Logic Design Using NAND Logic – Formal Report Navigate to the sections for study

Question

Logic Design Using NAND Logic – Formal Report

Navigate to the sections for study, practice and review.
Introduction
Five Characteristics of Effective Business Messages
Writing Formal Reports and Proposals
Informational and Analytical Report Parts
A Note About Formatting
Formatting Formal Reports and Proposals
Final Thought
Introduction

Effective communication is important for every company's success. Whether that communication is internal and between employees of a company or external and between employees and customers, clients, or contractors, success in business depends upon using good communication skills. Most professionals agree that the higher you move up the company ladder, the more important your communication skills become.
Five Characteristics of Effective Business Messages

Effective business messages share some common traits, including that they
• provide practical information,
• give facts rather than impressions,
• clarify and condense information,
• state precise responsibilities, and
• persuade others and offer recommendations.
Applying these characteristics in your writing will help you prevent most common communication problems, save you and your company time, and improve work relationships and productivity.

Writing Formal Reports and Proposals

When writing formal reports and proposals, adhere to the following guidelines:
• Be positive.
• Be credible.
• Be direct.
• Be professional.
There are some special concerns to keep in mind when writing a report of this magnitude. Keep careful track of data and information to maintain accuracy and credibility. Help readers comprehend complex information by organizing your message effectively, writing concisely, maintaining focus, providing sufficient detail, and using appropriate visual aids. Remember, your audience consists of both technical and nontechnical members, so be sure to present your material in steps, beginning with explanations and terms intended for a layperson and moving into the technical details.
Paragraph form is not ideal for communicating complex information. Visual aids help readers comprehend information quickly and accurately, and they help readers draw comparisons and contrasts between reports or parts of one report. Be sure to keep your visual aids simple and easy to understand.
Some simple hints for proper writing include the following:
• Write short, direct sentences.
• Keep paragraphs short.
• Correct any mechanics errors, including comma splices, fused sentences, sentence fragments, and misused or missing commas.
• Delete unnecessary words and phrases.
• Fix repeated uses of the same word.
• Make sure references (for example, "it," "they") are clear. If needed, repeat the appropriate noun or noun phrase.
Informational and Analytical Report Parts

Formal reports have many different parts. As a professional writer working on a formal report, it is important that you understand the purpose and formatting requirements of each report part. Report parts are broken down into three categories: prefatory parts, text parts, and supplementary parts. The diagram that follows shows the parts required for this engineering technology course.
Parts of the Formal Report

Prefatory Parts Text Parts Supplementary Parts
1. Prefatory parts are those that come before the body of the report. Your formal report should include these parts:
o Cover: The cover includes the title, your name, and the date the report was submitted. Titling, signing, and dating the report helps place it in context for readers.
o Table of Contents: This part of the report directs readers to various sections of the report by providing headings and their associated page numbers in table format. Note that your table of contents should reflect the levels of headings to give readers a preview of the organization of the report.
o Table of Figures: This is like a table of contents for visual aids. We know that readers do not often read a report cover to cover, especially not every time they read it; rather, they flip through to the important parts. From our studies of visual aids, we know that visuals are selected to illustrate the report’s important parts. A list of illustrations will help readers use the reports the way they want to use them.

2. Text parts are those that comprise the body of the report itself, including the introduction, body, and conclusion. The specific requirements are as follows:
o Project Objectives: Why is this project necessary and what are the goals.
o System Requirements: These must include the system specifications (requirements) for the final project.
o Project Design: This section includes your design and a discussion of how you developed this design. Be sure to include any relevant block diagrams and schematics.
o Test Results: These describe the results observed from testing your design.
o Conclusion: This describes what have you learned and why you think what you have learned is important.

3. Supplementary parts are those that come after the test portions of the report and include the following:

o Works Cited: This should list all references that are directly cited in the text. Use APA formatting.
o Answers to Question: Answer the four Questions for this Lab.
A Note About Formatting

Inexperienced writers often underestimate the importance of formatting professional communications according to accepted norms. Presentation matters, and a good presentation using standard business formatting and good design features reflects well on your professionalism. Using standard methods of formatting is also a way of using an audience-centered approach, as this practice helps readers understand and process your messages more efficiently.
Good formatting is like good architecture. In constructing buildings, for instance, architects plan doorways where they want people to pass from one room to another. Placing the doorway in an appropriate spot ensures that the space will be used the way the architect planned. In professional writing, we are the architects of our documents. We can use formatting features to prompt our readers to use our documents in the same way an architect creates a doorway to prompt people to pass from one space to another. Just as architects carefully plan where to place doorways to make the traffic flow effective, writers must carefully plan which formatting features to use.
Typefaces should be chosen based on the medium you’re using. For print documents, preferred fonts are Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier, all in size 12. For web documents, writers should understand that although the document might be written in a special font that looks great on the writer’s screen, if the reader’s computer and Internet browser do not support that font, the document will show up in a default font. To gain more control over the look of your document, it’s important to know which fonts are supported by most browsers and to choose from among those. Verdana is recognized as being particularly readable online, and it is readily available on most computers and browsers.
White space is any space between passages or between passages and visual aids. While it may seem like a good idea to pack as much onto a page as possible, overcrowding actually decreases the effectiveness of a document from the reader’s standpoint. Imagine if this lecture were written as one long paragraph, with no white space between sections. Have you ever searched the Internet looking for information and encountered a page that looks like a wall of text? What do you do? If you’re like me, you hit the back button to the search results and look for a more readable page!
Color is another tool at our disposal in creating an effective document. As you use color, keep in mind the meanings we typically associate with various colors. Red usually indicates a warning or caution. Many readers associate the color green with “Go” or “Money,” depending on the context. Be careful not to overuse color; it comes across as visual noise and can cause readers to turn away from your document. Also be careful when writing for readers of another culture, as the cultural meanings of colors vary. We’ll discuss this aspect further in Week 2, when we study communicating business messages to people of other cultures.
Other formatting features available to us are bold type, italics, and bulleted and numbered lists. As with other formatting features, be careful not to overuse these, as doing so decreases their effectiveness. These features are useful for adding emphasis to key points in a document, but not everything is a key point! Plan in advance which sections of your document you hope will stand out for readers, and choose a formatting feature accordingly.
Formatting Formal Reports and Proposals

Below is a table showing the basic information about formatting your formal report/ proposal.
Formatting Feature Details
Margins Use a minimum of 1.25" for single-spaced pages.
Headings Use various heading levels to indicate report organization.
Spacing Use single spacing.
Paragraph Indentation Use block style, leaving an extra space between paragraphs.
Page Numbers Prefatory pages are numbered in lowercase roman numerals. Title pages are not numbered. Text pages are numbered using Arabic numerals centered in the bottom footer area. (Do not manually type page numbers. Instead, go to Insert > Page Numbers and format accordingly.)
Citations Use APA citations, including in-text parenthetical citations and an end-of-text references list. Remember that the in-text citations and end-of-text citations must match. That is, a citation like this (Ramirez, 2007) would lead a reader to the entry beginning with Ramirez in an alphabetized Works Cited. For a source with no author, the citations might look like this (Business Travel, 2007), leading to an entry beginning with Business Travel in an alphabetized Works Cited.


Final Thought


Consistently, employers have emphasized the requirement for good business communications. Being able to use the proper format with good grammatical construction is crucial to a successful career.

Explanation / Answer

Logic Design Using NAND Logic – Formal Report

Navigate to the sections for study, practice and review.

CONTENTS:-
Introduction
Five Characteristics of Effective Business Messages
Writing Formal Reports and Proposals
Informational and Analytical Report Parts
A Note About Formatting
Formatting Formal Reports and Proposals
Final Thought
Introduction

Introduction:

Effective communication is important for every company's success. Whether that communication is internal (between employees of a company) or external(between employees and customers, clients, or contractors), success in business depends upon using good communication skills. Most professionals agree that the higher you move up the company ladder, more is the importance of your communication skills.

Five Characteristics of Effective Business Messages:

Effective business messages share some common traits, including that they
• Provide practical information.
• Give facts rather than impressions.
• Clarify and condense information.
• State precise responsibilities.
• Persuade others and offer recommendations.
Applying these characteristics in your writing will help you prevent some most common communication problems, saves you and your company time, and improves work relationships and productivity.

Writing Formal Reports and Proposals:

When writing formal reports and proposals, adhere to the following guidelines:
• Be positive.
• Be credible.
• Be direct.
• Be professional.

There are some special concerns to keep in mind when writing a report of this magnitude. Keep careful track of data and information to maintain accuracy and credibility. Help readers comprehend complex information by organizing your message effectively, writing concisely, maintaining focus, providing sufficient detail, and using appropriate visual aids. Remember, your audience consists of both technical and nontechnical members, so be sure to present your material in steps, beginning with explanations and terms intended for a layperson and then moving into the technical details.
Paragraph form is not ideal for communicating complex information. Visual aids help readers comprehend information quickly and accurately, and they help readers draw comparisons and contrasts between reports or parts of one report. Be sure to keep your visual aids simple and easy to understand.
Some simple hints for proper writing include the following:

• Write short, direct sentences.
• Keep paragraphs short.
• Correct any mechanics errors, including comma splices, fused sentences, sentence fragments, and misused or missing commas.
• Delete unnecessary words and phrases.
• Fix repeated uses of the same word.
• Make sure references (for example, "it," "they") are clear. If needed, repeat the appropriate noun or noun phrase.

Informational and Analytical Report Parts:

Formal reports have many different parts. As a professional writer working on a formal report, it is important that you understand the purpose and formatting requirements of each report part. Report parts are broken down into three categories: prefatory parts, text parts, and supplementary parts. The diagram that follows shows the parts required for this engineering technology course.

Parts of the Formal Report:

1. Prefatory parts are those that come before the body of the report. Your formal report should include these parts:

• Cover: The cover includes the title, your name, and the date the report was submitted. Titling, signing, and dating the report helps place it in context for readers.
•Table of Contents: This part of the report directs readers to various sections of the report by providing headings and their associated page numbers in table format. Note that your table of contents should reflect the levels of headings to give readers a preview of the organization of the report.
• Table of Figures: This is like a table of contents for visual aids. We know that readers do not often read a report cover to cover, especially not every time they read it; rather, they flip through to the important parts. From our studies of visual aids, we know that visuals are selected to illustrate the report’s important parts. A list of illustrations will help readers use the reports the way they want to use them.

2. Text parts are those that comprise the body of the report itself, including the introduction, body, and conclusion. The specific requirements are as follows:

• Project Objectives: Why is this project necessary and what are the goals.
•System Requirements: These must include the system specifications (requirements) for the final project.
• Project Design: This section includes your design and a discussion of how you developed this design. Be sure to include any relevant block diagrams and schematics.
• Test Results: These describe the results observed from testing your design.
• Conclusion: This describes what have you learned and why you think what you have learned is important.

3. Supplementary parts are those that come after the test portions of the report and include the following:

•Works Cited: This should list all references that are directly cited in the text. Use APA formatting.
• Answers to Question: Answer the four Questions for this Lab.

A Note About Formatting:

Inexperienced writers often underestimate the importance of formatting professional communications according to accepted norms. Presentation matters, and a good presentation using standard business formatting and good design features reflects well on your professionalism. Using standard methods of formatting is also a way of using an audience-centered approach, as this practice helps readers understand and process your messages more efficiently.

Good formatting is like good architecture. Inconstructing buildings, for instance, architects plan doorways where they want people to pass from one room to another. Placing the doorway in an appropriate spot ensures that the space will be used the way the architect planned. In professional writing, we are the architects of our documents. We can use formatting features to prompt our readers to use our documents in the same way an architect creates a doorway to prompt people to pass from one space to another. Just as architects carefully plan where to place doorways to make the traffic flow effective, writers must carefully plan which formatting features to use.

Typefaces should be chosen based on the medium you’re using. For print documents, preferred fonts are Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier, all in size 12. For web documents, writers should understand that although the document might be written in a special font that looks great on the writer’s screen, if the reader’s computer and Internet browser do not support that font, the document will show up in a default font. To gain more control over the look of your document, it’s important to know which fonts are supported by most browsers and to choose from among those. Verdana is recognized as being particularly readable online, and it is readily available on most computers and browsers.

White space is any space between passages or between passages and visual aids. While it may seem like a good idea to pack as much onto a page as possible, overcrowding actually decreases the effectiveness of a document from the reader’s standpoint. Imagine if this lecture were written as one long paragraph, with no white space between sections. Have you ever searched the Internet looking for information and encountered a page that looks like a wall of text? What do you do? If you’re like me, you hit the back button to the search results and look for a more readable page!

Color is another tool at our disposal in creating an effective document. As you use color, keep in mind the meanings we typically associate with various colors. Red usually indicates a warning or caution. Many readers associate the color green with “Go” or “Money,” depending on the context. Be careful not to overuse color; it comes across as visual noise and can cause readers to turn away from your document. Also be careful when writing for readers of another culture, as the cultural meanings of colors vary. We’ll discuss this aspect further in Week 2, when we study communicating business messages to people of other cultures.
Other formatting features available to us are bold type, italics, and bulleted and numbered lists. As with other formatting features, be careful not to overuse these, as doing so decreases their effectiveness. These features are useful for adding emphasis to key points in a document, but not everything is a key point! Plan in advance which sections of your document you hope will stand out for readers, and choose a formatting feature accordingly.

Formatting Formal Reports and Proposals:

Below is a table showing the basic information about formatting your formal report/ proposal.
Formatting Feature Details:
•Margins- Use a minimum of 1.25" for single-spaced pages.
•Headings- Use various heading levels to indicate report's organization.
•Spacing- Use single spacing.
•Paragraph Indentation- Use block style, leaving an extra space between paragraphs.
•Page Numbers- Prefatory pages are numbered in lowercase roman numerals. Title pages are not numbered. •Text pages are numbered using Arabic numerals centered in the bottom footer area. (Do not manually type page numbers. Instead, go to Insert > Page Numbers and format accordingly.)
•Citations Use APA citations, including in-text parenthetical citations and an end-of-text references list. Remember that the in-text citations and end-of-text citations must match. That is, a citation like this (Ramirez, 2007) would lead a reader to the entry beginning with Ramirez in an alphabetized Works Cited. •For a source with no author, the citations might look like this (Business Travel, 2007), leading to an entry beginning with Business Travel in an alphabetized Works Cited.

Final Thought:

Consistently, employers have emphasized the requirement of good business communications. Being able to use the proper format with good grammatical construction is crucial to a successful career.

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