ASE 369K --- REPORT-WRITING WORKSHOP

(Refer to Technical Writing Manual Sect.1.2.7, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3.) 1.2.7. Organization of the Report

1. Title Page Use attached Sample Report Title Page as a template.

2. Abstract (Sect 2.1, pp. 7,8)

“Abstracts are ....” (p. 7) Informational abstract. (p. 7) Brief, self-contained. See Professional Sample No. 1 (p. 8). Others are not good. Single-spaced.

3. Table of Contents

Use attached Sample Table of Contents as a template. Use one or two levels of sub-heads if appropriate (i.e., Chapter, Section, Sub-

section).

4. Introduction (Section 2.2, pp. 9-11)

Background of study; how study is related to previous work; why present study was undertaken.

Literature survey, if any. Objective(s) of present work. Method of investigation. See Professional Sample No. 1 (pp. 10-11). Others are not good. Double-spaced.

5. Theory (Section 2.3, pp. 12-14)

Based on lecture, handouts, textbook, references. Reference info. sources. Organize in sequence followed in lab. Summarize equations; punctuate correctly; equation numbers in parenthesis at right

margin. Use figures (e.g., schematic diagram of setup) and graphs, etc., where useful. “Theoretical” curves useful in Results section. Double-spaced.

6. Apparatus and Procedure(s) (Sect. 2.4, pp. 15,16)

Provide a “Table of Apparatus Used”: include equipment type, mfg. name, model no., mfg. serial no.

Provide figure(s) showing experimental setup if not already provided in Theory section or in lab handout included as an Attachment.

Summarize procedures (i.e., don’t follow manual verbatim). Refer to Attachment #N, which is the lab handout.

Double-spaced.

7. Results (Sect. 2.5, pp. 17-19)

Use same organization as Theory section. Useful to organize as “Findings” and “Discussion” under each heading. Tables and plots are best way to present data. Use correct format for tables and for

plots: proper scales, proper captions, etc. See attached samples. Place tables and figures in a separate section if that will simplify formatting your report. Compare experimental data with theory.

Discuss items the reader should observe in table(s) and plot(s). Discuss anamolies in data. Double-spaced.

8. Conclusions (or Conclusions and Recommendations) (Sect. 2.6, pp. 20,21)

Summarize results, and draw conclusions based on your results. Do your experimental results fall within estimated uncertainty bounds? Show

sample uncertainty calculations in an appendix. State recommendations for further work. Double-spaced.

9. References (Sect. 3.2, pp. 22-23)

Follow AIAA format shown on pp. 22,23. Cite all sources of information that you used in any “substantial” way, whether directly quoted or not.

Where you cite a reference in the text, including in a figure caption, use the form [0], as indicated on p. 22.

10. Figures and Tables (Sect. 3.3, pp. 23-26)

See the attached samples. (The figures on pp. 24 and 25 are not good enough.) The tables on pp. 26 are adequate, but don’t use Roman numerals!

11. Appendices (Sect. 3.4, p. 27)

Supplementary material that is important, but that would impede the “flow” of the previous major sections – Theory, Results, etc.

Use capital alphabetic letters: Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. Include an appendix on Smaple Calculations.

12. Attachments

Supplementary material that you want the reader to have, but that you did not create, for example, a verbatim lab handout, a class handout, etc.

Number as Attachment 1, Attachment 2, etc.

RC,9/23/97

Ravi-Chandar

Report must be submitted electronically and in hardcopy. See first day handout for finename convention and e-mail address.

Ravi-Chandar

Do not need "table of contents" listed in the table of contents!

Ravi-Chandar

The number of significant figures shown must relate to error analysis.

Ravi-Chandar

Example of an acceptable chart.