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Module 4

Why It Matters: Research

Why learn traditional and online research methods?

Business communication, done well, requires thoughtful planning and carefully crafted media. Research is a key component of building good communication, and research, while perhaps hard to wrap one’s mind around, is like any other project.

Whether you present your communications over email, in a nice glossy, or even a video presentation, you will likely have to research topics in order to support your ideas. Doing research is important for good business communication.

In this module, we will discuss all manner of conducting research. Our guiding principles are from social science inquiry, which uses a fairly specific and largely agreed upon format.

As you consider the role of research in business communication, we invite you to ask yourself the following introspective questions:

How important is it to use reliable and factual sources and data when communicating in business?

Who is your audience? Do they require formal citation or other forms of attribution and credit?

How do you evaluate a source? How do you know if something is any good or not?

In this module, we will look at the above questions, and many more related topics around the idea of research. Before we begin, consider the messages in the following video from Microsoft Research: What did you learn from the video? Broadly speaking, research is about finding out new things! In this sense, research can be fun and exciting. In this module, we hope you’ll be inspired to use research methods to learn new things, and communicate these new things effectively to people in your organization!

Research

Retailers are becoming increasingly aware of how charitable contributions to local communities and non-profit organizations can impact customer buy-in and brand loyalty to the company. Your general manager has asked you to research a possible community service opportunity for your workplace. Some examples include reading to children at a school, sponsoring a blood drive with the Red Cross, or a local wildlife volunteer event, or a local volunteer litter clean-up event etc.

Your task for this assignment is to write a three-paragraph (minimum) memo addressed to the general manager and team leads at your store. In your memo, recommend one charitable organization you wish to partner or volunteer with that you found via a web search. This memo will briefly discuss the rationale and benefits of partnering with a non-profit, and propose a date for a meeting for your team and members of the charitable organization.

Part 1: Research

How many non-profit or charitable organizations are in your city?

( I live in fairfield county of connencticut)

How many non-profit or charitable organizations are within a 5, 10, 15, and 20 mile radius of the school/business you work for?

Find the five best rated non-profit or charitable organizations within a 5, 10, 15, and 20 mile radius of the school location/business you work for.

Part 2: Analysis

After searching and collecting the information for the questions in Part 1, you will analyze this data to decide which charitable organizations would be the best match with your team. Use the chart located under this assignment in Week 4 to compare your data from Part 1, Question 3.

You’ll rank the charities, provide their names and answer the following two questions: 1) What is the organization’s mission and what do they do? 2) How does this match the school or company’s goals?

Part 3: Writing

After you decide on one organization that best aligns with the goals and mission of your company write a memo or email message analyzing your findings. Make it clear in this memo which organization is your first recommendation that you wish to partner with and propose a date for a meeting on the organization to work with. This memo should briefly discuss the rationale and benefits of partnering with a non-profit, explain your recommendation for a non-profit foundation found during your research, and propose a date for a meeting with the charitable organization.

Essential Activities:

Reading Module 4 will assist you in writing your paper.

Watching the videos, "Why Research Matters" and "Developing a Research Question" will assist you in writing your paper.

Notes:

This paper must be formatted in APA Style 7th edition.

Analysis of Local Charities

Find the five best rated non-profit or charitable organizations within a 5, 10, 15, and 20 mile radius of the school location/business you work for. Use the chart below to compare the different charities with one another. You'll rank the charities, provide their names and answer the following two questions:

· What is the organization’s mission and what do they do?

· How does this match the school or company’s goals?

5-Mile Radius 

Rank	Organization	Organization’s Mission	Institutional Match?
1
2
3
4
5

 10-Mile Radius 

Rank	Organization	Organization’s Mission	Institutional Match?
1
2
3
4
5

15-Mile Radius 

Rank	Organization	Organization’s Mission	Institutional Match?
1
2
3
4
5

20-Mile Radius 

Rank	Organization	Organization’s Mission	Institutional Match?
1
2
3
4
5

Analysis of Local Charities.  Provided by: Lumen Learning. License:  CC BY: Attribution