Module 3 Headings of an investigative report


Did you know? Te subject heading is the title. It tells the


reader what the report is about. It is written in capital letters,


 


  


When we write a formal investigative report, we use five headings. It is important that you know what the headings mean because if you don’t, you may not be able to write an investigative report at all.


Tese are the headings that appear under the subject heading (title of the report): 1. Terms of reference 2. Procedure 3. Findings 4. Conclusion 5. Recommendations


We explain each heading in detail below. It will help if you read the explanation in conjunction with the example of the Super Duper Book Store report on the next page.


Note Say how many questionnaires were


handed out, who were interviewed, etc.


1. Terms of reference Tis is the subject of the report. In other words, it tells us what the assignment is about. Answer these questions (4 Ws) to guide you in this section:    the person.


      the instruction?


   Note


Tese Findings are wrong:


According to the questionnaire many


people felt that the queues were too long as not


enough tills were open over the weekend.


A few people complained that some of the fruit and vegetables were sometimes rotten. Tese Findings are correct:


According to the


between 15 and 20 people in a queue because only


questionnaire 148 people said that there were 0


2 tills were open over the weekend. 0


A further 10 people


complained that on at least 3 occasions they


had not bought bananas, pears and potatoes


because they were of a poor quality.


58


5. Recommendations It is the last paragraph and here you have to make a recommendation for every problem mentioned in the findings. You cannot make a recommendation for something you did not mention as a problem. Do not make generalisations or be vague and do not write the recommendations in the past tense. We usually write: It is recommended that….


FutureManagers


2. Procedure Tis is a list of the methods you used to obtain the relevant facts necessary for the report. Be very specific and describe each method in detail. Look at these examples:            


3. Findings Te findings are the main part of the report and they can actually make or break  you have used. Arrange the findings in the same sequence as set out in the procedure. You have to be objective and specific; not vague. You must therefore quote amounts, statistics, percentages, etc. See the example in the Note box.


4. Conclusion Te conclusion is an interpretation/summary based on the findings. Tat is why you should have enough findings! Te conclusion need only be one sentence or one paragraph.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186