Writing the report I

1. Writing the report I

2. Exercise 1 • What are main purposes of an FYPR • Who are the readers of an FYPR • What major parts does an FYPR usually have? How are these parts organised?

3. Report writing • There are many different kinds of projects, and many different kinds of appropriate project reports. • The advice here is also written from the point of view of an examiner who has read many project reports in the past • Your supervisor will certainly give you valuable advice and his preferred format

4. Report is important • If you wish to secure a good mark for your project, it is absolutely essential that you write a good report. • It is the report which is marked, not the program or anything else you might have constructed during the project period. • No matter how significant your achievements, if you do not write up your work, and write it up well, you will obtain a poor mark. Ref: www.cs.york.ac.uk/projects/howtowrt.html

5. Report is important • It is essential to understand that the report will be read(?) and marked by a 3 examiners only your supervisor is familiar with the work which the report describes. Examiners are not mind-readers, and cannot give credit for work which you have done but not included in the report.

6. Knowing your readers • Before you start working on your report, you consider the kinds of audiences for whom you are going to be writing • In addition to your supervisor, it is likely that over time your project will be read by other people as well (such as students continuing your work). • It is important to consider the needs of your readers before you begin writing, and you should continue to keep them in mind as you write.

7. Expert readers • Expert readers - your supervisors • They are likely to know much more about the area that you are working on, than you do. • They do not want to have to read through unnecessary material that you have copied, or learnt by heart from a textbook. • Want evidence that you understand the key material in your field that is relevant to your project

8. Expert readers • Want to see that you can explain why it is relevant • You have to be selective in choosing your references to other people’s work, and show that you can focus on key points and summarise details whenever possible.

9. Expert readers • The reasons these ‘informed’ readers will be reading your work is to find out if you have been able to carry out an extended investigation and that you present your findings in an orderly, reasoned and analytical manner. • Be sure you use definitions and technical language to support the points you are making, not just to impress them with how much you know.

10. Uninformed readers • At least one of the panel members is not an expert in the field • Future fellow students may read your report to continue your work. • Uninformed readers will be reading for information. • Expect to find out as briefly and clearly as possible what your intentions were, if they were carried out successfully, and what the final outcome of your efforts was.

11. Uniformed readers • For these people, technical language will need to be explained, but only in condensed form. They will be no more impressed than your supervisors by lengthy accounts of unnecessary detail

12. Knowing your audience • From time to time when you are writing try to imagine some people who are likely to read your work, and consider whether they will easily be able to understand what you are saying. • You should make your work ‘reader friendly’ by making your meaning very clear and easy to follow, allowing your ideas to flow in logical progression, and including adequate signals and linking phrases.

13. Your audience • Your examiners are faced with the task of reading 5-10 project reports like yours over a short period. • The examiner will not have much idea about your project except for the title. Therefore you need to present a clear idea of what was the intention of the project, what was your contribution, what were your sources of information, and what you personally achieved • If you can achieve this, then the report has done its work regardless of how successful the project was technically.

14. A framework for the report • In writing a report it is advisable to form a framework for the report first • You may start with the formation of the titles of the chapters. Then you proceed on to decide the titles and structure of the sections within each chapter. Continuing the process, each section may be further expanded into appropriate sub-sections, divisions and sub-divisions etc., until a complete framework is formed. • If a well-structured framework can be set up, it will be relatively straightforward, to add materials around it to form your report.

15. IMRAD model • I - introduction • M - methodology • R – results • AD – and discussion • Your background theory conclusions etc should be inserted at the appropriate places

16. Frame work • If you begin by preparing an outline for your project and list the headings you are going to use, that will help you to focus directly on the details you need to include in each section. • It will also encourage you to consider what kind of information your readers will be expecting to find under each heading.

17. The structure of the report • Title • The title, in a few words, summarises the most important information on the experiment that you are reporting. • What is the key element of the work?

18. The structure of the report • Abstract • The abstract should contain a short summary, about 200 to 400 words (1-page), of the work done in the project. • Does the abstract give a clear and full picture of the report? • Remember panel members are reading your abstract and the CD!

19. The structure of the report • Acknowledgements • This is where you should acknowledge the various parties who initiated, supervised or made contributions to the project

20. The structure of the report • Table of Contents • This is a list of the contents of the project report. • Is this clear and accurate? • Refer to example

21. The structure of the report • List of Symbols • The list of symbols is not always necessary, but for reports in which many mathematical symbols are used, it is preferable to include such a list in the report.

22. The structure of the report • INTRODUCTION • For most reports the first chapter, as an introduction to the project, is necessary to introduce the reader to the background of the project. The motivation behind the project and a brief outline of the project work should be included in this introductory chapter. • What is the problem? • What was I (were we) trying to do and why?

23. The structure of the report • BACKGROUND (LITERATURE REVIEW) • An up-to-date summary of relevant and related research in your area. Basically this contains a little theory and all the previous work in the area, every statement must be supported by a reference • What is the theoretical background? • Have I defined all terms? • Are references included?

24. The structure of the report • EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES (METHODOLOGY/ EQUIPMENT/APPARATUS/) • Descriptions about the theory of the approach/methodology used and the steps taken when conducting the experiment • If you are writing a software then explain the algorithm • What information does my reader need to replicate the experiment?

25. The structure of the report • Simulation • The system design and the block diagram of the system, plus some brief descriptions on the theory. • Is it clear? • Could someone else replicate this study based on the diagrams and descriptions given?

26. The structure of the report • RESULTS (EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS) • The function of the results section is to display the full data obtained from the experiments, whether in tabular, graphic, or other form. • What did I find out?  

27. The structure of the report • DISCUSSION • In this section, the results are interpreted in terms of the ideas and theory set forth earlier. This often means that it includes: a discussion of any special circumstances on the datacollection or analysis the results and the errors • How should the reader interpret it within the context of the theoretical background above? • What were the most interesting results and why are they of interest?

28. The structure of the report • CONCLUSION • This chapter should state briefly the achievement of the project, the conclusions from the work and suggestions for further work. • This section is meant to convey to the reader your opinion as to the nature and the significance of the results obtained. • What is the main point that the reader should know?

29. The structure of the report • Appendixes • Materials which are closely related to the contents of the report, and which are themselves self-contained, may be included in the report as appendixes. While data sheets should normally not be included, detailed references to data sheets should be included to enable the reader to find them. • Sometimes, the source program is included • Is the information presented clearly?

30. The structure of the report • REFERENCES • This is a list of the references referred to in the report. There is a particular format that the reference list should follow. • Have I included all the references? • Are they correctly formatted?

31. How to write well • Many students appear not to realize how difficult it is to write well. • Any type of writing is difficult, but technical writing is particularly hard • Help is available in English Learning Centre • Reference: • Robert Barrass, ``Scientists Must Write'', E & Fn Spon (sic) (1982)

32. Precision • You must strive first to be absolutely precise. • When you write, it is not sufficient that you know what you mean; • What you write must not be capable of misinterpretation. • Take exceptional care to choose the right word for the occasion. • Do not, for example, write ``optimum'' if you mean ``good''. ``Approximate'' means ``close'', so ``very approximate'' means ``very close'‘ • What is “the result is good” • The error is small or the error is acceptable

33. Precision?

34. Vigour (活潑地; 果斷的 ) • Prefer short sentences to long sentences. • Prefer short words to long words, provided that the short word has the meaning you need • Passive voice ? • “a program was written ...'' rather than ``I wrote a program ...''. Many of your examiners might share this preference for, or prejudice in favour of, the passive voice, but this style is passing out of favour in all technical writing?

35. Vigour • Use of “royal we” ? • (``we wrote a program'' when you mean ``I wrote a program'') • By adding three and five, we obtain eight.

36. Spelling and grammar • Poor spelling is a distraction to the proficient reader. There is very little excuse nowadays for spelling errors; there are many excellent spell-checker programs which make a good job of finding the errors for you • Be especially careful with words whose common misspelling is a correct spelling of a different word • For example: form/from; with/will

37. Illustrations • Your report should generally contain illustrations (figures or diagrams), but they must be relevant. Ask yourself if the illustration helps the reader to understand the text. • If the text is readily comprehensible without the illustration, delete the illustration. If it is not, it is usually better to make the text clearer than to add a diagram. • All illustrations should be prepared by an appropriate program, such as visio,pic, xfig or grap. • If possible, include figures close to the text which refers to them, rather than all together in an appendix. • It is normal to list tables and figures at the beginning of the report, after the table of contents.

38. Good illustration?

39. Introduction • Establish a context • Justify the research • Orient your readers to the purpose and the structure of the report

40. Introduction • Establishing a field/area of research • By showing that the research area is important, interesting, or topical • By reviewing or summarising previous research in this area

41. Introduction • Establishing a research gap • By indicating a gap in the previous research, pointing out a problem or bringing forward a question • Occupying the research gap • By stating the purposes of the present research • By outlining the structure of the FYPR • By indicating the value of the research (optional)

42. Introduction • Part 1 begins with more general statements about an area of research or a current situation • Part 2 moves to more specific statements about certain problems and specific gap in previous research • Part 3 is very specific in pointing out the aims and outlines of the FYPR

43. Exercise • Identify the three structures • What verbs are used to state the aim or objectives of a research

44. Background/ literature review • What is the purpose of this section? • it established an area/background of research and/or provides justification for your research • It summarizes, comments on and draws conclusions about existing knowledge (to demonstrate your awareness of previous research in the area; to show that your project is linked to existing research activities recognized by your research community, i.e. your supervisor and professional in your field.)

45. Literature review • For function (1), a brief summary of previous research) should be placed in Parts 1 and 2 of the introductory chapter • For function (2), it is a chapter in itself and is usually placed after the introductory chapter. For some types of projects such as an experimental research project, you may not even need to have a “literature review” chapter

46. Exercise • Identify the sentences in which the writer cites other authors • The writer uses two different ways to cite other authors. What are they?

47. Citations • Why do we reference other authors/research? • Explain what others have contributed in terms of knowledge about the field of your research. • You must acknowledge others who are the sources of this information. • You can indicate in the way you reference their work, the extent to which you agree with the ideas you are reporting. In other words you take a stance or a position on the research and knowledge you are reporting.

48. Citation • Two types of citation focus • Information prominent (non-integral) • Example • This has led to the increase of … (Chan, 1997) • Chose to focuse on the information provided by the author • Sentence is followed by the author’s surname and year of publication of the cited work in bracket • Commonly used to refer to research in the general area of your study

49. Citation • Author prominent tends to be used to refer to studies more closely related to your own • Example • Wong (1997) argues that …

50. Reporting verbs • When we cite others’ work, we can use one of a number of ‘reporting’ verbs • X claims that Y is the case • X suggests that Y is the case • X argues that …. • X reports that….. • X presents the case that …. • X shows/indicates/ points out that…