1

NOTES

ON REPORT

WRITING

The following are some helpful hints regarding report writing for the ME 456 Laboratory course. In
generalthese are items that will be watched for very carefully when the reports are being graded.
The attachedsample title page and sample of the grading sheet shows the sections of the report that must be
included, the proper order for the sections and how the grade will be calculated and recorded. In addition
to the items listed on the grade sheet a title page, a table of contents, a bibliography and the original data
sheetsmust be included.
1. The title page must list who was primarily responsible for each section of the report.
2. More than one student may work on any given section of the report but it is expected that the
work will be about evenly distributed based on the point system.
3. No more than two students may be assigned the responsibility for anyone section of the report.
4,

No student will be responsible for the same sections of the report for two different experiments.

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to

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effort.

The terminology used in the report should represent correct engineering terminology and usage must
be precise. Slang or common, everyday comments and descriptions will not be accepted. In about
six months most of you will have graduated and be working as an engineer, lets practice writing like
you will be expected to do then and like you have been trained to do.

considered

SPECIFIC

acceptable.

POINTS

The report should be carefully read for spelling, sentenceconstruction and proper grammar before
submission. Any reports that appearto have been turned in without being checked will be returned
without a grade for correction and resubmission. There will be a 10-point penalty for having a paper
returned. It must be resubmitted with in one week or the grade will be an F .

2 The abstractmust contain a brief statementregarding the objective of the experiment. In addition the

most important results must be presentedto show how well the objective was satisfied. The objective
as presentedin the abstract and as presentedin the objective statement must agree in principle but need
not be exactly the same wording, usually the objective statement should be more detailed. The abstract
will servethe samepurpose as an executive summary in that the reader will obtain a brief statement of
the problem and the most important results.

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The objective section of the report must clearly indicate exactly what information this experiment is
expectedto provide or what questions are to be answered. Discussion of the methods or the results in
this section is not needednor is it desirable

The background section should show and explain every equation used in the data analysis. It is not
necessaryto derive the equations but you must explain why the equations were selected and how they
will be used. No equations will be acceptedin the sample calculations that are not presented in the
background information. The symbols used in the equations must be consistent through out the entire
report.
a) A flow chart showing the equations is not an acceptable substitute for a well-written background
section. Such a flow chart can be used to supplement the discussion in this section but can not
be a substitute for the discussion of the equations.
b) A control volume diagram is an excellent addition to this section, especially if it is referenced in
discussing the application of the equations

The background section should answer at least the three following questions
a) What equations are needed to analyze the data?
b) Why were these specific equations selected?
c) How are these equations used and what do the symbols mean?
5

The apparatussection should describe the equipment that you are testing. The description should
include any equipment used for testing and should be sufficiently detailed to enable others to repeat
your testing. The use of drawings or pictures would be appropriate in this section

The procedure section should include sufficient details ofhow the testing was done and what data
points were used to allow others to reproduce your test as closely as possible. This must be in narrative
form, outline form or bullet statementsare not considered acceptable.

7. The presentationof results must show the complete results of your tests and must satisfy the objective
as statedin that part of the report. Simply stating that the results are found in the appendix or in
some other part of the report will result in the report not being accepted. A narrative
In this section the results should be presentedin a clear, meaningful and informative manner that is
useful to the reader. The convenience of the writer is not a consideration but the convenience of the
reader is. No discussion of the results is presentedhere since the next section will delve into the
significance of the results and what they mean.
8

The discussion of the results should explain the significance of the results, point out inconsistencies in
the results and attempt to explain the errors. Subjective comments such as "results were unexpected",
"the values were lower than expected", There was a lot of change", etc are meaningless in a technical
report and are not part of an acceptablewriting style. Comments should be given in an objective
manner with supporting statements.

9. The sample calculations should include each and every calculation needed to analyze the data to
satisfy the objectives. All numbers should be carefully checked for reasonable significant figures.
Results and conclusions must not be misrepresentedor be presented in a questionable manner based on
unreasonablenumber of significant figures in the calculations. A number such as .5 should always be
written as 0.5. This emphasizesthe decimal point and decreasesthe chance of misreading the number.
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a) All data used in the sample calculations must traceable back to original
must be attached.
b) You must clearly indicate which trial the sample calculations are for .

data sheet, which

For each calculation at least the following three steps are required
a) The equation to be used must be presentedin symbol form.
b) The equation must be presentedwith the symbols replaced by the values including units. The
values must be in the same order as the symbols and must include the units. Conversion factors
should be at the end of the equation.
c) The answer must be shown including the units.
The samplecalculations can be done in pencil but must be done on Engineering paper, must be well
organized and neat. Suitable computer software may also be used.

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Sample title page

North Dakota State University

Test

Re!2ort

Air CompressorPerformanceTest
Test performed: 4-12-2000

Group membersand report sections

Instructor

Dr. Sherman Goplen

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5
ME

Goplen:

Stewart:

Ziejewski

Report

2:rade

Abstract

:J pIS

Objective

sheet

pL~

Background

20 pts

Apparatus

10 pts

Procedure

10 pts

Presentation ofresults

10 pts

Discussion ofresults

20 pts

Sample calculations

20 pts

Totals

100 pts

--

Danescu:

456

==

1-

==

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