How to Write a Tech Report

Technical report writing can be an overlooked subject in college, especially in the sciences, when students are expected to learn in-depth scientific principles and how to use those principles in industry. But the need to write a technical report can become a critical component of a job. For example, environmental scientists might spend four years in an undergraduate program learning about ecosystems, biological processes and other science disciplines, and then when employed, these scientists might be expected to write a report such as an environmental impact study. These reports are often used to judge the quality of the work that the scientist performs. Even if the scientist performs excellent work, a poorly written tech report will not convey the high quality.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• References

1. Divide your tech report into sections. Have each section use a large, bold font that will distinctly separate it from other sections. Start your report with an Overview section. This section will briefly and succinctly discuss the purpose of the report and the information it is intended to convey.

2. Add a Summary of Results section next, for readers who want to quickly get to the bottom line of the report. If the tech report is meant to provide the analysis for a decision, such as whether or not evidence supports a claim, then state in this section whether or not it supports the claim.

3. Include a section called Methodology. In this section, you can include experiment descriptions and analysis descriptions. For the NASA Publishing Service, this section includes apparatus used and descriptions of procedures.

4. Continue your tech report with a section on Results and Discussions. This section will detail the conclusions reached and show how the data collected during the procedures support these conclusions. It's helpful to include graphs and tables in this section to visually reinforce the conclusion.

5. Finish your tech report with a section on Conclusions and Supporting Material. Restate your conclusion briefly in this section and include references to information sources used during the processes that the report describes. Print the report.

Tips & Warnings

• Read your tech report after you print it. Sometimes errors are more obvious when a report is viewed on a page as opposed to a computer monitor.
• Many rewrites are usually required before a tech report is free of errors.

References

• NASA Publishing Service
• Occupational Outlook Handbook

Resources

• Walter E. Helmke Library

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