To: Leo Kim, Member of Jake’s Friends
From: Ben Maxfield, Member of Jake’s Friends
Date: March 19, 2022
Subject: Peer Review of Formal Report First Draft
Thank you for submitting the first draft of your Feasibility Analysis of Increasing Rubbish Bins to Reduce Littering on Campus. You have done well to define the problem and reason about ways to solve it. Some suggestions to improve the report and correct errors are detailed below:
First Impressions
The most notable quality of the report is the well-defined scope of the problem of littering on UBC’s campus. The problem covers a well-defined area and is naturally simple to evaluate.
Organization
The report is ordered correctly and moves logically between sections. The hierarchy is easy to follow within a given section, and the use of hierarchical lettering improves clarity. Following are suggestions to improve the organization of the report:
- Some headings are on the preceding page to their content
- Tables should not span two pages
- Consider adding a page break between major sections of the report (Data, Conclusion, etc.)
Title Page
The title page indicates that the report, titled “Feasibility Analysis of Increasing Rubbish Bins to Reduce Littering on Campus”, is addressed to Jackie Kwok of UBC sustainability. The working title and intended recipient are appropriate and a date is included. This section includes all of the required components, nice work.
Introduction
The introduction describes an increase in littering on campus as the problem. Increasing the number of anti-littering signs and adding more rubbish bins are raised as potential solutions to the problem. Survey and observation are chosen as methods of inquiry to gather information about student behavior and the cause of littering. Following are suggested improvements for this section:
- Section “A” does not provide any justification for worsening problem of littering, especially at a “day by day” rate
- Claims about the amount of litter or the change to this amount should be avoided
- Less prescriptive claims would be easier to defend and still convey the problem adequately
- The problem is better described as “Litter on campus”, rather than “A lack of rubbish bins and signs”
- The existing problem description conflates possible causes for the problem, and the problem itself
Data
The data section includes findings and interpretations of observations, survey results, and results from research. The methods are sensibly chosen and the interpretations are sensibly interpreted. Visualizations are included to support observations and survey results.
- Observations are well-described and very practical.
- The included map of the university is an excellent inclusion to visualize the observation data points.
- Survey results are interpreted well and nicely visualized
- Please include both ends of qualitative scale (e.g.: Strong agree and Strongly disagree) when labelling charts
Conclusion
The report concludes that, in order to reduce littering on the UBC campus, the university should 1) increase the number of rubbish bins, 2) add anti-littering signage to high-littering areas, and 3) introduce portable rubbish bins.
- Conclusions are well-defined and actionable
- Recommending two different types of methods is a good strategy
- The recommendation to reduce the distance between rubbish bins to 100m appears to have come from the survey results – this figure should be better-supported
Grammar and Technical Errors
There are a number of grammatical errors in each section of the report. Please review the document with spell-checking software before continuing with other changes.
Concluding Comments
Please note the following revisions as ways to improve the strength of your report:
- Refactor introduction to avoid uncited claims
- Rewrite the problem description to avoid suggesting problem causes
- Ensure headings are on the same page as their content, consider introducing page-breaks
- Include both ends of qualitative axis values
- Include additional reasoning to strengthen recommendations.
Overall, this is a well-intentioned, focused report on a notable issue. The report has the potential to motivate visible change by reducing the amount of litter on the UBC campus. Please reach out if you have any questions. You have done great work on the draft report, thank you for the opportunity to review it.
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