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Reporting Format for the Modal Analysis Laboratory Report

The Undergraduate Report will comprise the following sections:

(i) Title page

(ii) Summary(iii) Calculations and results(iv) Discussion

The ability to produce reports to a high standard of presentation is a key transferableskill that you need to develop while at university. In MM2DYN module, marks areallocated for the quality of the presentation of reports. You are therefore strongly

encouraged to produce reports using word-processing (e.g. Word) and spreadsheet(e.g. Excel) packages that are widely available on Department and Universitycomputer networks. Neat, hand-written reports are also acceptable.

Report Sections

(i) The front sheet supplied with the instruction sheet should be used as theTitle Page for the report.

(ii) The Summary must give the key points that derive from the experiment,normally on not more than a single side of A4. The summary should giveconcise statements of the objectives of the experiment and of the answersto the questions posed by the objectives. Put simply, the summary explainswhy you did the experiment and what the main findings were. It should notcontain a detailed description of equipment or procedure. Wherever possible

it should be quantitative.

The summary is a vital section and normally receives wide circulation withina company, whereas the complete report has a much more limited

distribution. Because of this, it is particularly important that it must be

understandable without reference to graphs or text in the body of thereport.

(iii) Readings and results should normally be tabulated in your report. Includea sample calculation for the theoretical bending frequencies. For this lab,you may find it helpful to plot a graph of the percentage difference between

the experimental and theoretical bending frequencies vs. mode number. Itis preferable to use a spreadsheet program (e.g. Excel) for this. Annotateand label the axes clearly and include a title and reference number. Plotdata points with a marker (e.g., a triangle in Excel or a cross, square (but

not a dot) if you are doing it by hand).

(iv) The Discussion is another important section. The points you shoulddiscuss are specified on the instruction sheet. Within these topics, yourdiscussion may include the following points: How closely has the stated objective been achieved? What other related facts have been established? Have the equipment, instrumentation and procedure proved satisfactory

for the purpose of achieving the objective? If unsatisfactory, how might improvements be made?

Does the theory adequately account for the results obtained?

Be concise and do not labour the obvious. Make a list of the points to bemade before you start writing. A rambling, digressive discussion is wastefulof your time and that of the reader. The discussion should not normallyexceed two pages.

Discussion point 1 asks you to comment on the level of agreement between

theory and experiment. In addition to the notes given on the instruction

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sheet, remember that there will be limits to the range and quality of yourresults, so do not read more into them than is warranted. Develop a criticalapproach and aim to give a coherent argument. Remember that

discrepancies may be due to untenable assumptions in the theory orexperimental error. A list of possible errors that might account for thediscrepancy is not particularly helpful unless you attempt to quantify sourcesof error and rank them in importance. Do not use phrases such as

reasonable agreement, fairly accurate or quite good. These phrasesare meaningless and simply highlight for the reader the fact that you haveno idea of the errors involved! If you are in doubt about the extent of the

error treatment required for a particular experiment, ask in the classconcerned.

Copying

There are clear advantages to working with the other members of your group to docalculations and otherwise process the results. If you wish, the group may present

identical calculations and graphs, including photocopies. If you do presentphotocopies, you must of course accept the responsibility for checking the accuracyof their contents!

You are also encouraged to discuss as a group the points that should be drawn out inthe discussion and summary sections of your report. However, you must notpresent discussions or summaries using identical or very similar words. It

must be clear to anyone reading the reports of members of the group thatthe reports have been written independently. Such copying is regarded as mostserious and will, as a minimum, result in zero marks.

The readers of your reports

A report communicates information from one person to another. A good report will

present the information in such a way that it can be assimilated without effort. Thiscan only be achieved if you have a clear idea of the needs of the reader. In industryfor example, information in a report to an immediate superior (who has a detailedknowledge of the work) must be presented quite differently in a report to the

technical director (who probably has not!).

The reader will want to be able to check your calculations so that he can point out

any mistakes. Include a sample set of calculations where necessary. The readerwants you to demonstrate an understanding of your answers and their significanceby intelligent discussion of the points specified on the instruction sheet. Doremember that the reader does in fact know what the answers should be and will belooking for you to convince him that you do too!

Present the information clearly, crisply and concisely. Long rambling discussions that

skirt around the main issues will be penalised. It is often helpful to write in shortsentences.

Students often try to read more into their results than is justified. You should try todevelop a critical approach to the interpretation of results. In industry, you will findthat your superior will spot any dubious conclusions (as, of course, will youracademic reader!) and if you can not justify them, your promotion prospects arelikely to be damaged!

Never make a statement in a report that you are not prepared to defend.