Spring 2026

Technical
Report Writing
Lecture Notes, Laboratory Guide & Bank of Questions

Dr. Rasha M. Saeed

Assistant Professor of Linguistics
 ‫رؤيـة كلية الحاسبات والذكاء االصطناعي‬
‫تسعى كلية الحاسبات والذكاء االصطناعي ألن تكون صرحا ً تعليميا ً وبحثيا ً متميزا ً في‬
‫مجال علوم الحاسب وتكنولوجيا المعلومات يعمل وفقا ً لمعايير الجودة العالمية بما‬
.‫يمكن من تحقيق المنافسة والتميز على كل من المستويات المحلية واإلقليمية والعالمية‬

Vision of Faculty of Computers & Artificial Intelligence

Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence aims to be a

pioneer educational institution and research center in the field of
Computer Science and Information Technology. This makes it
possible to achieve competition and uniqueness at the local,
regional, and international levels.
 ‫رسالـة كلية الحاسبات والذكاء االصطناعي‬
‫تلتزم كلية الحاسبات والذكاء االصطناعي بتقديم خدمات تعليمية أكاديمية تؤدي إلى‬
‫خريج متميز قادر على المنافسة محليا ً وإقليميا ً وعالميا ً وعلى كفاءة عالية في مجاالت‬
‫الحاسبات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات ويتمتع بمهارات وأخالقيات مهنية رفيعة وقادر على‬
‫التعلم الذاتي لمواكبة التطورات السريعة في مجال تخصصه وتقديم تعليم مستمر‬
‫وخدمات تدريبية واستشارية لتحقيق التنمية القومية واالرتقاء بالبيئة المحلية وإجراء‬
.‫البحوث العلمية في مختلف مجاالت علوم الحاسب وتكنولوجيا المعلومات‬

Mission of Faculty of Computers & Artificial Intelligence

Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence is committed to:

- providing academic educational services that lead to a
distinguished graduate capable of competing locally,
regionally, internationally, and be highly qualified in the field
of computers and information technology. In addition,
graduates will have high professional skills and ethics and will
be capable of self-learning to cope with rapid developments in
his/her field of specialization.

- Providing continuous education, training and consulting

services to achieve national development and improve the local
environment.

- Conducting scientific research in various fields of computer

science and information technology.
 Modern University for Technology & Information
Faculty of Computers & Artificial Intelligence
& Artificial Intelligence

Course Specifications
BS 114: Technical Report Writing
A- Affiliation:

Relevant Program: Computer Science - BSc Program

Information System - BSc Program
Department offering the program: Basic Sciences Department
Department offering the course: Basic Sciences Department
Date of Specification Approval: 19th February 2018

B- Basic Information:

Title: Technical Report Writing Code: : BS 114 Level:1

Semester: Spring
Pre-requisite: None
Lectures: 3H Tutorial/Practical: 1H Credit Hours: 3

C- Professional Information:

Introduces students to the general concepts of technical writing, idea

development, and physical layout in different career fields. Also emphasizes
proofreading and editing. This course aims to give the student the basic
rudiments of report writing. The rationale for report writing, the structure of
reports, and such details as physical appearance and linguistic style will be
discussed. In addition to writing reports, students will also be given
supplementary exercises, as necessary, to enhance their general writing
skills.

1- Course Learning Objectives:

The course provides students with a solid foundation in technical

communication. It introduces students to all aspects of technical
communication, including letters, memos, proposal and progress reports,
recommendation reports and oral reports. The course integrates Microsoft
word, Excel and PowerPoint applications as tools for designing and editing
technical reports. The aim of this course is to help students write technical
material in a way that is easy to understand, and get their message across to
fellow professionals and the general public.
2 – Intended learning outcomes of course (ILOs)

a- Knowledge and Understanding:

On successful completion of the course students will have knowledge and
sound understanding of:
a1- The general concepts and principles of technical writing in the
workplace (A4).
a2- The different stages of composing documents independently and
collaboratively (A4).
a3- The rules and criteria governing document design and using of
illustrations (A4).
a4- Different types and sections of technical reports and oral reports
(A4).

b- Intellectual ( cognitive) Skills:

On successful completion of the course, students should have the ability to:
b1- Conduct an audience analysis (B5, B9, B10, B13, B14).
b2- Demonstrate skill in searching for information and evaluating of
their sources (B5, B9, B10, B13, B14).
b3- Apply a range of concepts and principles associated with writing
and designing technical reports, letters, memoranda, e-mails,
résumé and letter of application (B5, B9, B10, B13, B14).
b4- Produce and evaluate logical argument (B5, B9, B10, B13, B14).

c – Professional and Practical Skills:

On successful completion of the course, the students will be able to:
c1- Carry out a situational analysis to determine the topic and purpose
of writing together with the receiving audience and persona of
writer (C5, C12, C13).
c2- Apply the rules and criteria governing: composing, gathering and
evaluation of information, document design, and using of
illustrations (C5, C12, C13).
c3- Design and write the different types of commonly used technical
reports and in particular: proposals, progress, recommendation
and evaluation reports, and oral presentation reports (C5, C12,
C13).

d- General and Transferable Skills:

On successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
d1- Develop problem-solving and communication skills (D6).
d2- Present, discuss and defend ideas, concepts and views effectively
through formal written documents and oral presentation (D4).
 d3- Develop an ability to work in a group and share decision making
(D2).
d4- Develop time management and organizational skills as
represented in their ability to plan and implement efficient and
effective modes of working (D2, D6).
d5- The applications of IT knowledge design documents and oral
presentations (D7) .

Course Contribution in the Program ILO'S:

ILO'S Program ILO'S

A Knowledge and A4
understanding
B Intellectual skills B5, B9, B10, B13, B14
C Professional and practical C5, C12, C13
skills
D General and transferable D2, D4, D6, D7
skills

3- Contents:

Topic Lecture Tutorial/

Practical
An overview of technical writing 1 -
Composing 2 -
Writing collaboratively 3 2
Gathering, evaluating, and documenting
4 4
Information
Document design 4 5
Using illustrations 4 5
Correspondence 2 2
The strategies and communications of
4 4
the job hunt
Proposals and progress reports 2 2
Recommendation reports 2 2
Oral reports 2 4
Total 30 30
 4- Teaching and Learning and Assessment methods:

Teaching Methods Learning Assessment Method

Methods

Discussions and seminars

Presentations and Movies

Modeling and Simulation

Researching and Reports
Problem solving

Practical Exam
&Experiments

Written Exam

Term papers

Assignments
Laboratory
Tutorials
Course IL O'S
Lecture

Quizzes
a1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
a2 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Knowledge
a3 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
a4 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
b1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
b2 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Intellectual
b3 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
b4 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
c1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Applied c2 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
c3 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
d1 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
d2 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
General d3 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
d4 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
d5 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

5- Assessment Timing and Grading:

Assessment method Timing Grade (%Degrees)
Semester Work : Bi-Weekly 20%
seminars, quizzes,
assignment and reports
Mid-Term Exam 8th Week 20%
Practical Exam 15th Week 10 %
Written Exam 16th Week 50%
Total 100%
6- List of References:

6.1 Required Textbook:

• Markel, M. (2015). Technical CommunicationI. 11th Edition.
Boston: Macmillan.

• Houp, K.W, Pearsall, T.E., & Tebeaux, E. (2007) Reporting

Technical Information. 11th edition. Oxford: Oxford UP.

6.2 Recommended Books:

• Atherton, T. (2020). Technical Report Writing & Style Guide.
Independently published.

• Hering, H. (2019) How to Write Technical Reports

Understandable Structure: Good Design, Convincing
Presentation. 2nd Edition. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

• Riordan, D. (2013). Technical Report Writing Today 10th

Edition. 10th Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning.

• Lannon, J. & Gurak, L. (2017) Technical Communication,

MLA Update. 11th Edition. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's.

7- Facilities required for teaching and learning:

7.1 White board and markers

7.2 Data show
7.3 Computer Laboratory equipped with Typing Master, MS word, MS
Excel & MS PowerPoint.

Course Co-ordinator: Dr. Rasha M. Saeed

Head of Department: Prof. Dr. Eman Abo El-Dahab
 Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
1.1 What is Technical Writing?------------------------------------------------------------- 4
1.2 Types of Technical Documents -------------------------------------------------------- 5
1.3 Knowledge and Skills needed for Technical Writing ----------------------------- 6
1.4 Skills & Qualities Shared by Workplace Communicators ----------------------- 6
1.5 Audience Analysis ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7
1.6 Attributes of Good Technical Writing ----------------------------------------------- 7
Chapter 1: Exercises --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9

Chapter 2: Writing Technical Documents --------------------------------------------- 13

2.1 Situational Analysis -------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
2.1.1 Topic and Purpose -------------------------------------------------------------- 15
2.1.2 Audience and Persona --------------------------------------------------------- 16
2.2 Discovery --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16
2.2.1 Brainstorming --------------------------------------------------------------------- 17
2.2.2 Using Arrangement Patterns for Discovery --------------------------------- 17
2.2.3 Using Past Similar Documents ------------------------------------------------- 17
2.3 Arrangement ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17
2.4 Drafting and Revising------------------------------------------------------------------ 18
2.4.1 The Rough Draft ------------------------------------------------------------------ 18
2.4.2 Revision ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
2.5 Editing & Proofreading ---------------------------------------------------------------- 20
2.5.1 Checking Mechanics ------------------------------------------------------------- 20
2.5.2 Checking Documentation ------------------------------------------------------- 21
2.5.3 Checking Graphics ---------------------------------------------------------------- 21
2.5.4 Checking Document Design ---------------------------------------------------- 21
2.5.5 Editing with Word Processing Programs ------------------------------------ 22
Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions ----------------------------------------------- 23
Chapter 2: Exercises ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26

Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively ----------------------------------------------------- 30

3.1 The Planning Stage--------------------------------------------------------------------- 33
3.2 The Drafting Stage --------------------------------------------------------------------- 34
3.2.1 Dividing the Work ---------------------------------------------------------------- 34
3.2.2 Drafting in Collaboration-------------------------------------------------------- 35
3.2.3 One Person Doing the Drafting ------------------------------------------------ 35
3.3 Revising and Editing ------------------------------------------------------------------- 35
3.3.1 Revising ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35
Criterion-Based Comments --------------------------------------------------- 36
Reader-Based Comments ----------------------------------------------------- 36
Word Processing ---------------------------------------------------------------- 36
Comments from Outside the Group ---------------------------------------- 36
3.3.2 Editing------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 38
3.4 Collaboration on the Internet ------------------------------------------------------- 38
3.4.1 E-Mail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39
3.4.2 Synchronous Discussions ------------------------------------------------------- 39
3.4.3 Wikis and Shared Document Workspaces ---------------------------------- 40
3.4.4 Virtual Worlds --------------------------------------------------------------------- 41
3.5 Conference Behavior ----------------------------------------------------------------- 41
3.6 Group Roles ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43
3.6.1 Task Roles -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44
3.6.2 Group Maintenance Roles ------------------------------------------------------ 45
Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions ----------------------------------------------- 46
Chapter 3: Exercises ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48
Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject -------------------------------------------------- 54
4.1 Asking the Right Questions ---------------------------------------------------------- 55
4.2 Looking for Answers ------------------------------------------------------------------- 56
4.2.1 Interviews -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56
4.2.2 Social Media ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 57
4.2.3 The World Wide Web ------------------------------------------------------------ 59
4.2.4 Library ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61
4.3 Evaluating Answers -------------------------------------------------------------------- 63
4.3.1 Interviews -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63
4.3.2 Newsgroups------------------------------------------------------------------------ 63
4.3.3 World Wide Web Sites ---------------------------------------------------------- 64
4.3.4 Books and Articles ---------------------------------------------------------------- 64
4.4 Citing Sources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65
Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions ----------------------------------------------- 68
Chapter 4: Exercises ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 71

Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents ------------------------------------------------ 76

5.1 Understanding the Basics of Document Design --------------------------------- 78
5.2 Designing Effective Pages ------------------------------------------------------------ 83
5.2.1 Leave Sufficient Margins -------------------------------------------------------- 83
5.2.2 Use Blank Space to Group Information -------------------------------------- 83
5.2.3 Set the Spacing for Easy Reading ---------------------------------------------- 84
5.2.4 Use a Medium Line Length ----------------------------------------------------- 84
5.2.5 Use a Ragged Right Margin ----------------------------------------------------- 85
5.3 Choosing Readable Font Type ------------------------------------------------------- 85
5.3.1 Choose a Legible Font Size------------------------------------------------------ 86
5.3.2 Choose a Font That is Appropriate for the Situation --------------------- 87
5.3.3 Use Special Fonts Sparingly ---------------------------------------------------- 88
5.3.4 Use Highlighting Effectively ---------------------------------------------------- 88
 5.3.5 Use a Mixture of Cases, Not All Capitals------------------------------------- 89
5.3.6 Use Color Carefully --------------------------------------------------------------- 89
5.4 Helping Readers Locate Information----------------------------------------------- 90
5.4.1 Design and Write Descriptive Headings ------------------------------------- 90
5.4.2 Use Page Numbers, Headers, and Footers ---------------------------------- 93
Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions ------------------------------------------------ 95
Chapter 5: Exercises ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 99

Chapter 6: Creating Graphics ------------------------------------------------------------105

6.1 Choosing Graphics ---------------------------------------------------------------------107
6.1.1 Considering Your Audience ----------------------------------------------------107
6.1.2 Considering Your Purpose -----------------------------------------------------108
6.1.3 Deciding on Figures -------------------------------------------------------------109
6.1.4 Following Guidelines for Effective Graphics -------------------------------111
6.2 Creating Graphics ----------------------------------------------------------------------112
6.2.1 Designing Tables -----------------------------------------------------------------113
6.2.2 Designing Bar and Column Graphs-------------------------------------------115
6.2.3 Designing Circle Graphs -------------------------------------------------------117
6.2.4 Designing Line Graphs ---------------------------------------------------------119
6.3 Designing Graphics Ethically -------------------------------------------------------121
6.4 Using Colors Effectively ------------------------------------------------------------124
Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions ----------------------------------------------125
Chapter 6: Exercises ------------------------------------------------------------------------127

Chapter 7: Writing Correspondence ---------------------------------------------------133

7.1 Written Communication vs. Oral Communication -----------------------------134
7.2 Selecting a Type of Correspondence ----------------------------------------------135
7.3 Finding the Appropriate Style ------------------------------------------------------141
 7.3.1 Direct versus Indirect Style ----------------------------------------------------141
7.3.2 Conversational Style ------------------------------------------------------------144
Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions -----------------------------------------------147
Chapter 7: Exercises ------------------------------------------------------------------------148

Chapter 8: Writing Job Application Materials --------------------------------------152

8.1 Understanding the Job-Application Process -------------------------------------153
8.2 Establishing Your Professional Brand ---------------------------------------------153
8.2.1 Understanding What Employers Want -------------------------------------154
8.2.2 Crafting Your Professional Brand --------------------------------------------154
8.2.3 Building the Foundation of Your Professional Brand --------------------156
8.2.4 Presenting Your Professional Brand -----------------------------------------157
8.3 Planning the Job Search --------------------------------------------------------------159
8.4 Writing a Letter of Application ----------------------------------------------------161
8.4.1 The Beginning --------------------------------------------------------------------163
8.4.2 The Body ---------------------------------------------------------------------------164
8.4.3 The Ending ------------------------------------------------------------------------165
8.5 Writing a Résumé ---------------------------------------------------------------------167
Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions -----------------------------------------------177
Chapter 8: Exercises ------------------------------------------------------------------------178

Summative Coursework --------------------------------------------------------------------- A

 Chapter 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

-1-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 What is Technical Writing?

1.2 Types of Technical Documents

1.3 Knowledge and Skills needed for Technical Writing

1.4 Skills & Qualities Shared by Workplace

Communicators

1.5 Audience Analysis

1.6 Attributes of Good Technical Writing

-2-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

Many college students believe that the most important courses they
take are those in their major. Some computing majors think, for example,
that if they just take that advanced course in system analysis, employers
will conclude that they are prepared to do more advanced projects and
therefore hire them. However, many college students are surprised to learn
that what employers say they are looking for in employees are the
communication skills and qualities discussed in the coming sections of this
chapter. Surveys over the past three or four decades have shown
consistently that employers want people who can communicate.

This course explores how people in the workplace find, create, and
deliver technical information. Even if you do not plan on becoming a
technical communicator (a person whose main job is to produce documents
such as manuals, reports, and websites), you will often find yourself writing
documents on your own, participating in teams that write them, and
contributing technical information for others who read and write them. The
purpose of Technical Communication is to help you learn the skills you
need to communicate more effectively and more efficiently in your
professional life.

When you communicate in the workplace, you always have a clear

purpose (i.e., what you want to achieve) and an audience (one or more
people who are going to read the document, attend the oral presentation,
visit the website, or view the video you produce). People in the working
world communicate technical information for a number of purposes, many
of which fall into one of two categories:

• To help others learn about a subject, carry out a task, or make a

decision.

• To reinforce or change attitudes and motivate readers to take action.

Remember … !
Writing is something that can be learned; it is a skill, not
merely a talent.

-3-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 What is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is essentially a problem-solving process that involves

the following elements at one or more stages of the process:
• A technical subject matter that is characteristic of a particular art,
science, trade, technology, or profession.

• A recognition and accurate definition of the communication problem

involved.

• The beginning of the solution through the establishment of the role of the
communicator and the purpose and audience of the communication.

• Discovery of the accurate, precise information needed for the solution of

the problem through thinking, study, investigation, observation, analysis,
experimentation, and measurement.

• The arrangement and presentation of the information thus gained so

that it achieves the writer’s purpose and is clear, useful, and persuasive.

Remember … !

The final product of this problem-solving process is a piece

of technical writing that may range in size and complexity
from a simple memorandum to a stack of books.

Much technical writing goes on at universities and colleges. Professors

have a personal or professional curiosity that entices them into research. If
they believe that their findings are important, they publicize the information in
various ways—books, journal articles, papers for professional societies, the
Internet. Students assigned research problems present what they have done
and learned in laboratory reports, monographs, and theses.

As someone who writes technical documents, whether part-time or full-

time, you may have to produce leaflets, proposals, brochures, sales literature,
reports to stockholders, and a great variety of letters.

-4-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

1.2 Types of Technical Documents

Organizations produce technical writing for internal and external use.

Internally, documents such as feasibility reports, technical notes, e-mail,

and memorandums go from superiors to subordinates, from subordinates to
superiors, and between colleagues at the same level.

Examples:
▪ The research department reports the results of tests on new
products.

▪ The personnel department instructs new employees about company

policies and procedures.

In fact, the outsider cannot imagine the amount and variety of

paperwork a company generates simply to keep its internal affairs in order.
Survey research indicates that college-educated employees spend about
20% of their time on the job writing. In fact, most college-educated workers
rank the ability to write well as very important to their job performance.

Externally, letters and reports of many kinds go to other companies,

the government, and the users of the company’s products.

Examples:
▪ A computer company prepares instructional manuals to accompany
its computers.

▪ An architectural firm prepares progress reports to inform clients of

the status of contracted building programs.

-5-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

1.3 Knowledge and Skills needed for Technical Writing

Technical writing requires a working knowledge of:

• the technical subject matter and terminology

• document design
• the rules that govern the writing of numbers
• the uses of tables and graphs
• the needs and expectations of its users

Surveys show that workers rank writing skills in this order of

importance:

1. Clarity
2. Conciseness
3. Organization
4. Grammar

1.4 Skills & Qualities Shared by Workplace Communicators

People who are good at communicating in the workplace share a

number of skills and qualities. Four of them relate to the skills you have
been developing in school and in college:

• Ability to perform research.

• Ability to analyze information.
• Ability to solve problems.
• Ability to speak and write clearly.

In addition to the skills just described, successful workplace

communicators have seven qualities that relate to professional attitudes
and work habits:

• They are honest.

• They are willing to learn.
• They display emotional intelligence.
• They are generous.
• They seek out opinions from others
• They are self-disciplined.
• They can prioritize and respond quickly.

-6-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

1.5 Audience Analysis

To write clear and effective reports, you should:

• Know your reader.

• Know your objective.
• Be simple, direct, and concise.

Audience analysis is tremendously important to successful technical

writing. What is appropriate for your professional colleagues may be
inappropriate for the general public. In matters of definition, for example,
terms are not normally defined if the audience is expected to know them. But
terms have to be defined when your audience, for whatever reason, cannot
be expected to know them. In technical writing, you have to know your
audience as well as your objectives and adapt your style and material to both.

1.6 Attributes of Good Technical Writing

To Sum up discussion in this chapter, a good technical document

has eleven attributes:

• Arrives by the date it is due.

• Is well-designed. It makes a good impression when it is picked up,

handled, and flipped through or read online.

• Has the necessary introduction to disclose the purpose and scope of

the report.

• Has a body that provides essential information and that is written clearly.

• Uses tables and graphs to present and clarify its content.

• Has a summary or conclusion to reveal the results obtained.

• Has been so designed that it can be read selectively—for instance, by

some users, only the summary; by other users, only the introduction and
conclusions; by still other users, the entire report.

-7-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

• Has a plan, such as may be revealed by the table of contents and a series
of headings throughout the report.

• Reads coherently from beginning to end.

• Answers readers’ questions as these questions arise in their minds.

• Conveys an overall impression of authority, thoroughness,

soundness, and honest work.

To conclude this introductory chapter, it is worth noting that almost

every technical document that gets the job done has essentially
six characteristics: it addresses particular readers; it helps readers
solve problems; it reflects the organization’s goals and culture; it is
produced collaboratively; it uses design to increase readability; and it
consists of words or images or both.

Remember … !

Good technical writing should be free from typographical errors,

grammatical slips, and misspelled words. Little flaws distract
attention from the writer’s main points.

-8-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1: Exercises

I) Choose the correct answer:

1. Which of the following are final products of technical writing?

a) One-page memo b) 1000-page proposal report
c) 10-page website d) All of the above

2. Examples of the external technical documents used at the workplace are ...
a) technical notes b) feasibility reports
c) proposal reports d) memos

3. A technical writing skill should not be characterized as ………..

a) clear b) objective
c) complicated d) timely

4. One of the qualities that a good technical writing should not possess is ….
a) simplicity b) objectivity
c) conciseness d) ambiguity

5. Which of the following elements is not an element of technical writing?

a) Audience analysis b) Use of complex vocabulary
c) Recognition of the problem d) Offering solution

6. The three characteristics of a good technical writer are: know the audience,
know the objective, and…
a) be simple, direct, and concise b) be quick, even if you're vague
c) be an authority d) use highly technical terms

-9-
 Chapter 1: Introduction

II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. […………] At work, your readers will read your document selectively.

2. […………] Any good technical writing should have a summary or a set

of conclusions to reveal the results obtained.

3. […………] Honesty is a basic requirement for a good technical writer.

4. […………] The ability to write is something you're born with, not

something you learn.

5. […………] Technical writing involves a technical subject matter that is

characteristic of a particular art, science, trade, technology,
or profession.

6. […………] The three characteristics of a good technical writer are: know

the audience, know the objective, and be technical, even if
you're vague.

7. […………] Grammatical correctness does not determine the quality of

technical writing.

III) Complete the following statements:

1. People in the working world communicate technical information for a

number of purposes, many of which fall into one of two categories:
……………………………..………………………………………. and
……..…………….…………………………………………………….

2. Among the qualities of good technical writing are: to arrive on the due
date , ……………………………..…….. , ……………………………,
to convey an overall impression of authority and honest work, and
…………………………………………

- 10 -
 Chapter 1: Introduction

3. Skills of writing a technical report are arranged according to importance

as follows: clarity, ……………………… , ……………………….….. ,
and grammar.

IV) Answer the following questions:

1. What are the major skills and qualities that should be shared by
Workplace Communicators?

2. Technical writing is a problem-solving process that involves a

technical subject matter that is characteristic of a particular art,
science, trade, technology, or profession. According to what you have
learned, what are the major qualities of a good technical writing?

3. Define audience analysis and discuss how it affects the process of

technical documents.

- 11 -
 Chapter 2: Writing Technical Documents

CHAPTER 2

Writing Technical
Documents

- 12 -
 Chapter 2: Writing Technical Documents

Chapter 2: Writing Technical Documents

2.1 Situational Analysis

2.1.1 Topic and Purpose
2.1.2 Audience and Persona

2.2 Discovery
2.2.1 Brainstorming
2.2.2 Using Arrangement Patterns
2.2.3 Using Past Similar Documents

2.3 Arrangement

2.4 Drafting and Revising

2.4.1 The Rough Draft
2.4.2 Revision

2.5 Editing & Proofreading

2.5.1 Checking Mechanics
2.5.2 Checking Documentation
2.5.3 Checking Graphics
2.5.4 Checking Document Design
2.5.5 Editing with Word Processing Programs

- 13 -
 Chapter 2: Writing Technical Documents

This chapter presents the writing process that focuses on the

techniques and tools most useful for technical writers. For most skilled and
experienced writers, the composing process breaks up into roughly five
parts:
1- Situational analysis
2- Discovery
3- Arrangement
4- Drafting and revising
5- Editing and proofreading

Time spent on these five parts is usually not equal. Situational

analysis, discovery, and arrangement for a complicated piece of work may
take 80 percent or more of the time you spend on the project. For an easy
piece of routine writing, these first three stages may take a few minutes,
and drafting and revising may take up the bulk of the time. Some
situations call for careful editing; others do not.

The frustrating part of writing, however, is that these five steps are
not linear. That is, you don’t plan the document, then check off a box and
go on to drafting. At any step, you might double back to do more planning,
drafting, or revising. Even when you think you’re almost done you still
might think of something that would improve the document. That means
you’ll need to go back and rethink all five steps.

As you backtrack, you will have one eye on the clock, because the
deadline is sneaking up on you. That’s the way it is for all writers. A
technical writer stops working on a user manual because she has to get it
off to the print shop. An engineer stops working on a set of slides for a
conference presentation because it’s time to head for the airport. So,
when you read about how to write, remember that you are reading about a
messy process that goes backward as often as it goes forward and that,
most likely, ends only when you run out of time.

Remember, too, that many of the documents you produce will

never truly be “finished.” Many types of documents that live online are
called living documents because they are meant to be revised as new
information becomes available or policies change.

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2.1 Situational Analysis

In this section we discuss situational analysis, dealing first with

topic and purpose, and then with audience and persona.

2.1.1 Topic and Purpose

Topics are many. For example, you may have a mechanism or

process to explain – that is your topic. You may have to define a term or
explain a procedure. You may have to report the results and conclusions
of a scientific experiment or a comparison shopping study. All these and
many more are the topics of technical writing.

Generally, your purpose is either to inform or to argue or both.

Most topics can be handled in one of these two ways, depending on the
situation.

• Often, you are simply informing. For example, you may have to
define a term from your discipline. In your definition, you may tell
what category the thing being defined belongs to and what
distinguishes it from other members of the same category. You may
give an example of the thing described.

• On the other hand, when dealing with your mechanism or definition,

you may be really presenting an argument. You may not be merely
describing a mechanism; you may be attempting to demonstrate its
superiority to other mechanisms of the same type. To do so, you’ll
need to argue, perhaps by showing how your mechanism is more
economical and easier to maintain than other mechanisms. In the
same way, you may not be simply defining a term; you may be
arguing that your definition is more comprehensive or more correct
than previous definitions of the same term.

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 Chapter 2: Writing Technical Documents

2.1.2 Audience and Persona

Professional people consider both audience and persona seriously

when composing. Persona refers to the role the writer has, or assumes,
when writing. It relates to, among other things, the position of the writer
and his or her relationship to the audience and the situation. For example,
a bank lending officer might assume one persona when writing to a loan
applicant and a different persona when writing to a supervisor to justify a
loan that has been made.

Here are some questions you need to ask about your audience
and persona when you are preparing to write:

• What is the level of knowledge and experience of your readers?

• What is the reader’s point of view?
• What is your relationship to the reader?
• What is your reader’s attitude about what you are going to say?
• What persona do you wish to project?

2.2 Discovery

At some point in your writing process you must “discover” the

material you will use in your writing. Discovery is teasing out of your mind
the information you will use and modify to meet the needs of your topic,
purpose, audience, and persona.

Discovery includes using libraries, the Internet, and laboratories

to fill in the gaps in your knowledge. You may also use interviews, on-
site inspections, or letters of inquiry to gather information. The
techniques we discuss here will enable you to explore your own mind.

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2.2.1 Brainstorming

In brainstorming you uncritically jot down every idea about a subject

that pops into your head, without thought of organization. The key to
successful brainstorming is that you do not attempt to evaluate or arrange
your material at the first stage. Evaluation or arrangement at the first
critical stage may cause you to discard an idea that could prove valuable
in the context of all the ideas that the brainstorming session produces.
Also, avoiding evaluation at this point prevents the self-censorship that
often blocks a writer. Brainstorming can quickly reveal holes in your
knowledge, which can be filled with information you gather later.

2.2.2 Using Arrangement Patterns for Discovery

You can use familiar arrangement patterns as aids in discovering

your material. For example, suppose your purpose is to describe a
procedure for a reader who wishes to perform the procedure. If you were
familiar with writing instructions, you would know that a set of instructions
often lists and sometimes describes the tools that must be used to perform
the procedure. Furthermore, instructions describe the steps of the
procedure, normally in chronological order. Knowing what is normally
required for a set of instructions, you can brainstorm your material in a
more guided way.

2.2.3 Using Past Similar Documents

In the workplace, writers often use past documents of a similar

nature to discover their topics.

2.3 Arrangement

When you begin your arrangement, you should have a good deal of
material to work with. You should have notes on your audience, purpose,
and persona. Your discovered material may take various forms. It may be
a series of notes produced by brainstorming or other discovery
techniques. Or you may have cards filled with notes taken during library

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research or notebooks filled with jottings made during laboratory research.

In fact, you may have so much material that you do not know where to
begin.

You can save yourself much initial chaos and frustration if you
remember that certain kinds of reports (such as progress reports,
proposals, and empirical research reports) have fairly standard
arrangements. The same arrangement patterns that helped you discover
your material can now serve you as models of arrangement.

Example:
If you are arranging an argument, you have a major thesis, and
your subarguments, often called minor theses. You’ll probably
want to consider the strength of your minor theses when you
arrange your argument. Generally, you want to start and finish
your argument with strong minor theses. You’ll place weaker
minor theses in the middle of your argument.

In technical writing, graphs and tables are important techniques for

presenting material. It’s not too early to think about them while you are
arranging your material.

2.4 Drafting and Revising

When you have finished arranging your material, you are ready
to draft and revise your report.

2.4.1 The Rough Draft

The rough draft is your initial written production. Begin writing as

soon after the prewriting stage as possible. Writing is hard work. Most
people, even professionals, procrastinate. But you must begin, and the
sooner the better.

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• Find a quiet place to work, one with few distractions. Choose a

time of day when you feel like working, and go to work.

• Don’t begin with the beginning but with the section that you think
will be the easiest to write. If you do so, the whole task will seem
less overwhelming. As you write one section, ideas for handling
others will pop into your mind.

• Do not write for more than two hours at a stretch. A report

written in one long five- or six-hour stretch reflects the writer’s
exhaustion.

• Make your rough draft very full. You will find it easier to delete
material later than to add it.

• Be alert for places where you will need headings and other
transitional devices to guide your readers through the report.

Remember … !

Writing is a creative process. Discovery does not

stop when you begin to write. For most people,
writing stimulates discovery. Writing clarifies your
thoughts, refines your ideas, and leads you to new
connections. Therefore, be flexible. Be willing to
revise your plan to accommodate new insights as
they occur.

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2.4.2 Revision

Some writers revise while they are writing. For them, revision as a
separate step is little more than minor editing, checking for misspellings
and awkward phrases. Whether you revise while you write or in a separate
step, you should be concerned about arrangement, content, logic, style,
graphics, and document design. In some situations you may want to
show your work to others and seek their advice.

2.5 Editing & Proofreading

Editing is a separate step that follows drafting and revising. It’s the
next-to-final step before you release your report to its intended audience.
In the editing stage, you make sure your report is as mechanically perfect
as possible, that it meets the requirements of standard English and
whatever format requirements your situation calls for.

Proofreading is the process of checking to make sure you have

typed what you meant to type. Though proofreading is very exhausting,
it is vital to producing a clear, well-written document that reflects your high
standards and underscores your credibility as a professional. Don’t insult
yourself and your readers by skipping this step. Reread your draft carefully
and slowly, perhaps out loud, and get a friend to help. You’ll be surprised
at how many errors you’ll find.

2.5.1 Checking Mechanics

Begin by checking your mechanics, i.e. spelling and grammar.

Check every word that looks the least bit doubtful. Use a good dictionary
or the spelling checker of your word processing program. Be particularly
alert for grammatical errors. A word processor can help by allowing you to
check for some of the errors a computer program is able to detect.

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2.5.2 Checking Documentation

When you are satisfied with your mechanics, check your

documentation. Be sure that all notes and numbers match. Be sure that
you have used the same style throughout for your notes.

2.5.3 Checking Graphics

Check your graphics for accuracy, and be sure you have mentioned
them at the appropriate place in the report. Are your graphics well placed?
If they are numbered, be sure that their numbers and the numbers you
use in referring to them match.

2.5.4 Checking Document Design

In your drafting and revision, you should have made sure that your
design makes your document readable and accessible for your readers.
For example, check if your table of contents is complete and accurate, and
if it matches the headings you have used. Also, check if your headers and
footers accurately portray your material.

Remember … !

When you print your final draft, proofread it one more

time before you turn it over to your audience. The author
of a report is responsible for all errors.

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2.5.5 Editing with Word Processing Programs

To help the writer with editing, spelling checkers and grammar and
style checkers are available in word processing programs.

Remember … !
Most spelling checkers have no sense of grammar or usage.
They will stop on a word spelled correctly if that word does not
happen to be in the program’s dictionary, as is true of many
technical terms. More important, they will not stop at a word
that is in the program’s dictionary when that word is used
incorrectly in context. A spelling checker won’t catch errors like
these:

The student’s all came to class today.

They wanted to here your speech.
They wanted to hear you speech.

It is the role of the writer to catch errors like these in

proofreading the document

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Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions

At this stage, you should choose your writing tool; you probably
do most of your writing with Microsoft Office. Here are features on MS
Word you should be familiar with:

1 - How to use the Outline View

 TECH TIP

When organizing your document, you can use the outline view to examine and revise
the structure of your document. To use this view, you must format your document with
Word’s built-in heading styles or outline levels. To view the structure of your document,
select the View tab on the Ribbon and then select Outline.

A plus sign indicates that a heading has subheadings or text associated with it. A minus
sign indicates that it does not. Headings are indented to show subordinate levels. Use
the Outlining tab to promote or demote headings or body text; to move, expand, or
collapse sections; and to show levels.

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2- How to Modify Templates

 TECH TIP

You can modify an existing document template to address your specific writing
situation. You can then save this modified document as a template and use it again
in similar writing situations.

1. To locate an existing template, select File and then select New. This will open the
Available Templates window. Within this window, you can study templates already
installed on your computer as well as ones available for download.

2. You can start with a Blank Document or with one of the many available templates.
First, choose a template, and then select Create. If you click on a folder of
templates, such as Sample templates, you can select a template and then save it
as a document or a template. Select the format you want (Document or Template),
then select Create. If you want to save the changes you make for future use, be
sure to select Template.

3. After making changes to the design of the template, select File and then select
Save. Your modified template will be stored in a file you can access later through
the My Templates tab in the Available Templates window.

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3- How to Use Style Group

 TECH TIP

As you draft your document, you can use the Styles group to apply styles to elements
such as headings, lists, and body text. Using styles helps to ensure consistency and
makes it easy to automatically change every instance of a style in your document when
you revise.

1. To apply a style, select the text you want to format, then select a style from the
Quick Styles gallery in the Styles group on the Home tab.

2. You can also apply a Quick Style Set to your entire document by selecting the
Change Styles icon.

3. Another way to apply a style is to select the Styles dialog box launcher and then
select the style you wish to use. If you do not see the style options you want, select
Options to display the Style Pane Options dialog box.

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Chapter 2: Exercises

I) Choose the correct answer:

1. ………… refers to the role the writer has, or assumes, when writing.
a) Audience b) Persona
c) Illustrator d) Communicator

2. When composing, the discovery phase includes:

a) using libraries and the Internet b) watching discovery channel
c) setting for safari journeys d) mind-reading

3. The first step to be done in the drafting and revising stage is:
a) arrangement b) the rough draft
c) the final draft d) the revised draft

4. All the following are examples of the purposes of technical writing

except:
a) To inform the readers b) To provide information
c) To recommend an action d) To entertain

5. Certain kinds of documents, including progress, proposal, and research

reports, often have …………. arrangements.
a) complex b) standard
c) repetitive d) attractive

6. Situational analysis involves consideration of the following:

a) Brainstorming and arrangement
b) Topic and purpose, audience and persona
c) Drafting and revising
d) Document design and editing

7. Checking a technical document via spelling, grammar, and style

checkers is part of the …………… stage of the composition process.
a) arrangement b) situational analysis
c) revising d) editing

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8. Persona refers to…………...

a) the role the audience assumes when reading
b) the role the writer has when writing
c) the role of the editor in proofreading
d) All of the above

9. A spelling checker in a word-processing program may not detect the

error in the following sentence:
a) They wanted to hear you speech.
b) They wanted to hear yur speech.
c) They wanted to heer your speech.
d) They wanted to hear ur speech.

II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. […………] Spelling checker and grammar checker are very

helpful tools to proofread documents.

2. […………] A technical piece of writing should have one purpose

only.

3. […………] Discovery is the first step in the composing process.

4. […………] Editing a technical document is considered the second

step in the composing process.

5. […………] In the revision stage, it is not recommended to share

the opinion of colleagues.

6. […………] The audience of your document determines its scope

and reflects on persona.

7. […………] To compose a well-written document, you do not need

to analyze the attitude formed by your reader(s)
towards you and your document.

8. […………] A spelling checker is a perfect tool to edit documents.

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 Chapter 2: Writing Technical Documents

9. […………] To compose a well-written document, you should

analyze the attitude formed by your reader(s) towards
you and your document.

10.[…………] When brainstorming, you should be careful to

organize your ideas and to maintain correct grammar
and spelling.

11.[…………] When you compose a technical document, using past

similar documents is regarded as non-professional.

12.[…………] Writers go through the composition process in a

similar manner.

III) Complete the following statements:

1. When composing, the situation analysis deals with: ……………..… and

purpose; ……………………… and persona.

2. The composing process of technical writing breaks into five parts:

situational analysis, ………………………. , arrangement,
…………..………… and editing and proofreading.

3. The editing stage of the composing process includes checking mechanics,

documentation, ………………..…… , …………………. , and using
……………………….…. programs.

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CHAPTER 3

Writing Collaboratively

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

3.1 The Planning Stage

3.2 The Drafting Stage

3.2.1 Dividing the Work
3.2.2 Drafting in Collaboration
3.2.3 One Person Doing the Drafting

3.3 The Revising and Editing Stage

3.3.1 Revising
3.3.2 Editing

3.4 Collaboration on the Internet

3.4.1 E-Mail
3.4.2 Synchronous Discussions
3.4.3 Wikis and Shared Document Workspaces
3.4.4 Virtual Worlds

3.5 Conference Behavior

3.6 Group Roles

3.6.1 Task Roles
3.6.2 Maintenance Roles

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Collaborative writing is common in the workplace. Organizations

conduct a good deal of their business through group conferences. In a
group conference, people gather, usually in a comfortable setting, to share
information, ideas, and opinions. Organizations use group conferences for
planning, disseminating information, and, most of all, for problem solving.

According to a survey conducted by Cisco Systems (2010), more

than 75 percent of those surveyed said that collaboration is critical to their
success on the job. Some 90 percent said that collaboration makes them
more productive. Writers who collaborate can create a better document
and improve the way an organization functions. In fact, there are
numerous advantages of collaboration:

• Collaboration employs a wider knowledge base. Therefore, a

collaborative document can be more comprehensive and more
accurate than a single-author document.

• Collaboration makes use of a wider skills base. No one person

can be an expert manager, writer, editor, graphic artist, and
production person.

• Collaboration improves communication among employees.

Because you and your collaborators share a goal, you learn about
each other’s jobs, responsibilities, and frustrations.

• Collaboration motivates employees to help an organization

grow. New employees bring new skills, knowledge, and attitudes
that can help the organization develop. More experienced
employees mentor the new employees as they learn. Everyone
teaches and learns from everyone else, and the organization
benefits.

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Collaboration can also have important disadvantages:

• Collaboration takes more time than individual writing. It takes

longer because of the time needed for the collaborators to
communicate. In addition, meetings – whether they are live or
remote — can be difficult to schedule.

• Collaboration can yield a disjointed document. Sections can

contradict or repeat each other or be written in different styles. To
prevent these problems, writers need to plan and edit the document
carefully.

• Collaboration can lead to inequitable workloads. Despite the

project leader’s best efforts, some people will end up doing more
work than others.

• Collaboration can reduce a person’s motivation to work hard

on the document. A collaborator who feels alienated from the
team can lose motivation to make the extra effort.

• Collaboration can lead to interpersonal conflict. People can

disagree about the best way to create the document or about the
document itself. Such disagreements can hurt working relationships
during the project.

The collaborative writing discussed in this chapter is the working

together of a group over an extended period of time to produce a
document. In producing the document, the group shares the responsibility
for the document, the decision making, and the work. All the elements of
composing — situational analysis, discovery, arrangement, drafting and
revising, and editing — generally benefit by having more than one person
working on them.

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3.1 The Planning Stage

The advantage of working in a group is that you are likely to hit on

key elements that working alone you might overlook. The collaborative
process greatly enhances situational analysis and discovery.

In the first meeting, start to define your team’s agenda. One or

two people in the group should serve as recorders (i.e. secretaries) to
capture the thoughts before they are lost. It helps if the recording is done
so that all can see. During the brainstorming, remember to accept all
ideas; evaluation and selection will follow.

When the brainstorming and other discovery techniques are

finished, the group must evaluate the results. This is a time when trouble
can occur. When everyone is brainstorming, it’s fun to listen to the flow;
however, when the time comes to evaluate and select ideas, some ideas
will be rejected, and tension in the group may result. Keep the discussion
as open but as objective as you can. Where possible, divorce the ideas
from the people who offered them.

While in the planning stage, a group should take four other steps
that can save a lot of hassle and bother later on:

• Choose a coordinator from among the group. In choosing a

coordinator, group members should avoid both passive and dominating
personality types. The group should give the coordinator the authority
to enforce deadlines, call meetings, and otherwise shepherd the group
through the collaborative process.

• Set deadlines for completed work and stick to them. The deadlines
should allow sufficient time for the revising stage and for the delays
that seem inevitable in writing projects.

• Schedule frequent review sessions. In them, group members should

offer support and encouragement, check the workloads, and see if
group goals are being met.

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

• Make up a style sheet for everyone to follow. Agree on and record

such matters as these:
- Font type and size and spacing for text
- Line length and margins
- Highlighting (boldface, italics, and so forth)
- Placement and style of page numbers
- Format for headers and footers
- Placement, caption style, and identification (numbers or
letters) for figures and tables
- Format for at least three levels of headings, to include font
size and type, grammatical structure, capitalization,
placement, and spacing
- Format for lists and informal tables [bullets (•), numbers,
spacing, indentation, and so forth]
- Documentation for both text and graphics

3.2 The Drafting Stage

In the actual drafting of a document, a group can choose one of

several possible approaches. In large organizations you will find all of
these methods, or combinations of them, in use.

3.2.1 Dividing the Work

For lengthy documents, perhaps the most common drafting

procedure is to divide the drafting among the group. Each member of the
group takes responsibility for a segment of the organizational plan and
writes a draft based on the group plan.

However, even when a group has agreed on the

design features, there will be many stylistic
differences in the first drafts. A group that divides the
work must be prepared to spend a good deal of time
revising and polishing to get a final product in which
all the segments fit together smoothly.

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3.2.2 Drafting in Collaboration

For short important documents, a group may want to draft the

document in collaboration, rather than dividing up the work. Word
processing, in particular, makes such close collaboration possible. Two or
three people sitting before a keyboard and a screen will find that they can
write together. Generally, one person will control the keyboard, but all
collaborators can read the screen and provide immediate feedback as
changes are made to the document.

However, although such close collaboration is possible,

it is a method seldom used in the workplace, probably
because it is time consuming and, therefore, costly.

3.2.3 One Person Doing the Drafting

To have one person draft the entire document produces a

uniformity of style. An alternative approach is to divide the work but then
appoint a lead writer to put the segments together, blending the parts into
a stylistic whole.

However, the obvious disadvantage is that not

everyone will go through the writing experience.

3.3 Revising and Editing

Collaboration works particularly well in revising and editing. People

working in a group frequently will see problems in a draft, and solutions to
those problems, that a person working alone will not see.

3.3.1 Revising

In revising, concern yourself primarily with content, organization, style,

and tone. Be concerned with how well a draft fits purpose and
organization.

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• Criterion-Based Comments

Criterion-based comments measure the draft against some

standard. For example, the sentences may violate stylistic standards
by being too long or by containing pretentious language. The group
should hold the draft to strict standards of ethics and accuracy.

• Reader-Based Comments

Reader-based comments are simply your reaction as a reader to

what is before you.

• Word Processing

Word processing offers an efficient technique [Review tab] for

revising, particularly when geography or conflicting schedules keep
group members apart. You can distribute your document to readers
electronically so that they can add comments, revise text, and highlight
text. You can then review their comments, keep track of who made
which changes, compare two versions, and decide whether to accept
or decline changes without ever having to print your document.

• Comments from Outside the Group

You should consider seeking comments on your drafts from

people outside the group. People senior to you in your organization
can help you to ensure that the tone and content of your work reflect
the values and attitudes of the organization.

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Problems in the Group

Harmony in a group is important to its success. However,

collaborative revision can cause problems in the group. We all
get attached to what we write. Criticism of our work can sting.

Therefore, all members of the group should be particularly

careful in the revising stage:
• Support other members of the group with compliments
whenever possible.
• Begin any discussion by saying something good about a
draft.
• Keep comments objective and not personal; talk about the
document, not the writer
• Be positive rather than negative.
• Do not take criticism personally.
• Support your position, but also be ready to listen to opposing
arguments.

RUDE You don’t explain clearly why this criterion is relevant.


BETTER I’m having trouble understanding how this criterion
relates to the topic.

RUDE Why didn’t you include the price comparisons here, as

you said you would?

BETTER I wonder if the report would be stronger if we included
the price comparisons here.

Remember … !

The group should work toward a common goal, i.e. a

successful document.

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3.3.2 Editing

Make editing a separate process from revision. In editing, your

major concerns are format and standard usage. Final editing should
include making the format consistent throughout the document. This is a
particularly important step when the work of drafting has been divided
among the group. All the equal headings should look alike. Margins and
spacing should be consistent. Footnotes should all be in the same style,
and so forth.

Remember … !
The final product should be seamless. That is, no
one should be able to tell where Mary’s work
leaves off and John’s begins.

3.4 Collaboration on the Internet

One important tool for collaboration in the workplace is the Internet

specifically e-mail, synchronous discussions, wikis and shared
document workspaces, and virtual worlds. Using the Internet, group
members can work together on a project from remote locations. This issue
has become of paramount importance during the last year as Covid-19
pandemic hit the world and forced billions of people of all ages to be
locked down at homes. Indeed, Covid-19 pandemic has changed the face
of life on earth – a phenomenon that may continue to persist for the few
coming years.

The explosive growth of social media services such as Facebook,

YouTube, and Twitter over the last decade has greatly expanded the
scope of workplace collaboration, reducing former barriers of time and
space. Today, people routinely collaborate not only with members of their
project teams but also with others within and outside their organization. A
2012 survey by the human-resources consulting company SilkRoad
found that almost three-quarters of employees surveyed use their own
mobile devices in the workplace every day to connect with co-workers

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and customers, to share work-related information, to collaborate, and to

spark new ideas. The three most popular services were Twitter,
Facebook, and LinkedIn, each used by more than half of those surveyed.

3.4.1 E-Mail

A group might initiate collaborative work on their project by creating

a distribution list for e-mail. Each member of the group could then mail a
message to a common e-mail address, and all the members of the group
would receive a copy of the message. That is, instead of mailing several
e-mail messages, a group member would only have to mail one — a
considerable reduction in time and effort. In addition, all members of the
group would know that they were all getting the same message, leading to
feelings of equality and trust among the group members. An e-mail
software allows users to attach different types of files to their e-mail
messages.

3.4.2 Synchronous Discussions

Synchronous discussions can be useful to a group at several points

in the collaborative process. Unlike e-mail, synchronous communication is
almost simultaneous, with the participants in different locations gather in
real time in a virtual meeting room.

One form of synchronous discussions is instant messaging (IM).

In the last decade, several new messaging technologies have been
introduced that are well-suited for use on mobile devices such as phones.
Of these, the two most popular are text messaging and microblogging.

Text messaging enables people to use mobile devices to send

messages that can include text, audio, images, and video. Texting is the
fastest-growing technology for exchanging messages electronically
because most people keep their phones nearby. Organizations use text
messaging for such purposes as sending a quick update or alerting people
that an item has been delivered or a task completed.

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Microblogging is a way of sending very brief textual messages to

your personal network. You probably use the world’s most popular
microblog, Twitter, which now has more than half a billion users. Many
organization also use Twitter-like microblogs such as Yammer, which
includes a search function and other features and which can be
administered from within an organization.

Another form of synchronous discussions is videoconferencing.

Videoconferencing technology allows two or more people at different
locations to simultaneously see and hear one another as well as exchange
documents, share data on computer displays, and use electronic
whiteboards. Systems such as Skype, Zoom, and MS Teams are simple
and inexpensive, requiring only a Webcam and some free software.
However, there are also large, dedicated systems that require extensive
electronics, including cameras, servers, and a fiber-optic network or high-
speed telephone lines.

3.4.3 Wikis and Shared Document Workspaces

Using an e-mail, people collaborate on a document to send it from

one person to another. One person would write or assemble the document
and then send it to another person, who would revise it and send it along
to the next person, and so forth. Although the process is effective, it is
inefficient: only one person can work on the document at any given
moment. Two new technologies – wikis and shared document
workspaces – make collaborating on a document much simpler and more
convenient.

A wiki is a web-based document that authorized users can write

and edit. The best-known wiki is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that
contains some four million articles written and edited by people around the
world. In the working world, people use software such as Jive and
Socialtext to host wikis used for creating many kinds of documents, such
as instructions, manuals, lists of frequently asked questions, and policy
documents. The concept is that a wiki draws on the expertise and insights
of people throughout the organization and, sometimes, outside the
organization.

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A shared document workspace makes it convenient for a team of

users to edit a file, such as a PowerPoint slide set or a Word document. A
shared document workspace such as Microsoft SharePoint or Google
Drive archives all the revisions made by each of the team members, so
that the team can create a single document that incorporates selected
revisions. Some shared document workspaces enable a user to download
the document, revise it on his or her computer, and then upload it again.
This feature is extremely convenient because the user does not need to
be connected to the Internet to work on the document.

3.4.4 Virtual Worlds

Organizations use virtual worlds, such as Second Life and Open

Sim, to conduct meetings and conferences. Participants create avatars
and visit different locations in the virtual world to view displays, watch
product demonstrations, hold meetings, participate in job interviews, and
talk with others. Many people think that entering a three-dimensional
virtual world, in which you can talk with others through a headset
connected to a computer, creates a more realistic experience than merely
visiting a website, watching a video, or talking on the phone. Companies
such as IBM, Cisco, and Intel use virtual worlds for day-to-day activities
and special events. Holding a conference for 200 employees on Second
Life saved IBM some $320,000 in transportation, food, and lodging
expenses.

3.5 Conference Behavior

A good group conference is a pleasure to observe. A bad

conference distresses conferees and observers alike. In a bad group
conference, the climate is defensive. Conferees feel insecure, constantly
fearing a personal attack and preparing to defend themselves.
Nevertheless, in a good group conference, the climate is permissive and
supportive. Members truly listen to one another. The general attitude is,
“We have a task to do; let’s get on with it.”

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How do members of a group arrive at a supportive climate during

their meetings? To simplify things, here is a list of dos and don’ts. These
principles cannot guarantee a good conference, but if they are followed
they can help contribute to a successful outcome.

Dos

• Do be considerate of others. Stimulate people to act rather than

pressuring them.

• Do be loyal to the conference leader without saying yes to everything.

Do assert yourself when you have a contribution to make or when you
disagree.

• Do support the other members of the group with compliments and

friendliness.

• Do be aware that other people have feelings. Remember that

conferees with hurt feelings will drag their feet or actively disrupt a
conference.

• Do have empathy for the other conferees. See their point of view. Do
not assume you know what they are saying or are going to say. Really
listen and hear what they are saying.

• Do conclude contributions you make to a group by inviting criticism of

them. Detach yourself from your ideas, and see them objectively as
you hope others will. Be ready to criticize your own ideas.

• Do understand that communication often breaks down. Do not be

shocked when you are misunderstood or when you misunderstand
others.

• Do feel free to disagree with the ideas of other group members, but
never attack people personally for their ideas.

• Do remember that most ideas that are not obvious seem strange at
first, yet they may be the best ideas.

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Don’ts

• Don’t try to monopolize or dominate a conference. The confident

person feels secure and is willing to listen to the ideas of others.
Confident people are not afraid to adopt the ideas of others in
preference to their own, giving full credit when they do so.

• Don’t continually play the expert. You will annoy other conferees with
constant advice and criticism based on your expertise.

• Don’t pressure people to accept your views.

• Don’t make people pay for past mistakes with continuing punishment.
Instead, change the situation to prevent future mistakes.

• Don’t let personal arguments foul a meeting. Stop arguments before

they reach the personal stage by rephrasing them in an objective way.

Perhaps the rule “Do unto others as you would have

them do unto you” best summarizes all these dos and
don’ts. When you speak, you want to be listened to.
Listen to others.

3.6 Group Roles

You can play many roles in a group conference. Sometimes you

bring new ideas before the group and urge their acceptance. Perhaps at
other times you serve as information giver and at still others as
harmonizer, resolving differences and smoothing ruffled egos. Group roles
may be divided into two groups: task roles, which move the group toward
the accomplishment of its task; and group maintenance roles, which
maintain the group in a harmonious working condition.

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3.6.1 Task Roles

When you play a task role, you help the group accomplish its set task.
Some people play one or two of these roles almost exclusively, but most
people slide easily in and out of most of them.

• Initiators are the idea givers, the starters. They move the group toward
its task, perhaps by proposing or defining the task or by suggesting a
solution to a problem or a way of arriving at the solution.

• Information seekers see where needed facts are sparse or missing.

They solicit the group for facts relevant to the task at hand.

• Information givers provide data and evidence relevant to the task.

They may do so on their own or in response to the information seekers.

• Opinion seekers canvass group members for their beliefs and opinions
concerning a problem. They might encourage the group to state the
value judgments that form the basis for the criteria of a problem
solution.

• Opinion givers volunteer their beliefs, judgments, and opinions to the

group or respond readily to the opinion seekers. They help set the
criteria, including ethical criteria, for a problem solution.

• Clarifiers act when they see the group is confused about a conferee’s
contribution. They attempt to clear away the confusion by restating the
contribution or by supplying additional relevant information, opinion, or
interpretation.

• Elaborators further develop the contributions of others. They give

examples, analogies, and additional information. They might carry a
proposed solution to a problem into the future and speculate about how
it would work.

• Summarizers draw together the ideas, opinions, and facts of the group
into a coherent whole. They may state the criteria that a group has set
or the agreed-upon solution to the problem. Often, after a summary,
they may call for the group to move on to the next phase of work.

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3.6.2 Group Maintenance Roles

When you play a group maintenance role, you help to build and
maintain the supportive group climate. Some people are so task oriented
that they ignore the feelings of others as they push forward to complete
the task. Without the proper climate in a group, the members will often fail
to complete their tasks.

• Encouragers respond warmly to the contributions of others. They

express appreciation for ideas and reward conferees by complimenting
them. They go out of their way to encourage and reward the reticent
members of the group when they do contribute.

• Feeling expressers sound out the group for its feelings. They sense
when some members of the group are unhappy and get their feelings
out in the open. They may do so by expressing the unhappiness as
their own and thus encourage the others to come into the discussion.

• Harmonizers step between warring members of the group. They

smooth ruffled egos and attempt to lift conflicts from the personality
level and objectify them. With a neutral digression, they may lead the
group away from conflict long enough for tempers to cool, allowing
people to see the conflict objectively.

• Compromisers voluntarily withdraw their ideas or solutions in order to

maintain group harmony. They freely admit error. With such actions,
they build a climate in which conferees do not think their status is riding
on their every contribution.

• Gatekeepers are alert for blocked-out members of the group. They

subtly swing the discussion away from the forceful members to the
quiet ones and give them a chance to contribute.

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions

How to Use the Review Tab

MS Word offers two powerful features that you will find useful in
collaborative work:
• comment feature lets readers add electronic comments to a file.
• revision feature lets readers mark up a text by deleting,
revising, and adding words and indicates who made which
suggested changes.
 TECH TIP

When collaborating with others, you can distribute your document to readers
electronically so that they can add comments, revise text, and highlight text. You can
then review their comments, keep track of who made which changes, compare two
versions, and decide whether to accept or decline changes without ever having to print
your document. You can use the Review tab to electronically review a document or to
revise a document that has already been commented on by readers.

1. Select the Review tab to access the Comments, Tracking, Changes, and Compare
groups.

2. To electronically review a document, highlight the relevant text and do the

following:
- Select the New Comment button in the Comments group to write comments in a
bubble in the margin.

- Select the Track Changes button to distinguish between revised text and original
text.

- On the Home tab in the Font group, select the Text Highlight button to emphasize
a particular passage.

- To change the color or design of comment bubbles or markup, select the Track
Changes button in the Tracking group, and select Change Tracking Options. The
Track Changes Options dialog box will appear.

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

3. To revise a document that has already been commented on by reviewers, you can
do the following:

- Use the Tracking group to change how the document is displayed.

- Select buttons in the Changes group to see the previous or next comment and to
accept or reject a change.

- Select the Reviewing Pane button to review all comments and changes.

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

Chapter 3: Exercises
I) Choose the correct answer:
1. To facilitate group work revision, it is recommended that all members be…
a) objective and critical b) subjective and positive
c) objective and positive d) subjective and critical

2. In what stage should the group develop a style sheet, set deadlines, choose a
coordinator, and schedule frequent review sessions?
a) Planning b) Drafting
c) Revising d) Editing

3. A collaborative project can be carried out over the internet through:

a) wikis b) newsgroups
c) Homepages d) electronic library catalogue

4. The ……... is a member of a group who is given authority to enforce

deadlines, call for meetings, and schedule review session.
a) editor b) illustrator
c) initiator d) coordinator

5. If members of a collaborative writing group are situated geographically apart,

…… is the ideal means of communication.
a) the library b) the telephone
c) the Internet d) All of the above

6. During a group's situational analysis and discovery brainstorming session, it is

recommended to appoint one or two recorders who will...
a) write down the group's ideas b) start outlining and drafting
c) decide which ideas are practical d) both a and c

7. In what stage should the group check and double-check for inconsistencies in
margins, typeface, documentation and headings?
a) Planning b) Drafting
c) Revising d) Editing

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

8. The most suitable approach in the collaborative drafting of short important

documents is:
a) drafting in collaboration b) dividing the work
c) one person doing the drafting d) All of the above

9. The most suitable approach in the actual drafting of lengthy documents is:
a) drafting in collaboration
b) one person doing the drafting
c) getting an external professional to do the drafting
d) dividing the work

10. In collaborative revision, there are primarily two types of comments:

a) Draft-based and edition-based
b) Coordinator-based and group-based
c) Professional and non-professional
d) Criterion-based and reader-based

11. One of the following is not a type of comment used in collaborative revising:
a) comments from outside the group
b) coordinator-based comments
c) reader-based comments
d) criterion-based comments

12. One of the following is not recommended when group members gather to
revise their collaborative document: ……………
a) Supporting other members with compliments
b) Keeping comments subjective and personal
c) Directing constructive criticism to a team member
d) Listening to opposing arguments

13. …………….. are those who see where needed facts are sparse or missing. They
ask the group for facts relevant to the task at hand.
a) Gatekeepers b) Feeling expressers
c) Information seekers d) Harmonizers

14. One of the following is not a group maintenance role in collaborative writing:
a) compromisers b) encouragers
c) feeling expressers d) initiators

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

15. …………….. are members of a group who clear away any confusion by
restating the contribution of other members or by supplying additional
relevant information, opinion, or interpretation.
a) Information seekers b) Summarizers
c) Clarifiers d) Initiators

II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. [……..…] A person cannot play more than one role at a time in a group
conference.

2. [……..…] Drafting in collaboration is the best method to adopt for short

important documents.

3. [……..…] In collaborative writing, a coordinator should be given authority

to enforce deadlines and call for meetings.

4. [……..…] Synchronous discussions are an example of collaboration in

writing over the internet.

5. [……..…] To facilitate group work revision, it is recommended that all

members be subjective and positive.

6. [……..…] When writing collaboratively, you should not seek comments from
outside the group.

III) Complete the following statements:

1. …………………….. is a technology that allows two or more people at

different locations to simultaneously see and hear one another as well as
exchange documents, share data on computer displays, and use electronic
whiteboards.

2. …………………………… are group roles that help the group maintain a

harmonious condition. Among these roles are: ………………..…… and
encouragers.

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 Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively

3. A collaborative project can be carried out over the internet through:

………….…….. , emails, ……………….. , and …………………..

4. Google Drive is a …………………………………….. that archives all the

revisions made by each of the team members, so that the team can create a
single document that incorporates selected revisions.

5. In the drafting stage of writing collaboratively, there are three possible

approaches: ……………………………….……… , one person doing the
drafting, and …………………….………………....

6. In the planning stage of writing collaboratively, the group should choose a

……………….… who is authorized to call for group meetings; set
…………………………..… for completed work, and schedule frequent
…………………………… sessions.

7. In the process of collaborative revision there are two main types of

comments to be made: ……………….………………………….. which
measures the draft against some standards, and
……………………………….……..... which refers to the reader’s reaction
to what he/she reads.

8. Twitter is one the most popular …………………… that allows participants

to send very brief textual messages to their personal network.

9. When writing collaboratively, group roles are divided into two:

……………………………… , which move the group towards the
accomplishment of its tasks, and …………………….…… , which maintain
the group in harmonious working conditions.

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10. Within a collaborating group, while initiators are ideas givers and starters ,
…………….…… see where needed facts are missing. Whereas
…………………….… appreciate ideas and complement conferees ,
………………………. give quiet members chances to contribute.

IV) Answer the following question:

1. Writing in collaboration involves a stage of collaborative revision. Write

short notes on the types of revision techniques used within a group.

2. What are three ways a group may use to draft a document collaboratively?
Mention the advantage(s) and disadvantage(s) of each.

3. What are criterion-based comments vs. reader-based comments as they

apply to revising and editing a document produced by a group?

4. In the process of collaborative writing, a group starts with a stage of planning.

According to what you have studied, what is your advice to a team in the
planning stage?

5. When members of a writing group are situated geographically apart, the

internet may be an effective tool for collaboration. Write short notes on the
major means of collaboration on the internet that enable group members to
work together on a project from remote locations.

Extra-Credit Question:

A wiki is a website that allows collaborative editing of its

content and structure by its users. What are some of the
major benefits a wiki can provide to a business?

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

CHAPTER 4

Researching Your Subject

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

4.1 Asking the Right Questions

4.2 Looking for Answers

4.2.1 Interviews
4.2.2 Social Media
4.2.3 The World Wide Web
4.2.4 Library

4.3 Evaluating Answers

4.4 Citing Sources

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

In the workplace, you will conduct research using a variety of

methods. You will consult websites, blogs, and discussion boards, and
you might listen to podcasts or watch videos. Sometimes you will interview
people, and you will likely distribute surveys electronically to acquire
information from customers and suppliers. Regardless of which technique
you use, your challenge will be to sort the relevant information from the
irrelevant, and the accurate from the bogus. You will need to know what
questions to ask, where to look for answers, and how to evaluate the
responses you receive from various sources.

The ability to gather credible information efficiently

will make you a more productive and valuable
member of your organization.

Keep in mind that research is a continuous process of asking

questions and receiving answers that prompt more questions.
Whenever possible, try to cycle through this process again and again until
you are sure that you have all the relevant and reliable information
necessary to make confident decisions or to take appropriate actions.

4.1 Asking the Right Questions

Efficient research starts with the right questions. You have to
determine as specifically as possible what you already know and what you
don’t yet know about your subject. Consider these five questions:

• What personal experience do I have regarding this subject?

• What have I read about this subject?
• What have I heard from friends or colleagues about this
subject?
• What specific questions would I ask a specialist about this
subject?
• What keywords would I use to investigate this subject in a
library’s catalog or on the World Wide Web?

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

These five questions will give you a good start on your research by
helping you to inventory your existing knowledge of the subject and to
identify the gaps that you need to fill. As you proceed with your research
and learn more about your subject, you will be able to refine and revise
your research questions, and the answers to some of your questions will
lead you to new questions and new answers.

4.2 Looking for Answers

Once you know what you’re looking for, you must decide where to
start looking. Ordinarily, you will start with the most readily available
sources and keep investigating until you have answered all your
questions, exhausted your sources of information, or run out of time (and
often you will run out of time). A wide variety of information sources are
typically available to you.

4.2.1 Interviews

Interviewing subject specialists is a highly efficient way of

researching. You ask specific questions and receive answers tailored to
your specific questions. Whether the interview is conducted in person,
over the telephone, by letter, or through e-mail, good preparation is
essential to getting full and relevant answers to your questions.

First, do enough background reading on your subject to allow

you to ask sophisticated questions. Subject specialists will typically
appreciate your research efforts and cooperate with the interview.

Second, find out as much as possible about your subject

specialists. What qualifies them to advise you in this area? What have
they said or written about this subject? What is their particular approach to
the subject? What is their reputation within the profession?

Third, compose your list of questions, carefully targeting the

areas of expertise of your subject specialists. For example, don’t ask a
practicing engineer about the origins of engineering ethics; instead ask a
practicing engineer about his or her experiences with ethical dilemmas.

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Fourth, politely request the interview. Keep in mind that subject

specialists won’t be entirely informative unless they understand your
purpose. Identify the topic of the interview, explain how and when you
would like to conduct the interview, tell why you chose this individual to
interview, and let him/her know what you will do with the information you
receive.

In developing your list of questions, consider the

following guidelines:

• Create questions that require explanations or

evaluations instead of a simple yes or no answer.

• Ask follow-up questions to encourage elaboration.

Solicit details and examples.

• Include questions that acknowledge your subject

specialist’s expertise.

• Keep your interview focused, always steering the

comments of the subject specialist to your topic.

• Following the interview, write a thank-you letter or

e-mail message to each of your subject specialists.

4.2.2 Social Media

This is a broad term encompassing several kinds of media, all

of which include user-generated content.

• Newsgroups (or discussion boards) are electronic communities of

people from all over the world who exchange information about a
common interest or affiliation by posting questions and answers to
online bulletin boards. Most discussion boards are organized by
threads (sometimes called topics). All of the posts on a thread are
presented together, usually in reverse chronological order.

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Newsgroups are either moderated or unmoderated. In a

moderated newsgroup, all messages posted to the bulletin board
are initially reviewed by the newsgroup’s moderator. Acting as the
group’s editor, the moderator will accept timely, relevant messages
for publication on the bulletin board, while declining to publish
submissions that repeat earlier posts or are irrelevant to the group
or otherwise of little merit. In unmoderated newsgroups, all
messages are posted directly to the bulletin board without filtering
or editing by a moderator.

If you are doing research within a newsgroup, keep

in mind the following guidelines:

• Upon joining a newsgroup, observe the discussion

before you start to ask questions.
• If the newsgroup offers archives of previous
messages or FAQs (frequently asked questions),
review this material.
• Compose a clear and specific subject line to your
message.
• Keep your message to the point.
• Don’t engage in “flaming” within the newsgroup.

• A blog is a web log, a web-based periodical published by a person

or group, to which readers can contribute comments. Many
technical and scientific organizations, universities, and private
companies sponsor blogs that offer useful information for
researchers.

Keep in mind that bloggers are not always independent voices. For
example, an HP employee writing on a company-sponsored blog
will likely be presenting the company’s viewpoint on the topic. Don’t
count on that blogger to offer objective views about products.

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• A wiki is a document or website that users write and edit online. A

wiki makes it easy for members of a community, company, or
organization to create and edit content collaboratively. Often, a wiki
contains articles, information about student and professional
conferences, reading lists, annotated sets of links, book reviews,
and documents used by members of the community. Wikis are
popular with researchers because they contain information that can
change from day to day.

Wikis rely on information contributed voluntarily by members of a

community. Therefore, you should be especially careful when you
use wikis; the information they contain might not be trustworthy. It’s
a good idea to verify any information you find on a wiki by
consulting other sources.

Inquiry …!

How do you search wikis?

You can use any search engine and add the

word “wiki” to the search. Or you can use a
specialized search engine such as [Link].

4.2.3 The World Wide Web

With millions of sites and billions of pages, the World Wide Web is
the biggest library of information resources available. To help you navigate
the World Wide Web, a variety of search engines are available, such as
Google, Bing, [Link], and Yahoo. A search engine is a research
service that surfs the Internet looking for sites with keywords
relevant to your subject, listing the sites it discovers usually
according to relevance to your subject.

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

A simple search looks only for the presence of keywords. A focused

search looks for the presence or absence of specific combinations of
keywords, using plus signs and minus signs as prefixes.

A search for civil engineering ethics asks for all files

containing at least one of the three words: civil, engineering,
or ethics.

A search for + civil + engineering + ethics narrows the

focus to only those files containing all three words: civil,
engineering, and ethics.

A search for − civil + engineering + ethics asks for all files

containing both engineering and ethics but not the word
civil.

A search for “civil engineering ethics” asks for files

containing the three words with the exact sequence.

Each service is a little different from the others—more or less

comprehensive, more or less specialized. You might wish to try several
search engines to see which directs you most quickly to the most
appropriate sources for your subject or field. Also keep in mind that
search engine firms are often paid to give priority to specific sites in
their listings: that is, while one search engine might have been paid to list
a site among its first five, a different search engine might list the same site
tenth or twentieth in relevance to your subject.

Inquiry …!
- What are the top ten search engines?

- What are useful some tips to search Google?

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Also available are metasearch engines such as MetaCrawler,

DogPile, IxQuick, and Search. A metasearch service will submit your key
words to several search engines simultaneously, thus offering you a
kind of one-stop shopping in your research process. Sufficient data is
gathered, ranked, and presented to the users.

Inquiry …!

What are other examples of metasearch

engines?

4.2.4 Library

If possible, visit your local library and discuss your subject with a
research librarian. Librarians are familiar with the library’s resources —
both paper and electronic — and are trained to assist visitors in finding
answers to research questions.

In addition to the physical copies of books, journals, indexes,

newspapers, and specialized encyclopedias, more and more libraries
are subscribing to electronic sources of information, permitting you to do
your library research simply by accessing the library’s World Wide Web
site. By acquiring and organizing the electronic versions of research
materials, your local library thus opens the door to a world of information
that might otherwise be unavailable to you.

• Encyclopedia
A good way to start your library search is by looking at the specialized
dictionaries and encyclopedias that summarize key information on a
subject. Such materials give you the basic understanding you will
need before reading advanced books and articles or before
interviewing subject specialists for pertinent details and up-to-date
information. The information in the encyclopedia allows you to focus
your investigation. And your familiarity with this gives you credibility
during your interviews with subject specialists.

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In addition to paper versions of encyclopedias and dictionaries

(typically housed in the library’s reference room), a variety of electronic
sources are available, such as Encyclopedia Americana Online and
Encyclopedia Britannica.

• Electronic Library Catalog

The electronic library catalog is a listing of all the books, periodicals,
and miscellaneous materials such as maps, films, and audio and video
recordings that a library houses.

Traditionally, the library catalog was a series of file drawers of index

cards listed in alphabetical order by author, title, and subject. Today,
almost all libraries have computerized their catalogs, permitting quick
electronic search by author, title, subject, and keyword.

• Indexes
While the electronic library catalog identifies the titles of the magazines
and journals in your library, it can’t tell you the titles of the specific
articles published. To locate that information, you go to electronic
indexes.

A periodical index is a list of articles classified according to title,

subject, and author. It can help you determine which journals you want
to locate. Periodicals are excellent sources of information because
they offer recent, authoritative discussions of specific subjects.

Most libraries—even many public libraries — subscribe to services,

such as LexisNexis, ProQuest, InfoTrac, Gale Virtual Reference, and
ERIC, that provide access to large databases of journal articles,
conference proceedings, newspapers, and other documents.

Egyptian Knowledge Bank ([Link]) gives you access to

specialized databases of periodicals and books; it is considered one of
the largest digital libraries and online knowledge hubs.

Remember to create an account on EKB!

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4.3 Evaluating Answers

This stage of research is concerned with finding out if information is

accurate, unbiased, comprehensive, appropriately technical, current, and
clear. To assess the credibility of your sources and the reliability of their
answers to your questions, consider the following:

4.3.1 Interviews

• What are the individual’s credentials (education and job experience)?

• What is the individual’s reputation in the field? Is s/he considered to be
an authority on the subject?
• Do you know a trustworthy specialist in the field who would
recommend this individual as a source of information?
• Did you notice bias in the individual’s comments? Was s/he careful in
offering explanations or impulsive and imprecise?
• Did the individual support his/her opinions with sufficient evidence?
• Did the individual tell you anything that is contradicted or verified by
your other sources?

4.3.2 Newsgroups

• Who participates in this newsgroup? Is it restricted to specialists in the

field or accessible to the public? Do participants have appropriate
education and job experience?
• What is the newsgroup’s reputation? Is it widely considered a good
source of credible information?
• Do you know a trustworthy specialist in the field who would recommend
this newsgroup as a source of information?
• Did you notice bias in the answers to your question? Are the
participants careful in offering explanations or impulsive and imprecise?
• Did participants support their opinions with sufficient evidence?
• Did participants tell you anything that is verified or contradicted by your
other sources?

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4.3.3 World Wide Web Sites

• Who operates this website? Does the site display the credentials of
that organization or individual? Does that organization or individual
have appropriate and relevant credentials?
• What is the site’s reputation? Is it widely considered a good source of
credible information?
• Do you know a trustworthy specialist in the field who would recommend
this site as a source of information?
• Do you notice bias in the information? Is the site designed to advertise?
Or does it offer fair coverage of its topic?
• Does the site support opinions with evidence? Does it try to educate or
entertain?
• How timely is the information? Does the site display the date it was last
modified?
• Is any of the information at this site verified or contradicted by your
other sources?

4.3.4 Books and Articles

• Who wrote this book or article? Does the author (or authors) have
appropriate and relevant education and job experience?
• What is the reputation of the journal or book publisher? Is this journal
widely considered to be a good source of credible information?
• Do you know a trustworthy specialist in the field who would recommend
this book or article as a source of information?
• How often is this book or article cited in other publications on this
subject?
• Do you notice bias in the book or article? Is the author careful in offering
explanations or impulsive and imprecise?
• Does the author support opinions with sufficient evidence?
• How timely is the information?
• Is any of the information in this book or article verified or contradicted
by your other sources?

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4.4 Citing Sources

If you use information from interviews, newsgroups, World Wide
Web sites, books, or articles for a document you are writing or a
presentation you are delivering, you have a moral and a rhetorical
obligation to acknowledge your sources.

Your moral obligation is to give appropriate credit to the individuals

who deserve it — the people who composed the words, created the
illustrations, or developed the ideas you are borrowing. Citing sources also
serves the rhetorical function of strengthening the credibility of your
investigation because it allows you to attribute your findings to relevant
subject specialists. If you do not acknowledge your sources, you are
accused of plagiarism.

Definitions …

Plagiarism is copying an author's work and passing it

off as your own original work.

Citation is the way you tell your readers that certain

material in your work came from another source. It also
gives your readers the information necessary to find
that source again, including:
• information about the author
• the title of the work
• the name and location of the publisher
• date of publication
• the page numbers of the material you are borrowing

You should choose a formal method for citing and acknowledging

your sources, e.g. Harvard Style Sheet. In a formal system of citation,
your references will require specific and consistent formatting. A formal
system of citation is particularly important if your document or presentation
might be used by others to conduct subsequent research. The consistent
formatting of citations will assist researchers in locating the sources you
used.

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

Inquiry …!

Check “Harvard Format and Basics” online. Use

word-processing tools for referencing.

When you are conduction any piece of research, you will

use two types of citations:

• Works Cited / References: located at the end of the work and display
full citations for sources used

References

Berger, Arthur Asa. (2016). ‘A Discourse on discourse studies’. Society,

53:597–602.
Kress, Gunter and Theo Van Leeuwen. (1996). Reading Images: The
Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge.
Kress, Gunter and Theo Van Leeuwen. (2001). Multimodal Discourse:
The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. London:
Arnold.

• In-Text or Parenthetical Citations (within the paper): used when

directly quoting or paraphrasing a source. They are located in the body
of the work and contain a fragment of the full citation.

Discourse Analysis (DA) moves the focus on sentences to more complex form
of communication; it focuses on “how people use language and the role that
this language plays in social and political life and in culture” (Berger
2016:598). According to Berger (2016), integrating semiotics in DA resulted in
“a multidisciplinary enterprise that deals with qualitative approaches to
communication of all kinds in many disciplines” (598). With the introduction
of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), analysts focused on revealing hidden
connection between language, power and ideology, opening the door to endless
research on the taken-for-granted exercise of power relations in different
discourse types. As CDA expanded to include mass-mediated texts that
comprise different semiotic modes of communication (i.e. linguistic and visual
choices), a visual turn in the field took place and brought about a
transformation from monomodality to multimodality as advocated by the
valuable works of Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996; 2001).

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

Keep in mind that the citation of sources offers you the opportunity
to demonstrate that your research has been fair and thorough. If your list
of sources, for example, omits a major book on your topic or the World
Wide Web site of the organization you are investigating, your readers
would have cause to doubt the validity of your findings. Similarly, if all
your information comes from a single source or a single kind of source
(e.g., all interviews), your readers would likely consider your research to
be biased or incomplete. In fact, your list of sources is often a good
indicator of the quality of your investigation and the merits of your
conclusions and recommendations.

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions

• How to Use the Reference Tab

When you write a research paper or your graduation project report,
MS Word can offer powerful features that you will find useful in
compiling your bibliography and works cited as well as add in-text
citation:

 TECH TIP

1. On the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group, click the arrow
next to Style and click the style that you want to use for the citation and source.
For example, computer science documents usually use Harvard, APA or IEEE
styles for citations and sources.

2. Click at the end of the sentence or phrase that you want to cite.

3. On the Reference tab, click Insert Citation> Add New Source.

4. In the Create Source dialog box, click the arrow next to Type of Source, and
select the type of source you want to use (for example, a book, an article or a
website).

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

5. Explore other features available on the tab such as “Manage Sources”, “Edit
source”, and “Edit Citation”.

• How to Manage In-text Citation

 TECH TIP

In-text references should immediately follow the title, word, or phrase to which they are
directly relevant, rather than appearing at the end of long clauses or sentences. You may
as well control what information to use in an in-text citation by either adding or
suppressing:

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

• How to Generate List of References & Bibliography

 TECH TIP

Once you have entered all your citations, you can generate your Reference list at the
end of the document. Select Bibliography from the Citations &
Bibliography section of the References tab

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

Chapter 4: Exercises
I) Choose the correct answer:
1. Which of the following methods is as a good place to give you the basic
understanding you need before reading advanced books?
a) interview with an expert b) websites
c) encyclopedia d) any of the above

2. Efficient research work starts with ………………………

a) finding the right answers b) asking the right questions
c) documentation of information d) evaluating the answers

3. ………… is a series of file drawers of index cards listed in alphabetical order

by a book’s author, title, and subject.
a) Organizational chart b) Library catalog
c) Electronic catalog d) Registrar

4. One of the good research skills you need to acquire on the job is the following:
a) Interpersonal communication skills b) Dishonesty
c) Oral presentation d) Documentation of information

5. To evaluate your information sources, you ask questions as to the “timeliness”

of these sources in …………………..
a) interviews b) newsgroups
c) the World Wide Web d) synchronous discussions

6. In evaluating books as information sources, you should consider all of the

following criteria except:
a) The price of the book cited
b) The reputation of the writer
c) The writer’s educational background
d) Potential for bias

7. In the process of evaluating information sources, you should notice one of the
following:
a) The price of the book(s) / article(s) cited
b) The number of visitors of the website in question
c) Potential for bias
d) None of the above

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. […………] An electronic library catalog is a series of file drawers of index

cards listed in alphabetical order by author, title, and subject.

2. […………] In order to conduct good research work you should not involve
your personal experience of the subject in question.

3. […………] Newsgroups are electronic communities of people from all over

the world who exchange information about a common interest by
posting questions and answers to online bulletin boards.

4. […………] Professional interviews can only be conducted in person.

5. […………] Some web search engines are paid to give priority to sites within
their listings.

6. […………] Successful interviews can be conducted in person, over the

phone, and via email.

7. […………] Blogs and wikis are subjective sources of information and may
contain untrustworthy information.

8. […………] Citing sources strengthens the credibility of your research

because it allows you to attribute your findings to relevant subject
specialists.

9. […………] During an interview with a specialist, yes-or-no questions are not

preferred because they do not encourage elaboration.

10. […………] Following an interview with a thank-you letter or e-mail is not

professional.

11. […………] Harvard Style Sheet is a formal system of citation that ensures a
consistent formatting of citations.

12. […………] In moderated newsgroups, all messages are posted directly to

the bulletin board without filtering or editing by the moderator.

13. […………] When you first join an online discussion, you should ask your
question(s) immediately so you can get answers as quickly as
possible.

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

III) Complete the following statements:

1. Whereas ………………………..… is located at the end of a research document

and displays full citations for the sources used, …………………………………
are located in the body of the work when directly quoting or paraphrasing a
source.

2. The book recommends ………………………..…………. as a good library

resource to start research on a topic that is new to you before reading advanced
books.

3. Possible sources of gathering information are ………………………... ,

………………………, the internet and ………………………..……

4. One important source of gathering information is ………………… which refers

to electronic communities of people from all over the world who exchange
information about a common interest by posting questions and answers to online
bulletin boards.

5. A search for “– civil + engineering + ethics” asks for all files containing
…………………... and …………………..….. but not the word
……………………....

6. …………………..……….. will submit your key words to several search engines

simultaneously, thus offering you a one-stop shopping in your research process.

7. ……………….. is a term that refers to copying an author's work and passing it

off as your own original work.

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 Chapter 4: Researching Your Subject

8. ……………… is a web-based periodical published by a person or group, to

which readers can contribute comments, whereas ………………………… is
website that users collaboratively write and edit online.

IV) Answer the following question:

1. On the job you will often find yourself in situations requiring good research
skills. The ability to gather credible information efficiently will make you a
more productive and valuable member of your organization. Write short notes
on sources for gathering information to answer your research questions.

2. The internet is a valuable source for gathering information mainly by means

of searching engines. What are your recommendations for someone using
keywords to search the web?

3. “When conducting research, you have a moral and a rhetorical obligation to

acknowledge your sources.”
a. Explain the above statement.
b. Define plagiarism.
c. Explain the importance of Harvard Style Sheet.

Extra-Credit Question:

There are several citation and referencing styles available

for scientific research. Compare/contrast the basics of
IEEE, Harvard and APA styles.

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

CHAPTER 5

Designing Print
Documents

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

5.1 Understanding the Basics of Document Design

5.1.1 Know What Decisions You Can Make
5.1.2 Choose a Design That Fits Your Situation
5.1.3 Plan Your Design from the Beginning
5.1.4 Reveal Your Design to Your Readers
5.1.5 Keep Your Design Consistent

5.2 Designing Effective Pages

5.2.1 Leave Sufficient Margins
5.2.2 Use Blank Space to Group Information
5.2.3 Set the Spacing for Easy Reading
5.2.4 Use a Medium Line Length
5.2.5 Use a Ragged Right Margin

5.3 Choosing Readable Font Type

5.3.1 Choose a Legible Font Size
5.3.2 Choose a Font That Is Appropriate for the
Situation
5.3.3 Use Special Fonts Sparingly
5.3.4 Use Highlighting Effectively
5.3.5 Use a Mixture of Cases, Not All Capitals
5.3.6 Use Color Carefully

5.4 Helping Readers Locate Information

5.4.1 Design and Write Descriptive Headings
5.4.2 Use Page Numbers, Headers and Footers

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

Readers judge your work from the presentation as well as from the
content of the document and the style of your writing. In fact, a reader’s
first impression comes from the appearance of your work, not from
what it says. Effective writing is more than just words on the page or
computer screen, more than correct sentences arranged in logical
paragraphs. To be effective, your document must work visually. With
the ever-increasing capabilities of software to change the appearance of
text, to incorporate graphics with text, even to include animation and
sound with text, you have many choices in how your document will look on
paper or online. The layout of the page or screen makes a visual
impression that affects readers. Readers will spend more time with
pages and screens that are visually pleasing. The choices you make
about document design, including page or screen layout, typography for
the different elements, and the wording as well as placement of headings,
can all either help or hinder readers as they try to find what they need
and to understand what they find.

The goals of document design can be summarized as follows:

• To make a good impression on readers.

• To help readers understand the structure and hierarchy of the
information.
• To help readers find the information they need.
• To help readers understand the information.
• To help readers remember the information.

This chapter will help you make wise choices for designing print
documents. The term print document will be used to refer to
documents that are designed to be printed on paper, such as letters,
memos, and reports, regardless of whether readers hold pieces of
paper in their hands or view the documents online in a PDF format,
for example.

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

5.1 Understanding the Basics of Document Design

These five principles will help you plan your document’s visual design:

5.1.1 Know what decisions you can make.

Many companies have a standard format for reports, letters, or

proposals. Many journals have standard formats that all manuscripts must
follow. Before you develop your document, find out what format
requirements are already in place. Don’t change formats arbitrarily, just
to be different. If you think the format you are being asked to use doesn’t
work well for your audience and your content, find out who makes
decisions on format and present a case for the changes that you want.

5.1.2 Choose a design that fits your situation.

Don’t make your document any more complex than the situation
requires. You don’t need a table of contents or a glossary for reports that
are under five pages. You’ll impress readers most by providing just the
information they need in a way that makes it easy for them to find and
understand it.

5.1.3 Plan your design from the beginning.

Think about how you will arrange and present your information as
you plan the document. Ask basic questions like these: How will people
use the document? Will most people read it from beginning to end? Will
you be able to include graphics easily? Will you be able to use color?
What type of print document are you creating (letters, memos,
instructions, proposals, etc.)?

5.1.4 Reveal your design to your readers.

Headings reveal the organization of your document so that readers

can see what you are writing even before they try to grasp your message
on the sentence level. Well-placed and well-written headings that show
the structure and logic of the discussion can help readers. Longer reports
definitely need headings and a table of contents that lists the headings.

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5.1.5 Keep your design consistent.

Consistency in design is essential to easy reading. Once you have

the page layout planned, don’t change it for arbitrary reasons. To help
yourself maintain consistency as you create a document, you can use
templates in your word processing program.

Example 1:

Users working with a computer program are not likely to read the
entire user’s manual. They go to the manual or to online help when they
have a specific problem or need instructions for a specific task. They want
to get to the right page or screen immediately. They want the instructions
to stand out on the page or screen. Consider the following paragraph-form
example for “Drawing Product Help”:

To draw a box:

Decide where to put one corner of the box and move the mouse so
that the cursor is in that position on the screen. Press and hold the left
mouse button, sliding the mouse along the diagonal of the box which
will appear on the screen as you move the mouse. When the box is
the desired size, release the mouse button.

Here is a revised version of the same instruction entry, but the

numbered steps are easier to read and follow than the prose paragraph:

To draw a box:

1. Decide where to put one corner of the box.

2. Move the mouse so that the cursor is in that position on the
screen.
3. Press and hold the left mouse button, sliding the mouse along
the diagonal of the box. The box appears as you move the mouse.
4. When the box is the size you want, release the mouse button.

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

Example 2:

A dense page of information that is difficult to read will often

discourage a reader. Here is an example of a poorly-formatted document:

With the substantial growth in computing in the College of Engineering during

the past decade, the issue of linking the departments through a computer network
has become critical. The network must satisfy a number of criteria to meet the
needs of all of the engineering departments. We first state these criteria and then
discuss them individually in detail.
To adequately serve both faculty and student needs in the present
environment, the network must be able to handle the number of computers
currently in use. In addition, the system must be able to expand and link in
additional computers as the number of computers increases over the next few
years. The different types of computers that the departments presently possess
must all be linkable to the network, and the types of computers that are scheduled
for purchase must also be able to be connected to the network. The network
should permit the transfer of files in both text and binary form in order to
facilitate student access to files and collaborative exchange among faculty and
research associates. The network must also have adequate bandwidth in order to
handle the expected traffic. Finally, the network must permit both students and
faculty to link national networks.
Each department currently has both computer laboratories for
students and computers that are associated with faculty research projects. The
various departments possess different numbers of computers. The
Communications Engineering Department at present has 27 computers, while
Civil Engineering has 12. The Electrical Engineering Department has the most in
the College with 46. Mechanical has 22, and Nuclear Engineering, the smallest
department in the College, presently has 7. This means that the entire College
presently has114 computers which will need to be networked.
In order to meet their different needs, each department has focused
on the purchasing of computers with differing strengths. The computers provide
for faculty and advanced students to program in a variety of languages including
Pascal, C, and Fortran.

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In contrast, a page designed to help readers locate important

information may add to the persuasiveness of your position or convince
your readers to put a little more effort into finding what they need and
understanding what they find. Here is the same document but with a
design that invites reading because it is broken into manageable chunks.
The headings, list, and table all help the reader to quickly see the structure
of the writer’s points and to grasp the important information.

A Proposal to Install a Computer Network for the College of Engineering

With the substantial growth in computing in the College of Engineering during

the past decade, the issue of linking the departments through a computer network has
become critical. The network must satisfy a number of criteria to meet the needs of all of
the engineering departments. We first state these criteria and then discuss them
individually in detail.

• What must the network do?

To serve both faculty and student, the network must be able to:
- handle the number of computers currently in use;
- link different types of computers;
- expand as the number of computers increases;
- link to the national networks;
- transfer and store both text and binary files; and
- have adequate bandwidth to handle the expected traffic.

• Handling the number of computers currently in use

Each department currently has both computer laboratories for students and
computers that are associated with faculty research projects. The following table shows
the number of computers in each department at the end of the last fiscal year.
Communications 27
Civil Engineering 12
Electrical Engineering 46
Mechanical Engineering 22
Nuclear Engineering 7
Total 114

• Linking different types of computer

In order to meet its different needs, each department has focused purchasing on
machines with different strengths.

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Remember.. !
▪ Headings make topics and structure obvious.
▪ A bulleted list makes points more memorable.
▪ Shorter line length makes a text easier to read and
makes headings stand out.
▪ Numbers are much clearer in a table.

Indeed, in designing the page, create visual patterns that help

readers find, understand, and remember information. Three
principles of learning theory can help you design effective pages:
chunking, queuing, and filtering.

• Chunking: People understand information best if it is delivered to

them in chunks, i.e. small units, rather than all at once. For single-
spaced type, chunking involves double-spacing between
paragraphs. You will notice that this book uses chunking technique
to distinguish paragraphs.

• Queuing. Queuing refers to creating visual distinctions to indicate

levels of importance. More emphatic elements (i.e. those with
bigger type or boldface type) are more important than less
emphatic ones. Another visual element of queuing is alignment.
Designers start more-important information closer to the left
margin and indent less-important information. You will notice that
this book uses queuing through alignment to determine the levels
of headings, for example.

• Filtering. Filtering is the use of visual patterns to distinguish

various types of information. Introductory material might be
displayed in larger type, and notes might appear in italics, another
typeface, and a smaller size. You will notice that this book uses
filtering to distinguish exercises from chapters’ contents, for
example.

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5.2 Designing Effective Pages

You can use the following suggestions to help you develop visually
effective pages and screens:

5.2.1 Leave Sufficient Margins

Blank space (often called white space on paper) makes the page
look inviting and makes information easier to find and read. You can
incorporate blank space into documents in several ways. One place for
blank space is at the margins—the space around the edges of the paper,
computer screen, or window on the computer screen. If you are putting
your work in a binder, be sure to leave room for the binding:

top margin 1 inch

bottom margin 1 inch
left margin 1 inch, if material is not being bound
2 inches, if material is being bound
right margin 1 inch

1" 1"

1" 1" 2" 1"

1" 1"

5.2.2 Use Blank Space to Group Information

Don’t think of blank space as wasted or empty space. Space is a

critical element in the layout, for both paper and screens. The space in the
margins is important, but it’s not enough. Graphic designers identify two
types of space on a page:

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

• Passive Space: which refers to margins because margins only

define the block of the page or screen that readers should look at.

• Active Space: space inside the text that users consult in an effort
to quickly locate and act on information. Active space provides
relief from paragraphs of text; they make points visually obvious
that would take many words to explain. Examples are:

• headings
• bulleted lists
• numbered lists
• pictures, tables, and other graphics
• Space between paragraphs

5.2.3 Set the Spacing for Easy Reading

It’s common in paper documents such as letters and memos to

use single spacing, unless the document is very short. When you use
single spacing, put an extra line between paragraphs.

Drafts are usually double-spaced to give writers and editors more

room in which to write their corrections and notes. When you use double
spacing in drafts, you have to have some way to show where new
paragraphs begin. Indent the first line of each paragraph or add an extra
line between paragraphs. Even final reports are often done in double
spacing or space-and-a-half.

5.2.4 Use a Medium Line Length

Long lines of uninterrupted text are tiring to read. Moreover,

readers are likely to lose their place in moving from the right margin of a
long line back to the left margin of the next line.

The number of characters that fit in a certain amount of space

depends in part on the size and style of type that you are using. If you

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

have one column of text on paper, try to keep the lines of text to about ten
to twelve words.

5.2.5 Use a Ragged Right Margin

Although text is almost always lined up on the left margin, it is not

always also lined up evenly on the right margin. The technique of making
all the text align exactly on the right margin is called justifying the text.
When the text is lined up on the left but is not justified on the right, we say
it has a ragged right margin. Some word processing programs create
gaps in justified type that make the text very difficult to read. Readers’
eyes tend to focus on the large space between words rather than on the
words themselves. Research shows that regular spacing eases the
reading process. Study these two examples:

5.3 Choosing Readable Font Type

Today’s technology gives you many choices for the shape of the
letters, numbers, and other characters in your text. These different shapes
are called type, typefaces, or fonts. Companies, or groups within
companies, often have style guidelines that tell you what fonts to use for
official reports, letters, manuals, and online documents. The following six
suggestions will help you choose type that is easy to read:

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5.3.1 Choose a Legible Font Size

Type is measured in points. A point is 1/72 of an inch, so a letter in

36-point type is about ½ inch high. On a computer, you have a wide
choice of point sizes, from very small to very large, as you can see below:

This is 8-point type.

This is 10-point type.
This is 12-point type.
This is 14-point type.
This is 18-point type.
This is 24-point type.
This is 36-point type.
For most word-processed documents, you will find that 11- or 12-
point type works well for the regular text. You may want to use 9- or 10-
point type for headers, footers, and footnotes. You can then use larger
sizes for titles and headings, but don’t make them so large that they
destroy the balance of the page.

The shape and spacing of the letters also affect how much room
the font takes up on a page or screen and how readable it is. Type in one
font may look much tighter and smaller than type in the same point size in
another font because of the way the letters are shaped and how they are
spaced when typed next to each other. The figure below shows four fonts,
all in 12-point type.

Times New Roman: The brown fox jumped over the dog.
Arial : The brown fox jumped over the dog.
Calibri : The brown fox jumped over the dog.
Courier New : The brown fox jumped over the dog.

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

5.3.2 Choose a Font That is Appropriate for the Situation

There are thousands of type fonts, and you may have a wide
selection to choose from with your technology. Type fonts can be divided
into two groups:

• serif type, which has extenders on the letters

• sans serif type, which does not have extenders

Serifs draw the reader’s eye across the page, so most books and
other long paper documents are printed with serif type. Sans serif type
works well in brochures and other short documents. Sans serif type also
works well for visuals with oral presentations because viewers are at a
distance from the words, and they’re reading single lines at a time.

In general, once you decide on a font for your document, use that
font throughout the document. An exception to that rule is that even if you
are using a serif font for the text, sans serif works well in tables, figure
captions, and the legends with your graphs. You can also switch to a sans
serif font for the headings and headers or footers. Here are examples of
serif and sans serif fonts available on Microsoft Word Processor:

Serif Typefaces Sans Serif Typefaces

Times New Roman Arial

Palatino Berlin
Garamond Verdana
Courier Calibri

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

5.3.3 Use Special Fonts Sparingly

Some computers offer unusual typefaces, as shown below. These

typefaces are not generally appropriate for technical reports. They are not
as readable as the standard typefaces above.

The brown fox jumped over the dog.

The brown fox jumped over the dog.

The brown fox jumped over the dog.

The brown fox jumped over the dog.

5.3.4 Use Highlighting Effectively

There are many ways to highlight material — to draw the reader’s
attention to parts of your document that you want to emphasize. Here are
five techniques for highlighting:

boldface

italics

underlining

changing the color

Placing information in a box

As you design your documents and decide on highlighting

techniques, keep these three points in mind:

• Don’t use too many techniques.

• Don’t use any technique for more than a short sentence.
• Be consistent in the way you use each technique.

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 Chapter 5: Designing Print Documents

5.3.5 Use a Mixture of Cases, Not All Capitals

Don’t use all capitals for text. A sentence in all capitals takes about
13 percent more time to read than a sentence typed in the regular
uppercase and lowercase letters that we expect. As the figure below
shows, all capitals slow down reading because we use the shapes of
letters to help us read, and the shapes disappear with all capitals.
Furthermore, a sentence in all capitals also takes up about 30 percent
more space than the same sentence in lowercase letters.

CAPITAL LETTERS GIVE US NO CLUES TO DISTINGUISH ONE

LETTER FROM ANOTHER. THEREFORE, THE LETTERS BLUR
INTO EACH OTHER VERY QUICKLY, AND WE WANT TO STOP
READING. LOWERCASE LETTERS GIVE US CLUES TO THE
SHAPES OF THE WORDS, AND WE USE THOSE SHAPES AS WE
READ.

Capital letters give us no clues to distinguish one letter from another.

Therefore, the letters blur into each other very quickly, and we want to
stop reading. Lowercase letters give us clues to the shapes of the words,
and we use those shapes as we read.

5.3.6 Use Color Carefully

On paper, avoid printing the text in color. Black ink on white paper
provides the best contrast, and high contrast between paper and ink is
necessary for easy reading. You may be able to print a document in more
than one color. If so, use color carefully. Color works well in headings and
in visuals such as graphs, charts, and pictures, but it doesn’t work well for
text on paper. Remember that there is often an added cost to printing
paper documents in color. The golden rule for all aspects of document
design is to make the page look clear, uncluttered, and consistent.
Keep it simple.

Colored paper may be a better choice if it enhances the

effectiveness of your document. For example, some companies use light
gray, cream, or light blue paper for major reports and proposals. Some
companies use paper of one color for the main body of the report and

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another color for the appendices. Some use colored sheets as dividers
between sections of reports. If you use colored paper, choose a very light
shade to keep the contrast between ink and paper high.

When planning to use color in a printed report or other document,

think about what may happen to the document in the future. If it is likely to
be photocopied, make sure that color is not the only indicator of any
particular feature, because the color will be lost in photocopying. Also,
remember that some people are colorblind; they cannot distinguish certain
colors.

5.4 Helping Readers Locate Information

As pointed out earlier in the book, most people read technical and
business documents selectively. Readers may glance over the table of
contents to see what the document is about and then pick and choose the
sections to read by looking for headings that match their needs and
interests. They may skim through the pages, stopping when a heading or
example or graphic strikes them as relevant or important. They may need
to go back to the document later to check specific facts, and they’ll want to
find the relevant pages quickly.

To help readers find what they need quickly, you have to arrange
your document well, and then give your readers clues to your
arrangement. Here are two ways to help your readers find information
easily:

5.4.1 Design and Write Descriptive Headings

Headings are the road map to your document. Headings are the
short lines — i.e. the titles — that you put above each section and
subsection of your document. Even short documents, such as memos,
instructions, and letters, can benefit from headings. In longer documents,
headings are essential to break the text into manageable pieces.
Furthermore, in longer documents, the first few levels of headings become
the table of contents.

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Indeed, headings help readers find specific parts quickly, and they
show the relationship among the parts. To help readers, headings have to
be easily distinguished from the text and each level of heading has to be
easily distinguished from all the other levels. The following suggestions
will help you write and design headings:

• Use standard keywords if readers expect them.

You may be working on a document for which readers expect to see

a certain set of headings in a certain order, as in a standard proposal
format. In that case, you should organize your material in the order
and with the headings that your readers expect. The figure below
shows the headings you might use in a standard proposal format:

Project Summary Facilities and Equipment

Project Description Personnel
Rationale and Significance Budget
Plan of Work

• Make the headings at a given level parallel.

Like list items, headings at any given level in a document should be

parallel. Parallelism is a very powerful tool in writing. See for yourself
the difference parallelism makes by comparing the two sets of
headings in the following figure:

Nonparallel Headings Parallel Headings

Graph Modification Modifying a graph
Data selection updating Changing the data selection
To add or delete columns Adding or deleting columns
How to change colors Changing colors
Titles to include Adding titles

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• Make sure the headings match the table of contents.

Use your word processing program to create an outline view, or a

table of contents, for your document. Headings become the table of
contents. Readers can use the table of contents to turn to a particular
section. They know they’re in the right place if the heading for that
section matches the wording in the table of contents.

• Limit the Number of Heading Levels

Student papers and technical documents shouldn’t need more than

four levels of headings. If you have more than four levels, consider
dividing the material into two chapters.

• Put More Space before a Heading than after It

Headings announce the topic that is coming next in your document.

Therefore, you want the heading to lead the reader’s eye down the
page or screen into the text that follows. One way to do that is to
have more space before the heading than after it.

• Keep Each Heading with the Section It Covers

Don’t leave a heading at the bottom of a page when the text appears
on the next page. Make sure you have at least two lines of the first
paragraph on the page with the heading.

• Consider Using Numbers with Your Headings

In many companies, the standard for organizing reports and manuals

is to use a numbering system with headings. The following figure
shows “The multiple-decimal system”:

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1 FIRST-LEVEL HEADING
1.1 Second-Level Heading
1.1.1 Third-level heading
1.1.2 Third-level heading
1.2 Second-Level Heading
2 FIRST-LEVEL HEADING
2.1 Second-Level Heading
2.1.1 Third-level heading
2.1.2 Third-level heading
2.2 Second-Level Heading

5.4.2 Use Page Numbers, Headers, and Footers

You can use two devices to make your content and organization
clear in printed documents: numbering each page and including running
headers.

• Number the Pages

Page numbers help readers keep track of where they are and provide
easy reference points for talking about a printed document. Always
number the pages of your drafts and final documents that people are
going to read on paper.

Short reports that have little prefatory material almost always use
Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3). The commonly accepted convention is to
center the page number below the text, near the bottom of the page.
Leave at least one double space between the text and the page
number. Put the page number in the same place on each page.
Page numbers at the bottom of the page often have a hyphen on
each side, like this:

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As reports grow longer and more complicated, the page-numbering

system also may need to be more complex. If you have a preface or
other material that comes before the main part of the report, it is
customary to use small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) for that material
and then to change to Arabic numerals for the body of the report.

In a report, the title page doesn’t show the number but is counted as
the first page. The page following the title page is number 2 or ii.

For the appendixes, you may continue the same series of numbers,
or you may change to a letter-plus-number system. In that system,
the pages in Appendix A are numbered A-1, A-2, and so on. The
pages in Appendix B are numbered B-1, B-2, and so forth.

• Include Headers and Footers

In long paper documents, it helps readers if you give them

information about the document at the top or bottom of the page. If
the information is at the top of the page, it is a header. This book
uses headers to help you find chapters quickly as you look through
the pages. If the information is at the bottom of the page, it is a
footer. A typical header for a report would show the author’s name,
the title of the report, and the date. The page numbers would likely
appear at the bottom of the page.

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Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions

• How to Set Up a Page on MS Word:

 TECH TIP

When designing a page to meet your audience’s needs and expectations, you can
control many design elements by using the Page Setup dialog box or the drop-down
menus in the Page Setup group on the Page Layout tab.

In the Page Setup group, use the Page Setup dialog box launcher to display the
Page Setup dialog box.

Use the Margins, Paper, and Layout tabs to specify such design elements as page
margins, paper orientation, paper size, starting locations for new sections, and
header and footer placement.

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• How to Set Different Headers/Footers in the same document:

 TECH TIP sdad

1. On Page Layout Ribbon, choose Breaks then Section Breaks. Start the
section break Next Page.

2. Double click at the footer or header of the page

to start editing. Under the “Design” ribbon, click
“Link to Previous” to deselect it before you put
new header for new section.

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• How to Create a Table of Contents:

 TECH TIP sdad
1. Customize the Headings Style. On the “Home”, right-click either of the heading
styles and then select “Modify” to get started customizing them.

2. On the “References” tab, choose “Table of Contents” then “Custom Table of Contents”.

3. Remember to Update Table of Contents if you ever need to add or remove a

section from your document.

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• How to Create a List of Figures/List of Tables:

 TECH TIP sdad
1. Before you create a table of figures, you must add captions to all the figures and tables
that you want included in your table of figures. On “References” tab, click “Insert Caption”

2. Then on “References”, click “Insert Table of Figures”.

3. Remember to “Update Table” if you add, delete, change, or move captions.

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Chapter 5: Exercises
I) Choose the correct answer:
1. What shows the structure and logic of discussion and reveals the organization of
the document even before readers go to the sentence level?
a) Illustrations b) Margins
c) Headings d) Typefaces

2. Which of the following is part of a document's passive space?

a) spacing in margins b) pictures and graphs
c) spacing around lists d) None of the above

3. What is the recommended point size for most word-processed document?

a) 8 b) 10
c) 12 d) 16

4. One of the following is not a technique used for highlighting information in a

document:
a) boldface b) changing the color
c) placing information in a box d) headings

5. To design effective pages and screens in English, it is recommended to use:

a) justified margin b) ragged-left margin
c) ragged-right margin d) both a and c

6. What is the recommended number of words per line in a word-processed

document?
a) 6 – 8 b) 10 – 12
c) 14 – 16 d) None of the above

7. The following sentence “Technical Report Writing is quite an

interesting course.” is written using .......... font:
a) serif b) bold
c) sans serif d) italic

8. The following sentence “Technical Report Writing is quite an interesting

course.” is written using .......... font:
a) serif b) bold
c) sans serif d) italic

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9. The recommended font type for headings in a word-processed document is:

a) special font b) sans serif font
c) serif font d) None of the above

10. Which of the following is a common technique used for highlighting

information in a document?
a) Headings b) Italics
c) Active margins d) Special fonts

11. The sentence “The internet is the biggest library of information resources” is
written using .......... font:
a) serif b) marginal
c) passive d) special

12. Which of the following is not part of a document's active space?

a) spacing in margins b) pictures and graphs
c) spacing around lists d) None of the above

13. Making headings "parallel" means…

a) using a similar highlighting method
b) making them a consistent grammatical structure
c) placing them at equal distances throughout the document
d) all of the above

14. Page numbers, headers and footers help readers ……

a) take a break from long stretches of straight text
b) be alert to upcoming topics and subtopics
c) find their way in long reports
d) None of the above

15. An all-capital text is …………..

a) easier to read than a text in mixed cases
b) highly recommended in technical writing
c) not recommended in technical writing
d) as easy to read as a text in mixed cases

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II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. […………] A bulleted list makes the text more memorable.

2. […………] A reader’s first impression comes from the appearance of the

work, not from what it says.

3. […………] An all-capital text is usually easier to read than a text in mixed

case.

4. […………] For important warnings or other critical information, all capital

letters are a good choice.

5. […………] If your organization uses a memo format that you think is unclear,
you should simply change it to fit your needs.

6. […………] Margins are considered part of the active space in a page.

7. […………] Readers judge the work from the presentation as well as the
content and the style of writing.

8. […………] Tables are an example of a passive space in a page.

9. […………] To design effective pages, it is recommended to use a ragged right

margin.

10. […………] Using several colors for artistic decoration can liven up your
documents and make them more interesting to read.

11. […………] Your employer (company) may actually tell you what specific font
to use for a document.

III) Complete the following statements:

1. When designing an effective page, passive space refers to ………………….….

while active space refers to ……………………………………………………..

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2. When designing an effective page, leave margins of …….... inch(es) if you

know that your paper will not be bound. If you know that your paper will be
bound, leave a margins of …….... inch(es) on the side that goes in the binding.

3. Techniques used for highlighting information in a document are

………..…………….. , italics, ………………..…….… , placing information
in a box, and …………………..………....

4. Three principles can help you design effective pages: ………………………….

which refers to grouping information in small units separating paragraphs by
double-spacing; …………………….. which refers to creating visual
distinctions to indicate levels of importance through alignment; and
………………………… which refers to the use of visual patterns to
distinguish various types of information, such as changing typeface.

IV) Answer the following questions:

1. Effective writing is more than words on the page. To be effective, a document

must also work visually. With the increasing capabilities of Microsoft Word to
change the appearance of text, a technical writer has many choices for designing
documents. According to what you have learned, mention some guidelines to
help a colleague of yours make wise choices for designing his final
graduation report.

2. Today’s technology gives a technical writer many choices for the shape of the
letters, numbers, and other characters in a text. Give advice on choosing a font
that helps writers produce effectively readable documents.

3. In designing a document, a technical writer has to take decisions about

highlighting techniques to draw attention to certain information in the text.
What are the different highlighting techniques available for technical
writers, and what are the major guidelines for using them?

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4. What are the characteristics of a poorly-designed document?

5. A reader’s first impression comes from the appearance of the work, not from
what it says. What are the five basics of document design?

Extra-Credit Question:

Every business needs some kind of business document design

platform to ensure all the forms, receipts, invoices, work
orders, and a million other documents are consistent. What is a
business document design software? What are the main
features to consider when choosing one?

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

CHAPTER 6

Creating Graphics

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

6.1 Choosing Graphics

6.1.1 Considering Your Audience
6.1.2 Considering Your Purpose
6.1.3 Deciding on Figures
6.1.4 Following Guidelines for Effective
Graphics

6.2 Creating Graphics

6.2.1 Designing Tables
6.2.2 Designing Bar and Column Graphs
6.2.3 Designing Circle Graphs
6.2.4 Designing Line Graphs

6.3 Designing Graphics Ethically

6.4 Using Colors Effectively

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

In communicating technical information, you will often need to use

graphics (aka illustrations) either in addition to words or instead of
words to convey your message. Graphics are the “pictures” in technical
communication: drawings, maps, photographs, diagrams, charts, graphs,
and tables. Graphics range from realistic, such as photographs, to highly
abstract, such as organization charts. They range from decorative, such
as clip art and stock photos that show people seated at a conference
table, to highly informative, such as a schematic diagram of an electronic
device. Learning how to create effective graphics will give you additional
tools for helping readers to understand your subject.

Graphics offer five benefits that words alone cannot:

• Graphics are indispensable in demonstrating logical and numerical
relationships. For example, an organization chart effectively represents
the lines of authority in an organization. And if you want to communicate
the number of power plants built in each of the last 10 years, a bar graph
works better than a paragraph.

• Graphics can communicate spatial information more effectively

than words alone. If you want to show the details of a bicycle derailleur,
a diagram of the bicycle with a close-up of the derailleur is more effective
than a verbal description.

• Graphics can communicate steps in a process more effectively

than words alone. A troubleshooter’s guide, a common kind of table,
explains what might be causing a problem in a process and how you
might fix it. And a diagram can show clearly how acid rain forms.

• Graphics can save space. Presenting information in a paragraph is

uneconomical and makes the information hard to remember. Presented
as a table, however, the information is more concise and more
memorable.

• Graphics can reduce the cost of documents. Translation costs more

than 10 cents per word ([Link], 2013). Used effectively, graphics can
reduce the number of words you have to translate.

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6.1 Choosing Graphics

How do you determine whether graphics are really desirable? The

answer is to consider your both audience and purpose.

6.1.1 Considering Your Audience

Consider the readers’ background, attitude, and environment:

• If your readers have little or no knowledge of your subject,

illustrations may create a virtual experience by showing what the
subject looks like, summarizing its specifications, highlighting its
components, revealing its organization, or displaying its operation.

• If your readers have limited language abilities, illustrations may

help them avoid the difficulties of deciphering words on a page.

• If your readers aren’t motivated to read your document,

illustrations may encourage them to read by making your document
look more inviting and accessible.

• If your audience has little time to read your document, illustrations

may assist by capsulizing information in a quick snapshot of your
subject.

• If your readers are in a distracting environment, illustrations may

focus their attention with a display of information that is eye-catching
and engaging.

In addition, you should consider the expectations of your audience.

If readers expect illustrations, you will need to deliver illustrations or
risk disappointing and distracting your audience.

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

Example:
Readers of financial reports expect to see tables of
sales figures, profits and losses, etc. If your financial
report doesn’t display this information in tables, your
readers probably will be confused and irritated.

6.1.2 Considering Your Purpose

• If the purpose of your document is to summarize information, use

a table. Tables offer readers the details of a subject; use a table to
arrange your data for easier analysis and interpretation. If you want
your readers to be able to remember or retrieve specific pieces of
information, tables will serve your purpose as well.

• If you wish to exhibit or emphasize information, use a figure.

To emphasize or reinforce the meaning of data, start with a table
and then use a figure to spotlight the implications of the data.
Graphics programs will then allow you to select a dramatic way of
displaying the data.

For example, if you want readers to know the exact dollar amounts
spent on athletics by a college, use a table:

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

If you want readers to know how spending on athletics is changing

over time, use a line graph:

6.1.3 Deciding on Figures

Often a variety of figures will serve your purpose.

Illustration Image Purpose Example

Line graph To show the A city’s growing

degree and population during a
direction of 40-year period
change relative to
two variables

Bar graph To compare and The populations of

contrast two or major cities
(horizontal bar more subjects at according to 2000
graph) the same point in census
time

Column graph To reveal change The number of

in a subject at registered
(vertical bar regular intervals students in three
graph) of time faculties in the last
four years

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

Illustration Image Purpose Example

Circle graph To display the The distribution of

number and majors at a
(pie chart) relative size of the university
divisions of a
subject

Flow chart To show the The process of

sequence of installing a
steps in a process computer software
or a procedure application

Organizational To map the various The hierarchy of

chart divisions and military officers in
levels of the US Air Force
responsibility
within an
organization

Diagram To identify the The rooms of a

parts of a subject building
and their spatial
relationship

Drawing To exhibit selected The on/off button

features of an on a machine
object or process

Photograph To show what a A crime scene

subject looks like in
realistic detail

Map To show Map of Africa

geographic areas.

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

Illustration Image Purpose Example

Infographic To enliven Symptoms of

statistical and Covid-19 virus
complex
information for the
general reader.

Screenshot To show what A drop menu of

appears on a MS Word from a
computer user’s guide
screen.

6.1.4 Following Guidelines for Effective Graphics

In deciding when and how to use illustrations, remember the following

nine guidelines:

• Simplify your illustrations. Keep your illustrations as simple as

possible so that your reader has no difficulty understanding your
message.

• Use computer applications critically. You must impose your

judgment on the choices available from the computer.

• Consider size and cost. Illustrations will often increase the size of a
document and add to the cost of production and distribution.

• Choose illustrations carefully. Realize that you usually have a

choice of illustrations. If a table or figure that you initially consider using
does not convey your point quickly and clearly, look for other ways of
displaying the information visually.

• Title your illustrations. Give each table and figure a title that clearly
indicates the content of the display.

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• Number your illustrations. If you use several illustrations in your

report, number them. Number the tables and figures separately (e.g.,
Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2). Place the number and title above
a table and below a figure.

• Alert your readers. Always alert your readers to illustrations by

referring to them in the text. Every time you refer to the illustration, use
the table or figure number.

• Position your illustrations strategically. Place each illustration as

close to the passage it explains as possible. Announce the table or
figure—what it is or shows—then insert the illustration, and add any
verbal explanation your reader will need to fully understand the
illustration.

• Identify your sources. If you borrow a table or figure from another

source, identify that source below the illustration.

6.2 Creating Graphics

As you plan how you are going to create the graphics, consider
four factors:

• Time. Because making a complicated graphic can take a lot of

time, you need to establish a schedule.

• Money. Creating a high-quality graphic can be expensive. How

big is the project budget? How can you use that money
effectively?

• Equipment. Determine what tools and software you will

require, such as spreadsheets for tables and graphs or
graphics software for diagrams.

• Expertise. How much do you know about creating graphics?

Do you have access to the expertise of others?

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6.2.1 Designing Tables

Tables convey large amounts of numerical data easily, and they are
often the only way to present several variables for a number of items. For
example, if you wanted to show how many people are employed in six
industries in 10 cities, a table would probably be most effective. Although
tables lack the visual appeal of other kinds of graphics, they can handle
much more information.

Here are three guidelines for producing effective tables

• Every column in a table should have a heading that identifies the

information below it. In a table of numbers, include the unit of
measurement, such as “miles per hour.” For large numbers, add a
designation such as “in thousands” or “in millions” to the column heading.
Headings should be brief. If headings need more explanation, include
this information in a footnote below the table.
• Box your table to separate it from surrounding paragraphs.

• Keep tables as simple as possible.

The following example contains serious design flaws. The table is a

mess of crisscrossing lines of various weights, all of which make reading
difficult. Bold type is used for first- and third-level headings, but second-
level headings and numerical data are displayed in the same style of type.
It’s also a table with excessive information, reporting both the number and
percentage of day and night accidents involving two different kinds of
fatality and two kinds of truck. At least two separate tables would make for
easier reading: one for the numbers and one for the percentages. As is,
the column of totals occurs in the center of the table instead on the right
as we might ordinarily expect it to.

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

However, the following table is effectively designed with clear

headings for the entire table as well as each of the rows. Note how bold
type differentiates the headings in the table from the data. Note also that
words are aligned on the left and numbers on the right (or on the decimal
point) to allow the easiest possible reading, navigation and comparison of
information. The only exception is the numbers used to designate the
ranking, but misreading here is unlikely.

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6.2.2 Designing Bar and Column Graphs

Here are eight guidelines to follow when designing bar and

column graphs:

• Avoid putting excessive information on a bar or column graph.

• Be sure to label the x-axis and the y-axis — what each measures
and the units in which each is calibrated.

• Start the axis at zero and equally space the intervals on the axis to
avoid distorting the length/heights of the bars/columns.

• Use the same color for all bars or columns that are representing the
same items. Avoid using color as simple decoration.

• Make the graph accurate. Three-dimensional bars and columns are

often deceptive because readers have difficulty visually comparing
the relative lengths of the bars and heights of the columns.

• Try to write captions or labels on or near the bars. Avoid legends (or
keys) that slow reader comprehension.

• Use color or shading instead of crosshatching patterns. Crosshatching

often creates distracting optical illusions.

• Avoid crowding the bars or columns within a graph. Effective and

inviting graphs leave generous space between the bars or columns.

The following figure is an example of an effective column graph that

applies the above guidelines:

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

The following multiple-column graph depicts the year-to-year

changes in spending by industry on various kinds of equipment. The
columns are displayed in two dimensions with visibly distinct shadings.

However, this multiple-column graph has several problems:

• Firstly, the six groups of columns are so close together that it is difficult
to differentiate among the groups.

• Secondly, because the same amount of space is used for the column
width and the width of the space between columns, the spaces
themselves look like additional columns. Inserting more space between
the groups would make the graph easier to decipher.
• In addition, the purpose of this figure is to emphasize spending on
information technology (IT) equipment, but it is the black columns of
transportation equipment that receive visual emphasis and thus the
viewer’s initial attention. Using the black shading for the IT columns
would better suit the purpose of the graph.

• Finally, the legend to the right could also be improved by consistent

style: the word “equipment” is abbreviated differently three times and
omitted for the last item.

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

Consider the following two graphs. Unncessary 3D is one example

of a chartjunk, a term that describes the oranmentation that clutters up a
graphic, distracting readers from the message. The two-dimentional
column graph is clear and uncluttered; the three dimenensional graph is
more difficult to understand because the additional dimension obscures
the main data points. The number of uninsured emergency-room visits in
February, for example, is very difficult to see in the three-dimensional
graph.

6.2.3 Designing Circle Graphs

Here are five guidelines to follow when designing a circle graph:

• Restrict the number of segments in a circle graph to eight.

• Use shading or color to differentiate segments and make them

easier for readers to see.
• Watch for possible distortion when you use three-dimensional
circle graphs.

• Clearly label all segments. Whether they are placed inside or

outside the circle, labels should be horizontal for easier reading.

• As you segment the graph, begin with the largest section in the
upper right-hand quadrant. The remaining segments should be
arranged clockwise, in descending order.

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 Chapter 6: Creating Graphics

The figure below is an example of an effective example of a paired-

circle graph:

These paired circle graphs compare and contrast the occurrence of

pesticide residues on domestic and imported foods. Both graphs are
designed with the largest segment starting in the upper right quadrant,
followed systematically by the smaller and smallest segments. Together the
two graphs emphasize that the difference in residues on domestic versus
imported foods is insignificant: that is, the two circles look almost identical,
and the numbers that identify the relative size of each segment reinforce
that message. The graphs might be easier to read if the segments were fully
labeled, but the legend is clear and concise. And while nothing is gained by
making the graphs three-dimensional, nothing is distorted here either.

However, the circle graph below has several problems. Visually and
logically, the graph is considerably more complicated than it needs to be:

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• While this circle graph is nicely labeled, the sections offer a distracting
array of shadings and crosshatchings, from diagonal dashes to
horizontal lines to dots to two levels of gray.

• Inexplicably, black is used twice.

• Moreover, instead of starting with the largest segment in the upper

right quadrant and progressing to the smallest segment, the graph
displays a seemingly arbitrary order of segments and leaves it to the
viewer to sort by size.

6.2.4 Designing Line Graphs

Here are five guidelines to follow when designing a line graph:

• Label each axis clearly to show the variables you are measuring.
Ordinarily, the independent variable is placed on the horizontal x-axis,
and the dependent variables are placed on the vertical y-axis.

• Choose the scale of each axis to show the appropriate steepness of

the slope of the line. Typically, the scales start at zero, with the
intervals equally spaced on each axis.

• Avoid using more than three data lines on one graph unless they are
spaced apart and do not overlap. Graphs with several intersecting data
lines are usually difficult for readers to interpret.

• Keep the data lines on your graph distinctive by using different colors
or styles for each line.

• If possible, label each data line. Avoid legends (or keys) that slow
reader comprehension.

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The figure below is a simple, clean line graph. Both scales are
readily interpreted, and the single data line is plainly visible. Notice that
the break in the y-axis (jumping from 0 to 2.35) is clearly identified with
diagonal slashes.

However, the following figure is a fairly confusing line graph. The

excessively numerous data lines are inadequately differentiated by the
black circles, diamonds, and triangles. The five lines also crisscross
several times, creating a visual tangle that is difficult for viewers to
decipher. Each data line is labeled, but three of the lines are assigned
abbreviations (two of which are likely unfamiliar to viewers); because a
definition key is necessary, quick understanding of the graph is once again
hindered.

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6.3 Designing Graphics Ethically

Displaying information ethically requires that you make careful

choices about the design of your graphics. The use of unethical graphics
damages your credibility and hinders your audience’s understanding of
your subject. For example, the scale of the x- and y-axes on a line graph
has a significant impact on the data display. In designing a graph, you
ordinarily start the x- and y-axes at 0. Exceptions are possible if beginning
at some other point (“suppressing the zero”) will not distort information. If
several line graphs are to be compared and contrasted, it would be
unethical to suppress the zero on some of the graphs but not on others:
readers might focus only on the data lines and overlook the difference in
the starting points of the x- and y-axes.

Positioned side by side, the two graphs below create a distorted

impression:

• All the columns in the debts graph are smaller than the corresponding
columns in the assets graph, giving the incorrect impression that
throughout the year, debts were smaller than assets.

• The assets graph starts the y-axis at 0, but the debts graph
suppresses the zero, and the percentages on the y-axis of the assets
graph are given in increments of 20, whereas the debts graph uses
increments of 10.

Readers will be deceived unless they notice these differences in the two
scales. The three-dimensional columns are distracting and hinder a clear
comparison of the two graphs.

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In the following example, you can see that it is also possible to

distort graphic information by stretching one axis and shrinking the other,
thereby making the differences among the data points either more or less
apparent. Tall and narrow columns exaggerate differences in the data,
while short and wide columns disguise such differences.

Similarly, it is also possible to distort graphic information by

stretching one axis and shrinking the other, thereby making the data line
either more vertical (depicting a rapid and dramatic change) or more
horizontal (depicting a slow and moderate change).

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If readers look quickly at the following graph of sales figures, they

might come away with the impression that sales are rising.

They might not notice that the time line on the x-axis is reversed; that is,
instead of the earlier date on the left and the later date on the right as one
would ordinarily expect, the horizontal scale starts with 2000 and proceeds
backward in time to 1996. Sales, in fact, are falling. The extra-thick data
line and the small labels on the x-axis contribute to the deception, as does
the color. In addition, the graduated shading of the background (darker at
the bottom and lighter at the top) lifts the reader’s eye and reinforces the
misperception of rising sales.

Now, consider the following three-dimensional circle graph about

the percentages of a college’s students by year. The sophomore slice
looks bigger than the freshman slice, even though it is not, because it
appears closer to the reader. To communicate clearly, make circle graphs
two-dimensional.

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6.4 Using Colors Effectively

Color draws attention to information you want to emphasize,

establishes visual patterns to promote understanding, and adds interest. But
it is also easy to misuse. In using color in graphics and page design, keep
these six principles in mind:

• Don’t overdo it. Readers can interpret only two or three colors at a time.
Use colors for small items, such as portions of graphics and important
words. And don’t use colors where black and white will work better.

• Use color to emphasize particular items. People interpret color before

they interpret shape, size, or placement on the page. Color effectively
draws readers’ attention to a particular item or group of items on a page.

• Use color to create patterns. The principle of repetition applies in

graphics as well as in document design. In creating patterns, also
consider shape. For instance, use red for safety comments but place
them in octagons resembling a stop sign. This way, you give your
readers two visual cues to help them recognize the pattern.

• Use contrast effectively. The visibility of a color is a function of the

background against which it appears. The strongest contrasts are
between black and white and between black and yellow.

• Take advantage of any symbolic meanings colors may already

have. In American culture, for example, red signals danger, heat, or
electricity; yellow signals caution; and orange signals warning. Keep in
mind, however, that people in different cultures interpret colors
differently.

• Be aware that color can obscure or swallow up text. Text printed against a
white background looks bigger than the same-size text printed against a colored
background. If you are using print against a colored background, you might
need to make the type a little bigger.

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Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions

How to Create Graphics in MS Excel:

 TECH TIP

You can create many types of graphics discussed in this chapter using a spreadsheet
program such as Microsoft Excel. First you enter the data that the graphic will
display; then you select the type of graphic to create.

1. After you have entered your data in a spreadsheet, select the type of graphic by
using the drop-down menus in the Charts group on the Insert tab.

2. You can also select the Chart dialog box launcher in the Charts group and then
select the type of graphic using the Insert Chart dialog box.

3. After you have created your graphic, you can modify the data range included and
add or modify elements such as a title, labels, a legend, and grid lines by using
the Design, Layout, and Format tabs.

4. After creating a graphic, you can use the Copy and Paste commands to insert
your graphic in your document.

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How to Use Drawing Tools in MS Word:

 TECH TIP

Although you can make many types of graphics using a spreadsheet, some types,
such as pictographs, call for drawing tools. Your word processor includes basic
drawing tools.

To create shapes and SmartArt, use the Illustrations group on the Insert tab.

Use the Shapes drop-down menu to select a simple shape, such as a line, arrow,
rectangle, or oval. Then drag your cursor to create the shape.

You can also select complex shapes from the

SmartArt dropdown menu in the Illustrations
group.

To modify a shape, select it and use the Drawing

Tools Format tab. Groups on the Format tab let
you modify the appearance, size, and layout
of a shape.

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Chapter 6: Exercises
I) Choose the correct answer:

1. Comparing the number of students enrolled in each MTI faculty in Spring 2021
is best illustrated by using…………….
a) a circle graph b) a line graph
c) a column graph d) a bar graph

2. The number of registered students in MTI during the last ten years is best
illustrated by using …
a) a circle graph b) a line graph
c) an organizational chart d) a bar graph

3. To show what a subject looks like in realistic detail, use ………. as a visual
illustration.
a) a photograph b) a drawing
c) a diagram d) none of the above

4. In designing a table, using footnotes to explain a heading is ………….

a) a possible option when needed b) violates standards
c) makes it difficult to follow the reading d) not recommended

5. All graphics can be called “figures” except for …………….

a) charts b) maps
c) photos d) tables

6. A city’s growing population during a 40-year period is best illustrated by using:

a) a circle graph b) a line graph
c) a photograph d) a bar graph

7. The distribution of majors at MTI in Spring 2018 is best illustrated by using ….

a) a circle graph b) a line graph
c) a column graph d) a bar graph

8. To show the sequence of steps in a process for installing a computer software

application, it is recommended to illustrate using …………………
a) a circle graph b) a line graph
c) a column graph d) a flowchart

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9. To illustrate the hierarchy of administrative staff at a company, one should

use...
a) a circle graph b) a line graph
c) an organizational chart d) a flowchart

10. Comparing the sales of four Zara branches in 2020 is best represented by
using a ……..
a) circle graph b) line graph
c) column graph d) bar graph

11. One of the following is not recommended when designing a circle graph:
a) indicating percentages of segments b) labeling segments
c) cross-hatching segments d) coloring segments

12. When designing a bar graph, you should avoid ………………

a) putting excessive information on the graph
b) equally spacing the intervals
c) leaving generous space between the bars
d) starting the axis at zero

13. One of the following is not recommended when designing a line graph:
a) Labeling each axis
b) Choosing an appropriate scale for axis steepness
c) Using 5 date lines on one graph
d) Using different styles for each line

14. One of the following is an attribute of good illustrations …………

a) announcing the illustration after its insertion
b) placing number and title above the figure
c) putting all illustrations in an appendix at the end
d) identifying sources

15. One of the following is not recommended when designing a table:

a) using detailed heading for every column
b) including the unit of measurement
c) boxing the table to separate it from surrounding paragraphs
d) Using footnotes

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II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. [……………] When designing an illustration using a computer application, you

should not impose your judgment on the choices available from the
computer.

2. [……………] When designing a table, you may use a footnote below the table if
headings need more explanation.

3. [……………] Use a table when the purpose of your document is to emphasize

information.

4. [……………] Use a figure when the purpose of your document is to summarize

information.

5. [……………] To illustrate the steps for installing a computer software application,

drawings are the best choice.

6. [……………] Three-dimensional bars and columns are often deceptive because

readers have difficulty in visually comparing the relative lengths
of the bars and heights of columns.

7. [……………] Table numbers and titles should be placed above the table.

8. [……………] No illustration should precede its first text mention.

9. [……………] Many of the attributes of good technical writing are equally

important in graphics.

10. [……………] In a circle graph, “slices” should be limited to no more than 8.

11. [……………] If readers are in a distracting environment, illustrations may

focus their attention with a display of information that is eye-
catching.

12. [……………] Figure numbers and titles should be placed above the figure.

13. [……………] Charts are types of figures that represent a physical object,
while technical drawings are figures that display data in visual
form.

14. [……………] As you segment a circle graph, begin with the largest section in
the upper left-hand quadrant. The remaining segments should be
arranged anti-clockwise, in descending order.

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III) Complete the following statements:

1. ……………..….. are illustrations that place numbers or words in columns,

rows, or both.

2. …………….….is a type of figure used to identify the parts of a subject and

their spatial relationship.

3. ………………... is a type of figure used to show how a subject looks like in

realistic details

4. ………………..… are figures that display data in visual form.

5. A …………………. is a type of figure that represents a physical object.

6. All graphics other than tables, including charts, maps, and photos are also
called ………………..

7. A ……………….. is a term that describes the ornamentation that clutters up a

graphic, distracting readers from the message.

8. When the purpose of a document is to emphasize information, a writer should

use a ………………………… , whereas when the purpose of the document is
to summarize information, a writer should use a ………………………………

9. When using illustrations in a technical report, circle graphs are used to

represent percentages with no more than ………..……..… slices. The changes
in the net profit of an organization over a five-year period is best illustrated by
the use of ……………………...……graph. The number of tasks completed
each month by three employees over a six months of the year is best illustrated
by the use of ………………….…..…… graph.

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IV) Answer the following questions:

1. In communicating technical information, illustrations are used either in addition

to words or instead of words to convey the message. Learning how to create
effective tables, graphs, diagrams, and drawings will give the technical writer
additional tools for helping readers to understand the subject. According to what
you have learned, mention some guidelines to help technical writers produce
effective illustrations.

2. When readers have little or no knowledge of a subject, it is important for a

technical writer to use graphics to create a virtual experience by showing what
the subject looks like. Choose a type of graphics and give advice on
guidelines to design it effectively.

3. Color draws attention to information you want to emphasize, establishes visual

patterns to promote understanding, and adds interest. But it is also easy to
misuse. What are the major principles of using color in graphics and page
design?

4. Figures come in a wide variety, and they display different kinds of information.
Mention five figures giving examples for their uses.

5. What are the criteria for producing an effective circle graph?

Extra-Credit Question:

What are infographics? Why are they used? Give examples

related to Covid-19 pandemic nationally and internationally.

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CHAPTER 7

Writing Correspondence

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 Chapter 7: Writing Correspondence

Chapter 7: Writing Correspondence

7.1 Written Communication vs. Oral Communication

7.2 Selecting a Type of Correspondence

7.3 Finding the Appropriate Style

7.3.1 Direct versus Indirect Style
7.3.2 Conversational Style

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7.1 Written Communication vs. Oral Communication

On the job you will face a wide variety of situations that require you to
write e-mail messages, letters, or memos. Oral communication — in person
or by telephone — will dominate your day-to-day interactions, but much of
your communication will also be written.

You will meet face-to-face to emphasize the importance or urgency

of your message and to personalize the communication. A face-to-face
conversation offers the greatest opportunity to establish a close human
relationship: The parties see each other, offer greetings, and occupy the
same space at the same time. A full exchange of verbal and visual
information is possible, with ability to ask and answer questions.

You will telephone if a face-to-face conversation is impractical or if,

having established a close human relationship, you nevertheless wish to
emphasize the importance or urgency of your communication. Telephone
conversations offer a limited opportunity to personalize the
communication because only the voices of the individuals are available
(unless the call allows video as well as audio transmission). You do, however,
retain the ability to ask and answer questions. Again, neither caller receives a
written copy of the information communicated.

You will write to create a record of decisions or promises. You will

write to offer details that people might misinterpret or misunderstand if
received orally. You will write because your audience expects certain
information to be delivered in writing. And you will write whenever you would
like to receive a written reply.

This chapter discusses the four major formats used for producing
workplace correspondence: letters, memos, emails, and microblog posts.
Throughout this chapter, the word correspondence refers to all these forms.

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7.2 Selecting a Type of Correspondence

The process of writing correspondence is essentially like that of writing

any other kind of workplace document. The more formal the correspondence,
the more time you are likely to spend on each of these steps. People are
sometimes tempted to use informal writing in informal digital applications such
as email and microblogs. Don’t. Everything you write on the job is legally the
property of the organization for which you work, and messages are almost
always archived digitally, even after recipients have deleted them. Your
documents might be read by the company president, or they might appear in a
newspaper or in a court of law. Therefore, use a moderately formal tone to avoid
potential embarrassment.

When you need to correspond with others in the workplace, your first task
is to decide on the appropriate type of document. Here are the main
characteristics of each major type:

• Letters:
Because letters still use centuries-old conventions such as the salutation
and complimentary close, they are the most formal of the four types of
correspondence and are therefore most appropriate for communicating with
people outside your organization or, in some formal situations, with
people within your organization.

• Memos:
This type of correspondence is moderately formal and therefore appropriate
for people in your own organization.

• Emails:
This type of correspondence is best for quick, relatively informal
communication with one or many recipients. Recipients can store and
forward email easily, as well as capture the text and reuse it in other
documents. In addition, the writer can attach other files to an email message.

• Microblog Posts:
Microblogging is social networking combined with short-message blogging.
Author-owned content “updates” are delivered in short messages (typically
140 characters or less in length) distributed through online and mobile

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networks to the author’s “followers.” Microblog posts such as Twitter tweets or

Facebook status updates can be useful to address quick questions to a
group. This is the most informal type of correspondence.

Below is a sample two-page letter that represents the major elements in

a letter:

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 Chapter 7: Writing Correspondence

The figure below shows the basic elements of a memo:

The figure below represents major elements of an e-mail:

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 Chapter 7: Writing Correspondence

How do you decide among letters, memos, e-mail, and microblogs?

Consider the following factors:

• The usual practice of your organization:

Day-to-day business updates might be communicated by e-mail and

microblogs, but policy changes are distributed through memos, and the only
letters are messages to and from the district supervisor. Ordinarily, you will
adopt the usual practices of your organization.

• The efficiency / practicality of each communication medium:

• Emails and Microblogs:

E-mails and microblogs are rapidly replacing a substantial portion of
traditional paper correspondence. The reasons for this change are the
higher speed and lower cost of both e-mails and microblogs.

First, e-mail is quicker than conventional mail. E-mail allows you to send
the message you type without the intermediate step of transferring it to
paper. Your message goes from your computer to your reader’s
computer within minutes instead of a day or days. And you could receive
the answer to your letter within the half-hour. Potentially, e-mail has the
immediacy of oral conversation. Similarly, with microblogs you can
simply post your message and immediately start to receive comments
that are also visible to others – hence, allowing a wider exchange of
views.

Second, e-mails and microblogs are a less expensive medium for

correspondence; they eliminate the costs of paper, print cartridges,
envelopes, and postage as well as the costs associated with the
distribution, filing, and storage of paper messages. E-mail messages are
composed, distributed, received, filed, and stored electronically. For a
typical organization, the savings are substantial: for example, the rising
costs of paper and postage are minimized and fewer file folders and file
cabinets are required for sorting and storing correspondence.

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Electronic communication, however, has its risks:

• In the rapid exchange of ideas that e-mails and microblogs

encourage, you might fail to be as careful in choosing your words
and phrases as you ordinarily would be. You might write something
that isn’t quite what you intended, leading to a message that is
incorrect, ambiguous, or impolite. Such a message could damage
your credibility and your relationship with your audience.

• E-mails and microblogs might be as quick as oral conversation, but

your readers can’t hear your voice or see your face: they have only
your written words with which to judge the accuracy, civility, and
sincerity of your message.

• Finally, though electronic communication is potentially as quick as oral

conversation, it isn’t necessarily as quick. For example, the message
you send today may not elicit a response today. It may be read
tomorrow, next week, next month, or never. The absence of a
guaranteed timely response to e-mail messages could leave you
impatient or irate when some people are slower to reply.

• Letters and Memos:

Letters and memos address subjects of sufficient importance to justify

the extra time, effort, and cost involved in preparing and transmitting a
paper version of your message. That is, a letter or memo requires paper,
ink, envelope, and your attention to the printing process. Once printed,
the letter or memo must be delivered to its recipient. It passes through
your organization’s internal mail delivery system: it is picked up, sorted,
and distributed—a labor-intensive process. If the recipient is outside your
organization, postage will add again to the cost of your message.

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7.3 Finding the Appropriate Style

Under this section, you will be introduced to a variety of styles

appropriate for communication in the workplace.

7.3.1 Direct versus Indirect Style

• In the United States, the preferred style of correspondence is direct

communication: news, explanation, and closing. Americans consider this
style candid and efficient: getting to the point immediately with the critical
information, offering explanation or clarification, and ending politely.

If the audience will be pleased with the news, the direct style is
appropriate. Direct communication is also the right choice for situations of
urgency, offering the earliest and easiest access to critical information.

• The indirect style is usually the better choice when: you anticipate a
negative reaction to your news. If the news will disappoint or irritate your
audience or if your message is of little or no urgency, the indirect style will
cushion the negative impact of the news. Moreover, international
audiences often prefer the indirect style, considering it more civilized and
courteous. In the indirect style, you establish a human relationship with the
audience before you discuss the news. Ordinarily, you start with a gracious
opening, provide whatever background information or reasonable
arguments are necessary to help the audience understand and accept the
news, report the news itself, and offer a polite closing.

Consider the following situation. Theresa Ricco is a sales

representative of Wild Computers. She is back in the office after a sales trip to
the People’s Republic of China, writing a letter to a potential client. Using
direct style, she writes a letter that is clear and to the point. The language is
simple and the paragraphs brief. It is a crisp and efficient piece of
correspondence and typical of the letters she usually writes. While this letter
might be ideal for American audiences, however, a Chinese audience might
consider it discourteous—possibly thinking that Theresa didn’t care enough to
write a longer or personal letter.

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However, a careful analysis of the audience inspires Theresa to try a

different kind of letter. Choosing the indirect style, Theresa starts the letter with
good wishes, shows familiarity with Chinese culture, and offers personal
information about herself, such as that she is married. In the second
paragraph, she proceeds to thank and compliment the reader. In the third
paragraph, she describes her company, reminding the reader of matters that
she no doubt covered orally during their meeting—information that establishes
her company’s credibility (important to the Chinese). In the fourth paragraph,
she finally arrives at the point of this letter, the offer of information about her
company’s products. Finally, she adopts the kind of formal closing that a
Chinese writer might use. This letter, while considerably longer, is more likely

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 Chapter 7: Writing Correspondence

to be positively received. Like all effective correspondence, it is tailored to its

audience.

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7.3.2 Conversational Style

In your correspondence, aim for a simple conversational style.

Professionals on the job receive so much correspondence every week that
they truly can’t afford to be paralyzed by messages that are difficult to read or
difficult to understand. They don’t have time. They need messages with short
paragraphs, lists, simple sentence structure, and common words. Above
all, use the active voice and avoid fancy language and the formality of the
passive voice.

Moreover, avoid clichés. They’ll make your letter seem formulaic,

filled with canned expressions instead of specifically suited to your audience,
subject, and purpose. And clichés will make you sound like a pompous official
instead of a caring and articulate human being.

Instead of Write
We beg to advise you that . . . I’d like you to know that . . .

We are in receipt of your letter I received your letter that . . .

that . . .

It is requested that you send a copy Please send me a copy of your

latest of the specified document to report.
our office.

Attached please find … Attached is …

Enclosed please find … Enclosed is ….

Pursuant to our agreement As we agreed

The following comparison table shows two versions of the same letter:
one written in clichés, the other in plain language. The letter on the right avoids
clichés and shows an understanding of the “you attitude.” Instead of focusing
on the violation of the warranty, it presents the conclusion as good news: the
snowmobile is not ruined, and it can be repaired and returned in less than a
week for a small charge. In short, ask yourself whether you would or could
say in conversation what you have written. If you know you never would
say it, don’t write it. Restate it in simpler language for a more readable
style.

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Letter containing clichés Letter in plain language

Dear Mr. Smith: Dear Mr. Smith:

Referring to your complaint regarding Thank you for letting us know about
the problem encountered with your the problem with your new Trailrider
new Trailrider Snowmobile, our Snowmobile.
Customer Service Department has
just submitted its report. Our Customer Service Department
has found water in the fuel line.
It is their conclusion that the Apparently some of the gasoline was
malfunction is caused by water being bad. While we guarantee our
present in the fuel line. It is our snowmobiles for one year against
conclusion that you must have defects in workmanship and
purchased some bad gasoline. We materials, we cannot assume
trust you are cognizant of the fact responsibility for problems caused by
that while we guarantee our bad gasoline. We cannot, therefore,
snowmobiles for a period of not less grant your request to repair the
than one year against defects in snowmobile free of charge.
workmanship and materials,
responsibility cannot be assumed for However, no serious harm was done
inadequate care. We wish to advise, to the snowmobile. We would be
for the reason mentioned happy to flush the fuel line at cost,
hereinabove, that we cannot grant $30. Your Trailrider would then give
your request to repair the you many years of troublefree
snowmobile free of charge. service. If you will authorize us to do
this work, we will have your
Permit me to say, however, that the snowmobile back to you within four
writer would be pleased to see that working days. Just fill out the
the fuel line is flushed at cost, $30. enclosed authorization card and drop
Your Trailrider would then give you it in the mail.
many years of trouble-free service.
Sincerely yours,
Enclosed please find an
authorization card. Should we
receive it, we shall perform the
above-mentioned repair and deliver
your snowmobile forthwith.

Sincerely yours,

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In addition, always focus on the human being reading your letter, memo,
or e-mail. Develop a you-attitude, using the word “you” more often and “I” less
often. In this case, you look at the situation from the reader’s point of view and
adjusting the content, structure, and tone to meet his or her needs. Following
are two examples of thoughtless sentences, each followed by an improved
version using the “you-attitude”:

ACCUSING You must have dropped the engine. The housing is

badly cracked.

BETTER The badly cracked housing suggests that the

engine must have fallen onto a hard surface from
some height.

SARCASTIC You’ll need two months to deliver these parts? Who

do you think you are, the post office?

BETTER Surely you would find a two-month delay for the

delivery of parts unacceptable in your business.
That’s how I feel, too.

Try to see things from the reader’s point of view. Suppose, for example,
you were writing a letter of job application to a prospective employer. You might
write an “I-attitude” statement that records you are seeing the subject of
employment from your point of view, emphasizing the benefits to you:

I believe that my employment with United Corporation will be a great

learning experience for me and allow me to develop my skills as a
mechanical engineer.

Your reader, however, is more interested in learning how United Corporation

will profit by hiring you, how you will contribute to United’s objectives and
operations. Adopting the you-attitude, you might write:

My training as a mechanical engineer will support your mission at United

Corporation to design environmentally friendly automotive products.
Specifically, my recent studies in high-temperature superconductivity will
help you to develop state-of the-art motors and generators.

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 Chapter 7: Writing Correspondence

Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions

• How to Use Mail-Merge via GMass:

 TECH TIP

GMass is a powerful mail-merge software that lets you easily create and send tons of
emails from your Gmail account to a target audience. Its advanced mail merge features
have made it a popular tool that’s used by employees from LinkedIn, Uber, Google, and
Twitter.

A. Import your Excel spreadsheet into Google Sheets

B. Format your Google Sheet

C. Install GMass from Chrome Add-on and connect it to your Gmail account

D. Connect your Google Sheet to GMass

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Chapter 7: Exercises
I) Choose the correct answer:

1. Written communication is preferred over oral communication when ………..

a) the situation is urgent b) an instant feedback is required
c) a decision needs to be recorded d) a full exchange of visual data is available

2. Which of the following is not a feature of conversational style?

a) Lists b) Simple sentence structure
c) Active voice d) Clichés

3. The sentence “My training as a mechanical engineer will support the mission of your
corporation to design environmentally friendly automotive products.” uses:
a) a you-attitude b) an I-attitude
c) a pompous cliché d) an indirect style

4. Which of the following will you do to record decisions or promises at work?

a) meet face-to-face b) meet via the phone
c) use written communication d) any of the above

5. Which of the following is the suitable means of written communication to inform

employees about policy changes in certain workplace?
a) Email b) Memorandum
c) Letters d) Any of the above

6. In what situation(s) is a direct style of communication more appropriate?

a) writing to an international audience
b) offering apologizes to an executive
c) expecting a positive reaction
d) all of the above

7. The sentence “I believe that my employment at your corporation will be a great

learning experience for me and allow me to develop my skills as a mechanical
engineer.” uses:
a) a you-attitude b) an I-attitude
c) a conversational style d) an indirect style

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8. When writing to an international audience, it is recommended to use a …….

a) direct style b) indirect style
c) pompous style d) clichéd style

9. In what situation(s) is an indirect style of communication more appropriate?

a) writing to an international audience
b) offering recommendations to an executive
c) expecting a negative reaction
d) A and C only

II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. [……………] Using microblog posts as an essential means of correspondence in the

workplace is a risk-free procedure.

2. [……………] To inform employees about policy changes in certain workplace, it is

recommended to use memorandums.

3. [……………] There is no guarantee that you will receive a timely response for an
urgent email you send.

4. [……………] Telephone conversations offer a limited opportunity to personalize the

communication because only the voices of the individuals are
available.

5. [……………] Professionals on the job need messages with short paragraphs, lists,
simple sentence structure, and common words.

6. [……………] Microblog posts are the least formal of all types of correspondence

7. [……………] In your correspondence, aim for a simple conversational style.

Professionals on the job need messages with short paragraphs, lists,
simple sentence structure, and common words.

8. [……………] Face-to-face interaction at the workplace is the best means to record

decisions and offer details.

9. [……………] Emails go through the internal mail delivery system of organizations,

so they consume time and effort.

10. [……………] An official letter is suitable for day-to-day business updates.

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11. [……………] An email message is usually written with a salutation at the

beginning and a signature at the end.

12. [……………] An e-mail is quicker than an oral communication.

13. [……………] A memo is a suitable type correspondence between supervisors in a

company.

14. [……………] A face-to-face conversation offers the least opportunity to establish a

close human relationship.

III) Answer the following questions:

1. On the job, you will face variety of situations that require writing e-mail messages,
letters or memos. Yet, oral communication – in person or by telephone – will
dominate your day-to-day interaction as well. In what way is written
communication different from telephone communication and from face-to-face
interaction?

2. On the job, one faces variety of situations that require writing e-mail messages,
letters or memos. Compare and contrast the relative efficiency or practicality of
each communication medium.

Extra-Credit Question:

Netiquette refers to etiquette on a network. When you write an email

in the workplace or post a microblog, you should adhere to the
netiquette guidelines. What are some of these guidelines?

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CHAPTER 8

WRITING JOB
APPLICATION MATERIALS

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Chapter 8: Writing Job Application Materials

8.1 Understanding the Job-Application Process

8.2 Establishing Your Professional Brand

8.2.1 Understanding What Employers Want
8.2.2 Crafting Your Professional Brand
8.2.3 Building the Foundation of Your Professional
Brand
8.2.4 Presenting Your Professional Brand

8.3 Planning the Job Search

8.4 Writing a Letter of Application

8.4.1 The Beginning
8.4.2 The Body
8.4.3 The Ending

8.5 Writing a Résumé

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8.1 Understanding the Job-Application Process

Getting hired has always involved writing. Whether you apply online
through a company’s website, reply to a post on LinkedIn, or send a formal
letter and résumé through the mail, you will use words to make the case that
the organization should offer you a position.

For most of you, looking for professional work is the first

nonacademic test of your technical communication skills.

Preparing job-application materials requires weeks and months, not

days, and there is no way to cut corners. In writing job-application materials,
pay special attention to these steps in the writing process.

PLANNING Learn as much as you can about the

organizations to which you will apply.

DRAFTING Decide whether to write a chronological or

skills résumé, and use traditional sections
and headings. In your job-application letter,
elaborate on key points from your résumé.

REVISING You want these documents to be perfect.

& EDITING Ask several people to review them.
FOCUS ON

8.2 Establishing Your Professional Brand

One way to look at the process of looking for work is to keep in mind
that, except for those times when you don’t want to be in the workforce, you are
always looking for work. That doesn’t literally mean you’re always applying for
jobs; it means you’re always open to the possibility that a job that interests you
will come along. Being a successful job seeker requires a particular frame of
mind. Think of yourself not as a student at this college or an employee of that

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company but rather as a professional with a brand to establish and

maintain.
For instance, say your name is Amber Cunningham, and you work as a
human-resources officer for Apple. Don’t think of yourself as an Apple human-
resources officer. Instead, think of yourself as Amber Cunningham, a human-
resources specialist who has worked for several companies (including Apple)
and who has a number of marketable skills and a substantial record of
accomplishments. Your professional brand (sometimes referred to as a
“personal brand”) is Amber Cunningham. Your challenge is to attract employers
successfully—even if you’re happy with your current position at Apple and are
not looking to change jobs.

8.2.1 Understanding What Employers Want

Across all fields, employers want a person who is honest, hard-

working, technically competent, skilled at solving problems, able to work
effectively alone and in teams, willing to share information with others, and
eager to keep learning. You need to find the evidence that you can use to
display these qualities.

Begin by thinking about everything you have done throughout your

college years (courses, projects, service-learning experiences, organizations,
leadership roles) and your professional career (job responsibilities,
supervision of others, accomplishments, awards). And don’t forget your
volunteer activities. Through these activities, many people acquire what are
called transferable skills — skills that are useful in seemingly unrelated jobs.
Make a list of your experiences, characteristics, skills, and accomplishments
that will furnish the kinds of evidence that you can use in establishing your
professional brand.

8.2.2 Crafting Your Professional Brand

With your list of characteristics, accomplishments, experiences, and

skills in hand, it is time to start creating the materials – primarily online
materials – that will display your professional brand.

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In making their job offers, employers today use the information they
learn about potential new employees on the Internet. According to a 2012
study commissioned by CareerBuilder of more than 2,000 hiring managers, 40
percent of companies research job applicants on social media. The good
news: 19 percent of those companies report that they found positive
information that motivated them to seek out an applicant. The bad news: 43
percent found information that made them reject an applicant. The statistics
suggests that more people are posting unprofessional content, and/or
companies are looking more closely.

According to the same study, the employers who rejected applicants

cited the following six problems most often:

• Provocative or unprofessional photos or text

• Photos or text showing drug or alcohol use
• Poor writing
• Negative comments about current or former employers
• Discriminatory comments about race, gender, or religion
• Lies about the candidate’s credentials

Start by searching online for your own name. Look at

what potential employers will see and ask yourself
whether your online personal brand is what you want to
display. If it isn’t, start to change it.

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8.2.3 Building the Foundation of Your Professional Brand

Follow these six guidelines in developing your professional brand.

• Research what others have done.

What kinds of information do they present about themselves online? On
which social-media sites are they active? What kinds of comments and
questions do they post? How do they reply to what others have posted?

• Tell the truth.

Companies search online themselves or hire investigators to verify the
information you provide about yourself, to see if you are honest.

• Communicate professionally.
Show that you can write clearly and correctly, and remember that it is
inappropriate to reveal secrets or personal information about colleagues.

• Describe your job skills.

Employers want to see that you have the technical skills that the job
requires. They look for degrees, certifications, speeches and publications,
and descriptions of what you do in your present position and have done in
previous positions.

• Focus on problem-solving and accomplishments.

The most compelling evidence that you would be a good hire is a solid
record of identifying problems and developing solutions that met
customers’ needs, reduced costs, increased revenues, improved safety,
and reduced environmental impact.

• Participate actively online.

One way to show you are a professional who would generously and
appropriately share information and work well in a team is to display those
characteristics online. Participate professionally through sites such as
LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

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8.2.4 Presenting Your Professional Brand

Here are six guidelines can help you display your professional brand:

• Create a strong online presence.

The best online presence is your own website, which functions as your
online headquarters. All your other online activities will link back to this
one site, the only site on the Internet that is all about you. Register a site
and try to name it [Link] (you will be required to pay a small fee to
secure the domain name). If you aren’t experienced designing and creating
sites, try a drag-and-drop site builder like Weebly or Squarespace, or use a
template from a free blogging site such as WordPress. Upload to your site
everything you want potential employers to see: contact information, a
professional history, work samples, documents, and links to your accounts
on social-media sites. If you don’t have a website, take advantage of all the
features on LinkedIn.

• Participate on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is the major social-media site used by employers to find
employees. Set up a LinkedIn account and create a profile that includes the
keywords that will attract potential employers. Including keywords makes it
easier for potential employers to find you when they search for employees.

Rather than calling yourself a “programmer at ADP,” which

describes your current situation, call yourself “an experienced
programmer in various programming languages (Java, C, C++,
and PHP) and scripting languages (JavaScript, Perl, WSH, and
UNIX shells) who understands interactive web pages and web-
based applications, including JavaServer Pages (JSP), Java
servlets, Active Server Pages (ASP), and ActiveX controls.”

In addition, remember to list specific skills in the “Skills and Abilities” section
of your profile. Potential employers searching for specific skills can then
locate you more easily, and colleagues who know your work can endorse
you for various skills.

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Don’t merely set up an account – participate actively on LinkedIn; when you

read a good article or see a useful video, link to it so others can find it.
Participate in forum discussions. Make connections and endorse people
who you know have good qualifications.

• Participate on Facebook.
Within your Facebook account, you have the option of creating separate
Pages for specific interests. Create a public Facebook Page and use it only
for professional activities. Share information that will be interesting and
useful to other professionals.

• Participate on Twitter.
Follow influential people in your industry on Twitter to see the kinds of
activities, conferences, and publications that interest them. Comment on
and retweet useful tweets, link to the best items you see in the media, and
reply when others send you messages.

• Create a business card.

A card is the best way to direct people to your website when you meet them
in person. Your card should have your contact information, a few phrases
highlighting your skills, and the URL of your website.

Some people add a QR code (a Quick Response code,

the square barcode that smart phones can read) to allow
others to link to their websites instantly.

• Practice an “elevator note.”

An elevator note is a brief oral summary of your credentials. At less than 20
seconds long, it’s brief enough that you can say it if you find yourself in an
elevator with a potential employer. After the note, you hand the person your
business card, which contains all the information he or she needs to get to
your website, which links to everything else you want that person to see
about you.

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8.3 Planning the Job Search

Once you have constructed your personal brand online — a process

that can take weeks or months — you can start to plan the job search.

• Do a self-inventory.
Before you can start thinking of where you want to work, you need to
answer some questions about yourself: What are your strengths and
weaknesses? What subjects do you like? What kind of organization would
you like to work for? What are your geographical preferences?

• Learn about potential employers.

Once you’ve identified a company of interest start learning about the
company by studying its website. But don’t stop there. Conduct
informational interviews with people who have worked there or who know
people who have; ask your professors if they can help you identify people
to interview. Search the company’s name; the results will point you to
articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as to blogs, discussion
boards, and podcasts. Search for the company on LinkedIn. Many
companies use LinkedIn as a hiring portal.

• Attend job fairs.

Your college and your community probably hold job fairs, where
employers provide information about their organizations. Sometimes, a
single organization will hold a job fair to find qualified candidates for a
wide variety of jobs.

• Prepare a résumé and a job-application letter.

You will need a résumé, a one- or two-page document that describes your
most important credentials. In most cases, you will upload a résumé to a
job board or to a company’s website; in some cases, you enter the
information on a company’s web-based form. Some companies also
request a job-application letter.

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Start planning early by obtaining materials from the career-placement

office at your college. Talk with friends who have gone through the
process successfully; study their application materials. Read books and
visit websites about different aspects of the job search.

• Put your portfolio items online.

A portfolio is a collection of your best work, including your résumé, letters
of recommendation, transcripts and professional certifications, and
reports, papers, websites, slides of oral presentations, and other types of
documents you have written or created as a student or an employee. You
should put your portfolio on your website and other online locations, such
as your LinkedIn account. The more items you have online, the more likely
it is your name will appear when a potential employer searches for
applicants.

If you wish to apply for a position in another country, keep

in mind that the conventions of the process vary—
sometimes quite a bit. You will need to adapt your
résumé and letter to the expectations of employers in
the country in which you would like to work.

For instance, résumés in the United States do not include

information such as the date of birth, and marital status;
federal legislation prohibits organizations from asking for
this information. In some other countries, however,
personal information is expected on a résumé.

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8.4 Writing a Letter of Application

In some cases, the first knowledge prospective employers will have of

you is the letter of application and résumé that you send to them. A good letter
of application, sometimes called a cover letter, and a well-done résumé will not
guarantee that you get a job, but bad ones will probably guarantee that you do
not. In fact, the letter of application is very important. Applicants can explain
more clearly in a letter than in a résumé how their qualifications match the
employer’s requirements. They can explain their professional relationship with
someone in the employer’s organization or gaps in their employment history.
Perhaps most important, applicants can show that they can write well. Plan the
mechanics of your letter of application carefully; here are some guidelines:

• Buy the best quality white paper.

• Prepare your letter on a word processor, ensuring the best effective

design.

• Use a standard typeface.

• Do not use italics.

• Make sure your letter is mechanically perfect, free of grammatical

errors.

• Be brief, but not telegraphic. Keep the letter to one page.

• Don’t send a letter that has been duplicated in any way.

• Accompany each letter with a résumé.

• Use a tone of self-confidence. Avoid both arrogance and humility.

Sound interested but not fawning.

• The letter of application is not the place to be worried about salary

and pension plans.

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• You cannot avoid the use of I in a letter of application. But take the
you-attitude as much as you can. Think about what you can do for the
prospective employer:

I understand that the research team of which I might be a part

works as a single unit in the measurement and collection of
data. Because of this, team members need a general
knowledge and ability in fishery techniques as well as a
specific job skill. Therefore, I would like to point out that last
summer I worked for the Department of Natural Resources on
a fish population study. On that job I gained electro-fishing
and seining experience and also learned how to collect and
identify aquatic invertebrates.

• Use action verbs; they help to give your writing brevity, specificity,
and force. Here’s a sampling of such words:

administer edit oversee

analyze evaluate plan
conduct exhibit produce
create expand reduce costs
cut improve reorganize
design manage support
develop operate was promoted
direct organize write

Example:
Instead of:
I worked as a sales clerk.
Write:
I maintained inventories, sold merchandise, prepared
displays, implemented new procedures, and supervised
and trained new clerks.

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8.4.1 The Beginning

Beginnings are tough. Here are three ways to start your letter of
application. The first one is name dropping. Use this beginning only if you
have permission and if the name you drop will mean something to the
prospective employer:

Dear Ms. Marchand:

Professor John J. Jones of State University’s Food Science
faculty has suggested that I apply for the post of food
supervisor that you have open. In June I will receive my
Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science from State
University. Also, I have spent the last two summers working
in food preparation for Memorial Hospital in Melbourne.

Another way to do this is to refer to something about the company

that interests you. Doing so establishes that you have done your homework.
Then try to show how some preparation on your part relates to this special
interest:

Dear Mr. Solem:

I read in the January issue of Metal Age that Dr. Charles E.

Gore of your company is conduction extensive research into
the application of X-ray diffraction to problems in physical
metallurgy. I have conducted experiments at Watertown
Polytechnic Institute in the same area under the guidance of
Professor John O’Brien. I would like to become a research
assistant with your firm and, if possible, to work for Dr. Gore.

Sometimes the best approach is a simple statement about the job

you seek, accompanied by a description of something in your experience that
fits you for the job, as in this example:

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Dear Ms. Marchand:

Your opening for a food supervisor has come to my

attention. In June of this year, I will graduate from State
University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Food
Science. I have spent the last two summers working in food
preparation for Memorial Hospital in Melbourne. I believe
that both my education and my work experience qualify me
to be a food supervisor on your staff.

Be specific about the job you want. Employers are not impressed with
vague statements such as, “I’m willing and able to work at any job you may
have open in research, production, or sales.” As the vice president of one firm
told us, “We have all the people we need who can do anything. We want
people who can do something.”

8.4.2 The Body

In the body of your letter speak to the employer’s interests, and at the
same time highlight your own accomplishments. Show how it would be to the
employer’s advantage to hire you.

• Highlight selected items from your education and experience that

show your qualifications for the job you seek. Remember always that
you’re trying to show the employer how well you will fit into the job and
the organization.

• In evaluating recent college graduates, employers look closely at the

major, academic performance, work experience, and
extracurricular activities. They also consider recommendations,
standardized test scores, and military experience, if any. If your
grades are good, mention them prominently. If you stand low in your
class — in the lowest quarter, perhaps — maintain a discreet silence.

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• The best experience relates to the job you seek, but mention any job
experience, even if it does not relate to the job you seek. Employers
feel a student who has worked is more apt to be mature than one who
has not.

• Don’t forget hobbies that relate to the job. You’re trying to establish
that you are interested in, as well as qualified for, the job.

• If you’re already working and not a student, do not complain about

your present employer. Such complaints will lead the prospective
employer to mistrust you.

8.4.3 The Ending

In the ending of your letter, refer the employer to your enclosed

résumé. Mention your willingness to supply additional information such as
references, letters concerning your work, research reports, and college
transcripts.

The goal of the letter of application is to get you an interview with the
prospective employer. In your ending, you request this interview. Simply
indicate that you are available for an interview at the employer’s convenience,
and give any special instructions needed for reaching you.

Remember that a word processor is a great convenience when you’re

doing application letters. It allows you to store basic paragraphs of your letter
that you can easily modify to meet the needs and interests of any
organization you are writing to. Such modification for each organization is
truly necessary. A personnel officer skims your letter and résumé in about
thirty seconds. If you have not grabbed her or his interest in that time, you are
probably finished with that organization.

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Read the following sample letter of application, and check the different
aspects of a letter of application explained above:

3109 Vista Street

Philadelphia, PA 19136

January 20, 2015

Mr. Stephen Spencer, Director of Personnel

Department 411
Boeing Naval Systems
103 Industrial Drive
Wilmington, DE 20093

Dear Mr. Spencer:

I am writing in response to your advertisement in the January 16

Philadelphia Inquirer. Would you please consider me for the position in Signal
Processing? I believe that my academic training in electrical engineering at
Drexel University, along with my experience with the RCA Advanced
Technology Laboratory, qualifies me for the position.

My education at Drexel has given me a strong background in computer

hardware and system design. I have concentrated on digital and computer
applications, developing and designing computer and signal processing
hardware in two graduate-level engineering courses. For my senior design
project, I am working with four other undergraduates in using OO programming
techniques to enhance the path-planning software for an infrared night-vision
robotics application.

While working at the RCA Advanced Technology Laboratory, I was able to

apply my computer experience to the field of DSP. I designed ultra-large scale
integrated circuits using VERILOG and VHDL hardware description languages.
In addition, I assisted a senior engineer in CMOS IC layout, modeling, parasitic
capacitance extraction, and PSPICE simulation operations.

The enclosed résumé provides an overview of my education and

experience. Could I meet with you at your convenience to discuss my
qualifications for this position? Please leave a message any time at (215)
555-3880 or email me at coppen@[Link].

Yours truly,

Carl Oppenheimer

Enclosure (1)

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8.5 Writing a Résumé

A résumé provides your prospective employer with a convenient

summary of your education and experience. As in the letter of application,
good grammar, correct spelling, neatness, and brevity are of major importance
in your résumé.

Because most companies use résumé-application software to scan

résumés into databases and search for keywords, a good résumé includes
the right keywords. The best way to be sure you have the appropriate
keywords in your résumé is to study the job description in the actual job
posting you want to respond to. Then find ten other ads for similar positions
and identify the terms that come up frequently. Think in terms of job titles,
names of products, companies, technologies, and professional organizations.

For instance, if the job is to develop web pages, you will

likely see many references to “web page,” “Internet,”
“XHTML,” “HTML5,” “Java,” “W3C,” and “CSS.” Also include
keywords that refer to your communication skills, such as
“public speaking,” “oral communication,” and
“communication skills.”

But don’t just list the keywords. Instead, integrate them into sentences about
your skills and accomplishments.

For instance, a computer-science student might write: “wrote

applications for migrating data between systems/ databases
using C#, XML, and Excel Macros.”

How long should a résumé be? It should be long enough to include all
pertinent information but not so long that it bores or irritates the reader.
Although some hiring consultants have guidelines (such as that a student’s
résumé should be no longer than one page, the consensus is that length is
unimportant. If an applicant has more experience, the résumé will be longer; if
an applicant has less experience, it will be shorter.

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The two most widely used résumés are chronological and skills
résumés. In both types of résumé, you use reverse chronology; that is, you
present the most recent jobs and degrees first, to emphasize them:

• In a chronological résumé, you use time as the organizing pattern

for each section, including education and experience, and discuss your
responsibilities for each job you have held.

A chronological résumé focuses on the record of employment, giving an

applicant the opportunity to describe the duties and accomplishments
related to each job.

• In a skills résumé (sometimes called a functional résumé), you merely

list your previous jobs but include a skills section in which you describe
your talents, skills, and achievements. The skills résumé highlights the
skills (such as supervising others, managing a large department,
reducing production costs) that the candidate demonstrated at several
different companies.

The skills résumé is a popular choice for applicants who have a gap in
their employment history, who are re-entering the workforce, or who
have changed jobs frequently.

In this course, you will be introduced to features of Chronological Résumé.

One advantage of a chronological résumé is that it is traditional and

acceptable. If your education and experience show a steady progression
toward the career you seek, the chronological résumé portrays that
progression well. Its major disadvantage is that your special capabilities or
accomplishments may sometimes get lost in the chronological detail. Also, if
you have holes in your employment or educational history, they show up
clearly. Remember to include at the bottom of the résumé, a dateline—the
month and year in which you completed the résumé.

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Most chronological résumés have six basic elements: identifying

information, summary of qualifications, education, employment history, and
interests and activities, and references. In filling in these basic sections,
remember that you want to include the keywords that will attract employers.

• Identifying Information
Put your full name and address at the top. Give your phone number, and
don’t forget the area code. Include your e-mail address.

• Summary Statement

A summary statement is a brief paragraph that highlights three or four

important skills or accomplishments. For example:

Summary

Six years’ experience creating testing documentation to qualify

production programs that run on Automated Test and Handling
Equipment. Four years’ experience running QA tests on software,
hardware, and semiconductor products. Bilingual English and
Italian. Secret security clearance.

• Education
- For most students, educational information should be placed before
work experience. People with extensive work experience, however, may
choose to put that first. List the colleges or universities you have
attended in reverse chronological order. Do not list your high school.

- Include your degree, major (and minor), Grade Point Average (GPA),
date or expected date of graduation, institution, and location of the
institution. Do not list courses, but list anything that is out of the
ordinary, such as honors, special projects, and emphases in addition to
the major. Extracurricular activities also go here.

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If you completed a special senior design or research project, present

the title and objective of the project, any special or advanced
techniques or equipment you used. A project description makes you
seem more like a professional: someone who designs and carries out
projects.

• Employment History

- Put your work experience in reverse chronological order.

- Present at least the basic information about each job you have held: the
dates of employment, the organization’s name and location, and your
position or title.

- Add carefully selected details. Readers want to know what you did and
accomplished. To save space and to avoid the repetition of I throughout
the résumé, use phrases rather than complete sentences.

- Emphasize the experiences that show you in the best light for the kinds
of job you seek.

- Use nouns and active verbs in your descriptions.

- Do not neglect less important jobs of the sort you may have had in high
school, but use even more of a summary approach for them.

- You would probably put college internships and work–study programs

here, though you might choose to put them under education.

- If you have military experience, put it here. Give the highest rank you
held, list service schools you attended, and describe your duties. Make
a special effort to show how your military experience relates to the
civilian work you seek.

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 Chapter 8: Writing Job Application Materials

• Interests and Activities

- Recent travels indicate a broadening of knowledge and probably a
willingness to travel.

- Hobbies listed may relate to the work sought.

- Participation in sports, drama, or community activities indicates a liking

for working with people.

- Cultural activities indicate you are not a person of narrow interests.

• References
- Potential employers will want to learn more about you from your
professors and previous employers. These people who are willing to
speak or write on your behalf are called References.

- You have a choice with references. You can list several references with
addresses and phone numbers or simply put in a line that says
“References available upon request.”

Both methods have an advantage and a disadvantage. If you provide

references, a potential employer can contact them immediately, but you
use up precious space that might be better used for more information
about yourself. Conversely, if you don’t provide the reference
information, you save the space but put an additional step between
potential employers and information they may want.

It is generally favored to save space by omitting the reference

information. Your first goal is to interest the potential employer in you. If
that happens, then it will not be difficult to provide the reference
information at a later time.

- Have at least three references available. Choose from among your

college teachers and past employers, people who know you well and
are likely to say positive things about you. Get their permission, of
course. Also, it’s a smart idea to send them a copy of your résumé.

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• Other Elements

The sections discussed so far appear on almost everyone’s résumé. Other

sections are either optional or appropriate for only some job seekers.

- Computer skills. Classify your skills in categories such as hardware,

software, languages, and operating systems. List any professional
certifications you have earned.

- Military experience. Describe your military service as if it were a job,

citing dates, locations, positions, ranks, and tasks. List positive job-
performance evaluations.

- Language ability. A working knowledge of another language can be

very valuable. List your proficiency, using terms such as beginner,
intermediate, and advanced. Some applicants distinguish among
reading, writing, and speaking abilities. Don’t overstate your abilities.

Use word-processing templates to produce effective résumés.

There are also several online services that can help design
attractive documents. Search the World Wide Web for “building
my résumé”.

The following are excerpts from a sample of chronological résumés;

however, there are numerous designs available online and endless designs
you can develop by yourself:

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 Chapter 8: Writing Job Application Materials

Technical Tips for Laboratory Sessions

• How to generate your résumé using MS Word templates:
 TECH TIP

If you need help creating a résumé or cover letter, start with one of the dozens of
professionally-designed résumé and cover letter templates that are available in Word.

Open a New document, choose Résumé and Cover Letters category; you have several
templates to choose from. Replace the placeholder text with your own information.

• Online résumé builders

•  TECH TIP

• Check these résumé builders

[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]

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 Chapter 8: Writing Job Application Materials

Chapter 8: Exercises

I) Choose the correct answer:

1. One of the following is not a recommended when writing a letter of application:

a) using standard typeface b) correcting grammatical errors
c) using italics d) editing mechanical errors

2. When writing a résumé, one should not ………

a) use phrases b) list high school
c) use action verbs d) mention special project work

3. The "you attitude" focuses the content of a document on …………

a) The reader b) The writer
c) Neither c) Both

4. In the letter of application, you request an interview in ……

a) the beginning b) the body
c) the ending d) none of the above

5. What important stylistic device should you use in both your application letter and
résumé?
a) elegant variation b) action verbs
c) noun strings d) me attitude

6. When describing your accomplishments in a letter of applications, it is

recommended that you use verbs such as “develop”, “administer”, “analyze”,
“conduct”, “design”, and “support”. These are called …… verbs:
a) passive b) state
c) pompous d) action

7. In the letter of application, you mention your major, academic performance, work
experience, and extracurricular activities in ……….
a) the beginning b) the body
c) the ending d) any where is suitable

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 Chapter 8: Writing Job Application Materials

8. While writing the letter of application, one way to arouse interest about yourself in
the potential employer is:
a) to refer to something about the company that interests you
b) to brag about your academic achievements
c) to complain about your present employer
d) to inquire about the salary and pension plans, vacations, and coffee breaks

9. A chronological a résumé is one that shows:

a) steady progression in education and experience in a reverse time order
b) academic, work, and extracurricular activities categorized by capabilities
c) steady progression in education and experience in time order
d) selected categories and experiences as relevant to the potential employer

II) State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”:

1. [……………] Name dropping is a good way to begin a letter of application.

2. [……………] A chronological résumé is not of advantage if you have holes in

your employment or educational history.

3. [……………] A statement such as "I'm willing and able to work at any job you
may have open in research, production, or sales," will typically
impress any audience.

4. [……………] Good grammar, correct spelling, neatness and brevity are of a

major importance in a résumé.

5. [……………] In a letter of application, dropping a name of a specialist known to

you and to your prospective employer has a negative effect on your
possibility to get accepted for an interview.

6. [……………] Preparing job-application materials requires weeks and months, not

days, and there is no way to cut corners.

7. [……………] The letter of application is not the place to be worried about the
salary and pension plans.

8. [……………] To impress your prospective employer while reading your letter of

application, you may relate to the company’s mission and your
readiness to achieve the company’s goals.

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 Chapter 8: Writing Job Application Materials

9. [……………] You should list your high school in the education part of your
résumé.

10. [……………] You should mention work experience even if it has nothing to do
with your future field.

III) Complete the following statements:

1. ……………………….… a brief oral summary of your credentials at less than 20

seconds long; it’s brief enough that you can say it if you find yourself in an elevator
with a potential employer.

2. ……………………….… is the major social-media site used by employers to find

employees.

3. ……………………….… is a collection of your best work, including your résumé,

letters of recommendation, transcripts and other types of documents you have
written or created as a student or an employee.

IV) Answer the following questions:

1. Define the term “professional brand”; mention some guidelines for developing
an effective one.

2. A good letter of application to a prospective employer will not guarantee that you
get the job, but a bad one will probably guarantee that you do not. What are
some of the guidelines you learned that you think will improve the quality of
your letter of application?

3. A letter of application is the very first encounter between you and the employer.
What is the structure of the letter of application?

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4. When applying for a job you submit a résumé that presents a summary of your
education and professional experience. Give guidelines for preparing a
chronological résumé.

Extra-Credit Question:

The immediate goal of the letter of application and résumé

writing is an interview with a potential employer. The better
prepared you are, the easier it will go.

Write an article on how to prepare well for a job interview.

Include the following:

- guidelines on how to respond to common interview

questions

- errors to avoid during the interview

- follow-up steps to take after the interview

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Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Modern University for Technology & Information

Faculty of Computers & Artificial Intelligence
Spring 2026

Technical Report Writing

Summative Coursework

Submitted by:

Full Name: …………….…………………………………………………………………………..………………………..…….……

Student’s IDN: ………..…………………………………………….…………………………………………………………..…

MTI E-mail Address:………………………………………………..…………………………………………..……….……

Scanned copy of Student’s MTI ID

Card

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

I. Course Glossary

Giving a brief definition for each of the following terms, develop an

alphabetically-arranged glossary for the course:

chronological résumé active space diagrams

videoconferencing infographics illustrations
maintenance roles plagiarism wikis
microblogging newsgroups persona
organizational chart chartjunk blogs
sans-serif fonts task roles serif fonts
meta-search engine bibliography you-attitude
periodical index elevator note passive space
professional brand queuing filtering
shared document workspace encyclopedia chunking

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

II. Spring 2023 Final Exam

Question 1: Answer only two of the following questions. [10 points]

1. In communicating technical information, a writer often collaborates

with team members to complete a writing task.

a. Mention three advantages and three disadvantages of collaboration.

b. Give advice to team members on how to overcome conflicts during
collaborative revision?

2. Getting hired involves creating and writing a professional brand;

obviously, the process of preparing online job-application materials
requires weeks and months, not days.

a. How do you establish a strong online presence?

b. Mention three reasons why employers reject applicants based on
online presence.

3. Consistency is a necessary characteristic of polished and highly

readable technical writing.

a. Mention three examples of establishing consistency in a technical

document.
b. How can software applications help technical writers establish
consistency?

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 2: Choose the correct answer. [10 points]

1. …..… is the process of examining texts carefully to find and correct
typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
a) Revising
b) Proofreading
c) Editing
2. …..… is a pitch no longer than a short ride of 30 seconds, through which you
present unique features of yourself, your organization, product or idea.
a) Elevator’s note
b) Research pitch
c) Job portfolio
3. ……. are examples of the internal technical documents used at the workplace.
a) Letters
b) Proposal reports
c) Memorandums
4. Technical writing is essentially ……….. that involves a recognition and
accurate definition of the communication problem involved.
a) a sophisticated rhetoric
b) a type of academic writing
c) a problem-solving process
5. The most suitable approach in the collaborative drafting of lengthy documents
is …….
a) dividing the work
b) one person doing the drafting
c) drafting in collaboration
6. Willingness to learn, displaying emotional intelligence, and prioritizing tasks
are …….. shared by successful workplace communicators.
a) scholastic habits
b) professional attitudes
c) research skills

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

7. Tracing the pattern of change of IBM’s revenues during 20-year period is best
illustrated by using ….
a) a bar graph
b) a circle graph
c) a line graph
8. In the discovery stage of writing technical documents, you may embrace one of
the following discovery techniques …….
a) audience analysis
b) arrangement patterns
c) page layout
9. ……. measure the draft against a checklist of rubrics.
a) Reader-based comments
b) Markup-based comments
c) Criterion-based comments
10. Comparing the sales of three Egypt-based Mercedes-Bens branches in the past
five years is best illustrated by using a …….
a) column graph
b) circle
c) bar graph
11. ……. is a criterion for evaluating the credibility of the websites as information
sources.
a) Credentials of the operator
b) The number of visitors
c) Security and access control
12. ……. is a common technique used for highlighting information in a document.
a) Headings
b) Underlining
c) All-capital text
13. In ……. , all messages are filtered or edited by an administrator before being
published on the bulletin board.
a) unmoderated newsgroups
b) moderated newsgroups
c) unmoderated wikis

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

14. One of the following is not a group maintenance role: …….

a) harmonizer
b) gatekeeper
c) initiator
15. ……. are part of a document’s active space.
a) Margins
b) Binding dimensions
c) Bulleted lists
16. ……. are used when directly quoting a source. They are located in the body of
the work and contain a fragment of the full citation.
a) Annotated bibliographies
b) In-text citations
c) References
17. An effective circle graph should fulfill one of the following criteria: ……
a) descending arrangement
b) cross-hatching segments
c) chronological order
18. An applicant may refer to scores of standardized test in ……. section of a letter
of application.
a) the beginning
b) the middle
c) the conclusion
19. ………. is a research service that surfs the Internet looking for sites with
keywords relevant to your subject, listing the sites it discovers usually
according to relevance to your subject.
a) Literature Review
b) Electronic library catalog
c) Search engine
20. ……….. are considered the road map to your document; they are essential to break
the text into manageable pieces, and eventually become the table of contents.
a) Section breaks
b) Headers an footers
c) Headings

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 3: State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”.

[10 points]

1. Periodicals are reliable source of information that offer recent, authoritative

discussions of specific subjects by listing articles classified according to title,
subject, and author.

2. The shape and spacing of the letters also affect how much room the font takes up
on a page or screen and how readable it is.

3. Special fonts work well in tables, figure captions, legends, headers, and footers.

4. High School score may be included in a résumé, particularly for fresh university
graduates.

5. Gatekeepers are group members who voluntarily withdraw their ideas or solutions
in order to maintain group harmony.

6. Citation is an indicator of the quality of your research and the strength of your
findings.

7. The sentence “I believe that my past training in the field of machine learning will
support the company to achieve its goals to develop intelligent solutions for the
Egyptian market.” uses the “I-attitude”.

8. A chronological résumé is not of advantage if you have holes in your professional

history.

9. During brainstorming session, a technical writer should focus on evaluating and

arranging ideas.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

10. Bar graph can best compare/contrast the number of students who passed five
different courses in Spring 2023.

11. Effective technical documents essentially address particular readers, reflect the
organization’s goals and culture, and use design to increase readability.

12. Elements of a graph that do not add value to the data being presented, but rather
distract or confuse the viewers, are considered chartjunk.

13. Numbers and titles of figures and tables should be placed below the illustration.

14. The “Layout” tab on MS Word allows you to apply different style sheets such as
APA, MLA, etc.

15. Three-dimensional bar graphs are highly recommended because they add depth to
the page.

16. In your résumé, you should use phrases, not full sentences, in describing your
credentials.

17. To design effective pages in Arabic, it is recommended to use a ragged right

margin.

18. Wikis, blogs and Vlogs are subjective sources of information.

19. Headings at the same level should be parallel; this means that they must follow the
same alignment parameter.

20. Color may swallow up text. Text printed against a white background usually looks
bigger than the same-size text printed against a colored background.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 4: Complete the following statements. [10 points]

• A ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. is a statement that summarizes what

unique professional strengths and skills you have, how you differ from your
competition, and why you should be hired.

• ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. are illustrations that use both visual

elements and text to highlight key information and ideas to make data easily
understandable at a glance.

• ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. , also known as the theft of intellectual

property, refers to incorporating some other person’s ideas and information into
your work without full acknowledgement.

• ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. are words in a résumé and letter of

application that highlight skills, experience and accomplishments, clarify
contributions, and result in a confident tone.

• Two common typeface categories are used for designing documents and web
pages: ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. which are recognized by the tiny
lines that extend off of the letters, and ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….
which do not feature these extenders.

• Generally, the purpose of a technical document is to either to inform, to

….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. or ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….

• Twitter is one the most popular ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. that allows

participants to send very brief textual messages to their personal network,
whereas Second Life is a ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. that allows
people to create avatars for themselves and interact with other users.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 5: Match the term in the box with its definition below. [10 points]

Bibliography Chunking Diagram Filtering

Coordinator Encyclopedia Editing Elaborator
Queuing Works cited Synchronous discussions
Newsgroups Portfolio Shared document workspace

1. A library source of introductory information on a topic that helps researchers

broaden or narrow the topic, providing keywords and terms needed to conduct
further research.

2. A collection of documents to present to a potential employer; it provides a

relevant overview of qualifications and experience that qualify an applicant for
a position.

3. Online drive through which team members can archive, search, and access their
files from any device, anywhere.

4. Online meetings in which participants meet in the same discussion environment

interacting in real-time.

5. A stage in the writing process in which a writer reviews a draft for errors in
content and presentation, attempting to make words and sentences clearer and
more precise.

6. Member of a group who is responsible for assigning tasks, motivating members,

solving conflicts and reporting to the appropriate personnel.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

7. A type of illustration that shows arrangement and relations among parts, for
example a simple plan drawn to represent a room or a building.

8. A detailed list of all the sources a writer uses in preparing a research paper. It
includes works consulted but not necessarily cited in the paper.

9. A layout technique in document design that a writer uses to create visual

distinctions with the aim of indicating levels of importance, for example
through alignment.

10. Internet-based discussion group, similar to a bulletin board system,

where participants post messages concerning whatever topic around which the
group is organized.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

III. Spring 2024 Final Exam

Question 1: State whether the following statements are “True” or “False”.

[10 points]

1. If all information come from a single source, readers may consider the
research to be biased.

2. When designing a column graph, a technical writer should equally space

the intervals on the axis to avoid distorting the heights of columns.

3. The key to successful brainstorming is evaluating and arranging material.

4. To emphasize or reinforce the meaning of data, a technical writer should

use a table to spotlight the implications of these data.

5. Illustrations increase the size of a document and add to the cost of

production and distribution.

6. A sentence in all capitals slows down reading because readers are

accustomed to use the shapes of letters to help them read, and the shapes
disappear with all capitals.

7. To save space and to avoid the repetition of the pronoun I throughout the
résumé, applicants are advised to use phrases rather than complete
sentences.

8. When designing effective pages in English, a ragged-right margin ensures

readability since it eliminates needless gaps between words.

9. If your university uses a format for the graduation project report that you
think is unclear, you may simply change it to fit your needs.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

10. The “Layout” tab on MS Word offers an efficient tool to insert footnotes
and a table of contents.

11. Grammatical correctness is an important feature that determines the quality

of technical writing.

12. In a virtual world, participants create avatars, visit different locations, and
attend job interviews.

13. Twitter is a shared document workspace that archives all the revisions made
by each of the team members, so that the team can create a single document
that incorporates selected revisions.

14. Roman numerals are best suited to number the pages of appendixes.

15. A spelling checker is a perfect tool to edit documents.

16. In long documents, the first few levels of headings become the table of
contents.

17. In a résumé, college internships may be listed in either “Education” or

“Employment” sections.

18. The growth of social media services has greatly expanded the scope of
workplace collaboration.

19. Vlogs and newsgroups are objective sources of trustworthy information.

20. One of the purposes of technical writing is to change attitudes and urge
readers to take action.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 2: Match the term in the box with its definition below. [10 points]

Plagiarism Chunking Professional brand Wiki

Portfolio Microblog Discovery Sans serif font
Pie chart Flowchart Persona Editing
Queuing Elevator’s pitch Serif font Filtering

1. A document design principle that involves creating visual distinctions to

indicate levels of importance, i.e. alignment
2. The last stage of the writing process that involves a careful checking for
errors in a text before it is published or shared
3. A type of figure that shows the sequence of steps in a process or a
procedure
4. Web-based document that authorized users can write and edit
collaboratively
5. A document design principle that involves grouping relevant information
in small units, i.e. double space between paragraphs
6. A written statement that summarizes what unique professional strengths
and skills an applicant has, how s/he differs from competitors, and why
s/he should be hired
7. The theft of intellectual property that involves copying another person’s
ideas and information in a document without full acknowledgement
8. A type of figure that displays the number and relative size of the
divisions of a subject
9. A typeface which has extenders on the letters and works well for the
body text of a document
10. A 30-second-long brief note during which you demonstrate your
professional aptitude, strengths and skills and make a connection with
someone

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 3: Complete the following statements. [10 points]

• Bulleted lists are considered part of the.…..….….….….….….….….….…. space in a page,

whereas margins are part of the .….….….…..….….….….….….….….…. space in a page.

• The proofreading stage of the composing process includes correcting errors

in punctuation, ….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. , and ….….….….….….….….….….….….….

• A ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….… is a figure used to identify the parts of a

subject and their spatial relationship, whereas a ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…
is used to display selected features of an object.

• .….….….….….….….….….….….….…. is the major social-media site used by employers to

find employees..….….….….….….….….….….….….…. is a type of résumé scanning
software used by recruiters to collect, sort, scan, and rank the job
applications they receive for their open positions.

• The process of creating infographics is also referred to as

….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….… which translates complex, high-volume, or
numerical data into a visual representation that is easier to process.

• ….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. means that a technical document

follows the same formatting, style, and tone throughout. It creates a
recognizable pattern and a brand identity that users will remember and
associate with the document.

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 4: Choose the correct answer. [10 points]

1. …………. are used when directly quoting or paraphrasing a source. They are
located in the body of the work and contain a fragment of the full citation.
a) Literature reviews
b) In-text citations
c) Works cited

2. The statement “I believe that my past experience in the field of digital

marketing will support the company’s mission to promote its products in the
Middle East.” uses ……..
a) a you-attitude
b) an I-attitude
c) a conversational style

3. The sentence “Proposal reports have a standard arrangement pattern.” is

written using ...........
a) a serif font
b) a sans serif font
c) a special font

4. Tracing the change of a company’s income during 15-year period is best

illustrated by using ………
a) a bar graph
b) a line graph
c) a circle graph

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

5. Comparing the population of Tanta, Mansoura and Alexandria according to

2024 census is best illustrated by using ………
a) a bar graph
b) a line graph
c) a column graph

6. When describing your accomplishments in a letter of application or a résumé

, it is recommended that you use ……….. verbs such as “analyze”,
“manage”, “develop”, and “design”.
a) transitive
b) cliché
c) action

7. Which of the following elements is not always an element of technical writing?

a) Audience analysis
b) Complex vocabulary
c) Consistent format

8. A statement about …………. should not be discussed in a letter of application.

a) an applicant’s credentials
b) the current payroll
c) the company’s mission

9. ............ comments are the ones that measure the draft against pre-set rubrics.
a) Reader-based
b) Team-based
c) Criterion-based

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

10. When writing headings, ……………. means that headings on the same
level must be crafted in consistent grammatical structure.
a) professionalism
b) alignment
c) parallelism

11. Arrangement of segments in a circle graph should fulfill one of the following
criteria:……
a) descending order
b) cross-hatching
c) chronological order

12. Situational analysis involves consideration of …….

a) arrangement patterns
b) purpose and persona
c) documenting information

13. ……. may be included in a résumé, particularly for fresh graduates.

a) High school score
b) A list of all academic courses
c) Extracurricular activities

14. ……. are examples of the external technical documents used at the workplace.
a) Letters
b) Technical notes
c) Feasibility reports

15. ……. can be used as a technique for highlighting information in a document.

a) Headings
b) Italics
c) Special fonts

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

16. ………….. is a collection of your best work, including your résumé, letters
of recommendation, and transcripts.
a) A portfolio
b) A QR code
c) A business card

17. The most suitable approach to use for drafting a lengthy document
collaboratively is …….
a) hiring a writer
b) dividing the work
c) drafting in collaboration

18. One of the following is not a maintenance role: ………

a) gatekeeper
b) encourager
c) elaborator

19. Among the characteristics of a good technical writer is to be …….

a) opinionated and definite
b) subjective and simple
c) direct and concise

20. …… are reliable source of information that offer recent, authoritative

discussions of specific subjects by listing articles classified according to title,
subject, and author.
a) Wikis
b) Newsgroups
c) Periodicals

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 Spring 2026 Technical Report Writing Summative Coursework

Question 5: Answer only two of the following questions. [10 points]

1. A good technical document should be designed to be read selectively.

a. Mention at least three ways to achieve this criterion.

b. What features do software applications offer so that technical

writers can effectively establish this criterion?

2. Planning is especially important for a group writing a document

collaboratively.

a. Mention four steps a group should go through to conduct the

planning stage effectively.

b. In what way does good planning ensure a smooth collaborative

revision?

3. The ability to conduct research will make you a more productive and
valuable member of your organization.

a. What are the four stages of conducting research?

b. Explain the difference between bibliography and annotated

bibliography.

CW - T