MEC 217
(Technical Report Writing)
Course Tutor
Engr. Dr. A. Mahmud
1st General Objective
(Week 1 & 2)
Content of a Technical Report
Week 1 & 2
1.1 Explain the meanings of technical reports.
1.2 Identify the purpose of technical reports.
1.3 Explain types and uses of technical reports.
1.4 Understand the methodology and sequence
of writing technical report.
1.1 Technical reports
A technical report is a formal report designed to
convey technical information in a clear and easily
accessible format.
It describes the process, progress, or results of
technical or scientific research or the state of a
technical or scientific research problem. It might
also include recommendations and conclusions
of the research.
It is divided into sections which allow different
readers to access different levels of information.
The essence of a successful technical report lies
in how accurately and concisely it conveys the
intended information to the intended readership
TRs are not peer-reviewed unless they are
subsequently published in a peer-review journal.
1.2 The purpose of technical reports
Technical reports are a central part of your
professional success and are usually designed to:
Convince the reader of your position.
Persuade them to act, or
Inform them of your findings.
They are an opportunity for you to:
Clearly communicate a solution to a problem
Recommend action, and
Aid decision making..
Technical reports are designed for quick and easy
communication of information gained through a
process of technical or experimental work, and
use:
Sections with numbered headings and
subheadings, and
Figures and diagrams to convey data.
It is the written work products to present facts and
conclusions about designs, experiments, and other
projects.
1.3 Types and uses of technical reports
Technical
Specifications
Feasibility Research
Report Reports
Types of
Reports
Policies &
procedures Business
for Plans
Organizations
Background
Research
Feasibility Report
It is a primary and most important thing in
development of project.
Example is Operational, market and financial.
Background Report
Intended to provide background details on a technical
report.
Focus on a specific topic meeting specific audience
needs.
Two essential infrastructures of the background
reports are definition and classification.
Business plans
These are proposals for starting a new business, a
formal statement of the business goals and the
plan for achieving them.
To provide whatever information the audience
may need to consider the idea.
Format the business plan: use the format for
formal report, the format for proposals or
some combination of theses two. Business plan
even those for small operations, can run over
15 pages.
Technical specifications
A document that defines a set of requirements
that a product or assembly must meet or exceed.
These documents present descriptive and
operational information created for new
products.
Policies and procedures for organizations
Procedure-sequence of step to be followed in
consistent manner such as how organization will
respond to any policy violation.
Policies address important issues, such as what
constitutes acceptable behavior by employee.
Design to influence and determine all major
decision and actions, and all activities take
place within the boundaries set by them.
Research Report
Presenting findings culled for researches, both
from laboratories on certain field.
Content of report is actual work someone does
in a laboratory or in the field.
Consisting of data, conclusion, methodology
and background on the problem.
To make the reader easily understand the
purpose and results of research.
1.4 The methodology and sequence of writing
technical report
Regardless of the specific purpose of your
technical report, the structure and conventions
rarely differ.
Technical reports usually require a title page. To
know what to include, the conventions required in
your subject should be followed.
Title page
TRs usually require a title page. To know what to
include, follow the conventions required in your
subject.
Summary
A TR summary (or abstract) should include a brief
overview of your investigation, outcomes and
recommendations. It must include all the key
information your reader needs to make a decision,
without them having to read your full report.
Don’t treat your summary as an introduction; it
should act as a stand-alone document.
Tip: Write your summary last
Table of contents
Help your reader quickly and easily find what they
are looking for by using informative headings and
careful numbering of your sections and sub-
sections.
Introduction
A technical report introduction:
provides context for the problem being
addressed,
discusses relevant previous research, and
states your aim or hypothesis.
To help, consider these questions:
a. What have you investigated?
b. How does your study fit into the current
literature?
c. What have previous studies found in the area?
d. Why is it worth investigating?
e. What was the experiment about?
f. Why did you do it?
g. What did you expect to learn from it?
Body
The body of a technical report is structured
according to the needs of your reader and the
nature of the project. The writer decides how to
structure it and what to include.
To help, ask yourself:
What does the reader need to know first?
What is the most logical way to develop the
story of the project?
Tip: look at other technical reports in your discipline to see
what they’ve included and in what order.
Figures, tables, equations and formulae
Technical reports include a mixture of text, tables,
figures and formulae. Consider how you can
present the information best for your reader.
Would a table or figure help to convey your ideas
more effectively than a paragraph describing the
same data?
Figures and tables should:
Be numbered
Be referred to in-text, e.g. In Table 1…, and
Include a simple descriptive label - above a
table and below a figure.
Equations and formulae should be:
Numbered
Referred to in-text, e.g. See Eq 1 for…
Centred on the page, and
On a separate line.
Conclusion
Your conclusion should mirror your introduction.
Be sure to:
Refer to your aims
Summarize your key findings, and
State your major outcomes and highlight their
significance.
Recommendations
If the TR includes recommendations for action, it
could be chosen to report these as a bullet point
list. When giving an answer to your problem, be
sure to include any limitations to your findings.
Recommendations can be presented in two ways:
Action statements
Example is ‘Type approval should be issued for
tunnel ventilation fans.’
Conditional statements.
Example is ‘If fan blades are painted with an anti-
corrosion coating system, it is likely that…’
Another e.g., is ‘The research has found that the
fan hub should be constructed from forged steel
and the fan housing should be constructed from
hot dipped galvanized steel, but future research…’
References
Acknowledge all the information and ideas you’ve
incorporated from other sources into your paper
using a consistent referencing style. This includes
data, tables and figures.
Appendices
If you have data that is too detailed or lengthy to
include in the report itself, include it in the
appendix. Your reader can then choose to refer to
it if they are interested.
Label your appendix with a number or a letter, a
title, and refer to it the text, e.g. For a full list of
construction phases, see Appendix A.
