8 Steps on How to Write an Analytical Report
Analytical report writing is a regular task for college and master’s students. Most of the research projects you will do will have some parts of analysis and data collection. Most students find it had to write an analysis. Some students complain that it takes most of their time, while others don’t like the editing part. Whatever the case, you will meet analytical cases in most of your education life. Read on to learn how to write an analytical report.
What is an analytical report?
An analytical report is written to give direction or provide a solution to a particular problem. You will encounter different analytical reports that need to be analyzed during your research. In that case, you will do research and provide your findings, including how to solve the problem.
An analytical report is more than a presentation of figures. Most students believe that it is enough to show some data analysis in your report. A good report should be detailed and provide insights on how to solve the problem and your recommendation. Your readers should have a clear understanding of the way forward after reading your work.
Purpose of analytical report
Most students ask, what is the appropriate use of an analytical report? An analytical report is used to provide a solution. Most of these reports are a result of research or observation of an existing problem.
An analytical report is like an answer to problems raised by research. An example of an analytical report is why people submit their assignments late. You will probably get answers like working on assignments at the last minute or demotivation. Your research has identified the problem but has not offered a solution.
An analytical report comes in to give more clarification about an issue. It will tell you what to do to reduce late submission by analyzing the different phenomena. The report looks at the causes of demotivation or why people work on the assignment at the last minute. It analyses figures and data to provide an answer.
Why do you fear learning how to write an analytical report?
Many students fear analytical report topics although it is one of the most common activities in college. If you find yourselves in such a situation, you can consider ‘write my analytical report’. Write my analytical report to professional writers to help you with your report. Here are some reasons why students fear research.
It takes a lot of time
Writing a report requires you to dedicate most of your time and energy to it and sometimes you don’t have all that time. Instead of being fun, report writing becomes irritate. You spend most of the time trying to figure out how to write an analysis and present your data fast.
Students have other activities that take their time. They engage in part-time jobs to help them pay for their career, sports, and other short courses. If you engage in these activities, there is a high possibility that you won’t have much time to write your report.
The report requires a high level of skills
Writing analytical reports requires you to have a vast knowledge of the field. An analytical report is not like regular research, where you only need to know the format and ideas flow. You need to have skills in data collection and data analysis. Furthermore, you have to do a lot of research on the topic before writing. The report has to be perfect and educational since it may get published.
Unfortunately, the knowledge is not mostly taught in your field of study in detail. Unless you specialize in a data analysis course, report writing is only taught as a topic in most classes. If you are doing a monitoring and evaluation course, you will only come across information about analytical data analysis in a few instances, yet it’s an essential part of the course.
You will have to go the extra mile to teach yourself about these things. The internet is full of information about the topic. You can get dozens of answers to your questions. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what you are reading without a guide or someone who has more insight on the topic.
Complicated research methods
It’s not all rosy to write a report. The analytical report is a result of vigorous and tiresome research work. Before publishing that well-organized report you see on Forbes, the researcher has gone through a series of sleepless nights trying to put figures and facts together.
Research methods for a report can be tasking. Make one wrong move in your research method, and you will end up with the wrong result. Every step of writing a report is so crucial that you can’t afford to get confused. You must define an analytical report for better analysis.
Poor writing skills
Students have become poor writers in the current digital world. Technology has taken over almost everything, including typing your class notes. An analytical report requires you to write a lot of stuff, but students have become poor writers, and only a few are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to write. Look for online assignment websites offering writing services to help you with your assignment.
Students do not have the writing skills required to handle such analytical report topics. An analytical report is a high professional work written in a specific style and communicated professionally. Most students are still struggling with their education and career, thus not fit to handle such topics.
Now that you have learned why you sometimes feel so tired when you think about an analytical report, let’s look at some tips to help you write an analytical report.
Format your paper
Before you decide what to include in your report, it’s essential to create your paper. Know how your paper will look like by creating a format. There are various methods that you can use to format your paper. Each referencing style has its composite.
Most people love using APA because it’s easy to use. The main difference between APA and other methods is its citation which follows the name-date format. The title page is also unique.
Another method is Harvard referencing style. It’s common among business colleges. Harvard style is close to APA in many aspects, such as having a title page. It follows the author, page number, and date format. Its title page is also much more complicated. It contains all information about you, your school, your course, your lecturer and your project.
You can also choose to use MLA (Modern Language Association), a style common in the literature department and social science research projects. It differs from APA and Harvard since it does not have a title page, and it uses the author and page number in its citations. It also has a header that includes your surname and the page number.
For this analytical report, we will use APA referencing method. Let’s look at how to format your report.
Title page
The first page of your analytical report should have the necessary information about your paper. Here is some information you should include on your cover page for a perfect example of an analytical report.
- Title of your study. It should be in bold, capitalize each word, and placed at the center of the page
- Your name (placed three tabs down from the title)
- Name of your institution
- Your course
- Instructor
- Date
Your title page and the whole paper should follow some basic standards. It should be double spaced, written in Times New Roman, and 1.5 margins in all the paper parts.
Table of content
This section helps you to organize your paper. It allows your reader to access information quickly. If they want to go to a particular section, they don’t have to scroll down the lengthy document. They only need to click on the table, and they will be directed to the information they need.
You will look ardent if you include a table of content in your analytical report. It will make you stand out from hundreds of reports that your lecturer has to mark. Remember, they may not have time to go into details.
Introduction
The introduction is the beginning of your analytical report writing. The section introduces the problem you want to solve. It is a detailed explanation of why a subject is an issue and why you want to find a solution.
The introduction sets the ground for all other sections. It’s essential to be as transparent as you can for your readers to follow you through. It will also be easier for you to move to another section and make an informed decision if you write a clear introduction.
An excellent introduction should define terminologies. One of the reasons why your reader will be left behind as you move to other sections is the use of complicated terms. Ensure that you define new terms that the reader may find hard to understand, such as scientific names and processes.
Include data in your introduction. The purpose of an analytical report is to present a problem and solve it. Including statistics empowers your claim. Most people look at figures to determine the seriousness of a case or a stand.
Research methods
Your reader should know how you will conduct your research. The research methods give your report a direction. It shows how you will come to a conclusion and solution. Your recommendation is much determined by the method of study for your paper.
Include the type of data you used to collect information. There are various methods you may have used, such as surveys, interviews, or case studies. Ensure to use the best method of data collection. Thus, your audience will have confidence in your analysis and results.
Data analysis
Your report should include a section on how you have analyzed your data. Data analysis determines the result of your report. Understand what analysis is and use the best method that will ensure you get your desired results. Sometimes, it’s hard to write an analytical report, especially if you are not conversant with the analysis method. In such a case, you may consider hiring a professional data analyst to help you in this section.
Conclusion
It is a summary of what you have talked about in your analysis. Point out essential facts you have presented that may have a bearing on the solution and recommendation. The best way to write your conclusion is to state the topic sentences and explain them. Do not introduce new facts or figures in this section. Include any further information that you want to add to your paper in the body section.
Recommendation
The last part of your paper is a list of solutions you want to offer. After your research and analysis, it’s time to tell your reader how to solve their problem. Start with the most viable recommendation as you go down. Ensure including the limitations of each solution for your audience will see your approach’s neutrality and make the right decision.
Do a thorough research
Another major part of your analytical report is to research the topic. Analytical report topics are meant to solve a problem. Thus, getting the right solution depends on how well you research the report. Besides, this type of report is practical writing which requires you to give facts through research rather than theoretical information.
Research credible sources. The best material to use in your research is peer-reviewed articles, PDFs, and books. Different scholars review their information before it’s published. Sources such as blogs and magazines have biased information which cannot be used in research since it’s opinionated.
Write the first draft
The first step in your paper is to write a draft. It helps you to get your points and ideas together. Many students make the mistake of writing one paper and submitting it. A draft act as a mirror for your final paper. It shows you areas that need improvement or clarification.
Your draft should be clean. Most students create a draft that they can’t submit in case of an emergency. Your draft should be so good that you can give it to your lecturer if you don’t have time to create a final copy.
Your draft should have some critical aspects though not perfect. First, try as much as possible to remove errors such as grammar and syntax. Second, it should have references and citations. Thirdly, ensure your paper is formatted with page numbers and title pages. Your hard copy may be lost, and you fail to trace it if it has no name or registration number.
Proofread your analytical report
Your analytical report example should be free from errors before submission. Any lecturer is much annoyed by an unedited paper. Errors lower your paper’s quality, and your lecturer may think you don’t have any content. Even if you had reviewed your draft, it wouldn’t hurt to have a second look at your analytical report. Otherwise, consider ‘pay to edit my paper’ services.
Use the available editing tools to perfect your work. The internet is resourceful when it comes to helping you with your assignment. The Grammarly website helps you to correct spellings, and word choice in complex sentences, among others. The good thing about the website is that it’s free to sign up.
Check for plagiarism in your work. Plagiarism is the act of copying someone’s work and making it your work without acknowledging the source. It’s such a grave mistake that many have lost scholarships and sponsorship.
While you may copy some content from the internet, do not copy blindly. Tools such as Turnitin and copy cape help you to check plagiarism. Always maintain your copied content at zero percent. The maximum of copied work should be five percent. If you cannot purchase these tools, professional writers can help you edit your paper.
Read your paper after three days of your writing. You will not see any errors in your paper if you go through it immediately. Leaving it for some time will give you clarity of thought. At this time, you will have cleared your thoughts and be able to read the paper soberly without an already formed opinion.
Start writing your paper early
One of the causes of low-quality analytical reports is rush-minute behavior. Most students wait until their project is due in a few days to start working on it. A lot of things go wrong when you work under pressure. You may miss some critical points or cook up information that you can’t prove.
You are assured of having enough time to write a quality paper when you start writing your analytical report assignment immediately after it’s issued. You will have a chance to research your paper which is essential. Every figure or data that you will present will be from credible sources. Your paper will be detailed since you have time to write as much as possible without fearing deadlines and penalties. If you run out of time and your paper is due in hours, just order a ‘write my paper’.
Counter-check your data
Ensure that you only have collected data from the internet. Messing up on figures can be detrimental to your report. Statistics are vital to an analytical report. They give you the way forward in implementing certain information. One digit can have a significant bearing on your report. If there is an area that needs keenness, it’s your data’s validity.
Ensure you consider where you get your data. There are many sources on the internet that you can’t use to get data for your analytical report. The best place to get your information is government websites, reputable organizations such as Forbes, and major news outlets like BBC and CNN. Remember, the source of your data determines your credibility as an analytical report writer.
Manage your time
Writing an analytical report requires good time management. You don’t want to spend much time on one section and forget other areas. Some parts will require more time than others. It’s essential to know where to direct most of your efforts. If your report is due in one month, know how many weeks to place on each section.
Data analysis takes most of your time. The process of putting your data together to create meaning is the hardest part of your report. It takes time to know what analysis method to use since there is not a perfect way of doing it since each has its limitations. Allocate a minimum of one week in this section. It will be easier to move to the next stage if this section is exact.
Data presentation may also take time. After analyzing your data, your reader needs to see how all that makes sense through a presentation. The type of presentation that you use will determine your audience’s reaction. You need to present your data more appealingly, and this takes time. Presentations such as graphs take time to draw depending on your report’s complexity.
Let someone look at your report
Sometimes, you need a third eye for your analytical report. Letting a more experienced person go through your report will be beneficial. There are some errors or areas needing clarification that only your mentor can see. Engaging them in your writing will create confidence in your report.
Revise your work after correction by your mentor. The purpose of engaging your friend in your report writing is not for them to just read your content but to give their honest reviews. Some students will present their work if their mentor says it’s good but needs some minor revision. You will be safe if you strive for perfection. If you still have time before a deadline, polish up on those areas.
The articles have given you tips on how to write your anal ytical reports. Use them to score high in your upcoming project. Remember to create a good impression by formatting your paper and writing a powerful conclusion. However, don’t struggle with areas you don’t understand. Hire our professional writers to help you work on your project.