Help

To: Audience (your team)

From: Author’s Name

Date: Month (written out) Day, Year

RE: Proposal for XXX

Purpose

Memos of more than one page should have a clear statement of purpose. For this class, the assignment is to propose the need for additional research of a legitimate workplace problem or concern identified in the areas of business, IT, or healthcare. Review Chapters 9 and 11 of Practical Strategies for Technical Communication and the sample proposal in Chapter 11. We will not include a summary in this proposal since it should not exceed 2-3 pages in length.

Introduction

The introduction section gives the reader context and the scope of the proposal. Students will first state and define the problem. Refer to Chapter 11 of the textbook but note that you will not be discussing budget in the proposal since this problem will not be specific to a single business. The problem must be a real, widespread industry issue.

Include a brief background on the problem. Which stakeholders are affected? How does it affect those people? What are some stats on this demographic-median age, income, educational level (if applicable)?  Are any of these issues a problem that could affect stakeholders locally, regionally, nationally, and/or globally? How so? Are there new policies or events that will be in effect or happen in the next two to five years, such as an election year, new health care plan, law, or world events that will affect this topic? This section will be a few well-developed paragraphs.

Include initial research to explain the need for further, more in-depth exploration of the problem. When any facts are provided, a citation must be used. Students must find, use, and cite credible, professional sources that support their ideas about the topic. Avoid opinion and 1st person narrative (“I think…”).

Based on the background and initial research of the aforementioned problem, the author will present one viable potential solution that needs further research. This solution should be general in nature; students will not have done enough research at this point to provide detailed

and pointed solutions.  In this section, could, may, might is acceptable language as the solution has not been solidified or researched in full.

Students will state what type of research will be done if the proposal were to be accepted and why these sources will be helpful in researching the topic. For example, if a student were researching a medical topic, he or she would discuss the use of medical journals, medical studies, credible medical websites, etc. or directly name those resources.

Secondary research such as journal articles, books, and credible websites are appropriate for this assignment

Research Questions

In Practical Strategies for Technical Communication, Chapter 11 on writing proposals suggests the use of a “proposed program” and a list of tasks for research purposes. However, this is only appropriate for projects that require primary research (first hand gathering of data via interviews, experiments, surveys, etc.). Due to IRB and time constraints, no primary research may be used in the English 311 online class. Therefore, students will list potential Research Questions instead of a proposed task list.

Students should provide a brief (1-2 sentences) intro/explanation of the research questions (why are these being asked, what will these questions explore) and a list of potential research questions. These generally answer how or why instead of what. “Yes/No” questions are to be avoided. A bulleted list of questions is required.

· What are the overarching questions this research will answer?

· What question does the student want to ask and answer through the research?

· An author should not write research questions that are too specific or too narrow.

For example, a research question could be, “How is social media being used to market ABC Business?” instead of, “Does ABC Business have a Facebook page?”

Experience

This should be a brief paragraph that details the expertise and professional background of the author. In the workplace, you may at times write a proposal for an external source who is unfamiliar with your credentials and experience. Why are you qualified to research this problem? Include any and all relevant credentials that will help prove your qualifications for the project.

References

All entries should be in alphabetical order. URLs should be listed with a hyperlink and should not be followed by a period.

Every source on the References page must also have a corresponding in-text citation, also in APA format.

The reference section starts on a new page. References should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

This section should include at least five (5) credible sources. Please be sure you are appropriately citing sources.

Those references that do not end with a URL will use a period as end punctuation.

Revised AY 2018-2019

Revised AY 2020-21