Researching, organizing and writing a formal report are the main tasks for unit 3. Doing the tasks involved in fulfilling the requirements of this unit teaches the value of time organization, practice, and self-editing.
Researching and writing a report in an academic or office workplace setting is interesting. My report is about a small business, and I found the research part of the process fun as it involves going outside and talking to people. However, I find writing reports frustrating. I grew up in the small business world where writing lengthy reports is not part of our work, except for making end-of-the-day numerical sales reports and taxes. I took a long time writing the final report draft. Fortunately, I spent a long time working as a caterer, which taught me to start doing tasks early. Being late in the catering industry costs a lot of money. Doing tasks early is a habit that I learned in my other career, which I found helpful in tackling big unfamiliar tasks like researching and writing a lengthy final report.
Learning how to use Qualtrics for surveys is excellent because I can see a variety of ways to use the software in gathering information in the food and nutrition field. Taking the time to explore and learn how to use the survey analysis, such as cross analysis, is worth the effort. I will be using this software to pursue different areas of research in the future.
While researching marketing research report examples, I found it fascinating to discover how beautiful marketing visuals have become available on the internet. I think that combining the eye-catching visuals in nutrition field research or making infographics can make reports or awareness campaigns appealing. Although I couldn’t use a lot of visuals for my report, discovering the different software available while doing this project enhanced my marketing skills.
Although challenging, writing a lengthy report is an excellent way to practice the different topics taught in other units, such as writing concisely. I found doing this task helpful in finishing other writing assignments for other classes. Moving forward, I will create a writing guide that summarizes writing tips from the text and from the Instructor’s blog, which hopefully can help me write faster and better in the future.
I used the textbook to write the report draft, and for writing my partner’s peer review, I used the Instructor’s blog. During the peer review process, I realized that I committed similar mistakes, such as writing in the past tense and writing unnecessary information for the reader. The peer-review process made me realize that the marketing analysis report is similar to selling products and that presenting the information positively is essential. I also learned through this exercise how much I write in the passive voice, and changing the sentences to active voice is challenging. Developing writing skills will take time, and practicing these skills is beneficial in communicating in the workplace. Self-editing is an excellent way to practice and improve my writing skills.
Overall, although this unit’s tasks are challenging and involve a lot of work, I appreciate all the new writing skills and techniques that I discovered and developed while doing these activities.
Enclosure: FormalReportDraft_LASalamanca