MICHAEL OKPARA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, UMUDIKE

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

First Semester, 2022/2023 Academic Session

CAE 400 (TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING & FEASIBILITY)

Department offering the course: FST (Food Science and Technology)
Credit Load: 2 Units
Class Size:

Lecturers-In-Charge: Prof. F.U. Agbo

*Dr. O.G. Oti
Mrs K.R. Osondu ([email protected])

Date: Wednesday, 4th December, 2023.

Time: 1pm – 3pm.

PART II (20231204)

TYPES OF TECHNICAL REPORTS

1. Technical-background report: A technical report provides background information on a

technical (specialized) topic/issue, but in such a way that it is adapted to a particular audience
that has specific needs for the information. Imagine a topic like this: prospects and challenges
of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) production and processing. A technical report on this topic
would not drum-out a voluminous textbook containing everything you could possibly say about
it. Rather, it would select information about the topic suited to a specific group of readers who
had specific needs and uses for the information. Imagine the audience was a group of food
scientists bidding a contract to do a work on tiger nut milk production for primary and post-
primary school students in Abia State. Yes, they need to know about the challenges and
prospects of tiger nut production and processing, but only to the extent that it has to do with
their areas of expertise.

2. Instructions: Instructions are probably the most familiar of all types of reports. These include
reports/instructions on: how to use an appliance/equipment/programme (i.e. manual), how to
write an examination, etc.

3. Feasibility, viability, recommendation, and evaluation reports: Another useful type of report
is one that studies a problem or opportunity, and then makes a recommendation. A feasibility
report tells whether a project/project is "feasible" i.e. whether it is practicable or
technologically possible; while a viability report tells whether a project is profitable i.e.
whether the project should be done. A recommendation report compares two or more
alternatives and recommends one (or, if necessary, none). An evaluation or assessment report
studies something in terms of its worth or value. For instance, a university might investigate
the feasibility of giving every student an e-mail address and putting many of the university
functions online. The same university might also seek recommendations on the best hardware
and software to use (after the feasibility and viability reports had determined it was a good
idea). In practice however, it is hard to keep these two kinds of reports distinct. Elements of
the feasibility and recommendation report intermingle in specific reports, but the main thing is
to get the job done.

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4. Technical specifications: Technical specification report discusses some new product design
in terms of its construction, materials, functions, features, operation, and market potential. True
specifications are not much on writing, i.e. the text is dense, fragmented; tables, lists, and
graphics replace regular sentences and paragraphs whenever possible. Thus, specifications are
not a good exercise of your writing abilities.

5. Business prospectus: A business prospectus is a plan or proposal to start a new business or

to expand existing one. It is aimed primarily at potential investors. Therefore, it describes the
proposed business, explores the market place and the competition, projected revenues and
costs, and describes the operation and output of the proposed business.

6. Primary research report. Primary research report refers to a report on the actual work
someone does in a laboratory or in the field, i.e. experiments and surveys. This type of report
involves not only presenting your data and drawings conclusions about it, but also explaining
the methodology, describing the equipment, instrument and facilities used, and giving some
background to the problem. It also involves summarizing other primary research reports, e.g. a
primary research report could be written on the research that has been done on saccharine
processing. This is the type of technical report that is of interest to us in this course CAE 400,
as all our discussions subsequently will be on it.

IMPORTANCE/USES OF TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING

1. Sources of technical or scientific information (i.e. to inform). Technical reports are a great
source of technical or scientific information. They can be written both for a wider or internal
distribution. In order to establish novelty, technical reports can be considered as primary forms
of scientific papers, when researchers don't want to wait till academic journals publish their
work, e.g. new methods of bread production using increased cassava flour or a new machine.

2. Decision making (i.e. persuasion). Technical reports are used to communicate technical
information, which provides great assistance in decision making. For example, in the purchase
of equipment, or finding solutions to technical problems, the researcher not only describes
alternative ways to solving problems, but also, persuades the readers to accept one of them as
the best choice.

3. Training and assessment of students. At university, technical report writing is a frequently

used assessment technique, especially in Colleges of Pure and Applied Sciences. This is
because the task of technical report writing, requires students to draw theory and real world
situations together, and to present the information in a structured and accessible format. For
instance, food science students may be asked to do a ‘sensory evaluation of bread produced
from 100% cassava flour’, or ‘functional and chemical properties of avocado pear’. Learning
how to report a technical information to others is an important component of technical studies.
It therefore serves in training and assessment of students.

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 GUIDELINES FOR WRITING TECHNICAL REPORTS
Like we earlier stated, a technical report is simply a formal document that serve the very
purpose of sharing specialized information in a systematic, organized and concise format. An
important consideration when preparing technical reports is the audience and purpose of the
report. For example, the degree of technicality, or the language and concepts involved in a
technical report will vary, if the report is meant for managers, technical supervisors or lay
people.

The template for a technical report is typically divided into various sections that will enable
the reader to quickly access different sections of the work. A properly formatted technical
report will normally have the following sections and subheadings: cover page (title page),
abstract, table of contents, introduction, body paragraphs divided into a number sections and
headings (research methodology, results and discussion), conclusion, recommendations,
references, and acknowledgement and appendices, if required.

Cover Page: This is also known as title page. It comes first when you write your report. It
contains the title of the report, the date, the institutional details/address and the supervisor. The
content of the title page does not add up to the word count of the report, as it is treated as a
separate entity.

Abstract: An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference

proceeding, or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject, and is often used to enable the
reader quickly ascertain the paper’s purpose. It comes immediately after the title page and
contains an overview of the work including results and conclusions made in the work, thereby
acting as the point-of-entry for the entire work. Although the abstract comes first in the work
immediately after the cover page, it is the last to be written.

Table of Contents: This section shows all the sections, headings and sub-headings in the
report, and the pages where they are located.

Introduction: Introduction provides a background information about the work. It opens up the
report by explaining the basic concepts contained in the title and how they are linked or inter-
related. Also, it is within the introduction that the need for the study/research is established.
This need in scientific research is often called "problem statement" or "research gap". The
introduction also highlights the main aims (objectives) of the paper to the reader, thereby
enabling the reader to understand the purpose of the report. The introduction will also contain
the importance of the report, i.e. what benefits are derivable from the report, and who and who
will benefit them? Also, the flow of the report is contained in the introduction so the reader
knows the sequence or arrangement of the work: what and when to expect at any given point
in the study?

To write a good introduction, you need to be a voracious reader. This will enable you to know
more about the topic you writing on: finding out what others have done on it and what is left
to be done?

Research Methodology: Research methodology shows the specific procedures and

experimental techniques used to identify, collect and analyze information/data on the topic.
This section shows in details how the study was carried out, in order to generate data, and how
the data so generated, were organized and analyzed to make meaning.

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Results and Discussions: Here, you present and explain the results that emanated from your
research. Results are mostly presented in tables, but they are also presented in other formats
such as graphs, charts, etc. This should give a clear explanation such that the reader cannot be
asking themselves any questions concerning the results.

Conclusion: The conclusion contains the summary of the main points in the study. In
conclusion, you need to use words that suggest you are concluding, to prepare the reader
psychologically that you are about to finish. The conclusion should be short and precise,
avoiding lots of stories.

Recommendation(s): This usually comes after the conclusion. In recommendation, you are
expected to suggest solution(s) to the challenges that are there in the body of the work. This is
where your personal opinion is welcomed but based on the findings of the study.

References: Referencing provides a means of acknowledging works used and cited in the
study. It is a way of giving credit to individuals for using their creative and intellectual works,
to support your research. Referencing helps to prevent “plagiarism”. Typically, a reference
can include the author's name, date, location of the publishing company, journal title, or DOI
(Digital Object Identifier), and listed in alphabetical order, depending of the referencing style.

There are different referencing styles such as APA (American Psychological Association) style
used in Education, Psychology and Sciences disciplines; MLA (Modern Language
Association) style used by the Humanities; Chicago/Turabian style generally used by Business,
history and the Fine Arts.

Acknowledgement: In acknowledgement, you are supposed to list all the people that helped
you in coming up with the report. This include even those that proofread your work to make
sure it is well written. This is a way of appreciating the efforts of other people in your work.

Appendices: You may have used other materials to put across your points in the report such
as graphs, diagrams, publications of organizations, etc but are not necessarily required in the
report. This is where to mention and locate them.