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6 PROJECT REPORT WRITING

6

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:
1. identify the structure of an introduction in a project report.
2. apply the strategies for writing an introduction.

6.1 The Introduction Chapter

An introduction is the most important element in a project report. It helps to mentally prepare the readers
to read the later part of the report. The information in the introduction familiarizes and guides the readers
on the topics to be discussed before they are made to face the technical data. A good introduction should
have sufficient amount of details to direct readers quickly into the major text of the report.

6.2 Planning Your Introduction

The length of your introduction depends on who your respective readers are and how much they know
about the subject. If a part of your audience is well versed on the topic and the other is not, then you need
to cater to their needs by writing the introduction in a semi-technical language. It is therefore important to
consider the readers seriously before writing your report. Once you have decided who the readers are,
you can plan your introduction by answering some of the following questions:

What is the aim of your research? Does your research fit in relation to
other research? How?

Define the problems that you want

What are the benefits of
What is being considered in
to address in your research?
your research?
your research?

Are there any limitations or boundaries of this How are you going to present all
work? What are they? this information?
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When you have the answers to the questions, you can plan on how to present them. Some basic
elements will be discussed below to help you organise the information in your introduction chapter.

Your report may require you to do or look at

the following:

Library and laboratory research

Interviews

Questionnaire

Corporate technical reports

Journal articles
6.3 Organising the Introduction Chapter

For any type of a report the introduction should consist of the following four elements:

 Background
 Objective
 Scope
 Organisation

By including all of these elements in your introduction, you will enable your readers to become focused
and thereby interested to continue reading your report.

6.4 Background

The background should inform the reader why the writer has chosen to work on this subject or area.
Thus, in this section the work is put into context and factual information is provided to help the reader
comprehend the idea that will be discussed in the report. The amount of facts and information given
depends on the suitability and purpose of the report. Here are some ideas on information to be included in
the background section:
 Provide a definition
o The design – definition of build project delivery system.
 Name the causes and effects
o The effect of increased population on transportation
 List the methods
o Various solutions for dual injection in different fields of application
 Provide a historical background
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o The development of IBM Software

 Describe the problem
o The problems of designs – build project delivery system.
 Compare ideas or methods
o The different methods of assessing highway bridges in Malaysia.
 State advantages / disadvantages
o The advantages of hybrid technology

Sometimes all these can be included in the literature review. Please refer to Chapter 7 for more
explanation on the literature review chapter in a project report.

The information and development of the background for the introduction should be presented from a
bigger scope to a smaller one. This is to assist the reader, especially a non expert in the related area to
comprehend better and follow the flow of your introduction.

Language Tips
Use the simple present tense or present perfect
tense to write the background of the introduction.

6.5 Objective

The objective informs the reader the purpose of the research and why the report is written. The purpose
may discuss new methods and concepts or even problems and possible solutions that need to be brought
to the readers’ attention.

What do you want

Explain why you are
to find out?
writing

Is your objective clear, What is the goal of

concise and straight to your research?
the point?
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Examples:

 The purpose of this report is to identify the result of a state-of-the-art investigation of

the Nano Chips Company’s (NCComp) Nano Central Processing Unit (NCPU),
including an evaluation of the theoretical site of its process.

 The purpose of the report is to list the possible reasons for the increase of sales for
Belle hypermarket in 2011.

Language Tips
The choice of verb used is important to reflect clearly what your
research is about
Use appropriate action verbs:
E.g. demonstrate, investigate, determine, evaluate
Subject + Verb + infinitive with “to” structure
The purpose of the report (Subject) is (verb) to list (infinitive )

6.6 Scope

It is impossible for a researcher to investigate everything about a topic. Hence, the scope provides the
guideline for the reader to areas that have or have not been covered. This element informs the reader
what you are including in your research and the reasons behind it. In addition, the readers will be able to
identify the rationale for the limitation of your research.

The following are some of the ways of identifying the scope of your work:

stating explicit equipment used

establishing exact sample size

stating exact time frame for a project

identifying typical products being examined or compared

indicating specific methodology used to investigate something

identifying budget constraint

stating explicitly what will not be done

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Examples:

 The NCPU is built using proprietary information owned and protected by NCComp.
Therefore, this report will be restricted to the broad-spectrum theoretical approaches
underlying the NCPU design; it does not examine the actual methods used by the
NCPU to apply these theoretical approaches.

 The Belle Hypermarket has ten outlets in Malaysia. However, this report will only
discuss the sales information based on four outlets situated in Selangor and Kuala
Lumpur. This report does not cover the other six outlets due to the time constraint
and the availability of the representatives from the company. The result is not
applicable to the other outlets.

Language Tips
Use present tense - If you are carrying out the research while writing
E.g. the scope of the project covers the analysis of the result using WMX and
WWV data software.
or
Use past tense - If you are writing after completing the research.
E.g. the plan shapes considered in the investigation were all square.

6.7 Organisation

This section helps to refresh the reader’s memory on the outline of the report. A brief overview is given for
each section of the report. This helps the reader to understand the organisation of the report as well as to
locate the information in different parts of the report.

Examples:

 This project focuses on the practicability of Belle’s advertising methods. First, a short
introduction to the problems is given. Next, the advantages and disadvantages of the
current advertising methods are discussed. This is followed by a thorough analysis
of a variety of other methods available in terms of advertising. The advantages and
shortcomings of the chosen advertising methods are then discussed. Finally,
conclusions and recommendations are made.

 The first part of this report is an outline of the existing conditions derived from the
building plans, on-site measurements, inspections, and interviews with key
maintenance personnel. This is followed by data tabulation and analysis. Finally, the
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two priority areas with the greatest potential for energy conservation are identified
and a detailed study is made.

 The organization of this report is as follows: Section 2 describes the different

traditional adaptive control schemes. Section 3 discusses the architecture for direct
adaptive control using a feed forward neural network. A brief description of the back
propagation learning algorithm is also given here. Section 4 presents the detailed
simulation studies carried out for a second order motor control problem. An analysis
of the performance of the different controllers and a quantitative comparison
between them is given. Conclusions from the study are stated in section 5.

Language Tips
You can use present tense:
E.g. the report is divided into five chapters.
or
You can use future tense:
E.g. the basic concept of CTS will be discussed in Chapter 3,
and this will be followed by the structure planning in Chapter 4.

6.9 Sample of an Introduction

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background
Let’s Drive-Inns Inc. is built to a standard 90ft by 40 ft pattern with an order window at one end
of the longer wall, and a delivery window at the other end. Let’s Drive-Inns carries various
selection of fruits, bread and groceries, and consumes a 3 minutes service from the time an
order is placed to its delivery at the end of the building. For this reason, Let’s Drive-inns is an
attraction for people rushing home from work, the impulse buyer, and the late-night traveller,
rather than the selective buyer. The Drive–Inns depends more on the volume of the customers
than on the volume of goods sold to each individual.
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1.2 Objective
G. Bushman and Associates has been requested by Ms. Laila M. Hathaway, CEO of Let’s
Drive-Inns Inc. of Shah Alam, Selangor, to choose a site for the second proposed chain of
computerized, automatic drive-in grocery outlets to be built in Shah Alam. This area is chosen
as the site because it represents an average community in which to assess customer
acceptance of such a service. The purpose of this report is to investigate on a suitable site for
the new outlet.

1.3 Scope
The main consideration in selecting a site must therefore be a location on the homeward-
bound side of a main trunk road serving a large residential area. The site must have quick and
easy entry onto and exit from this road, even during rush hour. The residential area should be
occupied mainly by single persons and younger families in which both parents work.

1.4 Organization
This project focuses on the suitability of Let’s Drive-Inns second site of a proposed chain of
computerized, automatic drive-in grocery outlets. First, a short introduction to the possible
sites is given. Next, the advantages and disadvantages of each site are discussed. This is
followed by a thorough analysis of a variety of other sites available in terms of its practicality.
The advantages and shortcomings of the chosen locations are then discussed. Finally,
conclusions and recommendations are made.

Adapted from: Blic & Maretto, 2004

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TUTORIAL ACTIVITIES

Exercise 1

Below is a selection of paragraphs (or parts of paragraphs) taken from reports on a variety of topics.
Decide which sub-section of the INTRODUCTION each paragraph belongs to. Is it Background,
Objective, Scope or Organization?

Write the appropriate heading on the line provided:

a. Two Ganny impact tests were conducted, one parallel to the grain of the test specimen, and the other
transverse to the grain, at 20° decrements from -50°C up to +25°C.
______________scope________________________

b. Mr Afiq Z. The Western Area Manager requested Nadiah and associates to test a sample of the
concern metal to determine its properties and to assess its suitability for use in industry.
_______________purpose_______________________

c. Western Roadway plans to build a flyover 1 mile of West Lake Balok in Western Warliow in the year
1992.
_____________________background_________________

d. The purpose of the report is to list the possible reasons for the explosion that had occurred in the
Saifau Hypermarket.
___________objective___________________________

e. The aim of this paper is to address the problems highlighted in the survey and to determine the
probability of changing the components of LYtester78.
___________objective___________________________

f. The basic concept of TRD will be discussed in Chapter 1, and this will be followed by the Layout of the
component in Chapter 2. The data collected from the fieldwork will be analysed in Chapter 3 and 4.
Finally, a comparison of results will be carried out in Chapter 5.
________organization______________________________

g. In this study, all towers were designed as reinforced concrete framed structures in accordance with
WMX843, the standard code for the use of concrete adopted by Malaysia. The plan shapes
considered in the investigation of concrete frame structured include hexagon and pentagon.
_________scope_____________________________
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Exercise 2 (Internet/Library search)

Work in groups of 4 or 5. Look for samples of project report written by engineering students or practicing
engineers. Identify the introduction of the reports that are presented in the samples obtained. Print a copy
of the introduction section and answer the following questions. Report to the class the strength and
weaknesses of the samples.
a. Study the introduction. Identify the structure adopted by the author throughout the section.
b. What do you think about the structure?
c. Is the introduction written in an interesting manner?
d. Is the information presented in the report sufficient?
e. Identify the measurable verbs used.
f. How can the introduction of the project paper be improved?

Suggested links for enrichment:

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/businesseconomics/marketing/2.2.2.xml

http://www.ehow.com/how_5154651_write-introduction-report.html
http://grcpublishing.grc.nasa.gov/editing/chp3.cfm
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Answer keys (tutorial)

Exercise 1

a. Scope
b. Purpose
c. Background
d. Objective
e. Objective
f. Organization
g. Scope