Reports
are basically written down as a result of something that may have happened in
order to let people know what had happened, to what extent and the cause(s).
We have three (3) types of report:
- Periodic
report.
- Progressive
report.
- Investigative
report.
Periodic Report
It is
called periodic report because it is written at intervals, sometimes daily,
monthly or annually.
Periodic
report is a report written in an organisation where once a while or at some
certain interval, it will be required that the management of the organisation
knows what has been going on.
Progressive Report
Progressive
report is job specific. It is based on a particular job like contracts. As the
name implies, progressive report is a report written to know what has been done
and what is yet to be done on a particular job. It has a time span.
Investigative Report
This type
of report has to do with incidence that may have happened.
STRUCTURE OF A REPORT
A good
report should follow this sequence in terms of structure:
1. Title
The title
includes the subject matter, the names of those writing the report, names of
the initiators of the report and the date of submission. For example: A
report of December 25, 2015, on the End of Year Love Feast of the Port Harcourt
Youth Forum(PYF), Written by Tammy Reuben as Directed by the President of the
Forum, Mr Emmanuel Gogo.
2. Foreword
The
foreword is usually written by someone who has indebt knowledge of the report.
This person is different from the person writing the report.
3. Acknowledgement
Under
acknowledgement, you acknowledge or recognise those persons that were helpful
while compiling your report.
4. Table of Content
Here, the
headings of the report are usually written and numbered as well, especially
investigative reports which are normally bulky.
5. Table of Charts
This is
different from the table of content. This is where if need be, you represent
your report(s) in diagram and charts.
6. Abstracts
This is a
very condensed summary of what is expected in the report. In other words, it is
a condensed summary of the report.
7. Introduction
This is
where you are going to write a brief history of what you are reporting
on; what led to the incidence; when the committee was formed and the terms of
reference.
8. Procedure/Methodology
This
tells your reader your method of data collection. In other words, it explains
to your reader how you got the information on your report. Therefore, under
procedure/methodology, you are expected state how you went about your job
and how you did it.
9. Findings
Your
findings are what you discovered. You can also state your challenge(s) here.
10. Conclusion
The
summary of what you've written so far.
11. Recommendation
After the
conclusion, comes the recommendation. Recommendation has to do with the way
forward.
12. Appendix
Appendix
has to do with all of the documents, pictures, external papers that are not
part of your report.
13. Bibliography
These are
works cited (if any).
Note: The length of the report is determined by what you are writing.
FORMAT OF A REPORT
1. Schematic format
This
takes the structure of the report discussed above. You are expected to put
anything you are explaining in headings.
2. Letter format
In this
format, it is only the title of the report that you should put in heading while
others come in form of a letter.