Writing a report

1
Writing a report

• Niels Walet and Marion Birch
• Niels.Walet_at_manchester.ac.uk
• Marion.Birch_at_manchester.ac.uk
• (Using material by TSU/Susan Gregory Sue King)

2
Before we start

• Discuss with your neighbour(s) what you find
  most difficult in writing a report

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Summary and introduction of todays lecture

• Introduction
• Audience
• Elements of report style
• Assessment
• Plagiarism and other cheats
• Paraphrasing how to use sourced material
• Writing a report is a skill, that cant be
  summarized in a set of rules, but like any craft
  can be learnt mainly through lots of practice and
  feedback.
• Todays lecture gives some guidelines and ideas
  for you to think about but there is no one size
  fits all.

4
Assessing the Audience

• Any piece of written material is aimed at a
  specific audience
• Who are your readers? Professors, managers,
  engineers, scientists, or technicians? What terms
  will you have to define? What background
  information will you have to include?
• Why is audience reading the document? Is the
  document supposed to inform or to convince?
• How will they read your document? Will they read
  it straight through like a story or will they
  turn to specific sections?
• Based on http//www.writing.eng.vt.edu/workbooks/
  intro.htmlaudience

5
Elements of style Report Structure

• There are no set in stone rules for the
  structure of your report but most reports will
  include some or all of the following
• Title Page
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Experimental Method
• Theory
• Experimental Results
• Discussion and Conclusion
• References
• Appendices of raw data and calculations where
  appropriate.
• some sections have to be in a report

6
Elements of style some key DOs and DONTs
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Elements of style use our template for report
writing
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Assessment of reports criteria

• All 1st Year Lab reports are assessed according
  to standard criteria relating to
• Presentation and Organisation
• Use of English (spelling, grammar etc.)
• Use of Figures, Tables and References
• Clarity and Conciseness
• Physics Content
• Each of these five areas is scored out of a
  maximum mark of 10, with a resulting total mark
  out of 50.
• Feedback should be provided from marker. Feedback
  is crucial in learning the art of writing
  reports.
• If you are unsure about something, ASK!!

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Assessment of reports criteria
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Assessment examples of real reports

• Activity
• You have been provided with two anonymous (but
  real!) reports, and are requested to grade each
  of them using the criteria in the previous slide.
  
• NO CONFERRING!!!
• You will then submit your total mark using the
  clickers.
• We will look at the distribution of marks.
• https//teachweb.ph.man.ac.uk/lab/info/year1/repor
  ts

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• Report A Thermal Radiation
• Please enter your mark out of 50.

12

• Report B Gas Flow through narrow tubes
• Please enter your mark out of 50.

13
Report marking exercise conclusions

• Two general points emerge from this exercise
• Even with rather detailed mark schemes, there
  will always be some variation between assessors!
• In practice, this variation is hopefully not too
  large marks are monitored in 1st year lab for
  big variations and, if necessary, reports are
  re-marked by the lab tutor.
• Appreciating the perspective of your audience
  (i.e. the person marking your report) is
  essential.
• Hopefully you now appreciate that a poorly
  written/presented report can be quite irritating
  and difficult to read dont put the person
  marking your report in a bad mood!
• Marks can be gained/lost easily pay attention to
  the basics of report writingdont make silly
  mistakes always re-read and revise your
  completed report.

14
Using external sources

• For many documents we write, we use external
  sources.
• How do you use sources?
• Go straight to wikipedia and copy?
• Use a single authorative source?
• Use multiple sources without telling?
• Use an old report as template?
• All of these have elements of academic cheating
  (plagiarism).
• So is there a correct way to use external
  material?

15
Famous examples
George Harrison
Martin Luther King
Ibrahim Al-Marashi
Madonna
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide
your sources Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) US
(German-born) physicist
Copy from one, it's plagiarism copy from two,
it's research. Wilson Mizner (1876 - 1933) US
screenwriter
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ACADEMIC FRAUD? ACADEMIC CHEATING? PLAGIARISM?

• Here is a set of terms that cover the many
  different types of academic dishonesty. Look at
  them and then match them to the descriptions you
  have on your sheet.
• Plagiarism
• Collusion
• Falsification
• Impersonation
• Copying
• An exercise for students adapted from
  Franklyn-Stokes, A and Newstead, SE (1995),
  Undergraduate Cheating who does what and why,
  Studies in Higher Education, 202

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ACADEMIC FRAUD? ACADEMIC CHEATING? PLAGIARISM?

• Allowing work to be copied by another student
• Collusion
• Fabricating references or a bibliography
• Falsification
• Copying another students work with their
  knowledge
• Collusion
• Submitting work from an outside source
• Plagiarism/Impersonation
• Copying another students work without their
  knowledge
• Copying
• Inventing/Altering data
• Falsification
• Not contributing a fair share to group work
• Cheating
• Paraphrasing material from a source without
  acknowledging the original author
• Plagiarism
• Copying material for a report without
  acknowledging the source
• Plagiarism
• Doing another students work for them

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WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?

• Number 1 is plagiarism. Number 6 is not. Where
  do you draw the line?
• A bibliography is defined as a list of books
  relevant to the piece of writing but not
  necessarily cited in the text a reference list
  contains all the sources cited in the text.
• Copying a paragraph verbatim from a source
  without any acknowledgement.
• Copying a paragraph and making small changes eg
  replacing a few verbs, replacing an adjective
  with a synonym source in the list of references.
• Cutting and pasting a paragraph by using
  sentences of the original but omitting one or two
  and putting one or two in a different order, no
  quotation marks in-text acknowledgement eg
  (Jones, 1999) plus inclusion in the reference
  list.
• Composing a paragraph by taking short phrases of
  10 to 15 words from a number of sources and
  putting them together, adding words of your own
  to make a coherent whole all sources included in
  reference list.
• Paraphrasing a paragraph with substantial changes
  in language and organisation the new version
  will also have changes in the amount of detail
  used and the examples cited in text
  acknowledgement eg (Jones 1999) and inclusion in
  reference list.
• Quoting a paragraph by placing it in block format
  with the source cited in text and list of
  references.
• Based on an exercise in Academic Writing for
  Graduate Students by Swales and Feak, University
  of Michigan, 1993.

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COMMON TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

• Cut Paste Plagiarism
• Whenever you take an entire sentence or
  significant phrase from a source, you must use
  quotation marks and reference the source.
• Word Switch Plagiarism
• If you take a sentence from a source and simply
  change around a few words, it is still
  plagiarism.
• Style Plagiarism
• If you follow a Source Article sentence-by-sentenc
  e or paragraph-by-paragraph, it is plagiarism,
  even though none of your sentences is exactly
  like those in the Source article or even in the
  same order. You are copying is the author's
  reasoning style.
• Metaphor Plagiarism
• Metaphors are used to make an idea clearer than
  by giving a plain description of the object or
  process. Metaphors, are an important part of an
  author's creative style and if you use the
  metaphor in the Source Article, give the author
  credit for it.
• Idea Plagiarism
• If the author of the source article expresses a
  creative idea or suggests a solution to a
  problem, these must be clearly attributed to the
  author. This is different from public domain
  information, which is any idea or solution
  accepted as general knowledge. For example, what
  a black hole is and how it is defined is general
  knowledge. You do not need to reference a general
  description of a black hole.
• Based on PLAGIARISM A Student's Guide to
  Recognizing It and Avoiding It, Dr. C. Barnbaum,
• Department of Physics and Astronomy, Valdosta
  State University
• http//www.valdosta.edu/cbarnbau/personal/teachin
  g_MISC/plagiarism.htm

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PARAPHRASING SAY IT YOUR OWN WAY

• Structure the grammatical structure should be
  changed if this can be done without changing
  meaning. Often this can be done by joining up
  sentences or by dividing up long sentences.
• Meaning your paraphrase must have the same
  meaning as the source it should also have the
  same relationship between main ideas and
  supporting details.
• Words use different vocabulary when possible,
  usually more common synonyms/expressions and
  simpler phrases. Keep specialised vocabulary
  which has no synonyms (e.g., calcium plastic
  theory neutron), proper names (e.g., Europe
  World Health Organisation), numbers and formulae
  (e.g. 50 2000KW/m 1984).
• Length the length should not vary very much from
  the length of the original.
• Style should be your own and not an imitation of
  the source, even if your own style seems less
  perfect to you.

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STEPS IN PARAPHRASING

• The following list contains steps which will help
  you write a good paraphrase.
• Read the source.
• Understand the source.
• Put away the source.
• Make a simple list of the main points you
  remember from the source.
• Reread the source quickly to make sure you have
  included all the important points.
• Put away the source again.
• Join together the points from your list into
  proper sentence structure, using suitable grammar
  to make a continuous piece of writing.
• Reread your paraphrase, correcting the grammar
  and organisation if necessary.
• Check your paraphrase against the source. Is it
  a good paraphrase?
• A GOOD PARAPHRASE IS.
• Accurate (the ideas in the paraphrase are the
  same as in the source)
• Original (the language use is different from the
  source)
• Grammatical

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EXERCISE (1)

• Based on PLAGIARISM A Student's Guide to
  Recognizing It and Avoiding It, Dr. C. Barnbaum,
• Department of Physics and Astronomy, Valdosta
  State University
• http//www.valdosta.edu/cbarnbau/personal/teachin
  g_MISC/plagiarism.htm

Source Article Especially since the launch of
HST and the unprecedented clarity of the images
satellites have given us, you've all seen on the
news or in books, beautiful color pictures of
various sights in the cosmos. But is this the way
you would see these objects if you went there?
Well, to tackle that question, first we have to
consider the nature of light and color. Light is
made of waves of electromagnetic radiation. We
perceive different wavelengths of visible light
as different colors.
An Example of Copy Paste Plagiarism Everyone
is interested in astronomical images, especially
since the launch of HST and the unprecedented
clarity of the images satellites have given us.
But is this the way you would see these objects
if you went there?
23
EXERCISE (1) MODEL ANSWER

• Based on PLAGIARISM A Student's Guide to
  Recognizing It and Avoiding It, Dr. C. Barnbaum,
• Department of Physics and Astronomy, Valdosta
  State University
• http//www.valdosta.edu/cbarnbau/personal/teachin
  g_MISC/plagiarism.htm

How to use the info without plagiarizing We are
all thrilled by the beauty of pictures of the
universe taken with space telescopes and other
satellites. The pictures display spectacular
color and detail, but, as posed in "Source
Article" by So-n-so, "is this the way you would
see these objects if you went there?
Source Article Especially since the launch of
HST and the unprecedented clarity of the images
satellites have given us, you've all seen on the
news or in books, beautiful color pictures of
various sights in the cosmos. But is this the way
you would see these objects if you went there?
Well, to tackle that question, first we have to
consider the nature of light and color. Light is
made of waves of electromagnetic radiation. We
perceive different wavelengths of visible light
as different colors.
24
EXERCISE (2)

• Based on PLAGIARISM A Student's Guide to
  Recognizing It and Avoiding It, Dr. C. Barnbaum,
• Department of Physics and Astronomy, Valdosta
  State University
• http//www.valdosta.edu/cbarnbau/personal/teachin
  g_MISC/plagiarism.htm

Source Article Until now, infrared carbon stars
have been classified as such due to either the
presence of carbon-rich dust or to their presence
in region VII of the Habing diagram. Our visible
spectra show conclusively that these stars are
true carbon stars and do not have any O-rich
molecules in their atmospheres. Their weak Ba
lines might indicate an under-abundance of
s-process elements. This important result, if
true, would certainly separate infrared carbon
stars from the optical population.
An Example of Idea Plagiarism Infrared carbon
stars show weak Ba lines and this might mean that
they do not have the normal amount of s-process
elements in their atmospheres, making them
decidedly a different type of star.
25
EXERCISE (2) MODEL ANSWER

• Based on PLAGIARISM A Student's Guide to
  Recognizing It and Avoiding It, Dr. C. Barnbaum,
• Department of Physics and Astronomy, Valdosta
  State University
• http//www.valdosta.edu/cbarnbau/personal/teachin
  g_MISC/plagiarism.htm

Source Article Until now, infrared carbon stars
have been classified as such due to either the
presence of carbon-rich dust or to their presence
in region VII of the Habing diagram. Our visible
spectra show conclusively that these stars are
true carbon stars and do not have any O-rich
molecules in their atmospheres. Their weak Ba
lines might indicate an under-abundance of
s-process elements. This important result, if
true, would certainly separate infrared carbon
stars from the optical population.
How to use the info without plagiarizing The
difference between optical and infrared carbon
stars might soon be resolved since So-n-so
(Source Article) announced that the weakness of
Ba lines might indicate that the infrared group
originates from a different population than the
optical carbon stars.
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PENALTIES

• University sanctions
• Minor plagiarism School sanctions dealt with by
  unit coordinator/personal tutor e.g. re-submit
  work with pass mark as maximum available, written
  warning from HoD with copy on file.
• Major plagiarism Faculty/Institutional
  sanctions. Hearing before Student Discipline
  Committee. Formal warning.
• UG - loss of one degree class
• PG - loss of degree
• Faculty contact person Alex Scott, Student
  Services x65756
• University policies on Student Services website
• http//www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/ssc/examination
  s/exampoliciesinformation/plagiarism/

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AND FINALLY .

• A Final Warning
• We will be implementing use of a service that can
  scan and compare to 4.5 billion web pages and
  other reports.
• This will allow lecturers to check the
  originality of work submitted by students.
• Avoiding Plagiarism, Advice for Students by Dr.
  Hugh S Pyper
• http//www.jiscpas.ac.uk/apppage.cgi?USERPAGE7510
  

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Conclusions

• Writing is a skill to learn
• Need practice
• Large set of rules, dos and donts
• But it is very personal
• Use all the feedback (from lab reports, vacation
  essays, dissertations,)

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Announcements

• The assignment of your first lab report (working
  in pairs) see notice board in lab, also on
  TeachWeb
• (https//teachweb.ph.man.ac.uk/lab/info/year1/I
  NDEX.HTM)
• Deadline Wednesday 14th November 4.00pm Submit
  to Martin Coram (First Year Lab Technician)
• Uncompleted Lab Assessments zero marks
• Absences from Lab recoup Wednesday
  afternoons - urgent
• Penalty for absence