How to Write a Report

1. How to Write a Report Eng. Yasser Abuauf

2. Contents • How to get data? • Structure • Figures and Tables • Spelling and grammar • Conclusions

3. The purpose.... • The report exists to provide the reader with useful information • Research • Results of an experiment • It succeeds if it effectively communicates the information to the intended audience • It fails otherwise!!

4. Getting data • There are 2 main sources: • Internet • Books • Searching for data needs patience • Wikipedia helps you, it is not the report • Don’t stick to the same searching words

5. Structure: details A good report has the following parts • Title • Table of Contents • Abstract • Introduction • Main sections • Conclusions • References • Technical appendix

6. Title Should be informative Good • Buoyancy Force (punchy) • Drag Force: how to test, where to test (dramatic, informative) Bad • Some factors that have effect on the forces acting on a moving object in a fluid flow (boring, vague) • Performing round off analyses of statistical algorithms (boring, vague غامض ) • Left & Drag (wrong spelling)

7. Table of Contents • Shows the structure of the document and lets the reader navigate through the sections • Include for documents more than a few pages long.

8. Abstract 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

9. The Introduction • You should inform your reader of the background to your investigation. • Outline the approach • Describe the contents of the rest of the report • in Section 2 we ... • in Section 3 we ...

10. Further sections • Describe • Data • Methods • Analyses • Divide up into sections, subsections • Numbering is very important for sections and subsections

11. Conclusions • Summarize what has been discovered • Repeat the question • Give the answer

12. Appendix • 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

13. References • Always give a reference to other related work or facts that you quote • Never pass off the work of others as your own – this is a very big crime!!

14. Writing clearly • Structure alone is not enough for clarity – you must also write clear sentences. • Rules: • Write complete short sentences • Use one theme • If a sentence contains maths, it still must make sense! • Use no more than 4 fonts. • Use no more than 4 colors.

15. Figures • Always label and give a caption under the figure • Be aware of good graphics principles: avoid • unlabelled axes • broken axes • Misleading scales

16. Tables • 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

17. Too busy Better

18. Busy – too many DP’s Better

19. Spelling and Grammar • Use a 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

20. Conclusions • Structure is vital • Write clearly • Good clear simple illustrations • Spellcheck and proofread • Reference all material used or quoted

21. Reference How to write a good report by Alan Lee

22. Thank You