second part

Students need to understand how to integrate appropriate headings and subheadings throughout a report. The Project Proposal example provided a template for THAT assignment; however, some of those headings or subheadings may not be appropriate for your final report. Students have seen several examples of reports; however, one cannot simply try to fit one report to their own situation and use that as a template.

Some headings/subheadings may be used generally: Executive Summary, Introduction, Topic/Purpose, Background, Scope, Proposed Solution, Discussion of Possible Solutions, Conclusions, Recommendations. However, many reports require customized headings/subheadings. Using the heading "Research Methods" for a subsection that provides more background information looks awkward and BAD. Because of the subheading, the reader expects to see information about research methods you used, and you proide him/her with more background information. Providing more background in a "Scope" subsection also looks bad--the reader expects to see an overview about the report's contents there.

Think about driving on a freeway and understanding when your exit is approaching by looking at the signs. When you get off at a given exit, you expect it to be at the city or town indicated on the sign, not a different city. Headings and subheadings act as signposts to the reader; they alert the reader about content he or she is about to read. Mislabelling that content will lead to confusion.

Consider the content within a specific section or subsection of your report, and try to identify a title for that content. Look at the content within each section or subsection of reports you have seen so far this semester to see how the title (heading/subheading) reflects the nature of the information in that section or subsection. Again, rahter than try to use a template, students will need to develop some of their own customized headings/subheadings.