" SHORT REPORT !
Immersive Reader
Report Structure
How to structure a report
You are likely to find that different university
departments or organisations have their own
preferred structure and format for reports. For
example, in industry, companies often issue
series of reports which all have a common
format. It is vital that you check with your tutor
to find out how your report should be
structured and presented.
As general guidance, reports are usually
arranged in sections, each with a clear heading.
A simple report is likely to include at least the
following:
Simple report sections
Introduction, including aims and
objectives
Methodology
Findings/results
Discussion
Conclusions and recommendations
References
Each of these is covered in detail further down
the page.
More complex reports (not covered in detail
here) may have these sections:
Preliminaries
Title page
Terms of reference, including scope of
report
Contents
List of tables and diagrams
Acknowledgements, i.e. thanks to those
who helped with the report
Summary, i.e. key points of the report
Main part
Introduction
Methodology
Findings/results
Discussion
Conclusions and recommendations
Supplementaries
References/bibliography
Appendices
Glossary
Numbering sections
The main sections of a report can be
numbered, and can have sub-sections with sub-
headings, which are also numbered. These
correspond roughly to paragraphs in an essay.
You will often see reports where the main
sections are given single numbers – 1, 2, 3 and
so on; and the sub-sections are given a decimal
number – 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and so on. Sub-sections
can be further divided into – 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3
and so on. For example:
1. Introduction
1.1. Aims and objectives
1.2. Hypothesis
2. Methodology
2.1. The survey
2.1.1. The questionnaire
2.1.2. The sample
MS Word can help you with this – go to our
Multi-level numbering page for help with
setting this up so that you use the different
styles in your document to help. This also
means you can produce an automatic table of
contents.
The sections of a simple
report
Introduction
State what your research/project/enquiry is
about. What are you writing about, why and for
whom? What are your objectives? What are
you trying to show or prove (your hypothesis)?
Methodology
State how you did your research/enquiry and
the methods you used. How did you collect
your data? For example, if you conducted a
survey, say how many people were included
and how you selected them. Say whether you
used interviews or questionnaires and how you
analysed the data.
Findings/results
Give the results of your research. Do not, at
this stage, try to interpret the results – simply
report them. This section may include graphs,
charts, diagrams etc. (clearly labelled). Be very
careful about copyright if you are using
published charts, tables, illustrations etc.
Discussion
Interpret your findings. What do they show?
Were they what you expected? Could your
research have been done in a better way?
Conclusions and
recommendations
These should follow on logically from the
Findings and Discussion sections. Summarise
the key points of your findings and show
whether they prove or disprove your
hypothesis. If you have been asked to, you can
make recommendations arising from your
research.
References
List all your sources in alphabetical order, using
the appropriate University of Hull style. You
might find our referencing pages useful.
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