UNIT – 4
Advanced techniques in Report Writing
In order to make sound business decisions, each organization has a routine practice of reporting on the progress and status of different activities.
An individual or an organized body may write reports, e.g. A Committee or Sub-Committee or Board of Inquiry, either on a regular basis or on special occasions following a specific inquiry conducted by them in accordance with their superiors' instructions, at regular interval.
Reports are often submitted by managers, secretaries, accountants, chief executives and experts in certain fields, often required to report on important issues such as the decline in sales, the suitability of certain premises, the reorganization of the office, the likelihood of profit variation, the desirability of establishing a new branch, etc.
4.1.1 Meaning of Report:
A report is a logical presentation of information and facts. It is a self-explanatory declaration that provides management with information for decision making and follow-up actions. The report is a systematic presentation of established facts about a particular event/subject and is a summary of a specific issue/findings problem's and recommendation.
A report is defined, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, as "an account given on a specific subject, in particular in the form of an official document, after thorough investigation or consideration by an appointed person or entity." "For example, "the annual report of the chairman.
Types of Report:
Reports may be 1. Reporting. Reports of Routine 2. 3. Formal Reports and 4. Special Reports. Informal articles.
1. Routine Reports:
By filling out the printed forms, routine reports are prepared periodically to convey information about the progress or status of work. They are submitted at periodic intervals or soon after the task is completed. Routine reports are provided below.
a. Progress Report: This report provides information on the progress of a project or a task that is being carried out, such as the construction of a building or the production of products.
b. Inspection Report: As soon as an inspection is carried out, it is submitted. It is necessary to identify any irregularities or changes in day-to-day work from standard practice. The internal audit report submitted by an internal auditor is an example.
c. Performance Appraisal: It is meant for measuring and recording an employee's performance. For each of the subordinates, each supervisor has to fill out an assessment report annually to evaluate the performance of individual employees. It also gives feedback on their performance to the staff.
d. Periodical Report: This is prepared at regular intervals by departmental heads on the operation of a section or department to assess the effective functioning of each department.
2. Special Reports:
When a special situation or problem arises, special reports are prepared. An individual or committee of individuals with knowledge and understanding in the field is appointed to investigate and study a particular issue, gather relevant information, and make suggestions to assist leadership in decision-making. Some of the special reports prepared by the organization are below.
a. First information Report (F.I.R.): If there are sudden accidents such as fire accident, building collapse, theft, etc., this report is required. It is prepared on the spot by the person in charge and submitted for their deliberation to the higher authorities. For example, the branch manager's report on fire accidents is prepared for immediate action at the branch office of the Regional Office or Head Office. The report must provide all the data available immediately after the occurrence of the incident, such as the nature of the loss, the extent of the destruction, the time of the accident, etc.
b. Investigation Report: It is prepared after a thorough investigation into certain specific situations has been conducted. When there is a problem, an investigation is done and the management must find out the causes of the problem, as well as the suggestions for solving it. For example, reports of falling sales, declining bank deposits, many complaints about customers, branch losses, etc.
c. Feasibility or Survey Report: This report is prepared when an organization intends to market a new product, introduce a new service, or make any significant changes that may affect the customers of the company.
d. Project Report: This is written after the initial survey on the research project has been completed. By showing the cash flow and expected results, the proposal is described as a project to be completed in the future. It is used for planning and also for convincing others, such as government departments and banks, particularly sanctioning and funding authorities.
3. Formal Reports:
In the prescribed or standard form, a formal report is prepared and presented according to the established procedure and through the right channel. Reports submitted by officials or organized bodies' committees (e.g. companies, cooperatives, local bodies, etc.) are generally formal reports. It may be a Statutory or Non-statutory Report.
a. Statutory Report: The statutory report is one prepared by the secretary or directory or auditor in accordance with specific law provisions. E.g. Auditors Report, Report of Directors, Report of Inspection Committee Etc.
b. Non-Statutory Report: Non-statutory reports are those that are not required under the provisions of any law, but must be prepared to assist top managers in order to control the company effectively and organize it.
4. Informal Reports:
Informal reports, on the other hand, do not follow any form or procedure prescribed. It usually takes the form of communication between an individual and a person and can even be established in the form of a letter.
Layout of Report:
The report's layout deals with the arrangement and presentation of information in the report. The main purpose of the report is to assist the recipient, on the basis of the conclusions and recommendations, to identify the facts relating to the subject under study, draw his own conclusions and take appropriate action. The report must not only be clear, concise and logical in order to achieve its purpose, but must also be drawn up according to a recognized form and arrangement.
However, it is difficult to establish a particular set of rules for the preparation of reports. The nature, length and style of a report should vary with the circumstances of the case, except for the statutory report. In the case of formal and special reports, the following are the general content arrangement.
a. The Heading or Title: A report must always have a title that indicates the study subject, the period and the study location. The full title page of a long report provides the title, the name of the person assigning the report and the name of the person or group preparing the report, with the month and year of submission.
In a short report, the title appears before the text of the report at the top of the first page.
b. Table of Contents: The Table of Contents is a list of the chapters or subjects included in the report. Each topic is given a serial number, title and page mark.
c. Body of the Report: It is a primary component of the report and consists of the following sub-sections, sub-headings or sub-headings. The body is split into the following portions:
i. Introduction: It contains the terms of reference and the study subject. Here, in light of the terms of reference and the relevant circumstances, the writer analyzes the problem chosen by him.
ii. Development or Findings: In this part, the author presents the facts and data gathered together with the outcome of his research in relation to his study. Data collected may include graphs, graphs and statistical tables from other reports published and presented in an organized form with a heading and a subheading for the reader to better understand.
iii. Conclusions or Recommendations: In this portion the writer draws up some definite conclusions on the basis of the facts and data presented after considering all aspects of the problem in hand. He then puts forward some strong suggestions or recommendations of his own.
iv. Appendix: This is the additional material provided at the end of the report. This may be a copy of the questionnaire used or the building plans, maps or other materials referred to in the reporting body.
v. References and Bibliography: In the case of long reports, for the preparation of the report, the reporter had to conduct comprehensive research. In such studies, just after the appendix, it is practical to add a list of references and bibliography to indicate the sources from which the writer drew his materials for the report.
vi. Index: The index includes the content of the report and is usually added after the bibliography has been added. Generally speaking, it is found in long reports.
vii. Summary: It contains the essence of the report's findings and recommendations and is usually appended to the person or superior body to whom it is submitted to facilitate its consideration.
viii) Signature: It should be dated and signed for all reports. It should be signed by the chairman if it is prepared by a committee or sub-committee and the report is common. It has to be signed by the reporter if it is prepared by an individual.
Quality of the Good Report:
There are a lot of reports written daily. Some of them are intended to record the progress of certain activities, i.e. feasibility reports, investigation reports, some of the reports are for monitoring purposes, some are evaluation reports, but it is clear that there is some objective and purpose behind all the reports. That goal and purpose can only be accomplished if the following features or characteristics of a report are:
Precise: The purpose of the report should be clearly defined. Precision of a report provides the unity to the report and makes it a valuable document for best usage.
Accuracy of Facts: The information in the report must be based on precise facts. Since decisions are made because of the information reported, any incorrect information or statistics will lead to an incorrect decision. In achieving the organizational goal, it will cause delay.
Relevancy: It should be relevant to the facts presented in the report. Irrelevant facts make decision-making confusing and likely to mislead a report.
Reader-Oriented: Different stakeholders read a report. A successful report is always reader-oriented. The knowledge and level of comprehension of the reader should be considered while writing the report. It is easy to read, remember and act upon if the report is reader-friend.
Simple Language: For easy and clear understanding, a report should be written in a simple language, avoiding jargon and technical words. Self-explaining should be the message of a good report.
Conciseness: A report should not be very long and should be brief. Lengthy reports influence the interest of the reader. Rather, it implies that a good report is one that conveys maximum data with minimum words and completes it in all respects.
Grammatically Accurate: A good report should be free from errors in grammar. Any defective construction of a sentence can distinguish its meaning from the mind of the reader and can sometimes become confusing or ambiguous.
Unbiased: It should be impartial and objective to make recommendations made at the end of a report. It must not be biased towards the reporter's personal feelings. As a logical conclusion for investigation and analysis, they should come.
Clarity: Clarity relies on the proper organization of facts. A good report is absolutely straightforward. Reporters should clarify their purpose, define their sources, state their findings and finally make the necessary recommendations. The clarity of facts improves the report's quality.
Attractive: An attractive presentation needs a good report. The structure, content, language, style of typing and presentation should be well designed to make a good impression on the reader's mind.
Key Takeaways:
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The ethics of research offer guidelines for the responsible conduct of research. Moreover, to ensure a high ethical standard, it educates and monitors scientists conducting research. A general summary of some ethical principles is given below:
Honesty:
Data, outcomes, methods and procedures and publication status are honestly reported. Do not fabricate information, falsify or misrepresent it.
Objectivity:
Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation of data, peer review, staff decisions, and writing of grants, expert testimony, and other research aspects.
Integrity:
Keep your promises and contracts; act with honesty; strive for consistency of thought and action.
Carefulness:
Avoid careless mistakes and negligence; examine your own work and your peers' work carefully and critically. Keep good records of activities involved in research.
Openness:
Share information, outcomes, ideas, instruments, resources. Be open to criticism and fresh concepts.
Respect for Intellectual Property:
Patents of honor, copyright, and other forms of intellectual property. Without permission, do not use unpublished data, methods, or results. Where credit is due, give credit. Plagiarize never.
Confidentiality:
Protect confidential communications, such as published papers or grants, personnel records, trade or military secrets, and patient records.
Responsible Publication:
To advance research and scholarship, publish, not just to advance your own career. Avoid publication that is wasted and duplicative.
Responsible Mentoring:
Help to educate students, mentor and advise them. Promoting their welfare and encouraging them to make their own choices.
Respect for Colleagues:
Respect and treat your colleagues fairly.
Social Responsibility:
Strive to promote social good through research, public education, and advocacy to prevent or mitigate social harm.
Non-Discrimination:
Avoid discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or other factors against colleagues or students that are not related to their scientific competence and integrity.
Competence:
Maintain and enhance through lifelong education and learning your own professional competence and expertise; take steps to promote competence in science as a whole.
Legality:
Know and comply with appropriate legislation and institutional and governmental policies.
Animal Care:
When using them in research, show proper respect and care for animals. Do not conduct animal experiments that are unnecessary or poorly designed.
Human Subjects Protection:
Minimize harms and hazards and maximize benefits when conducting research on human subjects; respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy.
Research misconducts
(a) Fabrication - Making up and recording or reporting data or outcomes.
(b) Falsification - Manipulating research materials or altering or omitting data or results in such a way that the research is not represented correctly in the research record.
(c) Plagiarism - Appropriation of the ideas, procedures, outcomes, or words of another person without giving adequate credit.
(d) The misconduct of research does not include honest mistakes or differences of opinion.
Key Takeaways:
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You will inevitably need to discuss anonymity and confidentiality when describing your data collection and data management procedures for research involving human participants. As you apply for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, these two concepts are particularly important to consider, as the IRB will want to ensure that you take appropriate precautions to protect participants. Many students, however, struggle to differentiate anonymity and confidentiality appropriately and often use these terms interchangeably. So, what is the distinction between the two, exactly?
Free Help Session: Quantitative Methodology
Students can ask questions during these sessions about research design, population and sampling, instrumentation, data collection, operational zing variables, building research questions, data analysis planning, sample size calculation, limitations of study, and validity. Anonymity implies that there is no way for anyone (including the researcher) to identify study participants personally. This implies that in an anonymous study, no personal identifying data can be gathered. This implies that in an anonymous study, no personal identifying data can be gathered. Information that is personally identified includes, but is not limited to, names, addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, ID numbers issued by the government (e.g., social security numbers), photos, and IP addresses.
This also implies that any research conducted face-to-face or over the phone cannot be considered anonymous; virtually all qualitative research involving interviews is excluded by this. The most common method of anonymous data collection is online surveys, but this does not mean all online survey research is anonymous. For example, the study cannot be considered anonymous if the investigator knows the e-mail addresses or IP addresses of the people who participated in the survey. IRBs will sometimes require that participants have a way to withdraw their responses from the survey. In these instances, it may be unavoidable to gather a personal identifier such as an e-mail address. In addition, surveys that collect several pieces of demographic information may not be truly anonymous, depending on the study's sample frame. For example, a combination of demographic information such as age, gender, ethnicity, or tenure could possibly be used to identify a participant if your sample frame included employees at a particular company.
Students can get answers to questions during these sessions about the research design and rationale, the role of the researcher, participant selection, instrumentation, procedure, data analysis plan, trustworthiness issues, data analysis and results. On the other hand, confidentiality implies that it is possible to identify the participants, but their identities are not revealed to anyone outside the study. In other words, only the researcher knows the participants' identities, and measures are put in place to ensure that the identities of the participants are not disclosed to anyone else. Through proper data management and security, confidentiality is best ensured. With regard to data management, the personal identifying information of the participants may be linked to their data by means of ID numbers (quantitative research) or pseudonyms (qualitative research); this enables the storage of personal identifying information separately from the data. Researchers should follow all the security measures their IRB requires in terms of data security, such as keeping paper and pencil data in locked file cabinets, password-protecting electronic data, and securely destroying data after completion of the research. It is important to inform participants about what information you will collect from them and how their identities will be protected, whether your study is anonymous or confidential. The best way to explain the nature of data collection and to assure participants that their privacy will be protected is to include this information in your informed consent form.
Key Takeaways:
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Plagiarism is the unethical practice of using, without proper recognition, words or ideas (either planned or accidental) of another author/researcher or your own previous works. Plagiarism, considered a serious academic and intellectual offense, can lead to extremely negative consequences, such as paper retractions and the loss of credibility and reputation of the author. Currently, it is a serious issue in academic publishing and a significant reason for paper retractions.
Therefore, it is imperative that researchers increase their understanding of plagiarism. Academic traditions and nuances may not insist on authentication in some cultures by quoting the source of words or ideas. In the global academic code of conduct, however, this form of validation is a prerequisite. In order to communicate their technical content in English as well as comply with ethical rules, non-native English speakers face a greater challenge. Plagiarism is also affected by the digital age. Researchers have easy access to internet content and information, making it easy to copy and paste data.
- Understand the background
- Do not copy-paste the text from the reference paper verbatim. Instead, in your own words, restate the idea.
- Understand the idea(s) of the reference source well in order to correctly paraphrase.
- Examples can be found here of good paraphrasing.
2. Quote
Use quotes to indicate that another paper has been taken from the text. The quotes in the paper from which you take them should be exactly the way they appear.
3. Identify what does not need to be cited and what does not.
- It is necessary to cite any words or ideas that are not your own but taken from another paper.
- Cite your own material. You must cite yourself if you use content from your previous paper. Using material you have published before is called self-plagiarism without citation.
- There should be no citation of the scientific evidence you gathered after performing your tests.
- It is not necessary to cite facts or common knowledge. Include a reference if unsure.
4. Manage citations for your
- Maintain records of the sources you are referencing. To handle the citations used for the document, use citation software such as EndNote or Reference Manager.
- For the background information/literature survey, use multiple references. The individual papers should be referred to and cited, for instance, rather than referencing a review.
5. Using checkers for plagiarism
To see how much of your paper is plagiarized, you can use multiple plagiarism detection tools like iThenticate or eTBLAST.
Key Takeaways:
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Reference Books:
- Research methodology in Social sciences, O.R.Krishnaswamy, Himalaya Publication
- Research Methods for Management: S Shajahan, Jaico Publishing
