Paragraph Structure

Writing ReportsDebbie Lahav

Business EnglishRuppin Academic Center

Reporting

When you report, you give an organized summary of factual information.

Write about decisions, actions and/or conclusions involved in a an event, an activity, or an investigation.

End the paragraph by reporting the outcome.

Before you write, clearly organize your ideas, including only the most essential information.

Info 1 + supporting detail

Info 2 + supporting detail

Info 3 + supporting detail

Event

Outcome

Organization: Reporting Factual Information

Topic sentence: purpose, outcome, or central idea of an event

Body: organized by chronology or category Decision, action, vote, discovery, or conclusion Decision, action, vote, discovery, or conclusion Decision, action, vote, discovery, or conclusion

Conclusion: recommendation based on information reported

The City Council has taken a number of steps in its attempt to solve the city’s $2 million budget deficit. On July 12, the Council held a public meeting to hear a variety of suggestions from residents. A number of residents offered opinions on possible cuts in services identified in the survey conducted the previous month. However, many residents objected to any cuts in services. Instead, the residents suggested ways that the city could increase revenues. Those suggestions included raising the sales tax from 8.5% to 8.75% or creating new taxes, such as a tax on hotel rooms. The issues will be reviewed by city experts and reported on at the next meeting.

Class Task: Read the paragraph

below. What is the event? What factual

information is being reported?

Prepare a list showing all the pieces of information + supporting detail reported.

What is the outcome?

Homework Task

Organize your information before writing in a table or list showing the event, the factual information and supporting detail and the outcome.Type your paragraph in Word. When you finish, check your work.Then copy and paste your table showing the organization of information and the paragraph in the text box. Remember to click the icon changing the paragraph direction to left to right.

Continue the report:July 31 meeting of the City Council• Discussed possible cuts - reducing garbage

pickup; reducing bottle and paper recycle pickup –no decision• Discussion of increasing revenues - increase

in sales tax or hotel tax or both – decision made to….(complete with your own ideas)

Writing a Full Report: Beyond the Paragraph A business report is a formal

document. It should be concise, well

organized, and easy to follow; using headings, sub-headings, sections.

Sections should be numbered: - major section 1,2,3 etc. - first level of sub-section 1.1, 1.2 etc., 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 etc. - second level 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ......, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, ..... etc.

Report format: In the body of the report Title page - subject of the report, author,

date Terms of reference - who ordered the

report, when and why, any conditions Contents page - all section numbers and

titles, using exactly the same wording as in the report

Abstract - brief summary of report - task, summary of conclusions and recommendations

Introduction - background information Main body of report - findings, description,

facts, opinions, etc. This must be well structured

Conclusion - summary of results Recommendations - usually in the form of a

list

Format: At the end of the report Appendices (not always necessary) -

additional details, tables, graphs, detailed analysis. These must be numbered and cross referenced in the text

Glossary (not always necessary) -explanation of any specialist terms

Bibliography - references to any books, journals, etc. which were used either for background reading, or directly quoted in the report.They should be arranged alphabetically by the author's name The reference should include: author, date of publication, title, edition,place of publication, publisher.

A Few Tips… If using Word™ or a similar package, use (but

don't just rely on) the spell-checker. Check your grammar and punctuation. Make sure you read it through and that you

understand it. If you can get someone else to read it - even

better. Make a copy - if you're using a PC make two

separate copies, and keep them safe.