Regardless of which topic of the information report you received as a task, you need to understand the structure and characteristics of this paper. How to start, how many sections should the text include and how to achieve the ideal ratio of volume and information utility – read our article, we will teach you everything and greatly simplify your student’s life.
Information Report Definition
An information report is a systematic document that analyzes a specific problem or topic using facts. Its main characteristics are as follows:
- it uses generally accepted sequence of events and facts and their objective neutral interpretation;
- it should not impose a particular point of view, take sides or misrepresent the data for the sake of subjective opinion;
- it does not include the views of certain people on the subject.
The main purpose of the information report is to convey certain information to readers and help them understand it. Given the need to respect neutral tones, make sure that the theme chosen or provided to you by the teacher allows you to conduct an independent study and impartially present the data.
Note that the topic should not be too general, otherwise your information report will be too long and difficult to read. The student should write about a specific theme that can be covered in three main sections of the text. They are usually called the introduction, the main part and the conclusion. In the case of an information report, these parts require a specific presentation, which we will discuss below.
Information Report Structure
Every student writing an information report should know that it consists of three main parts:
- An opening statement (the introduction).
- Facts about the topic (the main part).
- Summary of the facts (the conclusion).
At all stages of research, gathering the data and structuring a text, students must remember that their goal is to present the facts and nothing else. You do not write your opinion, do not try to convince readers of something. You just teach them talking about things that are probably unknown to them.
The Opening Statement
The thesis statement of your information report is a short, clear sentence at the end of the introduction. It is designed to inform readers about the theme of the text and grab their attention. This may be a well-known statement, question, or statistics that you are going to talk about in the next part. However, do not be too much concerned with the original presentation of your main statement: the reader should not have any doubts about what will be discussed further.
With this part, students not only set the tone of the future paper, but also clearly designate for themselves the subject with which they will work in the following sections. There are cases when students forget about the purpose of the paper. So if you accidentally get involved in the presentation of various interesting data and begin to deviate from the theme, you will only have to look at the first part of your text. It will immediately remind you of the purpose for which you did your case study and started writing your information report.
Facts About the Topic
This is the most voluminous section. It is completely devoted to the data that students have gathered during their research. Expressing them, do not forget about impartiality and the need to leave aside all emotions.
Collecting the data is the most difficult step when you write an information report, so approach it with responsibility. Do not use the first available information. Give preference to educational resources and journals, popular with students and teachers, scientific books and reports on topics similar to yours. Try to check the data in several sources: so you can avoid getting random, unfounded information into your paper.
In this section, tables, charts and graphs may be present if they add information value to the text and help to visualize specific theses. Each image must have a corresponding caption explaining what is shown on it. Images can be submitted in a well-structured infographic format that summarizes certain points and presents them in a short, visual form.
Summary of The Facts
As opposed to the classic conclusion, the information report does not imply the presentation of your opinion on the topic at the end of the text. Each student has their own opinion on a specific theme, but this is not the paper where a personal opinion is a key option. Here students just need to generalize the data presented in the main part in order for readers to remember what was discussed.
The conclusion may include rhetorical questions and a link to additional materials that will help the reader learn more about the theme from other sides.
Your Information Report Is Almost Ready
The stage following the writing of the paper is classical proofreading and editing. If possible, read your text the day after it was created, so you can better appreciate its consistency and structure.
The information report is a rather complicated paper, the main point of which is the need for a non-passionate presentation of information without emotions and subjectivism. However, at the same time, writing these papers is an excellent practice for students. With the help in such tasks professors teach them to do research, search for the necessary data, systematize and structure it, etc.
And what is most remarkable, how much new and interesting things students learn in the process of conducting their research!