Which of the following types of report provides data or findings Analyses and conclusions?
Linda Macdonald Show
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to
In the workplace, you will be asked to create a variety of reports. These reports may be written to deliver information or recommendations either internally within the organization or externally to stakeholders such as clients or suppliers. They may be sent in the form of a manuscript, memo, or email attachment. You may be asked to deliver information in a template, such as a travel expense report or a quarterly sales report. The form of the report and delivery mode are determined by external factors, such as industry conventions or citation styles, as well as internal factors influenced by the culture of the organization and its branding. Every organization has its own methods of formatting various types of reports, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the organization’s preferred style. When you write a report as a university course assignment, you will follow certain academic conventions, such as APA citation style, as well as satisfy expectations of your field, such as conciseness. Other aspects of the report will follow guidelines established internally for the course. These guidelines are established through your instructor’s assignment description and rubric. The extended example provided in Chapter 4.15 may be relevant for your organization or university, but you need to verify the internal standards for your situation. Every report you complete will have different requirements based on audience, purpose, channel, and company or organization. Informational reports record and organize information. The general purpose of these reports is to convey information. The specific purposes are typically defined by the type of report. Progress reports, lab reports, credit reports, and expense reports all satisfy particular needs in the organization. The general purpose of an analytical report is to persuade through analysis of information. The specific purpose may be to solve a problem, to establish a cause and effect, or to make recommendations. Analytical reports differ from informational reports in that they persuade the reader to think, act, or do something in response. The next section outlines the form for a common type of report–a recommendation report. Parts of a Formal Recommendation ReportOrganizations will have various requirements for the parts of a report. In addition to the parts listed below, an organization may require a letter or memo of transmittal written to the person who authorized the report. The memo or letter of transmittal summarizes the key points, offers additional assistance, and thanks the one who authorized the report for the opportunity to complete it. This document is written in a more informal style than the body of the report; it may use the pronoun “I” and contractions but maintains professionalism. Some reports may also require appendices that include additional information, documents, or tables and figures. The appendices are not essential to the flow of the argument but add more depth and detail. For example, if you gathered information on user bus route preferences through a printed survey, you would include the results of your survey (the data) in the report body, and you would put a copy of the survey that participants completed in the appendix. The following chart outlines the main parts of your report and explains how each part satisfies the needs of the readers.
Each section has a particular purpose and satisfies a particular audience need. It is especially important to distinguish between findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The Findings and Discussion section tells the audience what the data and facts show. This section lays out the evidence from both primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources include raw materials and original content in documents, statistics, surveys, or other sources of information. Secondary information describes and assesses the primary information. For example, if you are writing a report on the stock portfolio of a client, the TSX stock values are a primary source. Secondary source information about the company or industry performance may come from financial analysts, scholarly articles, or newspapers, or business magazines. In your Findings and Discussion, avoid coming to a conclusion about what all this information means for the client. The Conclusions section tells what the information means. In this section you evaluate the information. For example, in your findings, you might show how the stock values of Stock A and Stock B fluctuated over six months and use secondary sources to explain the market changes. In your conclusion, you might say, “Stock A outperformed Stock B according to both stock values and in the opinion of industry experts.” The word outperforms indicates your evaluation of performance and tells what the information means. Your recommendation is based on the conclusion and tells what the reader should think or do. Stock A outperformed Stock B. So what should the client do? Your recommendation might be that the client should a) sell Stock B, and b) purchase additional shares of Stock A. The following presentation illustrates these distinctions further. The premise is unrealistically simple: You are asked to select a cookie for a meeting of 20 people and to justify your selection. While the premise is simple, the scenario helps clarify the distinctions between findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Image: “A Real Woman Succeeds (no text)” by Phathu Nembilwi is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA What kind of report provides data or findings Analyses and conclusions and may also provide recommendations if requested?Analytical reports provides facts, data, feedback and other types of information, but they also provide analysis, interpretation, and recommendations.
What type of report presents data analysis and conclusions?Informational reports provide data or findings, analyses, and conclusions. The reader's anticipated reaction and the content of a report determine its organizational strategy.
What type of business report that presents the data without analysis or recommendations?Informational reports provide data, facts, feedback, and other types of information without analysis or recommendations.
Which type of report provides updates on the status of a project?Project status reports are clear and timely updates about the status of any project. It provides comprehensive information about crucial project elements such as: Budget, cost and other financial resources.
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