You will be completing two reports for this module.
1. Lab/Test Report (worth 75 points)
2. Incident Report (worth 75 points)
Each report should be no shorter than 1 page single-spaced. Before getting into the specifics
of the incident reports, please review this general description of workplace reports.
GENERAL CONVENTIONS OF WORKPLACE REPORTS
Purpose
The general purpose of a report is to create official documentation for activity that goes on in
your workplace. This creates a body of documents that can be referenced for important
information. It is vital that you present this information in a clear and complete manner. Some of
these documents can be used to document information that can be legal in nature and can be used
for promotion or firing. A documented business is an organized business, and that makes
everything easier.
Audience
The audience of a report can vary, but often it includes management. Management documents
these for their reference. Management will also often write reports. As such, since these are
managerial documents, you need to be professional, as either role has something at stake. If you
are an employee writing to management, you should be clear, complete and professional as your
work represents you. As a manager, you need to present yourself professionally to maintain trust
with your employees.
Genre
Short reports vary depending on the type, but they have the following general organization and
format in common.
Introductory Paragraph: This part of the report is a brief introduction that briefly summarizes
the purposes of the report and may include some brief background information. The background
can be developed within the introductory paragraph, or if the rhetorical situation demands more
background, it may be composed of an entire background paragraph of its own.
Findings: This is the largest section. This will detail the data and explain it clearly to the
audience. This section may also contain graphics to clearly explain the information in a more
efficient and effective manner.
Conclusion/ Recommendations: This section briefly summarizes your findings. It also
discusses the significance of your findings. It answers the question: so what? So what does this
mean in the bigger picture, or what should people do about this? You may need to recommend a
course of action based on this information. If so, you will need strong examples, since your
conclusions are the portion that will most likely be viewed critically by your audience.
Format Requirements
Design: These need to be highly readable documents that are easy to reference and designed for
information raiders. As such, you will use CRAP design.
CRAP Document Design
Contrast- Do you vary your fonts and text sizes?
Repetition- Do you have an overall consistent design scheme in your font choices
and text sizes to provide organization to your report?
Alignment- Do you use tabs and left/ right alignment to organize your information
into logical main and subordinate categories? The further to the left the information
is, the more it is emphasized.
Placement- Is your document organized? Are your categories focused and detailed?
Do you chunk your information into small/readable bits? Do you present small
sections of bulleted lists?
We will be using the CRAP model to create easy to read, professional documents.
Memo Format
Provide correct heading information (preferably with a company stationary/ logo) To, From,
Subject, Dates, initialed at the name. Times New Roman Font for body text, single-spaced,
block paragraphing.
Graphics
Reports often use visuals in order to illustrate concepts. For these reports, I would like you to
include some sort of table, graph, chart, map, drawing, or relevant photos to illustrate your
findings to your audience.
Writer
Your role here is professional. It needs to be based on specific examples and have coherent,
ethical explanations.
Cultural Context
These are essential to documenting behavior. Very often, in a business supervisor will write
reports to document important activities. Since these are potentially legal documents, it is very
important to represent information FAIRLY and ethically. This is a fact-based genre; there
should be little to no opinion involved in these documents unless specified by the specific report
type to make recommendations.
Tone
You need a professional tone. Make sure to edit carefully to maintain your credibility. Make
sure not to embellish your information. Focus on specific examples rather than opinions. Make
sure your tone is accurate and creates trust.
TEST/ LAB REPORTS
Read the description on page: 579- 583
Purpose
A test/ lab report follows a more specific formula named IMRaD that is similar to the formula
for any report (Introduction/Findings/ Recommendations). IMRaD stands for
Introduction (why the test?)
Methods (how did you do the test?)
Results (what happened?)
Discussion (what’s next?)
When I think of IMRaD, I think of one of my favorite shows from a number of years ago,
Mythbusters. In this show, special effects artists, Adam and Jaimie, tested a variety of research
questions and reported them using IMRaD. Here is a clip of one of their studies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXf9-2JM7lM . The following chart explains each part of
IMRaD:
The Research Question
Test/ lab reports are based off a research question, which is the aim of the test/laboratory work.
Science classes often present their classes with numerous research questions, for example testing
air resistance and gravity in a physics class, or testing plant growth in different soil conditions in
biology, or testing chemical/ elemental reactions in chemistry. Your research questions can be
based on a small test of your own with the following options:
A survey- Address your research question with a survey. You can write a short survey for your
report. For this option, you give a survey to a group of specific people, relate the methods of
your report (which should be detailed enough that anyone could also give this survey, and
include the question of the survey), relate the results in a graph, and explain the results with a
discussion.
A home experiment- Devise an at-home experiment. Ideas could be:
1. Test out a new product and review its quality
2. Test a new recipe on your family and get their reviews on it through a short survey
3. Test a new method of performing a household project
4. Test an at-home science experiment
5. And countless more, use your creativity
This option has many possibilities, but make sure your experiments are safe. WDT is not
responsible if you chose an experiment with inherent risks.
Graphics
Apply the concepts you learned about visual information in Chapter 10 to these reports. Graphics
are about relating complex information in a meaningful way. Use a chart, table, or graph to relate
your data for your results section, or perhaps use shapes in Microsoft Word to compose a flow
chart for your methods section.
Test/Lab Report Check List
Have you written this as a memo with single-spacing, design, subheadings, and relevant
graphics?
Is the report at least one full page long?
Does the report follow IMRaD (Intro, Methods, and Results)
Does the report incorporate at least one graphic (choosing from graphs, tables, charts etc.)
to relate the test/lab results?
Is the report well-edited?
INCIDENT REPORTS
Read the description on page: 584- 588
Purpose
The general purpose of an incident report is to document any kind of mishap, damage, loss,
technological emergency, or personal injury. Employers use these to create a safer and more
efficient workplace. They are also sometimes used within the legal world as evidence. Thus,
incident reports need to paint a clear, objective picture to provide documentation of the
incident. To do that they need to have a clear: who, what, when, where, and why.
Audience
The audience of an incident report can consist of all levels of management, insurance companies,
and attorneys. Be sure to tailor the information to be accessible by these many important
audiences.
Tone
The audience of an incident report can consist of all levels of management, insurance companies,
and attorneys. Be sure to tailor the information to be accessible by these many important
audiences.
Narrative
Incident reports are narratives that tell a story. They are in chronological order, describing the
incident from start to finish. Be sure to be objective and descriptive. Avoid relating opinion
unless an educated opinion is asked for in a recommendations section. For example, do not say
something like “the man appeared to be intoxicated”—that involves a personal judgement.
Rather, stick to the facts saying something like, “the man was having trouble maintaining his
balance and was slurring his speech.” It is hard for an audience to argue with facts, but saying
someone is drunk without a blood alcohol level reading could be incorrect. It is all about sticking
to the facts and presenting them with clear detail.
Incident Report Check List
Have you written this as a memo with single-spacing, design, subheadings, and relevant
graphics?
Is the report at least one full page long?
Does the intro summarize the report and then provide an organized narrative?
Is the narrative in chronological order? Do you stick to the facts and avoid opinion?
Is the report well-edited?
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