Technical

Communication--UNIT2
 REPORT WRITING
Meaning:
A document containing information organized in a narrative, graphic, or
tabular form, prepared on ad hoc, periodic, recurring, regular, or as
required basis. Reports may refer to specific events, occurrences, or
subjects, and may be communicated or presented in oral or written
form.

Decision Making tool

• 1. Formal or Informal Reports:

• Formal reports are carefully structured; they stress objectivity and organization, contain
much detail, and are written in a style that tends to eliminate such elements as personal
pronouns. Informal reports are usually short messages with natural, casual use of
language. The internal memorandum can generally be described as an informal report.

• 2. Short or Long Reports:

• A one-page memorandum is obviously short, and a twenty page report is clearly long. A
short report describes facts in short while a long report is detailed and mostly analytical.

• 3. Informational or Analytical Reports:

• Informational reports (annual reports, monthly financial reports, and reports on
personnel absenteeism) carry objective information from one area of an organization to
another. Analytical reports (scientific research, feasibility reports, and real-estate
appraisals) present attempts to solve problems.
• 4. Research Report: Scientific or Technical

• Dissemination of the research work is primary objective of a Research report. A Research

Report describes a researcher’s work, scope and limitations of the work in the field of
science and technology.
• 5. Vertical or Lateral Reports:
• This classification refers to the direction a report travels. Reports that move upward or
downward the hierarchy are referred to as vertical reports; such reports contribute to
management control. Lateral reports, on the other hand, assist in coordination in the
organization. A report traveling between units of the same organization level (production
and finance departments) is lateral.

• 6. Internal or External Reports:

• Internal reports travel within the organization. External reports, such as annual reports of
companies, are prepared for distribution outside the organization.
• 7. Periodic Reports:

• Periodic reports are issued on regularly scheduled dates. They are generally upward directed and
serve management control. Pre printed forms and computer-generated data contribute to
uniformity of periodic reports.

• 8. Functional Reports:

• This classification includes accounting reports, marketing reports, financial reports, and a variety of
other reports that take their designation from the ultimate use of the report.
• i. Pre-printed Form: Basically for “fill in the blank” reports. Most are relatively
short (five or fewer pages) and deal with routine information, mainly numerical
information. Use this format when it is requested by the person authorizing the report.
• ii. Letter: Common for reports of five or fewer pages that are directed to outsiders. These
reports include all the normal parts of a letter, but they may also have headings, footnotes,
tables, and figures. Personal pronouns are used in this type of report.
• iii. Memo: Common for short (fewer than two pages) informal reports distributed within
an organization. The memo format of “Date,” “To,” “From,” and “Subject” is used. Like
longer reports, they often have internal headings and sometimes have visual aids. Memos
exceeding ten pages are sometimes referred to as memo reports to distinguish them from
shorter ones.
• iv. Manuscript: Common for reports that run from a few pages to several hundred pages
and require a formal approach. As their length increases, reports in manuscript format
require more elements before and after the text of the report.
 Features of Report:
1. Factual
2. Readability
3. Simplicity
4. Sequential
5. Brevity
6. Clarity
7. Precision
8. Objectivity
 Structure of Report:
FRONT MATTER
MAIN REPORT
BACK MATTER
1. Front Matter:
a. Cover Page
b. Copyright Notice
c. Title Page
d. Preface
e. Acknowledgement
f. Letter of Transmittal
g. Table of Contents
 h. Table of Pictures/charts/Graphs
i. Abstract/Summary
Main Report
a. Introduction/Methodology
b. Description/Discussion/Findings
c. Conclusion
d. Recommendations/Suggestions
Back Matter
a. Appendix/Appendices
b. References
c. Index
d. Glossary
STEPS TO WRITE A THESIS/SYNOPSIS/A RESEARCH PROJECT
• : Get familiar with the Area/Subject domain

• Step 2: Pick a topic

• Step 3: Collect Material and Review Literature

• Step 4: Organize the material

• Step 5: Create an outline/writing Methods

• Step 6: Write all the chapters

• Step 7: Edit for content

• Step 8: Edit for grammar

• Step 9: Re-read and submit your paper/Thesis/Synopsis etc.

• THESIS

• A thesis or dissertation is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic

degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings. In some contexts,
the word "thesis" or a cognate is used for part of a bachelor's or master's course, while
"dissertation" is normally applied to a doctorate, while in other contexts, the reverse is true. The
term graduate thesis is sometimes used to refer to both master's theses and doctoral dissertations.

• The thesis should contain the following chapters:

• - Title page

• - Summary/abstract

• - Table of content

• - Introduction
• Background information

•- Materials and methods

•- Results and discussion (or separate chapters)

•- Conclusion

•- (recommendations)

•- References
• Summary: The summary should contain a brief overview of the research and the most important results.

• Introduction: Your introduction contains information about why you do the work. It should contain a short
description of the problem. If possible, what has already been done (literature review). What is still missing
in the research, and how you are going to contribute to that field. So it should end with an aim or goal. It
could also include a hypothesis, if you are expecting something specific to come out. The introduction
section is usually about 1 page.

• Background information: The background information contains all information needed to understand your
results. This contains information about the ingredients that you use. The background of the methods that
you use. Start with the more general concepts and go into more detail from there. This chapter involves the
use of literature. Try to turn it into a logical story. Do not just put different literature statements after each
other (5-10 pages).

• Materials and Methods: The chapter starts with materials. Name all materials and where they were brought
or received. The methods contain all information about how you did the experiments. This contains all the
settings of the equipment as well: temperature, how long you stirred, settings of the equipment. All
information should be there, so someone else can do redo your experiment. The material and method
section is always written in the past.
• Results and Discussion: Since it is very difficult to separate results with discussion, they are often combined in one
chapter. This often also makes the flow of the story better. Results are often represented in figures and tables. Not
just show the raw data. The figures should be self-explanatory. In the text, do not repeat the data from these tables
and figures, but interpret the results. Be critical. What have I measured. What are the error margins? What do the
results tell me? How can I explain them? And what do I learn from it?.

• In the results section, you should also compare your results with those in literature. What has been done by others,
what do they find? And is that similar to my results? At the end, your results should be used to answer your
aim/questions or hypothesis that you had at the beginning of your thesis.

• Conclusion: this section should contain your most important findings. Start by mentioning your aim, so people know
why you did the work. Do not mention all the results again in detail, but describe the results as an overview. You
could end the conclusion what kind of implications your results have (in terms of new product development or
something. Or use in other field of science). The conclusion is usually max. 1 page.

• References: There are a lot of different ways to make a reference list. Check some articles that you read to see the
different versions. It is up to you to choose one. However, when you choose one, stick to it. Do not use different
version in your list. Since it is easier to know the relevance of a paper, also include the title of the article!

• Length of the thesis: There is not a standard length of the thesis. In general a B.tech thesis/Project is 25-35 pages,
and an M.Tech or M.S. thesis/project between 30-50 pages. Only relevant information should be presented in the
thesis itself. Less relevant information and additional info (pre-testing for example) could be presented in the
appendix.
 TECHNICAL PROPOSALS
• Definition
• Purposes
• Types
• Structure
Definition: Written offer to solve a technical problem or to undertake a
project of practical or theoretical in nature.
Features: Attractive, Realistic
PURPOSES:
• To sell property, buildings, machines, etc.
• To construct buildings, highways, etc.
• To survey areas for water resources
• To design training programs
• To take up office automation
• To undertake research
 Types

Solicited Unsolicited

Internal External
RESEARCHPROPOSALS
• Academic in nature
• Mostly solicited
• Educational Institutions, research labs, etc.
BUSINESS PROPOSALS
* To establish a business/promote business/ e.g Sales Proposals
* Outside the company (mostly)
* Requests: Through IFB (invitation for bids) OR RFP (Request for
proposal)
* Requests: mails or newspaper
STRUCTURE:
• Prefatory
• Main body
• Supplementary parts

Prefatory
• Title page
• Letter of transmittal
• Table of contents
• List of illustrations
• Executive summary
Main body
* Objective
• Technical section
• Management section
• Cost estimate/ Supplementary
Financial Section
• Conclusion • Appendix
• References
CONTENTS
• Brief proposals do not require
• Long proposals need
"CONTENTS‟ page
• To locate topics and subtopics
• Don‟t have too many subtopics
 CONTENTS
Draft contract (ii)
Executive summary (iii
1. Technical section )
1. Structure of the manufacturing unit 1
2. Details of machinery
3. The process
2. Management Section
1. Proposer details
2. Plan of action
3. Schedules
3.Cost estimate
Appendix
References-Not
Compulsory
Executive summary
❖ Back ground
❖ Purpose
❖ Scope
❖ infrastructure facilities
❖ Technical details
❖ Significance
❖ Total Cost Estimate
Introduction/Objective

• Problem statement (clear understanding)

• Purpose, scope
• Significance
Technical section
• System overview (Technical description)-Overview of
the concept/area of proposed work.
• Analysis of existing situation—Nature of then problem,
Scope and Limitations
• Proposed solution—Your Solutions of the existing
problem.
• Benefits of the implementation.
Management section
Chains of command (org. charts)
Corporate / employee credentials
Schedules (work, implementation, reporting,
maintenance, delivery, completion, payment,
forecast)
Company profile and Profile of the
employees working on the proposal.
Cost Estimate
Important
funding (if internal)
Break up (equipment details man power
expenses miscellaneous / consumables) Conclusion
• Emphasize strengths
• Assure the reader
• No new ideas
• Very brief
Appendix

• Credentials details
• Supporting technical documents
• Illustrations
SEVEN Cs
• Clear

• When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in
communicating with this person? If you’re not sure, then your audience won’t be sure either.
To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that it’s easy for your reader
to understand your meaning. People shouldn’t have to “read between the lines” and make assumptions on
their own to understand what you’re trying to say.
Information and actions required, must be clear so the reader has the information they need to take action.

• 2. Concise

• When you’re concise in your communication, you stick to the point and keep it brief. Your audience doesn’t
want to read six sentences when you could communicate your message in three.

• 3. Concrete
• When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear picture of what you’re telling them. There
are details (but not too many!) and vivid facts, and there’s laser-like focus. Your message is solid.
• 4. Correct
• When your communication is correct, it fits your audience. And correct communication is also
error-free communication.
∙ Do the technical terms you use fit your audience’s level of education or knowledge?

∙ Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors? Remember, spell checkers won’t catch
everything.

∙ Are all names and titles spelled correctly?

• 5. Coherent
• When your communication is coherent, it’s logical. All points are connected and relevant to the main
topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent.
• 6. Complete: Organic Whole (complete in itself)
• In a complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed and, if applicable,
take action.
∙ Does your message include a “call to action,” so that your audience clearly knows what you want
them to do?

∙ Have you included all relevant information – contact names, dates, times, locations, and so on?

• 7. Courteous
• Courteous communication is friendly, open, and honest. There are no hidden insults or
passive-aggressive tones. You keep your reader’s viewpoint in mind, and you’re empathetic to their
needs.
 In the words of Larsen, “The research synopsis is the plan of your
research project. It provides the rationale for the research, the
research objectives, the proposed methods for data collection and
recording formats and or/ questionnaires and interview guides.”
The limit of a good synopsis is 3,000-4,000 words excluding appendix.
Structure/Method:
1. Title: Topic which is brief and directly related to the goals of the
proposed research.
2. Abstract: should contain objective, statement of the problem and
the methods to be used during the research.
3. Introduction: Justification of choosing the proposed research
problem. It also states how the proposed problem will be worked
on and how it would fill the gap.
4. Problem analysis/ Literature review: other details regarding the
research problem. Highlights the complexity of the problem and how it
affects. A critical review of the available research also will be discussed
here as eventually the problem analysis is based on it.
5. Objectives: Should be identified on the basis of problem analysis.
The contribution of the research problem/project to the given subject
should be the main objective.
6. Hypotheses: A crucial stage in writing a synopsis. Hypotheses means
a tentative solution/assumption of the problem. These hypotheses are
to be tested in the course of research.
7. Delimitation: Relevant area of the problem should be identified here.
8. Methodology: Description of the methods such as experiments,
surveys, models and case study. The most suitable method should be
chosen.
9. Results: Analyses of the data preferably in charts and graphs.
10. Discussion: influence of the chosen methods on the results, all pros
and cons including methods and results are discussed here.
11. Conclusion: Stating the main findings, also discusses area of further
research.
12. References: List of citations(material taken from sources), There are
mainly two ways: MLA(Modern language association), APA(American
psychological association)