Who is the audience that the report is targeting? What is the subject of the report? What is the purpose of the report? What is the background of the report?

You should include a Rationale section in the Introduction.The Rationale explains the exigence of the report. What events have occurred that have brought forth a need for you to research this topic and to produce a formal report?

The Objective section of the Introduction explains the purpose of the report. What do you want the formal report to achieve ? What kind of response do you hope to elicit from readers once they’ve read your research findings and conclusions?

Markel and Selber provide several questions on pages 343-344 that may want to address in the Introduction section if you think the information would be useful to your reader:

• Who is the audience that the report is targeting?
• What is the subject of the report?
• What is the purpose of the report?
• What is the background of the report?
• What are your sources of information?
• What is the scope of the report?
• What are the most significant findings?
• What are your recommendations?
• What is the organization of the report?
• What key terms are you using in the report?