real-world-sample-reports

Examples of Real World Reports toc The following examples link to PDF versions of actual real world report of various lengths and formality, and addressed to a variety of audiences, from students to U.S. Presidents. These are useful to skim through to get a sense of what a formal report looks and feels like, how they are structured, and how different reports handle the various standard elements of the front matter, body, and end matter of a formal report.

=OVERALL EXAMPLES=

The following examples are good all-around examples of what a formal report does: balancing text, images, and graphics; structured at a typical level of formality; and balancing information with recommendations for action.

Short v. Long
> **SHORT: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics** > "Teachers—Postsecondary," in //Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2010-11 Edition// ([|PDF]) > 5 pages.
 * Note the way this is organized for usability and reference for a non-expert audience (i.e., typically, students or others at the beginnings of their career). I've chosen the OOH report for my profession - you might prefer to [|search for the report for yours].

> **LONG: George Mitchell** > "Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball" (More commonly known as the "Mitchell Report") ([|PDF]) > 409 pages.

Front/Back Matter
> **Pew Charitable Trusts** > "The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America" ([|PDF]) > 61 pages.
 * A good example of **layout and design**, with lots of everything.
 * Worth looking at for their use of **back matter**: not just their references (here as endnotes), but also supporting tables, description of methodology, etc.)

> **Construction and Materials Support Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering** > "Evaluation of Owner Controlled Insurance Programs (OCIP’s) for Use on WisDOT Mega-Corridor Projects: A Review of the Marquette Interchange Owner Controlled Insurance Program" ([|PDF]) > 38 pages.
 * More text-heavy than yours will be, this source offers a good basic example of how a formal report is **set up and formatted**, with good examples of all the **front matter**: cover page, title page, table of contents, executive summary, etc.

=RHETORICAL PURPOSE=

Feasibility
Determining whether a proposed plan of action is possible or desirable

> **Georgia Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development** > "The Economic Feasibility of an Advanced Ethanol Production Facility in Georgia." ([|PDF]) > 49 pages.

Recommendation
Gathering and analyzing information for an audience of deciders, with an eye toward recommending best courses of action, or a range of possible actions from which to choose.

> **Web-Based Education Commission** > The final report to the President and the Congress of the United States of the Web-Based Education Commission (WBEC), December 19, 2000. > "The Power of the Internet for Learning" ([|PDF]) > 185 pages.
 * Note the explicit recommendation section at the end titled "Moving From Promise to Practice: A Call to Action"
 * Note also that a full two-thirds of Executive Summary at the beginning is devoted to these recommendations.

> **Congressional Research Service** > "Former NFL Players: Disabilities, Benefits, and Related Issues" ([|PDF]) > 145 pages.
 * As opposed to the NFL's self-commissioned evaluations shown above, this study was specifically prepared for the Members and Committees of Congress to make decisions about possible legislative action.
 * See its "Possible Courses of Action" section

> **American Bar Association** > "Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the Separation of Powers Doctrine" ([|PDF]) > 34 pages, upfront recommendation

Analytical
Assessing the results of an earlier hypothesis, or perhaps the results of following the recommendations of an earlier report.

> **Duke University** > "Duke University iPod First Year Experience Final Evaluation Report" ([|PDF]) > 15 pages.
 * Internal study evaluating the results of an experiment to arm every first-year student with an iPod and to promote their use for classroom purposes.

> **Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan** > "Study of Retired NFL Players" ([|PDF]) > 39 pages.
 * In response to growing concerns about the long term effects of head injuries in professional football, this is a report commissioned by National Football League Player Care Foundation and submitted September 10, 2009 by David R. Weir, James S. Jackson, and Amanda Sonnega.
 * Note the emphasis on evaluation in the opening line of the Executive Summary -- on learning, on scientific rigor, on obtaining an "accurate portrait": "In order to learn more about retired professional football players and to obtain an accurate portrait of their current health and well-being, the National Football League (NFL) and its Player Care Foundation sought the expertise of several distinguished researchers at the University of Michigan to conduct a scientifically rigorous survey of retired players."

> **Marquette University** > "2008 Marquette University President's Report" ([|PDF]) > 12 pages.
 * Self-evaluation of our University's recent accomplishments and continuing viability (though notice all the extra stuff at beginning that suggests a deeper agenda as a PR document seeking alumni support)

=LEVEL OF FORMALITY=

Highly Formal
For use by multiple audiences at multiple times (including later, even historical, reference) and with multiple needs, from decision makers, to implementers, to non-participating stakeholders (such as citizens).

> **U.S. 9/11 Commission** > "The 9/11 Commission Report" ([|PDF]) > 585 pages, essentially published as a book with text, maps, photos, and tables.

Highly Informal
For immediate, practical use by a relatively unified peer audience with a well-defined purpose

> **Marquette University Faculty Council** > "Report on the Use of Adjuncts at Marquette University" ([|PDF]) > 7 pages, not very formal

=USE OF VISUALS= This section offers a sense of the range of visual rhetoric in formal reports, from almost entirely text-based reports (which still rely on the visual rhetoric of section breaks, bulleted lists, etc.) to ones filled to the brim with charts, maps, tables, graphics, and full-color photographs.

Text-Heavy
Appropriate with audiences for whom all the other visual bells & whistles would be seen as unserious, as in the government committee work shown below, or in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball linked to above.

> **U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Intelligence** > "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 / Amendments Act of 2007" ([|PDF]) > 52 pages, all text

> **U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Extremism and Radicalization Branch, Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division** > "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" ([|PDF]) > 10 pages, mostly text

Visual-Heavy
Appropriate with non-expert audiences, external audiences or others for whom a lack of shared context means that graphics, images, and other visual means for conveying information lets a picture paint a thousand words.

> **NASA, U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee** > "Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation" ([|PDF]) > 157 pages, lots of everything, useful for its use of a variety of visual means of conveying information (AND co-authored by Sally Ride, the first woman in outer space)

> **The Nielsen Company** > "Global Faces and Networked Places A Nielsen report on Social Networking’s New Global Footprint" ([|PDF]) > 16 pages, interesting "pull" findings on front page, long sections throughout of recommendations for target reader (advertisers) > > **U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Policy and Program Studies Service** > "Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies" ([|PDF]) > 93 pages, lots of stats