Mid-Term Review PDF

Mid-Term Review A technical report is a formal report designed to convey technical information in a clear and easily accessible format A technical report is a sole medium through which the audience and readers of your project can understand the entire process of your research or experime...

Mid-Term Review A technical report is a formal report designed to convey technical information in a clear and easily accessible format A technical report is a sole medium through which the audience and readers of your project can understand the entire process of your research or experimentation A technical report is divided into sections which allow different readers to access different levels of information Examples of technical reports include proposals, regulations, manuals, procedures, requests, progress reports, emails, and memos Types of Technical Reports; 1. Reports may be classified according to: ▪ degree of formality: formal and informal reports ▪ length: long and short reports ▪ regularity: routine, periodic, or occasional reports, annual, biannual, or quarterly reports ▪ phase: interim, pilot, progress, or terminal reports. ▪ format: alarm form, letter form, schematic form, or mixed form 2. REPORTS CLASSIFIED BY CONTENT ▪ Occurrence report: which describes an event, such as Field trip report, which may be written by an engineer, agricultural specialist, or technologist just back from a field assignment. ▪ Feasibility report: which develops and analyses an idea or concept or project to assess whether it is economically or technically feasible ▪ Investigations report: any form of report in which you describe how to perform tests, examine data, elicit or weigh tangible evidence in order to arrive at your conclusions ▪ Evaluation report: establish controlling guidelines evaluate the idea or concept in light of the parameters set and data collected conduct tests to prove or disprove your theories, and draw conclusions about the soundness or otherwise of the given idea or concept An investigation report normally begins with known data while an evaluation report begins with the idea or concept to be evaluated. The feasibility report tends to concentrate on more concrete and short-term projects. ▪ Technical Proposal: which is normally prepared by a company to convince another company or institution of its technical capability to offer a specific service or perform a specific task ▪ Technical Brief in which a new idea is presented in sufficient depth to enable the recipient (the contractor or consultant) to assess its practicability and cost ▪ the staff report: gives a succinct account of the deployment and disposition of staff within a given period.  ▪ the audit report: An audit report is a short comment on the degree of efficiency with which a company has operated its financial and material accounts and kept records of such operations. Characteristics of Technical Reports 1. Technical Accuracy: to ensure that the presented date is accurate and follow a specific technical aspect 2. Consistency in Presenting: is to follow the punctuation rules as use of capitals and small letters, use of the full stop and the semi-colon; and abbreviations , weights and measures decimal or imperial systems, not a mixture of both. ▪ Why to be consistent? To introduce a pleasurable reading and avoidance of various forms of disorientation for the reader of your report. ▪ It enhances readability and comprehension of the report 3. Clarity: to provide a clear comprehensive report to the target reader(s) by constantly search for the common denominator in expressing your ideas. 4. Accuracy: to follow standard rules of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. 5. Conciseness: is to use the shortest possible form to express your ideas through the report to make reading your report less time-consuming, also to present your report in brief sections with sub-titles and avoid needless repetition. 6. Persuasiveness: by increasing the quality and objectivity of the presentation of your report. 7. Interest: To retain the interest of your reader throughout the report without using excess or informal words. Importance of Writing a Technical Report 1. Efficient communication: as it should convey pertinent information to readers and facilitate making crucial decisions. 2. Evidence the work done: technical report acts is evidence of the work established. It shows the steps taken for the research and execution then glorifies your efforts for a better evaluation. 3. Organizes the data: as it is a concise, factual piece of information that is aligned and designed in a standard manner. Also, all the data is written in a compact manner that is easily understandable by a reader. 4. Tool for evaluation of your work: as it describes the process to be evaluated by accurate, clear, and comprehensible descriptions of the report topic How to Write a Technical Report? o Top-down approach- In this, you structure the entire report from title to sub-sections and conclusion and then start putting in the matter in the respective chapters. ▪ This allows your thought process to have a defined flow and thus helps in time management as well. o Evolutionary delivery: Here the author writes and decides as and when the work progresses. ▪ This gives you a broad thinking horizon. You can even add and edit certain parts when some new idea or inspiration strikes. Technical report Structure  Cover page- it must contain details like title, name of the author, name of the institution with its logo. It should be a simple yet eye-catching page. Title page- In addition to all the information on the cover page, the title page also informs the reader about The Status Of The Project. For instance, technical report part 1, final report, etc. The name of the mentor or supervisor is also mentioned on this page. Abstract- (executive summary), this page gives a concise and clear overview of the report. o It is written in such a manner that a person only reading the abstract can gain complete information on the project. o the abstract of a technical report primarily includes Key findings and conclusions o It has about 100-500 words as a rule Preface – It is an announcement page or declaration of ownership wherein you specify that you have given due credits to all the sources and that no part of your research is plagiarized. The findings are of your own experimentation and research. Dedication- This is an optional page when an author wants to dedicate their study to a loved one. It is a small sentence in the middle of a new page. It is mostly used in theses. Acknowledgment- is when you mention the people parties, and institutions who helped you in the process or inspired you for the idea of the project.( To express gratitude to individuals and organizations) Table of contents– includes All main sections and sub-sections o Also, there is a content page for tables figures. Each of these lists begins on a new page. Introduction- It mark the beginning of your report. o Clearly specify the context of the report. o It includes specifying the purpose, objectives of the project, the questions you have answered in your report, and sometimes an overview of the report is also provided. o It has the structure; Background information, objective, and significance of the study Central Chapter(s)- o Each defined with sub and sub-sub sections , Every section should serve a purpose. o keep in mind the following factors: ▪ Clearly define the purpose of each chapter in its introduction. ▪ The main goal of the literature review section is to To provide background and context for the study ▪ Mentioned any assumptions. ▪ Data analysis techniques are found in the methodology section ▪ Results are Clear presentation of findings ▪ Results should be presented Using tables, graphs, and clear figures ▪ Results must be investigated and verified ▪ The discussion section role is to interpret and analyze findings, also would discuss the limitations of your study ▪ Each conclusion drawn must be connected to some central chapter Conclusion :  o Mention the findings of each chapter, objectives reached, and the extent to which the given objectives were reached. o Discuss the implications of the findings and the significant contribution your research made. o Conclusions are formulated Reflecting the main findings and implications Conclusion should answer the objective questions mentioned in the introduction Future work and recommendations should be presented Clearly and based on findings , No personal opinions Appendices- They are used for complete sets of data, long mathematical formulas, tables, and figures. o Items in the appendices should be mentioned in the order they were used in the project. o The role of appendices in a technical report is to provide supplemental information without cluttering main sections References- It cites the sources from which the information has been taken from. This may be figures, statistics, graphs, or word-to-word sentences. References are appropriate for the references section is Peer-reviewed articles, books, and reputable websites, a bibliography is a broader list of all sources consulted during research (including both cited and uncited works), while references refer specifically to the works that have been cited within the text of the work. Proofreading: you see your work from a reader’s point of view and you can correct any small mistakes you might have done while typing. Check everything from content to layout, and style of writing