Chapter 2Common Components of a

Technical Report

Organization of Reports

There is no universally accepted structure for a technical report.

The four major sections to a scientific report

1. Introduction, (here's the problem).2. Methods, (here's how I studied it).3. Results, (here's what I found).4. Discussion, (here's what it means).

sometimes known as IMRAD.

Additional minor sectionsthat precede or follow the major sections

including : The title. abstract. Acknowledgements. references. and appendices.

All sections are important, but at different stages to different readers.

Typical SectionsTitle

Abstract

Table of Contents

Nomenclature

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

Appendix

Title Page

Should be short, descriptive, precise, concise, and use key words.

The title page is used to convey the following:

Title Authors (who did the work).Author affiliation. Date published.Other : Depending on required format, more

information may be placed on this page.

Abstractshould provide specific, substantive answers

to the following questions: What was done? Why? What happened? So what?

The purpose of the abstract is to: provide a quick review of the important

contents of the document .

Table of Contents Is a listing of the main headings of the

document (abstract, nomenclature, chapters, chapter sections, references, and appendices).

Reports which are longer than a few pages and containing many sections should have a table of contents to help the reader.

Nomenclature

Is a tabulated listing of the variables (and their units) that will be used in the document.  

Chapters/Sections

Make up the body of the document.

They include the detailed information the author wants to convey.

Chapters/Sections Introduction MethodsResults DiscussionConclusionsReferencesAppendicesAcknowledgments

Introduction

It introduces the problem, moving from the broader issues to your specific problem, finishing the section with the precise aims of the paper (key questions).

MethodsExplain how you studied the problem, which

should follow logically from the aims.Provide enough detail for the reader to

reproduce what you did. Include flowcharts, maps or tables. Answer the question "what steps did I follow?"

but do not include results yet.

ResultsResults and Discussion is the main section of

the report where major results are shown in figures or tables are discussed in detail.

Answer the question "what did I find out?". Contains subsections such as “Design

Calculations”, “Theory”, “Experimental”, “Optimization” etc.

DiscussionDiscuss the importance of what you found.Say what you actually found, not what you

hoped to find. Recommend any improvements for further

study. Answer the question "what is the significance

."?of the research (مغزى)

Important Note: This section is often combined with either the Results section or the Conclusions section

Conclusions

Conclusions restate the study aims or key questions and summarize your findings (contain the main results and conclusions obtained from the study) in brief form.

Short sentences are preferred and the most important conclusion comes first.

ReferencesThis section lists the books, magazines,

conversations, websites, and other sources of information you used in writing your document.

Example("several studies have found that x is greater than y (Comrie 1999; Smith 1999)." ).

Each organization, each society, and each journal has a specific form for references

Citation Forms Lecture Note: Comrie, A.C., 1999: The climate of Tucson. April 1 lecture, GEOG 230 Our

Changing Climate, University of Arizona. Web SiteComrie, A.C., 1999: The climate of Tucson. Internet:

http://geog.arizona.edu/~comrie/tucson.html.   Single Author Journal PaperComrie, A.C., 1999: The climate of Tucson. Climate Journal 5, 123-132. Multiple Author Journal PaperComrie, A.C., B.C. Smith and C.D. Jones, 1999: The climate of Tucson.

Climate Journal 5, 123-132. BookComrie, A.C., 1999: The Climate of Tucson. Academic Publishers, Boston. Government/Technical ReportComrie, A.C., 1999: The climate of Tucson. Report ABC-001, Institute for

Climate Studies, University of Arizona. Chapter in an Edited VolumeComrie, A.C., 1999: The climate of Tucson. In Smith, B.C. and Jones, C.D.,

eds., The Climate of the Southwest. Academic Publishers, Boston

AppendicesAppendices contain information which is

important, though in most cases secondary to the purpose of the document. 

They are considered as additional material to the report.

AcknowledgmentsThis is an optional sectionThank people who directly contributed to the

paper, by providing data, assisting with some part of the analysis, proofreading, typing, etc.

THANKS