Guidelines 1 for Technical Writing

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Guidelines 1 for Technical Writing

• By Wilmer Arellano
• FIU Spring 2006

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Overview

• Introduction
• Section Headings
• Sections of a Report

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• One of the most impressive sites regarding
  technical writing. I encourage you to visit this
  Website. Purdue Universitys Online Writing Lab
  (OWL)
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/
• IEEE TRANSACTIONS, JOURNALS, AND LETTERS
• rpi_technical_writing_manua.ppt

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Introduction

• Technical reports are used to communicate the
  results of research, field work, proposals and
  other activities.
• Often, a report is the only concrete evidence of
  your work.
• The quality of the project may be judged directly
  by the quality of the writing.
• Most technical reports contain the same major
  sections, although the names of the sections vary
  widely, and sometimes it is appropriate to omit
  sections or add others.
• Always check for specific requirements and
  guidelines before beginning to write your
  research report.

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Section Headings

• Primary section headings within papers are
  enumerated by Roman numerals and are centered
  above the text. For the purpose of typing the
  manuscript only, primary headings should be
  capital letters. Sample
• I. PRIMARY HEADING
• (TEXT)
• Secondary section headings are enumerated by
  capital letters followed by periods (A., B.,
  etc.) and are flush left above their sections.
  The first letter of each word is capitalized. In
  print the headings will be in italics. Sample
• A. Secondary Heading
• (TEXT)

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Section Headings

• Tertiary section headings are enumerated by
  Arabic numerals followed by a parenthesis. They
  are indented, run into the text in their
  sections, and are followed by a colon. The first
  letter of each important word is capitalized.
  Sample
• 1 Tertiary Heading (TEXT)
• Quaternary section headings are rarely necessary
  but are perfectly acceptable if required. They
  are identical to tertiary headings except that
  lowercase letters are used as labels and only the
  first letter of the heading is capitalized.
  Sample
• a) Quaternary heading (TEXT)

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• Title page and Contents
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Problem Statement
• Background
• Project Objectives
• Constraints
• Assumptions and limitations.
• Assumptions
• Limitations
• Functions
• Specifications
• Operating environment.
• Intended user(s) and intended use(s).
• Intended user(s
• intended use(s).

Sections of the Report
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Title

• The title page contains four main pieces of
  information
• The report title.
• The name of the author and the company or
  university which originated the report.
• The date the report was completed.
• The name of the person, company, or organization
  for whom the report has been prepared.

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Title Selection

• Include the name of the problem, hypothesis, or
  theory that was tested or is discussed.
• Example Auto adjusting target scope
• Include the name of the phenomenon or subject
  investigated.
• Example Motion Tracking / Object Recognition
• Name the method used to investigate a phenomenon
  or method developed for application.
• Example High- Speed Image Processing Using
  SKIPSM
• Provide a brief description of the results
  obtained.
• Example
• A New Paradigm In Secure Real-World Online
  Transactions
• The Drimolen Skull The Most Complete
  Australopithecine Cranium and Mandible to Date

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Executive Summary

• An Executive Summary is an accurate
  representation of the contents of a document in
  an abbreviated form
• An Executive Summary can be the most difficult
  part of the research report to write because in
  it you must
• introduce your subject matter,
• tell what was done,
• and present selected results,
• all in one short (about 150 words) paragraph.
• As a result, you should usually write the
  abstract last.
• The most common type of Executive Summary is the
  informative abstract. A good way to develop an
  informative abstract is to devote a sentence or
  two to each of the major parts of the report.

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Introduction

• Introductions serve as a place for you to catch
  your readers attention, and they also help to
  place your project in its context
• The Introduction prepares readers for the
  discussion that follows by means of the
  Background, Problem Statement and Objectives
• You should begin your introduction at the top of
  a new page.

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Object Attributes

• Objectives or goals are ends that the design
  strives to achieve. (We generally view design
  objectives
• They are normally expressed as being statements
  that say what the design will be, as opposed to
  what the design must do.
• Constraints are restrictions or limitations on a
  behavior or a value or some other aspect of a
  designed objects performance
• Constraints are typically stated as clearly
  defined limits whose satisfaction can be framed
  into a binary choice, for example, the ladder
  material is a conductor or it is not.
• Functions are the things a design is supposed to
  do, the actions that it must perform
• Functions are usually expressed as doing.
• Lastly, implementations or means are ways of
  executing those functions that the design must
  perform .

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Example Objectives List

• We may want to group or cluster these objectives
  together in some coherent way. One way to start
  grouping entries on the list is to ask ourselves
  why we care about them. For example, why do we
  want our ladder to be used outdoors? The answer
  is probably because thats part of what makes a
  ladder useful, which is another entry on our
  list. Similarly, we could ask why we care whether
  the ladder is useful. In this case, the answer is
  not on the list we want it to be useful so that
  people will buy it

Ladder should be useful Used to string conduit
and wire in ceilings Used to maintain and repair
outlets in high places Used to replace light
bulbs and fixtures Used outdoors on level
ground Used suspended from something in some
cases Used indoors on floors or other smooth
surfaces Should be reasonably stiff and
comfortable for users Should allow person of
medium height to reach/work at levels up to 11
ft Must be safe Should be relatively
inexpensive Must be portable between job
sites Should be light Must be durable
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Example Problem Statement from the Objectives
and Constraints Tree

• As a result of the thought and effort that went
  into List 3.4 and the objectives trees of Figures
  3.2 and 3.3, the design team rewrote and revised
  the problem statement for this design project to
  read Design a safe method of packaging and
  distributing our new childrens juice product
  that preserves the taste and establishes brand
  identity to promote sales to middle-income
  parents.

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Assumptions and limitations

• Assumption The result of any project decision,
  which is required to complete the project
  definition, but is not a physical limit (minimum
  or maximum) that was imposed by the client, the
  technology used, or a physical law. Assumptions
  are the result of decisions that can be made by
  the team and affect the end-product design and
  implementation. Examples would include the
  maximum number of simultaneous users of a
  computer program, or the maximum number of books
  to be stored on the shelves of a bookcase.
• Limitation The result of any project decision,
  which is required to complete the project
  definition, but is a physical limit (minimum or
  maximum) that was imposed by the client, the
  technology used, or a physical law. Limitations
  are the result of things over which the team has
  no control, but must consider in its end-product
  design and implementation. Examples would
  include the maximum weight or size, the minimum
  efficiency, the maximum power consumption, or the
  maximum speed of the end product.

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Functions

• We expose transformations from inputs to outputs
  by making a box transparent.
• If we had to design the radio, we would probably
  remove the covers of even more of the boxes we
  now see.

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Specifications

• Specifications
• RFID Reader
• Operating Frequency 13.56 MHz
• RF Power Max 200 mW
• Read Range 14 cm with credit card size tag
• Antenna bandwidth 1MHz _at_ -3dB
• Antenna Impedance 50 Ohm_at_ 13.56 MHz
• Tag Compatibility ISO15693, Tag-it
• Communication Interface RS232 or USB
• Host Data rate 9600, 19200, 57600 or 115200 N, 8,
  1
• Operating Temperature -20C to 55C (including
  self-generated heat)
• Storage Temperature -40C to 80C

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Need Analysis
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Feasibility Analysis
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Operating environment

• For any end product other than simply a
  calculation, it is essential to know the
  environment to which the end product will be
  exposed or experience. For example, will the end
  product be exposed to dusty conditions, extreme
  temperatures, or rain or other weather elements?
  Is the end product likely to be dropped or
  thrown? This information is necessary in order
  to design an end product that can withstand the
  hazards to which it is expected to be exposed.
  This element shall be at least one paragraph in
  length.

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Intended user(s) and intended use(s).

• Knowing the characteristics of the end users
  makes it much easier to design an end product
  that will be accepted and used.
• The expected end uses are equally important.
  This description should include what uses are
  expected as well as what uses are not to be
  considered

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Budget
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References

• It is important to include a References section
  at the end of a report in which you used other
  sources. Informal or short reports may not have a
  references section or only a short one while more
  formal reports will likely have reference
  sections, sometimes very lengthy ones.

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References

• Books Author. (year, month day). Title.
  (edition) Type of medium. volume (issue).
  Available site/path/file Example
• 1 J. Jones. (1991, May 10). Networks. (2nd ed.)
  Online. Available http//www.atm.com
• Reports and Handbooks Author. (year, month).
  Title. Company. City, State or Country. Type of
  Medium. Available site/path/file Example
• 4 S. L. Talleen. (1996, Apr.). The Intranet
  Architecture Managing information in the new
  paradigm. Amdahl Corp., CA. Online. Available
  http//www.amdahl.com/doc/products/bsg/intra/infra
  /html
• Computer Programs and Electronic Documents ISO
  recommends that capitalization follow the
  accepted practice for the language or script in
  which the information is given. Example
• 5 A. Harriman. (1993, June). Compendium of
  genealogical software. Humanist. Online.
  Available e-mail HUMANIST_at_NYVM Message get
  GENEALOGY REPORT

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References

• Basic Forms for Electronic (Internet) Sources
• Article in an Internet Periodical
• Author, A. A., Author, B. B. (Date of
  publication). Title of article. Title of journal,
  volume number(issue number if available).
  Retrieved month day, year, from http//Web
  address.
• Nonperiodical Internet Document (e.g., a Web page
  or report)
• Author, A. A., Author, B. B. (Date of
  publication). Title of article.  Retrieved month
  date, year, from http//Web address.NOTE When an
  Internet document is more than one Web page,
  provide a URL that links to the home page or
  entry page for the document. Also, if there isn't
  a date available for the document use (n.d.) for
  no date.
• Part of Nonperiodical Internet Document
• Author, A. A., Author, B. B. (Date of
  publication). Title of article. In Title of book
  or larger document (chapter or section number).
  Retrieved from http//Web address.
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
  apa.htmlHandling20Quotes20In20Your20Text
• http//www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html

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Review

• Introduction
• Section Headings
• Sections of a Report

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Questions
Answers