difficult to write and you are advised to write it last.
3. Introduction - this should be a brief section, which describes, in general terms, the scope of
the experiment and its relevance to the field of study you are engaged in. A statement of
objectives should be given along with general comments about how the experiment will be
carried out.
4. Theory - describing the theoretical background to the experiment and maybe anticipating
some of the expected results.
5. Circuit design - details should be given of any circuit design that was carried out.
6. Experimental method - giving details of what equipment was required and how it was used.
Details should be given of how measurements were made.
7. Results and Calculations - Present experimental readings in tabular form with estimates of
reading errors. If the experiment had included a design exercise, e.g. of a logic circuit, your
results should indicate how it was tested whether or not the circuit was ultimately found to
be successful. Calculations based on experimental readings should be presented in a form,
which allows them to be checked. Graphs are normally more informative than tabular
results and should be presented whenever appropriate, even when not specifically
requested. Do not quote readings or calculated results to more significant figures than the
accuracy of the experiment provides; e.g. 7.400 indicates four significant figures of
accuracy whereas 7.4 indicates two.
8. Discussion - always included to give an assessment of the significance and reliability of the
results, to consider the implications of experimental errors and to propose possible
alternative approaches and further experiments that could be carried out.
9. Conclusion - a concise statement of what has been learnt from or confirmed by the
experiment. This section must be consistent with earlier sections.
10. References - already discussed.
Style
The style of a technical report should be clear, precise, concise and objective. Clarity and
precision are often interdependent and can be achieved only when the writer has mastered the
subject matter, and clearly understands his terms of reference. The writer must be able to
distinguish important and unimportant detail so that emphasis is correctly placed.
Concise writing conveys its meaning in the fewest possible words, and is generally easy to
read because it appears direct and natural. The style of a report can often be greatly improved by
eliminating redundant expressions, such as “... it will be noted that...“, or rephrasing a few
complicated sentences.
The style of a technical report should be objective in that it excludes any personal feelings
or prejudices and focuses attention on facts. The use of first person pronouns “we” and “I”
referring to the writer(s) alone should be avoided. For example, “we tested the circuit” should be
re-expressed in the passive voice as “the circuit was tested”. “We” is sometimes used to refer to
the author and reader collectively, e.g. “We now see that...“, but is generally best avoided or used
very sparingly.
Colloquial expressions should not be used in a report and jargon should be used only with
very great care. For example, ‘chip’ is now probably acceptable for ‘integrated circuit’ but
‘tweaking’ a potentiometer is definitely not allowed. Ironical, cynical or light-hearted comments
are invariably out of place, and serve only t
