Report Writing

Definition: Technical writing is a specialized, structured way of writing, where

information is presented in a format and manner that best suits the
psychological needs of the readers, so that they can respond to a document as
its author intended and achieve the purpose related to that document. The
process of gathering information from experts and presenting it to an
audience in a clear, easily understandable form is called technical writing.
OR
Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the reader solve
a particular problem. Technical communicators write, design and/or edit
proposal, web pages, lab reports, newsletters and many other kinds of
professional documents.
Purpose of technical writing - why study technical report writing
Technical report writing has two basic purposes:
1.
To inform
2.
To persuade
A tech. report can be used for the physical description of a new machine, the steps in a
particular process, or the results of an experiment.
For example; A writer not only describes two sites for a factory but also persuades
readers to accept one of them as the best i.e. to prove your point. The document that
achieves these purposes is called technical writing.
Functions of Technical Writing also include the following points:
a.
Reassure recipients that you are making progress, that the project is going
smoothly, and that it will be completed by the expected date.
b.
Provide their recipients with a brief look at some of the findings or some of the
work of the project.
c.
Give the recipients a chance to evaluate your work on the project and to request
changes.
d.
Give you a chance to discuss problems in the project and thus to forewarn
recipients.
e.
Force you to establish a work schedule so that you'll complete the project on time.
It gives the writer a motivation to work more and produce results more efficiently.
Characteristics of Technical Writing
Technical writing is an important part of everyone's career. Writing well is difficult and
time consuming and writing in a technical way about technical subjects even makes it
more difficult. People write to propose projects, to document their own actions, to help
other understand the research, to analyze and solve problems, to describe procedures
and objects. If done well, technical writing is an exciting, fulfilling experience but if done
poorly, it is frustrating, even harmful to career development. Technicality in writing is
based upon the following points
There are six basic properties of Technical writing
1. Clarity
2. Accuracy

3. Comprehensiveness
4. Accessibility
5. Conciseness
6. Correctness
1. Clarity
Technical document must convey a single meaning that the reader can
understand. Unclear Technical writing is expensive. They vital communication link
among the various employees is usually the report, if this link is weak, the entire
project may be jeopardized. Unclear technical writing can be dangerous e.g.
unclear instruction on how to operate machinery.
2. Accuracy
Unclear writing can cause many problems and even inaccuracy in the report. If you
mean to write 40,000 dont write 400,000. If you mean to refer to fig 3.1 dont refer to
fig 3.2. Slightest error can confuse or even annoy the reader of the report. If the reader
suspects that you are slanting information they have the right to doubt the entire
document.
3. Comprehensiveness:
When writing technically, all the information should be provided, its background must be
described and clear description of any process, or method of carrying out a specific
work, should also be given. It also includes results, conclusions and recommendations.
4. Accessibility:
It means the ease with which the readers can locate the information they seek.
To increase Accessibility, include headings and lists in the report. A table of contents, list
of illustrations glossary and index are preferred.
5. Conciseness:
Technical writing is meant to be useful. The longer a document is, the more difficult it
gets to use it. Even it takes more of the user's time.
Conciseness works against clarity and comprehensiveness. Solution to this conflict is to
create a balance between the requirements of clarity, conciseness and
comprehensiveness. In short, in T.W every aspect of the subject is discussed in optimized
detail. Document must be long enough to be clear. It must give the audience purpose
and object but no extra details. Technical writing can be shortened 10-20% by
eliminating unnecessary phrases and choosing short words and sentences.
6. Correctness
Qualities of technical report writing also include correctness. Good technical report
must also be correct. It must be free from grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and
should have appropriate format standard. If a report contains grammatical errors, the
reader will doubt the accuracy of the information in the report. Technical writing is meant
to convey information and to persuade the audience. To accomplish these goals it must
be clear accurate, easy to access and must be economical and correct.
Project Proposals in Technical Writing
A document which persuades its readers to accept the writer's idea is called a proposal.
The Project Head asks for both a technical proposal and a cost proposal.
There are two kinds of proposals.

1.

External Proposal

2.

Internal proposal

A. External Proposal:
In external proposal, one firm responds to a request from another firm or the
government for a solution to a problem. It ranges from lengthy (100 pages or more) to a
short (4-5 pages).
A firm writes external proposals to win contracts for work. Government agencies and
large and small corporations issue a request for proposal which explains the project and
lists its specifications. Companies which receive the writes proposals. A team assembles
a document that shows that the company has the managerial expertise, technical
knowhow and appropriate budget to develop the project.

After receiving all the proposals, the firm that requested them turns them over to a team
of evaluators, who after judging the technical management and cost sections, select the
best proposal.
Planning the External proposal
To write an external proposal, you must consider your audience, research the situation,
use visual aids, and follow the usual form of this type of document.
1. Consider the audience:
Usually your audience express problem to you in a written statement (an RFP) or in an
interview. You must assess their technical awareness and write accordingly. To write to
them effectively, one should
1. address each need that they have expressed
2. explain in clear terms how your proposal fills their needs
3. Explain the relevance of technical data.
2. Research the situation:
To write the proposal effectively you must clearly understand your customers needs as
well as your own service. You must research their needs by means of interviewing them
or by reading their printed material.
3. Use visual aids:
Many types of visual aids e.g table, maps etc may be appropriate to your proposal. Your
goal is to convince the decision makers that only your way is the best approach; good
visuals are direct and dramatic, drawing your client into the document.
To write an external proposal, follow the usual form for writing the proposals. The four
main parts of a proposal are:
a. Executive summary:
The executive summary contains information designed to convince executives that the
proposers should receive the contract. It should present the content of technical,
managerial and financial sections in clear terms. This section is often designed to make
non technical people feel comfortable with the proposal.

b. Writing the technical section:

A proposal's technical section begins by stating the problem to be solved. The proposers
must clearly demonstrate that they understand what the customer expects. The
proposal should describe its approach towards solving the problem.
c. Writing the management section:
This section describes the personnel who will directly be related to the project. The
proposal writer must explain what technical personnel and levels of management will be
responsible for the success of the project. In a large external proposal, this section often
contains organization charts and resumes. In short proposal, this section usually explains
qualifications of personnel and firm's success with other similar projects.
d. Writing the financial section
The financial section provides a breakdown of the costs for every item in the proposal.
Often this section is not just a table of costs. At times a brief introduction and the table
may be all you need, but if you need to explain the significance of certain figures, then
do so.
B. The Internal proposal
In an internal proposal, an employee on department urges someone else in the company
to accept an idea or to fund equipment on research. There are two types of internal
proposals:
1. Assigned Proposal
2. Unsolicited Proposal
1. Assigned proposal:
In assigned proposal an employee writes solution for a given problem. He does not have
to establish the problem.
2. Unsolicited proposal:
In unsolicited proposal the writer writes the solution of a problem which he has
discovered himself.
Planning the internal proposal
The goal of the proposal is to convince the person or group in authority to allow the
writer to implement his idea. To achieve this goal, the writer must consider the audience,
use visual aids, understand organizational principles and design a format.
I. Consider the audience
Writer considers the audience of a proposal in at least three ways; according to their
involvement, their knowledge and their authority.
a. How involved is the audience
In most cases, readers either have assigned the proposal or they are unaware of the
problem. In assigned proposal, the writer does not have to establish that the problem is
a problem; but he or she does have to show how the proposal will solve the problem. If
the proposal is not assigned then he first convinces the audience that the problem is a
problem then he offers a convincing solution to the problem.
b. How knowledgeable is the audience.
The audience may or may not have the concepts and facts involved in the proposal. If
the audience is less knowledgeable, take care to define terms, give background and use
common examples.

c. How much authority does the audience have?

The audience may or may not be able to order implementation of your proposed
soultion. A manager might assign the writer to investigate some problem, but most likely
the manager will have to take the proposal to a higher authority before it is approved.
II. Consider your own position
Your own position mirrors the audience position. If you have been assigned to write the
proposal, you dont have to establish that the problem is a problem, but you do have to
show how your proposed solution matches the dimension of the problem. If you have
discovered the problem then you have to establish that the problem is a problem and
then explain your solution.
III. Use visual aids
Since the proposal probably will have multiple audiences, visual aids can enhance its
impact. Visuals can support any part of the proposal - the problem, the solution, the
implementation or even the benefits.
Writing / organizing the internal proposal
The writer should organize the proposal around four questions.
What is the problem?
Describing the problem is a key part of proposals. You must establish three things about
the problem.
a. The data
b. The significance
c. The cause
Designing the proposal
To design a proposal, select an appropriate format, either formal or informal. A formal
proposal will have a title page, table of contents and summary. The formats for an
informal proposal can be a memo report on some kind of pre-printed form. The format
depends on company policy and on the distance that the proposal must travel in the
hierarchy-usually the shorter the distance, the more informal the format. Also, the less
significant the proposal, the more informal the format is.
Use the introduction to orient the reader
The introduction must orient the reader to the writer, the problem and the solution.
Introductory sections often contain a separate executive summary that give the main
prints of the body. If the body contains section on the solution, benefits, cost,
implementation and the rejected alternatives, the summary should cover the same
prints.
Use the discussion to convince your audience
The discussion section contains all the detailed information that you must present to
convince the audience. A common approach functions this way:
The problem
1. Explanation of the problem
2. Causes of the problem
The solution
1. Details of the solution

2. Benefits of the solution

3. Ways in which the solution satisfy criteria
The context
Schedule for implementing the solution
Personnel involved
Solutions rejected
Report
Reports are documents for getting and receiving factual information
presented in writing. The purpose of developing a report is to make the
information as clear and convenient as possible in order to help in decision
making. It is written for a particular purpose and audience. It generally sets
out and analysis a situation or problem, often making recommendations for
future actions. It is a factual paper and needs to be clear and well-structured.

What is a Report?
In academia there is some overlap between reports and essays, and the two words are
sometimes used interchangeably, but reports are more likely to be needed for business,
scientific and technical subjects, and in the workplace.
Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report concentrates on facts.
Essentially, a report is a short, sharp, concise document which is written for a
particular purpose and audience. It generally sets out and analyses a situation
or problem, often making recommendations for future action. It is a factual
paper, and needs to be clear and well-structured.
Reports may contain some or all of the following elements:

A description of a sequence of events or a situation;

Some interpretation of the significance of these events or situation, whether solely
your own analysis or informed by the views of others, always carefully referenced of
course. An evaluation of the facts or the results of your research;

Discussion of the likely outcomes of future courses of action;

Your recommendations as to a course of action; and

Conclusions.

Not all of these elements will be essential in every report.

Sections and Numbering
A report is designed to lead people through the information in a structured
way, but also to enable them to find the information that they want quickly
and easily.
Reports usually, therefore, have numbered sections and subsections, and a clear and full
contents page listing each heading. It follows that page numbering is important.

Getting started: prior preparation and planning

The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader through your
thinking to a course of action and/or decision. Its worth taking a bit of time to
plan it out beforehand.
Step 1: Know your brief
You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including what you are
studying and for whom the report should be prepared.
First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that you are clear who the
report is for and why you are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do at the
end of reading: make a decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.
Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times
During your planning and writing, make sure that you keep your brief in mind:
who are you writing for, and why are you writing?
All your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require you to be ruthless in
your reading and thinking. Anything irrelevant should be discarded.
As you read and research, try to organise your work into sections a bit like writing
a Literature Review.
Make sure that you keep track of your references, especially for academic work.
Although referencing is perhaps less important in the workplace, its also important that
you can substantiate any assertions that you make so its helpful to keep track of your
sources of information.
The Structure of a Report
Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do check whats set out in
any guidance.
However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very least an executive
summary, introduction, the main body of your report, and a section containing your
conclusions and any recommendations.
Executive Summary
The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a brief summary of the
contents. Its worth writing this last, when you know the key points to draw out. It should
be no more than half a page to a page in length.
Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy 'executives' a quick
summary of the contents of the report.
Introduction
The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a brief summary of the
problem under discussion. It should also touch briefly on your conclusions.

Report Main Body

The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way that leads the
reader through the issue.
You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings relating to themes or
areas for consideration. For each theme, you should aim to set out clearly and concisely
the main issue under discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It may also
include experimental results. All the information that you present should be related back
to the brief and the precise subject under discussion.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the information, including any
experimental results. It may include recommendations, or these may be included in a
separate section.
Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be improved, and should
be specific, achievable and measurable. If your recommendations have financial
implications, you should set these out clearly, with estimated costs if possible.
THE TEXT OF THE REPORTS (THE STRUCTURE)
1. Introduction of a report:The introduction of a report provides the context to the problem under study
and states the purpose of the report. It includes the authorization given to the
report, the problem/purpose of the Report, along with its scope and
background. It previews the reports contents and organization and establishes
the tone of the report.
2. The body of the report
The body of the report consists of major section that present, analyze and
interpret the finding gathered as part of your investigation. The sections
contain the detailed information necessary to support your conclusions and
recommendations. A handy rule of thumb to follow is to provide only enough
detail in the body to support your conclusions and recommendation; and put
additional details in tables, charts and appendixes.
3. Summary, conclusions and recommendation
This may come up in separate section in a long report, however, in a short
report it may just be a paragraph or two.
Summary: refers to the key findings of the report paraphrased from
the body and listed in the order in which they appear in the body.
Conclusions: refer to the writers analysis of what the findings mean.
Recommendations: refer to the opinions, based on reason and logic,
about the cause of action that should be taken.
Notes and Bibliography

When writing the text of the report, it is necessary to acknowledge and cite
the source in the text. The details of this source is presented in the notes
section at the end of the text of the report. A bibliography is a list of sources
consulted when preparing the report.
A Word on Writing Style
When writing a report, your aim should be to be absolutely clear. Above all, it
should be easy to read and understand, even to someone with little knowledge
of the subject area.
You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using plain English, and shorter words
rather than longer, with short sentences.
You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use specialist language, you should
explain each word as you use it. If you find that youve had to explain more than about
five words, youre probably using too much jargon, and need to replace some of it with
simpler words.
Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be written for a particular person,
check whether you should be writing it to you or perhaps in the third person to a job
role: The Chief Executive may like to consider, or The minister is recommended to
agree, for example.
Different types of Reports
Reports assist in decision making and problem solving by conveying information
objectively. Reports are classified in numerous ways. The form, direction, functional area
and content of the report are used as the basis for classification. Reports may be:1. Formal or Informal Reports
(a) Formal Reports are carefully structured; they lay stress or objectivity and
organization and contain much detail.
(b)Informal Reports are usually short messages with natural, casual use of
language.
2. Short or Long Report: Depends on the length of the Reports.
3. Informational or Analytical Reports:
(a) Informational reports (like annual reports etc) carry objective information
from one area of organization to another.
(b)Analytical Reports like feasibility reports or scientific research present
attempts to solve problems.
4. Proposal Reports:

It is also a problem solving report. A proposal is a document prepared to describe

how one organization can meet the needs of another. These reports are need
based.
2. Vertical or Lateral Reports
This classification refers to the direction a report travels. Reports that move
upward or downward the hierarchy is referred to as vertical report. Such reports
help in management control. Lateral reports assist the coordination in the
organization as it travels between different units of the same organizational level.
3. Internal or External Reports
Internal reports travels within the organization. External reports are prepared
for distribution outside the organization eg. Annual reports of companies.
4. Functional Reports It is based on the function. It is used for eg. Accounting
Reports, marketing reports, financial reports etc.
Formal elements of a technical report
Those components which are usually included in a report in business and industry
1. Letter of transmittal
2. Title page
3. Abstract
4. Table of contents
5. List of illustrations
6. Executive summary
7. Glossary and list of symbols
8. Appendix
1. Letter of Transmittal
The components of a report are not written in the same order in which they appear e.g.
the letter of transmittal is the first thing the reader sees, but it is probably the last to be
created.
It introduces the purpose and content of the report to the principle reader. It gives you
an opportunity to emphasize whatever you think, your reader will find particularly in the
attached material. It enables you to point out any errors or omission in the material.
Transmittal letter contains the following element.
A statement of title and purpose of report.
A statement of who authorized the project and when
A statement of method used in the project or of the principal results, conclusion
and recommendations.
An acknowledgement of any assistance you received in preparing the material.
2. The title page
The title page should have the full title of the page along with the name of the author,
the purpose of the report and the name or authority to whom it is submitted. It should
have the name of the institution for which the report is prepared for along with the
month and year of the report. A good title has to be informative carrying the subject of

the report. In some organizations the title page is preceded by a title fly. The title fly is
a plain sheet of paper with only the title on it. It adds a touch of formality to the report.
Usual elements are
Title
Name and position of writer
Name and position of principle reader
Date of submission
A good title must be informative. It. answers two basic questions
1. What is the subject of the report
2. What type of report is it?
Define the type of report by using a generic term such as analysis, recommendations e.g
summary, review etc. For a simple title page, centre the title (typed in full capital letter)
about a third of the way down the page, then add the readers and writer's position, the
organizations name and date.
3. The abstract
Its like a brief technical summary, usually not more than 200 words of the report. Its
directed to readers who are familiar with the technical subject and need to know
whether to read the full report or not. This can use technical terminology and refer to
advanced concepts. Basic types of abstract are descriptive and informative
abstracts. The descriptive abstract sometime called topical or table of contents
abstract. It does not provide the import results, conclusion or recommendations. It lists
the topic covered giving equal coverage to each. The informative abstract states the
problems the scope and methods, and the major results, conclusion or
recommendations.
4. The table of contents
It enables different readers to turn to specific pages to find the information they want.
Well organized report becomes ineffective if table of contents, is not clear. T.O.C provide
only guide to report's structure, coverage and pagination. The headings that appear in
the report are listed in T.O.C
For effective T.O.C make sure the report has effective headings.
5. The list of illustrations
It is a T.O.C for the figures and tables of a report. If the report contains figures but not
tables, it is called the list of figures
But if the report contains tables but not figures so is called the list of tables only
List of illustrations may be on the same page as the table of contents, or may be on the
separate page. If it begins on a separate page, it should be listed in the table of
contents.
6. The executive summary
Sometimes called executive overview or the management summary. It is a one page
condensation of a report. Managers dont need a detailed and deep understanding of
various projects undertaken in their organization because of limitations in time and
specialization. The background of the project is also discussed clearly herein. The
specific problem that is to be solved through the project is clearly discussed; also the
conclusion and recommendations are discussed in a full separate paragraph.

7. The glossary and list of symbols

A gloss is an alphabetic list of definitions. It is useful if you are addressing a multiple
audience that includes readers who will not be familiar with the technical vocabulary
used in the report. An asterisk or any other notation can be used along the word to tell
the audience that the word is defined in glossary. It is generally placed at the end of the
report just before the appendix. Though if the glossary is a brief one, so can be placed
right after the table of contents.
A list of symbols is structured like glossary, but rather than defining words and phrases,
it defines the symbols and abbreviations used in the report.
Like glossary, the list of symbols may be placed before the appendices or after the table
of content.
8. The appendix
An appendix is any section that follows the body of the report (and the list of references
or bibliography, glossary or list of symbols). Appendices provide information that is too
bulky to be presented in the body or that will interest only a small number of readers.
For conciseness in the report, this information is separated from the body. Examples of
the kind of material that are usually found in the appendix include maps, large technical
diagrams or charts, computations, test data and texts of supporting documents.
Appendices are usually lettered, rather than numbered and are listed in the table of
contents.
A Final Warning
As with any academic assignment or formal piece of writing, your work will
benefit from being read over again and edited ruthlessly for sense and style.
Pay particular attention to whether all the information that you have included is relevant.
Also remember to check tenses, which person you have written in, grammar and
spelling. Its also worth one last check against any requirements on structure.
For an academic assignment, make sure that you have referenced fully and correctly. As
always, check that you have not inadvertently or deliberately plagiarised or copied
anything without acknowledging it.
What is Plagiarism?

Presenting another's ideas as if they are your own either directly or indirectly

Copying or pasting text and images without saying where they came from

Not showing when a quote is a quote

Summarising information without showing the original source

Changing a few words in a section of text without acknowledging the original

author

Academic Referencing
There are numerous ways to reference. Different institutions, departments or
lecturers may require different styles.

Why Do We Cite and Reference?

When writing assignments for your studies, academic papers outlining our research or
reports for work, you need to highlight your use of other author's ideas and words so
that you:

give the original author credit for their own ideas and work

validate your arguments

enable the reader to follow up on the original work if they wish to

enable the reader to see how dated the information might be

prove to your tutors/lecturers that you have read around the subject

avoid plagiarism
Referencing Styles
There are many styles of referencing; one of the most popular (in UK institutions) is the
Harvard system.
Be Organised
When writing an essay, report, dissertation or other piece of academic work
the key to referencing is organisation, keep notes of the books and journal
articles you have read, the websites you have visited as part of your research
process.
What needs to be recorded?
Record as much information as possible in references to make finding the original work
simple.
Author/s Include the author/s name/s where possible. You should write the surname
(last name) first followed by any initials. If there are more than three authors then you
can cite the first author and use the abbreviation 'et al', meaning 'and all'.
Examples:
For one, two or three authors:
Jones A, Davies B, Jenkins C
For more than three authors
Jones A et al.
For some sources, especially websites, the name of the author may not be known. In
such cases either uses the organisation name or the title of the document or webpage.
Example: Skills You Need or What Are Interpersonal Skills.
Date of Publication - You should include the year of publication or a more specific date
if appropriate, for journal or newspaper articles/stories. For web pages look for the when
the page was last updated. Include dates in brackets (2012) after author information. If
no date can be established then put (no date).
Publisher Information - Usually only relevant for books, you should include the
publisher name and place of publication.

Title of Piece - Include the title of the piece; this could be the name of the book, the
title of a journal article or webpage. Titles are usually written in italics. For books you
should also include the edition (if not the first) to make finding information easier. Often
when books are republished information remains broadly the same but may be
reordered, therefore page numbers may change between editions.
Page Numbers - If you are referencing a particular part of a book then you should
include the page number/s you have used in your work. Use p. 123 to indicate page 123
or pp. 123-125 to indicate multiple pages.
URL and Date Accessed - For web pages you need to include the full URL of the page
(http://www... etc.) and the date you last accessed the page. The web is not static and
web pages can be changed/updated/removed at any time, it is therefore important to
record when you found the information you are referencing.
Once you have recorded the information, you have everything you need in
order to reference correctly. Your work should be both referenced in the text
and include a reference list or bibliography at the end, the in text reference is
an abbreviated version of the full reference in your reference list.
Citation and Reference
Citation and reference are two important terms used in research methodology, the
difference between these two terms have to be understood clearly. Citation is a
reference to a published or unpublished source. It is generally an abbreviated
alphanumeric expression found in the pages of a thesis or a dissertation. The primary
motive of citation is to exhibit your intellectual honesty. On the other hand, reference
consists of the act of referring. Reference appears at the bottom of a page as
a footnote as well as a list at the end of the thesis or the paper you are writing.
A citation is how you quote the source of the ideas within the body of the research paper.
Citation is included at the places wherever you quote from different authors. Normally,
you put the citation at the end of the sentence within brackets. Inside this bracket, the
authors name, year the book was published or the page in which this particular
extraction appeared are included. What exactly comes inside this bracket is a decision
made by the format you follow in writing the paper. Different formats have different
styles for citation. You can see that from the following examples.
APA Her blood warmed the earth (Martin, 2014).
MLA Her blood warmed the earth (Martin 263).
The very purpose of citation lies in the fact that you are wilfully acknowledging the writer
of the work from whom you have borrowed a quotation.
Reference consists of the act of referring. As a researcher, you refer to some books and
journals while writing the thesis or dissertation. As a matter of fact, you would include
some references in the pages of your thesis in the form of footnotes. The footnotes
contain the reference passages taken from the relevant books and journals from which
you quote them. At the end of each chapter, you would give the corresponding books

and journals from which you have picked the quotations mentioned in the footnotes.
These are references. However, you do not have footnotes in APA style. You only have a
list called References at the end. Also, when it comes to the end list that gives
references, there are small changes between those lists in different styles too. This list of
reference is normally known as the Bibliography. In APA, this list is known, as mentioned
earlier, as References. In MLA, the list is named Works Cited. Also, APA reference list
only contains the sources you have actually cited in the text. In other lists of reference,
normally the sources that were only consulted are also included.
Usually, references are included at the end of the thesis. The purpose of
reference is only to let the reader of the thesis know the various books from
which you have quoted, from the list at the end or footnotes.
Thesis vs Dissertation
The two terms, namely, dissertation and thesis are not interchangeable as there is a
difference between them. In the academic sense, a thesis is submitted at the end of
a Ph.D. whereas a dissertation is submitted at the end of the Masters degree.
A thesis is a proposition that is maintained by argument, and it is put forward as a
premise to be maintained or proved. You are expected to contribute new findings
through research before you submit a thesis.
You have to ensure that you submit what is called a hypothesis or a synopsis before
submitting the thesis to get your Doctorate. The hypothesis or the synopsis should
contain the gist of the new findings you have made in the subject of your research. The
thesis should contain all details about the research you have made on the subject. A
thesis is given more recognition and considered higher in comparison to a dissertation.
A dissertation is a treatise advancing a new point of view resulting from research, often
based on original research. Its allowed to summarize your thoughts too. In a
dissertation, you have to synthesize and analyze the information collected by you. In
fact, you are allowed to summarize your thoughts.
A dissertation gives you a lesser degree than what a thesis gives. The degree qualified
by the submission of a dissertation should be followed by the degree qualified by the
submission of a thesis.
Hypothesis
Everything has an underlying cause and people have been attempting to explain those
causes ever since the curiosity has started to arisen in mans mind. In scientific method,
explanations were based on theories that came up from hypotheses. Accepted
hypothesis becomes a theory but rejected hypothesis will never get that status.
Therefore, it could be envisaged that hypothesis and theory are two stages of the
scientific method. The extent of scientific presence is variable between a hypothesis and
a theory.
According to the definitions by various dictionaries, hypothesis could be described as a
scientific explanation that has been suggested to explain a certain phenomenon.
Hypothesis gives the explanation as a proposal, and the scientific method tests its
validity using a procedure. According to the scientific method, hypothesis could be
repeatedly tested for its validity. The solution of the identified problem is described using
the hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess, as it explains the phenomenon based
on evidence. The evidence of a phenomenon or the results of an experiment are used for
the explanation, but those were conjectured already through the hypothesis.