CHECKLIST REPORT

TITLE PAGE FEEDBACK

attractive and complete The title page informs the
reader 1) about the kind of
report, 2) by use of a good title
and sub title about the theme
of the reported research, 3)
about the author, 4) about the
study/company, preferably with
use of logo, and about the
course, 5) about the name of
the teacher, 6) about the date
of publication (= date of ‘hand
in’), 7) about the version. Do
not forget to make your title
page attractive e.g. with the use
of a nice illustration and let the
title page make the reader
curious about your research.

FOREWORD FEEDBACK
personal written For example: short description
of the project, student group,
education, word of thank for
the tutor/professor, and
everything else you would like
to pay personal attention to.
SUMMARY FEEDBACK
covers the content The summary of the report
gives an overall picture of the
research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FEEDBACK

generated automatically Gives the reader insight in the
structure of the report and an
overview of the
subjects/themes.

1. INTRODUCTION General: gives the reader insight FEEDBACK

in the context of the research,
general description of the
company/client, market where
the client operates, objective
and clear structure description
of the report.
1.1 background information This is a part of the FEEDBACK
introduction, but dependent on
the size, can also form a
complete chapter. You describe
the context of your research:
what is the reason for your
research, why is your research
important? Confirm this with
facts, figures and/or the use of
sources. You also explain in
which phase of your study this
research has been done.
Important background
knowledge about the subject,
based on relevant, actual and
scientific literature, is also an
important part of the
background chapter.

1.2 research objective What is the product of your FEEDBACK

research, what can your client
use it for?

1.3 structure description Clear structure description of FEEDBACK

the report, clear guidance for
the reader.

2. RESEARCH PLAN

2.1 problem analysis Description of what exactly is FEEDBACK

the problem, why and for whom
is this a problem, what are
probable causes and what are
probable solutions?
2.2 research questions Main and sub questions, open FEEDBACK
questions, accurately
formulated, specific.

2.3 research methods Based on the main research FEEDBACK

question and the sub questions,
you describe and justify the
research methods you chose.
Give a clear description with
convincing practical, contextual
 and theoretical foundations per
method.

3. RESULTS The results of the research are FEEDBACK

described clearly and are well-
organized. A logical structure of
the results can be made in view
of the sub questions or the
different research methods.
To inform the reader in a good
way you make use of numbered
and informative tables and
figures. You can highlight the
most important outcomes.
Every chapter has a clear
structure with an introduction,
a middle part and an
end/conclusion.

4. FINAL CONCLUSION The conclusion is the answer to FEEDBACK

the main question. You give a
short retrospect on the report
and the main question is
repeated. In the middle the
main question will be answered
and you give foundations of the
answer. In the concluding piece
the completion of your research
report is given. The conclusion
can be read independently.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations are concrete FEEDBACK

advices from the student to the
customer/reader. The advices
are the outcome of the analysis
of the results/of the conclusion
of the research. They can be
executed in a practical way and
will be mentioned in a separate
chapter.

6. DISCUSSION A discussion is a critical FEEDBACK

consideration over the scope
and reliability of the executed
research. It is not about
reflecting on your own
functioning, but about the
reflection of the methods used
 and the outcomes. You indicate
to what extent the outcomes
are reliable and valid. Make use
of relevant literature and give
your opinion on the usefulness
and transfer of the research
results to other applications.

REFERENCE OF SOURCES IN With sources is meant the list of FEEDBACK

REPORT AND LIST OF SOURCES sources as well as the
referencing in the report itself,
in accordance with the APA-
method.

APPENDICES Appendices are meant to FEEDBACK

support the chapters. They are
used when the information is
too detailed to include in the
main text. Give them
appropriate and informative
titels.
LAY OUT Attractive with images, FEEDBACK
tables/graphs/figures.
CHAPTERS Sufficiently subdivided into FEEDBACK
sections and subsections.
Use a clear structure of the
chapters: always start with an
introduction, then continue
with the middle/main part and
end with a summary or
conclusion of the chapter.

FORMULATIONS Formulations are 1) clear, the FEEDBACK

explanations are explicit and
the sentences are not too long,
2) succint, without the writer
resorting to a telegram style, 3)
attractive, the length of
sentences varies, where
appropriate, examples are used,
4) correct, there are no
grammatical of spelling
mistakes, punctuation is
correct, the style is neither too
formal nor too informal (no use
of ‘spoken language’).
REPORT WRITING TOOL:

Elling, R., Andeweg, B., De Jong, J., & Swankhuisen, C. (2012). Report writing for readers with little
time. Groningen: Noordhoff Uitgevers.