2、STYLE OF RESEARCH REPORTS
Research reports are considered formal professional communication. As such, there is little emphasis on a lively style, although, of course, there is no objection to writing that is pleasing and interesting. The primary goals of professional communication are accuracy, clarity, and completeness. The rough draft of any research report should be edited to ensure that all data is correctly presented, that all equipment is listed, that all results are properly detailed. As an aid to the reader, headings indicating at least the major sections of the report should be used, and all data should be presented under the proper headings. In addition to their function of suggesting to the reader the contents of each section, headings enhance the formal appearance and professional quality of the report, increase to some degree the writer’s credibility by reflecting a logical and methodical approach to the reporting process, and eliminate the need for wordy transitional devices between sections.
研究报告的风格
研究报告被当作是正式的专业表达。所以,在一种活泼的风格上很少有强调,当然,虽然对于写作是愉悦的和有趣的没有异议。专业表达的主要目标是准确、清楚和完整。任何研究报告的大致初稿应该被编辑以确信所有的资料被正确提及,所有的设备被列进单子,所有的结果是适当详细的。做为对读者的一个目的,标题至少提出被使用的研究报告的主要段落,而且所有的资料应该在适当的标题下被提及。在补充提及给读者各个段落内容的作用上,标题加强了这个报告的正规形式和专业性质,而且通过对报告过程的逻辑的和系统的表达,强化了作者可信性程度,同时排除了对于段落之间冗长过渡词句的需要。
Research data should be presented in a way that places proper emphasis on major aspects of the project. For different readers different aspects will take on different degrees of importance, and some concerned with the results of a research project, and thus the results section should be emphasized, probably by presenting it immediately after the problem section and before the procedures section. Other researchers would be most interested in the procedures section, and this should be highlighted in writing up research projects for publication in professional journals or for presentation at professional conferences. For non-technical readers and federal agencies, the implications of the results might be the most important consideration, and emphasis should be placed on the discussion of the report for this readership.
研究资料应该以一种适当强调这个项目的主要方面的方式来展示。对于不同的读者不同的方面将具有不同的重要程度,一些读者关注一个研究报告的结果,所以结果段应该被强调,通过在问题段之后和程序段之前适当地立即提及。其他的研究者对程序段会更有兴趣,所以在为专业性期刊上出版或者在专业性会议上发表写下的研究项目中,这段应该突出。对于没有技术的读者和联邦代理,结果的复杂性应该是最重要的考虑,并且出于读者人数考虑,强调应该被放在报告的讨论上。
For additional clarity and emphasis, major results should be presented in a visual format--tables, charts, graphs, diagrams--as well as in a verbal one.
为了增添清晰和强调,主要的结果应该用一种视觉样式来显示--目录、图表、座标图、图解--还有口头的表达。
Beyond checking the report for clarity and accuracy in the presentation of technical data, the author of a research report should review for basic grammatical and mechanical accuracy. Short sentences are preferable to long in the presentation of complex information. Listings should be used to break up long passages of prose and to emphasize information. The research writer should try to use the simplest possible language without sacrificing the professional quality of the report. Although specialized terms can be used, pretentious jargon should be avoided. A finished research report should be a readable and useful document prepared with the reader in mind.
为了清楚和准确除检查报告中陈述的技术资料外,一份研究报告的作者应该为了基本语法和习惯性准确再检查一遍。在复杂信息的表述中短句子比起长句子更可取。列出次序的方式应该得以使用,来打散文章中的长段并强调信息。研究报告的作者应该试图使用尽可能简单的语言同时又不牺牲报告的专业性质。虽然专业术语可以被使用,自抬身价的行话应该被避免。一份完工的研究报告应该是一份为心目中的读者准备的有可读性并且有用的文件。
3、CONCLUSION
Although we struggle with research reports in high school, dread them in college, and are often burdened by them in our professional lives,learning to live comfortably with them is a relatively easy task. A positive attitude (i.e., one that sees the oral or written presentation of research results as of equal importance to the data-gathering process); an orderly approach which includes prewriting (i.e., before any actual research is done, the researcher should try to get down on paper as much about the subject under investigation as possible) and a formal research report structure as the framework for the investigation; and a reasonable approach to the actual writing process including editing for accuracy and clarity, will help one to produce effective research reports efficiently.
结论
虽然我们在高等学校里为研究报告而苦恼,在大学里害怕它们,并且在我们的专业生涯里经常背着这个负担,但学会与它们一起舒服地生活是一件相对容易的事情。一个确定的判断(例如,对于收集资料的过程同样重要的研究结果的书面或口头的表达),一种包括打草稿在内的有次序的方式(例如,在任何实际研究进行之前,研究者应该试图在纸上写下关于这个项目在调查下尽可能多的信息)和一个正式的研究报告结构作为为了这项调查的框架,以及为了准确和清晰对于包括编辑在内的实际写作过程一个合理的方式,将帮助作者有效地产生出有影响的研究报告。