Online Technical Writing:
Planning Reports�Brainstorming

Overview of Technical Reports

• Informational Reports
• Feasibility Reports
• Instructions

Finding a Subject for the Technical Report

• Major, Future Courses, and Textbooks
• Instructors' Ideas and Topic Lists
• Magazines, Journals, and Periodical Indexes
• Career Plans, Interviews, and Current Work
• Ideas for Local Improvements
• Problems

Exercises

Model: Example Report Topic Proposal (memo)

This chapter shows you some techniques for the early stages of your report-writing project. Specifically, you can use this chapter:

• To find a subject to write a report on
• To "brainstorm" on that subject

While Chapters 12, 13, and 14 describe the different kinds of reports in detail, all you need right now to choose a topic for your report is a quick overview. Terminology for the different kinds of reports varies, but reports can be divided into those that inform, recommend, and instruct.

Informational reports. A great variety of informational reports simply present information in an objective, organized way. People often need informative reports that gather and present information on a subject in one neat package. These people don't have time to do an exhaustive library search nor time to read stacks of books and articles looking for their information. Instead, they find individuals or groups to do the information gathering and report writing for them. Here are some examples of the kinds of information these people might need:

   New methods in helping diabetics
   The laser in eye surgery
   Survey of recycling programs in major U.S. cities
   Technologies used in wind-powered electrical generators
   Chemical and non-chemical methods of insect control

Feasibility reports. Recommendations, or feasibility reports as they are called here, go one step further than informational reports. They not only provide information but argue for certain courses of action (to build or not to build, to purchase or not to purchase).

Feasibility reports present information to prove whether a project can be done and whether it is worth doing. For example, a company may benefit from a new technology: but no one is sure whether the expense, the downtime, and the pay-off will be worth it. A community may be considering a plan to build some new facility or to start some new program: but people disagree about its value or potential benefit to the community. Again, a feasibility report tries to answer these questions. Here are some more specific examples:

   The acceptability of bikelanes in the city
   The profitability of recycling municipal waste
   Whether a salt water conversion facility would solve the
   county's fresh water problems
   Whether solar energy devices will save money if installed in
   city-owned housing

Instructions. Another common use of technical writing is instructions: explanations of how to operate or repair machinery, how to perform certain actions, or what to do in certain situations. Informational-report-type information is also supplied in instructional writing: descriptions of the devices being used or explanations of principles and theory related to the activity being explained. Here are some examples of instructional topics:

   How to write a metric conversion program in Pascal
   How to read architectural drawings
   How to develop your own photographs
   How to graft a fruit tree
   How to take blood pressure
   How to overhaul a carburetor

Step 1. On your worksheet, briefly explain which type of report you are going to write. If it's not quite like any of the types described above, explain.

To find a good report topic, let your mind wander; do some casual, relaxed browsing around. Scribble down the ideas that come to you. If you have several ideas, keep them all in mind through the early stages of your report work until one proves to be more interesting or manageable.

Step 2. On your worksheet, write the information requested in the following sections.

Major, future courses, and textbooks. An obvious place to start your search is your major. On your worksheet, jot down a description of your major; include any information on special areas of interest or curiosity and on reasons you are majoring in the field. Also, list descriptions of majors or fields that you almost went into or have some interest in. When you've done this, think about what you've written down for a moment: what report topics does the list suggest? On your worksheet, write any topic that comes to mind during this process.

   Nursing             Business         Computer science
   Data processing     Technical com-   Accounting
   Biology              munications     Physical education
   Real estate         Financial        Elementary educa-
   Criminology          planning         tion

Take a look at your degree plan or your course catalog: what specialized courses will you be taking? Write brief descriptions of these on your worksheet, particularly ones you are looking forward to. Think about these descriptions, and scribble down any topics that come to mind. Courses or fields like these suggest a variety of technical report topics:

   Management of small business   Computer graphics
   Technological innovation:      Economics of health care
   bioethical issues            Issues in nutrition and
   Pascal programming               health
   Business law                   Urban transportation problems
   Development of the young       Introduction to word proces-
   child                          sing
   Criminology                    Interior design
   Introduction to artificial     COBOL for business applica-
   intelligence                   tions
   The money market               Nonverbal communication

Investigate textbooks in your major, in particular, textbooks in advanced or specialized courses such as those you listed above in the section on future courses. Glance at the tables of contents of these books and at the headings (titles and subtitles within the chapters). As this process begins to suggest ideas for report topics, scribble them out on your worksheet.

Instructors' ideas and topic lists. Instructors in your major or related fields are also good prospects for helping you find report topics. Drop by their offices for a chat; see what ideas they have. If they make interesting suggestions, jot them down (and remember that these instructors can also serve as helpful guides in your future work on the report). Librarians are also good prospects. Ask your librarian (or your technical writing instructor) for a list of report subjects. Scan lists like the one below for interesting subjects. As you glance at this list, jot down the topics that interest you.

Pain relief without drugs Types of investments Rotary drilling Offshore oil ports Handling your own divorce Hurricanes Flat-rate taxation Microprocessors Multiphase telemetry Artificial heart Continental drift Windpower Nuclear fusion B-vitamin complex Well-logging Computer crime Treating sickle cell Waferboard Growing strawberries, grapes, etc. Adopting a child CPR procedure Taking blood pressure Electric cars Dream analysis Soil analysis Secondary oil recovery CAT scanners Hypoglycemia Solar Panels Greenhouses The Viking spacecraft The planet Venus IQ The Moon landing Mount St. Helens Drip irrigation Drafting techniques Desalination plants IV machines Effects of caffeine Synthetic fuels Hemodialysis Fetal alcohol syndrome Industrial waste disposal Bridge design Automotive uses of plastics Computer chips Space Shuttle Computer sound synthesis Obstructive lung disease Oil shale Reconstructive surgery Implants Holograms Missile guidance systems Archeological technology Dietary fiber Computer graphics Ultrasound Cryogenics Genetic engineering Scuba diving equipment Euthanasia Hydraulic fracturing Wood-burning stoves Diodes Artificial intelligence Geriatric nursing Lasers Pyramid power Thermal power UFOs Beekeeping Drill bit design Aphasia Restaurant management Turbomachines The brain Hyperkinetic behavior Cancer Hormones Psychosomatic disorders Food additives Pesticides Chemotherapy Interferon Biorhythms Animal migration Pheromones COBOL Pascal ENIAC Cable TV Integrated circuits Recycling Cocombustion Jogging Word processors Rain forests Sahara Desert Atomic bomb Nuclear war Three Mile Island Plate tectonics Earthquakes Tornadoes Fire alarms Ozone Motorcycle maintenance Burglar alarms Cameras Photographic techniques Microwave oven Video equipment

Figure 1. Sample list of report subject possibilities

Magazines, journals, and periodical indexes. Another good strategy (and an enjoyable pastime as well) for finding report topics is to do some selective browsing through magazines and journals. Check the tables of contents, and skim the titles for interesting articles in both recent and back issues. Look into magazines and journals of fields that you are curious about but may have shied away from because of their technicality. As you browse, jot down brief descriptions of possible report topics.

A good way to look at a lot of magazine article titles at once is to do some selective browsing through periodical indexes. (See the section on finding periodical indexes.)

Career plans, interviews, and current work. An interesting strategy is to sit back and imagine what you'll be doing in five to ten years. Visualize the work you'll be doing or would like to be doing, and in particular, the situations that might require you to write reports. As you muse upon your future, jot down the technical subject areas you think you'll be involved in. For example:

   drafting            nursing             programming
   electronics         agriculture         forestry
   wildlife preserva-  city planning       college administration                
   tion                medical technology   

Similarly, talk to business and professional people whom you know: ask them about the reports that they write or that they know about. Who knows? You may end up writing a technical report for someone! And, if you currently have a job, take a look around you and see what kinds of things are going on that might require written reports. Ask:

• What reports are written or, in fact, need to be written?
• What changes or innovations are needed?
• What new equipment can be acquired to streamline the office?
• Can you propose that the business open up a new store
• somewhere else in town or in a nearby city?

Projects like these often require written reports. As these ideas occur to you, jot them down on your worksheet.

Ideas for local improvements. Another way to find topics is to jump in the car with a friend and go driving around looking for civic projects that would make your community a better place in which to live:

• Are there esplanades or vacant areas that could be planted with trees or turned into community gardens?
• Is parking a problem in certain areas of the city?
• How is municipal garbage handled?
• Is there a recycling program in town?
• Are there bike lanes?
• Are more recreational facilities, for example, softball parks, needed?
• Are there old, unused, run-down buildings that could be renovated and used for worthwhile causes or projects?
• Would city residents be attracted to an outdoor theater for concerts, plays, and musicals?

You can also visit business people, government officials, or directors of nonprofit organizations and ask them about their needs. For example, the local senior citizens center may need barriers removed and other facilities built so that its members can get to the nearby park. For such needs, you can do the design work, calculate costs, and find out about administrative approvals that are needed. If you do your work well, the senior citizens will receive a useful report that will save them much time and effort.

Problems. Good report topics can also be found by free associating around the word "problems." Think about the problems that exist in your community, your city, your county, or your state. (Just take a look at today's newspaper or watch the evening news if you need some stimulation!) Think about problems geographically (as above) or socially (in terms of age, sex, race, handicaps) or in other ways (medicine, environment, politics, energy, or military). Does your field or major offer solutions, or are you interested in some of the new solutions under research? As ideas come to you, jot them down on your worksheet.

1. Pick any report topic from the list in Figure 1 or pick a topic of your own, decide on an audience and purpose for a report on that topic, and then use the Checklist of Invention Questions (Figure 2) for brainstorming the topic (jot your ideas on scratch paper).

2. Imagine that you have an audience of real estate developers and sales representatives for whom you are writing an informational report on solar devices, which they are considering as options on housing within a new development. Decide which of the following topics you'd select for the report for this specific audience and how you'd discuss the selected topics:

   Basic components of a             Basic operation of a solar
   solar device                      device
   Current research in               A survey of solar device
   solar device technology           manufacturers
   Costs to purchase, operate,       Results of consumer tests on
   and maintain solar devices        solar devices
   Historical background on          Economics of solar power
   the use of solar power            Dynamics of heat transfer
   Architectural considerations      Tax programs to benefit users
   in using solar devices            of solar power
   How to determine angle of         Comparison to other common
   inclination for a collector       energy sources
   

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