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1. Purpose

State the purpose of your report at the top of the paper.  A clear purpose is the key to good reports.  In order to write a clear purpose statement, determine what problem you are facing and from that, determine the goal of the report.
 
In the above example, the purpose statement is derived directly from the problem statement: 
 
From the assignment statement:
"[the 12V battery standard] is being questioned because every year consumers demand more from the power supply in their cars."
--->
 The Problem Statement: 
"To determine if the 12 volt battery standard is a sufficient power supply to support the increasing demand for power in todayís automobiles" 
 
Keep your purpose in mind throughout the paper.  Reread it whenever you need to decide what to include and what to cut.
 

2.  Audience

State your audience at the top of the paper.  Although you may not actually include the statement "the audience for this report is for X, Y, and Z" in the report, it remains important to acknowledge it in the outline because the audience dictates the content and organization of any report.  The audience statement  serves as a reminder of this important consideration and might change the appearance of the final version.  For example:
 
If you are writing for an engineer you might write: 
 
 
Epot = k  X
Q1 Q2
    d2
 
 However, if you are writing about the same concept for non-engineers, you might be better to write it this way: 
Electrostatic 
Potential		 = a constant (k) X
amount of charge 
on body 1		 x amount of charge 
on body 2
(distance between bodies)2
Then you will need to go on and explain just what this means. 

3. Organization

 Deciding where and when to use information is the most important part of the outlining process.  It helps to develop  This involves several steps:
  1. Identifying the Groups: Sometimes you will have to do a lot of thinking and shuffling of information to come up with categories; other times they will be obvious (or even assigned).  If categories are assigned, you must still understand how the provided topics/categories link together, and what to say about each topic in order to create a coherent report.
  2. Sequencing the Groups:Once you have clustered information together, arrange it logically.  What is "logical" is a sequence that both makes sense to you and addresses your audience's needs [1].  This may mean that you follow a traditional format [see EWC handbook for various formats].   Regardless of format, a you will still need to think about which ordering pattern (called a rhetorical pattern) is most useful.  A single document might use more than one rhetorical pattern.  The introduction to this web collection, for example, began with a definition, followed by a process description.
  3. Sequence the Items in a Group: Now you need to organize each group and subgroup of information into a logical pattern.  Again, the rhetorical patterns may help.
  4. Avoid Common Logical Problems: Two major problems are faulty coordination and faulty subordination.  Here's a simple illustration of each.
    5. 3.4.1. Faulty Coordination involves
    3.4.1.1. equating items that are not of equal value, or not the same level. For example:
    • Citrus Fruits
      • grapefruit
      • lemon
      • lime
      • mandarin orange
      • navel orange
    • Citrus Fruits
      • grapefruit
      • lemon
      • lime
      • oranges
        • mandarin orange
        • navel orange
    Nooranges placed at wrong level Yesposition of oranges corrected
    3.4.1.2. creating more than one heading which could logically contain the same item.
    3.4.2. Faulty Subordination involves
    3.4.2.1. placing an item under a topic where it does not belong
    In a draft of a fourth year thesis, the writers had the following headings in a chapter:
    No II. Thesis Objectives 
       A. Scope 
       B. Cost Function
    But these are not the objectives at all.  The objective was to design a computer program for a telephone queuing system.  Neither A nor B fit under the heading given above.  Cost was certainly involved, but was one of two constraints.  The other constraint (useability) never got mentioned in the outline.  When they redrafted, "Scope" was moved to the introduction, and the new chapter looked like this:
    Yes II. Project Constraints 
       A. Useability 
       B. Cost
      3.4.2.2. listing only one sub-unit under a unit (this is an error because an "A" makes no sense without a "B").  In the above example, for example, the third heading only has one sub unit.  In this particular case, the student was planning to include more information, but at this point had only one
       
      3. Relationship of in-class experiments (based on only one completed class experiment)
      3.1  Experiment 1: Shows that changes in voltage are proportional to changes in current. This would reflect the same changes as in a 12 V battery. The current through the battery remains constant with the constant voltage supplied.
      		 3. Relationship of Experiment 1
      3.1  Experiment Setup: equipment and procedures used
      3.2  Results: Shows that changes in voltage are proportional to changes in current.
      3.3  Relationship to Battery : This reflects the same changes as in a 12 V battery. The current through the battery remains constant with the constant voltage supplied.
      NoOnly one sub-unit under a unit YesSub-headings clarify the nature of the experiment and its relationship to the battery problem.
  5. Make all Entries Grammatically Parallel: Most instructions for résumés encourage you to use active verbs to describe what you did in your jobs: directed, shipped, served, was responsible for.  A résumé is a highly specialized form of an outline.  Following a similar principle in every outline (whether you use verbs or nouns) will strengthen the logic of your outline, and prevent haphazardness that may prevent you from recognizing errors in planning or consistency.
  6. Choose a Format for Your Outline: If your outline is going to be evaluated, you need to use a format that will make reading easy. Two standards are the  Traditional Alpha-Numeric Format, or a Decimal Format shown below. In each case, these formats force you to prioritize ideas, so the secondary ideas are clearly placed under the main point.  If you don't want to use these highly regimented systems, you can simply use points that are ordered under headings.  Make sure that the headings are of equal weight and that they obey the same logical structure as pointed out above.

    7.  
    Traditional Alpha-Numeric Format

    I. Main point (or chapter) 
       A. Support to main point 
         1. Evidence for point IA 
         2. More evidence for IA 
       B. Second support for main point 
         1. Evidence for point IB 
           a. support for this evidence 
           b. more support for this evidence 
         2. More evidence for IB 
    II. Second main point 
    (and so on) 

    		 Decimal Format 

    1.0. Main point (or introduction to a chapter) 
       1.1. First issue in this chapter 
         1.1.1. Evidence for point 1.1 
         1.1.2. More evidence for 1.1 
       1.2. Second issue in this chapter 
         1.2.1 Evidence for point 1.2 
           1.2.1.1. support for this evidence 
           1.2.1.2. more support for this evidence 
         1.2.2 More evidence for point 1.2
    2.0. Second main point or chapter 
    (and so on)
    A single entry under this system could look like this: 
    II.A.1.b.iii.    		 A single entry under this system could look like this: 
    2.1.1.2.3.

    The above example uses the decimal format, but the alpha-numeric could also have been used.

4.  Content

The most difficult part of writing an outline for another reader is deciding how much information you want to include.  Clearly, you want to be able to show that you've thought considerably about the problem and your response to the problem, but have a limited amount of space in which to demonstrate your expertise.
1. Provide adequate indication regarding background information for the problem at hand:
      Filling in the background appropriately in the outline provides evidence of thoughtfulness and, as in the report, helps to clarify the following points and comments.
       
      From the Principles section of the above example:
      "The relationship between Electrostatic Potential and Kirchoffís Voltage Law is that the first offers the explanation of stored energy within the circuit, as the other uses that stored energy and shows how the energy is used by the circuit elements. The battery releases energy at a potential difference of 12 V and each element of the automobile is made to use the 12 volts of energy supplied by the battery. The battery also has an alternator (a charger) which keeps a constant supply of energy entering the battery (through the positive terminal), thus, the energy of the battery cannot be fully used up." Here, the author develops the background theory which will be used to explain his decision for or against upgrading the 12V  standard. This is the background required to understand  automobile battery operation and what is involved in upgrading the current 12 volt standard.  By indicating his  awareness of the principles involved in the problem, the author gives evidence of his expertise, showing that he is properly equipped to make an appropriate recommendation. 
2. Show clear relationships between concepts:
     
      Establishing relationships between concepts helps the outline and, ultimately, the report by giving it a logical flow.  Although this involves using certain principles of "organization" (see above), it remains important that these connections be clearly shown and elaborated on.
         
        From the Principles section of the above example:
        "The relationship between Electrostatic Potential and Kirchoffís Voltage Law is that the first offers the explanation of stored energy within the circuit, as the other uses that stored energy and shows how the energy is used by the circuit elements. The battery releases energy at a potential difference of 12 V and each element of the automobile is made to use the 12 volts of energy supplied by the battery. The battery also has an alternator (a charger) which keeps a constant supply of energy entering the battery (through the positive terminal), thus, the energy of the battery cannot be fully used up." Here, the author establishes that Electrostatic Potential is the principle behind Kirchoff's Voltage Law, and both are at work in automobile batteries. 


    3.Provide enough evidence to support your arguments:
     

      In your outline, showing that you have sufficient evidence to support your points, conclusions, and recommendations, and that you know how to use this evidence is key.  It shows that you have really thought through the problem and gives the reader confidence that your actual report will turn out well.
       
      From the Advantages and Disadvantages section from the above example: 
      4.1 Advantages
      4.1.1  More power could be available for equipment requiring higher voltage.
      4.1.2  More equipment could be used simultaneously without power drain.
      		 Here, the author does provide examples of  advantages emerging from a new battery standard, but are these the only ones?  The most important ones?   In fact, they are the most obvious and important: both emerge from the fact that the battery supports more power usage, so these advantages can be logically developed from the preceding material. 
      4.2 Disadvantages
        4.2.1  The 12 V standard is widely used; it would take too much time and effort to change it. Costs, including re-tooling appliances to take advantages of the new standard, would be too high for the reasons for changing the voltage standard.
        4.2.2  Higher energy use is not environmentally friendly, leading to the question: are all these portable appliances really necessary?
        4.2.3  More equipment used at the same time would lead to more car accidents. For example, cellular phone use has been reported to lead to dangerous driving.
      		 As above, are these the only disadvantages?  The most important one?  Do they respond to the above advantages?  Note also that the author orders the points so as to show the progression from most to less relevant (to audience):
      1) Cost
      2) Environmental Unfriendliness
      3) Driver Safety
        Secondly, The conclusion must be support by the information provided by the outline.
           
          Given these Advantages and Disadvantages, does the conclusion (recommendation) make sense?
           
          5.1 The raising of the standard voltage will be deemed unnecessary, largely because of the costs involved in implementing the new standard. This recommendation follows from the advantages and disadvantages above because: 
          1) Cost of implementing the new standard is an overbearing concern which outweighs the benefits.
          2) The advantages of being able to run more appliances and run more powerful appliances have been brought into question because of the threat it poses to the environment and the dangers it can present.
  The next step is to use your outline to write your final draft.
 

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