Chapter 06 Technical Writing 2014-2015

Technical Report Writing
Prof. Dr. Magdi El-Saadawi
www.saadawi1.net
saadawi1@gmail.com
2014-2015
For First Grade EE Students

Applications in Report Writing
Chapter 6
6.1. Laboratory Reports
6.2. Periodic Reports
6.2.1 Activity reports
6.2.2 Progress Reports
6.2.3. Annual reports
6.3. Design Reports
6.4. Proposals
6.5. Field Reports

 It is a report based on experimentation and
research done by individuals or teams.
 The lab report aims to develop scientific
knowledge or to solve an industrial
problem.
 Success in engineering depends as much
upon the ability to present results as it does
upon the ability to perform the work. (pp.94)

 School or university Lab report:
• Replicating an experiment. It is a simulation
• The goal is to acquire knowledge and to learn
experimental procedures
• A record that you have engaged the experiment
and, presumably, learned the procedure

 Industrial Lab report:
• Indicate the results of experimentation aimed.
• Answering a question or solving a particular
problem
• A usability report aims to answer a particular
question regarding the users of a manual,
software program, or piece of machinery
Examples pp. 93-94

6.1.1 Ethics and the Lab Report
 Lab Report should be a truthful and
accurate representation of your findings
 Don’t falsify ‫تزوير‬ data or misrepresent
findings.

6.1.2 Audience for the Lab Report
 An academic lab report is written for a
teacher and perhaps your classmates.
 Your audience mostly are familiar with the
purpose of your project. But you have to play the
simulation
In industrial or academic Lab report the
audience may be:
1. engineering or science-oriented audience.
2. management-oriented audience.

6.1.3. Parts of a Lab report
 A title page provides the basic reference
information for a report or article:
1. Title
2. date of publication
3. author(s)
4. place of publication (journal, city/state, web
URL, class assignment, corporation)
5. reference or project number (if applicable)
6. source of funding (if applicable)

6.1.3. Parts of a Lab report
 Abstract
 Table of Contents
 Introduction Theory and/or Survey of Literature
 Equipments
 Procedure
 Subjects provide a description (if human subjects are
involved in the project)
 Results
 Discussion of Results
 Conclusion
 References
 Nomenclature (or Glossary)
 Appendix

6.2. Periodic Reports
 These reports help the corporation maintain a
sense of organizational stability ‫التنظيمي‬ ‫باالستقرار‬ ‫الشعور‬
and demonstrate accountability ‫المساءلة‬ to the
corporation's mission.
 This section discusses three of these periodic
reports:
1. Activity reports
2. Progress reports
3. Annual reports

6.2.1 Activity reports
 Completed by employees to update others on the
work that they have completed in a given time
period.
 This report is a categorized list of what activities
you completed during a given time period.
 They are one tool for assessing productivity, and
they are particularly helpful in learning more
about what researchers are accomplishing
 The formats for activity reports are crafted to
meet the particular goals of companies, we
cannot offer you a preferred format for these
reports

Chapter 06 Technical Writing 2014-2015

 Completed by individuals or groups to update
others on the progress of a project that is
underway.
 Progress reports are periodic reports that discuss
the status of a particular project.
 Progress reports can take many forms:
memoranda, letters, short reports, formal
reports, or presentations.
 They are used to keep projects on track so that
deadlines are met and to ensure that resources
are appropriately used

 if you encounter problems, you can be seen as a
valuable member of the organization if you
explain the key problems and offer solutions.
 Main items included in a progress report:
1. Background on the project itself.
2. Discussion of achievements since last reporting.
3. Discussion of problems that have arisen.
4. Discussion of work that lies ahead
5. Assessment of whether you will meet the objectives

6.2.3. Annual reports
 Completed by the corporate leaders to update
stockholders (and potential investors) about the
accomplishments of the company in the past
year.
 Annual reports present the company's
accomplishments ‫الشركة‬ ‫إنجازات‬ in as positive a light
as possible and usually downplay any difficulties
 The annual report is a very important document, and is
usually written by seasoned writers.

6.3. Design Reports
 Introduce and document engineering and
scientific designs.
 these reports have two audiences.
1. engineers and scientists interested in how
the design works and how effective the
design is.
2. management interested in the application
and effectiveness of the design.

6.3. Design Reports
 design reports which includes:
 Summary,
 Introduction,
 Discussion,
 Conclusions,
 Appendices.

6.4. Proposals
 A proposal is a plan for solving a problem. It is
submitted to universities and academic
institutions or to companies and industrial
organizations

6.5. Field Reports
 Field reports are set as assignments ‫واجبات‬ ‫أو‬ ‫مهام‬
in a variety of disciplines ‫تخصصات‬ and usually
require the student to combine theory and
analysis with observation and practice.
 Examples field report pp. 121-122

6.5.3 Elements of field reports
 Description - what you have seen or observed
 Analysis - strengths and weaknesses, reflection
or evaluation of observations in light of theory
and key concepts of your course or the broader
context of your discipline.
 Appendix - information that supports your
analysis but is not essential to its explanation

6.5. Field Reports
A. Description
What: Describe what you are observing.
Where: Describe background information that
sets the scene or context of observations.
When: Record factual data about day and time.
Who: Note the participants in the situation.
Why: Describe why you selected the particular
situation to observe that you did.

6.5. Field Reports
B. Techniques of observation
B.1. How to record your observations
• Notes
• Video recorder or tape recorder
• Checklist of behaviors or physical characteristics.
B.2. Things to look for when observing
• Physical location:
• Language and behavior.
• Behavior cycles:
• The order and the setting in which events unfold.
• Exterior physical signs such as age, sex, clothing.
• Expressive body movements.

6.5. Field Reports
C. Analysis
You should have kept in mind the theories and
issues you encountered in your course when
making your observations.
Part of your task in analysis is to determine
which observations are worthy of comment and
evaluation, and which observations are more
general in nature.
It is your theoretical framework that allows you
to make these decisions.

6.5. Field Reports
C. Analysis (cont.)
You have to ask yourself some questions that are
useful when analyzing your observations (pp. 132)

Chapter 06 Technical Writing 2014-2015

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Chapter 06 Technical Writing 2014-2015