7.4 Research Reports
The purpose of informational or research reports is to convey information or findings. This kind of report’s aim is usually to raise awareness or educate readers about something—a new product, a new concept or idea, or an important issue or problem. Unlike other types of technical reports, such as recommendation reports and proposals, technical research reports identify and analyze a problem or issue, but they don’t always offer a solution to that problem. Of course, many research reports do offer solutions, but in some cases, you may want your readers to draw their own conclusions based on your research or come up with their own ideas or suggestions about how to solve a problem you’ve put forth.
Technical research reports are typically objective and unbiased—that is, they do not take a side. Most reports do have persuasive elements, but technical research reports are usually not argumentative; the persuasion comes in the form of convincing readers of your analysis and findings and that they should pay attention to your research. In other words, your goal in a technical research paper is to convince your readers to accept your information by using careful research, detailed analysis, rhetorical style, and documentation.
Research reports usually accomplish one of the following three goals:
1. Assess an opportunity
This kind of report informs decision makers about a new and potentially successful endeavor. For example, you might write a research report on how other communities around the country have worked to solve the homelessness issue by funding initiatives to build affordable housing in their towns. You could then use your findings to suggest that your community implement similar initiatives to combat rising housing costs and prevent or help remedy the issue of homelessness.
Another example might be the following: you work for a food processing company and you’ve researched how similar companies that make processed foods for human consumption have expanded into the pet food market, which has been profitable. You could write up a research report of your findings looking at how these other companies were able to add new products and enter a new industry, and either suggest that your company do the same or simply allow the decision-makers in your company draw their own conclusion.
2. Identify (and sometimes solve) a problem
Reports that identify problems do exactly what they claim: they seek to convince readers that a problem exists. Sometimes they make recommendations to a decision-maker based on the research but not always. For example, you might write a technical research report on the problem of homelessness in your community. In this example, your research and findings would be the main focus of the report. You could, of course, offer a solution (or several potential solutions), but the primary purpose of the report is to convince your audience that there is in fact a homelessness problem in your community. Your research might include statistical data and analysis of the numbers of people without homes, some of the reasons for and causes of the increase in homelessness, and some anecdotal evidence or examples to illustrate your point(s).
3. Support a decision
Reports that support decisions analyze the effects (both positive and negative) that a decision will have on an organization or workplace or in a community. For example, if a company is moving its headquarters to a new location, this report would use the available data to evaluate the move and determine what effects it will have on the company. Another example might be for a community that is requesting a new traffic signal at an especially dangerous intersection—your report might analyze how effective the traffic signal would be in preventing future accidents.
Composing a Research Report
Before you write your paper, you need to understand your audience. Who will read your report? What are their backgrounds, motivations, interests, and beliefs? What are the key points you want your readers to take away from your report? Once you know your primary purpose and your audience, you can determine what points your document should make to achieve its aims.
For each point in your paper, you need to explain both the what and the why. Start with the what, but don’t omit the why. For example, it is not enough to state that homelessness is a problem in your community; if possible, you should also discuss why it is a problem, including, for example, some history of the issue and some reasoning.
Write for your readers. Think about what matters most to your intended audience and focus on that. This may not be what you personally find most interesting or intriguing but rather what your audience most needs to accept your findings.
Collect your information and research. Keep an accurate record of all the published references you intend to use in your report; bookmark webpages and jot down source information from books, journals, periodicals, etc. *See section “6.2 Performing Research” for more help with research methods.
Write down topics and ideas from your researched material and arrange them into logical groups. Keep note of any topics that do not fit into groups in case they may be useful later. Put the groups into a logical sequence to cover your report topics.
Create an outline. Use your logical sequence of grouped ideas to write out a rough outline of the report with headings and subheadings. Using your outline, try to visualize the document. What will it look like? How will it be organized in terms of structure? What should come first, next, last? Make the organization clear and logical for readers. A research report should communicate the main research points early and clearly. A reader who understands the main idea and the report’s structure can better appreciate your findings. State the point(s) first and then support it. The reader is more likely to appreciate which evidence is important and why, and is less likely to become confused or frustrated. Use topic sentences and then work to support those topics with your research.
Begin structuring and writing your report.
Structuring and Writing a Research Report
Follow the typical structure of a technical report. Many technical reports follow a standard structure that includes the following:
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a title page
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an abstract or executive summary (or a letter of transmittal)
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a table of contents
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an introduction
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body paragraphs and sections
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a conclusion
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a bibliography, references list, or works cited page
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Begin the introduction: The introduction should clearly indicate the document’s purpose. Your introduction should discuss the situation that has given rise to this report (in other words, the reason(s) for the report), and the requirements that must be met. Your reader may also need some background. Finally, provide an overview of the contents of the report. *NOTE: Many people write the introduction (and the abstract or summary) last. Doing so can make them easier to write, because the rest of the paper is already complete; other writers like to start with the introduction because it helps frame the rest of the report. *See section “7.5 Report Introductions” for more help writing your introduction.
Write the body. For each section of the paper, consider writing a brief overview explaining its main point and how it is organized. For the whole report, this may only be a paragraph; for a section or sub-section, it may be as short as a sentence. This may feel redundant, but readers haven’t spent as much time with the paper’s structure as you have, so they will appreciate being oriented to the text. Follow your outline in terms of headings and subheadings. Let the ideas flow, but don’t get bogged down at this stage with style, spelling, or punctuation concerns. If you get stuck, refer back to your outline and make more detailed notes to get the writing flowing again. The body of a technical report is structured according to the needs of your reader and the nature of the project. To help determine the structure, ask yourself what the reader needs to know first, next, and last. Like any lengthy piece of writing, your technical research report benefits from a clear structure and labeled sections that are easy to understand and navigate.
Write the conclusion. The conclusion of a research report ties together all of the conclusions you have already reached in each section. In other words, in this section, you restate the individual conclusions from each section of the report. The conclusion section must untangle any conflicting conclusions and reach a final conclusion. In some cases, conclusions first list the report’s primary conclusions (the simple, single-category ones), and then its secondary conclusions (the ones that balance any conflicting primary conclusions). Keep in mind that some readers may jump right to your conclusion to get to the report’s main point, so be sure it contains a clear and thorough summary of your research.
Include visual data. Technical reports include a mixture of text, tables, figures, and formulae. Consider how you can present the information best for your reader. Would a table or figure help to convey your ideas more effectively than a paragraph describing the same data? Be sure that when you present a figure or statistic, you provide context so that your readers understand the significance or implications of the figure(s) and how they support your main idea. *See section “3.2 Using Visuals” for more help.
Figures and tables should:
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- Be numbered (“Table 1.1”);
- Be referred to/integrated into the body of the report (“Table 1.1 shows that…”); and
- Include a simple descriptive label—usually above a table and below a figure (“Table 1.1: Different rhetorical modes”).
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Revise your draft. After you have completed a first draft, you need to revise it to pinpoint where, if any, changes need to be made, such as where information needs to be added, removed, or rewritten for a consistent style. Consider your audience carefully here and be sure to ask yourself if each sentence, paragraph, and section says what you want and mean it to say, and if there are any words, sentences, or paragraphs that could be removed without affecting your overall message. Your purpose is to communicate specific ideas, and everything about your report should contribute to this goal; anything in your report that does not support your main point will detract from it.
Write your abstract or summary. Your summary or abstract is a brief overview of your report, usually around 300 words. *Note: some reports use a letter of transmittal, which has essentially the same function as an abstract or summary but is written in letter form and addressed to a specific person or organization. The purpose of the abstract is to give your reader a brief overview of what you are going to cover in your report so they know what to expect. Your abstract should be clear, concise, and to the point. *See the following page, section “7.5 Report Introductions,” for more help with abstracts and summaries.
Compile your sources and write your bibliography—See section “6.4 Citation & Documentation Basics” for more help with writing your bibliography or works cited page.
Watch the following video—”Technical Reports: What They Are and How to Write One” by Joyce Bower:
Take the following short true or false quiz to test your understanding of technical research reports:
Additional Resources
- “How to Write A Technical Paper” by Michael Ernst, University of Washington
- “Engineering Report Guidelines” (PDF example of a style guide for engineers)
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