TECHNICAL REPORT

Mechanics of writing a technical report is explained in a pseudo report format. The
purpose of this pseudo report is to explain the contents of a typical engineering report. It can also be used as a template for an actual engineering report. With some adaptation, the format can be extended to other type of technical writings as well. A technical report (also scientific report) is a document that describes the process, progress, or results of technical or scientific research or the state of a technical or scientific research problem. It might also include recommendations and conclusions of the research. Unlike other scientific literature, such as scientific journals and the proceedings of some academic conferences, technical reports rarely undergo comprehensive independent peer review before publication. They may be considered as grey literature. Where there is a review process, it is often limited to within the originating organization. Similarly, there are no formal publishing procedures for such reports, except where established locally.
A technical report is a formal report designed to convey technical information in a clear and easily accessible format. It is divided into sections which allow different readers to access different levels of information. This guide explains the commonly accepted format for a technical report; explains the purposes of the individual sections; and gives hints on how to go about drafting and refining a report in order to produce an accurate, professional document.

Introduction
The purpose of a technical report is to completely and clearly describe technical work, why it was done, results obtained and implications of those results.  The technical report serves as a means of communicating the work to others and possibly providing useful information about that work at some later date. A well‐written report allows the reader to quickly understand what has been accomplished. The report also provides sufficient detail to allow the reader to recreate the results although the level of detail provided depends heavily on the report’s audience and any proprietary nature of the work.
Clear presentation of results is at least as important as the results themselves; therefore, writing a report is an exercise in effective communication of technical information.  Results, such as numerical values, designed systems or graphs by themselves are not very useful.   To be meaningful to others, results must be supported by a written explanation describing how results were obtained and what significance they hold, or how a designed system actually functions.  Although the person reading the report may have a technical background, the author should assume unfamiliarity with related theory and procedures. The author must therefore supply details that may appear obvious or unnecessary. With practice, the technical report writer learns which details to include. The key to a well‐written report is organization. A report that is divided into several sections, occurring in a logical sequence, makes it easy for the reader to quickly obtain an overview of the contents as well as locate specific information. This document provides guidelines for producing a well‐written technical report.

An Overview
The major focus of this technical writing course is the technical report. Just about everything you study, everything you write, is geared toward preparing you to write this final report. The early, short assignment involving instructions or descriptions and the like give you practice using headings, lists, notices, and graphics; in handling numbers and abbreviations; and of course in producing good, clear, well-organized writing.
For many students, the technical report is the longest document they've ever written. It normally involves some research; often the information comes not only from published sources in the library, but also sources outside the library, including nonpublished things such as interviews, correspondence, and video tapes. It may also be the fanciest document: it uses binding and covers and has special elements such as a table contents, title page, and graphics.
As you think about what you want to write about for this project, don't shy away from topics you are curious about or interested in, but don't know much about. You don't need to do exhaustive research; normally, you can pull together information for an excellent report from several books and a half-dozen articles. Our real focus is the writing: how well adapted to a specific audience it is, how clear and readable it is, how it flows, how it's organized, how much detail it provides. We are also focused on format: how well you use headings, lists, notices; how well you incorporate graphics; how well you handle the front- and back-matter elements; and how nice a job you do of turning out the final copy of the report.
You don't need a fancy laser printer and you don't need to be a trained graphic artist to produce a fine-looking report. A simple typewriter or dot-matrix printer, scissors, tape, whiteout, a good-quality photocopier, and access to nice (but inexpensive) binding are all you need. Plan on doing a first-rate job on the report; remember that past students have shown prospective employers their reports and have benefited by doing so. Your job in this unit then is define the following:
⚫ Report topic: Decide what subject you are going to write on; narrow it as much as possible.
⚫ Report audience: Define a specific person or group of people for whom you are going to write the report. Define the circumstances in which this report is needed.
⚫ Report purpose: Define what the report will accomplish--what needs of the audience it is going to fufill.

⚫ Report type: Decide on the type of report--for example, technical background report, feasibility report, instructions, or some other.

Structure

A technical report should contain the following sections;

Section	Details
Title page	Must include the title of the report. Reports for assessment, where the word length has been specified, will often also require the summary word count and the main text word count
Summary	A summary of the whole report including important features, results and conclusions
Contents	Numbers and lists all section and subsection headings with page numbers
Introduction	States the objectives of the report and comments on the way the topic of the report is to be treated. Leads straight into the report itself. Must not be a copy of the introduction in a lab handout.
The sections which make up the body of the report	Divided into numbered and headed sections. These sections separate the different main ideas in a logical order
Conclusions	A short, logical summing up of the theme(s) developed in the main text
References	Details of published sources of material referred to or quoted in the text (including any lecture notes and URL addresses of any websites used.
Bibliography	Other published sources of material, including websites, not referred to in the text but useful for background or further reading.
Acknowledgements	List of people who helped you research or prepare the report, including your proofreaders
Appendices (if appropriate)	Any further material which is essential for full understanding of your report (e.g. large scale diagrams, computer code, raw data, specifications) but not required by a casual reader

Presentation
For technical reports required as part of an assessment, the following presentation guidelines are recommended;

Script	The report must be printed single sided on white A4 paper. Hand written or dot-matrix printed reports are not acceptable.
Margins	All four margins must be at least 2.54 cm
Page numbers	Do not number the title, summary or contents pages. Number all other pages consecutively starting at 1
Binding	A single staple in the top left corner or 3 staples spaced down the left hand margin. For longer reports (e.g. year 3 project report) binders may be used.

Diagrams, Graphs, Tables and Mathematics

It is often the case that technical information is most concisely and clearly conveyed by means other than words. Imagine how you would describe an electrical circuit layout using words rather than a circuit diagram. Here are some simple guidelines;

Diagrams	Keep them simple. Draw them specifically for the report. Put small diagrams after the text reference and as close as possible to it. Think about where to place large diagrams.
Graphs	For detailed guidance on graph plotting, see the 'guide to laboratory report writing'
Tables	Is a table the best way to present your information? Consider graphs, bar charts or pie charts. Dependent tables (small) can be placed within the text, even as part of a sentence. Independent tables (larger) are separated from the text with table numbers and captions. Position them as close as possible to the text reference. Complicated tables should go in an appendix.
Mathematics	Only use mathematics where it is the most efficient way to convey the information. Longer mathematical arguments, if they are really necessary, should go into an appendix. You will be provided with lecture handouts on the correct layout for mathematics.

The Formal Technical Report

The formal technical report contains a complete, concise, and well‐organized description of the work performed and the results obtained.  Any given report may contain all of the sections described here in or a subset, depending upon the report requirements. These requirements are decided by the author and are based on the audience and expected use of the report. All reports have certain aspects in common regardless of expected usage.  Common report sections are presented first, and all possible sections potentially included in a report are discussed afterwards.

Universal Aspects of All Reports

The report should be written in an active voice using the third person in most instances. Avoid using personal pronouns. Personal pronouns tend to personalize the technical information that is generally objective rather than subjective in nature. Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Attention to these details results in a professional tone to the report.

• All diagrams must be neatly presented and should be computer generated. Use a computer software package, such as Paint, Multisim or AutoCAD, to draw diagrams. Leave at least a one‐inch margin on all sides of a full page diagram and always number and title all figures. Always insert a full‐page diagram or graph so it can be read from the bottom or from the right side of the page.

• All pages of the report after the Table of Contents must include the page number.

• Any information in the report that is directly quoted or copied from a source must be cited using the proper notation [1, 2, 3].

• Any information in the report that is directly derived or paraphrased from a source must be cited using the proper notation [1, 2, 3].

• Any reference material derived from the web must come from credible and documentable sources. Students need to evaluate websites critically.  The first step is to verify a credible author.

• Wikipedia is NOT a credible reference because the information changes over time and authors are not necessarily people with verifiable expertise or credentials.

• For all paper reports, all pages of the report must be 8 ½“ X 11” in size. Any larger pages must be folded so as to fit these dimensions.

Report Format

The pages of the report are to be assembled in the following order. This is the recommended order, however, certain reports may lend themselves to either reordering sections and/or excluding sections.

Title Page

The format for this page may vary, however, the following information is always included: report title, who the report was prepared for, who the report was prepared by, and the date of submission.  This is not a numbered page of the report.

Abstract

An abstract is a concise description of the report including its purpose and most important results. An abstract must not be longer than half a page and must not contain figures or make reference to them. The results may be summarized in the abstract but qualitatively, not quantitatively. No specific technical jargon, abbreviations, or acronyms should be used.  This is not a numbered page of the report.

Background Theory

Include, if necessary, a discussion of relevant background theory. For example, if the phase shift of an RC circuit is to be measured, give the derivation of the theoretical phase shift. Include any preparation specified in the lab manual. In deciding what should or not should be included as background theory, consider presenting any material specific to the lab that you had to learn prior to performing the lab.This section may be divided into subsections if appropriate. Keep the discussion brief and refer the reader to outside sources of information where appropriate.

Design/Theoretical Analysis

Give the details of your design procedure. Be sure to introduce and describe your design work using sentences, equations alone are not sufficient. Use citations if you wish to refer the reader to reference material. Divide this section into subsections where appropriate. For example, a lab design may consist of designing several circuits that are subsequently interconnected; you may choose to treat each circuit design in its own subsection. Keep this section as general as possible, only applying specific numbers after the design is explained. If there is no design but strictly analysis, then provide the important details of all the analysis performed. Be brief. It is not necessary to show every step; sentences can be used to describe the intermediate steps. Furthermore, if there are many steps to the analysis, the reader should be directed to the appendix for complete details.

Procedure

This section varies depending on requirements of the one who assigned the work and the audience.  At a minimum, the author discusses the procedure by describing the method used to test a theory, verify a design or conduct a process.  Presentation of the procedure may vary significantly for different fields and different audiences, however, for all fields, the author should BE BRIEF and get to the point.  Like with any written work, if it is unnecessarily wordy, the reader becomes bored and the author no longer has an audience.  Also, the procedure section should never include specific measurements/results, discussion of results, or explanation of possible error sources.  Make sure all diagrams provided are numbered, titled, and clearly labeled. Depending on the situation, there are two likely types of procedure sections.  In one case, a detailed procedure may have already been supplied or perhaps it is not desirable to provide a detailed description due to proprietary work.  In another case, it might be the author’s job to provide all the detail so the work can be duplicated.  The latter is more common in academic lab settings.  The writing guidelines for each of these possible procedure sections are provided below.

Procedure Type 1

Use this procedure type if you have been supplied with a detailed procedure describing the steps required to complete the work.

• If required by the person who assigned the work, include the detailed procedure in the appendix.

• Briefly describe the method employed to complete the work.  This is meant to be a brief description capturing the intention of the work, not the details.  The reader must be referred to the appendix for the details.  DO NOT refer to procedure steps. 4

• If the work required a lab set‐up, provide a diagram of that set‐up (i.e. circuit diagram).

• Provide additional diagrams and/or pictures if it will assist the reader in understanding the description.

• Provide a detailed procedure of any work performed for which detailed steps were not provided.

• Examples:

o Acceptable writing: In order to test the theory of superposition, the circuit shown in Figure 1 is employed.  The circuit is constructed on the lab bench and using Multism TM, a circuit simulation software.  In both settings, a multi meter is used to measure the output voltage, as shown in Figure 1, for the following three cases: (1) Source 1 on and Source 2 off, (2) Source 1 off and Source 2 on, and (3) both sources on.  These measurements are compared to the output voltage derived using theory as described earlier.  Refer to the appendix for detailed steps to complete this work.

o Unacceptable writing: In order to test the theory of superposition, first each team member must calculate the output voltage for the circuit shown in Figure 1 for the following three cases: (1) Source 1 on and Source 2 off, (2) Source 1 off and Source 2 on, and (3) both sources on.  Then one team member is assigned to build the circuit on the lab bench while the other team member constructs the circuit in Multi sim.  Once constructed, turn Source 1 on and Source 2 off then connect the positive lead of the meter to the positive end of the output voltage and the negative lead of the meter to the negative end of the output voltage.  Record the meter reading.  Next turn on Source 2 and turn off Source 1.  Again measure the output voltage using the meter ….

Procedure Type 2

Use this procedure type if you have not been supplied with a detailed description of the steps required to complete the work.

• Describe in detail all necessary steps or processes required to complete the work.  This may include, but is not limited to, the following:

o Equipment use

o Equipment maintenance

o Define terms specific to the technology

o Measurement techniques and/or calibration

• The description, as detailed above, should be sufficiently clear so that the reader could duplicate the work.

• Do not assume that the reader has prior knowledge or access to prior reports, textbooks, or handouts.

• If part of the procedure was successfully described in a previous report, either repeat the procedure or include that report in the appendix and refer the reader to it.

• Where appropriate, provide diagrams and/or pictures to assist the reader in understanding the procedure.

Results and Procedure

Present the results of the work performed using neatly organized and completely labeled tables and/or graphs whenever possible. When comparative data is available, present the data in a way that facilitates the comparison.  For example, if theoretical and experimental values are available, present the values alongside one another accompanied by percent error.  If it would help the reader understand the results, include a few sample calculations but put lengthy calculations in an appendix. ALWAYS accompany results with a meaningful discussion. The discussion explains what the results mean and points out trends. 

ALWAYS discuss the possible sources of error and how accurate the results need to be in order to be meaningful.  Do not include a discussion of possible sources of error that would not add significantly to the observed error.  What counts as significant depends on the situation.  For example, if the components used have a tolerance of 5% and the accuracy of the equipment is within 0.1% of the measured value, then the equipment does not add any significant error.  In general, it is impossible to obtain error‐free results, however, attention to detail when conducting procedures should minimize the error.  Errors are different from mistakes.  It is unacceptable to report mistakes.  If a mistake was made in the work, the work must be repeated until acceptable tolerances are achieved before submitting a report. When working in the industry, it is imperative to know how accurate the results need to be.  It is worth your time and effort (and in the best interest of your boss or client) to provide the appropriate level of accuracy.  If that means repetitive measurements to check for accuracy within tolerance, then do it.  If it means performing a detailed analysis prior to making measurements, then do it.  In the academic setting, the result of laziness or lack of effort may only be a bad grade.  In the workplace, you may get fired! Other information pertaining to writing the Results and Discussion section can be found in Appendix B. This information includes

• How to calculate percent difference/error.

• Typical magnitudes of percent error for courses where circuits are constructed.

• What to consider writing about based on lab questions.

• Guidelines for graphs provided in a report.

Conclusion

In this final section of the body of the report, the author should briefly bring everything together. It is similar to the abstract except that now the results are concluded upon in a quantitative way.  Therefore, the conclusion should be a concise description of the report including its purpose and most important results providing specific quantitative information.  The conclusion should not contain figures or make reference to them.  As with the abstract, the reader should be able to read this section on its own which means that there should be no specific technical jargon, abbreviations, or acronyms used.

Works Cited

List all works cited in the report, include all the important bibliographical information. The Works Cited should begin on a new page, not on the same page with the conclusion.

Appendix

This section may not always be present.  Materials included in an appendix may include lab sheets, parts list, diagrams, extensive calculations, error analyses, and lengthy computer programs.   Introduce numbered appendices rather than putting different items in one appendix.

HOW A READER IN INDUSTRY PERUSES A TECHNICAL REPORT AND WHY YOU

SHOULD KNOW

For obvious reasons, the reader will first read the title page and abstract. Therefore, it is imperative that the abstract be clear and well written. It should tease the reader into looking further into the paper. The conclusion is often the next section to be read. All valuable readers, politically speaking, will jump directly to the conclusion making it important to provide a table of contents to ease document navigation. If the conclusion, relative to the title page, sounds interesting and conclusive they will read the other sections to learn more. The introduction is read next. It should provide the reader with enough information about how the report progresses so that the reader can pick and choose which sections are most applicable to their interests. Based on this, some or all of the subsequent sections may be read. In light of understanding how a technical report is read, there are several general guidelines to consider:

• A professional looking and well‐organized document sets the tone for the reader.

• If you use acronyms, describe them first then include the acronym in parenthesis, i.e. Digital Multimeter (DMM). Do not use acronyms in the abstract and conclusion sections.

• DO NOT be judgmental in your writing; “I felt that …”, “the results were great …”, etc. Present the work clearly and validate the work with data accompanied by meaningful discussion.

• Give your report to someone to proofread. Note where they had questions or couldn’t

understand your discussion. Then see if you can improve how that information is presented.

• Remember that the reader can’t understand what you are “thinking”. Write your report for a

technical peer but do not assume they are comfortable with the current course material.

• Write your reports independent of other reports.

Conclusion

Technical Report Writing Guidelines provides a recipe for writing technical reports for a variety of disciplines and applications. If all of the information contained herein is studied and applied, the result will be a report worth reading. Considering that most technical jobs require accurate communication through written material, developing good technical writing skills can only improve your career status. Be aware that most jobs in a technical field require a significant amount of technical writing, from informal memos to formal proposals for presentation to customers. It is worth your time to read this material carefully and practice your writing skills.