Methods of Organizing or Arranging Report Body
A formal analytical report starts with preliminary parts followed by body and ends with the supplementary parts. Among these three sections, body is the most crucial section of a report. The stab-parts within the body may be arranged in different ways. There are two methods for arranging report body inductive (indirect) and deductive (direct) method. These two methods are highlighted below:
Inductive arrangement: The inductive or indirect arrangement is one in which the report presents the background information before the main ideas and recommendation. In this method, the writer presents much evidence and supporting materials before arriving at the main recommendation or conclusion. Here the report body is arranged in the order of introduction, findings, conclusions and recommendations.
Deductive arrangement: The word deductive or direct arrangement means describing the main ideas or main recommendations before presenting detailed evidence and background information. In a long report, readers usually prefer the deductive method because it gives them an immediate picture of the report text. Therefore, most business reports are organized deductively. When a report is prepared in deductive method, the contents of report body are arranged as conclusions and recommendations at the beginning, followed by introduction and findings.
