Reports
Another form of written assignment at university is the report. Reports vary in structure and format depending on the course but generally you will be provided with a structure to adhere to which will be similar to this:
Report Structure
Title - It should be a clear and concise summary of what the report is about.
Abstract - This is a short, helpful summary of the report's purpose, methods and findings; it is the first part of the report that people read and should be written last.
Introduction - Explain the purpose of and reasoning for the report; what exactly are you being asked to investigate? What is your starting point for this study? Make sure that you explain how you are going to go about investigating the brief of the report, for example are you starting out with a hypothesis?
Literature Review - The context for the report must be set by making reference to and reviewing relevant research and literature in the subject area. Ensure that you reference correctly and provide a comprehensive background for the study.
Methodology - The section is a factual description of what you did and how, to the level of detail that would enable the reader to replicate your investigation. You need to include information about your reasoning for the choice of methodology and exactly what was involved.
Results - This is a simple, informative statement of your findings. You don't need to go into interpreting your findings until the discussion so just explain in the most clear format (i.e. a pie chart, linear graph, statistical analyis test etc) what it is that you found.
Discussion - This is one of the most important parts of the report; the most additional marks can be gained here. Try to interpret your results in the light of current knowledge of the subject that you made reference to in your introduction. Note any problems with or modifications to the methodology and how these might have affected your results.
Conclusion - The conclusion is your opportunity to bring everything together, to summarise the main points from your report and make reference to how initial questions you raised have been answered, in relation to purpose of the report. You could make suggestions of how this research could be continued.
References - This is a complete list of all the literature, reports, presentations, papers etc that you have made reference to in your report. For guidance on how to go about referencing correctly click here »
Appendices - This is any additional information that would be helpful for the reader but which is not necessary to include in the main report e.g. raw data, questionnaires, templates etc
What is the difference between a report and an essay? Find out here »
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