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How to write your thesis
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Purpose
A report describes a study, an investigation, or a project. Its purpose is to provide recommendations or updates, and sometimes to persuade the readers to accept an idea.
By/To Whom
It is written by a single person or a group who has investigated the issue. It is read by people who require the information.
Length
Reports can vary in length but a good rule to remember is that they should be as long as necessary and as short as possible.
Organizing Your Thesis
1. Title
Your title should tell the reader exactly what the report is about.
2. The contents of List
If your report has a number of sections it is important to include a table of contents so that the readers can find the information they want. A good way to structure a report is to use numbered headings:
1.0 Summary
2.0 Introduction
3.0 (Body)
3.1 (Body)
3.2 (Body)
................
................
................
4.0 Conclusions
5.0 Recommendations
6.0 Appendices
7.0 Bibliography
How to Write Summary
It tells the reader what the objectives of the report are as well as the outlining research, the main findings, conclusions and any recommendations. Notice that the language used should be clear, accurate and formal. 'We' and 'I' are often used in internal reports, for example for describing research.
[EXAMPLE]
(Objectives)
The purpose of this report is to compare two different web designs. The reason for this is to decide what kind of web page is mostly like to attract new customers to encourage existing customers to buy more products from us.
(Outlining Research)
We asked two developers to produce alternative web pages for our company. We asked Developer A to produce a simple, easy-to-use design and asked Developer B to produce a more sophisticated design with lots of eye-catching graphics. We concluded our research by asking a group of twenty existing customers and twenty non-customers to use the web page over a month. The group was made up of people with a range of ages, professions, incomes, and computer expertise. We divided the group in two and asked one sub-group to use Design A and the other to use Design B. We asked each sub-group to log on once a day and to use the web page to perform certain tasks, including: buying products, getting information, returning damaged products, and tracking deliveries. We also asked the sub-groups to return to the web gapes.
In addition, we researched the technology that people had available for accessing the Internet, including the devices people used and the connection speeds available.
(Main findings & Conclusions)
We found that, on the whole, people preferred to be able to purchase products quickly and easily. In conclusion, users do not visit a site such as ours for entertainment. While they initially enjoyed some of the aspects of Design B these could take a long time to load and users eventually became bored.
(Any recommendations)
We recommend that we adopt Design A with two or three of the more practical features from Design B.
How to Write Introduction
Most of the types of reports you write need to have an introduction, to show the reader clearly what the topic or purpose of the whole paper is. As a rough guide, an introduction might be between 10% and 20% of the length of the whole paper.
This should give the reader the background to the report: why you are writing it. You should also include what the report will cover (and what it won’t) and how you got the information you have based the report on. An introduction is usually one paragraph with 3 main stages:
(Beginning Part of Introduction)
It begins with the most general information, like background (why are you writing it) and/or definitions.
(Middle Part of Introduction)
The middle is the core of the introduction, where you show the overall topic, purpose, your point of view, hypotheses and/or research questions (depending on what kind of paper it is).
(Ending Part od Introduction)
Finally, the introduction ends with the most specific information: a guide to the scope and structure of your paper(what the report will cover and what it won’t). This is often a list (e.g. “The issue will be considered in terms of economics, politics and culture”), or a plural (e.g. “This issue will be discussed with reference to three important economic causes.”).
Note: If the main body of your paper follows a predictable template, like the Method, Results and Discussion stages of a report in the sciences, you often do not need to include a guide to the structure in the introduction. It is sensible to write your introduction after you know both your overall point of view (if it is a persuasive paper) and the whole structure of your paper. Alternatively, you should revise the introduction when you have completed the main body.
About Body of the Report
The main body of the report will follow the structure in the Contents List. You should give and include precise information, discoveries which are factual and not based on opinion. It is recommended that you need to insert the table/chart/data/diagram/graph/photo or any statistical figures in your main body in order to explain and demonstrate the facts or findings. Some of the more detailed information can go into Appendices and the Bibliography.
About Conclusions
This is where you give your opinions on the facts that you have discovered.
About Recommendations
You should give some recommendations or your desire or something that you want the reader to do or think. If you have been asked to give recommendations, they should be based on your conclusions. You should also let the reader know what you predict will happen if your recommendations are followed.
About Appendices
In a long report, you should put very detailed information in the Appendices with cross-references to them in the body of the report.
About Bibliography
If your report refers to a number of other publications, you should list these in a Bibliography.
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