Chapter 6: Writing Formal Reports
Chapter Learning Objectives
In this chapter you will
- identify the sections of a formal report;
- define the role of the cover letter and title page;
- explore options for the report abstract or executive summary;
- determine the purpose and organization of the table of contents and list of figures;
- examine the contents of an introduction and discussion; and
- review the guidelines for conclusions, recommendations, references, and appendices.
Chapter Overview
Formal reports have various designs depending on the industry, profession, or organization. This chapter shows you one traditional design and focuses on its application to technology reports.
This chapter guides you through each of the report sections in order, pointing out the key features and guidelines. Different companies, professions, certifying bodies (e.g., OACETT) and organizations have their own varied guidelines for report, and you’ll need to adapt your practice to those as well the ones presented here.
References & Attributions
Attributions
Content is adapted from Technical Writing by Allison Gross, Annemarie Hamlin, Billy Merck, Chris Rubio, Jodi Naas, Megan Savage, and Michele DeSilva, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
