Essay Vs. Report | Explore The Key Differences Between Them

No matter if you are in college or school, you will have to work on and submit several different types of written assignments to your tutors. As per the type of project you are assigned, you have to decide how to move forward with your assignment.

Say, for instance, your tutor may assign you to work on an essay or a report during the weekend.

Wait, an essay or a report? Is there a difference? Woah!

There sure is! The basic composition of both is like chalk and cheese. Similarly, the discourse and the format are also poles apart. Both of them, essays and reports, are entirely different from one another.

But what is the difference?

Now, that is a genius question! To get an answer to your question and to nail your next assignment, we suggest you read on! 

Below, we have discussed the differences between both of these written assignments in detail. So, let us get started!

Unveil The Key Differences Between Essay and Report

There are a lot of things that set an essay apart from the report. Below, we have shed light on the major key differences between them. However, if you still cannot grasp the difference, then we suggest you seek university essay help from any reputable service provider. Here are the differences:

Difference No. 1 – The Basic Meaning Of Them

• Essay: The essay is a literary device in which the writer can state or discuss each and everything about the subject matter. It revolves around past research led by experts, subjective analysis of theories, and the writer’s own opinion and ideas. The expected word count of an essay is about 250 to 300 words
• Report: On the contrary, a report is the analysis as well as the documentation of any recommendations and findings from any practical research. It is based on research conducted in the past as well as the present findings and data. A reporter has to write approximately 180 to 210 words to complete a report. However, the word count depends on your professor or employer’s requirements

Difference No. 2 – Purpose

• Essay: The most popular types of essays discuss the purpose behind them being written. For instance, they can be expository, descriptive, persuasive, narrative, etc. Essays are written to describe the topic, tell a story, make arguments, and present factual information in written format, and for a lot of different reasons
• Report: A report offers evidence-based information in a similar manner to an expository essay, however, in a very distinct manner. For example, expository essays use text or words to give out their information. Whereas a report is less dependent on words or text and more on data and numbers

Difference No. 3 – Structure

• Essay: An essay is structured traditionally with an introductory paragraph that incorporates the thesis statement from the writer. This statement presents the writer’s motive for their paper. The main body must have a minimum of three paragraphs. Each one of these paragraphs should have topic sentences of their own that could relate back to and amplify the thesis statement. This is not it. However, there must be a conclusion paragraph that sums up the writer’s points to finish off the essay. Lastly, an essay does not possess a table of content
• Report: As a rule, reports do not have any universal structure. Therefore, the structure is based on an employer’s or professor’s preference. It is up to the report writer to include tables, charts, graphs, bullet points, and much more to illustrate their findings and layout data. However, it does contain a table of contents before the main body. Reports often consist of an introduction and a conclusion. However, instead of body paragraphs that discuss the point or argument of the essay, a report gives data and then uses the words to shed light on the data. Moreover, it also defines what can be worked out from it instead of requiring any abstract thought

Difference No. 4 – Sections, Subsections, Headings, Etc

• Essay: An essay typically requires a writer to display their way of thinking by using their words only. You can hire any reputable essay writing service to write a compelling essay for you. Essays do not contain any chart, table, diagram, figure, or any other thing of that sort
• Report: On the contrary, a report traditionally incorporates headings, sections, subsections, separation of ideas, and much more. This is not all; reports also contain charts, figures, tables, diagrams, and a lot more

Difference No. 5 – Reaching A Conclusion

• Essay: As an essay writer, it might be completely fine for you to present your thoughts on the subject topic that you just discussed while writing a conclusion. It will be up to you to establish the points you will use to explain your reasoning. Furthermore, it will be your call to make to describe how you come up with a certain conclusion. So, basically, you are free to write whatever you want as long as it is relevant to the subject matter of your essay.
• Report: On the other hand, as a report writer, you would be expected to draw conclusions from the data you presented and give recommendations on the basis of the data. Reports leave room for zero to no imagination and demand very to-the-point research. So, you would not be required to flex your creative muscles because the information required in a report must be based on facts and figures as compared to what the writer thinks is significant to discuss on the subject matter

Summing It All Up!

In a nutshell, it would not be wrong to suggest that essays are evaluative, descriptive, as well as subjective. On the contrary, a report is analytical, descriptive, and objective. Moreover, essays are mostly used in the academic field. Meanwhile, reports are of much use in the field of research.

Essays are used to shed light on the knowledge of the writer about the subject matter and how well the writer understands the subject question. However, a report is written to lay the researched information in a written format to the professor, employer, or the audience.