How to Enter a Report

The introduction of a report consists of a clear and simple description of the event or topic to be discussed, which should allow the reader to understand what will you find in the rest of the job or report submitted. It should not be very broad, that is, a maximum of two pages depending on the type of report to be made; reports referring to a meeting or event at work, university work practice reports, laboratory practice reports, specialized study completion reports or even professional reading reports.

To summarize, the introduction must concisely state the topic to be discussed, it must arouse the interest of the reader and finally, it must inform about the work carried out in a general way. Here’s how to introduce a report step by step:

1. In the first paragraph, you must present the topic you are going to discuss, that is, the question or event on which the report is being made.
2. In the same paragraph, that is, the first, you will present the objectives of the work that is being carried out or has already been carried out. If you want to better segment the introduction, you can dedicate an entire paragraph for the objectives, although this is optional.
3. In the next paragraph you have to describe, between 4 and 6 lines, the justification or importance of the event or investigation done.
4. If it is a research topic, in the next paragraph you must present how the research topic will be raised and what methodology you are going to use (or have already used) to achieve the stated purpose. If it is the report of an event, state how you are going to structure the development of the event.
5. In the final paragraph you have to expose the scope and limitations of the research topic addressed.

Next, from UNHOWTO we will present you examples of how to develop the first two steps of an introduction. We will use, as project introduction examples, the following phrases to start an introduction:

Example 1

Research carried out: “Ethical principles in Public Administration”

“In this research, the general ethical principles that must be complied with in the country’s public administration are exposed. Here you will find, not only the ethical principles that must be complied with in said public entities, but also the problems that vitiate these governmental functions in our country. territory”. If your case is similar to this, you may want to take a look at this other article on How to make a management report.

Example 2

Event: “Meeting of Parents and Representatives to address the problem of school discipline in Basic School XXXX”

“At the meeting held on March 21, 2018, parents and representatives of the students of the basic school XXXX appeared to address as the main topic the problem of discipline presented by the students of this school in the current school year.”

Example 3

Laboratory report: “Practice N ° 2. Uniform Rectilinear Movement”

“In this laboratory report, referring to practice number 2 on” Uniform Rectilinear Movement “, you will find a series of data collected in tables, graphs and analysis of the results of the practice carried out”.

These are possible phrases to start an introduction but, of course, you can adapt them to your own work and your preferences. If you want to continue learning how to write an introduction for different types of reports and fields, skip to the next section.

The laboratory reports are, generally, specialized technical works in areas of science such as chemistry, biology, physics and all scientific careers that use the basic principles of these natural sciences. Next, we explain in detail how to write an introduction to a lab report:

1. The first step is to develop a paragraph indicating the topic discussed in the laboratory and what we will find in said report.
2. Then, in another paragraph with a maximum of three lines, explain the main objective of the developed practice. In the following paragraphs, you will have to detail the specific elements that made it possible to successfully complete the laboratory practice carried out. The number of paragraphs will depend on the number of objectives and elements you want to talk about, that is, one paragraph per specific objective.
3. In the last step, you will have to describe in a paragraph the methodology used to develop and achieve the proposed objectives, clearly mentioning methods such as observation, measurement and calculations as fundamental elements used in laboratory practices. This paragraph should not exceed 4 lines.

Now that you have seen an example of a project introduction and you know how to write a basic introduction of a laboratory report, we will go on to reveal the conditions that you should always keep in mind before starting to write.

One of the existing techniques to design a good introduction is to ask a series of questions that lead to answers that, later, can help you develop the introduction of your report. These questions and answers are as follows:

• What is presented in the report? Answer: the research topic or problem X.
• Why or what is it done for? Answer: talk here about the objectives to be developed, whatever they may be.
• How did the work develop? Answer: insert here the methodology used with a clear and concise step by step so as not to overwhelm the reader.
• What is the importance or relevance of the topic discussed? Answer: justification of the topic, talk about what can be achieved with these discoveries and how this is relevant.
• What difficulties were encountered in achieving the objectives? Answer: talk here about the scope and limitations of the study.

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