Most technical reports contain at least one abstract—sometimes two, in which case the abstracts play different roles. Abstracts summarize the contents of a report, but the different types do so in different ways:
- Descriptive abstract. This type provides an overview of the purpose and contents of the report. In some report designs, the descriptive abstract is placed at the bottom of the title page, as shown in the following:
Descriptive abstract. Traditionally, it is placed on the title page (not the cover page).
- Executive summary. Another common type is the executive summary, which also summarizes the key facts and conclusions contained in the report. Think of this as if you used a yellow highlighter to mark the key sentences in the report and then siphoned them all out onto a separate page and edited them for readability. Typically, executive summaries are one-tenth to one-twentieth the length of reports ten to fifty pages long. For longer reports, ones over fifty pages, the executive summary should not go over two pages. The point of the executive summary is to provide a summary of the report—something that can be read quickly.
If the executive summary, introduction, and transmittal letter strike you as repetitive, remember that readers don’t necessarily start at the beginning of a report and read page by page to the end. They skip around: they may scan the table of contents; they usually skim the executive summary for key facts and conclusions. They may read carefully only a section or two from the body of the report, and then skip the rest. For these reasons, reports are designed with some duplication so that readers will be sure to see the important information no matter where they dip into the report.
Chapter Attribution Information
This chapter was derived by Annemarie Hamlin, Chris Rubio, and Michele DeSilva, Central Oregon Community College, from Online Technical Writing by David McMurrey – CC: BY 4.0
What is a Technical Report?
"A technical report is a document written by a researcher detailing the results of a project and submitted to the sponsor of that project." TRs are not peer-reviewed unless they are subsequently published in a peer-review journal.
Characteristics (TRs vary greatly): Technical reports ....
- may contain data, design criteria, procedures, literature reviews, research history, detailed tables, illustrations/images, explanation of approaches that were unsuccessful.
- may be published before the corresponding journal literature; may have more or different details than its subsequent journal article.
- may contain less background information since the sponsor already knows it
- may have restricted access
- classified and export controlled reports
- may contain obscure acronyms and codes as part of identifying information
Disciplines:
- Physical sciences, engineering, agriculture, biomedical sciences, and the social sciences. education etc.
Documents research and development conducted by:
- government agencies (NASA, Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DOE) are top sponsors of research
- commercial companies
- non-profit, non-governmental organizations
- Educational Institutions
Format
- Issued in print, microform, digital
- Older TRs may have been digitized and are available in fulltext on the Intranet
- Newer TRs should be born digital
Definition used with permission from Georgia Tech. Other sources: Pinelli & Barclay (1994).
Solve a problem and present research findings
Make sure your report contains all the right elements. Every report should have the following sections:
Title page
Table of contents
This is optional depending on the length of the report—a 2 to 3 page report probably wouldn't have a table of contents but a 10 to 20 page report would.
Executive summary
An executive summary is a brief overview of a report that is designed to give the reader a quick preview of the report's contents. Its purpose is to present the key points of a report in one place. After reading the summary, your audience will understand the main points you are making and your evidence for those points without needing to read your full report. Remember that the purpose of an executive summary is to provide an overview or preview to an audience who may not have time to read the whole report carefully.
- An executive summary explains why you wrote the report, emphasises your conclusions or recommendations and includes only the essential or most significant information to support those conclusions
- Executive summaries are usually organised according to the sequence of information presented in the full report, so follow the order of your full report as you discuss the reasons for your conclusions
- Executive summaries are usually proportional in length to the larger work they summarize, typically 10 to 15 percent. Most executive summaries are 1 to 2 paragraphs
- Write the executive summary after you have completed the report and have decided on your recommendations. Review your report and identify the key points and use these to organise a draft of your summary
- Make the summary concise, but be sure to show how you arrived at your conclusions
- Don't introduce any new information that is not in your report
- Executive summaries should communicate independently from your report
Introduction
The introduction should:
- briefly describe the context and background to the research
- describe the change, problem or issue to be reported on
- define the specific objectives and purpose of the report
- indicate the overall answer to the problem explored in the report
- outline the report's scope (the extent of the investigation, also known as its terms of reference or brief)
- preview the report structure
- comment on the limitations of the report and any assumptions that are made.
Discussion
This is the main body of the report and it has two key purposes:
- to explain the conclusions
- to justify the recommendations
Key points to remember when you are writing the discussion include the following:
- Present the analysis in a logical and systematic way
- If necessary, divide the material with appropriate headings to improve the readers' understanding
- Back up your claims with evidence—explain your findings
- Link theory to practical issues
- Persuade readers of the validity of your stance
Conclusion
The conclusion should:
- be arranged so that the major conclusions come first
- identify the major issues relating to the case and give your interpretation of them
- relate specifically to the objectives of the report as set out in the introduction
- be a list of numbered points
- follow logically from the facts in the discussion
- be clean-cut and specific
- be brief
Recommendations
Your recommendations point to the future and should be:
- action-oriented
- feasible
- logically related to the discussion and conclusion
- numbered
- arranged in order of importance
- brief
References
See the Library's website for information on citation and how to compile a reference list.
Appendices
Include in the appendices any essential extra material, such as tables and graphs that support your research but don't relate directly to the discussion of your findings.
Remember...
The first thing you need to do is identify your audience and what they need to know. Then think through what the report is about—what information needs to be in it, what information is best left out?
Also, remember that the key difference between an essay and a report is that an essay focuses on developing an argument or point of view, while a report centres on solving a problem and presenting research findings. You can also use headings (this is something you wouldn't do in an essay) to identify sections of the report (i.e., Discussion, Conclusion, etc.).
Get more advice and tips on how to write a great essay or report.
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