Report

Graphic Era University, Dehradun
Prepared By:-Sanjeev Kumar (Faculty Management)
REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION
Introduction
The process flows from the entire marketing research process. Based on the problem definition,
approach, research design, field work, and the results of data analysis and interpretation, a report is
constructed. The written report is drafted and the oral presentation given. After the client has read
the report, any follow-up considerations or research should be addressed.
The format provided in the chapter parallels the marketing research process. After allowing for
introductory sections and the executive summary, the report format begins with the problem
definition (Step 1) and the approach to the problem (Step 2). The research design is then specified
(Step 3) with field work (Step 4) described as a portion of this section. The data analysis sections
(Step 5) are added just before the results, limitations, and conclusions. Exhibits conclude the report
The process of report preparation is the final major step in a marketing research project. It begins
with the interpretation of the results of data analysis pertaining to the marketing research problem.
The findings, supported by appropriate conclusions and relevant recommendations, should be
presented in a suitable format to facilitate decision making by the client. A discussion with the
client, before writing the report, covering the findings, conclusions, and recommendations may be
helpful in meeting the needs of the client. During these discussions, specific dates should be
confirmed for the delivery of the written report and other data as requested by the management
sponsoring the project.
The entire marketing research project should be summarized in one or more written reports geared
to the respective readers and an oral presentation may be made. After the client has had an
opportunity to read the report, the researcher should undertake necessary follow-up action. The
researcher should also assist the client in understanding the report, implementing the findings, and
undertaking a thorough evaluation of the entire marketing research project. Though the report
formats are likely to vary with the researcher, the client, and the nature of the research project, a
common framework can be designed for writing the reports. From this, the researcher can develop
a specific format tailored for a particular research project, after taking into account the required
level of formality and the degree of detail.
Importance of Report
The marketing research report is the product that represents the efforts of the marketing research
team, and it may be the only part of the project that the client will see. If the report is poorly
written, riddled with grammatical errors, sloppy, or in any way inferior, the quality of the research,
analysis, and information immediately becomes suspect. If organization and presentation are
faulty, the reader may never reach the intended conclusions. The time and effort expended in the
research process are wasted if the report does not communicate effectively. If, on the other hand,
all aspects of the report are done well, the report will not only communicate properly, it will also
serve as a credibility builder.

Marketing research users as well as marketing research suppliers agree that the research report is
one of the most important aspects of the marketing research process. Many managers will not be
involved in any aspect of the research process but will use the report to make business decisions.
Effective reporting is essential, and all the principles of organization, formatting, and good writing
must be followed
Function of Reports
The report serves three main functions.
First, it is the means where by the data, analyses, and findings are placed in an organized and
permanent form. It serves as an essential reference for future research along related lines.
Second, the quality of the research work is likely to be judged mainly by the report. The key
decision-making persons whom the research serves seldom have much personal contact with a
researcher within their firm and still less with an outside research agency. Since the report is their
index of the researcher’s skill and performance, the time, thought, and effort spent on it are vital to
his or her future
Third, and most important, the effectiveness of the report may determine the action taken. Properly
organized and lucid reports lead to appropriate action or policies-the goal of all commercial or
administrative research. In urgent situations, the convincing reports may inspire decision makers to
promptness
Types of Reports
To write an effective report, it is essential to plan its contents well. Each report is a tailor-made job
that is adapted to the character of the problem, the information contained there in, and to the
thought modes and preferences of those who will be utilizing the report. Progress Reports, are
submitted when administrators want intermediate statements on progress of a project under way,
but these are mere memoranda. The findings may be reported in any or all of these forms:
1. Basic report
This is the first report prepared on the project’s findings, written by the researcher for his or her
own use, composed of working papers and preliminary drafts. It provides the basis for the final
report and then becomes a record for the files.
2. Reports for publication
Often such reports are prepared from research findings for articles in trade and professional
journals, popular magazines, bulletins, or monographs. Publications and their audiences vary, so no
single description can cover this category of report. Normally, these are relatively condensed
reports and only in very technical periodicals or special monographs would much detail on
procedures be included.
3. Technical reports
These reports are usually intended for scientific or technically trained persons. They would be
interested typically in specific descriptions of the entire procedures employed, which usually would
follow the introduction of the problem and hypothesis researched. These reports may have
complicated technical appendices.4. Reports for executives These are reports intended for decision

makers. These are the busy people who want primarily the ‘meat’ of a research project, its major
conclusions and recommendations
Contents of The Report For Executives
The character of an executive report must be determined from the characteristics called for by the
persons concerned; Although the brevity and ease of reading are main considerations but the
statements made should be complete, explicit, and supported with data and/or reasoning.A
generally useful outline of the report for executives runs as follows A typical report may contain
the following items:
I. Title page
II. Letter of transmittal
III. Letter of authorization
IV. Table of contents
V. List of tables
VI. List of graphs
VII. List of appendices
VIII List of exhibits
IX. Executive summary
(a) Major findings
(b) Conclusions
(c) Recommendations
X. Problem definition
(a) Background to the problem
(b) Statement of the problem
XI. Approach to the problem
XII. Research design
(a) Information needs
(b) Data collection from primary sources
(c) Scaling techniques
(d) Questionnaire development and Pretesting
(e) Sampling techniques and field work
XIII. Data analysis
(a) Methodology
(b)Plan of data analysis
XIV. Results
XV. Limitations and caveats
XVI. Conclusions and recommendations
XVII. Exhibits
(a) Questionnaire and format
(b) Statistical output
(c) Lists
XVIII Bibliography

Title page:
It includes the title of the report, information (like name, address and telephone) related to the
researcher or the firm doing the research, the client, and the date of release.
Table of contents:
It is based on the outline of the report and lists the sequence of topics included with the
corresponding page numbers. In most reports, only the major headings and subheadings are
included in the table of contents. The table of contents should be followed by the lists of tables,
graphs, appendices, and exhibits.
Executive summary:
This summary describes the problem, approach, and research design adopted in the concerned
marketing research project. Mostly, it is devoted to the major results, conclusions, and
recommendations.
Problem definition:
It contains a statement of the management decision problem and the marketing research problem. It
also states the background to the problem, highlighting the discussions with the decision maker(s)
and industry experts. It also mentions the secondary data analysis, the preliminary research that was
conducted, and the factors that were considered.
Research design:
This section details the nature of the research design adopted, the information needs, data collection
methods, scaling techniques, questionnaire development and pretesting, sampling techniques, and
fieldwork. The material is presented in non technical terms and the technical details are included in
the appendix. This section also justifies the procedures adopted.
Methodology
A description of the procedures employed to achieve the objectives follows the introductory
section. Here writer needs to convey to the executives are not deeply interested in research
methodology, thus enabling the reader to understand “why “ a particular method was employed
rather than another. The description should include a discussion of whether the design was
exploratory, descriptive, conclusive, or experimental; the various sources of data canvassed and
utilized; the sampling setup; the type of questionnaire used and the reason for its form; and the
number and types of research workers used, such as interviewers, supervisors, and staff
Data analysis:
This section describes the plan of data analysis, justifying the selection of the specific techniques.
The data analysis techniques are described in simple, non technical terms.
Findings
If the problem is to be solved, the data gathered must be examined as they relate to the objective of
the study. Usually, such data are voluminous in their raw form. If they are to be interpreted, they
must first be organized such that their meaning can be conveyed to the reader. This task is achieved
through the use of the various analytical and statistical techniques. The presentation of the findings

is accompanied by a number of devices. Tables, charts, and graphs are frequently used to explain
with sufficient clarity to aid the reader to understand their meaning.
Limitations
Problems may arise during the research that are of sufficient importance to warrant discussion in a
separate section of the report. The researcher should state such limitations to provide the reader
with insight into special condition pertaining to the work. An illustrative list of limitations might
include a time constraint for completing the work, the degree the results can be generalized to a
larger population, the potential effects of non response error, or the potential effect of substituting a
sampling unit in the field because of not-at-home elements
Conclusions and recommendations:
This section contains the inferences derived from the marketing research results and states the
feasible and practical recommendations that can be used by the client for its own decision-making
purposes.
The conclusions are drawn by inference, either inductive or deductive, from the findings. The
conclusions verify or deny the premises or hypotheses upon which the investigation has been
conducted. Conclusions should follow logically from the findings.
The recommendations concerning the action to be taken follow the conclusions. Where
recommendations involve policy decisions; some researchers leave recommendations to those at
the policymaking level of management. Making recommendations depends not only on the nature
of the decision to be made, but also on the researcher’s knowledge of the total situation of the
problem.
The results section is the major portion of the report. It logically presents the findings of the
research and should be organized around the objectives for the study. Conclusions are the
outcomes and decisions reached based upon the research results. Recommendations are
suggestions for how to proceed based upon the conclusions. Unlike conclusions, recommendations
may require knowledge beyond the scope of the research findings themselves, such as information
on conditions within the company, the industry, and so on.
Appendix
The appendix provides materials supplementary to those given in the body of the report. Generally,
the appendix material contains detailed and/or expanded information, such as detailed
computations from which the tables in the reports are generated, a copy of the questionnaire used in
gathering the data, interviewer instructions, detailed tables etc.
Bibliography
If pertinent, the bibliography is usually the final section of the report presentation. It contains
detailed information on references or sources materials found in various forms of communications,
such as proceedings of conferences, books, pamphlets, and periodicals
For a book: name of the authors, title, publisher, city of publication and year of publication. Ex;-
Taylor J. R., An Introduction to Error Analysis, Oxford University Press, Mill Valley, CA, USA,
1982
For an article in a journal: name of the authors, title, name of the journal, volume (issue
number), range of pages, and year.

Bandyopadhyay S., Bera N.C. and Bhattacharyya S., ‘Thermo economic Optimization of
Combined Cycle Power Plants’, Energy Conver. Mgmt., 42(3), 359-371, 2001.
For an article in conference proceedings: name of the authors, title, name of conference, editors
(if present), range of pages and year.
Kedare S.B. ‘Optics, Design, Performance and Economics of the Dynamic Fresnel Paraboloid
Reflector Concentrator Dish with Point Focus for High Temperature Solar Thermal Applications’,
Proceedings of National Renewable Energy Convention ’99, Sawhney R.L. (Ed.), 9-15,
1999.Principles of Report Writing
Principles of Report Writing
The fundamental medium of communicating research findings is words. Regardless of what
statistics and graphs the report may show, there should be verbal statement of every finding, a
words are the only precise and universal communication mode. The report writer must have a
completed grasp of the investigation and then be able to use various means of communication.
Following are the main points to be kept in mind while preparing a report:
(a) Reach out to the reader. The report should reach out to the target audience. This can be done
by taking into account the client’s technical sophistication, interest in the project, and the
circumstances or manner in which they are going to read and use it.
(b) Ease of comprehension. The report should be easy to follow. Clarity, brevity, and logical
structuring of the presented material increases the ability to comprehend the report.
(c) Presentable and professional appearance. An appealing and inviting appearance brought
through skillful use of typing, binding, and reproducing can entice the reader and enhance his
desire to read the report.
(d) Objectivity. The report should be truthful and sincere in purpose. Any deviation from this
destroys the credibility of both the report and the researcher.
(e) Reinforcement. Reinforcement of the information in the text through visual aids facilitates
communication with the reader and adds to the impact of the report.
(f) Terseness. Brevity in the presentation of a report, without sacrificing completeness, adds to its
appeal.
Oral Presentation of Report
The primary purpose of presentation is to help management (the client) understand the written
report pertaining to the marketing research project sponsored by them. This serves to clarify the
doubts of the client and subsequently gain approval and acceptability. Besides, it serves as an
important tool to impress those executives who would judge the project based on the
presentation . Only rarely will top executives be interested in the minute details of the

recommendations. Later they will want to know almost everything that will affect their firm, if
action is to be taken on the recommendations.
a The physical facilities. The room must be ready with proper lighting, air-conditioning,
andsound system that enables all to hear. All possibly distracting noises from outside sources
must have been eliminated.
b Advance preparation of presentation. The presentation must have been well prepared, and
all possible interruptions considered. Perhaps several persons should participate in the
presentation, to relieve possible boredom with just one voice and face.
c. Advance announcement of length of presentation.
d.Visual aids and their use
a )Use of visual aids. Chalkboards, flipboards and overhead transparencies.
b) Chernov faces. This is a useful way of displaying attitudes to various objects and is more or
less self-explanatory. The expression on the faces reflects the attitudes towards the object.
c) Conventional bar charts. A bar chart is a graph of a frequency distribution.
d )Contour maps. Demographic, attitudinal or other data can be shown to vary geographically
by region, area or district, and data points can be clustered together into fairly homogeneous
groupings. In this situation contour maps can be used effectively to illustrate how the data is
distributed.
e) Diagrams. Presentations can be considerably enhanced with the use of simple, easy-to
understand diagrams.
i Use of diagrams in presentations.
ii Sophisticated computer presentation packages now enable combined displays to be produced.
iii Picture maps are another way of helping to display information in a readily meaning-ful way.
Principles of Oral Presentation.
The “Tell ’Em” principle is an important principle for effectively structuring a presentation. It
states that:
(a)Tell ’em what you are going to tell ’em.
(b)Tell ’em.
(c)Tell ’em what you have told ’em.
This implies that the presentation should begin with a brief overview of the material to be
presented, should then effectively cover the material of the presentation, and should once again
summarize the speech before closing.
The “KISS ’Em” principle, which stands for “Keep It Simple and Straightforward”, implies that the
presentation should be to the point and geared to the audience it is addressing
Report is physical evidence of ones work; it needs to be properly maintained for future references.

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