You are required to write a recommendation/research report on one of the following topics:
A job issue (should be related to your program)•
A culinary business-related issue•
A personnel issue (hotel management, tourism, culinary)•
Topic of your choice (should be related to your program)•
FORMAT
The report will follow the memo format. See notes and the sample report model(s) posted for you on FOL. These models show you how to use titles, headings, subheadings, white space, and graphic highlighting. They also provide good examples of “Introduction” paragraphs, and sections titled “Conclusions” and “Recommendations.”
Include at least 5 sources from places such as the Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, interviews. At least one of these sources must be other than the Internet. You must include at least 5 citations, using the APA style of documentation. There will be a References page at the end of your report (on which your references are listed alphabetically). Check the links for APA documentation, the PowerPoint, and the APA Sheet (posted under “Content” on FOL) for proper documentation.
Your report will have a title page with the words Research Memo Report, your name, the course number and section (COMM-3080-01), my name (Professor Haytham Mahfoud) and the due date. On this page, also include the topic, e.g. Culinary, Hotel, Management, Personnel, etc. This information on the title page should be balanced and attractive.
By 11:30 p.m. on March 29 (or earlier if you wish) you will submit an electronic copy of your report to the specified Assignment Dropbox on FOL. Please make sure your document is in MS Word, RTF (Rich Text Format), Text, or PDF format, but not in iPages (an Apple program). Turnitin.com does not accept iPages, nor can my computer open these files, and if your file is not accepted by Turnitin.com, and if I can’t read it, then your report will not receive a grade.
EXPECTATIONS
1. The report must be approximately 4-5 pages. The final page will be a reference page.
2. The report must have at least one graphic, which must be practical and not merely aesthetic. This graphic must be generated by the student; it cannot be simply cut and pasted from another source.
3. There must be at least five sources, and these sources must be cited along APA lines.
4. There must be at least five in-text citations (one for each of the five sources).
COMM-3080-05
RESEARCH REPORT ASSIGNMENT
WINTER 2017
Assignment_ResearchReport_Ver2_SK_HM__3080-05_W17.doc
5. The quoted, paraphrased, and summarized material must be properly documented in your
report (in the body of your report and in the reference page). Do not plagiarize.
Remember, there are no “innocent mistakes” in plagiarism.
6. There must be effective use of visual communication and report formatting techniques
(headings, tables, bulleted lists, graphs, etc…).
ASSESSMENT/GRADING
I’ll be grading your report based on the following criteria: content, organization, style, format,
and APA documentation. Any report that fails to have any documentation will automatically
receive a failing grade. Any report that only provides URLs for documentation will receive a
grade no higher than a D. Here are some specific questions I will be asking when I read your
report?
Is the report composed in memo format with a second (and subsequent) page header that•
contains your addressee, page number, and date? (See sample on FOL)
Is there appropriate use of visual communication principles (tables, bulleted lists and/ or•
graphics, or whatever you deem relevant to your report topic)?
Is the page well designed (no excessive use of white space)?•
Has the report been well researched?•
Are the sources credible and relevant?•
Is the report well documented (at least 5 in-text citations)?•
Is a principle of organization apparent?•
Is the report logically organized?•
Is the report well written?•
Is it free of typographical and grammatical errors?•