Module 8 · Reporting, Ethics and Practice
8.1 The Defensible Report
9 min read
A report is the deliverable. Everything in the preceding modules exists to produce it, and a correct diagnosis presented badly is worth very little — the client cannot act on it, the duty-holder cannot see what is urgent, and a competent opponent can dismantle it. Good reports are not longer than bad ones. They are differently organised, and their language matches what the evidence actually supports.
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Structure a report so a reader can find the finding, the evidence and the action.
- Match language to the strength of the evidence behind each statement.
- Separate observation, inference, conclusion and recommendation visibly.
- Write an executive summary that is usable on its own.
Key terms
- Observation
- What was seen or measured. Should be reproducible by another practitioner at the same location.
- Inference
- What the observations indicate. The reasoning step, and the one most often omitted.
- Conclusion
- The mechanism established, stated at the confidence the evidence supports.
- Recommendation
- What should be done, by whom, in what order. Traceable to a conclusion.
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