Writing Technical Reports - Quiz

Quiz Question

1.

The three rules given in this course for writing are:

  1. Imagine your audience.
  2. Be thorough and brief.
  3. Organize for readability.
True
False
2. In your report describe in one or two sentences the purpose of the laboratory exercise: the "why." Be specific. Possible objectives are "to evaluate," "to verify," "to measure," "to compare," etc. Avoid non-engineering objectives, such as "to teach us" or "to show the student." In general, you will write a technical report where experimental results are compared to theory. The Objective section is written in the present tense.
True
False
3. Note that "raw" data does not belong in the Experiment section – it belongs in the Appendix!
True
False
4. In your report present the results in words, tables, and figures. Include a comparison of actual results to theory, if appropriate, and an analysis of sources of error in your experimental technique.
True
False
5. Write the Conclusions section in the present tense.
True
False
6. All portions of the appendix should be specifically mentioned somewhere in the main part of the lab report.
True
False
7. Use the 12 point Times or Times New Roman fonts for your text, figure captions, and table headings. Use a 12 point Arial or Calibri font for text in figures.
True
False
8. Spell out contractions (cannot, is not, could not, etc.).
True
False
9. It is okay to use non-technical language such as "thing" and "stuff" as they relate no information.
True
False
10. Avoid referring to measurements by their units ("The psi in the cylinder was 34."). Instead, use the dimension to refer to the measurement ("The pressure in the cylinder was 34 psi.").
True
False
11. Number and label each table and figure in order, e.g. Table 1, Table 2, etc., not Table 1.1, Table 1-2, etc. Tables are numbered independently of figures and not consecutively as one group.
True
False