The main two tasks in unit three were drafting the formal report and researching an advertisement for the job application package assignment. An aim of the unit was to write with “you-attitude” by focusing your writing on the reader and their benefits. Overall, I have learned that incorporating this strategy will make my writing more clear, concise, and convincing.

Formal Report Draft

Researching

At the beginning of this unit, I changed the topic of my formal report causing me to fall behind on researching, organizing, and writing my formal report. Luckily, I had done preliminary research on my own, about psychology graduate programs. I began my research by reviewing government labor statistics reports and papers from psychology associations. Once I got an idea of the job requirements and skills needed to become a professional psychologist, I drafted questions for informational interviews with professionals in the field and for an online survey with psychology graduate students. I incorporated both research methods because each method represents a different perspective (professionals in the field vs. students entering the field). 

Organizing

When it came time to organize my report, I followed a similar layout and design as an example from our textbook. I like that they used two types of analyses (feasibility and comparative) in their report and adopted that format. Based on that approach, I selected a line graph as a visual for the projected job growth of professional psychologists and a table comparing the relative advantages of each career path. 

Writing 

As I drafted my report, I realized that I couldn’t complete much of the report because I had not finished collecting data. Conducting informational interviews took a lot longer than expected as most professionals had limited availability to meet. In addition, I struggled to find a place to post my online survey for psychology graduate students. Therefore, instead of formally writing portions of my formal report, I showed my plan for each section and what graphics I would use to display my results in the most effective way.

Peer Review and Self-Editing 

As I completed my peer review of Beenish’s formal report draft, I understood the importance of incorporating the “you attitude”. Not only did it make her writing more concise but also made her recommendations sound more promising to her reader. While reading Beenish’s peer-review of my draft, I see how I can eliminate the use of imperative verbs and eliminate pronouns to enhance the conciseness and persuasion of my writing. Beenish pointed out inconsistencies in my design and organization; therefore,  in my final report, I will use a more consistent layout to enhance the organization and readability of my document.

Enclosure: 301 Brionne McWilliams Formal Report Draft