Writing Good ReportsUsing Word to Present Research Findings &

Program Outcomes

Writing Good Reports

Be organized and logical in your presentation Use clear & meaningful Headings Use subheadings where appropriate

Create an Outline Use the outline to guide your headings

and subheadings

Writing Good Reports Use Easy to Understand Tables & Graphs

Don’t put too much information in one table Don’t “overcomplicate” your charts and graphs

Present the information at the level and language appropriate to the audience Only use “jargon” with appropriate audiences Write in a clear, direct style that’s easy to follow

Writing Good Reports

Spell Check

Grammar Check

Cite all references appropriately

Writing Good Reports

Make it look nice Headings & subheadings should be

appropriately sized and not overpowering Major Headings at 14-point Subheadings at 12-point (bold or underlined)

Use a true type, readily accepted font – usually Times New Roman

Body text should be 12-point, and unless otherwise noted, double-spaced

Appropriately size and space paragraphs

MS Word 2003Using Word Processing Effectively

Word Screen

RulerBar

TaskPane

ViewsStatus Bar

FormattingTool Bars

Menu Bar

Viewing Documents Different ‘views’ in

Word are useful for different tasks

View Menu or Toolbar at bottom of page to change view

Most people view a document in “Normal” or “Print Layout” when constructing

Normal vs. Print Layout

Margins

Outline The outline view is

sometimes a useful starting point for a report

This view lets you organize your document by creating headings & subheadings

Can be used to create: Table of Contents Power Point Slides

Outline View

In outline view, type your headings & press enter

Outline view has its own toolbar To go to the next level, you can hit the Tab

key, or use the “promote” & “demote” keys You can move items up or down in the outline

& add & delete items If you’d rather view the outline without

formatting, toggle the Formatting Button

Modifying Your Outline

Task Pane

Modifying Your Outline

Headings & subheadings should be appropriately sized and not overpowering Major Headings at 14-point Subheadings at 12-point (bold or

underlined)

Use a true type, readily accepted font – usually Times New Roman or Arial Body text should be 12-point, and unless

otherwise noted

Using Outlines Once you have an

outline, you can switch to Normal or Page Layout View to add your text, tables, etc.

You can also use your outline to create Power Point slides File Menu Send To MSOffice Power Point

Hands-on Exercise 1

Open a new document in MS Word 2003

Change to “Outline” ViewView Menu OutlineOr, Outline Icon

Hands-on Exercise 1

Create a basic outline with the following elements:

Introduction Background

Organization Issue

Literature Review Research Question

or Project Goal

Methodology Data Methods Analysis

Results Limitations Recommendations

Current process Future Research

Hands-on Exercise 1 Modify Your Outline:

Change the font to Times New Roman 14-point for major headings 12-point, bold for minor headings 12-point for regular text

Try moving the elements of your outline using the icons to the left of each entry & then the toolbar

Change to Print Layout View, then back to Outline

Send your outline to Power Point

Formatting & Editing Documents

Basic Formatting

Bold

Different Colors

Border

Underline

Highlight

Paragraph Spacing

Italics

Typography: Terms to Know

Mono-spaced typeface

Proportional typeface

Font Type size Point size Format Font

command

Typography Typeface

Times New Roman ArialCourier New

Serif typeface Sans serif

typeface

Format Font Command

Type size

Font color

Preview pane

Type style

Special effects

Typeface

Page Setup - Margins

Select Orientation

Margin settings

Margin tab

Preview box

Page Setup - Layout

Settings

Layout tab

Preview box

Page Breaks

Soft page break Hard page break Column break Continuous

Paragraph Formatting

Spacing

Indents

Alignment

Line Spacing

Preview box

Line and Page BreaksKeep lines together

Window/Orphan control

HyphenationTools Menu + Language command

Options

Tabs

Alignment

Leader character

Position of tab stop

Borders and ShadingBorders tab

Additional line styles

Line colorLine style

Line widthClick for bottom border only

Column Formatting

Preview boxColumn width

Preset column specifications Spacing

between columns

Moving and Copying Text: Terms

Cut Copy Paste Windows

Clipboard

Paste Special command

Office clipboard Undo Redo

Find Command

Case sensitive

Search text

Whole words only

Replace Command

Automaticreplacement

Search text

Selective replacement

Replacement text

Go To CommandGo to what

Enter page number

Click Go To

The View Menu & Zoom Command

Zoom box

Print Layout View button

Two page display

Enhancing Documents

Bullets

Customize options

Choose style

Click OK to choose

Lists

Customize options

Choose style

Click OK to choose

Page NumbersInsert menu

Alignment

Position

Format options

Headers and FootersHeader area

Footer area

Header and Footer toolbar

Sections Break Types

Page break Column break Text wrapping break

Section Types Next Page Continuous Even page Odd page

Table of ContentsTable of Contents tab

Preview pane

TOC features

The Microsoft Clip Organizer

Insert Picture

Insert Picture + Clip Art

Insert clip art button

Enter keyword to search for clips

Pictures found

The Insert Symbol Command

Choose insert

Select font type

Select symbol

Microsoft Word and the Internet Embed Hyperlinks

Insert Menu Hyperlink Add the URL Descriptive name

HTML Save As Web Page

command

Useful Tools

Spell CheckWord not found in dictionary

Suggested change

Change button

AutoCorrect button

AutoCorrect

Automatic corrections

Table of common mistakes

Enter additions to table of common mistakes

AutoText

Preview

Predefined AutoText entries

Name of AutoText Entry

Thesaurus

Tools Menu Language

Command Thesaurus

Look Up Meanings Replace Cancel

Grammar Check

Missed correction

Detected error

Suggested Correction

Hands-on Exercise

Since I’m very particular about spelling & grammar (and about tools that make life easier) – lets complete the exercise related to this topic: Hands-on Exercise 3 in your book Page 103 Uses the “Language Tools” document Complete steps 2 through 6

Templates & Wizards

Templates & Wizards Rather than moving you through each

point, a template is pre-constructed

Point & Click to change/add/delete elements

For things you do often, create your own custom templates Wizards allow you to create custom

templates Also found in the template window

Mail Merge Concepts

Main Document Standardized text

Merge FieldsPlace holders for

address list

Address List Information that

varies from letter to letter

Mail Merge Go to the “Tools” Menu Choose “Letters and Mailings”

Mail Merge Wizard

Option button

Click Next

Mail Merge Wizard

Mail Merge Wizard

Enter data

Click to write letter

New Entry button

Mail Merge Wizard

Mail Merge Wizard Click link to address block

Preview of greeting line

Click link to greeting line

Address block field

Click to preview letters

Mail Merge Wizard

Click to preview letters

Merge to printer

Copyright Protection Copyright Infringement of a

Copyright Public domain Fair use Footnote Endnote Insert Footnote

command

Footnotes & Endnotes Used to cite or

clarify Insert Menu

Reference Footnote

Footnote or Endnote Location Numbering scheme

For academic work, see journal for format instructions

Presenting Research & Outcomes

Choose the Correct Style

Presenting Your Research

You should modify your report style to suit your audience

There are typical formats for business reports and for academic research Differ slightly Can be overlapped / modified Be clear with your client on the style / info

they prefer

Presenting Your Research

Report Structure - Business Setting: Title Page Table of Contents Introduction Methodology / Procedure Executive Summary Report Content Appendices, References

Presenting Your ResearchReport Structure - Academic Setting: Title & Abstract Background / Introduction Literature Review Research Question Data & Methodology Results & Discussion Conclusions Appendices, End Notes, References

Questions?