Reports are used to present information that is summarized in a meaningful way to support the decision-making process of researchers and businesses. The report process lifecycle consists of defining the scope, collecting data, data processing, report creation, report validation, report distribution, and maintenance.
The definition of the scope requires the analyst to obtain a clear definition of the problem that is expected to be solved with the use of the report. It also requires researchers to ask which business processes are directly impacting the data that is being used in the report.
Data collection refers to understanding and reviewing the data standards or the data dictionary so that the relevance of the data can be assessed. It is also an integral part of understanding what each field represents in the data set.
Data processing is intended to answer whether the data being used in the report will improve the users’ understanding of the business process performance. It also requires report writers to know how to deal with missing data and to understand how much missing data may be acceptable or expected in a report.
Report creation is the stage in which report writers must consider the amount of information to be presented, the level of security needed to protect the data and its users, the privileges given to each user, and any filters that may be needed for correctly viewing the data, and, finally, the best type of data visualization.
Report validation is the stage in which report writers must verify that the reports created are meeting the needs of the stakeholders before they are distributed and implemented. The validation should take place first by the report writer, and then the stakeholder should provide the input for the validation of the report to ensure it is correct.
Finally, during the ongoing maintenance phase, report writers must collaborate with stakeholders to ensure that the reports implemented continue to be of value and that the variables in them continue to be relevant. If this is not the case, new variables may need to be added, or new reports may need to be created.
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