3 Report structure and design

REPORT STRUCTURE AND PAGE DESIGN

An important set of writing strategies may be grouped under the concept of structure. The success or failure of a report turns on structure. How you order a report, how clear you make that order, and how you develop each part in that order, are as important as you’re the subject matter. Think of structure as a group of rhetorical devices that contributes to a report’s persuasiveness. Clear and comprehensible structure is crucial to the reader’s ability to understand and retain information, to be persuaded, and to respond.

Guidelines: Overall structure

Structure a report to focus on the report’s purpose and the audience’s interest in it. As you already know, writing structure should be clear and logical. That’s important, but it’s not sufficient. Structure must also focus clearly on purpose and audience interest, so that it is meaningful to the reader, and it must keep to that focus consistently and thoroughly. Here are guidelines to help you do so.

First, select and chunk content around audience and purpose. You can’t structure a report around audience and purpose unless the content itself is relevant. Take the case we looked at before, on problems in Acme’s billing department. To accomplish the purpose of the report (to secure funding immediately, outside of the regular budget process, for a new billing system), you’d need to select (or “invent”) the arguments, evidence, and other information that in your judgment would appeal to your readers’ interest in approving your request. Since your readers have, or should have, a professional interest (that is, a duty) to help you solve serious problems caused by the old system, you could decide that you should first (a structure decision) persuade your readers about how serious the problems are (interest), serious enough, remember, to justify funding before the time for normal budget requests (purpose). Hence you decide to have a separate section, a chunk of the report, to focus on the seriousness of the problems. As billing department manager you’re aware of three problems that your readers should have an interest in: customer complaints, increased costs of downtime and overtime, and decreasing productivity. The problem section, then, will have three subsections (three chunks), each developed enough to persuade your readers of the need for quick funding to solve the problem.

Second, focus each section and subsection by beginning with a clear statement that connects the section or subsection to purpose and audience. Good professional report writing is emphatically top-down. The main, important points always go first. What follows them are the specifics—the evidence, the examples, and so on, that support the main points. The structure rule here is always the same—main points first. Let’s say that in the billing department report you would begin the section on the seriousness of the problem with a sentence something like this. “The billing department requires funding immediately rather than in July because immediate funding is the only way to solve three very serious problems before they get much worse: the growing number of customer complaints, the increasing costs of downtime and overtime, and declining productivity.” That section, as we noted, would therefore have three distinct subsections.

Let’s say that in the first subsection you decide to show the seriousness of the customer complaint problem through two arguments. First is that the number of complaints owing to billing errors and delays has been growing so much and so fast, the company can’t wait until July to deal with it. Second is that the number is already much higher than the norms in your industry. Hence the subsection on customer complaints will have two parts, one on growth of complaints and one on industry norms. That complaint subsection would begin like this. “That the customer complaint problem is too serious to wait until July to solve is shown by the sharp and growing rise in complaint numbers, and by the fact that the complaint rate at Acme is much higher than industry norms.”

This indicates that the complaint subsection would itself be chunked into two parts, one on complaint growth and one on industry norms. The part on complaint growth, then, would begin something like this. “The first reason the customer complaint problem is too serious to wait until July to solve it is the relentless rate at which the complaints are growing.” The rest of that part would be specific evidence, data, examples, and so on. Note that the first sentence in each section, subsection, or other part of a report begins with the whole main point of that sections, subsection or part.

We can clearly outline (since outlines show structure) what we have so far of the billing department report.

I. Introduction

II. Problems with the present billing system

        (A) Customer complaints

                 (1) Sharp growth

                 (2) Contrast to industry norms

        (B) Rise in downtime and overtime

        (C) Decline in productivity

III Recommended system to replace current system.

IV Costs of replacement

V Conclusion

Third, develop each topic sufficiently for your audience and purpose. As we noted, audience familiarity with your subject and audience attitude toward your purpose are key points in your decision on how much to say. That is, length, like all other writing considerations, are determined by audience and purpose.

Guidelines for introductions

Introductions are absolutely crucial in professional documents. Readers do not merely absorb all the words passively and decide how to respond after they’re done reading. They begin deciding within seconds of reading, constantly judging what they are reading. Hence an effective introduction to a professional report should always include the following elements.

(1) State the purpose clearly and precisely. The purpose is the reason the reader is (or should be) reading, the reason the document exists. It should be clear early on.

(2) Connect the purpose to the audience’s interests. To the extent needed, make clear, even emphasize, the reader’s interest in accomplishing the purpose. Relate the purpose, in other words, to the reader’s duty to help you reduce customer complaints, avoid a lawsuit, increase sales, improve employee relations, comply with regulatory requirements, or whatever purpose you want to accomplish.

(3) Develop fully the context. Describe the exigence, problem, situation or circumstances that gave rise to the need for the report.

(4) Provide a roadmap of the report. A roadmap is a brief indication of both the structure and the content of the report. It is similar to a table of contents in books. (In long reports, it would in fact be a table of contents.) A roadmap in the introduction to the billing department report, for example, might be something like the following. Note how it indicates the report’s structure as well as its content.

“The first part of this report will discuss the three reasons Acme should approve funding for a new billing system immediately rather than wait for the new fiscal year. First is to reduce the serious and growing problem of customer complaints. Second is to reduce expenses from downtime and overtime, and third is to improve productivity significantly. The second part of the report will recommend the system that we should purchase and install, and the third part will itemize the complete cost of the replacement.”

Guidelines for conclusions

In contrast to introductions, conclusions are not crucial for achieving a report’s purpose. They can, however, still be useful as an opportunity to emphasize and reinforce, especially in longer reports. In addition to such things as restating the purpose and audience interests in it and summarizing main points, a useful thing to do in a conclusion is to reinforce the need for the reader to respond. Suggest, for example, a specific date for a response. Or suggest you and the reader meet to talk things over or to email or call you at a certain time if he or she has questions.

A conclusion should be brief and avoid a common fault of conclusions: introducing significant new ideas or information. That throws the whole focus off and suggests that you’re not sure of what’s important.

Guidelines for paragraph structure

Standards for paragraph structure that you may have learned in other writing courses apply here with, if anything, greater force. The model is simple, and has two elements. First, the opening sentence is the lead—the topic sentence. The lead states the point of the paragraph, states it so that the paragraph’s connection to the document’s purpose is clear, and states it so that the connection to what came before is also clear. In other words, the relation of the paragraph to the report as a whole is clear in its leading sentence. (You don’t necessarily have to do all that in a single sentence, but you usually can.)

For example, in the report seeking funds for a new billing system, you’ll recall that the three problems with the current system were customer complaints, rise in downtime and overtime, and decline in productivity. The paragraph beginning the discussion of the second problem could begin with the following lead.

“In addition to customer complaints, a second problem that justifies replacing the current system with a new one is downtime and overtime.”

The second element of paragraph structure is focused development. Persuasion is what happens in the details. The remainder of that paragraph on downtime and overtime should develop only those two items, focusing only on downtime and overtime as problems with the current billing system. The paragraph will offer whatever evidence, examples, explanations or other information needed to sufficiently support the assertion made in the lead sentence. (If all that is too much for one paragraph, then divide it, say, into two, one on downtime and one on overtime.)

Keep in mind that a paragraph may be on a relevant subject but not focused on a clear point related to the report’s purpose. Contrast the two paragraphs below, which were written by two students in reports for the same assignment. The assignment required writing a report relating to Acme Widget Corporation’s tentative plans to outsource some of its manufacturing by contracting with companies in Asia, where labor costs are much lower than in the U.S. One reason labor costs are low is that many Asian factories use child labor extensively. 125 million children between ages of 5 and 14 are factory workers in Asia. Acme’s CEO asks the report writer to discuss the issues involved in child labor, and whether the writer thinks it appropriate, socially and ethically, for Acme to enter into contracts with Asian factories employing children. The report will be included in the documents that Acme’s decision-makers will consult before making a final decision on whether to outsource. Below are sections from the reports of two students. Note the ways that one keeps the focus on the audience’s interest in social and ethical issues in Asian child labor, including selecting research information that focuses clearly on that, and how the other not only does not focus on this, but has no focus—no point of interest to the audience—at all.

From report one

2. Health hazards. A second social and ethical issue relating to child labor is the damage to children’s health, arising from diseases and safety.

A. Disease. Many child laborers in Asia work in environments that seriously affect their health even if it would not be unhealthy for adults, and this is widely seen as hindering “the harmonious physical and mental development of the child” (Mushred, 2001). Children are more vulnerable than adults to many diseases that can be picked up in Asian factories. These include breathing in dust and toxins, resulting in breathing disorders such as asthma and bronchitis. Because children have thinner epidermal and dermal linings, they are more susceptible to toxins used in manufacturing processes. Long hours of exposure to machinery noise often impairs hearing, and many days of working with small materials and tools cause eyesight problems, including blindness. Children also experience fatigue and depression from dark and unsanitary conditions (Narayan, 1997). The special vulnerability of children to such diseases makes using factories with child labor a significant social and ethical issue.

B. Safety. The moral issue of safety arises in Asian factories because of children’s fragility and weaker mental focus while using dangerous equipment. Children, with shorter attention spans and with incomplete physical development, often do not yet have the ability to operate factory equipment properly. Strains in young bones and muscles, including slight strains over long periods of time, can result in injury. Children may lack the ability to pay sufficient attention while operating machinery, which may result in severed limbs and dangerous cuts and burns (Narayan, 1997). Children placed in such proximity to dangerous equipment create significant social and ethical concerns.

From report two

1. Child labor laws. There are different laws for different countries. Some countries believe there is nothing wrong with child labor. In America there is the Young Persons Act of 1933 that states that people below the age of 16 require authority’s permission as well as guardian’s permission. Employment of children under the age of 13 is prohibited. People age 14 can be employed for “light work” which means they cannot work during school hours, but are only allowed to work during the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Sutton, 2007). There are over 200 pieces of legislation, including European acts, acts of parliament and local bylaws that cover employing children. This means that America encourages children going to school until the age of 16. This also means that even if children are encouraged to go to school, it is also encouraged for teens to begin to make money for themselves at decent hours. The International Labor Organization recently found that approximately 217.7 million children ages five to seventeen are involved in child labor. In most situations where children are working, they are severely underpaid. In Asia and the Pacific 122.3 million children between five and fourteen are working (Kovasevic, 2007). Children are meant to attend school during their days, they are not meant to be working. If America supports children going to school, child labor in other countries can demonstrate taking children away from having successful educated futures, which is seen as wrong.

PAGE DESIGN

Reading is a visual experience, and readers gain a sense of the structure from visual signals as well as from content. In addition, readers perceive visual information quickly and easily, at least compared to textual information. The basic principle is that the visual form of the text—page design—can and should signal structure to the reader. Do this by:

1. focusing attention on important points;

2. associating related elements;

3. prioritizing elements;

4. signaling structure visually.

The fourth actually encompasses the other three: use page design to signal structure.

There are many visual techniques for accomplishing this, all of which you’ve seen often. Three simple and familiar techniques can—and should—be easily adapted to professional reports.

1. Headings

Headings (also called captions) not only provide clear transitions (itself a structuring device) but may also effectively communicate structure visually. This is an important aid to the reader’s understanding because visual structuring devices like headings can chunk and contextualize, and so influence both the amount and the type of information that readers recall. These visual signals focus the reader on what is important and help the reader connect the new information to what the reader already knows (known as schema construction), a crucial element of learning.¹ Use headings, then, to make structure immediate and clear. Note how this section on page design uses captions to make the three-part discussion (headings, white space, lists) visually clear. It would have the same structure without the headings; the headings serve to signal the structure. Generally, headings should be informative and substantive. Avoid, if you can, headings like “Part One” or Chapter Two” by themselves, since they indicate nothing about the point or content of the section. A heading can indicate a section’s subject (“Cost of purchase and operation”) or a section’s main argument (“The seriousness of the customer complaint problem”). They can be put as questions (“What are the benefits of a new system?”).

2. White space

White space is not just nothing. It’s useful for visually signaling chunks, and transitions (for example when you add space to signal paragraphing), and subordination (as when way you make an outline).

3. Lists

Consider using lists (actually a white space technique) whenever you have a series of three or more things, whether words, phrases, numbers, sentences, or paragraphs. If the order of the items listed is important, signal that by using bullets, letters, or numbers.