Report Writing: Report Writing Cliff Ogleby Department of Geomatics, The University of Melbourne Professional Development 451-204


Overview: Overview Report Writing Writing with Style clear concise correct complete Scientific Report Writing Preparatory Stages References Gender Neutral Writing/Speech P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t


Slide3: Clear Concise Correct Complete P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Writing with Style Overall Requirements: 4 Cs


Writing with Style: Writing with Style Writing clear Correct spelling Punctuation & grammar correct Arguments well presented P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t If ….. Then….. considerate well-educated competent forceful


Writing with Style: Writing with Style Writing illegible Poor spelling Poor Punctuation & grammar Arguments poorly presented P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t If ….. Then….. inconsiderate lazy careless or uneducated incompetent


Writing with Style: Writing with Style P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t General tips to improve writing: Study more grammar Memorise useful expressions Read More Practice Writing Study Vocabulary Consider what makes writing effective


Writing with Style - Clarity: Writing with Style - Clarity Use a dictionary Use a Thesaurus Use correct grammar P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Be Clear: Use Plain English: Avoid trying to sound intelligent Simple words are better than complex words


Slide8: Avoid all-purpose adjectives (major, significant…) Avoid unnecessary qualifiers (very, rather, extremely…) Do not use tautologies Avoid jargon, idioms and so on P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Be Precise: Writing with Style - Clarity


Slide9: Do not ramble or wander Paragraph breaks denote a change of topic/emphasis. Use them to change the focus. Use correct grammar P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Maintain Focus: Writing with Style - Clarity


Writing with Style - Clarity: Writing with Style - Clarity Vary grammatical structure Use stand-in words P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Avoid Monotony: Link your Ideas: Make your points flow Encourage your reader to read


Writing with Style - Conciseness: Writing with Style - Conciseness ‘as well as being costly, & financially extravagant, the venture was foolhardy & reckless’ Don’t just spray your work with modifiers, one well-chosen word is always better than a series of synonyms P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Use adverbs & adjectives sparingly Avoid Noun Clusters The use of nouns as adjectives ‘word processor utilisation manual’


Writing with Style - Conciseness: Writing with Style - Conciseness Generally beginning with who, which or that ‘the solutions which were discussed last night have a practical benefit which is easily grasped by people who have no technical training’ P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Avoid chains of relative clauses Avoid “It is” & “There Is” Beginnings ‘It is certain that pollution will increase’ ‘Pollution will certainly increase’


Writing with Style - Conciseness: Writing with Style - Conciseness Sentences can be reduced in length by rewording to make them ‘punchier’ Clauses, which contain verbs, can be reduced to phrases, which do not P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Reduce clauses to phrases or words Do not use Circumlocutions ‘due to the fact that…’ ‘at this point in time…’ ‘in the near future…’


Writing with Style - Conciseness: Writing with Style - Conciseness Try to avoid the passive voice, although much scientific writing demands third person. P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Be forceful Vary sentence structure Vary length of sentences, this improves the visual impact of a block of text Use contrast ‘Most university students are intelligent’ ‘Unlike RMIT students, most university students are intelligent’


Writing with Style - Conciseness: Writing with Style - Conciseness Vary grammatical structure Use stand-in words P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Avoid Monotony: Link your Ideas: Make your points flow Encourage your reader to read


Particular Grammar: Particular Grammar P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Comma Quotation Marks Question Marks Exclamation Marks Semi Colon Colon Apostrophe Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide17: Should be placed where it sounds as if needed – it represents a small pause in reading There are 20 possibilities where commas may be used – better to develop a ‘comma sense’ P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Comma: Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide18: A fast, streamlined car. For example, this is where you use a comma. After we set up the instrument, we observe some angles. On March 28, 1993, the 500cc Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix will be held. The student, with overwhelming debts, was very depressed. That is a lie, Mr Keating! P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Examples of Comma use: Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide19: Two forms, single (‘) or double (“) AKA inverted commas Used to enclose direct speech Used to enclose Titles Used to indicate enclosed terms are to be read at a different level than the rest of the sentence. P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Quotation Marks: Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide20: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Question Mark: Used to indicate a question Often read with a rising tone Placed inside quotation marks if it belongs to the spoken matter. Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide21: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Exclamation Mark: Used to end a sentence that makes an abrupt statement Can describe joy, anger, surprise, humour, danger. Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide22: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Semi Colon: Often used before words like ‘however’, ‘moreover’ … Used to break up lists Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide23: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Colon: Used to introduce a list Can be used before somebody speaks, or a quotation/saying. Can break a sentence where the second part summarises/ expands what was stated in the first. Replaces words similar in meaning to ‘as a result’. Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide24: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Apostrophe: Punctuation most abused, especially by sign writers Used to denote possession Used to replace a missing letter (contractions) It does not go before every ‘s’ & it is not used to make nouns plural. Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide25: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Examples of Apostrophe use: Jones’s shop Coles’ Supermarket The boy’s dog (singular boy) The boys’ dog ate its bone (plural boys) The tree’s height – the height of the tree A hard day’s night A weeks’ holiday Two weeks’ holiday He’s a swimmer / She’s a swimmer It’s here! Australia’s rugged beauty Writing with Style - Correctness


Slide26: Clear focus on topic Wide & critical reading Reasoned argument presented COMPLETE Structure & process P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Specific Requirements of Scientific Report Writing: Writing with Style - Completeness


Slide27: How do I structure the report? Do I need to incorporate graphics/images? How will the report be presented finally? How do I ensure that grammar & spelling are correct? P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Writing a Scientific Report


Slide28: What is it about? What level of analysis is involved? What reading & research is involved? Where can I go to get it? What do I need to extract? How can I summarise without plagiarising? How can I prepare a bibliography? P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Writing a Scientific Report


Slide29: Analysis of topic Background research Analysis of data First draft Revision & editing Diagrammatic materials Document design Proof reading Printing & binding Abstracts P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Preparatory Stages


Slide30: What is required? What is being asked? How much is required? P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Preparatory Stages Analysis of topic: Background Research: Collection of information Library searches for books & journals Interviews Other sources


Slide31: What is appropriate? What can I discard? Where can I follow this lead? P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Preparatory Stages Analysis of data: First Draft: Outline Chapter headings Beginning, middle, end


Slide32: What can be discarded? Where is it lacking? Are all references correctly cited? P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Preparatory Stages Revision & editing: Diagrammatic materials: Include maps, Diagrams Charts/Graphs Tables


Slide33: Table of contents Abstract Index, list of figures Page layout Paragraph breaks Styles P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Preparatory Stages Document design: Proof reading Printing & binding


Slide34: A precis/overview on the article/paper. Information source when collecting bibliographies/research material. Paragraph(s) summary of research topic, methods, results & conclusion. Usually placed at the start of a paper. Often required before conference papers are submitted & used to attract registrants. The precis may be collected and published as an ‘Abstract’. P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Preparatory Stages Abstracts:


Slide35: An acknowledgement to authors of work studied, quoted or referred to The in-text citation acts as an indicator to the reference in the bibliography references citations Footnotes An essential part of scientific report-writing Verifies the arguments presented P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References & Citations Definition & uses:


Slide36: Authors names; Year of publication; Title of publication; Title of series if applicable; Volume Number if applicable; Edition; Editor, revisor, compiler, translator; Publisher; Place & date of publication; Page number or section reference. P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Books References to books must include:


Slide37: Strunk, W and E B White (1979) The elements of style, New York, Macmillan. note the order of the initials & surname for second and additional authors Underlining can be used where italics are not available P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Books Harvard Author-Date:


Slide38: Authors names; Year of publication/ Date of issue; Title of article; Name of the periodical/journal; Title of series; Volume and year; Publisher; Place & date of publication; Page number or section reference. P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Articles References to articles must include:


Slide39: Pavio, A (1975) “Perceptual comparisons through the mind’s eye.” Memory and Cognition 3: 635-647 The “..” are used to enclose the title of the paper in the journal It is no longer necessary to use p or pp to denote pages P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Articles Harvard Author-Date:


Slide40: Conference Papers (unpublished), Theses: Author, date Conference at which the paper was presented, or University at which thesis presented pages P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References – Unpublished materials Meeting & Seminar Papers: As above Personal Communications, Interviews: Author-date & site as pers.comm.


Slide41: Authors names, name of organisation; Day and Month Accessed; Title of page; URL (Universal Resource Locator). P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Electronic Sources References to WWW must include: E.G. Walker, JR (1995) MLA-style citations of electronic sources. Http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/mla.html (Accessed 16 April, 1995).


Slide42: Author ( person sending the mail); Specific date (either sent or received); Title (from subject line); Author’s email address(or write ‘Personal Email’ so as not to breach privacy) P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Electronic Sources References to Email must include: E.G. Chipchase, C. (1998, March 31). 451-204 Lecture 5 [electronic mail]. Personal email. Chipchase, C. (1998) 451-204 Lecture 5 [electronic mail] (March 31, 1998).


Slide43: (Pavio 1975; Strunk and White 1979; Hartley, Harker et al. 1980) Note the use of the colon to separate authors No comma between the author’s name and date P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References – Citation In-text citation:


Slide44: Interstate Road Transport Act 1985 (Cwlth) Firearms Act 1936 (NSW) P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Legislation Always quote Acts & legislation in full Include date Include jurisdiction For example: Use abbreviations for section numbers, subsections, paragraphs & subparagraphs


Slide45: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Legal Bodies Name of case Date or volume number, or both Abbreviated name of report series Beginning page of reference In the case of criminal cases, the Crown is the prosecutor: R. v. Haddock In the case of appeals against the Crown: Haddock v. The Queen


Slide46: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Bible, Koran, Torah ... Psalm 23:6-8 1 Cor. 13:9 Biblical Examples: Examples from other religious texts: An expert in that religion should be consulted


Slide47: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Bibliographic Databases A specialised data base program used for storing bibliographic data Often optimised for insertion of citations & compilation of a bibliography Endnote, used throughout The University of Melbourne Standard DB packages like Microsoft Access Shareware Packages Description & E.G.s:


Slide48: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t References - Abbreviations ibid. in the same work (ibidem) op. cit. In the work cited (operen citato) vide see p., pp. page, pages from-to Acceptable bibliographic abbreviations include: app., art., bk., c., cf., ch., col., div., ed./eds, edn., eq. (see style manual for more)


Slide49: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Equal Opportunity policy of The University of Melbourne aims to: “eliminate sexist & other discriminatory language from all University publications & discourages the use of such language in published and unpublished material, and in the speech & writing of its staff & students”. Gender Neutral Writing/Speech


Slide50: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t What is ‘sexist and discriminatory speech & writing’? Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Generics The pronoun problem Modifiers Apophasis (“Clayton’s” sexism) Stereotypes Paternalism


Slide51: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t What are ‘Generics’? Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Using a generalised term that refers only to a particular segment of society E.G. Assuming the ‘male’ is the norm for the human species persons instead of men humankind instead of mankind


Slide52: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t ‘Man’ is still defined in the dictionary in both broad and narrow senses Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Specific ‘Man’: an adult male human being as distinguished from a female


Slide53: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Generic ‘Man’: Human being general or indefinite applications - in the sense ‘person’ the human creature regarded abstractly the human race mankind… ‘man’ as a generic term - barrier to equality


Slide54: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Women are not ‘Man’: Gender Neutral Writing/Speech “the gates are manned from 8:30-5:00” (they are gorilla’ed after 5:00?!) “in-vitro fertilisation is a new technique to help man reproduce” (what a scientific advance!) “imaginative woman required to join four-man team” (really imaginative!)


Slide55: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t The Pronoun problem: Gender Neutral Writing/Speech The convention of he it is not a gender neutral third person pronoun Avoid the generic use of the term


Slide56: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Gender Neutral Writing/Speech How to eliminate: Recast the passage into plural(watch verb conjunctions, though) reword completely least acceptable is he/she, his/hers


Slide57: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Modifiers: Gender Neutral Writing/Speech “ respected lady surveyor & young engineer team up to complete project for wealthy contractor”(does ‘surveyor’ have a gender? What gender is the contractor?) “the beautiful and enigmatic Benazir Bhutto” (the handsome and diplomatic Yasser Arafat?) “an attractive mother-of-four”


Slide58: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Apophasis: Gender Neutral Writing/Speech To mention something in disclaiming intention to mention it E.G. ”I ate all my vegetables & didn’t even say how much I hated them” “He’s very manly, oops, I mean personly” “She fell down the man hole, oh sorry, I should say access pit” Should human be hu-person?!


Slide59: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t What are stereotypes? Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Generalised feelings & images of people belonging to groups which make assumptions about the structure of society generally they oversimplify & underestimate individuals.


Slide60: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t How stereotypes discriminate Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Overlook people on the basis of perceptions about their race, gender, disabilities... Deny someone the use of services because it is assumed they may not be capable of using them (e.g. sporting...)


Slide61: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Effeminate & expressionate men as homosexuals Androgynous women as homosexuals Overall-wearing men hating dykes as homosexual women E.G.s stereotyping and demeaning


Slide62: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t E.G.s stereotyping and demeaning Gender Neutral Writing/Speech Identification of inanimate objects as having gender (boats are she…) Categorisation of people based on their accents girls, sweetie, dear, darling


Slide63: P r o f e s s i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Paternalism Gender Neutral Writing/Speech The idea some groups are less powerful or more dependent on a more dominant group Making non-gendered nouns ‘female’ by the addition of suffixes waitress, waiter is not male actress, actor is not male defining people with AIDs as victims….