Information Reports

Information Reports
In describing any person, object, situation, or concept, the following seven questions (6 Ws + 1 H) help to convey a comprehensive picture:
Subject/Object Action Reason
WHO? WHAT WHY?
WHOM? WHEN?
WHERE?
HOW?

Therefore, the comprehensiveness of an information or descriptive report can be checked by iteratively asking:
WHO does WHAT to WHOM
WHEN, WHERE, HOW
and WHY?

Information reports are the first step to understand the existing situation (for instance, business, economic, technological, labour, market, or research scenario reports) or what has been discussed or decided (for instance, the minutes of a meeting) form the foundation for subsequent decisions reports and research reports.

Decision Reports
Decision reports adopt the following steps of the problem solving approach:
1) Identifying the problem
2) Constructing the criteria
3) Generating and evaluating the options
4) Making a decision
5) Drawing up an action plan
6) Working out a contingency plan

Research Reports
Research reports contribute to the growth of subject literature. They pave the way for new information, significant hypotheses, and innovative and rigorous methods of research and measurement. They broadly have the following organization:
1) Literature survey to find gaps in knowledge.
2) Nature and scope of the study, hypothesis to be tested, and significance and utility of the study.
3) Methodology for collecting data, conducting the experiment, and analyzing the data.
4) Description and analysis of the experiment and data.
5) Findings.
6) Conclusions.
7) Recommendations.
8) Suggestions for further research.
9) Backup evidence and data.