Informal technical report

writing process:
Pre-writing
Prewriting is the process of gathering information on
a subject and planning out what our communication
will say and look like. Prewriting is the roadmap for
our documents. We must establish our purpose,
identify our audience, and plan out our message.
Laying out a plan will help ensure that we effectively
communicate our message and that our target
audience is able to easily understand and apply the
information.
During the prewriting phase,
consider following these steps to
help map out a plan for your
communication:
1. Establish your purpose.
2. Identify your audience.
3. Gather your information.
 4. Plan your message. Once you have all of your information together,
you can begin to lay out exactly what you want to say. Consider using
one of these prewriting techniques as you plan out what to say and when
to say it in your communication:
 Bubble-mapping - Bubble maps allow you to brainstorm ideas by
putting your main topic in the center circle, then linking all of the ideas
you need to express about that topic in circles that link to the center.
 Outlining - If you like your information organized in a more orderly
manner, you could make an outline of your information. The concept is
the same as bubble mapping in that you determine your main points
and the details that explain those points, but the layout allows for a neat,
orderly examination of how the details fit together. Outlining may be
the most beneficial for those who have a lot of little details you want to
make sure you include in your document.
 Storyboarding - If you are a visual learner, storyboarding is an excellent
way for you to visualize what you need to say. You simply draw out all
of the important details of your communication in order of importance
or action.
Clustering is a type of prewriting
that allows you to explore many ideas
as soon as they occur to you. Like
brainstorming or free associating,
clustering allows you to begin
without clear ideas. To begin to
cluster, choose a word that is central
to your assignment.
There are many different prewriting
techniques, so choose the one that best
suits your needs. Using one will ensure
that you present your information in a
logical, orderly manner and that you
don't accidentally leave out an
important detail.
 THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE INFORMAL REPORTS
The informal report has five basic elements, arranged in
a fairly standard form. You can adapt it to many
situations – from presenting background to
recommending and proposing.
The short report has following parts:
 Introduction
literature review
Methodology
Discussion/data analysis/results & findings
Conclusions and recommendations
References
Appendix
Title
It is always necessary to have a highly concrete title
consisting only of words that contribute directly to the
report subject. Be sure that the title contains no filler
and includes few abbreviations or acronyms, yet also be
certain that it is complete. Avoid “look‐see” report titles
where you just vary a bunch of variables.
The title “CMSC 441 Course Project” is not descriptive.
Titles should be as short as possible, while still satisfying
the foregoing criteria. Avoid titles that violate these
criteria, e.g. “Statistical Techniques for Cryptanalysis:
An Experimental Study using Real and Simulated
English”.
A good research paper title:

Condenses the paper’s content in a

few words
Captures the readers’ attention
Differentiates the paper from other
papers of the same subject area
Example:
“Effects of materials on solar panel
efficiency” – The “Effects of…”, “Analysis
of…”, “Comparison of…” reports are
usually low impact

“Solar panels that achieve 50% conversion

efficiency using low cost, non‐precious metal
materials” – Make the title reflect the topic.
 The following parameters can be used to help
you formulate a suitable research paper title:
The purpose of the research
The scope of the research
The narrative tone of the paper [typically defined by
the type of the research]
The methods used to study the problem
The initial aim of a title is to capture the reader’s
attention and to highlight the research problem
under investigation.
Objectives should be specific statements that define
measurable outcomes, e.g. what steps will be taken to
achieve the desired outcome. When writing your
objectives try to use strong positive statements.  The
objectives of the study should be made clear right up
front.
Objectives should not:
Be too vague, ambitious or broad in scope.
Just repeat each other in different terms.
Just be a list of things related to your research topic.
Contradict your methods i.e. they should not imply
methodological goals or standards of measurement,
proof or findings that the methods cannot sustain.
SMART Objectives
SMART refers to the acronym that describes the key
characteristics of meaningful objectives. SMART stands
for:
 Specific: concrete, detailed, well-defined
 Measureable: numbers, quantity, comparison
 Achievable: feasible, doable
 Realistic: considering resources
 Time-Bound: a defined time line
To develop SMART Objectives that will help you reach your
goal fill in the blanks below:
By____/_____/_____ (When?) (Who? What? Include a
number you can measure.) will have
__________________________________________ ___
________ . (How? Why? Remember to specify results.)
 Possible objectives are “to evaluate,” “to verify,” “to
measure,” “to compare,” etc. Avoid non-engineering
objectives, such as “to teach us” or “to show the
student.” In general, you will write a technical report
where experimental results are compared to theory.
 Objectives are usually headed by infinitive verbs such
as:
To identify
To establish
To describe
To determine
To estimate
To develop
To compare
To analyze
To collect
Example:

DESIGN OF EXPERIMENT ON ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

DESIGN REPRESENTATIONS
To analyze whether the use of non-notational systems by
electrical engineers affect solution quality, productivity of
design, and the number of ideas generated
 To establish that the use of various symbol systems affect
the solution quality, productivity of design, and number of
ideas generated
To identify the number of vertical and lateral
transformations associated with design quality, productivity,
and amount of ideas generated
Why a Literature Review?
Demonstrates that you know the field.
Justifies the reason for your research. You
have also to be able to convince your reader
that what you are doing is important and
needs to be done.
 Allows you to establish your theoretical
framework and methodological focus. Even if
you are proposing a new theory or a new
method, you are doing so in relation to what
has been done.
Literature Review
In technical reports, an entire section may well be devoted to a literature review. This
section describes the existing and established theory and research in your report
area. You are providing a context for your work. This section can be used to show
where you are filling a perceived gap in the existing theory or knowledge, or you are
proposing something that goes against or is controversial to existing ideas.
Literature reviews range from exhaustive searches to summaries of only the most
germane articles, but the fundamental objective is always the same: to establish the
history of the problem being investigated by summarizing the WHAT, HOW, and
WHY of the work that has already been done. Writing a literature review requires
you to establish relationships among findings from other researchers and to
condense many pages of published material into shorter segments. Therefore, your
ability to assimilate material and, in effect, tell your own story, becomes critical.
Stylistically, literature reviews are often written in the past tense, but many authors
favor the present tense when the research being summarized was completed
recently. Passive voice may seem tempting to use, but active voice will serve you well
here, because you can smoothly place the names of authors into the subject slot of
the sentence.
You must accurately reference all sources mentioned here and give a full citation in the
Reference List.
Writing approach: Descriptive Matrix Method
Cyberbullying is something that has become a new
social phenomenon in today’s society. It can often
times leave students unable to escape their bullies and
leave them feeling alone and helpless. Wegge,
Vandebosch, and Eggermont(2014) found that among
1,458 13-14 year old students that considerably less
students reported being cyberbullied. This is very
similar to what Vanderbosch and Van Cleemput
(2009) found among 2052 students in the 12-18 ranges
which concluded that 11.1 percent of students had
been victims of cyberbullying. This research
concludes that cyberbullying appears to be more
prevelant in students as they get older. Wegge et al.
(2014) also noted that 30.8 percent had been victims
of traditional bullying.
https://libguides.uwf.edu/c.php?g=215199&p=1420828
 Why reference?
When you reference you use the standardized style to
acknowledge the source of information used in your
assignment.
Referencing correctly enables the marker or reader of
your assignment to locate the source of the
information. They can verify the information or read
further on the topic.
By referencing clearly and correctly, it demonstrates
you have undertaken research on the assignment
topic and located relevant information.
http://student.ucol.ac.nz/library/o
nlineresources/Documents/APA_g
uide_2015.pdf