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Phil Druker/ Department of English/ UI English317 |
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Phil Druker//University of Idaho. What is the difference between an essay and a technical report? Some essays can have lots of technical information in them, but they are still an essay. Why? The difference between an essay and a technical report is actually rather difficult to define: as with most things, there is not a definitive line we can draw between the two. Here are some basic ideas about the differences: 1. Author’s stance. In an essay, the author takes an argumentative stance often stated as a thesis (a specific opinion). In essays, authors use arguments to make their point. In a technical report, the author has a main point, but it is not stated directly as an argument. Rather it is stated as a hypothesis, to be proved or disproved, or a main point. So, the author takes a non-argumentative stance. In technical reports, authors use definition to make their point. 2. Data: In an essay, authors may use information from all kinds of sources, including personal experience, to support the main point/argument. The author supports his/her argument with evidence that may vary from personal experience to researched information (usually secondary--library--sources). In technical writing, the hypothesis or main point is supported with quantitative or qualitative data gathered through either primary research (field work, lab work, interviews with recognized experts, and the like) or secondary research from professional, refereed journals. In technical writing, personal experience is omitted or if the author uses it, he/she substantiates the information with primary or secondary research. 3. Audience: The audience for an essay is usually not specialized; usually it is any group of readers with an interest (often general interest) in the topic. The audience for a technical report is a specialized group of people with a specialized interest, purpose, and expertise. 4. Purpose: When writing an essay, the author’s purpose is to persuade. When writing a technical report, the author’s purpose is to help readers solve a specific problem with specific data. So technical writing is oriented to solving a problem for specialized readers and informing. The problem may be that readers lack specialized information. 5. Voice. In an essay, authors tend to use a personal voice. In a technical report, authors tend to take an authoritative voice: the data becomes the focus rather than the author’s persona. 6. Subject matter: There can be quite a bit of overlap here. Essays tend to deal with general issues (e.g. the role of corporations in a society, the viability of organic farming, the use of punishment in education, the use of genetically modified food). Technical reports deal with specific, problem oriented topics. So, the topics can work as technical reports if the authors:
a) take an unbiased stance,
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