Common Errors in Report Writing
Assignments
Content and organisation
Problem - No section headings
Solution - Use the following section headings:
Introduction, Findings, Conclusion and
Recommendations. Other possible sections include
Background, Method and Discussion. You can also
use sub-headings, such as 'Terms of Reference',
'Aims', and 'Overview'. Put each one on its own
line, above the following paragraph.
Problem - missing items related to the format
Solution - in memo-format reports, include To,
From, Date and Subject. In stand-alone reports,
include a title; e.g. 'Report on...', the date, and the
author's name, job title and organisation.
Problem - lack of numbering
Solution - add numbers at the start of the section
headings; for example:
Introduction
Background
1. Introduction
1.1 Terms of
Reference
1.2 Aims
1.3 Overview
2. Method
3. Findings
1. Introduction
2. Method
3. Findings
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Quality
3.3 Quantity
3.4 Cost
1. Introd
2. Metho
3. Findin
3.1 Intr
3.2 Ob
3.3 Qu
results
Method
Findings
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Strengths
4.3 Weaknesses
4.4 Opportunities
4.5 Threats
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Advantages
3.3 Disadvantages
4. Conclusion
5. Recommendations
3.5 Risk
4. Discussion
5. Conclusion
6.
Recommendations
Conclusion
Recommendations
Introduction section
Problem - no terms of reference
Solution - state who requested the report (their
name, job title and organisation) and when they
requested it.
Problem: no aim or objective
Solution - The aim should have an infinitive verb;
e.g. 'This report aims to investigate the recent
incident involving...' The objective should be the
desired result; e.g. 'in order to prevent this from
happening again', or 'for the purpose of increasing
sales'.
Procedure / Method section
Problem: in the Procedure / Method section, no date
for when information was collected
3.4 Inte
Results
4. Discu
5. Concl
6. Recom
Solution: include a date or a range of dates; e.g.
'Questionnaire were distributed on Friday, 22
August 2014. Interviews were conducted between
Thursday, 28 August 2014 and Wednesday, 10
September 2014.
Findings
Problem: no introduction to the findings
Explanation: It is important to have an introduction
to your Findings to summarise them for busy
people who do not have time to read all of them,
and to give readers an overview of what to expect
in the Findings. This helps them to understand the
Findings more easily, because the information is not
totally new.
Example: 'In general, staff were not satisfied with
the power and size of the microwave.'
Problem: the findings section is too long
Solution 1: select only some of the information
available - chose the most important information
Example 1: The purpose of reports is to solve
problems or take advantage of opportunities, so if
the information is not related to solving the
problem or taking advantage of the opportunity,
miss it out.
Solution 2: select only some of the information
available - chose information that represents the
other information.
Example 2: When describing data from a table,
look for data that shows that there is a problem, and
describe that in more detail. Describe other data
briefly, for example in one sentence (see the
Findings in the Example Report below).
Problem: On the other hand is used wrongly
Incorrect example: 'Over 90% of staff were not
satisfied with the location of the microwave. On the
other hand about three-quarters of them were not
satisfied with its capacity.'
Cause: On the other hand means However, not In
addition. It shows contrast with the previous
statement, not a change of subject.
Solution: use it properly or avoid it.
Correct example: 'Over 90% of staff were not
satisfied with the location of the microwave. On the
other hand about three-quarters of them were
satisfied or very satisfied with its reliability.'
(Explanation: there is a contrast between the lack of
satisfaction in the first sentence and the positive
satisfaction in the second.)
Problem: no ordering principle, so it is hard to
follow the priority of the Findings, or Findings in
the same order as the statistics
Solution: use an organisational structure, such as:
Importance - Great to less
Strengths and Weaknesses
Advantages and Disadvantages
Cost - Cheap to expensive
Quality - Best to worst
Quantity - Most to least
Time - Past to present, fastest to slowest, or
punctual to late
Problem: not putting the topic of the sentence at the
beginning, so readers have to remember all of the
words in the sentence before they find out what the
sentence is about.
Example of the problem: 'Over three-quarters of
human resources department staff and over twothirds of accounting department staff were satisfied
in terms of the microwave's location.' (23 words to
remember)
Example of a better sentence organisation: 'The
location of the microwave satisfied over threequarters of human resources department staff and
over two-thirds of accounting department staff '. (1
word to remember)
Example of a better paragraph organisation:
3.2 Location of the Microwave
The location of the microwave in the pantry
satisfied over three-quarters of human resources
department staff and over two-thirds of accounting
department staff
Conclusion
Problem: No summary of the findings at the start of
the Conclusion
Cause: Writers do not see the need to repeat
information.
Reason: Busy report readers may not read all of the
report, especially the Findings. They may jump to
the conclusion, and therefore miss important
information.
Solution: At the start of the Conclusion write a oneparagraph summary of the Findings; e.g. In
conclusion, the findings show that staff are not
satisfied with the ...'.
Recommendations
Problem: Unrealistic recommendations.
Causes:
Unprofessional thinking; e.g. business
students recommending expensive solutions
that will not pay for themselves.
Over-general recommendations
Example:
'In future, our company should adopt more effective
measures to market more useful products to more
potential customers.' (Too general).
More information on how to write good
recommendations.
Grammar, vocabulary, style and tone
Introduction section
Problem: confusion between past and present
tenses.
Solution: Information about the content of the
report should use the present tense, but information
about what happened should be in the past tense.
Example: 'At the monthly staff meeting on Tuesday,
2 September 2014, you requested information about
staff satisfaction with the new microwave oven.
The aim of this report is to present this information,
and make suggestions about how to improve the
situation.'
Procedure / Method section
Problem: in the Procedure / Method section, the
description of the range of dates is wrong
Solution: include a date or a range of dates, and use
the correct words to describe the times; e.g. 'A
survey was carried out from Monday to Friday of
last week' or 'A survey was carried out between
Monday and Friday of last week'.
Problem: confusion between in total and totally
Bad example: There were totally 50 customers who
were interviewed.
Solution: totally means completely. However, In
total means Added together.
Correct examples: 'In total 50 customers were
interviewed.' or 'A total of 50 customers were
interviewed.'
Findings
Problem: use of the informal 'For' to introduce a
subject; e.g. 'For senior staff, ...'
Solution 1: Use 'Regarding'; e.g. 'Regarding senior
staff, ...'
Solution 2: start with the subject of the sentence,
then a verb; e.g. 'Senior staff were...'
Problem: using sentence structures such as, "For
pollution, it is a serious problem." is an error called
topicalisation.
Solution: write, "Pollution is a serious problem." If
you use 'Regarding X', 'Concerning X' 'With regard
to X' or 'As for X', you should follow it by a comma
and then a different subject (not X). For example,
'Regarding pollution, we see it as a serious
problem.' For more information, see
http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk/common/topicalize.htm .
Problem: choosing between 'satisfy', 'satisfied',
'satisfying' and 'satisfactory', etc, and missing out
the following preposition.
Solution: see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eiw/satisfaction.htm
Problem: using staffs
Solution: see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/exercises/staff.htm
Problem: grammatical mistakes in approximation;
e.g. 'two-third of staff were satisfied'
Solution: see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/approximationcorre
ction.htm
Problem: describing trends incorrectly
Solution see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/exercises/trends.htm
Problem: missing auxiliary verb in cause and effect
descriptions
In correct example: This may because of a lack of
quality control.
Correct examples: 'This may be because of a lack of
quality control.' or 'This may have been because of
a lack of quality control.'
Problem: Extreme statements
Example: 'The materials were useless.'
Solution: Present the data; e.g. 'Staff did not find
the materials useful: over 90% of them found the
materials 'very dissatisfying.' '
Conclusion
Problem: describing cause and effect.
Solution: see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/exercises/cause&effec
t.htm
Problem: using lack and lack of wrongly
Solution: see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/exercises/lack.htm
Problem: confusion between the different sentence
structures around due to and because
Solution: see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/exercises/because.htm
Problem: using it is because inappropriately
Solution: see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/exercises/itisbecause.ht
m
Recommendations
Problem: using suggest to and recommend to, not
followed by a person
Solution 1: use an _ing form; e.g. 'I suggest taking
the following action.'
Solution 2: use a that-clause; e.g. 'I recommend
that the company take the following action.'
Problem: not showing confidence or tentativity in
recommendations.
Solution 1: use should to show confidence and
could to show tentativity; e.g. 'We should return the
microwave to the shop and ask them if we can buy
a bigger one. We could also let the staff arrange a
system for different staff to use the microwave at
different times.
Solution 2: use clearly to show confidence and
may, or might to show tentativity; e.g. 'This may be
because of ...'
Solution 3: use adverbs such as definitely to show
confidence and probably or possibly to show
tentativity; e.g. 'This is probably due to the...".
Solution 4: use is to show confidence and seems to
or appears to to show tentativity; e.g. 'This is
because of...' or 'This seems to be because of...'
Problem: wrong tense to show the results of a
suggestion.
Solution 1: to show confidence, use would plus an
infinitive verb; e.g. "The proposed changes would
improve the situation.'
Solution 2: to show tentativity, use could, may or
might plus an infinitive verb; e.g. "The proposed
changes might improve the situation.'
All sections
Problem: lack of use of 'and' before the last item in
a list.
Solution: add 'and'; e.g. This report examines the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
faced by the organisation.
Problem: determiners not specific enough.
Solution: use specific determiners such as this,
these and it, rather than general ones such as the;
e.g. 'This report aims to' rather than 'The report
aims to...'
Problem: using and and but at the start of
sentences, which is inappropriate for formal
writing.
Solutions: use more formal alternatives; e.g. In
addition and However
Conventions
Problem: too much detail in the description of
statistics
Example: '33.33% of respondents thought that this
was acceptable'.
Solution: use approximation; e.g. 'A third of
respondents thought that this was acceptable'.
Next: try the Report Correction Exercise
Example report
CONTACT COMPUTER GRAPHICS
MEMORANDUM
To:
From:
Date:
Subject:
1. Introduction
At the monthly staff meeting on Tuesday, 2 September 2014, you requested inform
2. Background
Since the move to the new office in Kowloon Bay, staff have had difficulty in findi
3. Method
Sixty staff were surveyed by questionnaire from Friday, 5 September 2014 to Wedn
4. Findings
4.1 Introduction
In general, staff were not satisfied with the power and size of the microwav
Table 1: Staff Satisfaction with the Microwave Oven
Staff Satisfaction
Feature
Group A
Usually ate in the
office (n=40)
Group B
Usually ate outside
the office (n=20)
Size
55%
35%
Power
30%
25%
Location
70%
75%
Reliability
95%
95%
Cleanliness
90%
95%
Average
68%
65.5%
4.2 Power
Only a quarter of Group B staff said that the oven was powerful enough for
4.3 Size
In addition, about two-thirds of Group B staff said that the microwave was
4.4 Location
About three-quarters of both groups of staff thought that the location of the
4.5 Reliability and Cleanliness
Regarding both reliability and cleanliness, almost all of the staff were satisf
5. Conclusions
The Findings show that staff, especially staff in Group B, were not satisfied with th
6. Recommendations
There are a number of options we could consider, as follows:
6.1 Exchange
We should return the microwave to the shop and ask them if we can buy a b
6.2 Purchase of a New Microwave
If the shop will not take back the old microwave I recommend buying a new
6.3 Queuing System
We could let the staff arrange a system for different staff to use the microwa
hits since 31 March 2007
If you have any suggestions or questions, please e-mail us at
[email protected] .
