How to write a Technical Report?

Dr. Olfat Hamdy Dr. Sarah Said

If language is not correct, then what is said or written is not what is meant. If what is said or written is not what is meant,

then what ought to be done remains undone.

how Readers influence the preparation of a scientific

report?

Focus on why you are writing

Before starting to write you should have a good idea of

precisely what you want to communicate to your

audience.

If this goal is not first defined in your own mind, you

cant really expect your reader to get a clear message.

Having this sense of purpose as you write may not

guarantee your readers will receive a noise free

message, but writing without a clear goal will

certainly result in a poor communication.

Noise in Technical writing:

Noise can be defined as anything that prevents the

message from effectively getting into minds of the

audience.

When writing a technical report you must consider

the following points for the Readers/ Audiences:

Needs

Interests

Level of Expertise

Possible reaction

The readers can be your colleagues, supervisors and

subordinates.

The standard components of the typical engineering report are:

Transmittal letter Covers & Label Tables of Contents List of Figures Executive Summary Introduction Body of the report Appendixes (list of references)

1- Letter of Transmittal

The letter of transmittal is a cover letter.

It is either attached to the outside of the report

with a paper clip or it is bound within the report

as part of the historical record of that report.

It is a communication from you (the report

writer) to the recipient (the person who

requested the report)

Cover Page

Title of the Report

Prepared by:

Logo

Date

Submitted to:

Report number

label

Cover Page

1. Daily and Monthly Report are without a cover page

2. Annual Reports must have a cover page.

The Master Degree and the PhD degree must have a hard cover according to the university submitted to it.

The Feasibility studies must also have a hard cover cause it is kept for several years.

Data Collection

Field Data

Google. Google Scholar.

Eawag.ch

Egyptian Universities libraries (EUL)

Switzerland site

Abstract

This is optional, but it is a must if this report will be submitted. It is a summary of information.

Importance of Abstract

For the reader to know if he is in need to read the whole report or no cause the report can be out of his field of research.

To take a brief summary of the whole report.

The difference between a descriptive abstract and an

informative abstract?

Descriptive abstract:

is very brief.

It tells what a report or article is about (its topic)

may identify the problem that is addressed but it does

not provide findings or conclusions.

nor does it present much if any data.

It is a short summary of an article or report (less than

100 words).

does not substitute for a reading of the document.

The aim of the descriptive abstract is to encourage the

reader to examine (or purchase) the complete article.

Online journals might use a descriptive abstract to

persuade readers to subscribe to the journal or to purchase

a copy of the article.

Informative abstract :

provides more information and is thus more helpful to

readers than a descriptive abstract.

An informative abstract is a short version of the article or

report intended to stand alone as a substitute for the

longer document.

It provides important results and/or findings from the

article or report but is still short and to the point

(typically in the 200-300 word range).

The abstract should include scientific words known as

Keywords

Executive Summary:

which also summarizes the key facts in the report.

Typically, executive summaries are one tenth to one

twentieth the length of reports.

Page Numbering

All pages in the report (within but excluding the front

and back covers).

In the contemporary design style, all pages throughout

the document use Arabic numerals

in the traditional design style, all pages before the

introduction use lowercase roman numerals.

Page numbers can be placed in one of the several

areas on the page. Usually the best and easiest

choice is to place page numbers at the bottom

center of the page.

Note that:

Longer reports often use the page numbering style

known as folio (by chapter or double enumeration) for

example, pages in chapter 2 would be numbered 2-1, 2-

2, 2-3 and so on. This style eases the process of adding

and deleting pages.

Table of Contents

Lists of Figures and Tables

Readers use these lists to find illustrations,

diagrams, drawings, photographs, graphs tables

and charts in your report.

For longer reports that contain dozens of figures

and tables each, create separate lists of figures and

tables. Put them together on the same page if they

fit.