REPORT WRITITING

•A REPORT
Otagburuagu (1995:17)
A report is ‘a description of an event, an
experience, a statement about situations or
actions which is meant to give a reliable and
accurate piece of information about its
subjects and or the event it covers’
•Peter Little (1965:158)
•A report as ‘a document which provides an
account of something witnessed or
examined, or of an investigation together
with conclusions arrived at as a result of
the investigation
•Krevolin (1983:39)
Defines a report as an objective oral or
written presentation structured to
communicate information, investigation a
problem, record ideas and facts, or
interpret and or provide solutions to a
problem
Reportsare factual documents which give accounts of
events, processes, methods or systems.
Types of Report
1 Classification According to Subject Matter
Eye-witness Report: An eye witness report gives an
account of any event or experience. accidents, thefts,
labour unrest, armed robbery
Work Report: A work report presents information on
tasks confronting an establishment
Laboratory Repot: This gives an account of the
procedure, result and significance of an experiment
with findings and conclusion
Progress Report: A progress report gives detailed
information on the progress made in any
establishment: the current tasks undertaken during
the past week, month, quarter or year
Investigative Report: The head of any unit, parastatal,
establishment may constitute a committee to look
into any matter, or issue confronting the unit. This
type of report is called an investigative or special
report.
Analytical Report: They persuade readers to accept
certain conclusions as being factual and valid
2. Reports Classified According to Form
Schematic Form: Ideas presented in a report can be
arranged into sections and subsection
Letter Form: A report can also be presented in a
letter form. This is, however, only possible where the
subject matter being presented is a simple one with a
single point of view
Mixed Form: The mixed form of a report combines
features of the letter form and feature of the
schematic form. It begins like a letter and takes the
schematic form when the findings are written down
3. Formal or Informal
1 Formal report-
It consist of several fairly standardized parts. It is
presented to the reader in a rather formal format
-Consists preliminary parts, body parts and supplementary
parts.
2.Informal reports –
This report does not follow any prescribed or official form
or procedure
- Consists of title, introduction, main body, conclusion and
recommendations
4. Reports Classified According to Length
Long reports give detailed information while shorts
reports do not contain full details.
Objectives of Report Writing
1. Objective of office reports is to communicate the
information to those who need it.
2. To facilitate planning and co-ordination by
presenting factual information.
3.To provide the information to shareholders, creditors,
investors, customers and also general public.
4. To facilitate the management to take appropriate
course of action ( basis for decision making)
5. To provide valuable written records which can be
used as future reference
6. To provide facts and results of an enquiry.
7. To give the basis of measuring the performance of
executives.
8.Help to bring about improvement and changes
9. Helps in making recommendations
Report Writing (Tips and Guidelines)
Avoid the use of passive voice.
 Prepare the report after knowing your audience and
need of readers.
 Write the report concisely (briefly) but
comprehensively.
 Write in simple language.
 It should be well planned and well organized.
 It should follow the logical conclusion.
It may also give recommendation.
Stages in report writing
• The following stages are involved in writing a
report:
 Planning your work
collecting your information
 organizing and structuring your information
writing the first draft
checking and re-drafting
Parts of a report
1. Title page This should include the title
of the report, the author(s)’s name(s),
Supervisor, and the date.
2. Acknowledgements
Acknowledge any help you have received
in collecting the information , presenting
and writing a report.
3. Contents /Table of contents
List all the main sections of the report in sequence with the
page numbers they begin on.
- If there are charts, diagrams or tables included in your report,
these should be listed separately
4 Abstract or executive summary
A short paragraph summarizing the main contents of the
report.
It should include the main task, the methods used, conclusions
reached and any recommendations made.
-Write this section after you have written the main body of the
report.
5. List of abbreviation/ List of acronyms
-Gives description of acronyms of abbreviation
Example
C.C.M- Chama Cha Mapinduzi
CEO –Chief Executive Officer
TIA-Tanzania Institute of Accountancy etc
Other preliminary parts include
-Dedication
-Certification etc
6. Introduction
This should give the context and scope of the report and
should include
- Back ground to the problem
- Statement of the problem
- Main and specific Objectives
- Significances
- Scope of the study
- Limitations
- Delimitations
7. Literature review
Read both theoretical and empirical literature that will help
you to establish the knowledge gap as well as justify your
study.
It includes
i. Definition of key terminologies
ii. Theoretical review
iii. Empirical literature
iv. Research gap
v. The conceptual framework
8. Methodology
In this section you should state how you carried
out your enquiry.
 What form did your enquiry take?
how did you collect your data?(Did you carry out
interviews or questionnaires)
What measurements did you make?
9. Results or findings
Present your findings in as simple a way as possible.
Graphs, charts and diagrams help your reader identify
key results and will break the flow of written text.
10. Discussion
-Analyze and interpret your results drawing from the
information which you have collected, explaining its
significance.
Identify important issues and suggest explanations for
your findings
11. Conclusions and recommendations
Conclusion
-Brief statements of the key findings of the report (full
explanation is given in the Findings and/or Discussion).
-Should relate directly to the objectives
Recommendations
The opinions of the writer of the report about possible
changes, or solutions to the problems, what should be done,
when and how it should be don
12. References
• It is important that you give precise and accurate details of all
the work by other authors which has been referred to within
the report.
• References are normally listed in alphabetical order by the
authors' names
• There are several referencing styles but APA referencing style
is preferable.
• Observe the specified referencing style and use it
Bibliography- Lists any sources that were read for the research
but were not cited in the report(Not always required)
APA referencing style.
1. In text citations
• This demonstrates support for your ideas, arguments and
views Within your report
Examples of citing within a text.
Water is a necessary part of every person’s diet and of all
the nutrients a body needs to function(Whitney & Rolfes,
2011).
Whitney and Rolfes (2011) state the body requires many
nutrients to function but highlight that water is of greater
importance than any other nutrient.
2. A reference list
The reference list shows the complete details of everything you cited and
appears in an alphabetical list on a separate page, at the end of the report
It might be useful to remember these Ws!
1. Author/s or Editor/s last name (surname) appears first, followed by
initials (Bloggs, J.).
2. Year of publication in brackets (2010).
3. Full title of the book. Capitalize only the first word of the title and the
subtitle, if any, and
proper names. Italicise the title. Use a colon (:) between the title and
subtitle.
4. Include the edition number, if applicable, in brackets after the title or
subtitle (3rd ed.) or (Rev.
5. Place of publication. Always include the city and 2-letter state
code when published inside the
USA, and the city & country, if published outside the USA (Fort Bragg,
CA or Auckland, New
Zealand or Benalla, Australia or Weybridge, England). If there are two
or more places included in the source, then use the first one listed.
6. Publisher’s name. Provide this as briefly as possible. Do not use
terms such as Publishers, Co.,
or Inc. but include the words Books & Press. When the author and
the publisher are the same, use the word Author as the name of the
publisher.
Example – end reference for books
Collier, A. (2008). The world of tourism and travel. Rosedale,
New Zealand: Pearson Education New Zealand

Magigi, W.(2015). Research Proposal development and report

writng:A path way for success in higher learning institutions.

Moshi, Tanzania, Safi Publishers and Trading.

Journal articles- (writing end reference)
1. Author/s last name (surname) first, followed by initials.
2. Year of publication in brackets. (2012)
3. Title of article. Capitalise only the first word of the title and the subtitle, if any,
and proper names. Use a colon (:) between the title and subtitle.
4. Title of the serial/journal in full in italics.
5. Volume number, in italics. Do not use “Vol.” before the number.
6. Issue number. This is bracketed immediately after the volume number but not
italicised.
7. Month, season or other designation of publication if there is no volume or
issue number.
8. Include all page numbers.
9. Include any Digital Object Identifiers [DOI].
Examples of journal end references
Mashenene, R.G. (2020). Performance of rural and urban women
owned small and medium enterprises in tanzania: do socio-cultural
factors matter? Journal of Co-operative and Business Studies, 5 (1), 73-
84.

Vershinina, N, Woldesenbet, B.K & Murithi, W. (2018). 'How does

national culture enable or constrain entrepreneurship? Exploring the
role of Harambee in Kenya. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise
Development, 25, (4) 687-704.
Basic rules
• 1. The reference list is arranged in alphabetical order of
the authors’ last names.
• 2. If there is more than one work by the same author,
order them by publication date – oldest to
• newest
• 3. If there is no author the title moves to that position
and the entry is alphabetized by the first
4. Use “&” instead of “and” when listing multiple authors
of a sources
12. Appendices
Additional relevant information. May include
interview questions, surveys, glossary etc
An appendix contains additional related information
which is not essential to read but can be consulted if
the reader wishes
Presentation
Your report should be easy to read.
• Paragraphs should be short and concise. They should be
spaced apart.
• Avoid rambling by using short sentences.
• Avoid using unnecessary jargon and unexplained
abbreviations.
• List your standard measurements, units and technical
terminology in a glossary at the end.
• Headings should be clear – highlighted in bold
or underlined.
• Label graphs, pictures or drawings as 'Figures',
e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2 etc.
• Tables of information should be labelled
separately, e.g. Table 1, Table 2 etc

Kamwela, B
Tanzania Institute of Accountancy(TIA)