Microresearch of the type performed by W. Loban and K. Hunt was used to describe two functions of macroresearch methodology--reporting and classifying--of the type conducted by J. Britton. This was done by contrasting the use of nine linguistic features of writing produced by four groups of students in each of the functions. The features were t-units, adverbial clauses, adjectival clauses, markers of tentativeness, abstract nouns, and four categories of "free modification" (words or phrases set off from the rest of the t-unit by commas). In addition, the study also examined differences between students at different achievement and grade levels. Subjects were borderline-pass and very successful students in grades 10 and 12. The writing was first draft and the audience was the teacher. The results showed that students felt more free to modify loosely, by adding or interrupting or prefacing, the core of their writing when reporting than when classifying. The latter function seemed to call for closer concentration and tighter statements. On the other hand, students tended to limit their cognitive involvement as measured by the linguistic features in that they used shorter t-unis, less tentativeness, fewer abstract nouns, and fewer clauses of concession and condition. (Excerpts from two students' writing efforts are included in the paper.) (FL)