A Guide to Technical Writing

Here is a guide to technical writing and the different types of report involved in this style of writing.  This can help you understand the basis of what a technical report consists of and requirements to make it credible.  Please refer to our other useful resources as you continue your English research and studies.

THE TECHNICAL REPORT

The technical report is the classic final project in technical writing classes.  A technical report is a heavily researched, graphically pleasing document that can often act as the star document of a portfolio for future employment.  There are four critical factors to consider when writing: the topic, the audience for whom it’s written, the purpose of the report, and the type of report (e.g. instructions, feasibility report, etc.).

Types of Report

A technical background report provides background on a given topic, whether it’s oxidization reactions or the Canadian funeral industry.  This background isn’t for a general audience, but for a highly specific, professional audience.  Instructions are, in the minds of many, the standard form of technical writing.  Instructions include user manuals for a consumer product and procedures for how to perform a job.  Feasibility, recommendation, and evaluation reports assess a problem, make a recommendation, and often suggest measures to implement that recommendation.  Primary research reports synthesize and report on original research being conducted, much like lab reports in college-level science courses.  Technical specifications detail the construction, functions, and marketability of a consumer product.  More than any other form of technical writing, technical specifications are reliant on graphics and tables.  Report-length proposals can be proposals for almost anything.  However, conventional proposals are often hundreds of pages long.  The report-length proposal is a pared down version.  Business plans are designed for investors, containing a viable business model, potential revenues, and the nature of the marketplace and the competition.

Audiences for a Report

The audience of a report can be defined on a general and on a personal level.  On a general level, we need to know the background of the audience and why they need the information.  On a personal level, we should know the names, occupations, and contact information for some prime audience members.  We should also know how the audience will acquire the information.

Topics for a Report

While the spectrum of possible topics is extremely broad, certain topics are better to write about than others.  Nebulous topics without strong bases in factual data should be avoided, as should over-technical topics that the writer might not be familiar with.  Once the topic is chosen, try to avoid editorializing about it.  While certain topics (i.e. the business of setting up a medical marijuana dispensary) are necessarily controversial, the writer’s focus should be topical.

General Characteristics

• It should be filled with detailed facts.
• It should be well-sourced.
• It should contain graphics and tables.
• It should address a realistic situation for a real audience.
• It should use the right format with proper headings
• It should contain 8 double spaced pages at a bare minimum
• It should look polished
• It must be written for the non-specialist, but contain specialist information.

THE TECHNICAL BACKGROUND REPORT

The technical background report provides background and information on a technical subject for a specific audience.  So if one was to write about climate change for an audience of businesspeople looking to invest in climate change attenuation technologies, one wouldn’t write about every facet of climate change, but focus on those that have technical solution that seem ripe for investment.

While the nature of the technical background report is going to vary somewhat from topic to topic, there are certain features common to the vast majority of reports.  First and perhaps most importantly, there must be clear definitions.  In technical writing more than in other forms, definitions are critical.  Similarly, concrete descriptions help to visualize the material that’s being discussed.  There must be clear logical causes and effects illustrated, whether they’re social effects or mechanical processes.  As a corollary to that, historical background and comparisons help place the ideas the writer is trying to present in context.  After a historical background is established, some of its applications, advantages, and disadvantages should be discussed.  This would most likely include economic, social, political, legal, and ethical concerns.

INSTRUCTIONS

Instructions are step-by-step explanations of how to perform a task.  While they may contain long, expository digressions, it’s the step-by-step that really forms the heart of the set of instructions.  The key to good instructions is clear, simple writing that can be understood by a wide variety of audiences.  The writer should try to place himself or herself in the reader’s shoes and ensure that the instructions can be interpreted with ease.  To ensure readability, the writer himself or herself should thoroughly understand the described procedure.  The writer must then take that knowledge and strongly visualize the procedure.  It’s recommended that the writer test out his or her instructions on a member of the target audience.  Before the actual step-by-step can be written, a number of preliminary decisions need to be made.  First off, who is the writer writing their instructions for?  Is it a general audience trying to learn how to operate their new piece of stereo equipment?  Or is it a group of lawyers who need to know how to use social media in voir dire research?  The context and audience entirely shape the instructions.

Because instructions have such a clear format, the writer can sketch out a tree of tasks and sub-tasks.  This can help to organize thoughts.  Perhaps the most critical distinction in this regard is between a “task approach” and a “tools approach.”  A task approach divides the instructions into a set of tasks to be done.  A tools approach would divide up the instructions based on the different tools used.  If we were writing about changing the oil on a car, we would probably use a task approach.  If we were writing about formatting features in Microsoft Word, we would probably use a tools approach.  Instructions should contain a strong introduction to explain the scope of what will be covered and, just as importantly, what won’t be covered.  It can also be a good place to explain technical background and caution and safety notices.  Immediately after the introduction, a list of whatever equipment and supplies are needed should be provided.

The steps themselves can be organized in a multitude of different ways:

• Fixed order steps must be performed in sequence.
• Variable order steps can be performed in any one of multiple orders.  For example, a troubleshooting guide in which the user solves one of a number of possible problems would be a set of variable order steps
• Alternate steps are used when there are a number of possible ways to accomplish the same goal, or when a procedure must be performed differently under different conditions.
• Stepless instructions are highly variable or generalized, and can’t be broken up into cut-and-dried steps.  While this is sometimes the case, it might be advisable to consider that instructions might not be the best way to convey this information.
• Any way of organizing instructions can be further “nested,” or divided into sub-steps and even sub-sub-steps if need be.

In addition, further discussion is often necessary, regardless of which method of step organization the writer chooses.  However, the supplementary discussion shouldn’t bog down the instructions.  One way to get around this when a lot of discussion is necessary is to put the important stuff in boldface.  See how it stands out?

Instructions also have a very unique writing style that separates them even from other forms of technical writing.  They include a lot of command statements (Press the fast forward button) and second person (As you retract the lever, hold down the third button to the right).  Active voice is always preferable to passive voice, but in instruction writing, it’s almost imperative.  And, above all else, an instruction writer should favor clarity above style, and short, choppy sentences above long, elegant ones.  Instructions, unlike more traditional writing, make heavy use of little devices and interruptions.  Graphics, headings, vertical lists, and inset boxes are critical to good instructions.  Even the written paragraphs of a set of instructions are often littered with numbers, abbreviations, and technical symbols.

FEASIBILITY, RECOMMENDATION, AND EVALUATION REPORTS

These three closely related types of report are written very similarly to one another.  Moreover, these three are often hybridized.  If sticking to one strict variety is most helpful, that’s fine, but don’t be afraid to use elements of all three in a final report.  All three use roughly the same format.

• A feasibility report makes a statement as to the feasibility or pragmatic value of a proposal or the solution to a problem.  Rather than coming up with a definite yes/no answer, the report is far more likely to give a more nuanced response with a number of conditional and contextual requirements.
• A recommendation report suggests the best of several possible solutions to a given problem.  Rather than asking “which of these given options is best?,” the writer should ask “what is the best way to solve this problem, whether it incorporates one, none, or several of these options?”
• And an evaluation report provides a perspective or judgment on something.  Rather than a simple opinion, an evaluation report provides a measured analysis of the value of something within a set of pre-established criteria.

For all three, an introduction and a technical background are necessary, much as in a technical background report.  Furthermore, there should be some background on the project; why is a report necessary?  Setting up the context allows the writer to sketch out a basis for the criteria by which he or she will assess the situation.  The criteria are what determines feasibility, the metrics that a recommendation is based on, and that establish a value system for evaluation.  Criteria can be qualitative or quantitative.  Qualitative criteria can involve yes or no questions (Does the car have heated seats?) or inquires into how well a solution fits a criterion (To what extent does this policy negatively impact the working poor?).  Quantitative criteria include price requirements and mechanical or physical specifications.  Keep in mind that some criteria are probably going to have more weight than others on a writer’s final decision.  When the criteria are being elucidated, make this apparent.  If the writer chooses to present a set of options that he or she will choose from, the writer should make it clear why those options were chosen.  When the options are discussed, it’s generally not best to first discuss option A, then option B, and so forth.  Rather, each criterion should be discussed, and each option should be weighed out in light of that criterion.

Unlike other forms of technical writing, a strong conclusion is very important to a successful feasibility, recommendation, or evaluation report.  In addition to summing up the evidence to date, this report needs to make a conclusive statement about the evidence.  Is the plan feasible?  What further action is recommended?  How can we assess the situation at the present juncture?  In what’s known as an “executive plan,” this information is moved to the front of the report, and the evidence is presented afterwards.  However, in the classroom, the more traditional plan is preferable.  While the executive plan is often more compelling, the traditional plan better illustrates the intellect behind the report.

PRIMARY RESEARCH REPORTS

A primary research report is derived from empirical evidence and original research.  This can be data generated in the lab or in the field, and it can incorporate secondary research as well, but the core of it must be primary research.

The format of the primary research report is the same as the classic undergraduate lab report that you’re probably already familiar with.  The introduction explains the problem at hand.  The writer should go on to explain the background, the purpose and scope of his or her research, and discuss some of the research already performed on the topic.  Materials and methods should be discussed, and the procedure should be explicated in enough detail that an interested reader would be able to replicate it.  Data should be presented independently of analysis, and is ideally presented both in graphics and in paragraph form.  The analysis should be discussed in the discussion section, along with any conclusions and recommendations for further research.  The report should finish with a well-annotated bibliography.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Technical specifications are detailed considerations of a product: its description, its requirements, its manufacture, and its use.  They’re used by a wide variety of people, including the users of the product, the company that produces the product, and technically-minded consumers who are comparison shopping.  For these reasons, accurate quantitative data is of utmost importance.  This can be compiled in sentence form, but it’s usually easier to organize this into two-column tables.  To convey information with clarity, graphics are generally better than sentences.  In fact, specifications are perhaps better thought of as a collection of graphics and tables with some written paragraphs periodically scattered among the visuals.

The writing has to be highly concrete and specific.  Because of the sensitive, specific nature of specifications, ambiguity must be avoided.  Sentences should be terse.  Cross-reference as much as possible.  For instance, rather than listing out the full text of a federal government standard, the writer can simply say “refer to (name of document).”  Industry jargon is acceptable, and is preferable to general-use terms that contain ambiguities.  When researching similar specifications, try to mirror the terminology of other writers.

PROPOSALS

As mentioned earlier, the formal proposal is much too long for classroom use.  However, a research-length proposal is doable.  However, since the proposal is a necessary arrow in any technical writer’s quiver, we’re going to discuss proposals in general.  You’ll find some of these suggestions to be more applicable to classroom writing than others.  A proposal is an offer to perform a service for someone else, whether that someone else is an individual client or the entire federal government.  A proposal should thus try to convince that someone to approve a project.  While it shares certain commonalities with feasibility reports, the proposal tries to sell the project, whereas the feasibility report simply makes a recommendation.

There are a few different ways we can classify proposals, and this classification is necessarily going to modify the writing.  One major divide is between internal and external proposals.  An internal proposal is proposed to someone within the same organization as the writer.  It is written on behalf of the writer himself or herself, or some small subgroup under the larger umbrella organization.  An external proposal, on the other hand, is towards a separate entity.  External proposals, consequently, require more self-promotion and require the writer to detail his or her qualifications.  The other major divide is between solicited and unsolicited proposals.  A solicited proposal is written because a company, agency, or organization has called out for proposals.  They may have solicited the writer directly, or they may have published an all-purpose request for proposals in an academic journal, trade publication, or other news source.  An unsolicited proposal is one in which the client or recipient has not requested proposals.  In an unsolicited proposal, it is necessary for the author to explain why he or she is proposing a project in the first place, and why the author has chosen to propose to this client.  Beyond these binary classifications, the writing will inevitably be dependent on what kind of project the writer is proposing.  if the writer is proposing scientific research, marketing, consultancy, government action, or one of any number of other projects, the proposal will vary widely.

Despite the varieties of proposal, there’s a certain structure they tend to follow.  Some of the sections we’ll discuss are, in certain cases, disposable, while others can be trimmed down to a couple of paragraphs.  The introduction of the proposal should give an overview of the proposal, and should probably explicitly use the word “proposal.”  In external and unsolicited proposals, the introduction should indicate a connection between writer and the recipient of the proposal.  The most important thing is to convince the recipient to read further.  Especially with 500-page proposals, the recipient has to know that the proposal is worth reading.

After the reader has been drawn in, the writer should provide some kind of background.  What is the problem or situation the proposal is addressing?  Depending on the context, this doesn’t necessarily have to be very lengthy.  Once the problem has been addressed, the writer can move on to discuss the proposed project.  A thorough description of the proposed project is of course critical, but keep in mind that a lot of what the proposal suggests in contingent and open to negotiation with and alteration by the recipient.  Be sure to include a significant amount about the methods that will be used to complete the project in a timely and budget-conscious fashion.  This would be a good place to tie in background information, and cull data from similar projects in the past.  Try to point out the advantages of the proposed project.  This is where the writer really can really sell the project and convince an open-minded but skeptical client.  Don’t assume that the project can speak for itself.  Shamelessly self-promote.

At some point in the proposal– where it fits best will vary– try to include qualifications.  These can be the qualifications of the writer or the larger organization that the writer represents, but it can include work on related projects, training, or education.  Most proposals include a proposed schedule and projected budget.  This not only helps the recipient to judge the proposal, but also assuages any worries the recipient might have about cost or schedule overruns, and helps the recipient to frame the project in a larger fiscal context.  This should be saved until immediately before the conclusion.  If a recipient sees a long schedule or a high cost, he or she might immediately balk and reject the proposal before seeing the benefits it has to offer.  Having just seen the costs and schedule, the recipient is now ready for the conclusion.  The conclusion should be a couple of paragraphs that sum up the best of the proposal, and should act as one final push to promote the project.

BUSINESS PLANS

Business plans are similar to proposals in that they try to promote a project.  However, in this case, it’s to either start a new business or promote a strong modification to a currently existing business.  The business plan is written for anyone involved in the business, such as government officials, business partners, current and potential investors, and employees within a preexisting business.

Business plans bear a great many similarities to proposals.  Like a proposal, the business plan should detail the process and benefits first.  The most important part of a business plan is a thorough description of the product or service being offered.  After this has been described, the relationship of the product or service to the current marketplace (the marketability, the competition) should be discussed  When a business plan is being presented to investors or other nonspecialists– especially if the plan revolves around a highly technical product or procedure– a significant section should be dedicated to technical background.  The qualifications of both the personnel and the writer should be discussed.  Investment potential, projected revenues, and feasibility are important both for luring in investors and for convincing business partners that the business has a good chance of success.

After the benefits have been pointed out, the requirements can be discussed.  Most importantly, both the initial funding needed to start the business and the day to day operating costs should be addressed.  The legal issues are also an important part of the discussion.  Legal and monetary issues should generally be left to the end of the business plan, after all of the positives in the plan have been covered.  Because of the non-technical audience of most business plans, it’s advisable to split up the plan into sections separated by headers.  In this way, different readers can easily skip to sections that cover their area of expertise. Furthermore, appendices can be a good place to put unwieldy technical information.