CDI 5 – TECHNICAL

REPORT WRITING

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Technical Report Writing

Aims to gear 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 SIGNIFICANCE OF TECHNICAL WRITING

 TECHNICAL WRITING is a skill that must be acquired not

only by every criminology student, but also those who are already
practicing their profession in the criminal justice system.

 Every practitioner, either in other law enforcement agencies, or

learners in the academe are confronted with variety of writing
activities. Specifically, law enforcers are required to write beat
patrol reports, fill up routing slips, write traffic accident reports,
compose blotter entries, and submit various kind of police
reports.

 In the academe are expected to hand in researches, proposals,

feasibility studies, technical reports, and many other written
outputs.
 DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL WRITING

The word “Technical” comes from the Greek word “teache”

which 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:

1
THE SUBJECT MATTER – is the matter presented for
consideration in discussion, thought or study.

2 THE STUDY OR THE INVESTIGATION - can include

searching, interviews, interrogations, evidence collection and
preservation, and various methods of investigation.

3 THE ORGANIZATION AND PRESENTATION OF THE

INFORMATION GATHERED – result of information
acquired/gathered during the conduct of study or investigation.
 Those 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.
 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, clear
and accurate, concise and
unemotional in the representation
of facts.
 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF TECHNICAL WRITING

Good technical writing is not

an instant process, it does not
happen overnight, because it
requires effort and training on the
part of the writer in order to produce
a good output. This is the main
reason why Mills and Walter (1988)
pointed out important principles to
be considered in technical writing.
These principles are enumerated as follows:

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The writer of a report must have a specific reader or group of
readers in mind.

2 He must decide what the specific purpose of his report is and

make sure that every part of his report contributes to that
purpose.
.

3 He must use specific, single, concrete word and familiar

language that will not be misinterpreted.

4 He must make his report very presentable in format. The layout

must conform with the standard forms of writing.
ILLUSTRATION:

TECHNICAL Has a specific reader.

WRITER
Has a specific purpose.

Uses familiar language.

c
Produces reports that
are presentable.
THE TWO IMPORTANT FACTORS OF
TECHNICAL WRITING

1 Subject matter- refers to the objective

information that the writer wants to convey.

2 Purpose – refers to the goals that the writer

wants to achieve for himself and his readers
after presenting his written output.
PURPOSE:

1 These are the concepts and information that

point to the completion of a specific task
and decision to the part of the writer and the
reader.
2 These is the analysis of the events and it s
implications in relation to the written text.

3 It convinces, persuades and influences the

reader.
SUBJECT:

1
This is the objective information of a written
material.

This tells the readers what to do and how to

2 do a particular reading task.

This gives information about recorded data

3 from criminology,
education and the like.
military, business,
QUALITIES OF A GOOD TECHNICAL REPORT
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, and accuracy are the essential qualities in
order to achieve this.

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BREVITY – this is the quality of writing which is characterized by the shortness or
briefness of the writing material; this is achieved through presentation of ideas in a short
but complete manner. Not all readers have the luxury of time to read and reread a
particular text, materials that are briefly completely written may help readers save time.

2 CLARITY – this is a condition of writing where ideas are simplified by making it easier for the readers
to understand. This is achieved by providing further examples, illustrations, or diagram in order to
clarify the text. A conscientious writer considers that not all readers are well-versed with specific
terminologies, it is his responsibility to convey his ideas as clearly as possible.

3
COMPLETENESS – this is a quality of writing where the ideas in the paragraph are
entirely and absolutely free from inconsistencies and errors in any form. A good writer is
aware that one of his objectives is to present information that is entirely complete

ACCURACY – this refers to the exactness and correctness of writing, as this is a result from
precision, conformity to grammar, and adherence to writing standards. There are writers who

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know how to present their ideas, but they are inaccurate in presenting facts. An effective writer is
someone who is not only good at presenting his ideas but also accurate in conveying all the
complete facts. A well-writer report is a product of an accurate writer
 THE TECHINICAL
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. They write and submit reports using technical terms
that are understood within the realm of a specific field of
specialization. The main function of technical communication is to
convey specific messages to specific readers.

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 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 Patrol Reports, Traffic
accident Reports, Blotter Entries, Investigative Reports, and many other
forms of reports that the organization requires.

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF A
GOOD TECHINICAL
COMMUNICATOR
A good technical communicator is a
person who has developed his good
writing skills, has mastered all the
conventions of the written language, and
has good characteristics.

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF A
GOOD TECHINICAL
1.
COMMUNICATOR
Knows his audience well – a technical writer who knows his/her audience well, and is in
the position to suggest and implement solutions to problems that nobody else identifies.

2. Serves as a “go-between” – whenever one group of people has specialized knowledge

that other groups does not share, the technical writer bridges the gap.

3. A generator of truth – a technical writer chooses what will be written, with the full
knowledge that later readers will depend on the accuracy of what has been written.
4. A good teacher – he excels at explaining difficult concepts for readers who will have no
time to read twice.

5. Has an excellent eye for details – he knows punctuations, syntax, and style, and can
explain the rules governing them.

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 Continuation:

6. Knows how to coordinate – though he works on his own much of the time, he also knows
how to coordinate with the collaborative work of graphic artists, programmers, printers, and
various subject matter experts.

7. Has enough expertise – he is an expert in understanding the audience’s background and

needs.

8. Knows how to gather information from existing documents and from subject matter
experts.

9. He is respected and credible- he is a person with credibility, and he is also a valuable and
reliable source of information.

10. Has a strong language skill – he understand the highly evolved conventions of modern
technical communication.

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TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

Technical communicators often work hand in hand to create

written products or deliverables. These deliverables are
technical documents that contain technical information.
Examples of these are the police reports, police
correspondence and issuances, legal documents, corporate
disclaimers, policies and procedures, business proposals,
and procedure manuals. A technical documentation is useful
if the readers can understand and act on them without having
to decode wordy and ambiguous words. Technical
documentation services comprise of all activities, means. And
system that provide information to its specialized fields.

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THANK
YOU
VERY
MUCH