Take a look at the example of a conclusion for a Formal Report on pages 513 – 514 in the text book and you will see that your final goal is to provide a list of recommendations.
The ultimate purpose of your formal report is to make detailed recommendations based on an analysis of primary data to a reader with the ability and authority to act on those recommendations.
Primary sources for research: carefully review the sections in our text that discuss primary sources (140) and consider what types of data gathering you can use for the topics you are brainstorming. You will need to schedule yourselves accordingly; gathering data via interviews and surveys is time consuming and designing your interview questions and/or surveys will become a priority once you have settled on your topic for of investigation.
Surveys, Interviews and observations are your primary research methods. Please carefully review the requirements for surveys and interviews.
Please consider collecting survey data, there are a number of advantages:
- Surveys are autonomous
- A much larger amount of data is possible
- Analysis of data is likely to be less biased and easier to translate into visuals
When you create your survey, research ethics require an introduction to the survey/ interview that:
1] in the case of surveys a written introduction that assures your participants confidentiality and autonomy
2] clearly states the purpose of the survey and that participation is voluntary
3] describes the amount of time required to complete the survey
4] thank your participants
Procedures for preparing your report: The list of steps for researching the analytical report (p. 150) is an excellent way to begin. I encourage you to use this list when you organize your report, and to use your writing forums to discuss your approaches to audience profiles and narrowing down your topics, if time allows.
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