Characteristics of Technical Writing

	Technical Writing	Creative Writing
Subject	arts, science and technology, profession, craft (work-related)	life
Reader	specific	general
Purpose	inform, instruct, persuade	entertain, provoke, captivate
Language	simple, concrete, and familiar	informal, artistic, figurative
Attitude/tone	objective	subjective
Format	attractive	not attractive

Basic Aspects of Technical Writing

1. Technical papers: the “end products” (report, proposal, technical correspondence)
2. Special techniques: the skills (the special techniques needed in the preparation of the end products)

Basic Principles of Technical Writing

Basic principles of good technical writing:

1. Always have in mind a speaker reader whom you always assume as intelligent but uninformed.
2. Be sure of the exact purpose of your paper before you start to write.
3. Use language that is simple, concrete, and familiar.
4. Be clear of what you are communicating. First tell your reader what you are going to tell him, then tell him, then tell him what you have told him.
5. Make your report attractive to look at.

Parts of a Research Report

I. The Preliminaries
.....A. Title Page
.....B. Abstract
.....C. Table of Contents
.....D. List of Tables and Figures
.....E. Acknowledgment
II. The Body
.....A. Introduction
.....B. Review of Related Literature
.....C. Methodology
.....D. Analysis of Data
.....E. Interpretation of Data
.....F. Summary of Findings
.....G. Conclusion
.....H. Recommendations
III. .Reference Materials
.....A. Appendix
.....B. Bibliography
.....C. Index

Outline of the Body of a Research Report
(with brief description of parts)

I. Introduction
.....A. Background. It establishes the need for the study. It may be historical or conceptual background.
.....B. Statement of the Problem. It states the research problem (expressed in simple question) and the specific questions whose answers eventually solve the research problem.
.....C. Significance of the Study. It states the importance of the study to certain groups or sectors. .....D. Limitation of the Study. It states what the study includes and excludes considering time and financial constraints.
II. Review of Related Literature
.....A. Review. It ideally provides all possible findings and related data on problems similar to the present study.
.....B. Theoretical Framework. It identifies the theory or theories to which findings of the present study contribute either in the form of additional or new knowledge.
.....C. Conceptual Framework. It identifies the independent and dependent variables, thereby putting in concrete its theoretical basis.
.....D. Null Hypotheses. It is the tentative answers in negative form to the specific questions stated in the introduction.
.....E. Definition of Terms. It defines the independent and dependent variables and related terms.
III. Research Design
.....A. Method of Research. It describes the research method necessary.
.....B. The Research Locale. It describes the venue of the research.
.....C. Nature (Profile) of the Sample. It describes the subjects of the study.
.....D. Needed Data and their Sources. It identifies the indicators of the variables and their sources.
.....E. Research Instrument. It identifies and describes the tools used in gathering the data, like questionnaires.
.....F. Procedure. It describes the steps taken in gathering and analyzing the data.
IV. Analysis of Data
.....A. Analysis of Data for Specific Question 1. It discusses in detail the data gathered to answer the specific question number 1.
.....B. Analysis of Data for Specific Question 2. It discusses in detail the data gathered to answer the specific question number 2.
.....C. And so on
V. .Interpretation of Data
.....A. Interpretation of Data for Specific Question 1. It answers the specific question number 1 by making generalizations derived from the data analyzed earlier and relating the answers to findings of earlier research findings.
.....B. Interpretation of Data for Specific Question 2. It answers the specific question number 2 by making generalizations derived from the data analyzed earlier and relating the answers to findings of earlier research findings.
.....C. And so on
VI. Summary of Findings, Conclusion and Recommendation.


Research Report for Publication

I. Introduction
.....A. Brief background the problem
.....B. Research problem and the specific questions
.....C. The hypotheses
II. .Review of Related Literature (most important only)
III. .Methodology
.....A. Method
.....B. Subjects of study
.....C. Procedure (brief)
IV. Analysis and Interpretation of Data
V. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation


Documentation

The sources of data and information used in the text of the research report are identified by using any of the following:

1. Footnotes or end notes (Chicago manual style)
.....a. Footnotes are special technical notes about the data or information cited found at the bottom of the page.
.....b. End notes are special technical notes about the data or information cited found at the end of the report.
2. Parenthetical notes
.....a. APA (American Psychological Association) parenthetical notes: Author’s surname (or equivalent) and year of publication
.....b. MLA (Modern Language Association) parenthetical notes: Author’s surname (or equivalent) and the page where the data or information can be located for further reading.
All sources of data used in the study are enumerated in the Bibliography or Works Cited.