business wiriting

Business Writing

Gihan Aboueleish

Outlines

2

Types of Reports

What makes a good report?

How to Write Reports

Clarity and Structure

Figures and Tables (floats)

Technical Issues

Sales Proposals

Computer Reports

Memos

Activities & Practices.

Anatomy of a Report

Future of Reports

Further reading

Conclusions

Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

Before we start

3

Discussion : what you find most difficult in writing a report…


The Purpose....

4

The report exists to provide the reader with useful information Should this drug be licensed?

How do we fit non-linear regressions?

It succeeds if it effectively communicates the information to the intended audience

It fails otherwise!!


Which Reports?

5

Annual Reports

Sales Reports

Feasibility Reports

Inspection Reports

Audit Reports

Progress Reports

White PapersBusiness Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

How We Communicate3

6

• CVs, Resumes

• Email, Web site, FAQs

• Letters, Newsletters, Brochures, Articles, Catalogs

• Advertisements, Notice Board, Pamphlets, Signs, Press Release

• Presentations, multimedia, talks

• Reports, Manuals, Proposals, Books


Classification of Reports

7

Formal Reports and Informal Reports

Information Reports Analytical Reports Recommendation Reports


First and foremost…

DON’T PANIC!

8

Getting Started


Clear

Clarify what it is you intend before writing

9Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

Clear

Clearly state your intent in the lead


Clear

One topic per communication


Clear

Provide supporting detail


If everything else is cut, will your message still be clear?

Edit!


Make points briefly

Don’t get hung on an issue


Correct

Check the facts


Correct

Do not rely on spell check


Correct

Do not rush


Correct

Dictionaries and thesauruses are the writer’s friends


Conclusions

19

Writing is a skill to learn

Need practice

Large set of rules, do’s and don’ts

But it is very personal

Use all the feedback (from lab reports, vacation essays, dissertations,…)


Idea

Collect

Focus

Order

Draft

Revise20


Idea

PersonalOthers

21


22

Talk back to your internal critic. Train yourself to recognize and write down critical thoughts as they go through your mind. Learn why these thoughts are untrue and practice talking and writing back to them.

-Robert J. Mckain


Collect

yourself others

23


Focus


Ordernarration

illustration

cause/effect

comparison/contrast

process analysis

persuasion

25


Draft

Answering your questions

Ideas on paper

Making sense of what you know

26


Revision

audience clarity

27


28

Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading.

William Zinsser


Editing

Grammar

Punctuation

Words

29


Habits That Will Result in a Poor Paper

Procrastinating

One-draft writing

Massive self-criticism

Thesaurus abuse

Marriage to first draft

Habits That Will Result in a Successful Paper

Prewriting

Developing

Revising

Tweaking

Writing Center

Conferencing

30

Habits That Guarantee Failure

No Process No Paper Plagiarism

Getting Started


Thoroughly read your assignment prompt.

What, specifically, is your topic?

Who is your audience?

How long should your essay be?

Are there special requirements?

Ask questions if you don’t understand.

31

Understand Your Assignment(Then Forget About It For Awhile)


32

After figuring out your assignment - you need to generate ideas before you begin drafting.

Forget about the end product for a bit and just get creative.

Try listing, mapping, free-writing, journalist questions, cubing, or any other method that works for you.

Getting Ideas


Listing is a good way to quickly gather many ideas on paper.

Simply make a list of as many ideas as come to you as quickly as possible.

Topic: Essay About An Important Place

List:

Bed, my comfy chair, the mountains, the ocean, my office, the garden, anywhere with a book, Starbucks, home, the shower, the right state of mind…

33

Listing;


Mapping is a form of free association that creates a visual image of ideas and their connections. Using mapping can give you not only ideas for an essay - but connecting ideas that may turn into paragraphs.

Favorite Place

34

Comfort

Starbucks

Aesthetics

Books

TastesSmell

Hanging outwith friends

Writing Studying

Energy


Mapping;

Write, write, write and don’t stop. Free-writing means taking an idea and running with it wherever it leads. Don’t think about it - just keep writing. When you free yourself and just allow the ideas to come, you might end up with a great essay topic /or a marvelous idea (Product – plan - ….) that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Starbucks

Coffee calls from shelves and walls. I can’t not stop in. Who will be waiting for me today? Chatting till I have to run to class, my latte sloshing with each step. I don’t even mind when it splashes on my fingers: my sugar-free, non-fat liquid gold. Keeping me sane. The barista knows my name. Here I sip the taste of home.

35

Free writing;


Use the standard questions every journalist must answer.

Who

What

When

Where

Why

How

Thinking of different ways to answer those questions might lead to a fresh perspective on your topic.

The Taste of Home

Who: Either alone or with friends.

What: Coffee, coffee, coffee!

When: Day, night, when studying, when socializing, when thinking, when chilling…

Where: Starbucks, Coffee Haus, my office, home, pretty much anywhere

Why: Energy, inspiration, comfort, mental and emotional health

How: With all the senses engaged.

36

Journalist Questions;


Similar to Journalist Questions, cubing involves considering your topic from six different angles.

Describe it (colors, shapes, sizes, etc.)

Compare it (What is it similar to?) Associate it (What does it make

you think of?) Analyze it (Tell how it's made) Apply it (What can you do with it?

How can it be used?) Argue for or against it

Describe it: Engage the senses - how does it look and taste and feel - what do you hear and smell?

Compare it: Like finding my muse.

Associate it: A luxurious bubble bath; slipping into silk pajamas.

Analyze it: It gives me a moment to breathe in my surroundings, to organize my thoughts. When drinking a cup of coffee with friends, I am sharing my real self.

Apply it: Coffee can be an effective and relatively safe energizer. It can help get through massive amounts of graduate school readings.

Argue for or against it: Strangely, I think of home and comfort when I drink a cup of coffee during the day, despite the fact that no one in my home is terribly fond of coffee. When I make coffee at home, it never seems to be as comforting as coffee I share with friends at work.

37

Cubing;


38

The VRD is rough - very rough.

Take your idea and start writing about it.

Don’t worry too much about spelling, punctuation, organization or grammar. Just make sure it’s marginally readable.

It’s like free-writing - but attempts to stick to the topic and gets typed.

It CAN be nutty, horrible, abysmal, disorganized, slangy and even silly.

The idea is to just get started.

The VRD (Very Rough Draft)


39

After gathering ideas, you can think of your essay writing process in three drafts:

The Down Draft: Just get it all down ( the VRD).

The Up Draft: Then fix it up (revision and organization).

The Dental Draft: Check every ‘tooth’ carefully - work on word choice and sentencing to make it sound better (tweaking).

Anne Lamott’s Three Draft Essay


40

During the revision phase - read your paper slowly, out loud to yourself.

Better yet, read it out loud to a friend or tutor.

Even better - have someone read it out loud to you!

You will be amazed what paper issues you can ‘hear’ that you missed when reading.

If parts are awkward, confusing, choppy or repetitive, you’ll notice.

You might feel a little silly - but it may mean the difference in your paper grade.

Read IT Out Loud


41

If you haven’t already - it’s time to revisit your assignment sheet.

Notice the requirements for paper length, font, margins, etc.

Does it need a cover sheet? A creative title?

What should be included in your folder with the final draft?

After all your hard work - don’t loose points by neglecting the requirements.

Formatting And Requirements;


42

At this point - if you’ve gone through the process - you should be proud of your essay.

If you’ve also gone to the Writing Center and conference with me - you should be proud and confident.

Give it one last check for those sneaky, ‘dum’ errors (like writing ‘to’ instead of ‘too’ or ‘your’ instead of ‘you are’)

And all that’s left to do is…

Staple it - put it in a folder with the process

and celebrate!

Finish It!


How We Communicate

43

• CVs, Resumes

• Email, Web site, FAQs

• Letters, Newsletters, Brochures, Articles, Catalogues

• Advertisements, Notice Board, Pamphlets, Signs, Press Release

• Presentations, multimedia, talks

• Reports, Manuals, Proposals, Books


Which Reports?

44

Annual Reports

Sales Reports

Feasibility Reports

Inspection Reports

Audit Reports

Progress Reports

White Papers


Classification Of Reports

45

Formal Reports and Informal Reports Information Reports Analytical Reports Recommendation Reports


5 Steps to Report Writing

1. Define the problem

2. Gather the necessary information

3. Analyze the information

4. Organize the information

5. Write the report


Organizing Reports

47

Comparison/contrast Problem-solution Elimination of alternatives General to particular Geographic or spatial Functional Chronological


Words, Words, Words

48

UK English and US English International English and Indian English

Denotation and Connotation Let me know when you’re free next week for a meeting.

Could you let me know what times you have free?

Tone Terry is hung up on trivial details.

Terry is meticulous and takes care of details that others sometimes ignore.


Writing Style

Brief writing style Omit needless words

Combine sentences

Rewrite

Campus Jewelers’; main objective is to increase sales. Specifically, the objective is to double sales in the next five years by becoming a more successful business.

Campus Jewelers’; objective is to double sales in the next five years.


Anatomy Of A Report

50

Cover Page Title Page Letter of Transmittal Table of Contents List of Illustrations Executive Summary Report Body


Report Body

51

Introduction Purpose and Scope;Limitations, Assumptions, and Methods

Background/History of the Problem Body

Presents and interprets data Conclusions and Recommendations References or Works Cited Appendixes

Interview transcripts, questionnaires, question tallies, printouts, and previous reports


Letter Of Transmittal

52

Background Summarize conclusions and

recommendations Minor problems. Thank those who helped. Additional research necessary Thank the reader. Offer to answer questions.


Sales Proposal

53

Budget Objectives Strategy and Tactics Schedule Results Closing


Document Design

54

Use no more than 5 fonts. Use no more than 5 colors. Use glossy paper. Use white space. Use templates. Use parallelism. Avoid double emphasis.


Future Reports

55

Proposals

250-page reports

90-minute oral presentation

50-page summary

Reports

Multi-media

Web


Technical Report

Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish56


Introduction

Will present how to write a technical report

Covers the following standard technical report sections Summary

Introduction

Theory

Method

Results

Discussion of Results

Conclusions

Is itself structured in this way!

57


Introduction (Content)

Defines the generic features of a technical report.

Gives the specific requirements for lab reports, design documents and dissertations.

Presents a methodology for writing a report.

Describes signposting, captioning, quoting, citing, and referencing.

Provides references that can be used for further reading.

58


Theory ;

Technical reports have a standard structure

Technical reports may not be read “cover to cover”

Standard sections have evolved to same information to be extracted from document in different levels of detail!

(some) Repetition and signposting is good.

Section labelling, figure and table captioning, equations, references and citations.

59


The Standard Structure

Summary of the report Purpose, approach, main findings in brief

(½ – 1 page)

Introduction To the presentation rather than the subject.

Purpose of study

Methodology

Results

Main findings & conclusions

Introduction to the presentation itself

60


The Standard Structure

Conclusions Purpose of study Methodology Results Main findings & conclusions Further work

References All the sources used and cited in the body of the report.

Appendices Supplementary or more detailed information that supports

or expands the report (possibly for reference).

61


Front and End Matter

Give further structure and information to the report Front matter

Table of Contents Table of Figures Table of Tables Abbreviations

End matter Glossary Index

Should be automatically generated whenever possible

62


Variations on a Theme

Different reports will have different structures

E.g. Lab report

Dissertation

Software design Document

Refer to references for general guidelines

Follow your publisher’s or institution’s guidelines for specific cases

63

Memo


65

Memos are written messages sent among people working in the same company. Memos can be written for a number of reasons :

Inform staff about decisions/actions/events.

Request information / action /events.

Remind staff of action needed/procedures/changes in policy.

Provide information on work related topics.


66

CONTENT;

Memos generally deal with only one subject.

For two unrelated subjects, write two different memos.


67

Constructing Memos

What is the Reason for Writing?

Who is your Audience?

Can be low-tech, high-tech or multiple

Better to provide a parenthetical definition with terms.

What response do you expect from your Audience?

Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleis

Language;


The language you use in your memo will mainly depend on your position,the position of the reader the subject matter.

The general rule is to “keep it short and simple”.

69

STYLE & TONE

controlled by the audience within your company;

Casual tone When writing to a co-worker whom you know well

Formal tone When writing to a manager


Remember; that your employer and co-workers deserve the same clear and concise writing that your customers do

WRITING DATES IN MEMOS


Date – In official memos ,write full date while in unofficial memo, it is acceptable to use short forms

e. g. Official : 7 March 2009

Unofficial : 7-3-2009

71

Organizational Markers;

Headings Organize your work and make

information easy for readers to follow Numbered or bulleted lists

Help readers see comparisons and contrasts readily

Underlining or boldfacing Emphasizes key points. Do not overuse

this technique; draw attention only to main points and those that contain summaries or draw conclusions

Heading

Bulleted List

Underlining


72

Memo Format;

Some companies use a standard form while others have their memo printed on their letterheads

The memo may be on a half sheet or a full sheet

Basically, the memo consists of two parts The identifying information at the top The message itself


73

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT:

Memo Format;

If your memo is going to more than one reader, make sure you list them in the order of their status in your companyWrite your name (and job title, if necessary for the reader.) You may write your initials after your typed name to verify the memo comes from you

Give the full calendar date

This serves as the title line of your memo. Summarize your message/purpose precisely


74

Memo Wizards & Templates

MS word provides three different templates ;

Elegant

Professional

Contemporary


75

FIVE PARTS OF A MEMO

To:

From:

Date:

Sub:


76

Part One : To

To: Mrs. Sharon Jones, Supervisor

From:

Date:

Re:


77

Part Two: From

To:

From: Dianna Moreno, Bookkeeper DM

Date:

Re:


78

Part Three: Date

To:

From:

Date: March 2, 2007

Re:


79

Part Four: Subject

To:

From:

Date:

Sub.: Acceptance of Retirement Party Invitation

Subject= Focus + Topic


80

Part Five: Intro + Discussion

To: Mrs. Jones, Supervisor


Date: March 2, 2007

Re: Acceptance of Retirement Party Invitation

My husband and I will be able to attend Mr. Tran’s retirement party on April 21. We will bring potato salad.


81

Part Six: Conclusion

To: Mrs. Jones, Supervisor


Date: March 2, 2007

Re: Retirement Party

My husband and I will be able to attend Mr. Tran’s retirement party on April 21. We will bring potato salad.

Call me if you have questions: (714) 555-7355.


Lab Report /Dissertation



Lab Report Structure

As standard + Theory

Method or Experimental Procedure

Results

Discussion of Results

It is acceptable to use “mini reports” if separation of Theory/Method/Results and Discussion would otherwise make structure awkward.

83


Theory in a Lab Report

Background is what is known or assumed

Sets context for specifying what results there will be and context for their discussion.

States what is expected from the experiment or study

May (should?) include properly cited evidence of wider reading than contents of lecture notes, lab script.

You can cite the script where the script provides sufficient detail.

You must include development of formulae that are not given in the script that you will later rely on in the discussion!

84


Dissertation

As Standard + Background and/or Literature Review

Method

Results

Discussion

Detailed Front and End Matter E.g. Table of contents

Table of figures

Appendices

85


Background Knowledge

Purpose is to define what was known about the subject covered in the report before the work was done4

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

[Newton, 1675]

86


Background for a Dissertation

Assumptions Basic “textbook” knowledge of the field State of the art prior to the work Detailed discussion of any of the available

technical literature text books journal articles conference proceedings web sites

that added to your knowledge of the field.

87


Background for a Software Design Document

Review of existing solutions

Review of related software systems

Justification for choice of programming languages and frameworks

Design methodologies

Non functional specifications

88


Theory (Review)

Why write? Theory Standard structure Variations on a theme Background knowledge

89


Introduction (Contents)

Theory Method Results Discussion of Results Conclusions References

90


Method

Method of writing a report Repetition is good!

How to repeat yourself

Signposting

Numbering Citations and References Writing a method

91


How to write a report

Start in the middle You have done the work so you know what your approach was.

You have the results so you just have to write them up!

Ensure that you understand the background, write it up and use it to evaluate the results.

Gather your references and ensure that they are cited in the background sections and other sections as appropriate.

Write the conclusions and the introduction (in that order)

Write the summary

92


Repetition is Good! Form of technical report has developed to allow different classes of

readers to make use of the materials in different ways:

Only summary may be read by a researcher looking for information or a manager seeking an “executive summary”.

Only conclusions or introduction may be read by someone interested in the subject but only wanting to adopt the main findings.

The whole document may be read by someone wishing to follow-up on the work published.

It is important that each part tells the same story at the appropriate level of detail.

Repetition and signposts help the reader who is not reading the document sequentially.

93


How to Repeat Yourself

Say what you will say (in brief) in the Summary

Say what you will say (in more detail) in the introduction

Say what you have to say (in full in the body) with signposting

Say what you have said (in the conclusions)

Emphasise the good bits in an extended abstract or executive summary

94


How to Signpost

Open each section with a statement of context: In the [last section] we ….

In [this section] we now …

Close each section with a statement of context: In this [section] we ….

In the [next section] we will …

Provide cross references As we saw in [a previous section] …

As we will show in [a later section] …

95

Title

96

Should be informative, “punchy”, can include puns, humor.

Good The perfidious polynomial (punchy, alliterative)

Diagnosing diabetes mellitus: how to test, who to test, when to test (dramatic, informative)

Bad Some bounds on the distribution of certain quadratic forms in normal

random variables (boring, vague)

Performing round off analyses of statistical algorithms (boring, vague)


Table Of Contents

97

Shows the structure of the document and lets the reader navigate through the sections

Include for documents more than a few pages long.


Abstract/Executive Summary

98

Describes the problem and the solution in a few sentences. It will be all the big boss reads!

Remember the 2 rules Keep it short

State problem and solution


The Introduction

99

State the question, background the problem

Describe similar work Outline the approach Describe the contents of the rest of the

paper in Section 2 we ... in Section 3 we ...


Further Sections

100

Describe Data

Methods

Analyses

Findings

Don’t include too much technical detail Divide up into sections, subsections


Conclusions/Summary

101

Summarize what has been discovered

Repeat the question

Give the answer


Appendix

102

This is where the technical details go Be as technical as you like Document your analysis so it can be

reproduced by others Include the data set if feasible


References

103

Always cite (i.e. give a reference) to other related work or facts/opinions that you quote

Never pass off the work of others as your own – this is plagiarism and is a very big academic crime!!


How to cite

104

In the text

Seber and Wild (1989) state that…..

In the references

Seber, G.A.F and C.J. Wild. (1989). Nonlinear Regression. New York: Wiley.


Writing clearly

105

Structure alone is not enough for clarity – you must also write clear sentences.

Rules: Write complete short sentences

Avoid jargon and cliché, strive for simplicity

One theme per paragraph

If a sentence contains maths, it still must make sense!


Figures and Tables (Floats)

106

Golden rules for Figures and Tables:

Describe float in text (integration), make sure it matches description

Place after the first mention in the text

Make sure float conveys the desired message clearly: keep it simple!

Provide informative captions


Figures

107

Always label and give a caption under the figure Be aware of good graphics principles: avoid

chart junk

low data/ink ratio

unlabelled axes

broken axes

Misleading scales

See Cleveland, “The Elements of Graphing Data”, “Visualising Data”

Using a good graphics package (R!) helps enforce good practice


0 5 10

02

46

8

log(Animals$body)

log

(An

ima

ls$

bra

in)

Mountain beaver

Cow

Grey wolfGoat

Guinea pig

Dipliodocus

Asian elephant

DonkeyHorse

Potar monkey

Cat

Giraffe

Gorilla

Human

African elephant

Triceratops

Rhesus monkey

Kangaroo

Golden hamster

Mouse

Rabbit

SheepJaguar

Chimpanzee

Rat

Brachiosaurus

Mole

PigBad!

108 Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

Figure 1. Plot of log Brain weights (gm) versus log body weights (kg) for 28 species

0 5 10

02

46

8

Log Body weight (kg)

Log

Bra

in w

eigh

t (gm

)

Mountain beaver

Cow

Grey wolfGoat

Guinea pig

Dipliodocus

Asian elephant

Donkey Horse

Potar monkey

Cat

Giraffe

Gorilla

Human

African elephant

Triceratops

Rhesus monkey

Kangaroo

Golden hamster

Mouse

Rabbit

SheepJaguar

Chimpanzee

Rat

Brachiosaurus

Mole

Pig

Better!

109


Tables

110

Always label and give a caption over the table

Be aware of rules for good tables:

avoid vertical lines don’t have too many decimal places compare columns not rows


Multiple Prefix Symbol

1012 tera T

109 giga G

106 mega M

103 kilo K

10-1 deci d


1012 tera T

109 giga G

106 mega M

103 kilo K

10-1 deci d

Too busy

Better

111 Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish


1012 tera T

109 giga G

106 mega M

103 kilo K

10-1 deci d

Horizontal hard to read

Vertical easier to read

Multiple 1012

109 106 103 10-1

Prefix tera giga mega kilo deci

Symbol T G M K d

112


Busy – too many DP’s

Better

Number ofProcessors Time (secs)

1 28.35221

4 7.218812

8 3.634951

16 1.929347

Number of Processors Time (secs)

1 28.35

4 7.21

8 3.63

16 1.92113 Business Writing - Gihan Aboueleish

Technical Issues

114

Sectioning Table of Contents Spelling and Grammar Choice of word processor


Sectioning

115

Proper division of your work into sections and subsections makes the structure clear and the document easy to follow

Use styles in word/ sectioning commands in Latex

\begin{section}….\end{section}


Table of contents

116

Provides “navigation aid”

Make sure TOC agrees with main body of text

If you use styles (Word) and sectioning commands (Latex) this will happen automatically


Spelling and Grammar

117

Use a style manual/dictionary if in doubt Spell check!!!! Proofread!!!!

He meant… This technique can also be applied to the

analysis of golf balls

He typed…. This technique cam also by applies to the

analysis or gold bills


Choice of word processor

118

Word or Latex?My spin…..

Use Word for a short document with few figures and tables and little mathematics

Use Latex for a longer document with many figures and tables and lots of complicated maths.


Conclusions

119

Structure is vital

Write clearly

Good clear simple illustrations

Spell-check and proofread

Reference all material used or quoted


Elements of style: Report Structure

120

There are no “set in stone” rules for the structure of your report but most reports will include some or all of the following***

Title Page

Abstract

Introduction

Experimental Method

Theory

Experimental Results

Discussion and Conclusion

References

Appendices of raw data and calculations where appropriate.

***some sections have to be in a report


Elements of style: some key Dos and Don’ts

121

DO: include an abstract that concisely

summarises the outcome of the experiment-including numbers!

use the appropriate tense-you are reporting on an experiment that has been carried out in the past

ensure all figures have appropriate numbered captions

ensure you reference all source material appropriately (see later)

consider when words should begin with a capital letter

re-read and review your report critically before handing in for marking

DON’T:

just list instructions on how to perform the experiment

give detailed arithmetic or algebraic calculations

use jargon or undefined abbreviations

make excessive use of personal style of “I” or “we”(but we often use impersonal “we”!)

give long lists of experimental results in the main text of the report-use appendices if really necessary


Elements of style: use our template for report writing

122

Title first word starts with a capital

Jack A Surname1 and (if joint) Jill Surname2

School of Physics and Astronomy

The University of Manchester

First Year Laboratory Report

Nov 2003

This experiment was performed in collaboration with T Partnername.

Abstract


Conclusions

123

Structure is vital

Write clearly

Good clear simple illustrations

Spellcheck and proofread

Reference all material used or quoted


Assessment of reports: criteria

124

All reports are assessed according to standard criteria relating to:

Presentation and Organisation

Use of English (spelling, grammar etc.)

Use of Figures, Tables and References

Clarity and Conciseness

Physics Content

Each of these five areas is scored out of a maximum mark of 10, with a resulting total mark out of 50.

Feedback should be provided from marker. Feedback is crucial in learning the art of writing reports.

If you are unsure about something, ASK!!


Assessment of reports: criteria


Assessment: examples of real reports

126

Activity: You have been provided with two anonymous (but real!)

reports, and are requested to grade each of them using the criteria in the previous slide.

NO CONFERRING!!! You will then submit your total mark using the ‘clickers’.

We will look at the distribution of marks.



Numbering

Numbering important parts of the report helps with signposting Figure 2 shows ….

Better than the figure on page 3 shows

Things that should usually be numbered Parts, Chapters and Sections

Figures and Tables

Equations

Things that can be numbered Citations

127


Number Sections

It is easier to use signposting if you label your sections and subsections.

Dissertation or larger document Part I

Chapter 1. Section 1.1

Sub section 1.1.1

Report or shorter document Section 1

Subsection 1.1 Sub-subsection 1.1.1

Word processors can make section labelling automatic and cross-referencing semi-automatic. Learn to use those features.

Local rules often override general guidelines

128


Citations and References

Why cite at all? A rich reference list is considered evidence of wider

reading.

Critical appraisal of the references with citations in the body of the report is evidence of your understanding of the materials and how your work builds on from them.

Your cited sources provide a frame of reference against which you can evaluate your report’s contribution to human knowledge

129


Citations

Two main styles: Numeric

According to Shakespeare [1] winter’s discontent is now made glorious by “this son of York”.

“Now is our winter of discontent made glorious summer by this son of York” [1].

Symbolic According to Shakespeare [1597] winter’s discontent

is now made glorious by “this son of York”. “Now is our winter of discontent made glorious

summer by this son of York” [Shakespeare, 1597].

130


Referencing

Numeric Style[1] William Shakespeare, Richard III (Act I, Scene I), Quarto 1,

1597.+ Easy to use if references do not have to be sorted− Difficult to maintain if references need to be presented as

a sorted list.

Symbolic (Harvard) StyleShakespeare, William 1597. Richard III (Act I, Scene I),

Quarto 1.+ Easy to maintain a sorted list of references.

– More verbose when citing.

131


Referencing

Technical Report References at end of document

Poor support for “End notes” in some word processors

Different publications often have different styles

Consider use of a bibliographic database and citing tool to automate citing and formatting of references.

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Quoting Never quote documents without citing

sources. Copy-and-paste of large amounts of

text, even with quotation marks and full attribution is considered plagiarism.

If you like what someone had to say on a subject, rewrite it in your own words!

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URLs

With more of the world’s knowledge accessible via the Internet it is unrealistic to ban URLs from reference lists.

Do not rely solely on hyperlinks to present URLs A paper report will not be read on a browser! Cite them like any other resource

Cite them as you would a book or article. Use as much detail as possible:

[1] William Shakespeare, Richard III. Online at URL: http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=53 (Project Gutenberg., 2002)

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Writing a Method

You are reporting what you did so use past tense!

Do not quote from the lab script:

Wrong: “take measurements of x and

record results in your lab book” Right: “we took measurements of x and

recorded the results in our lab book”

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Don’t rewrite the instructions!

It is acceptable to refer to the instructions if you did not divert from the suggested method.

But cite the original source We performed x as suggested on

Section y (page 2) of the lab handout [2].

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Assessing the Audience

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Any piece of written material is aimed at a specific audience: Who are your readers? Professors, managers, engineers, scientists, or

technicians? What terms will you have to define? What background information will you have to include?

Why is audience reading the document? Is the document supposed to inform or to convince?

How will they read your document? Will they read it straight through like a story or will they turn to specific sections?

Based on http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/workbooks/intro.html#audience


http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/workbooks/intro.html

The audience

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Often 3 different audiences

The casual reader/big boss who wants the main message as painlessly as possible

The interested reader who wants more detail but doesn’t want to grapple with all the gory technical details

The guru who wants the whole story


What To Do?

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To address all 3 audiences effectively,

Include an abstract for the big boss

A main body for the interested non-specialist

A technical appendix for the guru

Thus, a structure emerges!


To Succeed...

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The report must be

Clear

Well structured, clear, concise, suitable for the intended audience

Professional

statistically correct, correctly spelled, produced with a decent word processor

Well illustrated

illustrations that aid understanding, integrated with text


141

Thank You


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