producing technical reports ©feb 2003 dr. bradley c. paul
TRANSCRIPT
Producing Technical Reports
©Feb 2003 Dr. Bradley C. Paul
General Writing Characteristics Reports are written in 3rd person
First person is “I did” Second person is “We, He, You” Third person says what was done without
personal identification Reports follow a hard topical outline Presentation Language is Technical –
few figurative or analogy embellishments like in a novel
No figures of speech or common “talking” structures
Over-All it is very boring and dry
Technical Writing has a Focused Objective and Audience
Often Executive Summary will be focused on a different type of individual Focused to a somewhat engineering void, big
picture or money planning busy CEO Technical Discussion focused more to
engineering reviewers Some sections may be to give community, safety
or environmental people ammo to work with in defending project
The Unspoken Truth Project Reports are Sales Brochures You are trying to sell an action, outcome or
conclusion Advertising people or political spin Dr’s make
wild claims or slant everything to advantage Engineers try to show that with their plan
concerns are met and a technically defensible result is reached It is not just a data dump If the project is a dog then you sell that you
have studied this every way within the scope of your study and it won’t work.
Focused and Objective Depth of Coverage
Technical writing attempts to provide enough information to reproduce or check the result Common Sr. Design Problem
Would have to redo the design to figure out how someone came up with such a thing
You must provide your design in enough detail for another engineer to review without redoing any work
Concise is a virtue Objective is to hit required depth in as few a
lines as possible One reasons language is not flowery
Flow vs. Detail Projects are often big and involve in depth
thought by teams of individuals Need to provide enough detail to check or
reproduce the work Need to bring reader up to speed so that details
make sense in a big picture Solutions
Outlines – Put big picture overview sections up front – detail sections follow
Use Appendices for support documents that interrupt the flow
Big Structure Outlines Most Over-all Outlines are Industry
Standard Outline for Corporate Studies/ Permits/
Government Reports Outline for Thesis/Dissertation in Academia Outline for Book Outline for Symposium Proceedings Outline for Journal Articles
Each type provides variations for those in charge of project
The Corporate Study Outline Executive Summary (at or near 1rst
position) Impress the CEO with a nice report that he will
never have time to read and usually couldn't understand if he did
Placed near the front or even at the front ? – So he/she will not get pissed-off trying to fish
through a big report trying to find the overview ? – Because big managers are too out of tune
and stupid to think through anything in depth ?- Out of respect for the time commitments of
your CEO and desire to provide a nice saleable project
More Corporate Outline Guide Tables
Almost Always a Table of Contents Often a List of Figures Sometimes a list of symbols and
meanings This might get put at the back of the report
along with a glossary, unit conversion, standard pressure or condition tables
Guide Tables may both precede or follow an Executive Summary
More Corporate Outline
Early Technical Sections Target is to bring technical reviewers up
to speed with what the document covers Exact early sections will vary with
corporate format, and depth and scope of project A document that reviews many alternatives
may have sections not needed for a report on a dike extension for a tailings pond
Common Early Sections Very Often First Section is a Statement of
Purpose or Background Section states why this study came to be done in
the first place Bring reader up to speed with the “why are we
doing this” question May have a Scope Section
Could be stand-alone or as part of background section
States what was reviewed or done in the study Some studies will list alternatives considered May define limits of project (where does the
tailings dam project begin and end)
More Early Sections
Results or Project Overview Sections Try to present over-all project and result May take on different forms if study
screened alternatives vs. presented a single design
May need to eliminate alternatives and narrow to one choice
Section will get to presenting the idea or project you ultimately wish to sell
Getting to the Idea You Will Sell The Section/Sections will try to Present a
big picture view of the project and either subtly or explicitly try to sell (or favorably bait the viewpoint) at the same time Project issues will normally tell you what it takes
to “sell” the project Environmental projects may sell on regs or
community interest, or environmental objective For profit projects may sell on investment
results and return
Overview and Sales Pitch Illustration of a Mine Project
May have a Project Overview Section Explains the mine plan, products produced Usually will not go into issues, but may set
them up for later technical discussions (and even contain references to later sections)
Objective is good flow and first impression Getting into issues raises doubts before people
fall in love with your project Sales pitch line here if Economic Analysis
Summary
Example of Early Sections Executive Summary Table of Contents + List of Drawings Project Motivation
Why project undertaken Project Scope
What alternatives were reviewed to what extent
Proposed Action Economics of Proposed Action
The Middle Sections Technical Details
Usually broken down according to project needs Sometimes these may be technical areas of
concern Example – Environmental Impact
Community effects Archeological Artifacts Wildlife Habitat Water Quality Air Quality
More Technical Details May Breakdown Sections by Operations (or cost centers) May Breakdown by Sequence in Which Things are Done May Breakdown by Team or Specialty Divisions May have combination
Example On Site Loading Operations Transportation and Transloading Community Exposure and Risk Mine Site Space Volumes Available Mine Site Offloading In Mine Materials Handling In Mine Placement Sequences Mine Ventilation Plans Mine Worker Exposure Issues
Thought on Technical Details Technical Details Sections should be carefully thought
Section break-downs need to address areas of reader concern Production Engineers may want to see operations or
cost center break-downs Sales people may want to see that operation has good
infrastructure and market outlets and produces sensible products
Accountants/CEO’s Personnel managers may want to see that the area has the resources to support the operation
Environmental People may want to see that environmental impacts are reasonable and contained
Technical Details Meet Needs Sections need to address
Availability of Resources to Execute Plan Ability to Safely and Environmentally Execute
the Plan Ability of the Plan to Meet a Market or Other
Need What the Heck is the Plan
What goes first can very May need to allay fears or define resources
before you can layout the plan May need to layout the plan in order to show
that environmental or safety needs are met without having to repeat
Flow of Logic Considerations Technical Writing is Concise
Want to avoid repeating Careful thought will suggest what things people
already need to understand Example – Mining Plan may be hard to
understand without knowing what resources are available Probably have a section on minable resources before
the mine sequence section Many Technical Sections are led out with
discussions of natural and community and market outlet resources available so people will understand what technical mine plan has to work with
Ending Sections May or May not have a Summary at End of
Technical Middle Part May or May not have Glossary, Standard
Technical Parameters Tables (ie air pressure tables or materials density tables) Bibliography, List of Symbols (could also have gone at front) Bibliography Debate
Sources used should be faithfully cited Do you put them in each section or at the end
of the total report (can be done either way)
More Ending Sections Appendices
Main report was charged to flow well and yet provide enough detail for work to be checked or reproduced (in project proposal usually to check work – science articles normally ones want to allow reproduction of result)
Dilemma If stop in the middle of a discussion of
ventilation to show headloss and splitting calculations you will loose your reader in math details before he knows why he cares
Appendix is a solution to the checkable detail vs. workable flow problem
The Wrong Way to Do an Appendix
Write a general description of ventilations system and important results Refer reader to appendix for details
Put a map, an io file for a computer program and a program output as a bunch of loose pages in the appendix Very common to see in Sr. Design projects
What is all this crap in the appendix and how does it tell me anything about the text? What did the guy even do?
The Right Way to Do an Appendix
In the Main Text Explain your ventilation system. Tell people how you worked to get the
result. Refer them to the appendix for details. Tell them what the result is. Explain how this result relates to the
over-all mine design, needs, or problems.
More Right Way to Do an Appendix In the Appendix
Appendix becomes a mini-report Explain what the appendix will show and identify the text
section supported Explain how each calculation was set up in terms of the
project Explain what it will do Show the actual calculation or a specimen of typical calculation done
multiple times Show input Show output
Summarize the results of the work May end up doing this for more than one program or
method Note that an Appendix may have divisions in it just like a
the report
Appendices
Usually many technical sections Often a good idea to match
appendices to specific technical sections Usually will result in multiple appendices
as opposed to one appendix with subdivisions
Drawings Sr. Design Projects Often have large drawings
Usually a good idea to put large drawings in plastic sleeves Can be in a section after or before the appendices Can be called an appendix Can put different drawings in individual appendices Can put drawing folders at the end of technical sections in the main
report Can put a mini-drawing in report text and big one with details in one of other places
Placement of Drawings is often dictated by Whether they are referenced by more than one technical
discussion Whether they support an appendix detail or a main text
thought Whether there are so many main text support drawings
that they would make the main text awkward to physically handle and need to be put in a collection at the end
What your boss says to do
Overview Early Sections
Executive Summary Guide Tables Why project undertaken Project Scope Proposed Action Economics of Proposed Action
Middle Technical Sections Usually some resource and/or market definition sections Cost Centers or Sequences Addressing of concerns
Ending Sections Summaries Bibliographies Technical Tables/ symbols lists ect Appendices Drawings
Assignment
Create an Outline for Your Sr. Design Project Presentation
You may submit your own work or meet together as a single or subgroup to do the work Group work must identify all participants
to be given credit for the work