Key sections of a report

Study sheet

Writing the Objectives section

What is the purpose of this section?
The objectives may be included in the Introduction section and not in a section of their own. However, even if the objectives of the study are clear from the Title and the Summary, they must be included somewhere. The objectives are the starting point for the whole investigation, and are fundamental in keeping the report relevant. The Objectives section should be a clear, concise statement of exactly what you set out to achieve and why. The objective of the investigation was to determine: 1. to what extent a job sharing system can be applied in the Marketing Department; 2. how far the application of a job sharing system can result in cost savings. Note that each objective should be matched by a conclusion.

(c) to determine whether optimizing conditions will result in enhanced productivity.

What language should I use?

Introducing the objectives
These are some of the ways you can introduce your aims and objectives: 1. The objective of the investigation was to 2. The experiment was carried out in order to investigate 3. 4. The goal of this study was to In this study we investigated whether

Key word
As with the Title, you should find a key word that focuses on the primary activity of the study. Think about exactly what you wanted to achieve: 1. Do you want to identify a value? Use to determine, to calculate, to measure. 2. Do you want to test or investigate a system or a machine? Use to analyse, to identify, to test, to design.

Common mistakes
1. A common mistake is to make the objectives implicit in a description of the report: This report covers the potential introduction of a load balancing system in the company's PC environment. This may be an acceptable sentence in the overview of objectives in the Executive Summary, but in the Objectives section itself, each objective should be made explicit. 2. Objectives should be laid out with correct and consistent numbering, grammar and punctuation. The objectives of this study were: (a) to research optimum temperature and humidity for the working environment; (b) to measure current temperature and humidity in Factory D;

Parallelism
Where you have two or more objectives, you should present them using a parallel structure. This means using the same verb form and consistent punctuation and numbering. Look at how this set of objectives fails: The objective of the study was to: (a) investigate the need for a new Marketing Executive; (b) We analysed the functions of this new position, (iii) assessing an appropriate remuneration package.

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http://www.clarity.com.hk Clarity Language Consultants Ltd, 2007

Key sections of a report

Study sheet

The problems are that: (a) the verb form is different for each objective; (b) the punctuation at the end of each objective is different; (c) the numbering is not consistent. This set of objectives would therefore be better laid out as follows. The objectives of the study were as follows. (a) To investigate the need for a new Marketing Executive. (b) To analyse the functions of this new position. (c) To determine an appropriate remuneration package.

first set of questions before you start writing. The second set will help you to evaluate what you have written.

Before writing
1. Why exactly did I undertake this investigation? 2. How can I express this using clear, precise language?

After writing
1. Would someone who wanted to repeat the investigation know why they were doing it? 2. Have I used clear, precise language (to calculate rather than to find out)? 3. Have I used a parallel structure including consistent grammar, punctuation and numbering?

What should I ask myself?

These questions will help you to build up the Objectives section of your report. Ask yourself the

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http://www.clarity.com.hk Clarity Language Consultants Ltd, 2007