Analytical Problem-Solving Research Reports: The Process
Topic ; Should Company X
establish its own advertising department or use an advertising agency?
Company X ; Kung Fu Tea （Mulutiple shops in San Digo,
CA）
The purpose of analytical problem-solving reports is to provide decision
makers with data to solve a very specific business problem or need for action.
Some problems are recurring and call for a steady flow of information; other
problems might be unique and call for information on a one-time basis, focusing
on helping decision-makers figure out a course of action to take.
All reports should be true, factual and helpful. Usually a
decision-maker will ask him or herself, “Do I have everything I need to make an
informed and quality decision?” Any reports for decisions or actions should be
designed around answering this question. Additionally analytical reports should
make a recommended solution, based on the data provided in the report.
Business reports should be:
1.
true,
factual
2.
concise,
brief
3.
built to
help others make decisions
4.
free from
unnecessary or extra information
5.
simple;
they should address one question (i.e., well-scoped)
The writer of any report is encouraged to think like an executive:
1.
What do I
need to know right away?
2.
How
quickly do I need to make a decision?
At the heart of good research is the proper use and
interpretation of data.
The general research process is as follows:
1.
Determine
a problem and define a question to answer.
2.
Find
general background about your problem/question.
3.
Develop a
research strategy to address any data, information or knowledge gaps. These
gaps may be referred to as “sub-questions.”
4.
Conduct
research.
5.
Collect,
read, evaluate and write what you have learned.
6.
Cite the
information you have found so that others will be able to follow your research
trail.
Although the direct order is usually best for an assigned problem-solving
report it would be best if your readers arrive at the conclusion and
recommendation after a logical review of your analysis; therefore, you will
organize your report in the indirect order. Presenting the supporting data
before the recommendation prepares any resistant readers to accept your
solution to the report problem/opportunity.
Planning Phase:
1.
Recognize
and define the problem and purpose. In your
completed report, the problem and purpose statements will be an essential
component of the report’s introduction/background and executive summary; they
will orient your readers and let them know where your report is headed.
o
The problem
statement provides a clear description of the situation that is to be
solved by the research. Problem statements are generally written as declarative
statements.
o
The purpose
statement is the goal of the study and includes the objectives you
want to accomplish. Write this statement as an infinitive phrase.
§
Student
Sample Example: The topic of your report
requires you to compare the effectiveness of three different types
of online advertising and recommend one for Cotijas Taco Shop. The
question you might ask to determine the problem statement might
read “Which of the top three types of online advertising methods
would be the most effective for Cotijas Taco Shop?.” Your purpose
statement may be written like this: “The purpose of this
report is to explore different methods of online advertising to determine which
one is most suitable (and most effective) for Cotijas Taco Shop.”
2.
Find
general background about your problem/question. The research methods you use to collect the necessary information
can be secondary, primary, or both (Module
4.0-Research).
3.
Develop a
research strategy to address any data, information, or knowledge gaps.
These gaps may be referred to as
sub-questions or sub-factors.
4.
Conduct
research.
o
§
Primary
research is usually defined as research
you collect yourself-new information you gather firsthand through the use of
experiments, surveys, interviews, and other methods of direct observation
(130). Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab Links to an external site.describes the typical primary research in more detail.
§
Secondary
research is gathering information from other
people’s primary research. Common forms are books, journals, newspaper
articles, media reports, and other polished accounts of data. Most will use
secondary sources for their business reports; the value-added is to gather,
curate, and present the material in a new, updated and helpful manner. It is
far less costly, more efficient, and requires less time to gather data from
already built sources.
5.
Collect,
read, evaluate, organize, analyze and write what you have learned.
o
§
Analyzing
your readers is an excellent planning technique. Make a list of pertinent
facts. Brainstorming (generating possible solutions) will allow you to
determine the factors/sub-topics you need to investigate.
§
Create an
outline of these factors/sub-topics to help you remain focused on the problem
and purpose.
6.
Cite the
information you have found so that others will be able to follow your research
trail. A crucial part of ethical, honest
research writing is documenting and referencing the secondary research sources
fairly and accurately to avoid plagiarism (Module 4.0 184-188).
For this report, you will use MLA Style documentation of
sources. Refer to the Research Report links to the Purdue Online Writing Lab
(OWL) and the video tutorial for generating in-text citations and a Works Cited
page using Microsoft Word.
Writing Phase:
·
Perform
an Audience Analysis. Determine how to organize your
report based on your audience analysis. The order of the sections in analytical
reports varies by likely reaction of the reader. Remember, if your audience is
expected to react neutrally or positively to your message, then your conclusion
or recommendation should be offered near the beginning of the report. If the
audience is expected to react negatively to your message, then the conclusion
or recommendation is offered towards the end of the report (273).
·
Prepare
an Outline. Writing the formal report is a
much easier task once you have created a detailed outline in the planning
process. This outline is what helps the writing move along, as you already know
exactly what is to be provided where and when. With a formal report, it is
extremely rare to see the casual phrasing that might be found in a short
message or informal report. Formal reports rarely use personal pronouns,
contractions, or passive verb structures. However, this does not mean the
language should be stilted or use excessively long words. You’ll continue to
use the same clarity of wording as in all business communications (274).
·
Avoid
perfectionism when drafting.
Don’t try to make your first draft perfect as it makes drafting frustrating and
slow and may make you forget important pieces.
·
Just keep
going. Don’t let minor problems with wording
and grammar distract you from your main goal when turning your planning into a
draft. Just get the ideas down on paper or into your computer. Save detailed
examination and evaluation of your report for the revision stage. Set aside
time for drafting, preferably at your most productive time of day…write in
chunks, start with a favorite part, talk aloud to clarify your thoughts, TAKE
BREAKS!
Revising Phase:
·
Go back
over your draft carefully-again and again. Do you say what you mean? Could
someone misunderstand or take offense? Challenge yourself to look for better
alternatives of structuring your sentences.
o
Make sure
the organization is logical and as effective as possible.
·
Focus in
this stage is on your style.
o
Use the
writing strategies learned in Chapter 4 to ensure you are communicating
clearly, completely, efficiently, and engagingly.
o
Format
headings appropriately.
o
Ensure
sources are documented appropriately.
·
Writing
mechanics and grammar elements are the focus of this stage.
o
Use your
word processing program to check for spelling errors, typography, punctuation,
and grammar.
Get feedback from others-preferably someone proficient with writing
mechanics and grammar elements, and who does not know anything about your topic
to ensure objective feedback.
The most effective way to ensure a professional document is to have a team
of individuals independently read the document, marking changes, corrections,
and questions as they go. This team then meets as a group with one individual
charged with collecting all corrections. This person ensures continuity across
the entire document. If such a formal process cannot be completed, then you
should work to ensure there are at least two reviewers who review work they
themselves did not write.
The final revision must consider both grammar and style issues as well as
revisiting the primary purpose of the document.
Research
Report Components
To
be able to decide which parts of a long, formal report to include in your
reports, you need a basic understanding of each part. This section describes
the different report components represented in Module 6.0.
In
a formal report there are three major sections.
1. The prefatory
or front parts includes sections that come prior to
the report itself to establish various items such as authority of the report
and intended audience.
2. The body or report
proper has many sections of key information and possible
It is the meat of the report.
3. The back matter or
appendices contains sections of material that support the
body.
Prefatory
Parts (Front Sections)
Title Pages
The
first two pages of a long, formal report—the title
fly and title page—contain
identification information.
The title
fly is simply a page with the title of the report on it,
and it is included simply to give a report the more formal appearance.
The title
page has more information. It typically contains the
title, identification of the reader and writer, and the date. You can point out
that the title needs special care, as it will form the reader’s expectations
for the rest of the report.
Table of Contents
The table
of contents, of course, is a guide to the structure and
specific contents of the report. If your short report goes much over five pages
(or 1,500 words), you might consider including a brief table
of contents. This part, of course, is a listing of the report’s
contents. As Module 6.0 page 266 points out, it is
the report outline in finished form, with page numbers to
indicate where the parts begin. The formatting should reflect the report’s
structure, with main headings clearly differentiated from subheadings. The
section titles should state each part’s contents clearly and match the report’s
headings exactly. The table of contents may also include a list of
illustrations (or, if long, this list can stand alone). If a separate table of
contents would be too formal, you can use the introduction of your report to
list the topics the report will cover.
Executive Summary
The executive
summary (sometimes given other labels) is the report in
miniature. It summarizes all the materials that follow in the report. This
section is different from an introduction as it summarizes the entire report,
rather than simply introducing it or laying out the structure for the reader. A
good way to approach the executive summary is to write it as if the executive
or decision maker will only read this section,
even though that’s unlikely to be the case.This section is found in longer
reports and is less likely to be found in a shorter report. It can also be used
in both informational and analytical reports.
Executive summaries should
be written after the entire report is completed. This
allows the summary to be both comprehensive and well structured. Remember, the
investigation and details of the report must be complete and validated before
the summary can be written.
This
section is offered in paragraph format, with a paragraph summarizing each
section in the report; thus, the executive summary is presented in the same
order as the report. The executive summary rarely includes images or graphics;
however, a table might be offered at the end of this section if the
recommendation or options can be easily summarized into a table. In sales or
recommendation situations, the executive summary takes on greater importance.
It must clearly demonstrate that the analyses in the report are comprehensive
and thorough, and it must clearly lead the reader to the author’s desired
conclusion.
Most
importantly, all this must be done with brevity. Most executive summaries are
at most two to three pages, but length varies in proportion to the complexity
and length of the report.
The Body or
Report Proper
Introduction
The
introduction is the first section of the report itself.
An introduction sets
up the structure of a report. Essentially, the introduction tells the reader
what is to come and in what order, and it reminds the reader of the key
criteria that instigated the report’s creation. This section is key to the
reader following and retaining key points of the report.
Introductions
are used in both informational and analytical reports. In an informational
report, this helps segment the data that follows. In an analytical report, the
introduction helps the reader come to the conclusion the author expects. An
introduction is used in all informal reports as well. In an informal report,
there may or may not be a separate header with this label, but an introduction
must always be present.
Depending
upon readers’ expected reception of the content, the introduction may
foreshadow the conclusion. With receptive audiences, the outcome is clear in
the introduction. With less receptive audiences, it is important to present all
the facts and research prior to declaring a conclusion; thus, for less
respective audiences, it may be better to foreshadow the conclusion than to
fully declare it. This allows the reader to end up at the same conclusion as
the author as details develop.
The
introduction may also include the problem statement or purpose of the
report. However, in longer reports, these may end up either in the background
or as their own sections.
Historical Background
Knowledge
of the history of the problem is sometimes essential to understanding the
report, so you may need to cover that history in your introduction.
The
background provides a baseline of the current situation and any potential
constrictions such as budget, time, human resources, etc. This section explains
why the investigation or work was completed. The background section
of a report explains the circumstances that led to the report’s creation. In
some situations, this section may be labeled as criteria or constraints,
or the topic may be briefly addressed in the transmittal
letter or introduction. This section can appear in both
informational and analytical reports.
Your
general aim in this part is to acquaint the readers with how the problem
developed and what has been done about it thus far. You should bring out the
main issues and then focus on the part of the problem that your report will
address.
Purpose or Problem Statement
As
mentioned, the purpose or problem
statement section may be part of the background, or it can
stand separately, depending upon the complexity of the report. The purpose or
problem statement should be worded like this example:
The
purpose of this report is to address [the problem or question that the
requester needs addressed]. This report will accomplish this by investigating
[whatever you researched or developed for the report.
While
the example shows the proper phrasing for an analytical report, it could be
reworded to fit an informational report: for example, “details from three
solutions are listed.”
Research or Methods
The research section
(also sometimes called methods) is where authors
establish their credibility as they show how their perspective is supported by
outside experts.This section provides background on where data used in the
report was found: it is not a section where data is listed.
By
telling your audience how you came to know what you have found out, you are
demonstrating to them that your results are trustworthy and that they truly
hold significance. With strong methods for finding out your facts, your readers
will feel comfortable and confident in making the changes your report
recommends. Your data will appear later in the evaluation, so
that the data is in the same place as the reader is learning about its meaning.
Additionally, the data can be presented in full in the appendix.
Completing
and sharing research comes with a set of legal issues. Pay special attention
Module 4: Research and follow the guidelines and rules you learn there. You’ll
always need to provide credit, or citation, for the information you gather from
others. Lack of appropriate citation or attribution can cause legal and
credibility problems.
Scope
If
the scope of your report is not clearly
indicated in any of the other introductory parts, you may need to include it in
a separate part. By scope we mean the
boundaries of your investigation. In this part of the introduction—in plain,
clear language—you should describe what parts of the problem you studied and
what parts you didn’t.
Evaluation or Results of the Report
This
should be the bulk of your report; you must evaluate the options using the
criteria you created. Add graphs, charts, etc. to show that you have studied
your options, and have come up with statistics that back up your reasons why
your alternative beats the competition. If your audience is likely to be
resistant to your recommendation, the evaluation should appear before you make
the recommendation. This section is found only in analytical reports.
This
section should state the end results of your research and detail how you got
there: how you evaluated the alternatives and, from there, you would decided
which alternative best fit your organization.
The Ending of
the Report
You
will end your report with a conclusions section and
a recommendations section,.
Conclusions
Some
reports must do more than just present information; they must analyze it in
light of the problem, and from this analysis, they must reach a conclusion or
conclusions.
The
makeup of the conclusions section varies from case to case. In investigations
for which a single answer is sought (e.g., “Has our new schedule reduced our
utility costs?”), this section normally reviews the preceding information and
analyses and, from this review, arrives at the answer. For more complex
investigations (e.g., “How do employees feel about the new schedule?”), the
report may treat each topic in a separate section and draw conclusions in each
section. The conclusions section of such a report would then summarize these
previous conclusions.
On
the other hand, you should avoid mechanically repeating the findings you’ve
already stated in earlier sections. Some interpretation is appropriate here.
Put the findings back into the context of the overall problem and help the
reader see what they mean in terms of the problem (e.g., why employees may have
responded as they did).
Recommendations
When
the goal of the report is not only to draw conclusions but also to present a
course of action, a recommendation or recommendations are in order. You may
provide them in a separate section following the conclusions section, or you
may include them in the conclusions section.
Regardless,
if you have several recommendations, you may want to bullet them for easy
reading.
Appended
Parts
Sometimes
you will need to include an appendix, a bibliography,
or both at the end of the report. Whether you include these parts should be
determined by need.
Works Cited
When
your investigation makes heavy use of published sources, you normally include
either footnotes, a bibliography, or both. The construction of these is
described in Bonus Chapter E of the textbook.
Appendix
The
appendix, as its name implies, is something appended (attached) to the main
report. You use it for supplementary information that supports the body of the
report.
Possible
appendix contents are questionnaires, interview transcriptions, supporting
documents, summary tables, additional references, and other reports. Include
the charts, graphs, and tables that directly support the report.
These
should be placed in the body of the report where they can support the findings.
Because it is not convenient for readers to have to flip to the appendix to
find the data they need, put in the appendix only those visuals that are too
large or complex to insert into the body of the report.
·
Title Fly
and Title Page (Prefatory Parts) (1 page each)
·
Executive
Summary (Prefatory Part) (1-2 pages maximum)
·
Report Proper-Introduction, Results
of the Study (Findings), Conclusions, Recommendations (Minimum 10
double-spaced / Maximum 12 double-spaced pages)
·
Works
Cited (Appendix)
·
Other
Applicable Appendix Items (i.e. Primary Source Transcripts)
Student Example;