Summary: The start of Chapter 9 begins with an introduction to reports in the digital age, and the overall consensus about reports is that they "convey information, answer questions, and solve problems" (253). The chapter goes into detail that there are two functions of reports to be informational, which are reports with data but no analysis, and analytical, which are the reports that consist of data and analyses. Once this has been established then there are different organizational strategies; direct and indirect, and these are dependent on the knowledge or position on the subject by the audience. The chapter also highlights informal and formal writing styles and when they are appropriate to be used and what their effects are. Following this, the chapter discusses the types of formats a report can come in and how effective headers can be essential for a good report. There was also mention of how a report should be constructed and what it should include since its purpose is meant to be informational, which hints at where sources could be found. Towards the end of the chapter, there were examples of different types of reports and how they should be formatted and organized.
Comment: What made this chapter cleared for me was how they broke down the creation and purpose of headings. I have not been taught much on how to properly categorize headings, and because of that, I would just put them down after I finished writing. Now what I see as important, especially in the planning stages, is to create your headings first. Once the headings are established then I can work backward to write because at that point most of my thoughts have already been put down on paper and I just have to go and fill in any holes there might be.
Question: Since Chapter 2 talked about and anticipating and profiling the audience would it be necessary to change the headings and subheadings in a report for each audience to gain their specific attention?
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