1

COMPREHENSION
1. What is comprehension?
According to the Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, comprehension refers to the "capacity of the
mind to perceive and understand." Reading comprehension, then, would be the capacity to
perceive and understand the meanings communicated by texts, or the construction of meaning
based on the interaction between the author's words and the reader's language knowledge and life
experiences.
Many students suffer from the following problems:
Slow reading speeds
Poor understanding when you read
Reading without remembering
Being bored when reading
Frustration when reading
Unable to understand what you read
Knowing that other people see more in the words than you do
2. The Purpose of Reading.
The purpose of reading is to connect the ideas on the page to what you already know. If you do
not know anything about a subject, then pouring words of text into your mind is like pouring
water into your hand. You do not retain much. For example, try reading these numbers:
7516324 This is hard to read and remember.
751-6324 This is easier because of chunking.
123-4567 This is the easiest to read and understand because of prior
knowledge and structure.
Similarly, if you like sports, then reading the sports page is easy because you have a framework
in your mind for reading, understanding and storing information.
3. Improving Reading Comprehension
What every student must know is that reading comprehension requires motivation, mental
frameworks for holding ideas, concentration and good study techniques. The following are some
suggestions:
Develop a broad background.
Broaden your background knowledge by reading newspapers, magazines and
books and be interested in world events.
Know the structure of paragraphs.
Good writers construct paragraphs that have a beginning, middle and an end.
Often, the first sentence will give an overview that helps provide a
framework for adding details. Also, look for transitional words, phrases or
paragraphs that change the topic.
Identify the type of reasoning.
Does the author use cause and effect reasoning, hypothesis, model building,
induction or deduction, systems thinking?
Anticipate and predict.
In trying to be a good reader, you must try to anticipate the author and predict
future ideas and questions. If you are right, this will reinforces your
understanding of what you are reading. If you are wrong, you make

adjustments quicker.
Look for the method of organization.
Is the material organized chronologically, serially, logically, functionally, etc.
Create motivation and interest.
Preview material, ask questions, and discuss ideas with classmates. The
stronger your interest, the greater your comprehension.
Pay attention to supporting cues.
Study pictures, graphs and headings. Read the first and last paragraph in a
chapter, or the first sentence in each section. Highlight, summarize and
review. Just reading a book once is not enough. To develop a deeper
understanding, you have to highlight, summarize and review important ideas.
(see SQ3R method of reading)
Build a good vocabulary.
For most educated people, this is a lifetime project. The best way to improve
your vocabulary is to use a dictionary regularly. You might carry around a
pocket dictionary and use it to look up new words. You can also keep a list of
words to look up at the end of the day. Concentrate on roots, prefixes and
endings of words.
Use a systematic reading technique like SQR3 method of reading
The SQR3 steps include Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review.
Use the SQR3 method of reading to be an active and effective reader. The
passive reader learns little. The aggressive reader organizes information and
answers questions.
Survey the chapter.
Read the introduction to the chapter. Look over the major section headings.
Glance at the figures. Skim questions, key words and summaries at the end of
the chapter. Create a context for remembering information. Generate interest
and a sense of what is important. Plan your study session. Set a time limit for
working. Include breaks and rewards.
Question. Create and answer questions.
For each section in the chapter, ask these 4 basic questions:
1. What is the main point?
2. What evidence supports the main point?
3. What are the applications or examples?
4. How is this related to the rest of the chapter, the book, the
world, to me?
Read the section.
Skim or read the section actively. Search for the answers to your questions.
Make notes in the margins or on paper to create your own organization
Recite the main points.
Look up from the book and verbalize the answers to your questions. Talk out
loud and listen to the answers. Recite to remember.

Review.

Now go back and highlight or underline the main points in the section. Add
more notes in the text and margin. Repeat SQR3 for each section; minisurvey, question, read, recite and review. When finished, create a one page
hierarchical summary of the entire chapter. Now do any homework
assignments. Use your summary first, then the text. Review often and reward
yourself for a job well done.
Monitor effectiveness.
Good readers monitor their attention, concentration and effectiveness. They
quickly recognize if they have missed an idea and backup to reread it.
4. ANSWERING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Introduction
Reading comprehension questions are meant to test your understanding of the
implications, meanings, and structures presented in the passages and each
passage is followed by a number of questions.
The common types of reading comprehension passages
The passages you will encounter will most likely address one of the topics
described below. Each type of passage calls for a slightly different strategy.
Regardless of what topic you encounter, you can rest assured that everything
you need to know will be included in the passage. Comprehension test
writers intentionally pick obscure topics for comprehension passages. They
do this to minimize the chances of giving someone with previous exposure to
a particular topic an unfair advantage over others taking the same version of
the test.
a. Science Passages.
These passages deal with topics including biology, chemistry, and medicine.
You should approach them by doing an initial speed reading/skimming of the
text. Your goal in this first review is simply to understand how the passage is
structured and to analyze its outline. Although they are often quite boring,
science passages are also very factual and straightforward. Hence, they will
likely provide very easy reading comprehension questions. You are not likely
to see any inference questions drawing on a science passage. You are much
more likely to see several factual questions that can be answered directly
from the passage.
b. Social science passages.
Typically, these passages deal with topics such as history, politics, and
geography. They will probably be the most enjoyable reading comprehension
passages you will read. This is fortunate, because you must read these
passages slowly in order to answer the many inference questions they are
sure to present.
c. Business passages.
Business passages involve very difficult structures, and present questions that
require you to infer information and even to determine the authors' moods
and opinions. They need to be read slowly and carefully. Frequently, business
passages also include compound words that few people have ever heard
before, and that even fewer people use in ordinary conversation. However,

they are not very difficult to interpret if you break them down and examine
each of their parts.
Common Types of Reading Comprehension Questions
a. Factual Questions.
You will likely find these questions the easiest ones to answer, but also the
most time consuming. You need to be careful because they often contain
tricky. However, they are also relatively easy to recognize and overcome.
b. Inference Questions.
Inference questions do not test your knowledge of explicitly-cited facts, but
rather your ability to draw conclusions from other information. These
questions may even ask you to make a judgment about the author's opinions,
or to guess what further conclusions the author might draw. They are usually
the most difficult questions for students.
c. Main Idea Questions.
Main idea questions ask the students to identify the passage's overall theme,
as opposed to supporting facts and arguments. Students are advised to be
aware that the all of the answer choices have been discussed in the passage,
does not mean that every one of them can be called the passage's central
theme. In main idea questions, answer choices that emphasize factual
information can usually be eliminated. Answer choices that are too narrow or
too broad also tend to be incorrect. Those answer choices that contain key
words and concepts from the main idea presented by the passage are more
likely to be correct.
d. Tone Questions.
You will often be asked to describe the passage's tone. The tone is much
more likely to be positive or neutral than it is to be negative. For a science
passage, the tone is most likely neutral.
Reading Comprehension Tips and Strategies
a. Since these passages can be rather long and present difficult sentence and
paragraph structures, you may want to take very brief notes on the main ideas
of each paragraph. Taking brief notes is particularly useful for remembering
where to find factual information in the science passages. When we say very
brief notes, what we have in mind is something along the lines of an outline.
For example,
Paragraph 1: The different types of butterflies,
Paragraph 2: How their nervous systems work,
Paragraph 3: Why pesticide A is killing too many of them.
Using this technique can help you outline passages and identify their main
arguments for main idea questions. Of course, you can also use this technique
to keep track of the answer choices you are able to eliminate as incorrect.
b. Read the first question before you read the passage.
In answering comprehension questions, it is strongly advised that you read
the questions before you read the passage for the first time. This will give
you a better idea of what you should be focusing on as you read, in order to
answer that question.
c. When answering a fact question, read both the passage providing the

data and several lines before it carefully.

When a fact question directs you to look at a particular line of text for
information, you will often find that one of the answer choices is a deceptive
one, taken directly from that line number. More likely than not, there will be
something in the sentence or two before the referenced line number that will
give you the proper frame for interpreting the data and hence direct you to
the right answer to the fact question.
d. Don not jump to conclusions with fact questions using Roman
numerals to identify answer choices.
Below is an example of this style of question:
a. I only
b. II only
c. III only
d. I and II only
e. II and III only
The difficulty is in the fact that oftentimes, facts I and II will be presented
very close to each other in the passage, but fact III will be buried much
further in the text. Take the time to review and consider each fact on its own
merits.
e. Eliminate deceptive answer choices.
Here, we are talking about interesting factoids1 that spice up presentations
without adding anything of real value to the analysis. Most comprehension
questions contain these types of answer choices. These deceptive answer
choices will refer to a fact in the passage, but just not to one that answers the
question being asked.
f. Practice, practice, practice. You cannot expect to become an expert at
taking comprehension texts just by reading some tips and advice. You also
need to work through many practice questions and learn to put tips and
strategies like the ones we have presented to use.
1. Read the questions before you begin reading the passage. By doing
so, you can read more activelywith an eye out for the information
you need.
2. Never confirm your answer to a question until you have read the
entire passage. Information relevant to a question can appear
anywhere in the passage.
3. Using your pencil and scratch paper, jot down a rough outline as you
read. It will help you locate relevant details quickly as you answer the
questions, and minimize vertical scrolling and re-reading.
4. Do not be overly concerned with details (dates, examples, and lists)
as you read; instead, jot down in outline form where these details are
located in the passage so you can locate them quickly as needed to
respond to the questions.
5. After reading the entire passage, take about 15 seconds to sum it up in
one sentencein the form of a rough thesis statement. Doing so is
well worth the effort, because you will be able to answer some
1

Something resembling a fact; unverified (often invented) information that is given credibility because it appeared in print

reading comprehension questions with nothing more than the thesis in

mind.
6. No matter what type of question you are dealing with, eliminate any
answer choice that runs contrary to the passage's overall thesis.
7. Be on the lookout for answer choices that provide information
supported by the passage, but not responsive to the question. This is
one of the test-makers' favorite wrong-answer ploys.
8. If the author of the passage adopts a position, or stance, on an issue,
but discusses other viewpoints as well in the passage, be on the
lookout for answer choices that confuse the author's viewpoint with
the viewpoints of others. This is another common wrong-answer ploy.
Be on the lookout for wrong answer choices that provide information not
mentioned in the passageyet another common wrong-answer ploy. These
wrong answer choices can be tempting, because it is remarkably easy to
assume that you overlooked the information as you read the passage.
The Great Wall of China
Instructions: Read through the text, answer the questions that follow.
Walls and wall building have played a very important role in Chinese culture.
These people, from the dim mists of prehistory have been wall-conscious;
from the Neolithic period when ramparts of pounded earth were used - to
the Communist Revolution, walls were an essential part of any village. Not
only towns and villages; the houses and the temples within them were
somehow walled, and the houses also had no windows overlooking the street,
thus giving the feeling of wandering around a huge maze. The name for
city in Chinese (cheng) means wall, and over these walled cities, villages,
houses and temples presides the god of walls and mounts, whose duties were,
and still are, to protect and be responsible for the welfare of the inhabitants.
Thus a great and extremely laborious task such as constructing a wall, which
was supposed to run throughout the country, must not have seemed such an
absurdity.
However, it is indeed a common mistake to perceive the Great Wall as a
single architectural structure, and it would also be erroneous to assume that it
was built during a single dynasty. For the building of the wall spanned the
various dynasties, and each of these dynasties somehow contributed to the
refurbishing and the construction of a wall, whose foundations had been laid
many centuries ago. It was during the fourth and third century B.C. that each
warring state started building walls to protect their kingdoms, both against
one another and against the northern nomads. Especially three of these states:
the Chin, the Chao and the Yen, corresponding respectively to the modern
provinces of Shensi, Shanzi and Hopei, over and above building walls that
surrounded their kingdoms, also laid the foundations on which Chin Shih
Huang Di would build his first continuous Great Wall.

The role that the Great Wall played in the growth of Chinese economy was an
important one. Throughout the centuries many settlements were established
along the new border. The garrison troops were instructed to reclaim
wasteland and to plant crops on it, roads and canals were built, to mention
just a few of the works carried out. All these undertakings greatly helped to
increase the countrys trade and cultural exchanges with many remote areas
and also with the southern, central and western parts of Asia the formation
of the Silk Route. Builders, garrisons, artisans, farmers and peasants left
behind a trail of objects, including inscribed tablets, household articles, and
written work, which have become extremely valuable archaeological
evidence to the study of defence institutions of the Great Wall and the
everyday life of these people who lived and died along the wall.
Questions
Q1 - Chinese cities resembled a maze
a.because they were walled.
b.because the houses has no external windows.
c.because the name for cities means 'wall'.
d.because walls have always been important there.
Q2 - Constructing a wall that ran the length of the country
a.honoured the god of walls and mounts.
b.was an absurdly laborious task.
c.may have made sense within Chinese culture.
d.made the country look like a huge maze.
Q3 - The Great Wall of China
a.was built in a single dynasty.
b.was refurbished in the fourth and third centuries BC.
c.used existing foundations.
d.was built by the Chin, the Chao and the Yen.
Q4 - Crops were planted
a.on wasteland.
b.to reclaim wasteland.
c.on reclaimed wasteland.
d.along the canals.
Q5 - The Great Wall
a.helped build trade only inside China.
b.helped build trade in China and abroad.
c.helped build trade only abroad.
d.helped build trade only to remote areas.

Instructions: Read through the text and answer the questions that follow.
Dirty Britain
Before the grass has thickened on the roadside verges and leaves have started
growing on the trees is a perfect time to look around and see just how dirty
Britain has become. The pavements are stained with chewing gum that has
been spat out and the gutters are full of discarded fast food cartons. Years ago
I remember travelling abroad and being saddened by the plastic bags,
discarded bottles and soiled nappies at the edge of every road. Nowadays,
Britain seems to look at least as bad. What has gone wrong?
The problem is that the rubbish created by our increasingly mobile lives lasts
a lot longer than before. If it is not cleared up and properly thrown away, it
stays in the undergrowth for years; a
semi-permanent reminder of what a tatty little country we have now.
Firstly, it is estimated that 10 billion plastic bags have been given to
shoppers. These will take anything from 100 to 1,000 years to rot. However,
it is not as if there is no solution to this. A few
years ago, the Irish government introduced a tax on non-recyclable carrier
bags and in three months reduced their use by 90%. When he was a minister,
Michael Meacher attempted to introduce a similar arrangement in Britain.
The plastics industry protested, of course.
However, they need not have bothered; the idea was killed before it could
draw breath, leaving supermarkets free to give away plastic bags.
What is clearly necessary right now is some sort of combined initiative, both
individual and collective, before it is too late. The alternative is to continue
sliding downhill until we have a
country that looks like a vast municipal rubbish tip. We may well be at the
tipping point. Yet we know that people respond to their environment. If
things around them are clean and tidy, people behave cleanly and tidily. If
they are surrounded by squalor, they behave squalidly. Now, much of Britain
looks pretty squalid. What will it look like in five years?

Questions
Q1 - The writer says that it is a good time to see Britain before the trees
have leaves
because
a. Britain looks perfect.
b.you can see Britain at its dirtiest.

c.you can see how dirty Britain is now.

d.the grass has thickened on the verges.
Q2 - According to the writer, things used to be
a.worse abroad.
b.the same abroad.
c.better abroad.
d.worse, but now things are better abroad.
Q3 - For the writer, the problem is that
a.rubbish is not cleared up.
b.rubbish last longer than it used to.
c.our society is increasingly mobile.
d.Britain is a tatty country.
Q4 - Michael Meacher
a.followed the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.
b.tried to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.
c.made no attempt to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic
bags.
d.had problems with the plastics industry who weren't bothered about
the tax.
Q5 - The writer thinks
a.it is too late to do anything.
b.we are at the tipping point.
c.there is no alternative.
d.we need to work together to solve the problem.
Q6 - The writer thinks that
a.people are squalid.
b.people behave according to what they see around them.
c.people are clean and tidy.
d.people are like a vast municipal rubbish tip.
Read the passage below carefully and answer the questions on it
The recent news that local hospitals have had to reroute seriously ill
patients because the community's critical-care beds are full is worrisome.
Earlier this week, four of the six local hospitals ran out of space for the
critically ill and had to turn people away.
Federal law requires hospitals to treat anyone who walks in. As a result of
having to treat large numbers of uninsured patients, the emergency rooms
often become an economic drain on their hospitals. Doctors now want to set
up their own free-standing ambulatory surgical facilities and diagnostic
centers. Critics contend this would leave hospitals with less revenue and the
same number of indigents to treat.

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A bill was recently introduced to phase out the need for a "certificate of
public need" for non-hospital-based facilities, provided those facilities met
stringent regulations and requirements. This would have made it easier to set
up alternative facilities to help indigent patients. The finance committee
balked at the hefty price and killed the bill, another casualty of a failed
legislative session.
Unfortunately, the problem of access to medical care for those of limited
means is not going to go away anytime soon and, despite the well-intended
regulations, too-full hospitals compromise everyone's welfare. Healthy
competition with small neighborhood surgical and diagnostic centers may be
what is necessary to help dampen rising medical costs. But under no
circumstances should the hospitals be forced to care for everybody without
health insurance while competitors operate free of the burden of caring for
those unable to pay.
1) Which of the following is a conclusion supported by the passage?
a. If doctors want to run their own facilities, they should be required to
take in at least some of the indigents.
b. The government should provide health insurance for those unable to
buy their own.
c. Voters should tell the finance committee members that they will not
be reelected if they do not pass some new legislation.
d. Emergency rooms that turn patients away due to overcrowding are
derelict in their duty .
e. The fundamental problem facing hospitals now is that health care
costs have risen dramatically in recent years.
2) Which of the following best describes the tone of the passage?
a. neutral
b. positive
c. persuasive
d. angry
e. reverential
3) Which of the following is cited as a factor which has contributed to the
overburdening of hospitals?
I.
Failure to pass legislation which would have mitigated the problem
II.
Limited access to medical care for the poor
III.
Federal law
a. I only
b. II only
c. III only
d. I and II
e. I, II, and III
4) The author cites the failed legislation in order to show that
a. the legislature will never resolve this issue.
b. the finance committee does not care about the uninsured citizens.
c. there will always be uninsured hospital patients.
d. the legislature recently attempted to resolve this issue.

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e. the doctors successfully lobbied the finance committee.

REPORT WRITING
A report is a document that provides an account of something witnessed or
examined, or work carried out, or of an investigation together with
conclusion arrived at as a result of the investigation. A report may state facts,
give analyses (Plural), report progress, draw conclusions, and perhaps make
proposals.
TYPES OF REPORT
Reports vary in length, degree of formality and format as much as they do in
content. For this reason we shall break reports into the following:
Routine reports
Routine reports are reports for which there is precedent so that their purpose
and forms would have been establish when they were first instituted. As a
result, their presentation offers little problem. Most routine reports use

12

predesigned forms, which reduce the use of language to the minimal. These
are normally used for progress and accident reports. These reports have the
advantage of saving the writer and the readers time.
Whenever, you are asked to fill a report form, ask yourself the following
questions:
Who is going to use this?
How will it be used?
What information is essential?
Most forms give relatively little space and demand very concise reporting: in
this case, the combined arts of summarizing and notes taking should be
applied with precision. Ambiguity or missing out important facts or both are
major dangers.
Special reports
Special reports are once only reports called for by a superior, colleague, or
customer, under special circumstances. Though each of these reports will in
some way be one off, they sometimes follow, at least, partly, the pattern of a
previous report. Apart from special reports called from individuals by
organizations, committees are often required to produce such reports for the
consideration of the organization that set up the committee. Though precious
experience in dealing with similar reports may be useful, each special report
posses its own questions. These reports will be the subject in this report
writing course. Examples of such special report include
investigative/research reports, feasibility study report, recommendation
reports, etc.
Students must however note that some of these special reports will be very
short and informal, perhaps represented as memorandum. Others will be the
result of a long and intensive work by a team of researchers and will run into
thousands of words. All will however have common elements and can be
successfully written by following the same logical and methodical scheme of
planning and writing. Examples of such special report include
Investigative/research reports
Information/factual report
COMPLING A REPORT (INVESTIGATION REPORT)
Transmittal Message/Document
This is written by the report writer and it is used to introduce the report to the
reader. It is not part of the report, but accompanies the report. In letter or
memo form, it personalizes the report for a specific reader and calls attention
to those items or sections in the report which are of particular interest to that
person. If the reader is outside the organization, a letter is used. If the reader

13

is within the organization, a memo is used.

The Title Page
There are four main pieces of information that have to be included into the
title page:
1. the report title;
2. the name of the person, company, or organization for whom the
report has been
prepared;
3. the name of the author and the company or committee which
originated the
report;
4. the date the report was completed.
Table of Contents
The table of contents is a reflection of the report structure. It lists all major
sections that follow it and the page on which each begins. It also lists all
headings and subheadings (excluding the title page, table of contents, and
other preliminary matter), giving page numbers for the first page of each
section. Students should be sure to reproduce the headings and numbering
exactly from the body of the report. It is always advisable to make a draft
table first. It will help you to organize your materials and thoughts.
Remember that it can be altered during the process of writing. The purpose of
the table of content is to aid the reader in quickly locating specific
information in the report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The executive summary is a brief version of the report. It summarizes each
section of the report with emphasis on findings, conclusions and
recommendations. It is about 10 percent of the length of the original report
and it saves the readers time by providing an overview of the report. The
executive summary rep is written in such a way that it could stand on its own
and would make sense to a non-technical audience.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
When you are instructed to write a report, the first step is to decide exactly
what the report is to be about. This is defining your terms of reference. The
person instructing you to write the report may define them for you. The terms
of reference should include the following:

1. Reference to authorization (by whom the report has been requested

and dates)

14

2. The statement of purpose and scope of investigation (describes what

you plan to accomplish with the report and defines the boundaries of
your work stating which issues you will cover and which you will
not).
PROCEDURE
This section concerns the methods of investigation that are adopted. It
explains how data for the report were gathered. You should explain the
methods of data collection, materials used, subjects interviewed, or places
you visited. Give a detailed account of how and when you carried out your
research and explain why you used a particular method rather than another
method. There are several methods which need to be mentioned. Methods
which might be mentioned include
Experiment: the act of trying conducting a controlled test or simply trying out
something.
Observation
Observation refers to the use of the five senses to gather information. It
entails having keen eyes, photographic memories, and exact knowledge of
what one is looking for. Observation requires careful note taking, as there is
so much data to keep in our minds. It includes methods studies, work
measurement, observation of customer, staff behaviour, etc. However, it is
expensive and time-consuming. Its value also depends to a large extent on the
reliability of the observer.
Survey
The act of obtaining information from a cross-section of the population is
termed survey. Survey is often used in market and attitude research to seek
advice about marketing methods from sales people, poll the public about the
image of a company or one of its products, a health issue, and etc. A survey is
conducted through questionnaire or an interview.
Consultation
Discussion with both colleagues and outside experts are often helpful and
necessary. The first draws on the expertise of colleagues and has the
additional advantage of involving them in establishing proposals for change,
which they might otherwise resist. Second, our own knowledge is limited in
extent and restricted in outlook. Outside experts (or even contact with
experience of a similar problem) can extend our information and give more
objective appraisal.
Library/Documentary Research
We may need to seek information from publications, whether these are
books, specialist periodicals, trade literature, sales brochure, or previous in
company reports. If such sources are considered, then the report should

15

include a reference which will state the facts of the publications, titles of
articles (if appropriate) authors name, etc.

RECORDING THE INFORMATION

1. Write in short notes forms
2. Do not use full sentence or paragraphs until you come to write the
final draft.
3. Use a new page for each topic. This is normally the case with long
reports. This is a method of putting similar information together
and distinct from dissimilar items. It also allows for the addition
of new information.
4. Write on one side of the paper only. This allows for the recording
of materials without rewriting. Your notes become a pack of cards
to be shuffled into suit.
5. Use A4 size paper.
6. Large sheets of paper are easier to cope with than small ones.
With a long and complex document, this method keeps rewriting
down to the minimum.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION OF DATA
Findings are results discovered during the investigation. This section should
be presented in a factual and objective manner. The analysis contains the
writers interpretation of the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the
findings. The analytical process is a search for relationships among the facts
and bits of evidence compiled. The data by themselves will give very little
insight. It is the analysis and interpretation that will help you detect patterns
that will bring out answers to questions posed in the terms of reference. In
short, this section summarizes your efforts and gives information about what
you discovered, invented, or confirmed through your investigation.
It may not be possible to tackle all the problems identified, but it is important
to adopt a positive approach to them. Do not feel that
1. A problem is unsolvable, even if it is a long-standing one.
2. You know in advance that some of the solutions which may be
suggested will not
work.
3. You do not know enough about the situation to be able to reach a
satisfactory
solution.
4. Your proposal may not find favour with your manager or superior.
5. There is going to be only one solution for each problem. Such a

16

negative approach
could prevent success. Instead work through the details of each
problem, analyzing
why and how it occurs and the consequences, but keeping an open
mind on its
solution
SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS
Sometimes a possible solution springs to mind quickly. However, it is
dangerous to accept it as the best approach without seeking more widely.
Even unlikely approaches should be thoroughly examined. The report should
include all solutions considered. There should be a close analysis or
discussion of each suggestion, considering whether it is within the terms of
reference of the report or not. In additionally, it is not only the technical
suitability of solutions that must be considered, but also their effectiveness
and impact.

CONCLUSION
This section comprises statements and decisions derived from evidence
provided. It should summarize important findings about each criterion. A
sound conclusion meets the following criteria:
1.
2.
3.
4.

It fulfills the original statement of purpose.

It is based strictly on the information included in the findings section.
No new information can be included in the conclusion.
It is logical-it follows accepted patterns of reasoning.

RECOMMENDATION
Recommendations refer to the writers suggestions to the reader as to the
actions that should be taken to solve the problem that was studied.
Recommendations should develop logically from the conclusions of the
study. They are inappropriate in a report if they are not asked to be supplied.
A numbered list is always a good idea. It gives quick access to your
recommendations, and does not send your readers wandering around the
section.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Most reports benefit from relevant illustrative data or other material such as
plans. These illustrations should be numbered and referred to in the text and
placed as near as possible to the point in the text where they are first
mentioned. Bulky or complex illustrations might be placed in appendices.

17

APPENDICES
Appendices are useful places for detailed information that support claims
made in the report proper. So that the flow of information is not interrupted
by a mass of detailed information such as bibliographies, results of surveys,
technical specifications, financial and other data can be summarized or
referred to in report, but attached at the end. Appendices are to reports are
enclosures are to letters.
REFERENCE
Reports that require research should contain a reference, which lists all
sources of information used, not merely those quoted. Books, journals,
magazines, newspapers, bulletins, business and government reports,
encyclopedia, and years books are common sources.
INDEX
A long, published report requires an index, which lists important works,
names and ideas at the very end of the report. Entries are made alphabetically
and all page numbers on which entries appear, inserted.

WRITING THE REPORT

Reports are generally written in formal language and often wholly in third
person. However, it is not incorrect to use the first person, I or we, when the
report is addressed to a person or persons known well.
Examples
1. As you requested, I have examined ..
2. Or as you instructed, we ..
3. Or according to your instruction, I
The report must be objective, based on facts rather than on opinion. It must
seek to persuade by logical argument, and should not be controversial or
provocative. The wording should be concise and technicalities must be
explained or limited to meet the readers existing knowledge. Tact must be
used in presenting both findings and recommendations. No superior or
manager wants to be criticized or be told what to do.
First, assess his knowledge and, if you have to remind him, do so discreetly.
For example,
The profit margins have diminished by 1.32 percent point from 3.6 to 2.28
percent. This is causing concern.

18

Might be better expressed thus:

Concern has been expressed at the 1.32 percentage point fall in profit
margins. It is thought that while a margin of 3.6 percent was acceptable, one
of only 2.28 percent is very narrow.
Second, avoid obvious criticism if you wish your report to be successful, and
use great tact. For example,
Changes in the department since the present method of working was
introduced would seem to make it appropriate to reappraise the procedure.
The changes include..
This might be more acceptable than the following.
The present method of working is unsatisfactory. There have been a number
of changes in the department recently; including the procedure should
REPORT ON SERVICES PROVIDED
be changed
Third, the wording of recommendation should avoid the use of imperative or
command form.
FORMAT
Reports are documents which are not only to be read, but also to be used in
making
decisions and as basis for action. They must therefore have a well defined
format which allows for easy
Therefore,CANTEEN
we use a system similar to
BYreference.
THE STAFF
a book. Each major section of a report is treated as a chapter, with its own
numbering and headings.

NOVEMBER, 2007

19

No two reports will have the same range of section headings. Some will have
no title page, content of page or summary, but will start with a first page
which includes the title, terms of references, procedure and perhaps the first
main heading. Also, the headings, terms of reference, procedures, etc, are not
always the only sections used. Flexibility is the keynote, but it is important
that whatever headings are used should be definitive of the sections that

20

follow them, as must be any heading or subsections.

NUMBERING SYSTEM
The most common numbering system in use is the decimal point system
where within each section, the section number is repeated for each subsection
followed by a further number.
Example
Section heading
Outlines of promotion campaign
1.1.The campaign commenced in the south of Ghana with nightly 4-5
seconds
television commercials at peak viewing times.
1.2.Supplementing this, commercial radio advertisements were
broadcast as
follows:
1.21 On Radio Gold morning at 9am
1.22 On Radio Gold, commonly used system alternates numbers
and letters.
ORDER OF WRITING
It is desirable that the sections of the full draft of the report should be written
in the correct final order. In a short report, this is usually possible. However,
in a longer investigation, sometimes information comes in fits and starts.
Sections are therefore ready at different times and can be written in final
form even though some of the preceding sections may not be complete.
REVISION AND EDITING
Once the report has been drafted and preferably typed, it is desirable to put it
aside for a while before revising it. This makes it easier to spot errors and
inconsistencies. It also helps if you can persuade someone else to read and
criticize it. Your critic could be encouraged to point out errors of logic, facts,
omissions, mistakes in grammar, syntax, and also problems of tone and
approach. It is often difficult for a writer of a report to recognize his own
errors, so take advantage of any help available from others.

KOFORIDUA POLYTECHNIC
MEMORANDUM

21

FROM:

CHAIRMAN (INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE)

TO:

THE RECTOR

DATE:

25TH MAY, 2008

SUBJECT: REPORT ON SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE STAFF

CANTEEN
Reference your letter dated 3rd May, 2008, we wish to notify your outfit that
we have successfully completed the task assigned us.
Attached is the report for your perusal.
Thank you

Mr. Kingsford Armah

Chairman (Investigation Committee)

REPORT ON THE SERVICE PROVED BY THE STAFF CANTEEN

1. TERMS OF REFERENCE
In response to the increasing complaints about the quality of the service

22

currently provided by the staff canteen, the Principal on the 25th of

November, 2007, set up a committee to investigate the nature and quality
of the food provided. The report was to be submitted two weeks from the
inception of the committee. The members of the committee were
Mr. Kingsford Armah
Ms. Agnes Afful
Mr. Stephen Grant
Mr. Sampson Coleman

Chairman
Member
Member
Secretary

2. PROCEDURE
In order to ascertain the precise nature of the service and to identify the
specific areas
of complains, the following investigation procedures were adopted.
2.1 A cross section of 20 members of staff, random selected, were
interviewed.
2.2 Questionnaire were sent to members of staff to obtain information on
staff attitudes
and expectations.
2.3 The staff canteen manageress, Mrs. Vida Amoako was interviewed.
2.4 Observation of canteen staff at work took place on the 2nd, 15th and the
25th of November.
2.5 A range of kitchen equipment was evaluated.
3. FINDINGS
3.1 Current Provision
3.1.1 Members of staff are currently served at a single sitting between
12.30 and
1.45pm.
3.1.2. Currently, over 80 three course meals are served at the cost of
5000
per staff I cash register operator.
3.1.3.The canteen is being subsided at approximately 5000 a week.
3.2. Staff Attitudes and Expectations
After interviewing 20 members of staff and analyzing 50
completed
questionnaires, the following were observed.
3.2.1. Some members of staff spend up to half the launch break
queuing to be
served.
3.2.2.The current provision of tables and chairs used in a single
sitting is
inadequate.

23

3.2.3.Both choice of dish and the general quality of food is

considered by
many of those interviewed as not the best.
3.2.4.Accusations were made (particularly by junior Staff) that
Senior
Members of staff enjoy favoritism, both in terms of queue
jumping and
receiving lunch trays.
3.3.Canteen Staff Personnel Problems
Interview with Mrs. Amoako and her staff revealed that
3.3.1.The rush to serve over 70 meals between 12.30 p.m. and
1.45pm puts
impossible pressure on canteen staff and this has resulted in
the declined
in the quality of food served, and lack of choice in dishes.
3.3.2.Job satisfaction has been sharply eroded by abuse from some
members of
staff.
4. CONCLUSION
The main conclusions are that
4.1. Staff criticism are largely justified
4.2.The present single sitting places too much demand on the canteen
staff.
4.3.The equipment used in kitchen needs urgent replacement.
4.4.Failure to introduce corrective measures may lead to staff finding
alternative
lunch provisions.
5. Recommendations
In order to rectify the unsatisfactory situation summarized in the
conclusion, the
committee recommends that urgent consideration be given to
implementing the
following measures:
5.1. Two lunch sitting should introduced
5.2. The quality of food and choice of dish be improved
5.3. The kitchen should be re-equipped with cost-reducing equipment.
5.4 A second user queue to a second cash register should be introduced.
FACTUAL/INFORMATION REPORTS
As the name suggests, a factual or information report seeks to gather, evaluate and present
information to an audience via oral or written means. Examples of factual reports are reports on

24

meetings, lectures, conferences, workshops, seminars industrial attachment, training

programmes, etc.
Structure of The Information Report.
The factual or information report normally has three parts just like the essay. These are
The introduction
The body
The conclusion
The introduction of the information report should give background information. This should
include the person who asked you to write the report (your manager) the purpose of the report (to
appraise the manager on what took place) and a clear statement of the subject (an account of a
clean up exercise undertaken by the SRC at the Koforidua Central Hospital), and the duration of
the event (on Friday, 15 October, 2007, between 7am and 12pm). The introduction should be
clear, brief and should agree with what follows in the body and conclusion of the report.
The body of the information report contains the major points. Here, students must understand
that the body of the factual report can be written just like the essay where the body is written in
continuous prose with no section headings. However, the body can also be divided into
numbered sections.
The concluding part of the information report should summarize the major ideas in the report.
However, no new information should be introduced in the conclusion of the report.
The following is an example of a factual report.

WRITING THE INFORMATION REPORT

INTRODUCTION
As the name suggests, a factual or information report seeks to gather, evaluate and present
information to an audience via oral or written means. Examples of factual reports are reports on
meetings, lectures, conferences, industrial attachment, training programmes, etc. The factual or
information report normally has three parts just like the essay. These are the introduction, body,
and conclusion. However, unlike the essay, the body of the information report has underlined
section headings and these headings indicate what is contained in the section. This report seeks
to explain to students how a factual report on industrial attachment is written.
INTRODUCTION OF THE FACTUAL/INFORMATION REPORT
The introduction of the information report should give background information. This should
include the institution or person who asked you to write the report (the industrial liaison officer),
the purpose of the report (to acquire on the job training), and a clear statement of the subject (an
account of the practical training acquired during the industrial attachment), and the duration of
the event (on Friday, 15 October, 2007, between 7am and 12pm). The introduction should also

25

state the name of the organization and town/city in which the student did the attachment. The
introduction should be clear, brief and should agree with what follows in the body and
conclusion of the report.
THE BODY OF THE FACTUAL/INFORMATION REPORT
The body of the information report contains the major points. Here, students must understand
that the body of the factual report can be written just like the essay where the body is written in
continuous prose with underlined section headings. However, the body can also be divided into
numbered sections.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE FACTUAL/INFORMATION REPORT
The concluding part of the information report should summarize the major ideas in the report.
However, no new information (in terms of information relating to what you learnt during
industrial attachment) should be introduced in the conclusion of the report.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, the information report on attachment should give the background details in the
introduction, explain the learning experiences you had during the attachment in the body of the
report, and sum up everything you have discussed in the conclusion.
THE ANNUAL REPORT OF CLUB X OF KOFORIDUA POLYTECHNIC IN 1991/92
The 1991/92-year, which began in July, 1991, ended in August, 1992. It was a year of many
activities.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
The following were elected and inducted into office on 2nd July, 1991, to replace the old
administration.
1. Mr. George Brew
President
2. Ms. Emily Sam
Vice President
3. Mr. Amos Appiah
Secretary
4. Ms. Agatha Fynn
Assistant Secretary
5. Ms. Mary ArhinTreasurer
MEMBERSHIP
No new members were admitted and the Membership remained at 53 throughout the year.
DEBATE
On July 15, our club organized a debating contest with the Y club of Accra Polytechnic. The
motion was That men and Women should receive equal pay for Equal Work Done. Our team,
comprising Emily Sam and Amo Brown, who proposed the motion, won convincingly.
MEETINGS
All our weekly meetings were fully attended and as usual, our chief patron, Mr. Graves was
present at many of our meeting
EXCURSION
On the 20th of April, members of the club went on an excursion to Akosombo and took advantage
of the visit to tour the hydroelectric power station there. The excursion was very interesting and a
welcome break from the routine life in school.

26

END OF YEAR GET-TOGETHER

Our end of year get-together took place on the 20th of July. The Principal, together with some
senior members of both the administrative and academic staff, was invited. In fact, the Principal
in a speech, made it clear that he was very happy with the activities of the club.
FINANCE
As usual, our financial position was good. Our balance at the bank stood at fifty million and fifty
thousand cedis. Miss Mary Arhin was congratulated for her efficient handling of our funds.
CONCLUSIONS
To conclude it could easily be said that past year was a most successful year for the club and all
of us must feel very proud indeed.
AMOS APPIAH
SECRETARY
QUESTION
You have attended a workshop on proposal writing. Write a report to inform your communication
skills lecturer of the highlights of the workshop.

THE PROPOSAL
A proposal is a persuasive message in which a writer analyzes a problem and recommends a
solution. The problem may be a need for a change in the way things are done, for equipment, for
services, for research, for a plan of action, or other things. The recommended solution may be
products, personnel, a business study, a description of work to be performed, or any of several
outcomes. Proposals are common in business and it is important that they be clear, be concise,
and meet reader expectations.
Proposals can be internal or external, solicited or unsolicited, formal or informal. External
proposals go outside an organization to current or prospective customers, to government
agencies, or private agencies and foundations. These messages include proposals to supply
products at given prices, to build roads to perform audits. This category also includes requests to
for grants of money or goods to support the work of not-for-profit agencies or other groups
hoping to meet some societal or humanitarian need. Such requests are submitted to foundations
established solely for the purpose of funding projects in areas such as the arts, education, the

27

environment, or human services. They also submitted corporations whose missions often include
returning a portion of their profits to the communities or regions in which they do business.
Proposals sent to others within an organization are internal proposals. These can be proposals to
solve problems or to meet needs by improving procedures, changing products, adding personnel,
reorganizing departments, expanding facilities, reducing budgets, or making other changes. Ideas
for internal improvement, creatively developed and effectively presented, are the lifeblood of
organizations.
A solicited proposal is prepared in response to a request for proposal (RFP). The solicitation may
be made face-to-face, by telephone, or in writing. Solicited proposals are generally submitted
externally. When responding to solicitations for proposals, writers must provide all the requested
information and use the specified format. Failure to do so may eliminate the proposal from
consideration.
Proposals prepared at the writers initiative rather than in response to an RFP are called
unsolicited proposals. These proposals represent an independent analysis of anothers problems
or needs and the creation of possible solutions. Unsolicited proposals may be internal or external.
When submitting a proposal to foundations or government agencies, writers must match the
goals of the writers organization to those of the foundation or agency.
Informal proposals generally take the form of letters (external) or memos require proposal
writers to submit proposals or letters of inquiry. These documents, which are submitted without
attachments, provide a succinct description of the project. After review, the funding agency either
rejects the proposal or directs the writer to submit a full proposal.
QUALITIES OF A SUCCESSFUL PROPOSAL
Successful proposals have qualities that separate them from unsuccessful proposals. Although
success sometimes depends on factors such as luck, politics, timing, and reputation, most
proposals must have excellent content and be clearly presented to be accepted. The following
qualities are usually required for a successful proposal:
The purpose of the proposal is stated clearly.
The problem or need is understood and defined clearly.
The solution is innovative and presented convincingly.
The benefits outweigh the costs.
The personnel implementing the solution are qualified.
The solution can be achieved on a timely basis.
The proposal is honest, factual, realistic, and objective.
The presentation is professional and attractive.
The proposal should be a powerful, persuasive message. The receivers are going to be looking
for the benefits to them, their department, the company, the community, the society, or some
other group to which they belong. The proposal should get the receivers attention, show clearly
the benefits of accepting the proposal, give proof of those benefits, and motivate favorable
action.
THE ELEMENTS OF A FORMAL PROPOSAL

28

Items contained in a proposal vary with the situation and the reader. For example, an audit
proposal, a sales proposal, and a grant proposal are similar, but not identical. A successful
proposal contains essential elements or parts. In solicited proposals, the elements are specified in
the RFP. Careful and complete responses should be made to all the elements requested in the
RFP. If you think elements necessary to the acceptance of your proposal are missing from the
RFP, then you should try to work those parts into the specified format. In unsolicited proposals,
you must decide which elements to include. What follows is a list of possible proposal elements:
Cover letter or memo
Title page or cover
Reference to authorization
Table of contents
List of illustrations
Proposal summary
Purpose
Problem or need
Background
Benefits of the proposal
Description of the solution
Evaluation plan
Qualifications of personnel
Time schedule
Cost
Glossary
Appendixes
Reference list
Although all these elements are important for many large proposals, the key elements are the
purpose, problem or need, benefits of implementing the solution, description of the solution,
qualifications of personnel, time schedule, and cost. All the proposal elements are described in
the following sections.
Cover Letter or Memo: The cover letter or memo, also referred to as a transmittal message,
introduces the proposal to the reader. A letter is used for an external proposal and a memo for an
internal proposal. The way you handle the letter of transmittal depends on whether the proposal
is solicited or unsolicited. If the proposal is solicited, the transmittal letter highlights those
aspects of your proposal that may give you a competitive advantage. If the proposal is
unsolicited, the transmittal letter takes on added importance; it must persuade the reader that you
have something worthwhile to offer, something that justifies the time required to read the entire
proposal. The transmittal letter for an unsolicited proposal follows the pattern for persuasive
messages. The cover letter or memo should include content that provides coherence for the
reader, reviews the highlights of the proposal, and encourages action.
Title Page or Cover: The information contained on the title page or cover of a proposal can
include the title of the proposal, name and location of the submitter, date of submission, principal
investigator, proposed cost, and proposed duration of the project. The title should be concise,

29

preferably under ten words. Consider which of the six W and H questions what? when?
where? who? why? how? __ must be answered by the title. The title of the proposal should
attract the readers attention and, because it will be used to identify the proposal, it should be
easy to remember. Eliminate meaningless words such as A Study of or An Examination of;
use descriptive adjective-noun combinations.
Reference to Authorization: If the proposal is solicited, the request should be noted in a
reference to authorization-the permission or request for the proposal. The information contained
in the reference to authorization depends on the RFP. For an informal or short RFP, the reference
could be as simple a line in the cover letter or memo that says This proposal is in response to
your telephone call of Mary 5, 2008. For a formal RFP, the reference to authorization could be
one or more pages following the title page or cover. A lengthy RFP may require an abstract as a
reference to authorization.
Table of Contents: The table of contents lists the titles and page numbers of all the major
sections of the proposal. It will assist in orienting readers and will serve as an aid to locating
specific information. The names and page numbers of the appendixes are also included in the
table of contents.
List of Illustrations: The titles and page numbers of any tables, figures, graphs, or other
illustrations are placed in a list of illustrations immediately following the table of contents.
Proposal Summary: The proposal summary is the proposal in capsule form. This section,
which contains the most vital information from each of the major sections of the proposal, is
prepared after the proposal has been written. It should be short. The summary is designed to give
busy people a quick but complete overview of the proposal. For a long proposal of 100 to 500
pages, the summary might be 1 to 10 pages. If the RFP specifies a length, be sure to make the
summary that length and no longer.
Introduction: The introduction orients readers to the rest of the proposal. It identifies your
organization and your purpose for writing the proposal. If the proposal is solicited, the
introduction should refer to the RFP; if not, it should mention any factors that led you to submit
the proposal. The purpose statement helps the reader understand clearly (1) the reason you are
making the proposal and (2) the nature of the proposal with regards to how it will accomplish the
purpose. Example purpose statements follow:
This is a proposal to improve students academic performance by establishing a counseling unit
in this institution.
The purpose of this proposal is to increase sales by adding commission sales personnel.
These purpose statements may stand alone or they may be followed by brief explanations. The
amount of explanation given depends on the readers knowledge and his or her need for
information.
Problem or Need: The next section should describe the problem being solved or the need being
met. This section should use coherence techniques to link it to the section in which the purpose

30

was stated. In certain situations, the reader may not have the same perception of the problem as
the writer has. With unsolicited proposals, for example, potential clients and other readers may
not even think they have a problem or there is a problem. You have to convince them that a
problem exists before you can convince them to accept your solution. You can do this by
discussing the readers current situation and explaining how things could be better-in a way that
is meaningful to your reader. For example, the first purpose statement might be followed by a
problem statement such as the following:
Students performance in the 2006/2007 academic year was very poor. This could generally be
attributed to poor time management and poor learning habits. To overcome these problems, a
counseling unit must be established in the institution to counsel students on these problem areas.
Background: If necessary for your readers complete understanding, you should provide
background data on the problem. The background section may be combined with the problem /
need section or, if both sections are long, it can be presented separately. In the background
section, you may explain the problem as to how it developed, its magnitude, and the
consequences if nothing is done.
Benefits of the Proposal: The benefits of the proposal are important. Benefits of the proposal
represent the outcomes of the implementation of the proposed solution. The benefits must be
stated in the you-viewpoint and must clearly serve the interests of the reader and / or his or her
organization. The benefits must outweigh their cost. (The cost data will be given later in the
proposal.) If your proposal is competing with other proposals, the benefits you cite must be more
cost-effective than your competitors benefits for your proposal to be the winning one.
When presenting the benefits of the proposal, portray a can-do-attitude, but be careful not to
overstate the benefits. Make them concrete, realistic, and honest.
Description of the Solution: The description of the solution is the most important section in the
proposal. It will likely be the largest section. It contains the solution to the problem or the way
you recommend meeting the need.
The description of the solution section must tie coherently to the information given previously in
the proposal. References must be made in this section to the purpose, the problem or need, and
the benefits of the proposal. Your readers must clearly understand your solution and be
convinced that it achieves the purpose, solves the problem, and provides the benefits cited
earlier.
The description of the solution should include specifically what you are proposing to be done,
who will do it, when it will be done, where it is to be done, how it will be done, and why it
should be done. As mentioned earlier, proposals submitted in response to an REP must carefully
provide all the information called for in the request.
You will want to stress the innovative aspects of your proposal, the special nature of the
resources you are recommending, and the strength of your solutions rationale. Show how these
features of your proposal fit your readers needs or mission. A good way to do this is to relate
your solutions directly to each of the benefits given earlier. Those benefits might be listed

31

individually, with each followed by an appropriate part of the description of the solution. The
intent is to show clearly that (1) you have carefully thought through all aspects of the proposed
solution; (2) it represents a realistic, feasible, and desirable way of solving the problem or
meeting the need; and (3) you, your department, or your organization are capable of
implementing the solution.
Evaluation Plan: If appropriate for your proposal, you will want to include an evaluation plan.
The evaluation plan is a way to measure the degree of success achieved if your proposal were
implemented. The evaluation plan could consist of a record-keeping system; a review by a panel
of experts; statistical analysis procedures; a reporting system; or any number of control, analysis,
measurement, or judgment techniques.
An evaluation plan is a major element in proposals for research studies. In other proposals, such
as increased staffing proposals, the evaluation system might be an employee performance review
procedure already in place. In this case, only a brief reference to the existing plan would be
needed.
Qualifications of Personnel: In the qualifications of personnel section, you provide
biographical information about each key participant involved in implementing the proposal. You
show his or her qualifications to provide the services proposed.
The information should include the education, experience, accomplishments, successes, and
evidence of achievement that directly relate to each participants involvement in the proposed
solution. In this section, you are justifying to the reader that these persons are qualified to serve
in their assigned roles.
Depending on the nature of the proposal, the amount of data presented for each individual will
vary from a few lines to several pages. In some proposals, brief summaries are presented in the
qualifications of personnel section and full resumes are provided in an appendix. If you are
responding to an RFP, provide exactly the amount and type of personnel information specified.
This section usually consists of two parts: an explanation of the proposed personnel
arrangements and the biographical data sheets for each of the main contributors to the project.
The explanation should specify how many persons at what percentage of time and in what
academic categories will be participating in the project. If the programme is complex and
involves people from other departments or colleges, the organization of the staff and the lines of
responsibility should be made clear.
Any student participation, paid or unpaid, should be mentioned, and the nature of the proposed
contribution detailed. If any persons must be hired for the project, say so, and explain why,
unless the need for persons not already available is self-evident.
The biographical data sheets should follow immediately after the explanatory text of the
personnel" section, unless the agency guidelines specify a different format. For extremely large
programme proposals with eight or more participants, the data sheets may be given separately in
an appendix. All biographical data sheets within the proposal should be in a common format.
Time Schedule: The time schedule shows when an activity is to start and when it is to be
completed. For simple proposals, the time schedule may consist of a listing of activities and their

32

beginning and ending dates. For elaborate proposals, it may be necessary to use more complex
task-time analysis charts.
If you need assistance in selecting a time-schedule format, most libraries have good reference
materials you can use. Your responsibility in this section is to show the reader a realistic time
schedule.
Cost: The cost or the price of the proposed solution is shown next. This section may be labeled
Cost, Prices, Budget, or given another appropriate title. The cost may be presented in logical
parts, such as personnel, supplies, equipment, and facilities; or it may be organized by benefits,
parts of the description of the solution, time phases, or other appropriate categories.
The cost of the proposed solution must cover your expenses and, if appropriate, a profit. It also
must be reasonable in relation to the benefits and the products or services to be provided. If you
are following the guidelines in an RFP, the format for the cost section will likely be specified and
should be used.
Glossary: Based on a careful analysis of your readers, you may decide to include a glossary in
your proposal. A glossary lists alphabetically the unfamiliar terms used in the proposal and gives
their definitions. Include a glossary only when many unfamiliar, specialized, or technical terms
have to be used. When there are only a few such terms, define them the first time they are used.
Appendixes: To keep the body of the proposal as short and readable as possible, it is sometimes
appropriate to place complex supporting information in an appendix. An appendix contains items
that are indirectly related to the proposal but are excluded from the body to improve readability.
It was suggested earlier that resumes of key personnel might appropriately be placed in an
appendix. Other information that might be placed in appendixes includes your organizations
history, product specifications, records of past successes with similar projects, letters of support,
details that support information in the description section, a questionnaire to be used for the
proposed research, or other supporting and reference materials.
An RFP may specify what appendixes are to be included. Be sure to include only those
appendixes essential to the readers understanding and decision making.

33

THE INTERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Interviewing, like all interpersonal communication normally involves face-to-face interaction
between two parties (interviewer and interviewee) that takes turns acting as sender and receiver.
Interviews are in short, prepared and structured interactions between two or more parties in
which questions and answers are used to achieve relatively specific and mutually understood
purposes. For the purposes of our study, we will limit ourselves to the employment interview and
also from the perspective of the applicants or interviewees.
Of many functions that the interview can serve, perhaps none is as important as that of
recruiting for employment. For the interviewee seeking employment, failure to make a good
impression during an interview may mean failure to get a position for which he is well qualified.
When seeking jobs, applicants (interviewees) should be aware of the needs and strategies of
employers; the applicants should use that awareness to prepare for the interview in which he/she
participates. In this section we will consider specific principles that when an interviewee follows,
will enhance his chances of success at interviews.
RESEARCHING THE ORGANIZATION

34

An understanding of yourself and your skills can best be accomplished in the light of
knowledge regarding the organization. In researching an organization, the job applicant or
interviewee should consider the following;
The location of the organizations plants, branches, and offices.
The age of the company
The kind of services that it offers
Its growth and future potentials
How the organization ranks itself within its field
Whether the organization is family owned. If so, does this influence promotion?
Whether the organization is innovative
What the existing political situation is.
Whether any upcoming mergers.
What image the public has of the organization
Whether the organization has special employment policies e.g. employs only people with
experience.
Whether the organization encourages its employees to further their education.
The communication flow within the organization.
Is decision making highly centralized or spread throughout the organization.

BEHAVIOUR DURING THE INTERVIEW.

After the self-assessment and organizational research, the interviewee will now be in a
good position to approach the employment interview. By this time the interviewee should have
considered not only such practical issues as whether or not he can work under pressure and
where he prefers to live geographical, but also he should have examined the more philosophical
issues involving his personal and professional goals such as the meaning of success to him, the
kind of people he desires for professional association, the things he values in life, an the kind and
amount of recognition necessary for him to be satisfied. In fact, each individual should approach
the employment interview giving considerable thought to current events, morality and personal
value orientations. This because it is common for an interviewer or employer to be concerned
about prospective employees stand on these matters.
THE INITIAL IMPRESSION.
It is very important that an interviewee makes a favourable initial impression. This is
because most interviewers make their decisions during the first four or five minutes of the
interview.
In the first place, being on time is essential, for punctuality is indicative of good manners
and interest in the forth-coming interaction. You should get the name of the interviewer and use it
throughout the interview.
Also, a critical part of the initial impression will be determined by your appearance.
Though philosophically, it might be wrong to judge a person by how he or she dresses, we
nevertheless do just that. Since it is not possible or even desirable to describe the ideal attire for a
selection interview, each interview should be approached with intelligence and common sense,
with regards to (casual versus formal) the sort of position for which you are being interviewed
and the kind of organization represented by the interviewer (Industrial firm, a banking institution,

35

a construction company, etc.). Regardless of the specific attire chosen, the interviewee should
appear neat and clean. In general, if there is some doubt regarding the most appropriate attire, it
is better to err on the conservative side.
Furthermore, throughout the interview, the interviewee will communicate both verbally
and non-verbally. Through the use of body, voice, and language, you will articulate ideas,
express attitudes and reveal values. Non-verbal communication will be evaluated by the manner
in which an interviewee walks (aggressively, aimlessly, etc.); shake hands (limply, warmly,
vigorously), sit (slumped, rigid, reasonably relaxed); express himself facially (darting eyes, full
open-eye contact, animated versus expressionless face); and move (animated versus inert, tense
versus relaxed).
Also, the use of voice is important. Vocal quality, pitch, audibility, and expressiveness all
count, and so does language usage-especially vocabulary and grammar. It is usually best to avoid
slang and use a normal vocabulary (devoid of attempt to impress interviewer with your
knowledge of big words) and to speak grammatically. It is also prudent that the interviewee
articulates his views persuasively. Several recent studies have revealed that effectiveness of the
interviewees communication has a profound impact on how he/she is rated by the interviewer,
and in whether or not he/she receives a job offer. Whenever possible, communicate positive
information about yourself. In discussing his skills and abilities, the interviewee should try to
relate them to the specific organization with which he is interviewing. In so doing, he links the
organizations needs to his talents.
Finally, the interviewee should know that to feel nervous at a selection interview is
natural. No normal person can approach a situation, the outcome of which might affect him/her
for many years ahead, with an attitude of who cares? However, it is refreshing to note that
nervousness in selection interviews, like stage fright in public speaking, can be controlled
through adequate preparation. Interviewees will discover that once they begin to concentrate on
responding to questions and expressing their views articulately and honestly, much of their initial
nervousness will disappear.
QUALITIES OF REVEAL DURING THE INTERVIEW
There are many qualities of which interviewers look for during an interview: oral
communication skills, motivation, initiative, etc. The behaviour of the interviewee during the
interview must exhibit these characteristics. For instance, it is hardly persuasive to tell an
interviewer, oh, by the way, I am motivated, assertive, loyal, mature, enthusiastic, and a natural
leader. The interviewee should show several behavioural and attitudinal characteristics
indicative of these desirable traits.
One behaviour desirable in a selection interview is directness. This is revealed, in part,
through appropriate eye contact, posture and other mannerisms. An interviewee who is
withdrawn will often shrink into his or her chair, will seldom gesture, and usually avoids eye
contact with the interviewer. Equally important is verbal directness. As an interviewee, you
should never evade questions, but respond to them thoroughly and directly. Avoid beginning your
statements with such phrases as, well, I could be wrong, but . or I guess or I think this
would work.. Instead, phrase your ideas decisively and clearly.
Closely related to directness is responsiveness. The interviewer should not be made to
feel that he/she is prying information from the interviewee. After all, the interviewer is the

36

organizations representative and an important purpose of the interview is for him to gain
additional data from the interviewee. Thus, the interviewee should approach the interview with a
mental set toward active participation, volunteering information as and when necessary.
Also, the interviewer expects interviewees to be mentally alert. This is not the same as
brilliance, but is related to ones comprehension of questions and articulateness in responding to
them. The interviewees mental alertness may also be judged by his/her willingness to
substantiate his/her assertions with evidence. Alertness should be matched by general emotional
control. Particularly when confronted with such questioning techniques as reactive or
hypothetical probes, the interviewee should remain reasonably poised and emotionally in
command. Interviewers can (and occasionally do) ask startling questions. In such situations, the
interviewee should not panic, but take a few seconds to think carefully before he/she responds.
He/she should also make an assessment of the reason for the question (for example to test
creativity, to see how you respond to unanticipated conditions).
All these attitudinal qualities relate directly to openness. An interview is not the place to
be coy or evasive. Whenever an interviewee tries to distort or rationalize his behaviour (for
example, poor grade or long period of unemployment), he/she succeeds only in confusing or
alienating the interviewer (remember he has heard these tales before). Honest people those who
are not afraid to admit to weakness or mention strengths, and who sincerely attempt to be clear,
direct, and straightforward will gain a positive evaluation from most interviewers.
Another critical quality is the motivation to work. Achievements in past endeavors (for
example, high grades or promotions in other jobs) are often indicative of high motivation.
Frequent job changes in the past may be viewed as indicative of instability.
The last but not the least quality to be demonstrated during an interview is character.
Ethical judgments are never easy to make. Sometimes information regarding personal integrity
and responsibility can be gained from your credentials, for example, testimony provided in
letters of recommendation may serve as evidence. However, for the most part, the interviewees
character will be judged on the basis of the personal behaviour the interviewee exhibits during
the interview particularly in relation to honesty and objectivity in self assessment. For example,
if his record has some flaws-low grades, a firing incident-the wisest course is to admit it, take
responsibility for it, and discuss what you learned from the incident and how you think you have
grown.
At the conclusion of the interview, the interviewee should pose any question he/she has
not had an opportunity to ask. He/she should then thank the interviewers for their time.

37

DOCUMENTATION
Documentation refers to the process of writing down the sources of information we borrow to
write research papers and essays as both of these forms demand citing materials from texts. To
lift any information without acknowledging its source is a very serious academic offence called
plagiarism which is very seriously punished. According to Timothy Noah of Slate magazine,
New York, Plagiarism is a kind of consumer fraud. That is, repacking someones product and
selling it as your own.
Why do we document?
a. We document for future references: thus documentation is a means of telling the reader
where he/she may find additional information. For example, if someone reads an article,
and he/she is interested in the subject with which the article deals, he/she may go to the
library and gather further information himself/herself. Citations or references tell the
reader precisely where he or she can turn for more facts about a fuller discussion of the
various aspects of the subject.

38

b. Documenting sources also shows that the writer has consulted the recognized authorities
on the topic and that he is therefore basing his conclusion on published information. This
makes his work more authentic.
c. Documentation fulfils a moral obligation. Writers and speakers have an ethical
responsibility to give credit for information which is not their own.
The writer is under obligation to acknowledge the source of three kinds of materials:
a. Direct quotation
b. Facts which a writer or speaker has taken from someone else.
c. Expression of opinions which are not his own.
A writer however need not cite such things as proverbial sayings, passages from literature
which have in a sense become common property, or information that has become general
knowledge. Ordinarily, the writer should not cite minute particulars, but rather cite those
borrowings which are substantial contribution to his paper.
1. Quotation
Quotations are used to substantiate or support assertions made by the writer of an essay or
research paper. It is however important for the writer to note that he/she does not have to over
do this. This is because a research paper that is overfull with quotations gives the impression
that the writer lacks creativity and \or that he has no ideas of his own.

Citation Guide: APA Style

The American Psychological Association (APA) developed the APA style for use in its own
publications. APA is now the standard editorial style in many social science and health-related
fields, including psychology, sociology, economics, business, criminology, social work, and
nursing.
This citation guide offers a brief introduction to APA style, and it illustrates proper
citation format for a number of commonly used research sources. The list of Print Sources
includes resources typically found in a library, such as books, journals, magazines, and
newspapers. The list of Electronic Sources includes resources found online or published on
DVD or CD-ROM, including encyclopedias, journals, magazines, newspapers, and government
documents. The information in this guide is based on the fifth edition of the APA Publication
Manual (2001). For more complete information, consult the APA Publication Manual or the
official APA Web site.
APA is one of several commonly used styles for citing references. Your school, or your
instructor, may require a different citation style, such as MLA style, developed by the Modern
Language Association, or Chicago style, developed by the University of Chicago Press and
described in the Chicago Manual of Style. When in doubt about which style to use, ask your
instructor.
About Citations
Citations are notes acknowledging the source of ideas, information, and quoted passages used in
a research paper. A complete citation typically includes the author, title, publisher, date, and other
information to help readers locate the original source.

39

Why Cite?
There are at least three good reasons for citing references:
1. Its the right thing to do. Using another writers words or ideas without citing the
source is plagiarism.
2. Citations allow readers to look up your sources. This helps put your ideas and
conclusions into context.
3. For school papers, citations are usually required.
List of References
The list of References, sometimes labeled Works Cited or Bibliography in other citation styles,
is an alphabetized list of citations at the end of a research paper. The list is double-spaced, and
each item is formatted with a hanging indent; that is, the second and subsequent lines are
indented more than the first line. For example:
Bailey, G., & Peoples, J. (1999). Introduction to cultural anthropology. Belmont,
CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
In-Text Citations
References that appear within the body of a paper are called in-text citations. The first time a
source is mentioned, it should be cited as part of the text. The citation, including the year of
publication, is enclosed in parentheses. For example:
By the end of the 1980s, Gorbachev was losing patience with the
Lithuanian independence movement. (Serrill, 1990).
The citation can also be written into a sentence, with the year of publication enclosed in
parentheses:
According to Serrill (1990), by the end of the 1980s, Gorbachev
was losing patience with the Lithuanian independence movement.
Quick Tips on APA Style
Certain features distinguish APA from other citation styles.
Only the first word of a title or subtitle, and proper nouns, are capitalized in book,
magazine, journal, and article titles.
In the list of References, all author names are written in last-first order, e.g., Doe, J.
If there is more than one author, names are separated by commas; an ampersand (&)
precedes the final name, e.g., Doe, J., Roe, J., & Roe, R.
First and middle names of authors are represented by initials only, indicated in this
guide as F. M. for First Middle.
The year of publication is always included, in both the list of references and in-text
citations.
Citations of online sources include the date on which the source was retrieved from
the Web.
If referring to a particular section of a work, page numbers for that section are
included in the list of References, but not in the in-text citation. With the exception of
journal articles and printable documents, electronic sources do not usually display
page numbers; if page numbers cannot be found, there is no need to include them.
Format and Examples
For each type of research source, a format formula is provided, followed by an example drawn
from an existing published work. Each citation is shown in two forms: first as it would appear in
the list of References, then as it would appear as an in-text citation.
Print Sources

40

1. Book With One Author

Author, F. M. (Year published). Book title (pp. start page-end page of specific reference {or
p. page number if referencing a single page}). City {include state, province, or country if
city is not well known}: Publisher.
or
Author, F. M. (Year published). Book title. City {include state, province, or country if city is not
well known}: Publisher.
In text: (Author, year published).
Example:
Salinger, J. D. (1951). The catcher in the rye (pp. 106-107). Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
or
Salinger, J. D. (1951). The catcher in the rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
In text: (Salinger, 1951).
2. Book With Two Authors
Author, F. M., & Author2, F. M. (Year published). Book title (pp. start page-end page of
specific reference {or p. page number if referencing a single page}). City {include state,
province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
or
Author, F. M., & Author2, F. M. (Year published). Book title. City {include state, province, or
country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
In text: (Author & Author2, year published).
Example:
Bailey, G., & Peoples, J. (1999). Introduction to cultural anthropology (pp. 96-99). Belmont,
CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
or
Bailey, G., & Peoples, J. (1999). Introduction to cultural anthropology. Belmont, CA: Thomson
Wadsworth.
In text: (Bailey & Peoples, 1999).
3. Book With Three Authors
Author, F. M., Author2, F. M., & Author3, F. M. (Year published). Book title (pp. start pageend page of specific reference {or p. page number if referencing a single page}). City
{include
state, province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
or
Author, F. M., Author2, F. M., & Author3, F. M. (Year published). Book title. City {include
state, province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
In text: (Author, Author2, & Author3, year published).
Example:
Sebranek, P., Meyer, V., & Kemper, D. (2004). Write for college (p. 231). Wilmington, MA:
Great
Source Education Group.
or
Sebranek, P., Meyer, V., & Kemper, D. (2004). Write for college. Wilmington, MA: Great Source

41

Education Group.
In text: (Sebranek, Meyer, & Kemper, 2004).
4. Second or Other Edition of a Book
(Two authors in this example)
Author, F. M., & Author2, F. M. (Year published). Book title (xth ed.) (pp. start page-end page
of specific reference {or p. page number if referencing a single page}). City {include state,
province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
or
Author, F. M., & Author2, F. M. (Year published). Book title (xth ed.). City {include state,
province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
In text: (Author & Author2, year published).
Example:
Mertler, C. A., & Charles, C. M. (2005). Introduction to educational research (5th ed.) (p. 321).
Boston: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.
or
Mertler, C. A., & Charles, C. M. (2005). Introduction to educational research (5th ed.). Boston:
Pearson Allyn & Bacon.
In text: (Mertler & Charles, 2005).
5. Journal Article
(Two authors in this example)
Author, F. M., & Author2, F. M. (Year published). Article title. Journal title, volume(issue),
start page-end page of specific reference {start page+ if pages are discontinuous}.
or
Author, F. M., & Author2, F. M. (Year published). Article title. Journal title, volume(issue),
start page-end page of entire article {start page+ if pages are discontinuous}.
In text: (Author & Author2, year published).
Example:
OConnell, J. F., & Perkins, G. M. (2003). The economics of private liberal arts colleges.
Journal of Business, 76(3), 501.
or
OConnell, J. F., & Perkins, G. M. (2003). The economics of private liberal arts colleges.
Journal of Business, 76(3), 499-514.
In text: (OConnell & Perkins, 2003).
6. Magazine Article
(One author in this example)
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Magazine title, volume, start
pageend page of specific reference {start page+ if pages are discontinuous}.
or
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Magazine title, volume, start
pageend page of entire article {start page+ if pages are discontinuous}.
In text: (Author, year published).
Example:

42

Serrill, M. S. (1990, April 2). Soviet Union war of nerves. Time, 135, 29.
or
Serrill, M. S. (1990, April 2). Soviet Union war of nerves. Time, 135, 26-30.
In text: (Serrill, 1990).
7. Newspaper Article
(One author in this example)
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Newspaper Title, pp. start
pageend page of specific reference {pp. start page+ if pages are discontinuous or p. page
number if
referencing a single page}.
or
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Newspaper Title, pp. start
pageend page of entire article {pp. start page+ if pages are discontinuous or p. page number if
a one-page article}.
In text: (Author, year published).
Example:
Rood, L. (2005, December 31). The steep costs of driving drunk. Des Moines Register, p. A12.
or
Rood, L. (2005, December 31). The steep costs of driving drunk. Des Moines Register, p. A12A13.
In text: (Rood, 2005).
8. Newspaper Article, No Author
Article title. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Newspaper title, pp. start page-end page of
specific reference {pp. start page+ if pages are discontinuous or p. page number if
a one-page article}.
or
Article title. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Newspaper title, pp. start page-end page of
entire article {pp. start page+ if pages are discontinuous or p. page number if.a one-page
article}.
In text: (Article Title {can be shortened}, year published).
Example:
Gas prices: Pollution rules may be eased. (2006, April 26). The Seattle Times, p. A5.
or
Gas prices: Pollution rules may be eased. (2006, April 26). The Seattle Times, pp. A1+.
In text: (Gas Prices, 2006).
Electronic Sources
1. Online Encyclopedia Article
(One author in this example)
Author, F. M. (Year published). Article title. Title of Reference Work. Retrieved Month day, year
{date retrieved from Web}, from URL
In text: (Author, year published).
Example:

43

Hart, J. (2006). Water pollution. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. Retrieved April
19,
2006, from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572857/Water_Pollution.html
In text: (Hart, 2006).
2. Online Encyclopedia Article, No Author
Article title. (Year published). Title of reference work. Retrieved Month day, year {date retrieved
from Web}, from URL
In text: (Article Title, year published).
Example:
Common cold. (2006). Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. Retrieved November 10,
2006, from
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578766/Common_Cold.html
In text: (Common Cold, 2006).
3. Article in DVD or CD ROM Encyclopedia
(One author in this example)
Author, F. M. (Year published). Article title. Title of reference work [DVD {or CD-ROM}]. City
{include state, province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
In text: (Author, year published).
Example:
Hart, J. (2006). Water pollution. Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft
Corporation.
In text: (Hart, 2006).
4. Article in DVD or CD-ROM Encyclopedia, No Author
Article title. (Year published). Title of reference work [DVD {or CD-ROM}]. City {include state,
province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher.
In text: (Article Title, year published).
Example:
Common cold. (2006). Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
In text: (Common Cold, 2006).
5. Online Journal Article
(Five authors in this example)
Author, F. M., Author2, F. M., Author3, F. M., Author4, F. M., & Author5, F. M. (Year
published).
Article title. Journal title, volume(issue), start page-end page of specific reference {if
available}. Retrieved Month day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from URL
or
Author, F. M., Author2, F. M., Author3, F. M., Author4, F. M., & Author5, F. M. (Year
published).
Article title. Journal title, volume(issue), start page-end page of entire article {if
available}. Retrieved Month day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from URL
In text: (Author, Author2, Author3, Author4, & Author5, year published).
Example:
Muntner, P., He, J., Cutler, J. A., Wildman, R. P., & Whelton, P. K. (2004). Trends in
blood pressure among children and adolescents. Journal of the American Medical
Association

44

(JAMA), 291(17), 2110-2111. Retrieved May 22, 2007, from

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/291/17/2107
or
Muntner, P., He, J., Cutler, J. A., Wildman, R. P., & Whelton, P. K. (2004). Trends in
blood pressure among children and adolescents. Journal of the American Medical
Association
(JAMA), 291(17), 2107-2113. Retrieved May 22, 2007, from
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/291/17/2107
In text: (Muntner, He, Cutler, Wildman, & Whelton, 2004).
6. Online Magazine Article
(One author in this example)
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Magazine title, volume.
Retrieved
Month day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from URL
In text: (Author, year published).
Example:
Nash, J. M. (2006, February 20). Where the waters are rising. Time, 165. Retrieved April 25,
2006,
from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601050425,00.html
In text: (Nash, 2005).
7. Online Newspaper Article
(One author in this example)
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Newspaper title. Retrieved
Month
day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from URL
In text: (Author, year published).
Example:
Waxman, S. (2005, April 19). Hollywood welcomes new crop of moguls. The New York Times.
Retrieved January 2, 2007, from
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?
res=F70F16FC345A0C7A8DDDAD0894DD404482
In text: (Waxman, 2005).
8. Online Government Document, No Author
Government Agency. (Year published). Title of publication (pp. start page-end page of specific
reference {or p. page number if referencing a single page}). City {include state, province,
or
country if city is not well known}: Publisher {if available}. Retrieved Month day, year
{date
retrieved from Web}, from URL
or
Government Agency. (Year published). Title of publication. City {include state, province, or
country
if city is not well known}: Publisher {if available}. Retrieved Month day, year {date
retrieved from
Web}, from URL
In text: (Government Agency, year published).

45

Example:
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement. (2004). Innovations in
Education: Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification (pp. 2-3). Washington, D.C.:
Education
Publications Center. Retrieved April 20, 2006, from
http://www.ed.gov/admins/tchrqual/recruit/altroutes/report.html
or
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement. (2004). Innovations in
Education: Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification. Washington, D.C.: Education
Publications
Center. Retrieved April 20, 2006, from
http://www.ed.gov/admins/tchrqual/recruit/altroutes/report.html
In text: (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement, 2004).

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARIES
Introduction
A summary is a condensed version of the main ideas of all or part of a source, written in your
own words. The ability to summarize and paraphrase is an essential academic skill that all
students must develop. Writers use summaries and paraphrases in research papers to substantiate
their ideas since they do not need to use every word of every relevant source. Furthermore, the
time of managers and company directors is always highly expensive and so they naturally
appreciate assistants who can convey key facts and opinions clearly and sincerely, and present
them in such a way that they are easily absorbed and understood.
To write a summary, first read and reread your source until you understand exactly what it is
saying. Then put the source and any notes away. Write down the relevant information from the
source. At this point you may still be using phrases and language from the source. So next,

46

rewrite this information into your own words and sentences so it becomes a coherent part of your
paper written in your own style. Remember not to include your own ideas or commentary in the
body of the summary. You do not want your reader to become confused about which information
is yours and which is the source's. When summarizing, it is advised that you changed the
wording of the original, thought you are at liberty to retain any words or expressions you may
find useful. However, a summary consisting of a collection of sentences picked out here will
inevitably lack coherence and clearness.
The following provides you with a simple and clear procedure for summarizing written
information. Make sure you go through it carefully, since once embark on your full time career, a
day will not pass without your being asked to provide some form of oral or written summary.
Indeed, one the most valuable assets of the summary writer is the ability to relay the essence of a
message which will involve meeting the following objectives in whole or in part.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Ability to comprehend a range of information, data or opinion.

Ability to identify salient points for a particular purpose.
Skill in analyzing and evaluating material to distinguish the essential from the trivial.
Skill in using language to covey the tone or attitude of the original
Familiarity with business practice to ensure that appropriate format is used when
reproducing data.

PRINCIPLES OF SUMMARIZING
Basically, the summary selects points to meet a specific requirement and is therefore selective of
the passage, extracting only those points relevant to a desired purpose. Note that the length of the
summary is determined by requirements of its recipient.
Stage one:
Check that you understand clearly the requirement which may involve only part of the item for
summarizing, and also what the end document is be used for.
Stage two.
Read the item or source document thoroughly, since you cannot summarize what you do not fully
grasp. Read for
a. The general meaning
b. For the meaning of individual words or phrases
c. For the structure of the item and the development of its ideas or arguments.

47

Stage three
Give the item a little conveying essence of the summary. This will act as a yardstick against
which to measure points for importance and relevance.
Stage Four
Select the principal points, keeping the terms of references of stage one in mind. A useful
technique is to identify the key topics of paragraphs as a starting point.
Stage Five.
Check the list of points against the original in case something has been overlooked. Check your
points against your title for relevance.
Stage six
Establish which format is appropriate for the document-schematic layout or paragraph
continuous prose.
Stage Seven
Compose a rough draft leaving room for subsequent refinements and using your own words to
convey the sense rather coping phrase or sentences; remember that you need not find alternatives
for specialist terms like inflation or wage freeze.
Stage Eight
If you are limited to a specific number of words, it is wise to aim to exceed this limit in a rough
draft by some 10-15 words, in the context of a passage of 300 words to be reduced to some 110,
since it is easier to prune further than to insert extra material into a rough draft.
Stage Nine
Check the rough draft to ensure that the points are linked in connected sentences that read
smoothly and the progression logical and intelligible. Then polish into a final version by
improving vocabulary, syntax, tone, etc. Ensure that the final version has been checked for
transcription errors of spelling, punctuation, etc.
Stage Ten:
Add the details like item sources, the authors name and status as well as your own. The
summary may be passed on to its recipient by a means of a covering memorandum. All such
work should bear a completion date, to indicate that it is current work.
The text for all summary work is that its recipient can clearly understand it without ever having
seen the original.
When summarizing, do not do the following:
Do not skip reading stages the original must be clearly understood.
Do not include items which are trivial, repetitions, and broadly illustrations or examples
Do not allow yourself to be verbose.
Do not allow your personal views to obtrude into the summary.

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Do not try to borrow phrases or sentences from the original-they will not fit into your smaller
version comfortably-and you may use them wrongly.
Do not allow the rough or final version to suffer from over-compression, where the meaning is
lost in a kind of shorthand language.
Do not allow your summary to look like a list of unconnected and hence meaningless statements.
Do not overlook the fact that the recipient may never see the original. Your version must stand on
its own two feet and not rely on a reading of the original to render it intelligible.
Do not forget that the context dictates the format of the final version- a schematic layout may be
essential for quick reference in a meeting.
However, do the following:
Convey fairly the authors own attitude and outlooks.
Measure your points list against relevance and importance to them.
Crosscheck against passage and chosen title.
Convey the sense rather than the wording of the original.
Think of reducing the original into its basic skeletal form.
Keep essential illustrations short-use collective nouns when possible. Bear in mind that authors
tend to repeat main points several times say it only once.
Make a draft before attempting a final version.
Ensure that your tone and style are appropriate either to the authors approach or the recipients
needs- eg. Factual or persuasive.
Ensure that the rough draft to final version stage is free from mechanical errors spelling,
punctuation, syntax, etc.

Inclusion of your own ideas.

The summary should be only of the information that has been presented in the original passage.
No other idea, digression, illustration or opinions of your own should be added. You are
concerned solely with the writers ideas. Therefore be careful to follow these rules:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Do not let your own opinions color your interpretation.

Do not add examples of your own.
Do not discuss the options given.
Do not give additional information
Do not alter the balance of any argument presented.

Tense and Reported Speech

It was once obligatory to write formal summary in reported speech, i.e. using an impersonal tone
and past tense, but this is now considered pedantic. The rules are as follows.

49

a. The tense of the original may be retained in most cases

b. Personal pronouns must be avoided
c. Whereas the passage is written entirely in the first persons, it is often preferable to change
it to reported speech.
d. Where a quotation in direct speech is included in a passage for summary, this should be
changed to reported speech.
If reported speech is being used, care is needed with pronouns, tenses and adverbial expressions.
For example,
in his annual Report the Chairman said, Our Company has had a successful year, but the broad
of directors hopes to have even better progress to report next.
In reported speech, it reads as follows.
In his annual report the Chairman said their company had had a successful year, and that their
Board of Directors hoped to have even better progress to report the following year.
The present tense is retained where the stated facts are still true.
For example,
He said. Everyone dies sooner or later
The author said that everyone dies sooner or later
Note that that should be used to introduce reported speech, as in the above example.
Questions need particular care:
Direct speech: Can meet nest week?
Reported speech: He asked whether they could meet the following week.
But rhetorical questions need more phrasing.
Example,
Shall we suffer such a trading loss again?
Reported as
The Chairman said that they could not suffer such a trading loss again.
Never leave out names of persons and places, dates and times, unless these are only inserted as
illustrations and so do not belong to the main subject matter.
Illustration and examples may often be omitted, or if retained be generalized.
Statistics may often be generalized, for example:
Some of the populations doubling times in the U.D.Cs(underdeveloped countries) are as
follows.
Kenya, 24 years, Nigeria 28 years, Turkey,24, Indonesia ,31, Philippines20, Brazil 22, Costa
Rica 2 and El Salvador 19.
Population doubling times in may underdeveloped countries are less than twenty- five years.

50

For some summaries for businessman, it will be right to retain some detail e.g. if a manager has
asked for background information prior to visiting Brazil, it might be relevant to include for him
the actual population doubling times in that country.
Quotations.
Since these are frequently used as illustrations of points, they are often omitted. However, if they
are retained and turned to reported speech, care must be taken to attribute them to the correct
author, not the author of the passage.
Order
To make the course of the argument of the sequence of event clearer, you may find it advisable to
change the order of the original. Sometimes for the sake of effect, an authour will serve till the
end a thought, which would more logically come the beginning, or sometimes he will introduce a
digression in the middle or a paragraph. The summary writer should notice anything of this kind
and arrange his material clearly and logically.
Style and Tone
Students often mistakenly assume that the style of a summary is unimportant. If the summary
covers the main points, they think, then the summary is adequate. In fact, style and tone count
heavily in summary. Most important, readers who look at a summary for the sole purpose of
getting a quick glimpse of the article do not want to read extra words and phrases that do not
further the meaning. So brevity counts. Moreover, readers want to be able to count on the
summary for an accurate representation of the original piece. If the writer allows personal
opinion to color word choice, then the tone of the summary can mislead readers.
EXAMPLE
Computers and Education in America
In the last decade, computers have invaded every aspect of education, from kindergarten through
college. The figures show that schools have spent over two billion dollars installing two million
new computers. Recently, with the explosive increase of sites on the Internet, computers have
taken another dramatic rise. In just five years, the number of Internet hosts has skyrocketed from
2 million to nearly 20 million. It is not uncommon for 6th graders to surf the Net, design their
own home pages, and e-mail their friends or strangers they have "met" on the Web. Computer
literacy is a reality for many junior high students and most high school students.
In the midst of this technological explosion, we might well stop and ask some key questions. Is
computer technology good or bad for education? Are students learning more or less? What,
exactly, are they learning? And who stands to benefit from education's current infatuation with
computers and the Internet?
In the debate over the virtues of computers in education, the technological optimists think that
computers and the Internet are ushering us into the next literacy revolution, a change as profound
as Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. In contrast, a much smaller but growing number
of critics believe that cyberspace is not the ideal classroom. I agree with the critics. If you
consider your own experience, you'll agree that the benefits of computer literacy are at best

51

wildly overrated. At their worst, computers and the Internet pander to the short attention spans
and the passive viewing habits of a young television generation.
The technological optimists sing a siren song of an enchanted new land where the educational
benefits of computers and the Internet are boundless. First, they boast that children can now
access information on every conceivable subject. If little Eva or little Johnny wants to learn
about far-away cultures, they can access sites from their own homes that will teach them about
the great languages and cultures of the world. Second, these starry-eyed optimists warble about
how the Internet has created a truly democratic space, where all children--rich, poor, black,
white, and brown--have equal access to information and education. Third, they claim that
computers will allow students to have e-mail conversations with experts on any subject around
the world. No longer will students be limited by their own classroom, their teacher, or their
environment. Distance learning is the wave of the future, and classrooms will become obsolete or
at least optional. In the words of John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Computer, the new
technologies have created an "avalanche of personal creativity and achievement" and they have
given students the "ability to explore, convey, and create knowledge as never before." Children
who used to hate going to school will now love to learn to read and write, to do math and
science. They will voluntarily spend hours learning on the Web instead of being bored to death
by endless books and stodgy teachers.
Sound too good to be true? Let's examine these claims, one by one. First, promoters of computer
learning are endlessly excited about the quantity of information available on the Internet. The
reality, however, is quite a different story. If you've worked on the Internet, you know that
finding and retrieving information from a Web site can sometimes be tedious and time
consuming. And once you find a site, you have no idea whether the information will be valuable.
Popular search engines such as Yahoo! are inefficient at finding relevant information, unless you
just want to buy a book on Amazon.com or find a street map for Fargo, North Dakota.
Information is definitely available on the Web, but the problem is finding relevant, reliable, and
non-commercial information.
Next, the optimists claim that the Internet is truly a democratic space with equal access for
everyone. Again, the reality falls short. First, access to an Internet provider at home costs over a
hundred dollars a month, once you add up service and long distance fees. And then there's the
technology barrier--not every person has the skills to navigate the Web in any but the most
superficial way. Equal access is still only a theoretical dream, not a current reality. Finally,
computers do allow students to expand their learning beyond the classroom, but the distance
learning is not a utopia. Some businesses, such as Hewlett Packard, do have mentoring programs
with children in the schools, but those mentoring programs are not available to all students.
Distance learning has always been a dream of administrators, eager to figure out a cheaper way
to deliver education. They think that little Eva and Johnny are going to learn about Japanese
culture or science or algebra in the evening when they could be talking with their friends on the
phone or watching television. As education critic Neil Postman points out, these administrators
are not imagining a new technology but a new kind of child: "In [the administrator's] vision,
there is a confident and typical sense of unreality. Little Eva can't sleep, so she decides to learn a
little algebra? Where does little Eva come from? Mars?" Only students from some distant planet

52

would prefer to stick their nose in a computer rather than watch TV or go to school and be with
their friends.
In addition to these drawbacks are other problems with computers in education. There is the
nasty issue of pornography and the rampant commercialism on the Internet. Schools do not want
to have their students spend time buying products or being exposed to pornography or
pedophiles. Second, the very attractiveness of most Web sites, with their color graphics and
ingenious links to other topics, promotes dabbling and skimming. The word "surfing" is
appropriate, because most sites encourage only the most surface exploration of a topic. The
Internet thus accentuates what are already bad habits for most students: Their short attention
spans, their unwillingness to explore subjects in depth, their poor reading and evaluation skills.
Computers also tend to isolate students, to turn them into computer geeks who think cyberspace
is actually real. Some students have found they have a serious and addictive case of
"Webaholism," where they spend hours and hours on the computer at the expense of their family
and friends. Unfortunately, computers tend to separate, not socialize students. Finally, we need to
think about who has the most to gain or lose from computers in the schools. Are administrators
getting more students "taught" for less money? Are big companies training a force of computer
worker bees to run their businesses? Will corporate CEO's use technology to isolate and control
their employees?
In short, the much ballyhooed promise of computers for education has yet to be realized.
Education critic, Theodore Roszak, has a warning for us as we face the brave new world of
computer education:
Like all cults, this one has the intention of enlisting mindless allegiance and acquiescence.
People who have no clear idea of what they mean by information or why they should want so
much of it are nonetheless prepared to believe that we live in an Information Age, which makes
every computer around us what the relics of the True Cross were in the Age of Faith: emblems of
salvation.
I think if you examine your own experience with computers, you'll agree that the cult of
computers is still an empty promise for most students. Computers, the Internet, and the Web will
not magically educate students. It still must be done with reading, study, good teaching, and
social interaction. Excellence in education can only be achieved the old fashioned way--students
must earn it.
Debate over Importance of Computers in Education
Dudley Erskine Devlin, in Computers and Education in America, believes the benefits of
computers in education claimed by the technological optimists are wildly overrated. According
to him, equal access on the Internet as claimed by the optimists, is not a reality; that finding
relevant and reliable information is tedious and time-consuming; that distance learning assumes
an unrealistic learner; and that pornography, commercialism, "surfing," and social isolation are
not consistent with the goals of education. Therefore, for Devlin, the benefits as promised by
technological optimist are still empty promises for most students.
Summarize the passage below. Provide a title for your summary.
Inflation is the pervasive and sustained rise in the aggregate level of prices measured by
an index of the cost of various goods and services. The term is used in economics to describe a

53

decline in the value of money, in relation to the goods and services it will buy. Repetitive price
increases erode the purchasing power of money and other financial assets with fixed values,
creating serious economic distortions and uncertainty. Inflation results when actual economic
pressures and anticipation of future developments cause the demand for goods and services to
exceed the supply available at existing prices or when available output is restricted by faltering
productivity and marketplace constraints. There are three kinds of inflation.
When the upward trend of prices is gradual and irregular, averaging only a few
percentage points each year, such creeping inflation is not considered a serious threat to
economic and social progress. It may even stimulate economic activity: The illusion of personal
income growth beyond actual productivity may encourage consumption; housing investment
may increase in anticipation of future price appreciation; business investment in plants and
equipment may accelerate as prices rise more rapidly than costs; and personal, business, and
government borrowers realize that loans will be repaid with money that has potentially less
purchasing power.
A greater concern is the growing pattern of chronic inflation characterized by much
higher price increases, at annual rates of 10 to 30 percent in some industrial nations and even 100
percent or more in a few developing countries. Chronic inflation tends to become permanent and
ratchets upward to even higher levels as economic distortions and negative expectations
accumulate. To accommodate chronic inflation, normal economic activities are disrupted:
Consumers buy goods and services to avoid even higher prices; real estate speculation increases;
businesses concentrate on short-term investments; incentives to acquire savings, insurance
policies, pensions, and long-term bonds are reduced because inflation erodes their future
purchasing power; governments rapidly expand spending in anticipation of inflated revenues;
and exporting nations suffer competitive trade disadvantages forcing them to turn to
protectionism and arbitrary currency controls.
In the most extreme form, chronic price increases become hyperinflation, causing the
entire economic system to break down. The hyperinflation that occurred in Germany following
World War I, for example, caused the volume of currency in circulation to expand more than 7
billion times and prices to jump 10 billion times during a 16-month period before November
1923. Other hyperinflations occurred in the United States and France in the late 1700s; in the
USSR and Austria after World War I; in Hungary, China, and Greece after World War II; and in a
few developing nations in recent years. During a hyperinflation the growth of money and credit
becomes explosive, destroying any links to real assets and forcing a reliance on complex barter
arrangements. As governments try to pay for increased spending programs by rapidly expanding
the money supply, the inflationary financing of budget deficits disrupts economic, social, and
political stability.
In a nutshell, inflation is not necessarily bad. Inflation initially increases business profits,
as wages and other costs lag behind price increases, leading to more capital investment and
payments of dividends and interest. Personal spending may also increase because of buy now, it
will cost more later attitudes; potential real estate price appreciation may attract buyers.
Domestic inflation may temporarily improve the balance of trade if the same volume of exports
can be sold at higher prices. However, whether inflation if negative or positive depends to some
extent on the kind of inflation the economy experiences.
Write a summary of the passage below. Give your summary a heading.

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Hepatitis refers to the inflammation of the liver caused by viruses, bacterial infections, or
continuous exposure to alcohol, drugs, or toxic chemicals, such as those found in aerosol sprays
and paint thinners. Hepatitis can also result from an autoimmune disorder, in which the body
mistakenly sends disease-fighting cells to attack its own healthy tissue, in this case the liver. No
matter what its cause, hepatitis reduces the livers ability to perform life-preserving functions,
including filtering harmful infectious agents from the blood, storing blood sugar and converting
it to usable energy forms, and producing many proteins necessary for life. It has many different
causes, hepatitis most often results from infection by one of several hepatitis viruses. Although
hepatitis viruses are contagious, each is passed from person to person differently.
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) lives in feces in the intestinal tract. It is spread when infected
individuals do not wash their hands after using the toilet and then handle food, or when a person
changes an infected infants diapers and then handles food before washing his or her hands.
People who eat this contaminated food run a high risk of becoming infected. The virus also
spreads when drinking water is contaminated with raw sewage. When people use contaminated
water for drinking, as ice, or to wash fruits or vegetables, they run the risk of contracting HAV.
Eating raw or partially cooked shellfish harvested from water contaminated with raw sewage can
also lead to HAV infection.
The hepatitis B virus (HBV) lives in blood and other body fluids. HBV is transmitted
from person to person through unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person, or through
the sharing of infected needles or other sharp instruments that break the skin. Babies born to an
infected mother have a 90 to 95 percent chance of contracting HBV during childbirth. If a baby
is infected, the virus remains in its body for many years, silently attacking liver cells and
eventually leading to cirrhosis or, in some cases, cancer of the liver. Even though an infected
baby may show few or no signs of infection, the infant continues to be infectious and can pass
the virus on to others. In up to 10 percent of HBV infections, patients develop chronic hepatitis
B.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV), identified in the mid-1980s, is a slowly progressing
infection that is primarily spread by intravenous drug users. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), anyone who received a blood transfusion prior to 1992, before an
accurate routine blood screening was established, may be infected with this virus. HCV can also
be spread through the sharing of toothbrushes, razors, and contaminated needles with an infected
person; through unprotected sex with an infected person; and from mother to child during
childbirth.
Hepatitis D virus (HDV), found in blood, is transmitted through the sharing of infected
needles or through sexual contact with an infected person. HDV is a parasite of HBV, using the B
virus to reproduce itself and survive in the body. Only those infected with HBV are susceptible to
HDV infection.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) lives in feces and is transmitted through contaminated food or
water. Hepatitis E is found primarily in countries with poor sanitation.
In conclusion, safe and effective vaccines are available to prevent hepatitis A and B
infection. It is recommended that all travelers be vaccinated against HAV at least one month
prior to traveling to countries with poor sanitation. It is also recommended vaccination against
HBV, which will also prevent HDV, for all newborn babies, infants, adolescents, and people in
jobs that put them at risk for hepatitis. However, there are currently no vaccines available to
prevent infection with HCV and HEV. The best protection against these viruses is to avoid high-

55

risk activities, including preventing exposure to body fluids of infected individuals, and always
washing hands after using the toilet or changing an infants diapers.
Write a summary of the passage below. Give your summary a heading.
Breast Cancer refers to malignant tumor in the glandular tissues of the breast. Such
tumors, also called carcinomas, form when the processes that control normal cell growth break
down, enabling a single abnormal cell to multiply at a rapid rate. Carcinomas, which tend to
destroy an increasing proportion of normal breast tissue over time, may spread to other parts of
the body. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or a
combination of treatments.
Most women with breast cancer will have some type of surgery. If only the lump and
some surrounding breast tissue are removed, leaving most of the breast intact, the procedure is
called a partial mastectomy, or lumpectomy. In a simple mastectomy, only the affected breast is
removed. A modified radical mastectomy involves the removal of the entire breast and some of
the underarm lymph nodes near the breast. Surgery that removes the breast, lymph nodes, and
chest wall muscles under the breast is called a radical mastectomy.
For women who have had a partial mastectomy, doctors generally recommend radiation
therapy. Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles that destroy cancer cells that may
remain in the breast, chest wall, or underarm area after surgery (see Radiology: Therapeutic
Radiology).
Studies have shown that lumpectomy combined with radiation therapy is as effective as
mastectomy in treating early-stage breast cancerthere is no difference in survival rates of
women treated with either of these two approaches. For this reason many women choose the
less-invasive method of lumpectomy followed by radiation to avoid the complete removal of a
breast. But this breast-conserving treatment is not an option for all women with breast cancer,
including those who have already had radiation therapy to the affected breast or those with two
or more areas of cancer in the same breast that are too far apart to be removed through one
surgical incision. In some cases mastectomy is a womans only choice. Many women choose to
have breast reconstruction surgery right after a mastectomy to restore the breasts appearance.
If doctors find that cancer cells have spread to lymph nodes, then they will recommend
chemotherapy. In chemotherapy, a patient receives cancer-fighting drugs that travel through the
body to slow the growth of cancer cells or kill them. Even if no cancer cells are found in tissues
other than the breast, chemotherapy may be given in addition to surgery to reduce the risk that
breast cancer will recur. It also may be used as the primary treatment for women with more
advanced cases of breast cancer to reduce the size of the tumor for more manageable surgical
removal. In these cases, high doses of chemotherapy kill cancer cells, but they also kill stem
cells, blood-producing cells in the bone marrow. Some women in advanced stages of breast
cancer may undergo chemotherapy followed by a bone-marrow transplant to restore healthy stem
cells, although it is not yet clear whether this procedure helps prolong a womans survival.
Hormone therapy exploits some of the chemicals the body naturally produces. For
example, some breast cancer cells thrive on the hormone estrogen, which is produced in the
ovaries. Hormone therapy slows the growth of such cells by preventing them from using
estrogen. One of the drugs employed in hormone therapy is tamoxifen, which can prevent breast
cancer from recurring in a majority of women. Tamoxifen has also been shown to reduce the risk
of breast cancer in women who carry a mutation in the BRCA2 gene, which produces tumors
that require estrogen to grow. Tamoxifen does not reduce the risk in women who carry the

56

BRCA1 gene, which produces tumors not affected by estrogen. Tamoxifen may also prevent new
cancers from forming in the other breast. Tamoxifens chemical cousin, raloxifene, has shown
similar results in preliminary studies. The most radical forms of hormone therapy are the removal
of the ovaries by surgery or the virtual destruction of the ovaries by radiation treatments to
prevent these organs from secreting estrogen.
While tamoxifen blocks estrogen from being used by breast-cancer cells to stimulate
further growth, other types of drugs under investigation reduce the amount of estrogen available
in the body of postmenopausal women. At menopause (the permanent cessation of menstruation)
the ovaries cease to produce estrogen, but estrogen production continues in other tissues,
including breast tissue. Scientists are exploring the effectiveness of aromatase inhibitors and
aromatase inactivatorsdrugs that suppress estrogen production by preventing the final step in
estrogen synthesis. Studies show that aromatase inhibitors and inactivators, taken in combination
with tamoxifen, reduce the size of breast tumors. Smaller tumor size means that patients can
undergo less radical surgery.
Another drug recently approved for treating breast cancer is a monoclonal antibody called
trastuzumab, marketed under the brand name Herceptin. This drug targets cells that overproduce
HER-2, a protein implicated in about one-third of all breast cancer cases. Herceptin suppresses
rapid tumor growth, enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
Women with a family history of breast cancer may choose to undergo genetic testing to
determine if they carry mutated forms of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. There is no way to know
for sure if a woman who carries these genes will develop breast cancer, but statistics show that
about 50 to 60 percent of women with these mutations will develop the disease by the age of 70.
Although there is no sure-fire way to prevent breast cancer, women who test positively for these
genes may elect to take precautions that may lower their risk of developing the disease. For
example, they may decrease the level of fat and alcohol in their diets and eat more fruits and
vegetablesfoods that have been shown to decrease an individuals risk of developing most
types of cancer. Recent studies show that in women who are at very high risk for breast cancer,
prophylactic mastectomies significantly lower this risk. In this procedure, surgeons remove both
breasts before any signs of
In short, treatment of breast cancer depends on a womans age and health as well as the
type, location of the tumor, and more importantly, the extent and if the cancer has remained in
the breast or has spread to other parts of the body. As a result, doctors recommend that every
woman should have an annual breast examination performed by a health professional, and she
should perform a breast self-examination monthly. A woman who finds a lump in her breast
should report it to her doctor immediately.