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Research study report

The Research Report assignment is the largest single component of your final grade for the course (30 percent).  If you fall behind on this series of assignments (Flight conditions, Documentation, Topic selection, Draft Report and Final Report) it will severely affect your final grade for the course.  All five of these assignments together represent over one-third of your final grade for the course.

 

Your topic for the Research Report must meet the following conditions.

 

  • You must define a problem.  This must be a real problem that currently exists and for which there has been no solution applied.  The problem might be a problem at work, at UHD, at your church or volunteer group.  The problem might be lack of proper equipment, such as an inadequate telephone system, to perform certain tasks.  The problems might be lack of food services in some buildings at your work place or at UHD. The problem might be lack of child care at work or at school. 
  • This problem must be a real problem being faced by a real existing organization.  For this series of assignments you take the role of a employee of the organization and you will be reporting to the person responsible for solving the problem you have identified.  This must be a real person that actually works for the organization you have identified.  You must identify that person and you will write your report for that person.
  • You must propose at least one potential solution to the problem.  You can propose more than one potential solution and your study will determine which solution will provide the “best” solution to the problem.
  • Your study and report will not be about the problem you have identified.  Your study and report will be about your proposed solution(s).  The problem can be explained in your report in two or three paragraphs (with appropriate documentation) as a valid problem.  After that, your report will concentrate on the analysis of your proposed solution(s) to determine if the solution proposed is likely to be feasible and will realistically solve the problem.
  • Be aware that this assignment is not a  typical college term paper.  We don't do college term papers in this class and we do not deal in hypothetical solutions that look good on paper.  You will be expected to actually collect the real information to determine if your proposed solution will likely work or not.  That may mean you will be expected to try out your proposed solution.   Also please understand that negative results are just as valuable as positive results.   Being sure you can obtain the information you need to do the study is an important first step. 

 

For the Topic Assignment you must also include the following material.

 

  • You must identify the organization and the location where you are considering its application.  Identify the location by its street address.
  • You must identify the person for which you will be writing the report.  The person must be a real person that works for the organization.  Provide the name and title of the person you identify.
  • If you are evaluating more than one potential solution you must describe the criteria for evaluating the best solution.  If you are evaluating only one potential solution you must describe the criteria you will use to determine if the proposed solution will solve the problem.
  • You must do enough preliminary work to determine if you can obtain the information necessary to complete a study on the proposed topic.

The Assignment (Due March 6, 2016)

  • Define the problem and the organization for which you are proposing at least one potential solution.
  • Describe your proposed solution(s).
  • Write a descriptive title for your research study report. A descriptive title means that the reader should be able to tell what is contained in the report by reading the title.
  • Identify the organization and location where you are considering its application.
  • Identify the person to whom you will be submitting the final report.  This must be a real person that works for the organization you named.
  • List the criteria you will use for evaluating the proposed solutions.  How will you decide if the proposed solution will solve the problem?
  • Provide a bibliography of the creditable sources you expect to use while researching your topic.  Use the same formatting style you selected for the Documentation assignment in Week 5.  Examples of formats for bibliographies are provided in A Research Guide for Students. A link to A Research Guide for Students is provided in the Web Links page of Blackboard. See particularly Chapters 10, 11,12, and 12a of A Research Guide for Students. You may also use Appendix B of the Textbook as a guide on the format for a bibliography.  You are not restricted to using MLA as a format for your bibliography.  You may also use APA format.  I am willing to consider any other generally acceptable format listed in Appendix B of the textbook. 
  • State the documentation style you will use for your bibliography and the in text citations.  If you do not state a style I will assume you are using MLA style and will grade accordingly.
  • If you are planning to use a questionnaire, include a draft of the questionnaire with your topic.

Finally, if everything goes according to plan I should have my comments back to you by the evening of Tuesday, March 8. Login on March 7 and 8 to review my comments. Don't wait until next Sunday to review my comments. I may reject some topics or request you make major changes in your topic.

 

 

 Requirement

 

 

The Research Study Report is the single largest component (30 percent) of your final grade for the semester.  For that reason alone it is worthwhile spending significant amounts of time making sure you submit a high quality assignment. 

The draft and the final report must contain the following items.

  • A transmittal letter or memorandum, as appropriate. 
  • Title page
  • A Table of Contents that shows all the headings and subheadings contained in the body of the report and the correct page number where each heading and subheading appears in the text of the report. 
  • A List of Figures containing the figure number and title of each graphic insert with the correct page number.
  • Page numbers on all pages except the transmittal letter/memorandum and the title page.
  • All pages prior to the Introduction will be in Roman numerals.  All other page numbers will be in Arabic numerals
  • An executive summary.
  • Headings and subheadings that match the Table of Contents.
 
  • At least three quotations or attributions documented with in-text citations using one of the approved documentation style formats.
  • At least two graphic insertions (table, chart, diagram, etc.) that are relevant to the text.  More than two graphics should be used if it helps convey your message to the reader.
  • Criteria for evaluation of the solution(s) clearly described.
  • The conclusion must include a realistic evaluation of your proposed project.  The evaluation can be positive, negative, or somewhere between positive and negative.  Do not force a conclusion to meet your preconceived bias.   In many cases you are staking your professional career on the feasibility report you are writing.  Your supervisors are relying on your unbiased professional judgment.  If you force a conclusion that turns out to be wrong your career can suffer.
  • A Works Cited, or Bibliography, section.
  • Some reports will require an appendix, or appendices.  An appendix should be used to include background material which is important to the report but does not lend itself to inclusion in the main body.  Examples of material to include in the appendices are completed questionnaires, material from equipment suppliers such as specifications and prices, detailed drawings or graphics, and computer printouts. Each Appendix will be designated by a letter, such as Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. and will carry a descriptive title.  In addition, the title of each appendix will appear in the Table of Contents of the report.

The Works Cited, or Bibliography, section tells the reader how, or where, to find the source, such as the book or journal. An in-text citation tells the reader from which source it came and on which page the information is found that is included in the citation. Take particular care to adequately cite Internet sources. Just citing the home page of a large Internet site will not be considered adequate citation.

The Research Study Report is the largest single component of your final grade.  Careful preparation of the report can maximize its contribution to your final grade.

The Draft Research Study Report will be due March 27. 

The Final Research Study Report will be due April 10.

Formatting and other requirements:

 

Be sure to review the formatting handout provided earlier in the course and available on the Handouts page.

There is no maximum or minimum length requirement for this report, however, lack of a substantial effort will result in a low grade.

A report that is padded with unnecessary graphic inserts or other superfluous material will also receive a poor grade.

 

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