Bài giảng Technical writing and presentation - Chương 12: Writing technical reports/theses

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Contents

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC BÁCH KHOA HÀ NỘI

HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

° Differences between a Report and a

Thesis

Technical Writing and Presentation

Writing Technical Reports/Theses

° Writing a technical report

° Writing a thesis

° Maping your ideas to text

° Paragraphs

SOICT - 2020

Technical Writing and Presentation

2

1

2

Differences between a Report and a Thesis

Genre (style) of Technical Report

° A thesis is often produced in order

° Reports describe a

simple format used to

present data and

to obtain a higher academic

degree.

° A technical report is a formal report

designed to convey technical information

in a clear and easily accessible format

° A thesis is evidence of the

candidate’s capacity to carry out

independent research, to analyze

and communicate the significant

results of the work.

analyses, and then to

come to some conclusion

about that data, including

recommendations if

appropriate

° It is divided into sections which allow

different readers to access different levels

of information.

° A thesis is a public document that

may be read by many people

° A report is written for

several people who know

the topic very well

° Generally the thesis represents a

work of greater depth and

academic inclination

° Length of 60-120 pages is typical of

a thesis, while a report is roughly

half as many pages.

Technical Writing and Presentation

3

Technical Writing and Presentation

4

3

4

1

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Structure of a technical report

Details of components

° Title page

° Summary

° Contents

° Introduction

° Body of the report

° Conclusions

° References

° Title page: The page includes the title of

the report.

° Summary: includes important features,

results and conclusions

° Contents: Numbers and lists all section

and subsection headings with page

numbers

° Bibliography

° Acknowledgements

° Appendixes (if appropriate)

Technical Writing and Presentation

5

Technical Writing and Presentation

6

5

6

Details of components

° References: Details of published sources of

° Introduction : The objectives of the report

and comments on the way the topic of the

report is to be treated.

° The sections which make up the body of

the report:

material referred to or quoted in the text

° Bibliography: Other published sources of material,

not referred to in the text but useful for

background or further reading.

° Acknowledgements: List of people who helped

you research or prepare the report,

° Divided into numbered and headed sections.

° Appendices: further materials which are essential

for full understanding of your report (e.g. large

scale diagrams, computer code, raw data,

specifications) but not required by a casual

reader. Only comprehensive technical reports,

such as some theses, have a bibliography.

° Separate the different main ideas in a logical

order

° Conclusions: A short, logical summing up

of the theme(s) developed in the main text

Technical Writing and Presentation

7

Technical Writing and Presentation

8

7

8

2

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Planning the report

Writing the first draft

° Who is going to read the report? The answer will

affect the content and technical level, and is a

major consideration in the level of detail required

in the introduction.

° Collect your information: laboratory handouts,

lecture notes, the reference books and journals

° Creative phase of planning.

° Write down topics and ideas from your researched

material in random order.

° Arrange them into logical groups.

° Keep note of topics that do not fit into groups in case

they come in useful later.

° Put the groups into a logical sequence which covers

the topic of your report.

° Begin writing with the main text, not the

introduction

° Make rough sketches of diagrams or graphs.

° Keep a numbered list of references as they are

included in your writing and put any quoted

material inside quotation marks

° Write the Conclusion next, followed by the

Introduction. Do not write the Summary at this

stage.

° Structuring the report: Using your logical sequence

of grouped ideas, write out a rough outline of the

report with headings and subheadings.

Technical Writing and Presentation

9

Technical Writing and Presentation

10

9

10

Revising the first draft

Finalizing the report and proofreading

° The essence of a successful technical report

lies in how accurately and concisely it

conveys the intended information to the

intended readership

° Your report should now be nearly

complete

° an introduction, main text in sections,

conclusions, properly formatted

references and bibliography and any

appendixes are completed.

° Ask yourself these questions;

° Does that sentence/paragraph/section say what I

want and mean it to say?

If not, write it in a different way.

° It is the time to add the page numbers,

contents and title pages and write the

summary.

° Are there any words/sentences/paragraphs

which could be removed without affecting the

information which I am trying to convey?

If so, remove them.

Technical Writing and Presentation

11

Technical Writing and Presentation

12

11

12

3

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

The Summary

Proofreading

° Check every aspect of a piece of written work

° The summary, with the title,

from the content to the layout

° indicate the scope of the report and give the

° Never send or submit any piece of written

work, from email to course work, without

proofreading.

main results and conclusions.

° must be intelligible without the rest of the report,

because many people may read, and refer to, a

report summary but only a few read the full report

° Before stapling your report, you must check it

very carefully yourself.

° Purpose - a short version of the report and a

° Give your report to someone else to read

carefully and check for any errors in content,

style, structure and layout.

guide to the report.

° Length - short, typically not more than 100-300

words

° Do not forget to record the name of the

° Content - provide information, not just a

description of the report.

proofreader in your acknowledgements.

Technical Writing and Presentation

13

Technical Writing and Presentation

14

13

14

Word processing / desktop publishing

Tips

Advantages

Disadvantages

° Do not bother with style and formatting of

a document until the penultimate or final

draft.

Word processing and desktop publishing

packages offer great scope for endless

revision of a document. This includes

words, word order, style and layout.

Word processing and desktop publishing

packages never make up for poor or

inaccurate content

They can waste a lot of time by slowing

down writing and distracting the writer

with the mechanics of text and graphics

manipulation.

They allow for the incremental production

of a long document in portions which are

stored and combined later

° Do not try to get graphics finalised until

the text content is complete.

They can be used to make a document look Excessive use of 'cut and paste' leads to

stylish and professional.

tedious repetition and sloppy writing.

If the first draft is word processed, it can

They make the process of proofreading and look so stylish that the writer is fooled into

revision extremely straightforward

thinking that it does not need

proofreading and revision!

15

Technical Writing and Presentation

16

15

16

4

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Front Matter

Cover and Label

° Cover*

° A cover is used if the report is over 10

° Label*

pages long

° Title Page

° Abstract

° A label is placed on the cover to identify

° Report tittlr and subtitle (if a subtitle is

° Table of Contents

appropriate)

° List of Figures and Tables

° Author’s name

° Publisher

° Date of publication

* May be an optional element

Technical Writing and Presentation

17

Technical Writing and Presentation

18

17

18

Title page

Select a title

° The title page duplicates the information

found on the front cover ( if the cover is

used)

° Think about the reader’s first impression.

° Include important and distinguishing key

words, for example the words that

° The title page also provides descriptive

information that is used by organizations

that provide access to information

resources.

somebody will use in a literature search.

° Leave out any words that are not

essential. Avoid meaningless expressions

or longwinded descriptions. Every word

must count.

Technical Writing and Presentation

19

Technical Writing and Presentation

20

19

20

5

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Abstract

° An abstract is a short summary that

provides an overview of the purpose,

scope and findings contained in the

report.

° no more than 200 words

° provides an “in a nutshell” description

without providing underlying details

° contains no undefined symbol,

° Purpose: identifies the issue, need or

abbreviations, acronyms

reason for the investigation

° makes no reference by number to any

° Scope: review the main points, extent and

limits of the investigation

references or illustrative material

° Findings: includes condensed conclusions

and recommendations

Technical Writing and Presentation

21

Technical Writing and Presentation

22

21

22

Abstract

Table of Contents

° Provides no background information.

° numbers and lists all section and

subsection headings with page numbers

° Every word is important. Limit the use of

words that do not convey important

information to a minimum

° list the title and the beginning page

number of each major section within the

report (excluding the title page and the

table of contents)

° The abstract is usually the last part of the

report to be written.

° Include in the abstract the keywords that

someone may use to search for the

report in a literature database.

Technical Writing and Presentation

23

Technical Writing and Presentation

24

23

24

6

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

List of Tables and Figures*

° A list of figures and tables helps the reader to

locate illustrations, drawings, photographs,

graphs, charts, and tables of information

contained in the report.

° A figure is any drawing, photograph or chart is

used to explain and supportthe technical

information in the text

° A table is an arrangement of

detailed facts or statistics that are

arranged in a row and column

format

° The table number and tittle

° The figure number and title will appear below the

image

appear above the table

° Refer to a figure or table within the text and place

the image close to the reference

*May be an optional element

Technical Writing and Presentation

25

Technical Writing and Presentation

26

25

26

Text

° The text is the part of technical report in

° Summary

which the author

° describes the methods, assumptions, and

° Introduction

° Methods, assumption and procedures

° Results and discussion

° Conclusion

procedures

° present and discusses the results

° draws conclusions

° Recommendation

° recommend actions based on the results

° References

Technical Writing and Presentation

27

Technical Writing and Presentation

28

27

28

7

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Summary

Introduction

° The Introduction prepares the reader to read

° Includes important features of the report

the main body of the report.

° States the problem, method of investigation

° This page focuses on the subject, purpose,

conclusions, and recommendations

and scope of the report

° Subject: defines the topic and associated

terminology; may include theory, historical

background, and its significance

° Contains no new info that is not contained

in the report

° Purpose: indicates the reason for the

° Does not contain references

investigation

° Scope: indicates the extent and limits of the

investigation

Technical Writing and Presentation

29

Technical Writing and Presentation

30

29

30

Methods, Assumptions, Procedures

° The methods, assumptions, and procedures

used in the investigation are described so the

reader could duplicate the procedures of the

investigation. Information in this section

includes:

° Methods: How did you discover the

problem? What measuring tools were

used? What measurement system was

used?

° System of measurement

° Types of equipment used and accuracy

° Test methods used

° Assumptions: What do you think, but

cannot substantiate as fact?

° The sections which make up the body of the

report:

° Procedures: How did you gain a better

understanding of the problem?

° Divided into numbered and headed sections.

° Separate the different main ideas in a logical order

Technical Writing and Presentation

31

Technical Writing and Presentation

32

31

32

8

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Results and Discussion

Conclusions

° A short, logical summing up of the

theme(s) developed in the main text

° Restatement of Results

° The results and discussion section

describes what you learned about the problem

as a result of your research, identifies the

degree of accuracy related to your findings,

and gives the reader your view of the

significance of your findings.

° What are the factual findings that resulted

from your research?

° What are you implying as a result of these

findings?

° Results What did you learn about the problem

through your research?

° Concluding Remarks

° Discussion How accurate are your findings?

What is the significance of the results of the

research?

° What are your opinions based on the findings

and results?

Technical Writing and Presentation

33

Technical Writing and Presentation

34

33

34

Recommendations*

References

° A section called recommendations is often

included in reports that are the result of tests and

experiments, field trials, specific design problems,

and feasibility studies.

° The author may recommend additional areas of

study and suggest a course of action, such as

pursuing an alternate design approach

° The references section is the place where

the author cites all of the secondary

research sources* that were used to...

° develop an understanding of the problem

° support the information contained in the

report

° Additional Studies Is there information that still

needs to be learned?

° Suggested Actions What does the author want

the reader to do with the information?

*May be an optional element

Technical Writing and Presentation

35

Technical Writing and Presentation

36

35

36

9

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Back Matter

Appendixes*

° Anything that cannot be left out of a report, but is

too large for the main part of the report and would

serve to distract or interrupt the flow belongs in

the appendixes .For example:

° The back matter supplements and clarifies

the body of the report, makes the body

easier to understand, and shows where

additional information can be found.

° The back matter may includes

° Appendixes*

° Large tables of data Flowcharts

° Mathematical analysis

° Large illustrations

° Detailed explanations and descriptions of test

° Bibliography*

techniques and apparatus

° List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms

Glossary*

° Technical drawings

° Index*

° Distribution List*

*Mav be an optional element

Technical Writing and Presentation

37

Technical Writing and Presentation

38

37

38

List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms*

Parts of a thesis

° If more than five symbols , abbreviations ,

or acronyms are used in the report, they are

to be listed with their explanation.

° Abstract

° Introduction

° Main chapters

° Conclusions

° References

° Appendixes

*Mav be an optional element

Technical Writing and Presentation

39

Technical Writing and Presentation

40

39

40

10

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Examples of theses

Example1: a new application or method

° The new application (a program) is in central

° A new application or method

° Literature review

role.

° It has to be related to the existing research

and evaluated.

° Suitablity of existing approaches to a new

° Introduction: the problem

° Background theory and main concepts

problem

° Related research (other existing solutions to the

same or similar problems)

° Your own application

° Evaluation: comparison to other methods, empirical

tests, or theoretical analysis

° Conclusions

Technical Writing and Presentation

41

Technical Writing and Presentation

42

41

42

Example 2: Literature review

Ex3: Suitablity of existing approaches to a new problem

° Introduction

° Main concepts

° The new problem + criteria for an ideal

solution method

° Approaches + their analysis (2-3

chapters)

° Potential solution methods + analysis of

their suitability (2-3 chapters)

° Or a chapter for comparison and analysis

of all approaches

° Possibly discussion (comparison, new

solution ideas)

° Conclusions

Technical Writing and Presentation

43

Technical Writing and Presentation

44

43

44

11

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Abstract

Introduction

° Tells compactly the research problem,

° Define the problem clearly

methods and results.

° Give suffiecient background information

° At most 1 page, no literature references.

° Key words.

for the following chapters.

° What is the purpose of the research? Main

research questions?

° What is the scope? Indicate explicitly all

limitations and restricting assumptions!

• Why the topic is important or interesting?

• What methods are used?

Technical Writing and Presentation

45

Technical Writing and Presentation

46

45

46

Introduction (continued)

Conclusions

° Just 1-2 pages!

° Briefly references to related research (just

the main references – more

• Summarize the main results in a general

level.

references in chapter ”Related research”

or throughout the thesis)

• Tell what was your own conctribution and

what was based on other

sources.

• Possibly also critics (e.g. limitations),

alternative approaches, topics for

future research.

• No more new results and seldomly any

references (at most for alterantive,

unmentioned approaches)

° Emphasize your own contribution: what is

original or new?

Technical Writing and Presentation

47

Technical Writing and Presentation

48

47

48

12

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Appendixes

Process of thesis writing

° Reading literature

° Additional material which is relevant to the

research and is referred in the text.

° Planning

° No chapter numbers, but enumerate the

° To get started

appendixes (Appendix A, Appendix B,...).

° If you have only one appendix, then just

“Appendix”.

Technical Writing and Presentation

49

Technical Writing and Presentation

50

49

50

Reading literature

Planning

° Try to find the most relevant articles.

° To get a wider perspective, search papers by

° Begin by brainstorming. Draw concept maps.

Discuss with your friends or supervisors.

different authors/research groups.

° Write down all ideas which come into your mind.

° If there are several approaches to solve or study

the problem,try to study something from all of

them.

° Collect literature and scan through it. Select the

most important sources.

° Try to write the disposition as early as possible.

Process it with your supervisor until it looks good

(logical structure and order).

° Use several digital libraries or bibliographies for

searching – one collection may be biased.

° Plan how much time you can spend for studying

literature! In some point you have to stop

collecting new material and begin to write.

° List the main research problems (in the form of

questions) and write the introductory paragraphs

for the chapters

Technical Writing and Presentation

51

Technical Writing and Presentation

52

51

52

13

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

To get started

° Begin to write immediately, when your disposition is

° Arrange a comfortable working place.

Reserve time for writing every day. Try to

make writing a routine for you!

finished.

° Write down ideas when they come – even in the

middle of night

° Set deadlines. Preferably fix them with your

° Invent good examples and write them down

supervisor – it is always more effective.

° If some part is difficult to write, beging from an easier

° Work together with your friends. You can set

the deadlines, discuss your topics, and read

each other’s texts. After good work you can

reward yourself by doing something fun.

one.

° Write the difficult parts, when you are in a good

working mood.

° Draw figures which describe the some method or

model and write a description.

° Imagine that you are writing to your friend

° Try to divide the problem or phenomenon into

about your research topic!

subproblems or parts and describe them separately.

° Summarize articles you have read.

° Collect main concepts and write definitions for them.

Fix the notations.

Technical Writing and Presentation

53

Technical Writing and Presentation

54

53

54

How to write the beginning of chapters?

Revising

° Look at the opening sentences of similar compositions

° First of all, admit that the first draft(s) is

by other people

not perfect! Ask criticts and respect it.

° Possibly beginnings are

° a summary,

° If possible, ask at least two people to read

your thesis. Preferably one who is an

° a statement of the problem,

° a hypothesis,

° necessary and interesting background information,

° a new idea,

expert on the subject, and one who is not.

° an accepted procedure (then explain advantages of

° Have a break when your work is finished.

At least, sleep one night before revising

the text yourself

another procedure), ...

° Don’t spend too much time trying to find an effective

beginning – you can always modify it afterwards.

° Go straight to the point and, if possible, refer to

things that you expect your readers to know (vs.

contructivism)

Technical Writing and Presentation

55

Technical Writing and Presentation

56

55

56

14

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Technical hints

Technical terms

° Read text aloud and check if it sounds

° If there is no widely accepted definition

well

then

1. Tell whose definition you follow and give this

definition with reference,

or

° Check all references. Especially, are

names correctly spelled?

° Save old versions, you may need them

2. Give a definition yourself and tell that in this

work the term is defined as given.

afterwards

° Technical terms must be defined clearly

and then used with accuracy and

precision

Technical Writing and Presentation

57

Technical Writing and Presentation

58

57

58

Symbols

Equations

° Don’t use the same symbol for different things!

° Use indexes in a uniform manner.

° If some special notation is widely used in

literature, follow it.

° If different sources use different notations,

° Avoid listing mathematical equations!

° Try to integrate equations into sentences

so that the results is readable.

° Do not replace words by mathematical

symbols (e.g. ∀) in the text

harmonize them

° Do not use Greek letters if there is no reason.

If there is a danger of confusion, then Greek

letters are justified.

Technical Writing and Presentation

59

Technical Writing and Presentation

60

59

60

15

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Map your ideas to text

Instructions

1. Organize your ideas in a hierarchical manner, as a

° Writing w is a mapping from a set of ideas

I to a set of scientific texts S, w : I → S.

tree of ideas t (”minimal spanning tree” of idea graph)

2. Write the tree t as text such that

° The root node of t corresponds to your topic (title)

° Its children correspond to chapters

° Problem: Given a set of ideas i ∈ I,

produce f(i) ∈ S

° Their children and grand-children correspond to sections

and subsections

°

Leaf nodes correspond to paragraphs (actual text)

Technical Writing and Presentation

61

Technical Writing and Presentation

62

61

62

Writing tree t

Properties of a good tree t

° t is balanced: all paths from the root to a leaf are

approximately of

° Each node n ∈ t contains three fields:

equal length, usually ≤ 4 or at most ≤ 5

° title(n): the main title or the name of the chapter,

section or subsection. In leaf nodes

(paragraphs) NULL

° Each node in t has a reasonable number of children k:

k ≤ 2 and

typically k ≤ 7 (in maximum k = 10)

° For all leaf nodes n, the sizes of content(n) are

balanced: each paragraph contains at least two

sentences, but is not too long (e.g. ≤ 7 or ≤ 10

sentences)

° children(n): n’s children (chapters, sections or

subsections). In leaf

node NULL.

° For all non-leaf nodes m, the sizes of content(m) are

° content(n): description of the idea in n. In non-

leaf nodes very brief, in leaf nodes longer.

balanced.

° Exceptionally, in introduction, you can use more than

one paragraph.

Technical Writing and Presentation

63

Technical Writing and Presentation

64

63

64

16

Technical Writing and Presentation

2016

Alg. 1 WriteTree(t)

Paragraphs

Input: tree of ideas t

Output: scientific text s

1 begin

° Helps the reader: tells what the paragraph

is about.

2

Write title(n)

3

if (n is not leaf node)

° Helps the writer: forces you to organize

4

begin

the material logically.

Writing an introductory paragraph:

5

Write content(n)

° In an ideal case, you get a summary of

the whole section by reading the topic

sentences.

° If you cannot write a clear topic sentence,

ask yourself whether the paragraph is

needed at all!

6

for all u = child(n)

Write title(u)

7

8

for all u = child(n)

WriteTree(u)

9

10

end

11

else

Writing a main paragraph:

12

13 end

Write content(n)

Technical Writing and Presentation

65

Technical Writing and Presentation

66

65

66

Combining sentences in a paragraph

Dividing a section into paragraphs

1. Use (but do not overuse!) conjunctions or transitional

words:

° Logically structured disposition (topic outline) is the

most important thing in writing

• Time links, when you describe a process: then, next, first-secondthird,

while, ...

° An iterative process:

• Cause-effect links, when you describe reasons or results: therefore,

as a result, thus, ...•

Addition links, when you add points: in addition, moreover, similarly, ...

• Contrast links, when you describe two sides of one thing: however,

despite (=inspite of sg), ...

1. The main structure of the whole thesis: the main

chapters and their contents in a couple of sentences

or key words. The order of chapters.

2. For each chapter (or an article), the main sections +

key words, introductory sentences or phrases. The

order of sections.

3. In each section, the subsections or paragraphs. The

introductory sentences, key words, and the order of

paragraphs. List the related tables and figures.

Other: For example,...

2. Link the beginning of a sentence to the end of the

previous sentence.

E.g. the subject of sentence 2 is the object of sentence 1.

”A model consists of a model structure and model parameters. The

model structure defines...”

3. Repeat the key terms througout the paragraph. However,

do not repeat the same word twice in one sentence.

Technical Writing and Presentation

67

Technical Writing and Presentation

68

67

68

17

Bài giảng Technical writing and presentation - Chương 12: Writing technical reports/theses - Vũ Văn Thiệu