Reporting Results
A Practical Guide for Engineers and Scientists

This guide is ideal for science and engineering students and professionals to help them communicate technical information clearly, accurately, and effectively.

David C. van Aken (Author), William F. Hosford (Author)

9780521723480, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 5 May 2008

166 pages, 54 b/w illus. 18 tables
21.6 x 14 x 1.3 cm, 0.28 kg

"This guidebook would be especially useful to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as working professionals. It provides a sound basis for learning good technical communication skills and can help the reader avoid many common errors seen even in professional technical writing." IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine

This brief guide is ideal for science and engineering students and professionals to help them communicate technical information clearly, accurately, and effectively. The focus is on the most common communication forms, including laboratory reports, research articles, and oral presentations, and on common issues that arise in classroom and professional practice. This book will be especially useful to students in a first chemistry or physics laboratory course. Advanced courses will often use the same formatting as required for submission to technical journals or for technical report writing, which is the focus of this book. Good communication habits are appropriate in all forms of technical communication. This book will help the reader develop effective communication skills. It is also ideal as a reference on stylistic and grammar issues throughout a technical career. Unlike most texts, which concentrate on writing style, this book also treats oral presentations, graphing, and analysis of data.

1. Elements of technical writing
2. Technical papers
3. Technical letters
4. Oral presentations
5. Presentation of technical data
6. Statistical analysis of experimental data
7. Resume writing
Appendix I. Common errors in writing
Appendix II. Punctuation
Appendix III. Commonly confused words
Appendix IV. International system of prefixes and units
Appendix V. The Greek alphabet and typical uses
Appendix VI. Straight line plots for some mathematical functions.

Subject Areas: Mechanical engineering & materials [TG], Technology, engineering, agriculture [T], Science: general issues [PD]