Lesson Seven
Writing a Formal Report; Front and Back Matter
Dr. Nancy Hoagland

Lecture Notes

Introduction

The purpose of Lesson Seven is to prepare you to write the formal report of your class project. This lesson will consist of two main topics: how to write the body of a formal report and how to write the front and back parts of a formal report.

Assignment 4: Analytical Report is due on January 15 . For more information, see the Assignment Sheet for Assignment 4: Analytical Report and the Evaluation Sheet for Assignment 4: Analytical Report.

Chapter 19 Writing Formal Reports

Types of Formal Report

Markel classifies formal reports into three types: informational, analytical, and recommendation. The informational report presents only results. The analytical report presents results and draws conclusions. The recommendation report presents results, draws conclusions, and makes recommendations.

One special type of recommendation report is the feasibility report. For a feasibility report, you should:

• Identify the problem or opportunity.
• Establish criteria for responding to the problem or opportunity.
• Determine the options.
• Study each option according to the criteria.
• Draw conclusions about each option, and formulate recommendations based on the conclusions. (491)
  

WARNING: The Assignment Sheet for Assignment 4: Analytical Report and the Evaluation Sheet for Assignment 4: Analytical Report both still use the term "analytical" report in the title because this is the term used in Module 2 and in the Course Guide. However, you are still expected to include recommendations in your report.

Structure of the Body of a Formal Report

Markel says that in most cases the body of a formal report contains five elements:

• Introduction, describing the subject, purpose, background, sources of information, scope of the report, major conclusions and recommendations (optional) and organization of the report
• Methods, describing the procedures used in carrying out the project
• Results, presenting the data that were observed, discovered, or created
• Conclusions, presenting the meaning of the results
• Recommendations, suggesting a course of action..

Markel, Technical Communication, 7th ed. contains an excellent example of the kind of report you are assigned to write on pages 504-517.

If you would like help in analyzing the introduction and conclusion of a formal report, see the Interactive Sample documents for Chapter 19a and Chapter 19b from TechComm Web.

Chapter 12 Drafting and Revising Front and Back Matter

Markel identifies seven possible elements of the front matter of a formal report:

• Letter of transmittal, addressed to the principal reader of the report, introducing its purpose and content, as well as giving an overview of the main points in the report.
• Title page, including a title, the names of the writer and the principal reader, the date of submission and the name of the organization if there is one.
• Abstract, giving brief summary of the report.
• Table of contents, containing all the headings used in the report with type variations, indentation, and outline-style headings to show the different hierarchical levels of the headings.
• List of illustrations, identifying the figures and the tables in the report and providing their page numbers.
• Executive summary, providing a one-page summary addressed to the non-technical reader. Frequently, this is the only part of a report that is read by a manager. One technical editor I knew offered this advice about the executive summary: "Work on it until you make it sing."

If you would like help in analyzing the executive summary of a formal report, see the Interactive Sample document for Chapter 12 from TechComm Web.

Markel identifes four possible elements as back matter of a formal report:

• Glossary, providing an alphabetical list of definitions of terms
• List of symbols, providing a glossary of the symbols and abbreviations used in the report
• References, providing complete publication information of any sources used in preparing a report. In this class you are required to use MLA style guidelines for documenting your report. In this system, the references list is termed List of Works Cited.
• Appendix, any section that follows the body of a document. In formal reports, the technical details are often included in an appendix. Putting technical details in an appendix often makes the body of the report flow more smoothly. Also, the details are easy to locate when they are needed. However, you must be sure to connect the appendix to the body of the report by referring the reader to the appendix at the appropriate places in the text of the body of the report. The appendix must also be labeled and explained carefully if it is a graphic, so that it will stand alone if a copy is made and removed from the body of the report, a situation which often happens in the workplace.
  
  

REMINDER: Assignment 4: Analtyical Report is due on January 15 . For more information, see the Assignment Sheet for Assignment 4: Analytical Report and the Evaluation Sheet for Assignment 4: Analytical Report.

For additional information on conducting a research project, see Module 2: Planning and Executing a Project.

Material for this course was originally written and developed by Michelle Didier, Edward Harris, James Gillin, Pat Kirby, Marj Crane,Danielle Bujosa, Andrew Joyce, Ed Brandmark, Traicy Garey, and Sharon Biederman.

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