Report Writing
Much of the coursework which is required during the year is assessed on the basis of reports. These include formal laboratory reports, design projects, 3rd Professional project reports and course assignments. Clearly, your ability to communicate your technical design, experiment or achievements on paper is going to have a direct effect on the grade you receive. No matter how innovative an idea you have had, or how elegant a solution to a problem you have found, its significance can be lost if the report is badly written.
Writing a good report is easy if you follow a few basic principles. Always think from the reader's point of view.
- Identify the audience. Unless told otherwise, you should write for an audience having a broad scientific background, but without any specialist training in Electrical and Computer Engineering. You should imagine you are a professional engineer writing an article for distribution to all first year science students at a University. It is not appropriate to refer to class handouts, or to address your comments to the lecturer marking the report.
- Think about what you want to tell the audience. Obviously, you want them to know what you did (designed, figured out, etc), but think about what background information might be needed in order for the audience to appreciate the significance of your work.
- Motivation is very important. Make sure you convince the reader, right from the start, that the report is worth reading.
- Your writing style should aim for a readable and interesting report. Use language that is simple, familiar and concrete. Unfamiliar concepts can be explained by analogies and visuals. Avoid overly long and complex sentences, but vary sentence length to maintain reader interest. Each paragraph should begin with a sentence embodying the main idea.
- To help readers navigate through the report, strive to tell them where they have been, where you are taking them and how you will get them there.
- Organise the report by making a Table of Contents, putting things into a logical order, and using descriptive headings and subheadings.
- Take great care that you do not plagiarise other peoples work. For more information see the section on dishonest practice.
A standard report structure, set out on the multi-decimal system of sub-division, and which is entirely suitable for the kind of reports you have to write, is indicated below:
Title Page
Abstract (Summary)
The abstract describes the report, it is not a section of the report, and its purpose is to inform potential readers of the information (including any results or conclusions) contained in the report, so that they can decide whether the report is worth reading. Since the report exists now, the Abstract is written in the present tense, using short, sharp sentences.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
This is the time to state concisely what the report is about, and to establish the motivation for the work. (Motivation is not satisfaction of the coursework requirements – remember, you will soon be a real engineer, so start acting like one now). The final paragraph(s) of the introduction should be used to “signpost” the rest of the report, by describing in a few words what is contained in each of the following main sections of the report. This gives the reader an overview of the whole report, and an appreciation of its logical structure.
2. Background
This is where you present any information which the reader needs in order to understand or appreciate your work. Don't try to cram in lots of theory simply in order to impress the marker. Remember that you can use appendices for information, proofs and so on that are likely to be of interest to a significant number of readers, but that are not strictly necessary for the logical development of the report. It is often sufficient to state commonly used formulae and provide a full reference (see below) to a standard textbook.
3. First Heading of Main Body of Report
3.1 Sub-heading
3.1.1 Sub-sub-heading
3.1.2
3.2 Sub-heading
3.2.1 Sub-sub-heading
3.2.2
The structure of the main body of the report depends on the subject matter, and is up to you to design. Always think from the reader's point of view. The report will be read like a book, from start to finish, so be logical, use an uncluttered style, and make good use of diagrams and tables. The final sections of any report are given below.
N Conclusions
The scope and findings of the report are reviewed. General conclusions are drawn, based on specific results detailed in the report.
N+1 References
Whenever you use a piece of information, or a quotation, from another source (such as a text-book or journal) you must provide the reader with the reference. For large reports this is best done by writing the author and year of publication in brackets, eg:
Recent research has demonstrated the efficacy of linear predictive analysis (Kirkland, 1999).
The references are then listed alphabetically.
For short reports it is often sufficient to use a numbered list, eg:
Recent research has demonstrated the efficacy of linear predictive analysis [1].
The point of references is to allow the reader to find the same information that you did, so include all the details. An appropriate format for books is:
Author(s), Title, Publisher, City, Year, Chapter or page numbers.
For journal articles, use:
Author(s), Title, Journal, Volume, Pages, Month, Year.
For conference papers, use:
Author(s), Title, Conference Name, City, Month, Year, Pages.
For documents available only on the Web, use:
Author(s), Title, Document Type, <URL>, Month, Year.
Examples
For examples of technical writing see the following publications available in the Engineering Library:
Transactions of the Institution of Professional Engineering , New Zealand.
Transactions of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – there are many topics.
Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers – there are many topics.
Presentation
Reports should be neatly hand-written in ink, or preferably typed or printed, on A4 size paper. Pencil or other erasable media must not be used.
Leave room for the marker's comments, by using one side of the paper only, and by using double spaced printing. Reports should be securely fastened by staples and enclosed in a manilla folder, or neatly bound by other means. Homework assignments do not need covers but must be securely fastened.