by Shannon Combs Bennett, Student

Well, this is when we get into the meat and bones of the course Skill Building: Nuts & Bolts of Reporting Research. Report writing. Now don’t be scared or nervous. This was a great section on all the why’s and how’s for you to become a great report writer.

Before that however you need to plan your research. The section on research planning, complete with example case studies, was an excellent outline of how the process should work. We all know, or should know, that you need to have the ground work of good research laid out before you can build your report. But, how do you do that?

It is a combination of many smaller things that when merged together create a solid case for your writing.  Through the research planning section of this module the process is laid out nicely step-by-step.  Complete with online, and off line, resources for you to consult.

The breakdown of the types of reports out there I think will be very helpful to anyone who has never created one before. For those of you who don’t know, or just need a refresher, the types of reports you can create are:

• Narrative
• Software formatted
• Letter
• Formal

Depending on your background these may have varying degrees of difficulty for you. That is ok, too. For instance I tend to enjoy writing formal reports and have very little experience using software programs to generate reports. This is where the case study comes into play. It gave me great practice into how to layout, plan, and write. I bet you will  find it useful too.

See you online!