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Ch
hapte
er
hnical report
Tech r writing
g
A repoort is normaally preparred becausse some workw has been
b done and some ebody else e
needs to know th he outcome e, either be
ecause the ey have assked for it or
o becausee the writerr
wants to inform oro persuad de. The wo ork may ha ave been laboratory experiments, library y
researcch, design work, mathematicall analysis or o a comb bination of these. This normallyy
results in a considerable am mount of ppaperwork, tables, gra aphs etc.. How then to arrange e
this ma
aterial? In order
o ecide this, the following questio
to de ons should be answered:-
• What is the purpose of the report?
• What is the report abbout?
• Which secctions of the material are centraal to the ma
ain thrust of
o the repo ort?
• Which parrts are subsidiary info
ormation gaathered aloong the wa ay?
• Which secctions are backgroun
b d work which may be e useful buut not vital?
?
• How much h is long mmathematiccal analysis, the resuults of whic
ch may be e importantt
but the details less so?
s
• How much h has no re elevance at
a all to the job in hand?
• Is some neecessary material
m inccomplete or
o not availlable?
Only thhe materia al central to
t the maiin aim of the t report should go o in the bo
ody of the e
report. The rema aining useful parts being
b put in
i appendices, to be e referred to as and d
when d desired. Doon't worry if it looks like most of
o the mate erial will be
e in append
dices - this
s
is not uncommon
u n. The aim
m is to mak ke the bodyy of the repport clear and concisse (short!).
The irrrelevant seection should be putt to one side,
s just in
n case the ey do turn out to be e
useful after all.
Once material
m ha
as been arrranged in some sortt of format as describ bed above e, a plan off
the rep
port can be e made. This
T may bbe tackled by drawing up the contents
c lis
st, therebyy
formalising the arrrangemen nt of the material andd helping too get an ovverview of the report.
The seection headdings in the
e contents list of this report will help for th
he basic fo
orm, as thiss
should always be e the same e. More deetail of what should appear in each secttion will be e
discusssed later on
o
[Technical repo
ort writing, Exxtracted by D
Dr Moudar ZZgoul 2011] Page 1
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Main divisions of a report
The following section headings are mostly represented in this report and are generally
required for a clear presentation. Those marked with an * are not always required,
particularly in a shorter report.
1. Title page
2. Acknowledgements*
3. Summary
4. Contents list
5. List of Figures and Tables*
6. Abbreviations*
7. Sections or Chapters of report (main body)
8. Conclusions
9. Recommendations*
10. References/Bibliography
11. Appendices
Title page
The title page is the first page of the report that the reader sees. It is especially
important therefore that it should be neat, not overcrowded and contains the relevant
Information.
The title page should include the title of the report, who wrote it, what course and
establishment they are from and the date. These are always required. Additional items
may include whom the report is for, company logo, report reference number and a
security classification, if appropriate.
If the report is to go in a cover with a window, make sure the title and author's name
align with the window.
Acknowledgements
If particular help has been received on the work contained within the report, it is polite to
thank the persons involved. This is a suitable place to do that.
The language used in the acknowledgements is often less formal than in the rest of the
report. For example, in a final year project report you may wish to say ‘Thank you to my
friends who provided a lot of support during the time when I had no one else to go to’ or
anything like that.
Summary (Abstract)
The summary is normally on a separate page. It is a brief (maximum half a page)
overview of the contents of the report, its aims and main conclusions. It is normally the
last section of the report to be written because the final contents and conclusions of the
report are often not known until it is virtually finished. Substantial modifications should
be expected as the material is organised, drawn together and seen in perspective.
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When writing the summary, attempt to give a view of the report in miniature. It may be
wise to look at the section headings and lengths to assist here. Be concise and accurate
in the use of language in order to keep the length down to half a page or less.
Remember that it is primarily the busy reader who reads the summary instead of the
whole report.
Contents list
The contents list is one of the first parts of the report to be sketched out and one of the
last to be finalised. It will refer to all sections, divisions and subdivisions of the report
and is the reader's guide to navigation within the report.
It is not difficult for the report writer to produce a contents list after the report has been
written and it provides a useful overview to the report. What should be stressed
however is its use as an aid to planning. The contents list should be drawn up early in
the production of the report and provides guidance to the author with regard to what has
yet to be written, what sections are misplaced and which are too lengthy or too short. Its
usefulness far outweighs the time spent on preparation. The division of the sections and
subsections will be covered later on.
All reports should contain page numbers. In these days of word-processors pagination
is an easy thing to do. Many word processing packages, including 'Word for Windows',
will produce a contents list from section headings, including page numbers. This can be
done during production of the report so that a possible planning option is to enter all the
proposed section headings and then review them as the report progresses.
When working by hand, page numbers should be the last things that are inserted as
they will change as the report is modified.
List of Figures and Tables
This section lists the titles of the figures and tables, their reference numbers and their
locations (page numbers). It is not always required, especially in a smaller report. In a
large report however there may be reference to figures that are not in the immediate
vicinity of the text and in this case, a reference to where they may be found is useful.
Think of the reader when deciding whether to include this section.
Abbreviations
If a lot of specialist abbreviations have been used, it may be worth making a special
table of them and putting it here. The table should be in alphabetical order of
abbreviation. It is normally only required if the abbreviations are novel or would
otherwise not be familiar to the reader. For example, if the report is for an electronics
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lecturer and abbreviations are being drawn from the field of medicine, it would be
appropriate to list them here.
When using abbreviations in text, it is normal to use the full term in the first instance,
followed by the abbreviation, to be used subsequently, in brackets. For example '...have
been investigating the effects impact has on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottles'. It is
found that an LPG bottle ...'.
Introduction
The introduction should outline the aim of the report and the way it is laid out. It often
repeats parts of the summary - don't worry about this. It should also introduce the
reader to the subject matter in hand, at a level suitable for the intended reader. If there
are a range of readers with different backgrounds in mind then there should be sufficient
information for the least well informed reader to be able to understand the basics of
what is to be explained. This is probably best done by references to books, articles etc.
and perhaps to the appendices.
The introduction is a companion to the conclusions and is the second entry level to the
report, after the summary. Some readers will read the summary, decide that they are
interested in knowing more and then read the introduction and conclusions. They may
not have the time or inclination to read the rest. It can be seen therefore that the
introduction should mention the areas of work covered, the types of results presented
and the type of conclusions and recommendations reached. It should not however pre-
empt those sections.
Sections or Chapters of report (main body)
1. General comments on sections and chapters
This, at last, is where the work will go. Chapters are used to break down the work, if it
covers many separate topics. The chapter may be subdivided into logical sections, each
of which may be further reduced into subsections. Some common sense must be used
here as subsections should not be too long or too short. In this report, for example, the
following subsection has been felt necessary as it is related to this section but may be
taken as a stand-alone section if desired.
Within the main body of the report, only put the work relating to the main theme of the
report. All subsidiary work, long mathematical derivations, tables of results and other
things not of immediate interest to the reader, should go in appendices. These are dealt
with further. In smaller reports, such as this one, it may not be felt appropriate to have
chapters, just sections. This is normal and is again up to common sense.
2. Numbering system
Chapters should be numbered sequentially using normal numbers. Divisions of a
chapter are indicated 2.1, 5.6 etc. and subdivisions 2.1.3, 5.6.4 and so on. It is not
normally necessary to further sub-divide sections. Note that every block of text should
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have a unique reference. This means that a division should not be followed by a block
of text and then a further subdivision, as this leaves no unique reference to that block of
text.
Graphs and figures in a chapter should bear labels such as 'Figure 2.1' to illustrate the
first figure of the second chapter. This makes it easier for the reader to find them.
Appendices are normally labelled with capital letters in order to distinguish them from
the main text.
Conclusions
The conclusion section is normally reasonably short. It gathers together the results of
the work in the form of what has been learnt that may be useful to the reader. No new
work should be introduced in the conclusions; it is not a repository for afterthoughts.
Recommendations
Not every report will have recommendations to make. This is more applicable to a
company report or a feasibility study.
If there are recommendations to be made, they should be clearly ordered and justified
by reference to previous sections of the report and/or reference material. It may be
helpful to think of them as 'Active Recommendations' in the sense that if the report is
approved, these are the activities that would be implemented.
References/Bibliography
Most people use some books, Internet sites or other reference material when preparing
a report. These sources must always be referenced. When quoting a formula or circuit
diagram or whatever that was obtained from a book, put in the text a reference to the
source. This means that the reader could reproduce the research if necessary and it
covers you in case it is wrong. It also protects you from the accusation of claiming
others work as your own (plagiarism).
In this report references have been made using superscripted numbers. There are other
ways which may be preferable in different circumstances1,2,3.
Appendices
Appendices should be used liberally for anything relevant to the report which would
otherwise clutter up the body of the text. This may include tables of data, computer
programs used to calculate something, the document requesting the report originally,
tedious mathematical analysis, costing and so on. Appendices should be labelled with
capital letters, in order to distinguish them from chapters.
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All appendices should be referred to or they may never be found by the reader. For
example '...the design of the LPG bottle follows the international standards (see
appendix A for details) whilst LPG test methods follow national standards (appendix
B)...'
Layout, typography and so on
In order to make the report easy on the eye, it is important to pay attention to page
layout, typing styles and so on. The following points are worth remembering.
• Paper size - always use A4 size paper as it can be copied easily.
• Margins - sufficient margin should be left so that the binding does not interfere
with the text, graphs etc.. It is normal to use a 30 - 40 mm margin at the left hand
edge of the page and 25 mm on the other edges. Only use one side of the paper.
• Pagination - it is normal to put page numbers centrally in the footers. Page
numbers should be continuous throughout the text, including any graphs or
diagrams. Occasionally, appendices are numbered individually, using their letter
as a prefix.
• Headers - these may be used to repeat the document title on each page and also
the section number and title if desired.
• Font size - it is normal to use 12 points for the main text and a slightly smaller
size for subscripts and superscripts. Always use one and a half or double
spacing to make the text much more readable.
• Punctuation - do not precede commas and full stops by spaces or they may get
split across line breaks. Use one space after commas, semi-colons and colons
and two spaces after a full stop. This makes the text more readable.
• General layout - when compiling a report, it is often easier for style reasons to
edit an existing report. This document may be used for this purpose, if you wish,
by replacing the text but leaving the styles and layout the same. You should then
not have problems such as section titles at the end of a page and the text on the
following page, chapters not starting on a new page and so on.
• Binding - this is important as it is the first thing that the reader sees and feels as
they pick up the report. It should be appropriate to the style of the report. In the
case of a final year project, a special binding is required but for most purposes a
plastic loose-leaf binder with a clear front is appropriate. Reports should be, in
the words of one expert, 'Bound to impress'.
Proof Reading
An important part of the production of any report is proof reading. You should try and
get at least one and preferably two or three people to do this for any report. Give each a
clean copy of the report to mark up. Your proof readers may be people who can fully
understand the material or may be completely ignorant of it. Each will have a different
and valuable point of view. Allow and encourage them to clearly mark errors, unclear
passages, grammatical and punctuation error's and so on. Don't argue too much with
them or they may not do you the favour next time.
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When you have all the proofs back, go through them all at the same time and do the
corrections you agree with and don't do the ones that you don't agree with - it's your
report after all!
A final stage of proof reading, before printing the finished document, is to check that the
page breaks have not fallen in silly places. This occasionally happens so that you get a
single word on a page before a new chapter. There are various 'fiddles' that can be
used to get over these problems but I leave you to find your own solutions.
Presentation of Data
General comments on data presentation
The presentation of the data that has been gathered is vitally important. It is often what
the reader is looking for and if it is presented in a garbled manner, it will only serve to
confuse. Similarly, if the data is presented in a manner which disguises the true nature
of the results, the reader may be initially happy but will eventually find out that they have
been misled. Then you will be in trouble.
Here then are some tips on the presentation of data, firstly in graphical formats and
then, if all else fails, in tabular forms.
Graphs
It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of technical reports,
a well annotated graphical display of the results may save that thousand words of
description, and leave the reader with a better impression of what has been achieved.
Graphs may be in a 'portrait' (vertical) format, in which case they just go in like a normal
page, or they may be in a 'landscape' (horizontal) format. In this case they should go in
the report so that it must be turned clockwise to read the graph. Take care, as with the
rest of the report, that titles etc. do not disappear into the binding when the report is
finally put together. A margin of at least 30mm would be wise at that edge.
If possible, graphs should be generated by software compatible with the word processor
('Excel' and 'Designer' in the case of 'Word for Windows') and then 'cut and pasted' into
the report. This ensures that they are scaled correctly on the page and avoids physical
cutting and sticking and subsequent destruction by a photocopier.
In general, graphs should have the following clearly visible.
Title
Axes
Scales
Key
Various lines showing the data
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Every graph should have a title. This indicates what the data represents and where it
was obtained from. Titles should not be too cryptic. For example LPG sales (product 1)
in 'Wadi Musa' (location 44) as a function of time of year' is much better than 'A Graph
showing sales of product 1 in location 44'.
Axes are the horizontal and vertical (or occasionally radial and circumferential) lines
representing the quantities being displayed. They must be labelled clearly and correctly
with the quantity and the units being used. Note that the horizontal axis is normally used
for the 'independent variable', that is the variable which is being changed or is changing.
The vertical axis is then used for the 'dependant variable', the quantity being measured.
For example, if plotting a graph of LPG bottles sales against time of year, time is the
independent variable and therefore would go on the horizontal axis. The words 'against'
and 'as a function of' indicate the independent variable.
Axes may be non-linear, such as logarithmic, probability etc.. In this case special graph
paper must be obtained. Make sure it is the correct way up!
Scales are the lines vertically and horizontally where the numerical information is read
off. They must be sensibly ranged such that subdivision is easy. Do not use , for
example, 0,7,14 etc. along the major divisions of normal graph paper as the minor
divisions then work out in steps of 0.7. It is much better to use 0,8,16 etc. making the
minor divisions 0.8 long, or better still 0,10,20 etc. so that subdivision is easier. A key on
a graph is used when there are several different lines on the graph in different colours
or styles. A sample of the line style is given along with what parameter has been varied
to give a different curve. For example there may be a dotted line for one location, a
dashed line for another and a solid line for the average.
The various lines or curves showing the data should be clear and unambiguous. Use
different line styles or colours for each line. Beware that if a report is to be photocopied
then colours will not come out. If the actual data points that were used to plot the graph
are important, rather than just the shape of the curve, then these should be marked
clearly with a small 'x', a circle etc., different for each curve. If however the shape of the
curve is the important thing then actual data points do not have to be marked. They
should however be in a table in an appendix.
Sometimes a series of values have been measured for the same value of the
independent variable and then the average plotted. In this case it is normal to use 'Error
Bars' (short vertical lines with an horizontal tick at either end) to show the range of
measured values.
Photographs
Photographs of experimental arrangements, equipment layouts and so on can be very
impressive and useful in a report but be careful not to overdo it. There are dangers
associated with photographs, not least processing cost and securing them effectively to
the page so don't get too carried away.
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If you present photographs of, for example, oscilloscope screens, make sure that the
graduations are clearly visible and that the axes are clearly annotated. Beware that
photocopies will probably be a lot worse than the originals.
Tables
Within the main text of a report, tables of data should only be resorted to if absolutely
necessary. They are generally difficult to read and so most readers will skip over them.
If the data is presented graphically, put a table of results in an appendix and refer to it.
Tables should be labelled in the form 'Table 2.1' to indicate the first table of the second
chapter. They should also have a title, column headings and row headings if applicable.
Lines should be ruled to separate columns.
References
1. 'Technical Report Writing, Joan van Emden & Jennifer Easteal, IEE Professional
Brief series, June 1985.
2. 'Theses - A Guide to the Preparation and Presentation of Theses', Aidan Turner-
Bishop and Beth Gabb, Lancashire Polytechnic, October 1986.
3. 'Getting it Right!', Aidan Turner-Bishop, Lancashire Polytechnic, Dec 1986.
4. 'The Concise Oxford Dictionary', 5th edition, Oxford University Press, 1969.
5. 'Chambers 20th Century Dictionary', New edition 1983, Chambers, 1988.
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