Planning, Proposing & Researching Reports Chapter 15 Planning, Proposing & Researching Reports Chapter 15 Planning, Proposing, & Researching Reports

Steps in Report Writing Define the problem Gather necessary data Analyze the data Organize the information Write the report Proposals and reports depend on research. The research may be as simple as pulling up data with a computer program or as complicated as calling many different people, conducting focus groups and surveys, or even planning and conducting experiments. Care in planning, proposing, and researching reports is needed to produce reliable data. In writing any report, use these five steps.

Formal vs. Informal Reports Formal reports contain formal elements Informal reports may be memos, letters, e-mail, sales figures, etc. Formal reports contain formal elements such as a title page, a transmittal, a table of contents, and a list of illustrations. Informal reports may be letters and memos or even computer printouts of production or sales figures. But all reports, whatever their length or degree of formality, provide the information that people in organizations need to make plans and solve problems.

Reports Classifications Information reports Analytical reports Recommendation reports Reports can be called information reports if they collect data for the reader such as sales and quarterly reports. Analytical reports interpret data but do not recommend action. They include annual, audit, and make-good or pay-back reports. Recommendation reports recommend action or a solution and can include feasibility, justification, and problem-solving reports.

Reports Classifications, continued… Some reports combine information, analytical, and recommendation types Accident reports Credit reports Progress reports Some reports can be information, analytical, or recommendation reports, depending on what they provide. For example, accident reports can simply list the nature and causes of accidents in a factory or office. These reports can also recommend ways to make conditions safer. Credit reports can simply summarize an applicant’s income and other credit obligations. These reports can also evaluate the applicant’s collateral and creditworthiness. Progress and interim reports can simply record the work done so far and the work remaining on a project. These reports can also analyze the quality of the work and recommend that a project be stopped, continued, or restructured.

Defining Report Problems Chrematistics of reports problems Real problem Real audience Data, evidence, and facts Good report problems grow out of real problems. A good report problem in business or administration is real, important enough to be worth solving, and narrow but challenging. The audience for the reports should be real and able to implement the recommended action. Finally, the data, evidence, and facts should be sufficient to document the severity of the problem, sufficient to prove that the recommendation will solve the problem, available, and comprehensible to you.

Purpose Statement Makes three things clear: Organizational problem or conflict Specific technical questions that must be answered to solve problem Rhetorical purpose the report is designed to achieve Explain - Recommend – Request - Propose A good purpose statement makes three things clear: the organizational problem or conflict, the specific technical questions that must be answered to solve the problem, and the rhetorical purpose the report is designed to achieve, such as to explain, to recommend, to request, or to propose.

Proposals Proposals suggest method to find information or solve problem Two goals Get the project accepted Get you accepted to do job Proposals suggest a method for finding information or solving a problem. Finding the information or solving the problem helps an organization decide whether to change, decide how to change, or implement a change that is agreed on. Proposals have two goals: to get the project accepted and to get you accepted to do the job. Proposals must stress audience benefits and provide specific supporting details.

Questions a Proposal Must Answer What problem are you going to solve? How are you going to solve it? When will you complete the work? Can you deliver what you promise? What benefits will you offer? How much will you charge? What exactly will you provide? To write a good proposal, you need to have a clear view of the problem you hope to solve and the kind of research or other action needed to solve it. A proposal must answer these questions convincingly.

Class Research Proposal Sections Introductory paragraph Problem Feasibility Audience Topics to investigate Methods and procedures Qualifications/facilities/resources Work schedule Call to action A proposal for a student report usually has these sections. Your instructor will let you know if you should omit any of these sections.

Sales Proposal Cover Letters Catch reader’s attention; summarize up to three major benefits you offer Discuss each major benefit in order listed Deal with objections or concerns Mention other benefits briefly Ask reader to approve your proposal; give reason for acting promptly To sell expensive goods or services, you may be asked to submit a proposal. Sales proposals, particularly for complicated systems costing millions of dollars, are often long. Provide a one-page cover letter to present your proposal succinctly. To organize your sales proposal cover letter, you should catch the reader’s attention and summarize up to three major benefits you offer, discuss each of the major benefits in the order in which you mentioned them in the first paragraph, deal with any objections or concerns the reader may have, mention other benefits briefly, and ask the reader to approve your proposal and provide a reason for acting promptly.

Funding Proposals Stress needs your project will meet Show how your project will help fulfill goals of organization you are asking for funds Proposals for funding include both business plans and proposals submitted to foundations, corporations, and government agencies. In a proposal for funding, stress the needs your project will meet and show how your project helps fulfill the goals of the organization you are asking for funds.

Progress Reports Chronological Task Recommendation When you’re assigned to a single project that will take a month or more, you’ll probably be asked to file one or more progress reports. A progress report reassures the funding agency or employer that you’re making progress and allows you to resolve problems as they arise. Different readers may have different concerns. An instructor may want to know whether you’ll have your report in by the due date. A client may be more interested in what you’re learning about the problem. Adapt your progress report to the needs of the audience. A chronological pattern of organization focuses on what you have done and what work remains. In a task progress report, organize information under the various tasks you have worked on during the period. Recommendation progress reports recommend action such as increasing the funding for a project, changing its direction, or canceling a project that isn’t working out.

Research Types Primary research gathers new data Surveys Interviews Observations Secondary research retrieves new data that someone else gathered Library research Online searches Research is important for all types of reports. Primary research gathers new information from surveys, interviews, and observations. Secondary research retrieves information that someone else gathered. Library research and online searches are the best known kinds of secondary research.

Criteria for Evaluating Web Sources Authors Objectivity Information Revision date Use four criteria to decide whether a Web site is good enough to use for a research project. For the authors, ask what person or organization sponsors the site? What credentials do the authors have? For objectivity, question if the site gives evidence to support its claims? Does it give both sides of controversial issues? Is the tone professional? For information, consider how complete is the information? What is it based on? For the revision date, look for when the site was last updated? Answers to these questions may lead you to discard some of the relevant sites you find. Choose the most complete for your project. Be warned that many course instructors and other professionals do not consider Wikipedia a legitimate source.

Surveys, Questionnaires, & Interviews Survey—questions large groups of people, called respondents or subjects Questionnaire—written list of questions that people fill out Interviews—a structured conversation with someone who will be able to give useful information A survey questions a large group of people, called respondents or subjects. The easiest way to ask many questions is to create a questionnaire, a written list of questions that people fill out. An interview is a structured conversation with someone who will be able to give you useful information. Surveys and interviews can be useful only if the questions are well designed. Good questions ask only one thing, are phrased neutrally, avoid making assumptions about the respondent, and mean the same thing to different people.

Question Types Closed Open Branching Multiple choice Probe Mirror Questions can be categorized in several ways. Closed questions have a limited number of possible responses. Open questions do not lock the subject into any sort of response. Branching questions direct different respondents to different parts of the questionnaire based on their answers to earlier questions. When you use multiple-choice questions, make the answer categories mutually exclusive and exhaustive. Probes follow up an original question to get at specific aspects a topic answers. A mirror question paraphrases the content of the last answer.

Sample Types Convenience Judgment Random To keep research costs reasonable, only a sample of the total population is polled. How that sample is chosen and the attempts made to get responses from non-respondents will determine whether you can infer that what is true of your sample is also true of the population as a whole. A sample is a subset of the population. The population is the group you want to make statements about. A convenience sample is a group of subjects who are easy to get. Convenience samples are useful for a rough pretest of a questionnaire and may be acceptable for some class research projects. A purposive or judgment sample is a group of people whose views seem useful. In a random sample, each person in the population theoretically has an equal chance of being chosen.

Using & Documenting Sources Citation—attributing an idea or fact to its source in report body Documentation—listing bibliographic information readers would need to locate original sources In a good report, sources are cited and documented smoothly and unobtrusively. Citation means attributing an idea or fact to its source in the body of the report. Citing sources demonstrates your honesty and enhances your credibility. Documentation means providing the bibliographic information readers would need to go back to the original source. The two usual means of documentation are notes and lists of references. Note that citation and documentation are used in addition to quotation marks.