Difference Between Technical Report Writing And Essay Writing

- November 18, 2020

Students are asked to write a report when they are made to present an analysis of results derived from practical results. Reports start from a topic that becomes the background of the research, and portrays the aim and objectives of the work examined by the students. Reports in some cases include a hypothesis in case a proposition is being tested with the research depending on the nature of the research and the set of instructions that are provided to the students by their instructors. In this case a separate section is added in the report for future recommendations. Essays on the other hand are written with the purpose of finding answers to a question using the student’s critical evaluation of the existing theories. An essay not necessarily includes any practical research because it is written using the existing research material. In this article we go to evaluate the difference and similarities between reports and essays.

Differences Between Essays And Reports

· The report starts with the introduction to the topic and lists the aim and objectives your practical research will address. (Riordan, and D.,2013)On the other hand an essay is written based on the question that needs to be answered. The form and structure of the essay whether it would be descriptive, narrative, or argumentative depends on the question. In case a student need s help in writing an essay or a report they can seek essay writing help from SourceEssay experts.

· Reports are written with a specific purpose and audience in mind whereas Essays are written with the purpose to demonstrate that the author fully understands the research question and was able to answer it with research.( Hounsell, and D. 1997)

· All reports start with a purpose but also include details of events/results of research. As a research student, you will be expected not only to describe the findings and events but also critically analyses them to propose recommendations for future work. Whereas, in case of essays students will be will be required to base their essay on arguments, counter-arguments, opinions, and evidence.( Norton, and L. S. 1990). Students in Singapore can avail essay help in Singapore from SourceEssay experts to gather more information on how to write a professional essay or a report.

· Reports may also have separate conclusions and recommendations chapters. On the other hand an essay will usually end with a conclusion section but in some cases, it may also have an additional recommendations section.

· There are different types of reports. There are academic reports which are like journal articles. There are laboratory reports that scientists write. There are business reports which don’t have the same parts as an academic report. Whereas Essays are usually on very academic topics, not practical issues.

· Essays are more common in Arts and Humanities subjects such as English and History and Reports are often on practical issues.

· The aim of a report is often to make recommendations for action or to find out and present facts. On the other hand the aim of an essay is to discuss, explore and show the reader that you can present and evaluate arguments.

Similarities Between Reports And Essays

· Both essays and reports are written through a synthesis of knowledge obtained from existing facts or literature on the question given as well as the student’s personal arguments based on opinions that are formed from the evidence collected during the research.

· The format of a report and an essay are similar. Both the structure include an introduction, main body, and conclusion sections.

Conclusion

Therefore it can be said that both an essay and a report is based on a constant structure and is written in a stipulated format that has been provided to the students from the University. If we get into the details we will observe that a essay and a report are very different from one another and are written to fulfill different purposes. Based on the purpose the form and structure of the essay or report is predefined. Students can now avail expert essay help from SourceEssay experts to know the differences between essays and reports in details.

References

Riordan, D. (2013). Technical report writing today. Cengage Learning.

Rhodes, F. H. (1942). Technical report writing (Vol. 53, No. 2, p. 155). LWW.

Young, M. (2002). The technical writer's handbook: writing with style and clarity. University Science Books.

Hounsell, D. (1997). Contrasting conceptions of essay-writing. The experience of learning, 2, 106-125.

Norton, L. S. (1990). Essay-writing: what really counts?. Higher Education, 20(4), 411-442.

Biggs, J. (1988). Approaches to learning and to essay writing. In Learning strategies and learning styles (pp. 185-228). Springer, Boston, MA.