English Report about supply chain managment in food processing
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1a20overview2c20focusing2c20audience2c20planning20132.pdf
Academic & Professional Communication T132 1
Unit 1a Overview, Focusing, Audience
Planning
OVERVIEW ........................................................................... 2
FINDING A FOCUSED TOPIC ................................................... 3
Narrow down the topic ................................................... 3
Focus the topic ............................................................... 3
Examples of report topics .................................................. 4
Consult various resources ................................................... 6
Exercise ........................................................................... 8
ANALYZING YOUR AUDIENCE ....................................... 9
PLANNING ........................................................................... 10
Rough plan ........................................................................... 11
Formal topic outline ............................................................... 11
Academic & Professional Communication T132 2
The 214 Major Report: 1a: Overview, Audience, Focusing, Planning
In English 214, you write a report of between 1500 and 2200 words using at least six
sources found through the Library’s print and e-resources and through the Internet. You
decide on the specific research topic yourself, one that combines your major with a
particular theme and which typically involves the analysis of a problem. The diagram
below sets out the basic steps in the report writing process. It should be emphasized,
however, that writing is a recursive process: as you progress through the various steps,
you will often be required to re-visit earlier steps, for example, to replace a source, take
additional notes, refine an outline, or modify your report focus.
Timeline (Term 132)
Focus the
topic/Research
Research
Recruitment & Research
First Draft
Submit
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. Find a focused topic that
combines your major with the
theme of the semester.
2. Analyze your audience. Ask
yourself how you can make a
technical report understandable
to a non-technical reader.
3. Make a rough plan, and
gradually develop it into a two-
level topic outline.
4. Find sources. Search the
Library and the Internet for
suitable sources.
6. Take notes. Use an efficient
method to record the ideas you
take from your sources.
7. Devise a three-level outline. Expand your two-level outline
into a three-level outline.
8. Write the first draft. You
have six classes in which to
complete the first draft.
9. Revise and edit your draft. You have about one week to
prepare the final version.
10. Submit your report. Submit hard and soft copies to
your teacher and upload a soft
copy to Turnitin on Blackboard.
5. Evaluate your sources.
Read the sources critically to
decide if they will be useful.
Progress report Report submission Focused topic Start End
6. Make a progress report. Describe the current status of the report.
Academic & Professional Communication T132 3
Finding a focused topic
Your first task—which should be completed within the first two weeks of the semester—
is to find a suitable topic that combines your major with the particular theme of the
semester. Typically, this topic involves the analysis of a problem, its causes, effects and,
especially, its solutions. The problem could also be presented in the form of an argument
or comparison. If you can, choose an area of your major which you like or in which you
have a special interest, or select an area that is new to you, perhaps one that you will
study in a later semester. You should view this research not as a compulsory English
language writing task but rather as an opportunity to broaden your understanding of a
particular area of your major.
To achieve a suitable topic the writer must typically do two things: firstly, narrow down
his area of research and then focus on it from a particular perspective. The aim is to find a
topic that can be discussed in sufficient detail in the limited time and space available.
Narrow down the area of research
For example, a very broad topic such as “Mechanical Engineering and health” would
require the length of a book to deal adequately with all the points that could be raised.
Because “Mechanical Engineering” and “health” are two huge fields of study, such a
topic could not meaningfully be discussed in the 1500 words of an English 214 report.
A way to achieve a narrower research area is to investigate one area of your major (eg
“air-conditioning systems” for ME students) and one area of the theme; this narrowed
theme might also constitute the problem to research (eg “respiratory problems” in the
theme of Health).
The result of this process is your narrowed topic: “respiratory problems caused by air-
conditioning”:
Respiratory problems
Air-conditioning systems
Focus the narrowed topic
This narrowed topic could then be focused in a number of ways: for example, by
emphasizing the causes, effects or solutions of the problem; by making a local application
to a particular place such as Saudi Arabia; by specifying a particular sub-group that is
Mechanical
Engineering
Health
Academic & Professional Communication T132 4
affected by the problem; by arguing for or against a particular position; or by making a
comparison between alternative possibilities. This combination of a narrowed topic and a
particular focus should lead to an appropriate topic for an English 214 report, for example
“Measures to Reduce the Respiratory Problems Caused by Air-Conditioning Systems.”
effects causes
argument solutions
particular sub-group
local application comparison
You must judge at what point you have reached an appropriately narrowed and focused
topic. If you continue to narrow down your area of research to a smaller and smaller area,
you will soon reach the point where you will have a problem finding the sources.
Too general: Mechanical Engineering and Health
Too general: Air-Conditioning and Health
Too specific: An Analysis of Infectious Respiratory Diseases Caused by
Evaporative Air-Conditioning Systems: A Case Study of
Female Office Workers in New York
Appropriate: Measures to Reduce the Respiratory Problems Caused by Air-
Conditioning Systems
Examples of report topics
Every student starts at the same point: with his major, the theme, and about two weeks in
which to find a narrowed, focused topic like the ones exemplified below:
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
SWE
information
security
Business &
Industry
business data Lack of security in online
business systems
focused to:
The application of cryptography in protecting sensitive online business
data
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
MKT
advertising ethics
Health
excessive sugar Unethical targeting of children in
sugar-rich breakfast cereal ads
focused to:
An argument in support of stricter legislation for the advertising of
breakfast cereals to children
Aircon
systems &
respiratory
problems
Academic & Professional Communication T132 5
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
GEOP
seismic
prediction
Natural &
Man-made
Disasters
earthquakes
Insufficient warning before
major earthquakes
focused to:
A comparison of two new early-warning techniques for predicting
seismic activity along the San Andreas Fault
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
CHEM
contaminants
Environment
groundwater
Pollution of groundwater by
gasoline
focused to:
The role of leaking fuel storage tanks in the pollution of Al-Qassim’s
groundwater supplies
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
AE
air traffic control
Transportation
civil aviation
Airport safety problems at take-
off and landing
focused to:
Miscommunication between air traffic control and the pilot: the case
study of the Tenerife Airport disaster
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
CE
well design
Natural
Resources
water wells
Saline contamination of water
wells
focused to:
The proper design of water wells to prevent saline contamination
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
ME
solar energy
storage
Energy
solar power
Lack of an adequate storage
method for solar energy
focused to:
The application of molten salt technology to improve the storage of solar
energy
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
FIN
risk management
Health
health insurance
Lack of health insurance
focused to:
Finding the right model: a comparison of the US and Saudi health care
systems.
Academic & Professional Communication T132 6
Consult various resources
Yourself: brainstorm the topic
The University’s Undergraduate Bulletin
The table of contents of a beginning textbook in your major
Encyclopedia articles about your major and/or the theme
The Library’s current periodicals in your major
The Library’s holdings of general-interest and special-interest periodicals
The Internet
Your adviser or an instructor in your major
Start the process of finding a topic by asking yourself what you already know about the
area where your major intersects with the theme. For example, a Geology student faced
with the task of finding a GEOL topic in the theme of Business & Industry could use a
brainstorming technique in which he writes down any ideas that occur to him, relevant or
irrelevant, in the order that they occur. Some structure could be supplied by separating
the ideas into two columns, one for the major and the other for the theme.
GEOL BUSINESS & INDUSTRY Minerals Industry needs energy Remote sensing Electricity Active/passive types Petroleum, gas, minerals Satellites Oil industry exploration for new fields Aerial photography Oil exploration statistics Site investigations Oil consumption stats Petroleum geology Typical oil exploration methods Advantages of satellite imagery Problem: need for new oil supplies ....... .......
The above lists suggest a report on the use of remote satellite sensing to discover new oil
exploration fields which could help solve the problem of decreasing petroleum supplies.
The Undergraduate Bulletin provides a brief description of all the courses in your major.
It can be found at: http://www1.kfupm.edu.sa/kfupm/admissions/undergrad_bulletin.pdf. Read
the descriptions in the Bulletin to see if there is a particular course which interests you
and which could combine well with the semester’s theme.
Academic & Professional Communication T132 7
Go to the stacks in the Library that contain the books in your major and select a couple of
first- or second-year textbooks. Scan the tables of contents to see if there is any promising
area of research. In addition, visit the print encyclopedias on the plateau level and scan
the articles about your major and about the theme. Access the Library’s e-encyclopedias
using Credo Reference or Ebrary and enter useful search terms.
In the Library, go to the current periodicals and to the bound older copies in your major
and scan through the tables of contents for promising articles. Do the same for current
general-interest magazines (Time, Newsweek) and special-interest magazines (The
Economist, Business Week, New Scientist). If the Library does not hold the hard copy
print versions, check the e-resources.
Use the Internet to do a quick search of your major, or an aspect of your major, and the
theme. The following resulted from an EE student’s inputting of “emf radiation and
health.” Scan the first few articles for promising ideas.
At some point during the first two weeks of the semester, make an appointment to see
your adviser or an instructor in your major. They can furnish you with ideas about how
your major relates to themes such as “health,” “natural resources,” “transportation,” and
“the environment,” and can perhaps suggest promising areas of research.
Academic & Professional Communication T132 8
Exercise: Finding a focused topic Suggest three possible report titles for your 214 major report.
Submit them to your teacher, if requested.
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
Technology
focused to:
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
Technology
focused to:
MAJOR
narrowed to:
THEME
narrowed to:
PROBLEM
Technology
focused to:
Academic & Professional Communication T132 9
Analyzing your audience (See also Kolin, pp. 5-10, 12-13.)
In all forms of technical writing—articles, reports, proposals, abstracts, letters,
memoranda, and so on—a writer must know his audience (the reader) so that he can
adapt the content, tone, style and layout of his writing accordingly. For example, he needs
to know why his audience is reading the report, what the audience’s attitude to the report
is, what level of education and experience the audience has, and what the audience
already knows about the subject matter.
There are various kinds of audience—lay readers, experts, technicians, executives, and
occasionally a combination of all or any of these. For your purposes in this course, your
audience is located at some point on the layexpert continuum below. You must decide
where.
LAY EXPERT
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Experts are those readers who have a thorough knowledge of the topic, including the
theory that underlies it and its practical applications. They may be researchers,
professors, technicians and specialists with many years of experience in the field and a
string of academic and professional qualifications. They may know more about your
topic than you do.
A lay audience is made up of readers who are outside their normal area of expertise. It
does not refer to an uneducated or necessarily non-technical person. For example, a
Geology professor reading an article about cryptography in a computer science magazine
is a lay reader. He has a sound mathematical background but is likely to be unfamiliar
with the complexities of encryption, decryption and algorithms. When your English 214
teacher reads your 214 report, he is also a lay reader though his background knowledge of
your major may vary between ‘useful’ and ‘very limited.’
Writing for your reader
The purpose of writing a report is to communicate information to the reader. If your
reader does not understand what you have written, the report has failed. It may be that
you wrote an excellent report, one that would have received a high grade if presented to a
professor in your major. However, a report written for an expert is inappropriate for a lay
audience. It is in fact much harder to write a technical report for a lay audience than it is
for an expert audience. In the case of the lay reader, technical information must be
presented in a way that he can understand it despite lacking background knowledge and
the basic terminology of the field. How can this be achieved?
Academic & Professional Communication T132 10
Provide lay readers with the following:
A clear, informative introduction
Adequate background information
A logical organization to your report
Definitions of key terms, sufficient examples, and analogies
Clear, simple illustrations to help explain difficult concepts
Headings and sub-headings
Bulleted lists
Topic sentences, and paragraphs with single ideas
Plain English, not jargon
Transition words to connect sentences, paragraphs, and sections
Special typography to indicate key concepts
Sentences that seldom exceed 20 words or contain complex grammar
Short paragraphs of between 5 and 12 lines
A slower pace: do not pack sentences and paragraphs with too many facts
Outline notation to clarify the relationship between sections and sub-sections
Readable fonts and font sizes (see Unit 1d, p. 7)
Generous margins and line spacing to make reading easier
It will be difficult enough for a lay reader to grasp the unfamiliar ideas in your report so
make it as accessible and user-friendly as possible.
Planning (See also Kolin, pp. 33 – 36)
Having decided on a tentative focused topic for your report, you need to think about the
content you will require. As with the first step—finding a topic—the best place to start is
with your own knowledge. Try using a clustering technique. With this discovery method,
you write your topic in the center of the page and then jot down around it all the ideas
that occur to you. The example below shows the cluster pattern made by a CHE student
writing on the theme of Business & Industry. He selected the problems associated with
desalination plants.
pollution energy
high cost
problems
Desalination benefits
maintenance
abundant sea water
reliable
marine ecology
greenhouse gases
types?
secure
alternatives? ?
dams, wells
process?
brine
history?
wastewater
Academic & Professional Communication T132 11
With some additional background reading, you should be able to make a rough outline to
guide your search for information. At this early stage, you needn’t make a formal topic
outline with consistent outline notation; however, it will help to use spacing and
indentation to show the relationships between ideas:
A rough plan
Background The water problem in KSA Possible solutions Desalination Process Advantages Disadvantages
A formal two-level topic outline
As you gather and read more sources, you will be able to convert your initial rough plan
into a formal two-level topic outline before you submit your progress report. This outline
is also likely to undergo continual modifications as you widen and deepen your
knowledge of the subject.
Provisional report title: Securing Saudi Arabia’s Long-Term Water Supply Purpose statement: The specific purpose of this report is to describe and evaluate the two most promising methods to obtain a secure and reliable water supply for Saudi Arabia’s domestic and industrial use.
INTRODUCTION I. BACKGROUND A. Historical overview B. The current water problem in KSA C. Population and consumption statistics II. GROUNDWATER A. Process of extraction B. Benefits C. Problems III. DESALINATION A. History B. Process of production C. Benefits D. Problems Conclusion Recommendations
Next, read Unit 1b: Finding & documenting sources.
