Communication by the written word

1. Communication by the written word

2. Model of Communication Information source Transmitter Noise Receiver Destination

3. Noise and redundancy spoil communication Noise comes from • Confused arguments. • Red herrings. • Pomposity. • Attempting to be too clever. • Repetition (it is also boring, though used sparingly, it can emphasise a point).

4. A Report should be impressive The written word will be impressive if the layout and style are clear and simple. We may mistakenly fear that our work will be devalued if the writing is straightforward.

5. The writer must identify • the aim of writing. • the audience. • the reader’s aims. • the reader’s background knowledge. • what the reader needs to know. • the reader’s attitudes.

6. The approach to writing a report is • make a plan • discuss a synopsis • draft the text • forget it! • revise and edit

7. The Ten Commandments • The Reader is the most important person. • Make the Report as clear as possible. • Organise for the convenience of the Report user. • All references should be correct in all details. • The writing should be accurate, concise and unobtrusive.

8. The Ten Commandments 6. The right diagrams with the right labels should be in the right place for the reader. 7. Summaries should give the whole picture in miniature. 8. Reports should be checked for technical and typing errors and inconsistencies. 9. The report should be attractively presented. 10. The Reader is the most important person.

9. Style for readability • Avoid long sentences • The sentence length should be flexible • Complicated information should be communicated in short sentences or as bullet points • Long words confuse rather than impress • Use words sparingly - is there a simpler, better word? (thesaurus) • Avoid redundant words • Use words accurately • Sections and Paragraphs • A good paragraph will convey just one idea Ideally this will be stated in a topic sentence, then developed logically • Avoid the passive voice and use the active voice • Use impersonal writing when appropriate

10. Active Voice In sentences written in active voice, the subject performs the action expressed in the verb; the subject acts. In each example above, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb.

11. Passive Voice In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon. The agent performing the action may appear in a "by the . . ." phrase or may be omitted. Examples taken from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html

12. The structure of a Report

13. Contents of a typical Report • Title page : summary, contents • Introduction • Literature Review • Description of work/study done • Results/findings and Discussion • Conclusions and Recommendations • References and Bibliography • Appendices

14. Report Foundations Work/Findings/Discussion Aim Conclusions

15. Title page • The initial impact is important. • The front page tries to grab the reader’s attention. • The most important information should be at the golden section.

16. The potential reader asks….. • What is the report about? • Is it relevant to me? • Does it contain useful and important • information? • Should I spend time reading it now?

17. The title page must win the attention of the reader. Prominence is achieved by • the position on the page. • the font and size of the type.

18. Titles should be short but instructive Construction and instrumentation of an experimental concrete road on the trunk road D7 Uxbridge by-pass to determine the effects of omitting expansion joints. Rapid measurement of carbon in steel. An investigation into the suitability of CSPFA as a base material.

19. 1 Summary 2 Introduction 3 Method 4 Results 5 Discussion 6 Conclusions 7 Recommendations 8 References 1 Summary 2 Introduction 3 Method of treatment 3.1 Survey of reducing agents 3.2 Survey of precipitating agents 4 Plant requirements. 4.1 Pre-treatment storage…….. Contents pages should be informative

20. The Summary The summary is a synopsis of the whole report outlining • the aims • the work (methods) • the findings (results) and • the conclusions Informative summaries are best; give hard information rather than vague generalities.

21. Introduction • Define what the problem is (the questions you are addressing) • Outline specific considerations that lead to this investigation • How it differs from previous work • What the report will contain • Perhaps some (hint) of the conclusions

22. Describe the approach taken. Justify that it is appropriate. Establish constraints or assumptions. Enable others to repeat the work and check the conclusions. Link with the aim of the work. Motivate the work - what is its importance? Establish approaches used in previous research - the literature search. Method

23. Do not swamp the argument. Place the details in Appendices. Give sufficient information to support the argument. What is implied by the findings? Do not simply repeat the findings. Compare with the findings of other work. Conclusions are drawn and justified during the discussion. Findings/Results Discussion

24. Presentation of results. • Use the format that illustrates the point to be made. • Tables. • Graphs. • Drawings. • Schematic diagrams.

25. Conclusions • Conclusions are those things that have been discovered as a result of having done the work. What do I know now that I didn’t know before. • A common mistake is to provide a summary of the work. • Conclusions is a short section. • When the conclusions can be written down, it is time to write the report.

26. Conclusions - example 1 Accidents in fog totalled 192 in the three year period 1969-71, making up 4% of the total: 129 of these occurred during daylight hours. Accidents were on average more serious, with more casualties per accident, than those occurring in other weather conditions. About 45% of the fog accidents and 22% of the non-fog accidents occurred on about one-seventh (160km) of the motorway network.

27. Conclusions - example 2 1. If an oil-cooling system is caught at the 'incipient failure' stage but does not show gross contamination, the oil should be changed without flushing (section 3.4). 2. Sludge bound oil coolers should be cleaned by a flushing procedure (described in section 3.5) 3. Systems that are grossly contaminated after component failure should be stripped and cleaned on site (section 3.7) 4. Metal-contaminated oil coolers should be returned to the manufacturer for complete stripping and cleaning (section 3.8)

28. References [29] Lam, K Y, Hung, S L, (1995), Concurrency control for time constrained transactions, Computer Journal, 38, 704-715. [30] Lam, K, Lee, V C S, (1996), Distributed real-time concurrency control protocol, in Proc, 4th International Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Real-time Systems, pp122-125, IEEE Computer Society Press, Hawaii. [31] Roberts, Andrew, Mary and Charles Lamb Web site, http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www.study/ylamb.htm [Accessed on 12/12/2004] When you provide information such as the author and title when referencing a web page, it enables the reader to search for the web page, even if the web address is changed.

29. References [28] Umar, A, (1997), Object-oriented Client/server internet environments, Prentice-Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ. • Umar [28] states that … • Client/server environments [28] are important …. • Umar (1997) suggests that …... • …had significant results (Umar et al. 1998).

30. - Last thoughts - • Think of the report holistically • Initial impression is very important • Title page • Contents • summary • Two very important parts of any report • Introduction • Conclusions

31. Literature Surveys

32. The hierarchy of information

33. The purpose of publication • Expand the body of knowledge. • Prevent replication of effort. • Enable independent checks on results. • Disseminate opinions. • Provoke discussion. • Gain wider recognition for work.

34. Why survey the literature? • Discover the state-of-the-art. • Identify gaps in the body of knowledge. • Identify relevant work. • Locate useful expertise. • Keep abreast of developments.

35. The world of literature • Textbooks. • Learned Journals. • Conference proceedings. • World wide web. • Trade papers. • Newspapers.

36. Types of academic publication • Original paper. • Review of a research topic. • Bibliography. • Thesis. • Dissertation. • Technical Report.

37. Presentation of the literature survey : 1. The project context • What related work is being undertaken? • What is the motivation for the work? • How does it help me/science? • Why am I studying this aspect of the problem?

38. Presentation of the literature survey : 2. The area of investigation • What techniques are in use? • What are the findings of other people? • What are the views of other people? • How do they compare with my views? Literature surveys are a critical appraisal rather than a simple list of papers.

39. A literature survey demonstrates: • an awareness of an adequate body of knowledge, and • the ability to apply that knowledge to the project.

40. The End! Bet you’re glad!