Difference Between a Report & a Proposal

The key difference between report and proposal is that reports analyze a situation or an issue and recommend solutions, whereas proposals present a want or a recommendation for a certain action. Both reports and proposals are documents that help us in various projects. A report is a short, concise, and precise document with a specific purpose to be presented to an audience, whereas a proposal is a plan or an idea, especially in written form, to be suggested for the consideration of others.

Key Takeaways

• Reports are concise documents that analyze different topics and present facts, while proposals are written suggestions for the consideration of others.
• Report writing requires a formal and concise language, while proposal writing uses persuasive language to convince the reader.
• The basic structure of a report includes an introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and summary, while the basic structure of a proposal includes an introduction, problem statement, goals and outcomes, methodology, and expected results.

What is a Report?

A report is a concise document that contains facts and evidence to analyze different topics with a specific purpose. Reports are considered informative texts as they focus on the facts. Moreover, reports are non-fiction, and they are different from essays and research papers. There are formats and structures to be used when writing reports. Reports are written under headings, subheadings, sections, and sub-sections. Key facts and points of a report can be presented using bullet forms. Simultaneously, statistical information can be presented using graphs and charts in reports. Basically, the structure of a report consists of an introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and summary. This format is the most commonly used format when writing reports. Nevertheless, the format of the report can be changed according to the purpose and the institutional requirement.

Reports should be written in a formal and precise language. A standard and direct vocabulary is used in writing reports. Furthermore, report writing should not include emotive words because the purpose of a report is to communicate facts to an audience.

What is a Proposal?

A proposal is a written document that presents a suggestion and brings it forward for the consideration of the others. A proposal should be influential and easy to read. At the same time, the language used in a proposal should be easy to understand. The purpose of a proposal can be different from one another. There are various types of proposals, such as business proposals, funding proposals, academic proposals, and marketing proposals.

One important thing that one should pay attention to in writing proposals is that the writer should focus on the reader or the audience of the proposal thoroughly. The writer of the proposal should understand the wants and needs of the readers.

There is a format to be followed when writing proposals. The format can be different according to the category of the proposal. The basic format of a proposal includes the introduction, problem statement, goals and outcomes, methodology, and expected results. However, this basic format can be different according to the purpose of the proposal.

In addition, research proposals are documents that propose research projects. These research proposals follow a distinct format that is different from basic proposals.

What is the Difference Between Report and Proposal?

The key difference between report and proposal is that reports analyze a situation or an issue and recommend solutions, whereas proposals present a want or a recommendation for a certain action. Moreover, another major difference between report and proposal is their format. The structure or the format that is used in writing reports is completely different from that of proposals. The basic structure of a report includes an introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and summary, while the basic structure of a proposal includes an introduction, problem statement, goals and outcomes, methodology, and expected results. They may also have varying lengths. Report writing requires a formal and concise language, whereas proposal writing uses more persuasive language to persuade the reader.

Summary – Reports vs Proposal

The key difference between report and proposal is that report is a short, concise, and precise document with a specific purpose to be presented to an audience, whereas proposal is a plan or an idea, especially in written form, to be suggested for the consideration of others.