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- Click on the report elements that, according to the textbook, you need
to define in order to begin planning for the technical report assignment:
Topic of the report: what it
will be about.
Page count--how long the
report will be.
Audience of the
report--characteristics of the readers you expect to use the report.
Situation of the
report--circumstances that bring about the need for the report.
Schedule for the report--when
you expect to have the report ready, how long it will take to prepare.
Report type--whether the
report is a background or feasibility report, instructions, etc.
- Concerning the audience and situation for the technical report, the
textbook emphasizes which one of the following?
That the report should be
situated in the academic environment and be written for the instructor.
That the report should be written
for a specific situation in your workplace and addressed to your work
supervisor. Do not write for your instructor.
That the report should be written
for a real or realistic audience and situation; it should not set in
the academic situation with the instructor as the audience.
- Take a look at these audience and situation descriptions. Click on the
one that is most specific and realistic (i.e., like the audience and
situation you must define for your report project):
Readers of various age groups,
occupations, educational achievement, and economic levels interested in
learning more about uses of plastics in high-stress, heavy-load bearing
parts in automobiles.
Investment people needing to
understand uses of plastics in automobiles to assess risks and
opportunities in companies manufacturing these plastics.
Agents of an Barney-Park
Investments, Inc., seeking background on automotive plastics in order to
recommend to client investors stock purchases in Tonka Motors Company, a
local plastics-manufacturing firm.
- Take a look at these audience and situation descriptions. Click on the
one that is most specific and realistic:
Decision-makers who need
information about on the history, technique, applications, and technical,
social, and ethical problems involved in cryogenics, suspended animation of
humans beings.
People who are looking for
general information concerning cryogenics--the suspended animation of human
being--specifically, the history, technique, applications as well as
technical, social, and ethical problems involved.
U.S. Senate subcommittee
members who must act on legislation involving cryogenics and need basic
background information on the history, technique, applications, and
technical, social, and ethical problems involved.
The textbook emphasizes that you must narrow your report topic as much as
you can because (a) you don't want to end up writing a 200-page report and
(b) narrower topics produce more specific, more detailed reports, which are
superior to vague, general ones. In the following sets of topic
descriptions, pick the one that is the most specific.
- Take a look at these report-topic descriptions. Click on the one that
is most specific:
A report on the greenhouse
effect, which has to do with the way that increasing amounts of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere are trapping heat in the environment and leading
to higher average global temperatures.
A report on the impact on the
earth's climate that the greenhouse effect is reputed to have.
A report on the controversy
concerning the predictions of higher average global temperatures according
to the theory of the greenhouse effect.
- Take a look at these report-topic descriptions. Click on the one that
is most specific:
A report on various aspects of
avocado gardening: climate in which the avocado grows, yields per acre,
soil conditions required, nutritional facts, areas of the U.S. in which the
avocado can be grown.
A report on how to raise your
own avocados: information on soil and climate conditions needed, seasonal
schedules, and care and tending recommendations.
All about the avocado:
cultivation, history, nutritional details, recipes, myths about, derivation
of the word.
In the following questions, read the paragraph and then click on the type of
report that it describes. (You'll need to be familiar with both the chapter
and the appendix on technical reports mentioned above.)
- An explanation of how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble a U.S.
Army P1265-A rifle according to strict military regulations.
Technical background report
Instructions
Feasibility report
Primary research report
- Results and conclusions of a study done on the survivability and
production rates of a hybridized avocado species.
Technical background report
Instructions
Primary research report
Proposal
- An offer to study various sites to which to move an integrated-circuit
manufacturing facility along with supporting information about the
organization offering to do the study.
Feasibility report
Primary research report
Proposal
Business prospectus
- Data, conclusions, and recommendations from a study to determine
whether free bus transportation in the city would increase ridership and
decrease automobile traffic congestion.
Technical background report
Feasibility report
Proposal
Business prospectus
- Information on the history, technique, applications, and technical
problems involved in cryogenics (suspended animation of human beings) as
well as social, ethical, and legal implications.
Technical background report
Feasibility report
Primary research report
Business prospectus
- Information designed to attract investment money in a business that
would develop and produce video comic books for children.
Technical background report
Instructions
Primary research report
Business prospectus
- An offer to study the fire-ant problem in county parks and different
methods of controlling fire-ant populations; to recommend the best solution
for the problem; and then to carry out the recommended solution if
approved.
Technical background report
Instructions
Feasibility report
Primary research report
Proposal
- Details on the design and manufacturing aspects of an AM/FM clock-radio
that plays reminders taped by the user at the specified time.
Technical background report
Instructions
Proposal
Technical specifications
Business prospectus
- A report on the acid-rain phenomenon prepared for a state legislative
committee: information on its causes, effects, debate on how serious a
problem it is, as well as discussion of how to reduce it.
Technical background report
Feasibility report
Primary research report
Business prospectus
- Information designed to guide customers through the unpacking,
installation planning, installing, wiring, trouble-shooting, and
maintenance of an automatic garage-door opener.
Technical background report
Instructions
Primary research report
Technical specifications
- A study done to determine whether dredging a local lake to make it
usable for recreation could be done technically (whether it can be
dredged), economically (whether it can be paid for), and socially (whether
people would support it).
Instructions
Feasibility report
Primary research report
Proposal
- Fire-Ant Handbook for the Homeowner: structure of the typical
fire-ant colony, physical characteristics of fire ants, species of fire
ants, toxicity levels of fire-ant stings, climatic and geological
preferences of fire ants.
Technical background report
Feasibility report
Primary research report
Proposal
Business prospectus
- A study of 100 randomly chosen students in their efforts to learn and
use a popular electronic spreadsheet program: on 5 specific tasks, length
of time it took them to complete, type and number of errors made, common
complaints.
Technical background report
Feasibility report
Primary research report
Proposal
Instructions
- Click on each of the characteristics of the technical report that you
should plan to incorporate in your own report, according to the textbook:
Drawings, diagrams, figures,
tables.
Numbered and bulleted
lists.
Headings and subheadings
indicating topics and subtopics within the main text of the report.
Use of external information
sources such as books, articles, reports, interviews with experts.
Index that helps readers find
specific topics covered within your report.
Specific, detailed technical
content.
Classroom and course as the
situation and instructor as the audience.
Coverage of a lot of topics
but at a general level so that the report will be interesting to general
readers and so that the discussion of these topics will fit within the
report page limit.
Real or realistic audience and
real or realistic situation in which the report is needed.
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This information is owned and maintained by David A. McMurrey. For
information on use, customization, or copies, e-mail
davidm@austin.cc.tx.us or call (512) 476-4949.