Report Writing

Definition: Technical writing is a specialized, structured way of

writing, where information is presented in a format and manner
that best suits the psychological needs of the readers, so that they
can respond to a document as its author intended and achieve the
purpose related to that document. The process of gathering
information from experts and presenting it to an audience in a
clear, easily understandable form is called technical writing.

OR

Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the

reader solve a particular problem. Technical communicators write,
design and/or edit proposal, web pages, lab reports, newsletters
and many other kinds of professional documents.

Purpose of technical writing - why study technical report writing

Technical report writing has two basic purposes:

1. To inform
2. To persuade
A tech. report can be used for the physical description of a new
machine, the steps in a particular process, or the results of an
experiment.

For example; A writer not only describes two sites for a factory but
also persuades readers to accept one of them as the best i.e. to
prove your point. The document that achieves these purposes is
called technical writing.

Functions of Technical Writing also include the following points:

a. Reassure recipients that you are making progress, that the

project is going smoothly, and that it will be completed by the
expected date.
b. Provide their recipients with a brief look at some of the findings
or some of the work of the project.

c. Give the recipients a chance to evaluate your work on the

project and to request changes.

d. Give you a chance to discuss problems in the project and thus to

forewarn recipients.

e. Force you to establish a work schedule so that you'll complete

the project on time. It gives the writer a motivation to work more
and produce results more efficiently.

Characteristics of Technical Writing

Technical writing is an important part of everyone's career. Writing
well is difficult and time consuming and writing in a technical way
about technical subjects even makes it more difficult. People write to
propose projects, to document their own actions, to help other
understand the research, to analyze and solve problems, to describe
procedures and objects. If done well, technical writing is an exciting,
fulfilling experience but if done poorly, it is frustrating, even harmful
to career development. Technicality in writing is based upon the
following points
There are six basic properties of Technical writing

1. Clarity
2. Accuracy
3. Comprehensiveness
4. Accessibility
5. Conciseness
6. Correctness

1. Clarity
 Technical document must convey a single meaning that the
reader can understand. Unclear Technical writing is expensive.
The vital communication link among the various employees is
usually the report, if this link is weak, the entire project may be
jeopardized. Unclear technical writing can be dangerous e.g.
unclear instruction on how to operate machinery.

2. Accuracy

Unclear writing can cause many problems and even inaccuracy in the
report. If you mean to write 40,000 don’t write 400,000. If you mean
to refer to fig 3.1 don’t refer to fig 3.2. Slightest error can confuse or
even annoy the reader of the report. If the reader suspects that you
are slanting information they have the right to doubt the entire
document.

3. Comprehensiveness:

When writing technically, all the information should be provided, its

background must be described and clear description of any process,
or method of carrying out a specific work, should also be given. It
also includes results, conclusions and recommendations.

4. Accessibility:

It means the ease with which the readers can locate the information
they seek.

To increase Accessibility, include headings and lists in the report. A

table of contents, list of illustrations glossary and index are preferred.

5. Conciseness:

Technical writing is meant to be useful. The longer a document is, the

more difficult it gets to use it. Even it takes more of the user's time.

Conciseness works against clarity and comprehensiveness. Solution

to this conflict is to create a balance between the requirements of
clarity, conciseness and comprehensiveness. In short, in T.W every
aspect of the subject is discussed in optimized detail. Document must
be long enough to be clear. It must give the audience purpose and
object but no extra details. Technical writing can be shortened 10-
20% by eliminating unnecessary phrases and choosing short words
and sentences.

6. Correctness

Qualities of technical report writing also include correctness. Good

technical report must also be correct. It must be free from
grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and should have
appropriate format standard. If a report contains grammatical errors,
the reader will doubt the accuracy of the information in the report.
Technical writing is meant to convey information and to persuade
the audience. To accomplish these goals it must be clear accurate,
easy to access and must be economical and correct.

Project Proposals in Technical Writing

A document which persuades its readers to accept the writer's idea is
called a proposal. The Project Head asks for both a technical
proposal and a cost proposal.
There are two kinds of proposals.
1. External Proposal
2. Internal proposal
A. External Proposal:
In external proposal, one firm responds to a request from another
firm or the government for a solution to a problem. It ranges from
lengthy (100 pages or more) to a short (4-5 pages).
A firm writes external proposals to win contracts for work.
Government agencies and large and small corporations issue a
request for proposal which explains the project and lists its
specifications. Companies who receive the writes proposals. A team
assembles a document that shows that the company has the
managerial expertise, technical knowhow and appropriate budget to
develop the project.

After receiving all the proposals, the firm that requested them turns
them over to a team of evaluators, who after judging the technical
management and cost sections, select the best proposal.
Planning the External proposal

To write an external proposal, you must consider your audience,

research the situation, use visual aids, and follow the usual form of
this type of document.

1. Consider the audience:

Usually your audience express problem to you in a written statement

(an RFP) or in an interview. You must assess their technical
awareness and write accordingly. To write to them effectively, one
should

1. address each need that they have expressed

2. explain in clear terms how your proposal fills their needs
3. Explain the relevance of technical data.

2. Research the situation:

To write the proposal effectively you must clearly understand your

customer’s needs as well as your own service. You must research
their needs by means of interviewing them or by reading their
printed material.

3. Use visual aids:

Many types of visual aids e.g table, maps etc may be appropriate to
your proposal. Your goal is to convince the decision makers that only
your way is the best approach; good visuals are direct and dramatic,
drawing your client into the document.

To write an external proposal, follow the usual form for writing the
proposals. The four main parts of a proposal are:

a. Executive summary:

The executive summary contains information designed to convince

executives that the proposers should receive the contract. It should
present the content of technical, managerial and financial sections in
clear terms. This section is often designed to make non technical
people feel comfortable with the proposal.

b. Writing the technical section:

A proposal's technical section begins by stating the problem to be

solved. The proposers must clearly demonstrate that they
understand what the customer expects. The proposal should
describe its approach towards solving the problem.

c. Writing the management section:

This section describes the personnel who will directly be related to

the project. The proposal writer must explain what technical
personnel and levels of management will be responsible for the
success of the project. In a large external proposal, this section often
contains organization charts and resumes. In short proposal, this
section usually explains qualifications of personnel and firm's success
with other similar projects.

d. Writing the financial section

The financial section provides a breakdown of the costs for every

item in the proposal. Often this section is not just a table of costs. At
times a brief introduction and the table may be all you need, but if
you need to explain the significance of certain figures, then do so.

B. The Internal proposal

In an internal proposal, an employee on department urges someone
else in the company to accept an idea or to fund equipment on
research. There are two types of internal proposals:

1. Assigned Proposal
2. Unsolicited Proposal

1. Assigned proposal:

In assigned proposal an employee writes solution for a given

problem. He does not have to establish the problem.

2. Unsolicited proposal:

In unsolicited proposal the writer writes the solution of a problem

which he has discovered himself.

Planning the internal proposal

The goal of the proposal is to convince the person or group in

authority to allow the writer to implement his idea. To achieve this
goal, the writer must consider the audience, use visual aids,
understand organizational principles and design a format.

I. Consider the audience

Writer considers the audience of a proposal in at least three ways;

according to their involvement, their knowledge and their authority.

a. How involved is the audience

In most cases, readers either have assigned the proposal or they are
unaware of the problem. In assigned proposal, the writer does not
have to establish that the problem is a problem; but he or she does
have to show how the proposal will solve the problem. If the
proposal is not assigned then he first convinces the audience that the
problem is a problem then he offers a convincing solution to the
problem.
b. How knowledgeable is the audience.

The audience may or may not have the concepts and facts involved in
the proposal. If the audience is less knowledgeable, take care to
define terms, give background and use common examples.

c. How much authority does the audience have?

The audience may or may not be able to order implementation of

your proposed soultion. A manager might assign the writer to
investigate some problem, but most likely the manager will have to
take the proposal to a higher authority before it is approved.

II. Consider your own position

Your own position mirrors the audience position. If you have been
assigned to write the proposal, you don’t have to establish that the
problem is a problem, but you do have to show how your proposed
solution matches the dimension of the problem. If you have
discovered the problem then you have to establish that the problem
is a problem and then explain your solution.

III. Use visual aids

Since the proposal probably will have multiple audiences, visual aids
can enhance its impact. Visuals can support any part of the proposal -
the problem, the solution, the implementation or even the benefits.

Writing / organizing the internal proposal

The writer should organize the proposal around four questions.

What is the problem?

Describing the problem is a key part of proposals. You must establish

three things about the problem.

a. The data
b. The significance
 c. The cause

Designing the proposal

To design a proposal, select an appropriate format, either formal or

informal. A formal proposal will have a title page, table of contents
and summary. The formats for an informal proposal can be a memo
report on some kind of pre-printed form. The format depends on
company policy and on the distance that the proposal must travel in
the hierarchy-usually the shorter the distance, the more informal the
format. Also, the less significant the proposal, the more informal the
format is.

Use the introduction to orient the reader

The introduction must orient the reader to the writer, the problem
and the solution. Introductory sections often contain a separate
executive summary that give the main prints of the body. If the body
contains section on the solution, benefits, cost, implementation and
the rejected alternatives, the summary should cover the same prints.

Use the discussion to convince your audience

The discussion section contains all the detailed information that you
must present to convince the audience. A common approach
functions this way:

The problem

1. Explanation of the problem

2. Causes of the problem

The solution

1. Details of the solution

2. Benefits of the solution
3. Ways in which the solution satisfy criteria

The context
 ▪ Schedule for implementing the solution
▪ Personnel involved
▪ Solutions rejected

Formal elements of a technical report

Those components which are usually included in a report in business

and industry

1. Letter of transmittal
2. Title page
3. Abstract
4. Table of contents
5. List of illustrations
6. Executive summary
7. Glossary and list of symbols
8. Appendix

1. Letter of Transmittal

The components of a report are not written in the same order in

which they appear e.g. the letter of transmittal is the first thing the
reader sees, but it is probably the last to be created.

It introduces the purpose and content of the report to the principle

reader. It gives you an opportunity to emphasize whatever you think,
your reader will find particularly in the attached material. It enables
you to point out any errors or omission in the material.

Transmittal letter contains the following element.

▪ A statement of title and purpose of report.

▪ A statement of who authorized the project and when
▪ A statement of method used in the project or of the principal
results, conclusion and recommendations.
▪ An acknowledgement of any assistance you received in
preparing the material.
2. The title page

Usual elements are

▪ Title
▪ Name and position of writer
▪ Name and position of principle reader
▪ Date of submission

A good title must be informative. It. answers two basic questions

1. What is the subject of the report

2. What type of report is it? E.g. sea pollution - control devices

Define the type of report by using a generic term such as analysis,

recommendations e.g summary, review etc. For a simple title page,
centre the title (typed in full capital letter) about a third of the way
down the page, then add the readers and writer's position, the
organization’s name and date.

3. The abstract
It’s like a brief technical summary, usually not more than 200 words
of the report. Its directed to readers who are familiar with the
technical subject and need to know whether to read the full report or
not. This can use technical terminology and refer to advanced
concepts. Basic types of abstract are descriptive and informative
abstracts. The descriptive abstract sometime called topical or table of
contents abstract. It does not provide the import results, conclusion
or recommendations. It lists the topic covered giving equal coverage
to each. The informative abstract states the problems the scope and
methods, and the major results, conclusion or recommendations.

4. The table of contents

It enables different readers to turn to specific pages to find the

information they want. Well organized report becomes ineffective if
table of contents, is not clear. T.O.C provide only guide to report's
structure, coverage and pagination. The headings that appear in the
report are listed in T.O.C

For effective T.O.C make sure the report has effective headings.

5. The list of illustrations

It is a T.O.C for the figures and tables of a report. If the report

contains figures but not tables, it is called the list of figures

But if the report contains tables but not figures so is called the list of
tables only

List of illustrations may be on the same page as the table of contents,

or may be on the separate page. If it begins on a separate page, it
should be listed in the table of contents.

6. The executive summary

Sometimes called executive overview or the management summary.
It is a one page condensation of a report. Managers don’t need a
detailed and deep understanding of various projects undertaken in
their organization because of limitations in time and specialization.
The background of the project is also discussed clearly herein. The
specific problem that is to be solved through the project is clearly
discussed; also the conclusion and recommendations are discussed in
a full separate paragraph.

7. The glossary and list of symbols

A gloss is an alphabetic list of definitions. It is useful if you are

addressing a multiple audience that includes readers who will not be
familiar with the technical vocabulary used in the report. An asterisk
or any other notation can be used along the word to tell the
audience that the word is defined in glossary. It is generally placed at
the end of the report just before the appendix. Though if the glossary
is a brief one, so can be placed right after the table of contents.
A list of symbols is structured like glossary, but rather than defining
words and phrases, it defines the symbols and abbreviations used in
the report.

Like glossary, the list of symbols may be placed before the

appendices or after the table of content.

8. The appendix
An appendix is any section that follows the body of the report (and
the list of references or bibliography, glossary or list of symbols).
Appendices provide information that is too bulky to be presented in
the body or that will interest only a small number of readers. For
conciseness in the report, this information is separated from the
body. Examples of the kind of material that are usually found in the
appendix include maps, large technical diagrams or charts,
computations, test data and texts of supporting documents.
Appendices are usually lettered, rather than numbered and are listed
in the table of contents.

What is a Report?
In academia there is some overlap between reports and essays, and
the two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but reports are
more likely to be needed for business, scientific and technical
subjects, and in the workplace.

Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report

concentrates on facts.

Essentially, a report is a short, sharp, concise document which is

written for a particular purpose and audience. It generally sets out
and analyses a situation or problem, often making
recommendations for future action. It is a factual paper, and needs
to be clear and well-structured.
 Reports may contain some or all of the following elements:

• A description of a sequence of events or a situation;

• Some interpretation of the significance of these events or situation,
whether solely your own analysis or informed by the views of others,
always carefully referenced of course. An evaluation of the facts or
the results of your research;
• Discussion of the likely outcomes of future courses of action;
• Your recommendations as to a course of action; and
• Conclusions.
Not all of these elements will be essential in every report.

Sections and Numbering

A report is designed to lead people through the information in a
structured way, but also to enable them to find the information
that they want quickly and easily.
Reports usually, therefore, have numbered sections and subsections,
and a clear and full contents page listing each heading. It follows that
page numbering is important.
Getting started: prior preparation and planning
The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader
through your thinking to a course of action and/or decision. It’s
worth taking a bit of time to plan it out beforehand.

Step 1: Know your brief

You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including what you
are studying and for whom the report should be prepared.
First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that you
are clear who the report is for and why you are writing it, as well as
what you want the reader to do at the end of reading: make a
decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.
Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times
During your planning and writing, make sure that you keep your
brief in mind: who are you writing for, and why are you writing?
All your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require you
to be ruthless in your reading and thinking. Anything irrelevant
should be discarded.
As you read and research, try to organise your work into sections a
bit like writing a Literature Review.
Make sure that you keep track of your references, especially for
academic work. Although referencing is perhaps less important in the
workplace, it’s also important that you can substantiate any
assertions that you make so it’s helpful to keep track of your sources
of information.
The Structure of a Report
Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do check
what’s set out in any guidance.

However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very

least an executive summary, introduction, the main body of your
report, and a section containing your conclusions and any
recommendations.

Executive Summary
The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a brief
summary of the contents. It’s worth writing this last, when you know
the key points to draw out. It should be no more than half a page to a
page in length.
Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy
'executives' a quick summary of the contents of the report.
Introduction
The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a brief
summary of the problem under discussion. It should also touch
briefly on your conclusions.
Report Main Body
The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way
that leads the reader through the issue.
You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings
relating to themes or areas for consideration. For each theme, you
should aim to set out clearly and concisely the main issue under
discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It may also
include experimental results. All the information that you present
should be related back to the brief and the precise subject under
discussion.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the
information, including any experimental results. It may include
recommendations, or these may be included in a separate section.
Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be
improved, and should be specific, achievable and measurable. If your
recommendations have financial implications, you should set these
out clearly, with estimated costs if possible.
A Word on Writing Style
When writing a report, your aim should be to be absolutely clear.
Above all, it should be easy to read and understand, even to
someone with little knowledge of the subject area.
You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using plain English,
and shorter words rather than longer, with short sentences.
You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use specialist language,
you should explain each word as you use it. If you find that you’ve
had to explain more than about five words, you’re probably using too
much jargon, and need to replace some of it with simpler words.
Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be written for a
particular person, check whether you should be writing it to ‘you’ or
perhaps in the third person to a job role: ‘The Chief Executive may
like to consider…’, or ‘The minister is recommended to agree…’, for
example.
A Final Warning
As with any academic assignment or formal piece of writing, your
work will benefit from being read over again and edited ruthlessly
for sense and style.
Pay particular attention to whether all the information that you have
included is relevant. Also remember to check tenses, which person
you have written in, grammar and spelling. It’s also worth one last
check against any requirements on structure.
For an academic assignment, make sure that you have referenced
fully and correctly. As always, check that you have not inadvertently
or deliberately plagiarised or copied anything without acknowledging
it.

What is Plagiarism?
• Presenting another's ideas as if they are your own – either directly or
indirectly
• Copying or pasting text and images without saying where they came
from
• Not showing when a quote is a quote
• Summarising information without showing the original source
• Changing a few words in a section of text without acknowledging the
original author
Academic Referencing
There are numerous ways to reference. Different institutions,
departments or lecturers may require different styles – check with
your lecturer if you are unsure.

Why Do We Cite and Reference?

When writing assignments for your studies, academic papers
outlining our research or reports for work, you need to highlight your
use of other author's ideas and words so that you:

• give the original author credit for their own ideas and work
• validate your arguments
• enable the reader to follow up on the original work if they wish to
• enable the reader to see how dated the information might be
• prove to your tutors/lecturers that you have read around the subject
• avoid plagiarism
Referencing Styles
There are many styles of referencing, one of the most popular (in UK
institutions) is the Harvard system, the remainder of this article deals
with the Harvard referencing system. Your university may prefer the
use of a different referencing system, check with your lecturer or in
any study skills information you have been provided with.
Be Organised
When writing an essay, report, dissertation or other piece of
academic work the key to referencing is organisation, keep notes of
the books and journal articles you have read, the websites you have
visited as part of your research process.
What needs to be recorded?
Record as much information as possible in references to make finding
the original work simple.
Author/s – Include the author/s name/s where possible. You should
write the surname (last name) first followed by any initials. If there
are more than three authors then you can cite the first author and
use the abbreviation 'et al', meaning 'and all'.
Examples:
For one, two or three authors:
Jones A, Davies B, Jenkins C
For more than three authors
Jones A et al.

For some sources, especially websites, the name of the author may
not be known. In such cases either use the organisation name or the
title of the document or webpage. Example: SkillsYouNeed or What
Are Interpersonal Skills.

Date of Publication - You should include the year of publication or a

more specific date if appropriate, for journal or newspaper
articles/stories. For webpages look for the when the page was last
updated. Include dates in brackets (2012) after author
information. If no date can be established then put (no date).
Publisher Information - Usually only relevant for books, you should
include the publisher name and place of publication.

Title of Piece - Include the title of the piece; this could be the name
of the book, the title of a journal article or webpage. Titles are
usually written in italics. For books you should also include the
edition (if not the first) to make finding information easier. Often
when books are republished information remains broadly the same
but may be reordered, therefore page numbers may change between
editions.

Page Numbers - If you are referencing a particular part of a book

then you should include the page number/s you have used in your
work. Use p. 123 to indicate page 123 or pp. 123-125 to indicate
multiple pages.
URL and Date Accessed - For webpages you need to include the full
URL of the page (http://www... etc.) and the date you last accessed
the page. The web is not static and webpages can be
changed/updated/removed at any time, it is therefore important to
record when you found the information you are referencing.
Once you have recorded the information, you have everything you
need in order to reference correctly. Your work should be both
referenced in the text and include a reference list or bibliography at
the end, the in text reference is an abbreviated version of the full
reference in your reference list.