Module 001 Introduction to Technical Writing and Reporting PDF

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Unit One:

Introduction to Technical Writing and Reporting

Introduction “The present world has astonished us with its new development. From the nuclear weapons to space age, man has made enormous strides in technology. With the everincreasing complex demands of modern society, expanded economic and technical advancements and progress have created the indispensable need for technical writers. Skill in writing technical reports is an invaluable asset not only in college but also in the professions. As the country’ industrialization program grows space, skill in this type of writing will be a highly vital personal asset, not only in business and industry, but also in science and technology as well as the in the government service. For instance, engineers submit reports on the progress of their projects they are undertaking to their superiors. Architects attach explanations with their design plans for the information to their stockholders. So, to be an effective professional, one should have enough knowledge on making technical reports, for him to communicate with his superior.” (Manalo, 2008)

Objectives At the end of this module, you should be able to: 1. Define technical writing and discuss the characteristics. 2. Distinguish technical writing in terms of the following criteria: a. Purpose b. Subject Matter c. Readers 3. Identify what the people in the technical profession are required to write. 4. Recognize the aspects of technical writing. 5. Discuss the basic principles of good technical writing. 6. Explain the ABC’s of technical report writing. 7. Identify the qualities of a good technical report.

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Nature of Technical Writing Technical Writing, according to the book, Technical and Report Writing by Manalo (2008), is a communication which is written for and addressed to specific entities or individuals to attain desired objectives. It is a communication in the field of business, industry, trade, science, technology, engineering, and government. Furthermore, Manalo identified main objective as a means to convey a specific piece of information for a specific purpose to a specific reader or group of readers. It is writing that requires special knowledge. The specific information is technical, that is, it is the formal aspect of the fields above, written from a specific point of view. Characteristics of Technical Writing Technical writing presents and explains a subject matter in a clear, objective, accurate, concise, and unemotional manner. Technical writing uses a relatively high concentration on certain complex and important writing techniques, particularly description of a mechanism, description of process, classification, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, analogy, and interpretation. Technical writing highly utilizes technical vocabulary. In order to clarify and support textual discussion, technical writing makes use of tables, graphs, and figures. Purpose of Technical Writing The following are the primary purposes of technical writing: 1. To inform. Technical writing is done to make another person understand or do something. It is designed to fulfill a need to tell and a need to know. 2. To analyze events and their implications. Technical writing aims to explain how certain systems failed. These systems may be education, socio-economic, political, and within the technical article, the recommended change or changes. 3. To persuade and influence decisions. Technical writing seeks to show how a business or an industry succeeds. Technical writing is ideally characterized by the maintenance of impartiality and objectivity, by extreme care to convey information accurately and concisely, and by the absence of any attempt to arouse emotions.

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Functions of Technical Writing 1. To serve as a basis for management decision. 2. To furnish needed information. 3. To give instructions. 4. To explain techniques. 5. To report achievements. 6. To analyze problem areas. 7. To determine design and system requirements. 8. To serve as a basis for public relation. 9. To provide report to stockholders of companies. 10. To develop a product. 11. To provide service. 12. To record business through proposals. 13. To procure business through proposals.

Basic Principles of Effective Technical Writing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Understanding the reader. Knowing the purpose of teach article or report. Knowing the subject matter. Organizing the material. Writing objectively. Using correct format. Adopting ethical standards.

Understanding the Reader Knowing the target audience is one of the basic things to consider in technical writing. A technical writer must learn to adapt his way of writing and to learn specific terminologies according to the type of the intended audience or readers. Technical terms which may be deemed difficult by the readers must be carefully defined throughout the text, for the reader to thoroughly and easily understand the information being conveyed by the writer. The writer fails in his mission to inform if the reader also fails to understand what he’s reading. The writer should be aware of the reader’s importance. The target audience and readers would help the writer to know what to write about and how to go about writing it. Knowing the Purpose of Each Technical Report A technical paper must focus on a central theme. The reader should be aware of the main purpose of the text after reading it. The purpose may be to describe a thing, to report on a specific problem or project or to analyze and solve a problem. 3

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Knowing the Subject Matter A technical writer must have a complete knowledge of the subject that he or she must write about. For example, if the report is regarding the result of a technical experiment, the technical writer must explain what the problem is all about, what causes the problem and how the problem is solved. Writing Objectively A good technical writer emphasizes the facts and the important data. An effective technical writer practices the impersonal style of writing. He presents the facts, figures, and statistics supporting the subject matter or the central theme and writes it in an impersonal manner. Using Correct Format The readers’ attention is initially on the format and style of a report. Most companies require neatly-typed communication, reports, and project proposals and feasibility studies. It is the common and apt trend to require a computerized or typed report. Adopting Ethical Standards A technical writer must undergo comprehensive research work to gather the needed data through interviews, surveys, referrals and related publications. He must present the required facts and figures gathered and must use only those that are relevant to the report. An effective technical writer acknowledges the hard work and the help from sources and cites them as references. Style in Technical Writing Style is the writer’s way of writing, a manner in which he expresses his thoughts and feelings in a language. Below are the guidelines for clear technical writing. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Be selective, focus on the essential information and significant detail. Develop a clean, direct style; avoid inflated language and scrambling sentences. Use examples and comparisons to clarify descriptions and explanations. Repeat words and phrases for clarity or emphasis or to ease transitions, but avoid needless repetition. 5. Delete unnecessary words and phrases, but avoid short cuts that sacrifice meaning.

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Sentence Structure and Length Technical writing does not require a unique style. Instead, technical writing uses the natural word order, simple sentence structure and well-written short sentences. Although the technical subject matter requires the use of complex, technical vocabulary and the expression of complex ideas, it would prove beneficial for the reader and his understanding of the subject matter if the writer uses shorter words and sentences and simple structure.

Paragraph Structure and Length In technical writing, the topic sentence opens the paragraph or closes the report after whatever transitional sentences. Sometimes, the writer does the opposite by giving the details at the very beginning and concludes at the end by stating the main idea. The use of one or more very short paragraphs helps in achieving an impact on the readers. Scientific Attitude Judicious weighing of evidence is vital in a technical report. The best evidence, according to various authors, is one which is the most sufficient, the most relevant and the simplest explanation of facts with the least supplemental evidence and most in harmony with the rest of the available evidence. At the end, the conclusion or recommendation should incorporate all the evidences from which the judgment is made. The technical writer must be aware of when not to overwrite. As a writer of the materials, he should know what to present, what to emphasize, what to rewrite and what to amplify. Generalization When the technical writer makes generalizations, he is giving probable conclusions derived from the observation of factors. Since the report is based on generalizations, it is necessary to describe the circumstances surrounding the report. Provide enough evidence, data and samples to enable the reader to evaluate the generalizations for himself. To be certain that you have followed ground rules and not “jumping to conclusions”, test the validity of your data and samples. Here is the suggested checklist by Nem Singh and Calixihan (1994). 1. Can I prove its accuracy? 5

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2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Introduction to Technical Writing and Reporting

Can I show the direct bond between the facts and generalizations? Is it fact and not opinion? Do I have all the facts? Are they up to date? Is the generalization verifiable? Would I get the same result if I do it again? Is it significant?

The principles to be observed in organizing the material as cited by Alvarez (1980) are as follows: 1. To organize the material of a subject, first break it down into the component aspects. 2. To organize a report paper, choose a suitable approach and make an outline that implements it. 3. The basic unit of organization is the paragraph. 4. Use these paragraphs to present related data, graphs to show trends and visuals to clarify description. 5. Plan a report or paper thoroughly before starting to write it. 6. Gather the necessary data through basic library research and primary services. 7. Write a first draft. 8. Revise and rewrite as often as necessary. 9. Write a final draft. 10. Place footnotes to acknowledge references and include a bibliography at the end of a report or paper. Other attributes of good technical report writing are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

appropriateness functional informative factual efficient correct

The Role of the Technical Writer A good technical writer possesses insights, perceptiveness, is quick to determine probabilities, and has the ability to adapt to requirements. He must have the ability to identify developments that may affect his project. The technical writer must understand the nature of his work. He should be able to help his principals attain the target objectives. He must not only possess the technical writing ability and technical expertise, but he must also have the capability to grasp, to analyze and to interpret unexpected events and situations that may occur throughout the writing of the technical report. 6

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The technical writer should have the ability to state facts clearly and accurately, to organize a variety of elements into a unified structure, and to describe logical generalizations. Hallmarks of an Effective Technical Writer The hallmarks of an effective technical writer is represented by this acronym REPORTER (Mosura and Tenorio, 1999) R E P O R T E R

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Resourceful Energetic Patient Observant Responsible Trustworthy Evaluative Responsive

The Wholistic Guide to Technical Writing For effective technical writing, the ABC’s of report writing was provided by Zall (1980) to identify if the way of writing can be considered in-depth. Accuracy A report writer must be tactful in the recording of data, statement or calculating mathematical figures. He must check every statement in its final form. An error committed and illogical statement written can create confusion as well as doubts over the whole text. A writer should always aim to be understood. Brevity Being brief is a courtesy to the reader. The reader should find it easy to group the main idea of the report. In the same manner, accuracy of the statements can easily be maintained. The reader can get the essence of your thinking in a compressed form. Confidence A good report writer must have the quality of self-confidence. He cannot only communicate but he has to be also decisive or sure what he is writing about. After finishing the last page of his report, he is an authority.

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Dignity Dignity is courtesy to your readers as professionals. This is an ethical standard. The writer must be certain that all grammatical constructions are correct. In report writing, you need to be formal with words and how these words are used. You should be sure that the ideas or information are well-organized, simplified, summarized, and expressed in straightforward manner. Facility This refers to the devices used by the writer, to make his report easy to read and understand. In most cases, report writing depends more on pacing, sequence, arrangement, and continuity of ideas as well as information. A grammatical correction is important. He should make his writing straightforward, logical and clear. The thought from one part to another should be clearly established, illustrated or stated. Emphasis The writer has to feel what is important to the reader and should never expect how the reader finds it out for himself. He has to lead him from point to point, clearly making every step, directs the reader to the right way and gives him the reason for stopping at a particular portion.

Honesty Honesty is expected in a report. When a writer has borrowed some statements, ideas or quotations, he has to acknowledge them either in footnotes, endnotes or cite the source or author of the borrowed ideas or statements within the running text. Illustration Illustration materials such as charts, graphs, diagrams, and photos are always helpful. The writer should use them to clarify and support the text. They can be used to show situations or trend or movement. Judgment The writer should qualify the data and information gathered by judicious weighing. This can be done by following these criteria: (1) Most ample (2) Most pertinent or relevant (3) The simplest in explaining the facts with the least additional evidence (4) Most 8

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harmonious with the rest of the data and information. In every case, the evidence used as a basis of judgment (as in conclusions and recommendations) should be included in the report. Knowledge The communication of knowledge is the primary objective of the report, but knowledge is not only a collection of data or information. It involves interpretation and formulation of conclusions. Without sound interpretation, the data will become useless.

Logic Logic is chiefly a process of classification. It is putting things in their proper places. It shows the relations among groups of things and classes of groups. By thinking logically, one can avoid the following trouble areas: (1) Statements must not contradict each other (2) Words must be used in consistent sense (3) Statements must move in one direction whether space, time or relation (4) Statements must make sense (5) Judgments must not be based on few data. (6) Cause and effect should be clearly distinguished from simple sentence (7) Conclusions should not be inferred if they have no connection with the data (8) An authority should not be accepted if he is biased or he is not an expert in the particular field. Mechanical Neatness This is the general appearance of the report. It must be neatly encoded or typed, properly margined, free from typographical errors, erasures, crossing-outs and smudges. Headings and subheadings and indentions are mechanical devices, which help make the organization of the content clear. Normal procedure The report is easier to understand if it conforms to the standard practices. The writer must follow the acceptable arrangement of the different parts of a report. If the writer deviates from the normal procedure, he should inform his readers by explaining his reasons for doing it.

Objectivity

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In technical writing, the writer should consider himself as another person, uninterested observer or an innocent bystander. In this instance, the third person point of view is preferred. The writer should treat his subject matter the way he sees or observes it. Technical reports avoid the use of the first person (I, me, my). Planning This is primary in all activities. This gives the purpose and direction to what the technical writer has to write. This involves thinking ahead of what one has to do, when to do it and who is to do it. This will be reflected in a well-organized report. Qualification The technical writer should select only those statements that have direct relationship with the topic being discussed. The writer should evaluate the ideas or statements he will include in the writing of the report. Revision This consists of more than merely correcting the spelling, punctuation, spacing, and margin errors. The writer must also check every statement for sense and relevance and be sure that he has said all that must be said. An effective report is all that is required to perfection. The secret of good writing is rewriting. Straight Sentences Sentences carry the full weight of the meaning in a report. The sentence to be employed must be limited to only one idea or to closely related ideas. To avoid monotony, vary your sentence structure and employ appropriate transitional devices. By employing such devices, there will be a smooth transition from sentence to sentence. They will show the readers the writer’s thoughts leading him to what the writer wants to communicate.

Thoroughness The writer should treat well his subject matter. The writer should check the thoroughness of his report from initial thinking to final submission. The writer is obliged to go over the subject, analyze and investigate it, organize and interpret the results and draw conclusions whether it is positive or negative. 10

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Unity A report is unified when everything is clearly relevant to the main point under discussion. Nothing should be left hanging. No question should be left unanswered. After all, the main objective of a unified report is to let the readers feel that they have read everything essential to the sub...