outline but
makes developing your thesis very easy – it is simply the answer to the
question. |
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Your Question
The best questions to ask are why and
how as they need the most explanation.
What questions will not give you such
an interesting report. Also, opinions are more interesting
than facts. |
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Body of Report
Everything that you put in the body of your report
should expand and support your thesis. Anything that does not contribute
to this objective is irrelevant and should be omitted. |
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Number of Paragraphs
Don’t worry about the number of paragraphs at this
stage. This can be worked out as you go along. Concentrate on your
purpose. If you can achieve your purpose, all will be well. |
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Conclusion
From what has been said, it should now be obvious
that the conclusion summarises your answer to
the question, real or imaginary, that you developed at the beginning. |
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Length of Report
Most students are initially frightened by the stated
length of the report. In fact, if you are writing a good report, the
problem will be reducing the overall content to make it shorter, not
longer. |
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Source Material
Consult your teacher about the number and type of
source materials you can use.
Do not copy the wording (phrases) of your sources
exactly unless you are quoting.
Whenever you use information from a source you must
indicate the source it comes from. See your textbook or consult your
teacher for details. |
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Final Report
You final report must be printed and bound. It should
also have a transparent plastic cover, front and rear.
You must include at least the following: |
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Cover Page |
See your textbook or
consult your teacher for
details |
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Table of Contents |
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Introduction |
Perhaps on a separate page? |
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Body |
As many pages as
necessary |
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Conclusion |
Perhaps on a separate page? |
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Works Cited |
On a separate page
See your textbook or
consult your teacher for
details |
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Recommended Font Sizes
As a general rule, you should not use a large font
size just to fill up the page, something that some people like to do. It
is not a good idea.
Examples of acceptable font sizes for normal text
are: |
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Times New Roman
Arial |
12 or 14pt
11 or 12pt (This document is Arial 11) |
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You can of course use larger font sizes for headings
but don’t exaggerate! |
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Font Types
There are hundreds of font types available on most
computers, most of which are never used, but there are some that are very
commonly used. Suitable fonts for your report should look like one of
these: |
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Times New Roman 12 |
Times New Roman 14 (Rather large) |
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Arial 11 |
Arial 12 |
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Tahoma 11 |
Tahoma 12
(Rather large) |
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Verdana 11 |
Verdana
12 (also rather large) |
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At the end of the day, it’s up to you! |
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Click here to download a suitable report template:
Download |
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