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Writing Technically Part A
Writing Technically Part A
Skills
If you have a writing assignment coming up soon, it would be good to read and
work through the activities in Part A.
If you just want to work on your grammar go straight to the Interactive Grammar
Guide. It has many links to online sources where you can further test yourself.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the function of log/lab books and what they include.
2. Manage the writing process (think, plan, write, revise, and edit).
3. Understand the structure of paragraphs and the role of topic sentences and thesis
statements.
4. Understand the sections of scientific/technical report.
Writing technically
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Contents
PART A
Introduction
2.0
3.0
4.0
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PART B
2.
3.
Writing Clearly
3.1
Understanding sentence basics: clause packets
3.2
Recognising signal words
3.2.1
describing cause and effect
3.2.2
indicating something similar or unexpected
3.2.3
comparing and contrasting
3.2.4
expressing degrees of certainty
3.2.5
being precise
3.2.6
writing about processes
4.
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
Sentence fragments
Run on sentences
Agreement problems
Faulty parallelism
Writing technically
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PART A
Introduction
Scientific and technical advances are conveyed through written documents. These
can be for example research papers, technical reports and newspaper articles.
Being able to write effectively therefore is essential for the scientist or the
engineer. Experimental and project work at University is an excellent opportunity
to produce simple, clear and readable reports for a specific audience. It is
important to be aware that you need to learn this skill, and the more you practise
the better you will become.
The hallmark of good technical writing is clarity. If you are able to present your
ideas clearly you are also training yourself to think clearly. This guide will help
you to master the process of writing, which can be difficult for most of us and
identify the contents of each section of a report.
Writing the Report is Part A of the Writing Technically guide and should be used in
conjunction with Part B - An Interactive Grammar Guide as well as the other
guides on the Academic Skills website at
http://www.academic-skills.soton.ac.uk/develop.htm
2.0
The process of writing is the difficult part. It is not only your ability to string a
sentence together, but also how you manage the process. Get the process right, and
you will feel a lot more confident.
2.1
As an Engineering or Science student you will be carrying out work in the laboratory,
and as any good professional scientist or engineer, you will be expected to keep the
lab log or lab notebook. In this log you will record, in note form, details of each lab
session. You should complete your lab log during your lab session so you can record
observations and any key data as it occurs. Make sure you come to a conclusion at
the end of every experiment. Your lab log should be a hard-backed book that will
serve as a diary for all your lab sessions. The lab log may be all that you have to
write, but if you have to write a lab report, then you will need the information in your
lab log to work from. Remember, to record all your observations accurately.
Writing technically
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3. Experiment
4. Materials and equipment
5. Methodology
6. Data
7. Results
8. Brief discussion
A.
Give it a title, write down: the question you are
trying to answer and your hypothesis.
B.
Use graph paper software packages to display your
findings, ensure everything is labelled correctly. Make sure this relates to your
hypothesis.
C.
Lists experiments and investigations and the page number
D.
A list of everything you need to carry out this experiment
E.
Briefly state what you did in a few sentences
F.
Did you have appropriate evidence for your hypothesis, state what youve
learnt, how you would improve your experiment.
G.
Say how you carried out experiment, add diagrams
H.
Prepare data tables beforehand and explain what should data represents
2.1.1 CHECKLIST
2.2
How you are going to structure it (your tutor may have the template for you to
use).
Writing technically
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That you have all the information you need from your experiment (see your lab
notebook).
Relevant references for your literature review in order to place your work within a
body of scientific knowledge. (Check with your tutor if this is necessary for your
report).
You will probably assume that your reader will be a tutor. However, since your tutor
knows this topic, you may feel you do not have to spell everything out. So, it may be
better to write for a friend who is interested in this topic, but does not know too much
about it. This way, you need to make everything clear. Having a reader in mind is very
important. This determines how you write.
2.2.1
Assume you have carried out your investigations and you have a reader in mind. It is
now important to: think, plan, write, revise and edit. This applies to any piece of work
you are writing.
A
THINK
PLAN
WRITE
REVISE
EDIT
What does your reader want to know and what do you want to say?
Take a report you will be working on and complete the table below (or use a mind
map).
Question
Your notes
Working title
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These are all questions that the reader will want answered when reading your report.
You may prefer to create a mindmap that at this stage. The University workstations
have a mindmapping tool available (Inspiration).
B
THINK
PLAN
WRITE
REVISE
EDIT
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PLANNING TIPS:
THINK
PLAN
WRITE
REVISE
EDIT
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NOTE: When you are writing sentence outlines in the planning phase, the sentences
will probably express an idea for a paragraph. If you have several sentence outlines for
a section this will probably correspond with different paragraphs within a section. In
the writing phase, you need to develop these ideas through supporting sentences.
Check the activities in Part B, section 4.1 sentence fragments. The activities in the
section are important when you come to revise your work.
D.
THINK
PLAN
WRITE
REVISE
EDIT
Check your work covers what you have to do for your assignment.
Read your work critically -check you have a strong message that is clearly
argued and logically presented.
Is your message coherent and logical within paragraphs and between sections?
Check for any repetitions or things you can delete.
Check paragraphs are in the correct order- you can re- order them.
Think of your reader check you havent introduced an acronym without an
explanation.
Check that your results clearly presented and your figures support what you're
saying.
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REVISION TIPS
Use a word processor so that you can move text around easily during this
phase. Make sure you save each revision with a different name in case you
want to go back to an earlier version. This is a very important house-keeping
skill to develop.
Check the activities in Part B, section 4.0 for exercises to avoid the main grammatical
sins.
E
THINK
PLAN
WRITE
REVISE
EDIT
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EDITING TIPS
Skills
Read your work aloud or into a tape recorder. This prevents you from
skimming over what you have written and missing things.
If your tutor is happy with peer review (i.e. enlisting the services of a fellow
student), this is an excellent way to check your work.
Use the spellchecker and grammar checker in Word (with caution).
Use of bibliographic software (Endnote or Reference Manager) that is available
in all public workstations (a guide to using Endnote can be found at
http://www.academic-skills.soton.ac.uk/develop.htm).
If you have difficulty doing this phase of your work, it could be that you are
dyslexic or have visual difficulties, then check out the technology available to
help you in the Assistive Technology Service, located in the Hartley Library.
Website: http://www.ats.soton.ac.uk/ .
2.3
Outlining links to your thinking and planning phase. You can outline: topics, section
titles (if not using a predetermined template), topics within sections, your arguments,
and your results etc.
Outlining helps you develop a framework for a coherent report or essay. You can start
to see the shape of your work, what you already know, and what you need to find out.
Your outline can be in note form, or in complete outline sentences. The advantage of
writing sentence outlines is that you have made a start and these sentences will
probably refer to the topic of a paragraph. This is an excellent way to start writing and
it will be easier in the long run.
Sometimes your coursework will include this outlining phase and full sentence outlines
will be expected.
WRITING A THESIS STATEMENT
A thesis statement is a statement that lets the reader know the purpose, scope and
direction of your report. When you prepare your outline, you need to do this in a way
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that supports your thesis statement. At the beginning, you may just want to jot down
some ideas for the statement rather than write a complete sentence.
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Go back to the set of questions in section 2.2.1. If you answered the first question,
Why this investigation? - then you should have the beginnings of a thesis statement. Your
whole report will revolve around this and any hypothesis that you write for your
experiment will relate to the thesis statement.
A thesis statement is very specific and reflects the contents of your report.
For
Generally, the thesis statement will come towards the end of the first paragraph in the
introduction. You sentences before this will be setting the context.
For more information see:
Purdue Online Writing Laboratory
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_thesis.html
University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Thesis.html
WRITING TOPIC SENTENCES: SENTENCE OUTLINES
So, this sentence should be as specific as possible. You can always elaborate on this
when you come to write the full paragraph. Remember, your topic sentences will be in
support of your thesis statement.
See also the Writing Effectively guide, section 3 for paragraph development.
For more information check out:
Ohio State Universitys Physic Department at:
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Assign/so/sent_outline.html
How to outline your paper
http://alpha.furman.edu/~moakes/Powerwrite/organ.htm
Capital Community College Foundation
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/brainstorm_outline.htm
Purdue Online Writing Laboratory
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_outlin.html
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2.4
It is important to get into the habit of writing professional looking documents and give
your hard work a good showcase.
Check:
Format you may be expected to use.
Font and point size are consistent (dont develop fontitis).
Margins are what they should be.
Headings (choose a slightly different style across different levels of headings
but use them consistently).
Citations and referencing formats that you have to use.
The document should be easy to navigate and this helps with:
Clearly laid out title and your name.
Table of contents (if your document is short this may not be necessary).
Numbered sections with titles.
Clearly labelled tables and figures (select an appropriate font for these).
Where necessary refer to them as figure xxx: title or table xxx: title.
TIP
If you are preparing a long document, or many similar documents select your style for
all the headings and body of text and create a style sheet in Word.
Elements of Technical Writing: Document Design from Free Education on the Internet
http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/page_design.html
2.5
Other Reports
Devised a group approach to your report where you can all contribute to its
writing.
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3.0
Scientific and technical reports have fairly standard sections. Some reports contain
the full set of sections while others a subset. You will need to check with your tutor
the sections he/she wants you to include in your reports. This guide gives you some
idea of what needs to be included in a selection of the sections.
3.1
The Summary/Abstract
Always write the abstract/summary last, even though it is placed at the beginning
of your article or report.
Summary
This is a paragraph or two giving a clear statement of the purpose of your
report/paper, your main findings and conclusions. Note the confidence you have
in your findings and any reservations. Information should be in the same order as
the report, but you should not make any cross reference to the body of the
report. Remember you read the title and summary/abstract of a paper/report in
order to see if it is of interest to you. You do not want to read the whole paper
and then find out it was not relevant.
Abstract
An abstract is also the summary of an article in a published journal. The abstract
will be published with and separate from the body of the article. So, it can be
read without access to the article (e.g. on remote databases and abstract
journals). Therefore, it must give you enough information to make a decision on
whether you should read the whole article. An abstract is usually about 250
words.
3.1.2 Checklist for your Summary/Abstract
3.2
The Introduction
This section sets the scene and contextualises your work by giving the necessary
background. This is your shop window (along with the abstract if you write one) so it
is important to write clearly and interestingly. This should explain why you are
carrying out this investigation (see section 2.2.1 and the notes you took while you
were thinking about your report) and who else has done similar work.
The writing here should be engaging, simple, clear and relatively non-technical.
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3.2.1 CHECKLIST FOR YOUR INTRODUCTION
This is not a complete list - check with your tutor.
NOTE: You may want to have a literature review section on its own. Ask your tutor
what he or she wants.
3.3
This section should be written clearly enough so that the reader could repeat your
experiment if he or she wanted to do so. This will also help the reader understand
how your data was obtained.
Your sentences should be simple and clear. You need to write in the past tense and
use the passive. If you don't understand what the passive form is, then go to Part B,
section 2.0. When you use the passive, you concentrate on what you DID and
underplay WHO did it. This gives your report a sense of objectivity, which is essential
in technical writing.
NOTE: This section may be divided into: methods and materials (or equipment) and
experimental procedure. Ask your tutor what he or she requires. Remember, you can
save a lot of writing by including a well-labelled diagram.
3.3.1
CHECKLIST
FOR THE
METHODS SECTION
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3.4
Here you will present your main findings (adjusted and analysed) and identify
important trends or information. This section will be full of tables and graphs that will
depict all your significant results.
You will need some text so that the reader can easily interpret your figures and
identify your variables. However, your comments should be short, clear and precise.
See below some language you could use - note the style of language. It should be
clear and precise, drawing the reader's attention to your findings without you
commenting on the results.
Make sure your graphs and tables are well laid out and accurately labelled (informative
title, labelled axes, legend - when appropriate, units used, numerical values along the
x-axis). Always refer to numbers and quantitative measures if possible.
Check out:
X is quite a lot larger than Y | X is 6% larger than Y.
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3.4.1
CHECKLIST
3.5
FOR THE
RESULTS SECTION
The Discussion
Before you start this section, get your story straight. What do you want to say about
your findings? Here you need to link your results with your introduction to form a
critical view of your work. It is important that your writing here is evaluative, this is
the most important section. You need to convey to the reader what you results and
findings mean.
Below are some questions to start you thinking about this section discussion. Apply
them to a past experiment or investigation - make notes below.
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NOTE: you may not need to do this for your assignment, but check with your tutor.
Skills
3.5.1
3.6
The Conclusion
You may include the conclusion in your discussion. Check with your tutor what is
needed for your assignment. If you do include this section, you may want to move
your critical comments about your research design into this section and then talk
about how you could improve it in the future.
Whats wrong with this and what do you need to do to make it acceptable as a
scientific text?
I think this experiment was quite successful.
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3.6.1
3.7
The Appendices
Typically these include the following put them in separately labelled appendices.
Raw data (as necessary).
Calculations.
Pertinent detailed graphical information such as NMR, graphical output from
tests etc.
Any detailed information about the apparatus/equipment as is necessary.
4.0
Writing, as any skill, improves with practice. The more you write, the more confident
you will feel. You should however reflect on how your writing skills are developing and
identify areas for improvement.
Do you .
then look at .
Revise, Edit,
Section 2.2.1 (D,E)
Section 3
Key websites
Purdue Online Writing Centre http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Engineering Communication Centre University of Toronto http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/
%7Ewriting/handbook.html
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Writing Guidelines for Engineering & Science Students Virginia Tech
http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/
Online Technical Writing Austin Community College
http://www.io.com/%7Ehcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/acctoc.html
Scientific Report Writing University of Arizona
http://geog.arizona.edu/~comrie/geog230/report.htm
What about writing competitions and awards?
The Daily Telegraph Science Writer Awards
http://www.science-writer.co.uk/
Ask your tutor if they have any other contacts for writing competitions.
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Key to Activities
Activity 1:
Brief Description
1. Table of contents
3. Experiment
5. Methodology
6. Data
7. Results
8. Brief discussion
9. Date
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