A.

INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING

1.The Significance of Technical Writing
2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation
A. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
1.The Significance of Technical Writing
2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation
A. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
1.The Significance of Technical Writing
2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation
A. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
1.The Significance of Technical Writing
2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation
A. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
1.The Significance of Technical Writing
2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation
A. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
1.The Significance of Technical Writing
2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation
INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING

1.The Significance of Technical Writing

2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
 4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation

1. INTRODUCTION:
⮚ Technical Report Writing aims to geared towards enhancing the learners skills in
studying and
distinguishing the types and purposes of technical reports in criminology, and the use of
appropriate terms and phraseologies to meet the needs of the learners. The application
of
principles of appropriate writing as brevity, clarity, completeness, accuracy of facts, and
its
presentation according to the prescribed format and style are taken. The learners are
not going
to develop their language competencies, but also to expose them to real life situations
requiring
application of their skills in inquiry, analysis and investigation, specifically in the field of
Criminology and Criminal Justice Education.
11. INSTRUCTION:
⮚ Read, understand and analyse the given topics/lessons in the module and make
an advanced
reading. Whenever an activity or quiz will be given, you are required to answer and
submit at the
given due date and time
INTRODUCTION:

Technical Report Writing aims to geared towards enhancing the learners skills in
studying and distinguishing the types and purposes of technical reports in criminology,
and the use of appropriate terms and phraseologies (phrasing) to meet the needs of
the learners. The application of principles of appropriate writing as brevity, clarity,
completeness, accuracy of facts, and its presentation according to the prescribed format
and style are taken. The learners are not going to develop their language
competencies, but also to expose them to real life situations requiring application of
their skills in inquiry, analysis, and investigation, specifically in the field of Criminology
and Criminal Justice Education.

INSTRUCTION:

Read, understand, and analyze the given topics or lessons in the module and make an
advanced reading. Whenever an activity or quiz will be given, you are required to
answer and submit at the given due date and time.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TECHNICAL WRITING

Technical writing is a skill that must be acquired not only by every criminology student,
but also, by those who are already practicing their profession in the criminal justice
system. Every practitioner, either in different law enforcement agencies, or learners in
the academe are confronted with variety of writing activities. Specifically, law enforcers
are required to write beat (exhausted) patrol reports, fill up routing slips, write traffic
accident reports, compose blotter entries, and submit various kinds of police reports. In
the academe students are expected to hand in research, proposals, feasibility studies,
technical reports, and many other written outputs. These writing highly demands the
need of developing technical writing skill as expected. The more that a person is
inclined to learn and develop his writing skill, the higher is the positive result of a good
technical output
DEFINITION of TECHNICAL WRITING
The word “Technical” comes from the Greek word “teache” means “skill”.
Technical writing
is a form of technical skills and used in fields like the military, police, computer industry,
robotics,
finance, consumer electronics, biotechnology, and many other fields.
Technical writing according to Vicente, et,al (1997) is also termed as report
writing, which
is the giving of an account or description of an aspect of a particular art, science, trade,
or
profession learned by experience, study, observation, or investigation. Technical writing
could
also be specifically related in the field of criminology as the said field involves writing of
police
reports and other technical output, which are results of careful investigation. Technical
writing is
a process that involves three elements, namely: the subject matter, the study or the
investigation, and the organization and presentation of the information gathered. These
three
elements could be the best exemplified when an investigator writes an investigation
report, and
makes a careful investigation, and studies through observation, analysis,
experimentation, and
instrumentation. These are done in order to support and present factual information
regarding
assigned cases. The investigator moves into organizing and presenting all gathered
facts in
adherence to the standards required in the uniform reporting of the police system.
DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL WRITING

The word “Technical” comes from the Greek word “teache” means “skill”. Technical
writing is a form of technical skills and used in fields like the military, police, computer
industry, robotics, finance, consumers, electronics, biotechnology, and many other
fields. Technical writing according to Vicente, (1997) is also termed as report writing,
which is the giving of an account, or an explanation and description of an aspect of a
particular art, science, trade, or profession learned by experience, study, observation,
or investigation. Technical writing could also be specifically related in the field of
criminology as the said field involves writing of police reports and other technical
output, which are results of careful investigation.

Technical writing is a process that involves three elements, namely:

1. the subject matter,

2. the study or the investigation, and
3. the organization and presentation of the information gathered.

These three elements could be the best exemplified when an investigator writes an
investigation report, makes a careful investigation, studies through observation,
analysis, experimentation, and instrumentation. These are done in order to support and
present factual information regarding assigned cases. The investigator moves into
organizing and presenting all gathered facts in adherence (devotion, loyalty,
obedience) to the standards required in the uniform reporting of the police system.

Alcantara and Espina (2003) defined technical writing as a communication in any field
where the primary aim of which is to convey a particular piece of information, for a
particular purpose, to a particular group of readers. The technical writer is expected to
be objective (impartial, detached, neutral), clear, accurate (precise, exact,
correct) concise (brief, short), and unemotional in the representation of facts.

Basic Principles of Effective Technical Writing

1. Understanding the reader
A basic consideration in technical writing is to know the target audience. The technical
writer should know how to adapt his writings and terminologies of the type of the
intended audience or readers. Difficult technical terms used must be carefully defined
so that the reader will easily understand the information being presented. If the reader
fails to understand what he read, the writer failed in his mission. The technical writer
should know how important his readers are. The target readers help the writer to know
what to write about and how to write it. – Put yourself in the shoes of the readers.
Empathize (be aware of your readers) with your readers. If you were the reader, would
you understand the report being read?
2. Knowing the purpose of each technical report
The technical paper must be organized around a central theme. The reader should
understand the main purpose after reading the paper. The purpose maybe is to
describe a thing, to report on a specific problem or project, or to analyze and solve a
problem.
3. Knowing the subject matter
A technical writer must have a thorough knowledge of the subject he is to write about.
If the report is on the result of a technical experiment, the writer who write the report
should explain what the problem is all about, what causes the problem and how the
problem was solved.
4. Writing objectively
A good technical writer must emphasize the facts and the data. The impersonal style is
basic to an effective technical writer. He represents facts, figures and statistics skillfully
woven around the subject matter or central theme and written in impersonal manner. –
Writing objectively means writing based on facts, minus your opinions and feelings.
5. Using correct format
The format and style of a report attract the attention of the readers first. Companies
require neatly typed communications, reports and project proposals and feasibility
studies. The current trends require that such communication be computerized or typed.
Each report or document to be prepared follows a specific format.
6. Adopting ethical standards
A technical writer should undertake comprehensive research work; accumulate (gather,
collect) the required data through interviews, surveys, referrals, and related
publications. He must have to present facts and figures as gathered and required, using
only those that are pertinent to the report. A technical paper is a thorough and careful
work, which takes time to be prepared.
A good technical writer also acknowledges the help he receives from others and cites
sources of reference materials. This is to avoid plagiarism issues. Always acknowledge
sources of information.

THE ABC’S OF QUALITIES OF A GOOD TECHNICAL WRITING

Not only does a technical writer is required to have good writing skills, but also his
technical reports must have good qualities that are appropriate and relevant. Brevity,
clarity, completeness, accuracy, and likes are the essential qualities in order to achieve
this good qualities of Technical Writings.

1. ACCURACY
A writer must be tactful (sensitive, careful, delicate, discreet) in the recording of data,
statement or calculating mathematical figures. Accuracy means the use of precise
words, coherent sentences, well-developed paragraphs, and a balanced
report. An error committed and an illogical statement written can create confusion as
well as doubts over the whole text. Accuracy means correctness of data. For example,
when you mean 10 kilos, you do not add an additional 0 to 10; that is already 100. Be
accurate or correct in your reporting.
2. BREVITY
It means a concise, straight-to-the point type of writing. Being brief is a courtesy to the
reader. The reader can get the essence of your thinking in a compressed form. In
technical writing, we practice the so-called “economy of words.” By this, we mean
that the writer should use few words as much as possible, but without compromising
the original thought or idea.
3. COHERENCE
It refers to the logical agreement of sentences, paragraphs, and groups of paragraphs.
Transition from one thought to the next is done smoothly and consistently throughout
the written work. This dictates that the ideas should be connected to each other
smoothly. Coherence is an element of paragraph development. Further, this requires
the use of appropriate transitional words and phrases to link one sentence to the next
in a paragraph.
4. CONFIDENCE
It means being an authority on the subject of your report. You yourself must have a
solid conviction in your report or else readers might sense signs of credibility problem.
5. DIGNITY
Dignity is courtesy to your readers as professionals. This is an ethical standard. The
writer must be certain that all grammatical constructions are correct. In report writing,
you need to be formal with words and how these words are used. You should be sure
that the ideas or information are well organized, simplified, summarized, and expressed
in straightforward manner.
Pay attention to your grammar, spelling, punctuation, idea organization, and so on.

6. EMPHASIS
The writer has to feel what is important to the reader and should never expect how the
reader finds it out for himself. He has to lead him from point to point, clearly marking
every step, directs the reader to the right way and gives him the reason for stopping at
a particular portion. Emphasize or highlight important ideas in your technical paper.
7. FACILITY
This refers to the devices used by the writer, to make his report easy to read and
understand. In most cases, report writing depends more on pacing, sequence,
arrangement, and continuity of ideas as well as information. A grammatical correction is
important. He should make his writing straightforward, logical, and clear. The thought
from one part to another should be clearly established, illustrated, or stated. This talks
about use of appropriate devices – transition words, method of paragraph development
– which are all essential in paragraph writing.
8. GRAMMATICAL CORRECTNESS
This is critical not only in technical writing but also in other writing activities. This is also
related to Dignity. In technical writing, the writer is not excused from making grammar
mistakes since he or she has all the time to edit or proofread the paper unlike in spoken
communication.
9. HONESTY
This means acknowledging the use of the work of other people because you know that
it is their intellectual property. When a writer has borrowed some statement, ideas, or
quotations he has to acknowledge them either in footnotes, endnotes or cite the source
or author of the borrowed ideas or statements within the running. Again, cite sources of
borrowed ideas or information.
10. ILLUSTRATION
This means the use of figures, graphs, charts, diagrams and photographs. These should
be labeled properly. Illustrations provide the visual support the text needs: they aid the
readers in having a firmer grasp of the material. Discussion regarding the illustrations
used should be incorporated within the text.
11. JUDGMENT
The writer should qualify the data and information gathered by judicious (careful,
sensible, cautious) weighing.
This can be done following these criteria:
1) Most ample – Is the information adequate?
2) Most pertinent or relevant - Is it important or related to the topic or subject?
3) The simplest in explaining the facts with the least additional evidence - Make the
report simple and understandable.
4) Most harmonious with the rest of the data and information – It somehow similar to
relevance of data.

In every case, the evidence used as basis of judgment (as in conclusions and
recommendations) should be included in the report.

12. KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is different from data. Data are just bodies of information regarding a
particular subject. They may or may not be always factual. Knowledge, on the other
hand, involves the interpretation of data. Two writers given the same data might have
two differing interpretations. The interpretation of data might shed light on existing
data, or it may create new ones.
13. LOGIC
It is the systematic way of organizing the different parts of the report. Sentences and
concepts must agree. There is order in the way things happen or how ideas are
presented. Each part should be clearly established but without sounding stilted
(affected, overformal, or contradicting parts). This has to do with how the ideas are
arranged in a paper. Logic is also related to Coherence.

14. MECHANICAL NEATNESS

This is the general appearance of the report. It must be neatly encoded or typed,
properly margined, free from typographical errors, erasures, crossing-outs, and
smudges (stains or unwanted markings ). – The report, letter or document you submit
reflects who you are as a writer. It should always be neat physically (appearance) and
technically (typo errors…)
Headings and subheadings and indentions are mechanical devices, which help make the
organization of the content clear.
15. NORMAL PROCEDURE
The report is easier to understand if it conforms (obey, adopt, follows) to standard
practices. This also means consistency in the style or format used. Readers have come
to rely on this consistency, therefore, any departure from the usual format will disrupt
their reading. This will make the readers confused and disgruntled.
16. OBJECTIVITY
This involves the detached approach of the writer to his subject. In technical writing,
the writer should consider himself as another person, uninterested observer or an
innocent bystander. In this instance, the third person point of view is preferred. The
writer should treat his subject matter the way he sees or observes it. Technical reports
avoid the use of the first person (I, me, my, we, us). – The writer addresses himself or
herself as “the writer” and not “I” or “me.”
17. PLANNING
This is primary in all activities. This gives the purpose and direction to what the
technical writer has to write. This involves thinking ahead of what one has to do, when
to do it and who is to do it. This will be reflected in a well-organized report.
18. QUALIFICATION
The technical writer should select only those statements that have direct relationship
with the topic being discussed. The writer should evaluate the ideas or statements he
will include in the writing of the report. This is related to Judgment. Qualify means
“prove its relatedness or relevance.”
19. REVISION
This consists of more than merely correcting the spelling, punctuation, spacing and
margin errors. The writer must also check every statement for sense and relevance and
be sure that he has said all that must be said. An effective report is all that is required
to perfection. The secret of good writing is rewriting.
20. STRAIGHT SENTENCES
This means the smooth flow of sentences contained in a technical write-up. Sentences
and paragraphs are arranged in such a way as to encourage the reader to finish
reading your work without requiring much effort. This is also related to Coherence.
21. THOROUGHNESS
Thoroughness in one’s report leaves no little room for error because every step
executed has already been planned, analyzed and reviewed. The writer constantly
checks and rechecks data gathered and their subsequent interpretation to make sure
that there are no conceptual and grammatical errors. Thorough means careful.
22. UNITY
Unity in writing is like the clothes one wears – they should look pulled together to avoid
being an eyesore. An item of clothing that seems out of place will certainly ruin the look
one is aiming for. Similarly, a word, a sentence or a concept that is irrelevant destroys
the writer’s purpose and confuses the reader. – Unity means oneness of ideas. This is
another element of paragraph writing.
23. VERACITY
This refers to written works or information that can be verified because they are
factual. There is no room for ambiguity or false information. Concepts are clearly
stated, and corresponding explanations are delineated (explained, identified). The chief
aim of a technical report is to present and analyze facts.
24. VIEWPOINT
This is the perspective from which something is written. A report is written from a
certain viewpoint: that of a reporter, proponent, researcher or an author. The viewpoint
is established in the first sentence and should be maintained consistently throughout
the report. Voice unity should also be observed.
 25. WORD CHOICE
The writer should choose the words that are fit to the reader’s understanding. Avoid
words which are difficult to understand.
26. YOU-POINT
This involves writing for a target audience. Consequently, the writer’s familiarity with
the target audience – their level of comprehension – dictates how he or she will write
the report. Remember, empathize with your audience or readers. In business letter
writing, we call it “you attitude” in writing.
27. ZEST
Write only about things that are worth writing and which are invigorating (stimulating,
refreshing, revitalizing). Write as though you were performing a service that only you
can perform.
Writing should not be regarded as something difficult but something that is enjoyable
and pleasurable. The tone of one’s writing should be happy and optimistic. In business
letter writing for example, even if it is a “bad news” letter, there are ways or writing
techniques to turn it into a positive communication. (In this case the use of Euphemism
is highly recommended)

END PRODUCTS OF TECHNICAL WRITING

(Reporting for this Products of Technical Writing, students or reporters must
discuss the assigned topic and give examples of it using power point
presentation)
 TECHNICAL REPORT

This provides useful information about a complete program of work, for reference and
permanent record.
 CONTRACT

This is a formal agreement between two or more persons; organization or parties to do

something on mutually agreed terms.
 FEASIBILITY REPORT

This represents facts and information intended to make the reader realize that the
proposed project or plan is financially, economically, and technically significant as well
as beneficial
 BUSINESS LETTER

This is a written communication or message used to transact business which cannot be

conveniently conducted orally.

 BROCHURE

This is a pamphlet or printed information material given to a customer in order to

convince or persuade him to act on the company’s services, ideas or products offered.
 ABSTRACT

This is summarized form of a long piece of writing.

 INSTRUCTIONAL MANUAL
This contains directions for work procedure or policies, or for the use of technical
equipment or appliances. Instruction relies on clear, specific, complete directions
presented in sequential order. Directions of complicated step-by-step procedures should
be accompanied by graphic illustration.
 PROPOSAL

This contains suggestions for actions, usually involving change or performance. It may
be to solve a problem, suggest a new project, site, revise a policy or initiate a
researcher report project or terminate a project.
 PROGRESS REPORT

This contains an account of what has been accomplished on a project over a specific
period of time and what may be expected in the next period.
 POLICY

A plan of action adopted or preserved by an individual, government, party, business

and industry or it may be a document containing a contract of insurance.
 ARTICLE FOR A TECHNICAL JOURNAL

A technical paper which will be published in a journal. It contains an abstract, an

introduction, discussion and summarizing, concluding sentence or paragraph.
 MONOGRAPH

This is a thorough textbook treatment which requires full illustration and

documentation.
 MEMORANDUM

This is an important form of written communication circulated within the company and
its branches which is used to disseminate a message or information.
 GRAPHIC AIDS

This refers to all pictures, graphs, diagrams and other materials used in illustrating
important details in a report.
 SPECIFICATION

This contains detailed information about performance courses, materials for

construction, theory of operations, sample calculations, table and operating data and
information.
 PRINTED ACTION MEMO/forms

This prepared form requires only a check mark in an appropriate square to indicate its
message.

 SURVEY REPORT

This is a thorough study of any subject. Some subjects of surveys are potential markets
for products, labor policies, market punctuation, public opinions and community
resources. Examples are poll surveys on the study of a possible site for a new plant.
 TRIP REPORT
An account of a business or professional trip. It records specific and significant places,
events, conversations, and people met. It attempts to answer where, when, what, why
and how also. It may have a recommendation section.
 LABORATORY REPORT

A record of procedures and results of laboratory tests. It describes the scope of a

project, the equipment utilized, the procedures used, the results of tests and a
conclusion and recommendation.
 TECHNICAL PAPER

A research paper written for a professional journal or magazine. Technical papers

usually describe a theory or new development. They resemble technical reports in most
respects. The main difference lies on the fact that the audience for a technical paper is
wider and more diverse. 

THE TWO IMPORTANT FACTORS OF TECHNICAL WRITING

Writing is a form of communication; it becomes more effective if the technical writer

must consider two important factors- the purpose and the subject matter.

Subject matter - refers to the objective information that the writer wants to convey.

1. This is the objective information of a written material.

2. This tells readers what to do, and how to do a particular reading task.
3. This gives information about recorded data I criminology, military, business,
education, and the like.

Purpose – refers to the goals that the writer wants to achieve for himself and for his
readers after presenting his written output.

1. These are the concepts and information that point to the completion of a
specific task and decision on the part of the writer and the reader.
2. This is the analysis on the events and its implications in relation to the written
text.
3. It convinces, persuades, and influences the readers.

THE TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

For communication to be effective, it requires quality content, language, and format.

Most important aspect of communication is to disseminate information, and this is
where the written or the oral form of communication comes in. Technical
communication is the process of conveying technical information through writing,
speech and other medium to an intended audience. Specifically, in law enforcement and
its related agencies, law enforcers communicate with each other using coded messages,
they communicate in jargons that they can decipher (decode, interpret, translate). They
write and submit reports using technical terms that are understood within the realm
(department, agency, group) of a specific field of specialization. The main function of
technical communication is to convey specific messages to specific readers.

THE TECHNICAL COMMUNICATOR

A technical communicator is a person whose job involves technical communication.

Technical communicators are those who design reading materials, edit proposals, write
manuals, create web pages, write lab reports, write newsletters, and submit various
kinds of professional documents. They are responsible for writing texts that are
accurate, readable, acceptable, and helpful to its intended audience. Every profession
has its own kind of specialized form of writing. for example, police officers write
specialized reports like Beat (exhausted) Patrol Reports, Traffic accident Reports, Blotter
Entries, Investigative Reports, and many other forms of reports that the organization
requires

(Ask the students to submit compilations of different samples of Police

technical Reports.)