18 Jan Use some primary research

WRTG394 Advanced Business Writing

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1 analyzing a sample final report — “L’Amore USA”

Read the assigned sample report and then answer the accompanying questions. The questions will ask you to critique the report, apply course concepts, and consider how the report might be revised. Recognizing the strengths and areas for revision on this sample will help you develop your own report. Provide feedback for two classmates’ answers.

Please peruse the sample research-based report, “L’Amore.” You can access it from Content for Week 4.

Then answer the following questions.

The author of this paper connected writing assignment #1 to writing assignment #4. What evidence do you see that the author made this connection?

Analyze the graphic on page 5. Do you think it could be improved? How? If you don’t think it needs improvement, comment on why you think it is a strong graphic in its current form.

Which type of research—secondary research or primary research—helps this report more? Please pick one of these two choices. Then write a couple of sentences explaining your answer.

On page 5, the author writes, “After the survey was completed the facilitator met with the participants requesting their feedback on the format and clarity of each example.” Based on this sentence, some additional analysis could have been integrated into the paper. What additional analysis could have been integrated? And please explain how it might have strengthened the report.

DQ2 Preparing a Research Report Proposal

This discussion will enable you to plan for the third writing assignment. For this discussion, you will propose some problem you wish to solve, either in the workplace or your community, as well as a target audience—specifically the decision-maker that you will eventually write to. Be sure to read the complete directions for more details. Provide feedback for two classmates’ answers.

NOTE: This is not your third writing assignment. This is a discussion topic that is designed to help prepare you for the third writing assignment.

To complete your assignment, you will access the Assignments area and review the assignment directions. Then you will complete and submit your draft of the assignment in your assignment folder.

Your third assignment in WRTG 394 involves writing a memo requesting permission to conduct research on the topic for your research report. You should focus on the following as you prepare your report:

Being specific – your assignment directions (located in the assignment area of the classroom) give you good examples of ways in which you can make sure that you are proposing a solution to a specific problem. You must answer the question, “How will MY workplace or community (this should be narrowly defined as your neighborhood, apartment community, base housing community, etc.) be made better by the solution(s) I recommend?”

Identify a specific decision maker (or makers if, for example, you are proposing a solution to a workplace issue in your department that might require action by the HR director as well as your dept. head). Examples of such persons might be your apartment community manager, the director of base housing where you are stationed, your department head in your workplace, or your commander for your military unit.

Use some primary research – interviews with co-workers, photographs showing a problem like the need for recycling or going to a paperless office, screen captures showing the large numbers of emails employees must deal with on a daily basis.

This assignment can be invaluable to you in preparing for your research report. Note what the assignment directions say:

You will find that writing up the proposal will be invaluable in eventually putting together your final research-based report. You will be able to apply the scholarly research you conducted for writing assignment #2 to your specific proposal and evidence of the problem that you have gathered for writing assignment #3.

For this discussion topic, please respond with a paragraph in which you describe the topic you are proposing and the audience (the decision maker(s) mentioned above;

Please respond to at least one classmate’s post.

Please note that you will not be able to see other students’ responses to this discussion topic until you post your response.