Guidelines for Waves Technical Paper
Summary Guide for the Preparation of a Technical Report

Many of you will work in a technical field (e.g. physics, engineering, computer science, etc.) when you leave Grinnell, and you will likely need to read and write technical reports as part of your job. The goal of this assignment is to teach you how to communicate technical information effectively in a written document. A technical report is a summary prepared when work on a project is completed or abandoned. The purpose of the technical report is to disseminate information about your project to others, such as interested colleagues, your supervisor, and others who may need the information as background for further work.

The most important issue in writing a technical report is deciding what material to include in the report and what to omit. In making that decision, you must take into account what the reader already knows and how much detail you need to provide. For the purposes of this assignment, you should assume that the reader is a competent physicist (like one of your classmates) who knows undergraduate-level physics, is capable of filling in the details of a theoretical derivation or performing the calculations needed to check your results, and is familiar with general laboratory techniques and the usual laboratory equipment. Consequently, you can discuss the theory behind your experiment citing an equation from a class text without explaining how that equation was originally derived (but if the equation were more esoteric you would need to both cite and explain it). You can say that you calculated the Fourier transform of the data without needing to explain what you mean by a Fourier transform (but if you performed a Hartlee transform on your data, you would need to define it for the reader). Similarly, you can draw a diagram of your experiment and explain how the experiment is performed without needing to discuss the inner workings of oscilloscopes, power supplies, mirrors, etc. (but if you used a fluxgate magnetometer, you would need to explain how it works).

The first thing to realize is that the technical report is not just a neatly typed copy of the material in your lab notebook. It should represent an analysis and interpretation of your experimental results beyond that which you were able to make at the time you performed the experiment. Detailed calculations and extensive derivations of theory are seldom appropriate for a technical report. Often, discussions of the theory can often be reduced to one or two paragraphs with only the key equations included. You do not generally need to include all the measurements you made; for instance, you might well write, "The average value of seventeen readings was 104.3 ± 0.4 fringes," rather than list the results of all seventeen measurements. In most cases, the reader is primarily interested in your findings and the conclusions you drew from your experiment-that should be the emphasis of your paper. In grading these technical reports, I will give careful consideration to your selection of material. I like papers that have a point to make and are well-organized to support that point. Conversely, I dislike papers that are unfocused.

Bad spelling and grammar convey a sense of incompetence, which you should avoid. Please spell-check your paper. If you are not confident of your grammar, please have your paper checked by a friend who writes well or the writing lab.

Summary Guide for the Preparation of a Technical Report

Cover page:

1. Title: Make it descriptive, not cutesy.

2. Author

3. Abstract: A brief statement summarizing the principal facts and conclusions of the paper. Usually does not exceed 100 words. A good abstract will say (1) what you did, (2) how you did it, (3) what your (ideally numeric) result was, with uncertainty, and (4) how it compared with a specific theoretical result (or literature value).

Body of Paper: Maximum 5 double-spaced pages with 1" margins (excluding figs. & refs.)

4. Introductory Paragraph:
(a) Inform the reader what the paper is about.
(b) Explain the emphasis of the paper and its purpose.

5. Main Body of Paper:
(a) Theory: A brief sketch of the theory related to the problem. Refer the reader to other sources with more detail (e.g. textbooks, papers, etc.) Include a few equations where appropriate, each one numbered and placed on its own line. Refer to these equations by number. Feel free to lift relevant equations from other sources, (textbooks, papers) with appropriate citation in the reference section.
(b) Experimental Arrangement: Include enough detail that your setup is clear. A sketch will probably be helpful.
(c) Presentation of Data: Here you discuss your results. Present your data in tabular or graphical form, as appropriate. If you use tables, include them in this section of the paper; if you use graphs, put them after the reference section. Include uncertainty estimates with data and explain where the uncertainty comes from (but don't include detailed calculations). Discuss and interpret your data.
(d) Concluding Statement: Summarize the principal information of the paper, drawing specific conclusions from your results. Make recommendations for future work if needed. Come to a graceful termination; do not just end abruptly.

6. References: A numbered list of endnotes. For textbooks and journal articles, include page numbers. Example formats follow.
1. C.E. Cunningham and M.A. Cochran, "How to overexpose a hologram," Journal of Irreproducible Results 24, 490 (1994).
2. A. Hirose and K. Lonngren: Introduction to Wave Phenomena (Krieger, Malabar, FL, 1991), p. 248.

7. Figures: Put each figure on its own page. Include a numbered caption at the bottom. Example follows.

Fig. 1: Photocopy of overexposed hologram plate. The plate is sufficiently opaque that one cannot see the sun through it at noon on a clear day.

8. Make sure that all symbols used in your paper are clearly identified at least once. You must attribute any equations, results, or scientific ideas you draw from another source by citing them in endnote style on your references page. The paper is due May 17 (the last day of finals).