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All reports are broadly organized in three sections:
Preliminary Matter Requirements
The preliminary matter consists of the title page, approval page, abstract/ executive summary, acknowledgments (optional), table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, other lists (such as nomenclature), and the preface (optional). Preliminary pages are paginated separately from the rest of the text. Proper order of Preliminary Pages:
Each of these items is further described below.
Title page
The title page is the first page of the report. See Annexure 1 for a sample Title page.
Title Page Checklist
Approval page
This page, as indicated by the signature of your supervisor, indicates the consent of your supervisor to the fact that you have completed your internship project in a manner that you had been directed. Since this page is part of your formal report, you have to obtain the signature on this page before you give your report for final binding. Therefore, you should obtain the signatures on the approval page with sufficient time with you to bind the report and submit it before the oral examination. See Annexure 2 for examples of the Approval Page.
Approval Page Checklist
Acknowledgments
These are optional pages, although most documents have a brief paragraph acknowledging the contributions of supervisor and others who helped the student complete the report. If you decide to include these pages, you must maintain a professional tone.
Acknowledgments Checklist
Table of Contents
The table of contents introduces the reader to the report, indicating its contents, organization, and progression. The key is to provide easy access and not to overwhelm the reader with a detailed index of the contents. The table of contents is compiled by listing the headings in the document; it should not show a listing for anything preceding it (Abstract, Acknowledgments, etc.). The student must be consistent in the level of heading that is listed; e.g., if the second-level subheadings are listed from one chapter, the second-level subheadings from all chapters that contain this level. Each level of subheading should be consistently indented a few spaces more than the preceding level. The arrangement of the table of contents in Annexure 3 works for any document, with minor adjustments for the style of chapter numbers or heading levels.
List of Tables and List of Figures
Obviously, only those documents that use tables and figures require these lists. Both lists follow essentially the same format, resembling the table of contents. The sample in Annexure 4 provides model that are easy to read and work well for any document.
List of Tables and List of Figures Checklist
Text Requirements
Every page of the report must meet the margin requirements listed several times in this manual: 1 inches (left, right, top, and bottom). Follow the APA (American Psychological Association) format to write the report. The follows must be included in this chapter.
Abstract / Executive summary
The abstract lets the public and other colleagues know about the report. The abstract should be a succinct summary of the aims, methods, conclusions or results, and significance of your study. It should be accurate (do not include information here that is not in the body of the manuscript), concise (350 word maximum), and specific (begin this section with the most important information and limit it to the four or five most important concepts, findings, or implications of the study). If the abstract is well written, other researchers are more apt to go on to read the entire document.
Introduction
The introduction is the part of the paper that provides readers with the background information for the research reported in the paper. Its purpose is to establish a framework for the research, go on to review the relevant literature. Then go on to make clear the connection between previous research and the present work.
Statement of the Problem
State the problem in terms intelligible to someone who is generally sophisticated but who is relatively uninformed in the area of your investigation. A problem statement should be presented within a context, and that context should be provided and briefly explained, including a discussion of the conceptual or theoretical framework in which it is embedded. Clearly and succinctly identify and explain the theoretical framework that guides your study.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose statement should provide a specific and accurate synopsis of the overall purpose of the study. The main purpose of this section is to tell the reader why you performed the study. In other words, the reader should be informed of the research question and importance of the study. State how the present study is unique compared to previous studies. Key points to keep in mind when preparing a purpose statement.
Try to incorporate a sentence that begins with “the purpose of this study is….” This will clarify your own mind as to purpose and it will inform the reader directly and explicitly. Clearly identify and define the central concepts or ideas of the study.
Identify the specific method of inquiry to be used. Identify the unit of analysis in the study.
Timeline
Provide a general outline of the time schedule you expect to follow.
Limitations
A limitation identifies potential weaknesses of the study. Think about your analysis, the nature of self-report, your instruments, and the sample. Explain these weaknesses.
Review of Literature
The review of literature provides the background and context for the research problem. It should establish the need for the research and indicated that the writer is knowledgeable about the area. Demonstrate to the reader that you have a comprehensive grasp of the field and are aware of important recent substantive and methodological developments. Avoid statements that imply that little has been done in the area or that what has been done is too extensive to permit easy summary. Statements of this sort are usually taken as indications that the writer is not really familiar with the literature. The literature review accomplishes several purposes.
Questions and Hypotheses
Questions and hypotheses are testable propositions deduced and directly derived from theory. A research question poses a relationship between two or more variables but phrases the relationship as a question; a hypothesis represents a declarative statement of the relations between two or more variables. Describe the design and clearly spell out the independent and dependent variables.
The Design – Methods and Procedures
The methods or procedures section is really the heart of the research proposal. The activities should be described with as much detail as possible, and the continuity between them should be apparent. The purpose of this section is to describe in detail how you performed the study. Someone should be able to replicate your study based on the information you provide in this section.
Sampling
Indicate who participated in the study, how many, and how were they selected.
Instruments
Outline the instruments you propose to use. If instruments have previously been used, identify previous studies and findings related to reliability and validity. If instruments have not previously been used, outline procedures you will follow to develop and test their reliability and validity.
Data Collection
Outline the general plan for collecting the data. This may include survey administration procedures, interview or observation procedures.
Data Analysis
Specify the procedures you will use, and label them accurately (e.g. ANOVA, MANOVA, MANCOVA, Regression, case study, grounded theory).
Results
Briefly state the main findings in both tables and words. That is, first give a general description, and then go into the details. When presenting the results of statistical tests, give descriptive statistics, and reliability value before the corresponding inferential statistics. During presenting the results, try to emphasize the meaning of the statistics.
Discussion
The purpose of this section is to evaluate and interpret the results, especially with respect to the original research question. It is also important to discuss how the results relate to the literature cited in the introduction.
Significance of the Study
Indicate how your research will refine, revise, or extend existing knowledge in the area under investigation. Note that such refinements, revisions, or extensions may have substantive, theoretical, or methodological significance. State the implications of the study.
Recommendation
Try to provide some solutions related to your findings. Use your own words to explain the solutions.
Back Matter Requirements
The back matter of the report document consists of the notes, the references (or bibliography), and appendices. The back matter is paginated consecutively from the last page of the text. The back matter, including appendices, must meet the same margin requirements as the rest of the document.
Notes
If the report uses notes, the student may (1) place them at the bottom of the page (footnotes), and (2) group them at the end of the document, before the bibliography (notes). If it is chosen to group the notes at the end of the document, the notes should begin on a new page, which is counted but not numbered. Subsequent pages should be numbered. Notes are indicated in the text and in the notes with superscript numbers. The number should appear here1 rather than here1, so it is distinct from the text.
References
It is a matter of professional ethics to give credits to the researchers who’s published work you have used in conducting your work. These published works may be books, journal articles, or web sites. Use APA format to cite the works.
Appendices
The following materials are appropriate for an appendix.
Guidelines, Standard, Format, Internship, Report, Writing, BBA, MBA, EMBA
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