Report Writing

Some simple rules

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Writing a report is simple .

if you follow some simple rules

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Writing can be fun

if you are confident in your knowldege of your subject

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The KISS principle

Keep It Simple Stupid

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Occams Razor
It is vain to do with more what can be done with less

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Simple rules for good writing

One idea per sentence Not more than 20 words per sentence Not more than 5 sentences per paragraph Not more than 3 paragraphs per heading Do not use that or which more than once per sentence

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Define it before you use it

Define terms once
o Mathematical terminology o Technical terms o English terms

Define specific terms in terms of general concepts Include a Glossary

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Bells and whistles

You do not need to describe all possible options. Simpler is better.

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Pictures
A picture is worth 10,000 words A well-thought diagram can save a lot of words and is much easier to understand Number all diagrams and pictures Refer to each diagram in the text Include a brief descriptive legend for each diagram
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Lists and Tables

 Lists and tables can present complicated ideas succinctly.  They are easy to write and assimilate.  Lists and tables eliminate a lot of verbose text. (No connecting text is needed.)

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References
Include a good number of relevant references. List references in standard form refer to good text-books for examples of formatting. Formats. Cite each reference

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Contents
Important as it helps the reader to gain an overall view. The Contents page is like a road map. It must be accurate.

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Acknowledgements & Gratitude

You must acknowledge work by all other people, including
      Predecessors Contemporary workers Other workers, including Internet authors Friends Family Your supervisor

Thank people who have helped you. Your supervisor is human and likes praise, if it is deserved.

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Copyright
You must respect all copyright - it is the law! You must  Ask for permission to include copyright material.  Acknowledge the original source.

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Spelling
Bad spelling is a distraction and an annoyance to the reader. Use a spell checker where possible but it may give spurious results on technical writing. A spell checker will not help, if the original is too far removed from the correct spelling, or if there is a similar sounding word, e.g. currant and current, college and collage.

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Grammar
Try to adhere to the conventions of grammar - failure to do so annoys the reader and obscures meaning. Think of another way of expressing the same idea.

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What do I include?
Context Prior work General design principles Self analysis Testing Imaginative ideas tempered with common sense New applications: minor modifications that could help other markets Further work

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Who are you writing for?

What is the level of competence of your reader. Do not talk down to your reader. Your reader does not have your technical expertise, so you must help him/her. A good test of your understanding: explain your ideas to a history student. (I.e. somebody who is intelligent but not trained technically.

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Respect other technical disciplines

Yours is not the only subject of merit. There may be a non-computer solution that is much cheaper, more reliable, faster and less complicated than one based on a computer. Other workers are worthy of respect.

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Tell them
Tell the reader what you are going to tell him/her. Tell him/her. Tell the reader what you have told him/her.

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Organizing the material

Use an idea processor or an outliner (MS -WORD has one) Top-down design

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Good Planning
Saves time and effort Produces a better, more complete and more accurate report

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Thank You !

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