Technical Report

Assignment Topic

Your assignment is to write a technical report that persuades them to take some action. The report should persuade them to act by providing technical or scientific evidence, not by focusing on argument itself.

In other words, your report should have so much compelling evidence that the reader will want to act with only moderate persuasion on your part. Examples might include things like why they should join or give money or time to an environmental group, why they should give blood, why they should drink green tea or red wine, why they should get an amateur radio license, why they should eat healthy, etc.

Research and Interviews

You should research your topic by consulting at least one person and two written sources.

The person must be someone who has some credentials in the appropriate field, i.e., a professor or graduate student or active practitioner in the discipline.

You should take notes during your interview with your expert, and make sure that you get the person’s name and position recorded properly, as well as the date of your interview.

The written sources should not include popular magazines like Scientific American or Newsweek or newspaper articles. Use more authoritative sources such as scientific journals, trade journals, technical books and documents, or technical reports that are catalogued on the NTIS (National Technical Information Service). Your expert should be able to provide you with suggestions for resources.

Report Writing Specifics

1. You will need a title page for the report. This web site is a good example for you to follow when developing your report. Formal Report Elements

Note: You do not need all the parts listed on this site. For your report, include ONLY the pages I have asked for.

2. The introduction and sections. Write a report of 4-6 pages (double-spaced), that includes at least two illustrations (photographs, drawings, graphs, etc.) that help enhance the meaning of your message. Don’t use an illustration just for the sake of using an illustration. The images you use should help the reader better understand your ideas or concepts.

Your report should be easy for your non-expert audience to understand, and it should make them want to act, based on the evidence you present.

3. Be sure to use headings and subheadings in your report as well to guide your reader through the details. Watch the video Using Headings and Subheadings in APA Formatting for details on how to format and include headings using APA style.

4. References. Document all sources at the end of your report using the APA formatting style.