Informal Reports

An informal report is one that will NOT be widely distributed, will NOT be published, and are relatively short. Informal reports contain the following information:

Introduction - Here you want to make the reader aware of the contents of the report. You can do this by any of the following three means:

• Stating the Objective (providing the purpose and scope of the report).
• Stating the Context ( a series of statements that include: What caused you to write; Why you are credible in this instance; The Report's Purpose; and a preview of the contents)
• Alert the reader to a Problem

Summary - This is optional, but it is an abstract of the discussion section. You should have one sentence for each of the main parts or paragraphs of the discussion.

Background - This is also optional, but it's goal is to bring the reader up to speed on the history, context, or method of the project the report is detailing.

Conclusions and Recommendation - This section summarizes the main thrust of the discussion that follows. It needs to be clear and precise.

Discussion - This is the detailed full information of the report. This is usually divided into three sections and separated by heads.

Types of Informal Reports:

1. Brief Analytical Reports of a problem(s)
2. Trip Reports
3. Lab Reports
4. Progress Reports

Return to Outline of Three Main Points for Persuasive Presentations

Forward to Formal Reports

See a Progress Report Sample

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