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Technical Report Writing Presentation
- 1. WANT TO IMPROVEYOUR ENGINEERING TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING SKILL? Presenter – Milki Feyissa TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING 1 HERE ARE SOME TIPS!
- 2. Technical Report Writing Overview A direct, informative, and concise language written specifically for an identified audience Main Objective Develop Good Engineering Technical Report Writing Skill Identifying the following Purpose and Functions Significance Features Categories Components Principles 2
- 3. Technical Report Writing Purpose and Functions To communicate information gained through a process of technical work Has to clearly define What? Why? Results? and implications? Help the reader understand quickly what has been accomplished 3
- 4. Technical Report Writing Significance The Boss Wants a Report! Completes a Job! Career Advantages Unreported Work Can Be Lost Forever! Oral Statements Can and Will Be Altered! Necessary In Global Business! 4
- 5. Technical Report Writing Features Pertains to a technical subject, communicates in Engineering and Science The aim is to inform, not to entertain Has its own form and style requirements, mainly simple and concise Needs to include definite elements Does not employ humor or slang Objective oriented To deliver the intended message, the text must be objective and persuasive without argumentative Does not blame people Requires facts or data and never hides facts Impersonal Avoid Judgmental or Emotive language Targeting Audience 5
- 6. Technical Report Writing Categories Major Categories Design Report Laboratory Report Feasibility Report Progress Report Research Report 6
- 7. Technical Report Writing Categories Design Report Written to introduce and document engineering and scientific designs Has two audiences; Other Engineers and the management Laboratory Reports Has two reasons To communicate the laboratory work to management To archive the work so that the work will not be repeated by others 7
- 8. Technical Report Writing Categories Feasibility Reports Discuss the following of a given project both in physical and economic terms Practicality Suitability Compatibility Desirability Progress Report Required in one of the three circumstances On a regular basis, At certain times during an activity or process, As and when required Records progress and makes comparisons by identifying changes, and their underlying causes and effects. Essential for effective decision making What is the suitable format? 8
- 9. Technical Report Writing Progress Report Sample Format Introduction The period of work covered The work planned The authority for the work The progress to date Main body The work completed How the work has been completed The work planned for the future The overall appraisal of the progress to date 9
- 10. Technical Report Writing Categories Research Reports Written to extend our understanding of the world by reducing uncertainty and increasing our understanding of it Things to bear in mind Results alone are never enough, the results must be assessed and evaluated for their reliability Must mention how the work was carried out What methods were used to collect the data How the data was analyzed Conclusions and Recommendations must be drafted carefully 10
- 11. Technical Report Writing Components Front matter Presents preliminary information (Front Cover, title page) Main text The report’s story (Introduction, discussion, and conclusion) Back matter Provides secondary information (appendices, glossary, and references) 11
- 12. Technical Report Writing/Components FrontCover Report Title Author’s name Date of Publication No page number Good Balance on the page Title in a larger font than the name and date Initial Capitals for the title Title Page Contains same info as the cover but may contain a summary or an abstract (the table of contents in one paragraph form) The title page is numbered ‘i’ 12
- 13. Technical Report Writing/Components ContentsPage Names of all the headings and subheadings in the main text Names of headings only (not subheadings) in the front and back matter List of Figures and Tables Two separate lists All figures and tables should be numbered and labeled. (caption) Avoid using “figure above” and “figure below”, instead cross reference “Figure 4 shows…” If copied or adapted from another source, must be referenced 13
- 14. Technical Report Writing/Components Executive/Abstract/Summary “Summary” = confusing term Of two types Descriptive Summary = table of content in a paragraph form Informative Summary = a synopsis of the text portion of the report “Abstract” = usually is a summary written to a technical audience. May be informative, descriptive or a combination depending on the length “Executive Summary” = an informative summary written to a management audience 14
- 15. Technical Report Writing/Components MainText/ Report Body Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion Begin all major heading on a new page And give Arabic numbers. Begin the first page of your text page as Page 1 Back Matters Begins on the page following the conclusion Continue numbering in Arabic 15
- 16. Technical Report Writing Principles Conciseness Avoid long sentences, wordiness and redundancy Clarity Should be unambiguous Correctness Check spelling, punctuation, and grammar Using the “drawer treatment” technique 16
- 17. Technical Report Writing/Principles ThePronoun I Reasons for using ‘i’ The more practiced a writer is, the more latitude the writer can have in being casual or creative If a writer is a Nobel laureates, an accomplished engineer they can use I to give authority to their ideas Reasons for not using ‘i’ Makes writing sound casual or spoken in style (not formal or objective) More believable Reader may question your awareness about what other have done or think, instead may feel like you are making your own choice Absorption with the self 17
- 18. Technical Report Writing/Principles TheUse of Voice Both active and passive voices can be used appropriately Tense Procedural, narrative, including calculations = past tense (e.g. A collapse of the walls interrupted the drilling activity.) Theory and principles involved, stating known fact = present tense (e.g. Drilling activity in fracture zones causes collapse of the well walls.) Prior event = past perfect tense (e.g. A collapse of the walls had interrupted the drilling activity.) Rarely used in a technical report = Future tense Technical report focuses on works that have been completed or are in progress Best to pick a sentence and be consistent with it Frequent shifting will leave the reader confused 18
- 19. Technical Report Writing/Principles Adverbsand Adjectives Avoid flowery language (overly decorative) e.g. The wind was blowing fiercely and the air outside was growing chilled. (Literary Sentence) Correct form: Onshore winds travelling at 45km per hour brought temperature down to 15 degrees. Abbreviations and Acronyms Are commonly used in a technical report Abbreviations = pronounced as letters Acronyms = pronounced as words First time use, must spell out the full term followed by the abbreviation or acronym in brackets Depends on number of times to be used 19
- 20. Technical Report Writing/Principles Equationsand formulae Placed on a line by itself Referring to a text should be numbered with numbers flush on the right margin Non-Discriminatory Language A legal obligation for all writers Avoid statements that suggest bias or prejudice towards any group Avoid unsupported statements about A person’s age Economic Class National Origin Political or religious beliefs Race or sex (e.g. referring to all persons in an industry as “he” can be inaccurate and misleading) Best to use a non-sexist term (e.g. police offer instead of police man) 20
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