Prepare a Plain-Language Summary of a Public Report
A useful report summary identifies what the document set out to describe, when its information applies, which measures it presents, and what those measures leave unanswered.
Read the report’s frame
Before drafting, locate the report title, responsible organization, publication date, and the period covered by its data. These dates may differ: a report published in June can describe activity from the previous calendar year. Write both down so the summary does not imply that older figures describe current conditions.
Find the report’s stated purpose and intended audience. Is it counting people, describing program activity, explaining a budget, or evaluating a change? A document may do more than one of these, but the summary should identify its main task rather than substitute a broader claim that sounds more impressive.
Name the measures precisely
Choose only the measures that help explain the report’s purpose. Preserve labels and units: households are not interchangeable with people, and placements are not the same as people currently housed. If the report shows a percentage, identify the denominator when available. If a chart covers a specific quarter, do not describe it as an annual total.
For example, LAHSA’s public information page reports 27,994 permanent housing placements in 2024. A careful summary would call that a reported placement count for 2024. It would not recast the number as the number of people currently housed, because those are different measures. The organization also gives notes about data periods for some dashboard figures, so the relevant note should travel with any figure used.
Include limitations and context
Look for footnotes, definitions, exclusions, and statements about data quality. A count can omit some groups, combine categories, or reflect a particular reporting window. Mention the limitation most important to interpreting the measure. If the report does not explain a point, say that the document does not specify it rather than filling the gap with an assumption.
A useful summary separates a report’s own finding from your explanation of it. Phrases such as “the report counts,” “the agency describes,” and “the document does not state” help readers see what comes from the source and what remains uncertain.
Draft a compact paragraph
Use four sentences as a practical structure: purpose and organization; publication and data dates; principal measure or result; and a limitation. For example: “LAHSA’s public dashboard describes housing-system activity and reports 27,994 permanent housing placements in 2024. The page identifies this as a 2024 figure and gives separate notes for other dashboard periods. Placements are the measure reported here, not a count of everyone currently housed. Readers should check the dashboard’s definitions and notes before comparing this figure with another count.”
Then compare every factual phrase in the paragraph with the report. Remove adjectives that imply success, failure, or causation unless the document supports them. Include a citation or link in the final publication and retain your notes so a reader can trace the summary to its source.
Sources & further reading
Spotted something we should look at? Suggest a correction.