Report%20Writing.pdf
Earth Processes for Engineering
Report Writing – some guidelines for assignments
The over-riding aim of a report is to clearly explain what you have done, what results you obtained and
to draw conclusions justified by evidence.
The aim is communication, so clarity is critical – in deciding what to include, try to put yourself in the
readers shoes and think about what you will have to tell them (because they didn’t do the work, they
don’t know all the background you have).
Typical structure
The structure of reports is somewhat variable depending on their size (scope), purpose and audience.
Major technical reports will typically have:
an executive summary;
tables of contents, figures and tables; and
various chapters, typically following an introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions
pattern, although there are many variants on this to suit the situation. The typical content of
these sections is discussed below.
Simpler reports will typically have the following sections, with content and purpose as described. For
your assignments, this simpler structure should suffice.
Introduction
This can cover a range of content including aims or objectives, background to the problem, relevant
knowledge base in general, and specific work that may already have been done (the background is
sometimes put in a separate section if it needs to be extensive).
The introduction may also outline the overall approach and layout of the report, the scope and any
scope limits.
For your assignments this will be a brief section but needs to give the overall objectives of the report.
Methods
Basically this describes what you did and why i.e. there is a reason behind the method that justifies it.
Any limitations due to assumptions, data availability, data quality, etc are also outlined.
The methods can sometimes be partly about mechanics (say of a measurement or testing method) but
should avoid un-necessary detail (for example, don’t explain how you drew a graph or even that you did
unless there is something special about the type of graph).
For your assignment, you need to start by explaining the overall framework (stochastic model structure)
and explain the key steps, the data used, any assumptions you made, and any limitations you have
identified in undertaking the analysis and modelling.
This doesn’t mean explaining the mechanics of setting up excel and manipulating data. Rather it means
laying out the main analytic steps such as “we calculated the monthly mean rainfall using x years of daily
data and then…..”
Results
A clear presentation of results typically including figures and/or tables and descriptions of your results.
You need to help the reader by explaining how to interpret figures and tables and also lead the reader
through the results in a logical way, pointing out important aspects of them.
The outcomes of the mains steps in the methodology should be presented in some form. Present
enough material to justify the conclusions you are going to draw later. It is not necessary to present
every piece of data. Sometimes detailed data or figures can be placed in appendices.
For your assignment I would expect a mix of graphs and tables that provide the results of the data
analysis, parameters used in the models, and testing of your model. Give examples of analyses that are
central to justifying the conclusions you will make.
Discussion and conclusions
This may be one or two sections, depending on what you need to cover.
In the more discursive part you should be explaining how your results fit together and what their
implications are. This may need some additional figures or tables.
In the conclusions you are looking to present the gist of the main findings I.e. what you have concluded
from your results and discussion. There may be one or more recommendations (which are sometimes
best separated out for clarity, especially with longer reports).
For your assignment, please discuss how well the different models work. We have provided a series of
questions to prompt you in terms of issues you might cover. Point out any shortcomings of the models.
Make sure the conclusions you make about model performance are justified by results presented and
refer back to the results in your discussion to make sure the reader knows why you are drawing a certain
conclusion.
Style
Some organisations have a corporate style that is laid out in detail so that all their reports have the same
look and feel for brand identification. For your assignments, you are free to choose your own overall
layout style. For your laboratory report we will give more detailed guidance on style.
Reports can (should) use technical language as and where necessary but they should not be full of
technical jargon unless they are for a very narrow and technical audience. The level of technical
language should fit with the intended audience. Writing in shorter simple sentences is often clearer.
Remember your aim is to communicate clearly, not baffle the reader with technicality.
Also the document needs to flow with a clear logic, which you need to make clear to the reader by
linking sections and, in more complex documents, give pointers to how sections are organised so the
reader knows what to expect next.
Clear and informative headings and subheadings for report sections help guide the reader and also help
you maintain the flow of the document.
All figures need to be high quality, have appropriate axis labels and axis titles, including units. Make use
of colours and symbols to clearly distinguish items or data types on graphs and maps. Legends need to
be provided with brief but informative titles for each data series. Good figures save on words and
provide clarity. It is worth thinking about the best way to present data and trying different options. As
always, clarity should be your guide. Informative figure captions up to a couple of sentences long are
invaluable because people often skim reports looking at figures. Figures also need to cover the key
results for the same reason (and also to provide the evidence justifying your conclusions).
Tables can also be valuable in presenting summaries of results and sometimes to provide information on
values assumed or used for inputs to analysis. Clear column headings, with units, appropriate significant
figures and thoughtful captions are important.
Where you have used information from other sources you need to reference those sources so that the
reader knows you have got the information from a reputable source and they can also go to that source
if they want more detail. This is also important for background and methodology. If you don’t know
how to reference material, guidance is available at
General guidance on report writing is also available at https://airport.unimelb.edu.au/engineering/