AN

INTRODUCTION
TO
TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING

Dr Ashish Mathur
AINT
Objectives
You need to be able to:
• Know differences between academic and technical writing.
• Identify the characteristics of effective technical writing.
• Identify the steps in the writing process.
• Identify the components of good design.
• Identify the steps in organizing and writing instructions.
• Identify some tips to help your documents.
Academic vs. Technical
Writing

Academic Technical
Purpose: Demonstrate what you Getting something done
know about a topic
Less than teacher who is More than the reader
Knowledge of
evaluating them
Topic:

Audience: Teacher Several People

Criteria for Depth, logic, clarity, unity Clear and simple
Evaluation: and grammar organization of ideas
 What is Technical Writing?
“Technical writing is the art, craft, practice, or problem of translating that
which is logical into that which is grammatical. Technical writing forms a
bridge between the logical (the primarily binary concepts understood by
computers, robots, lawyers) and the illogical (the haphazard,
inconsistent concepts misunderstood carbon-based life forms, highly
intelligent computers, lawyers) via the medium of the grammatical, the
haphazardly logical system incomprehensible to both. The practice of
technical writing presupposes that you, the illogical, actually want to
learn about the logical subject, which of course is in all cases false. This
basis in a false presupposition makes technical writing a pursuit typically
favored by those with arts degrees from obscure universities.”

- Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

(The Movie and Book by Douglas Adams)
What is Technical Writing
(really)?
“Technical writing conveys specific information about a
technical subject to a specific audience for a specific purpose…
The words and graphics of technical writing are meant to be
practical: that is, to communicate a body of factual information
that will help an audience understand a subject or carry out a
task.”

- Michael H. Markel
Director of Technical Communication, Boise State University
Types of Technical
Reports/Communication
Examples are:
•Annual Report
•Books
•Computer Hardware Guides
•Magazines
•Newsletters
•Organizational Manuals
•Scholarly Articles/Journals
•Software Guides
•Technical Reports
Characteristics of
Effective Technical
Writing
The four C’s:
•Clarity -- it is easily understood by your intended
audience
•Comprehensiveness -- all of the necessary
information is present
•Conciseness -- it is clear without excess verbiage
•Correctness -- it is grammatical and follows
conventions
Theory of Design

Good design is:

1. Visually simple and uncluttered.

2. Highlights structure, hierarchy, and order.
3. Helps readers find information they need.
Writing
Write positive language.
Don’t use: Access to student information is not authorized for
any parties except Enrollment Services. Employees who
have access to student information are not allowed to share that
information with non- affiliated third parties if you have not
authorized it.

Do use: Access to student information is authorized only for

Enrollment Services purposes. Employees who have access
to student information are required to protect and keep it confidential.

Don’t write in upper case for more than A WORD OR TWO.

Writing (cont.)
Use lists whenever possible.

Use the title to define the task.

Use headings and subheadings.

Label segments in away that reflects how readers are likely to think
about the operation or procedure.

Don’t use: Components

• Do use: How to Check the Components

Writing (cont.)
Provide only one way to do something within a step.

Be precise with your instructions.

Use warnings.

Write a conclusion.
Example: Congratulations! You’ve just created your first
document!

Don’t annoy the reader.

Writing

Chunk your information.

Keep your paragraphs short.
Less is better.
Control the text width by using
columns.
The Written Report:
Why?

You waste your time unless you can

communicate what you have been doing with
it.

The medium for most technical

communication is the written report, so you
had better be good at it!
Some characteristics
of reports
1. Everybody hates to write them,
2. Everybody hates to read them,
3. Almost nobody does read them,
4. They take a HUGE amount of time to write,
5. They are absolutely CRUCIAL to YOUR success !
Further
characteristics of
reports
They are also almost always:

6. Too long,
7. Badly organized,
8. Incomplete.
 Writing Technical
Reports

A technical report is used to convey

important findings or test results to a
controlled audience.
Technical reports seldom undergo peer
review
Distribution of Technical report is done at
the discretion of the author or employee
 Writing Technical
Reports
The typical technical report is between two and twenty pages long in
content and form.
Technical documents require considerable thought and preparation
 Introduction
Most technical reports contain the fallowing
elements: Instruction (or Background),
Experimental setup (if applicable), theory, Data,
Analysis, and Conclusion
Introduction: The Introduction serves as a
preamble to the document and states its reason for
having been written, the introduction of a technical
report can occupy a paragraph, a page, or many
pages.
 Experimental Set out
& theory
Experimental setup: if the document
describes the result of an experiment, a
section should be included that
describes the physical setup. it should
describe instruments, apparatus,
mechanical techniques, dimensions,
and other key parameters.
 Data
Data: The data section includes the results of
any experiments or tests that were
performed. It should explain why each set of
data is presented, how it was obtained, and
what bearing it has on the main purpose of
the document. A report is likely to be used
later as a
Reference source, so it’s important to
present data completely and accurately.
 Analysis
Analysis: The analysis section is where the data are
evaluated, interpreted, and used to support any claim made
in the report. All mathematical calculation belongs in this
section, as do plots and charts derived from the data.
In some cases, particularly in reports that deal with design
work, the analysis and data sections appear in reverse
order. First the analysis of the device is presented, followed
by data on tests that show whether the device meets the
predictions of the analysis
Where to find materials
to write the report?
Examples are:
• Documents related to the project / work currently being done
• Google, Bing, Yahoo
• Google hacks/scripts (filetype, intitle, inurl, site)
• Journals (ex: Emeraldinsight.com, DOAJ.org, HighWire.stanford.edu)
• Scitopia.org
• Scirus.com
• Wolframalpha.com
• RSS readers – (Pageflakes.com)
• Newsgroup (Google Groups, Yahoogroups)
• Filesharing – Bittorent.com, Furk.net, Mininova.org
• Social site – Facebook, Myspace, Friendster
• Youtube.com, Metacafe.com etc.
• Reference, bibliography – Bibme.com
• Free Ebooks – Hongkiat.com - 20-best-websites-to-download-free-e-books.
OPPapers.com – Research Papers and Essays
• Sci-hub.org
Basic Technical
Overview

Professionalism and ethics in reporting

Knowing your audience

Outline writing

Report writing (rigid structure)

Professionalism & ethics in
reporting

Different individuals have different personalities, and

different modes for communicating.

If you apply a canned formula to your technical

communications, the result may be awkward.

Within the general structure of formal technical

communication, there is room for your personality to
show through.
 Knowing Your
Audience
At the very beginning… think about your likely audience.

The word selection, level of motivation, and background required for a

report (or a presentation) depends greatly on the background of the
audience.
 Outline Your Writing
Purpose
Why am I presenting this work? What do I want the
audience to get out of this paper or this
presentation?

• Hint: formulate one or two simple "take-home

messages" that you will try to impart to your
audience.
Write the Report,
but how long?
The length of your presentation - either written
or oral - is often dictated by others.

With respect to oral presentations, you will

often find yourself up against a strict time limit:
 Be sure that you can get your take-home message across without hurrying

Hint: carefully rehearse your talk with a stop-

watch in hand…
Common Report
Formats
There are a number of accepted formats for any
type of document that you write, but…

The commonly accepted standard for engineering reports is IMRaD -

Introduction - Methods - Results - and Discussion.

Note: Your reports do not necessarily need to follow this format

strictly, but should use this as a guideline, and contain all of the
information discussed in the following paragraphs.
Format Example
Please refer to uploaded documents at
http://www.zaipul.com/download/tdp

1. How to Write a Technical Report from Alan Smithee -

A format using single column.pdf
2. Template from IEEE for writing a Proceeding
Manuscript - 2 columns.doc
3. Guide to a Journal Writing Format from MUST - 2
columns.doc
4. A sample of how to use MS Word to submit a
Technical Report to a lecturer.doc
5. A Detail Articles on how to write a Technical
Report.doc
Conclusion
Conclusion: The conclusion is used to
summarize the claims, results, and
observations included in the report. The
conclusion should be a stand-alone
section that summarizes all the key
points