ENGL 361 Technical Report Assignment
ENGL 361 Technical Report Assignment
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ENGL 361 SUMMER 2024
Technical Report Assignment Guidelines
This report assignment requires you to write a recommendation report on a topic of your choice. A
recommendation report assesses a troublesome or unsatisfactory situation, identifies a solution to the
problem, and persuades decision makers to pursue a particular course of action that will improve
matters.
PROJECT GOALS
The overall goals of this project are to acquaint you with research and the publication process
involved in technical report writing. This is a pedagogical goal: in doing the project, you are to learn
about various professional journals, bibliographic aids, research practices, and directions of
communication. This experience should enable you to study other topics in technical
communication. Likewise, this experience should help you prepare for similar projects in the “real
world” – the world of work that you will enter after you graduate from Bowie State University.
TOPIC SELECTION & AUDIENCE
Your topic will stem from the businesses you have established in the Audience Analysis assignment.
The companies you have created will provide the foundation for this report.
You will write your report to a real decision maker in your company—an executive reader who has
the means to act on your recommendations. As you prepare your report, you should do so with this
reader in mind. In other words, write the report as if that person is the reader. You aren’t required
to directly submit the report to that reader; however, when I grade your report, I’ll be evaluating it to
assess how convincing it would be for that reader. Again, I am not your primary reader.
PROJECT TOPICS
Listed below are your options for topics. You may choose your own topic; however, be
reminded that your topic must address a particular problem, be researchable, and provide
recommendations. Only two groups may work on each topic, so read the options carefully.
A. A local business (identify the business) has an ineffective website or social media presence.
Based on what you know and what you have learned thus far from your textbook and from
this course, perform research to highlight ways the current website or social media presence
is ineffective and write a report to your primary reader recommending the best solution to
enhance, revise, or replace the current content.
B. A local business (identify the business) is struggling to keep pace with its competitors since
the pandemic began. Due to ineffective management, operations, advertising and
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communication, sales have been slumping. Write a report to the company’s CEO that
recommends ways to increase sales once again.
C. Colleges and universities are looking to offer new courses that will not only meet the
demands of workplace employers but also attract potential students and retain currently
enrolled students. Write a report to the dean of your college or school that recommends a
new course for business students or students in your major to take. Caution: the course
should address a need that students in your major or in the school of business have and
not just be another class for students to take.
D. Identify a problem that currently affects students on BSU’s campus and recommend to your
primary reader an appropriate technology, procedure, or student-led business that could
solve that problem.
PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
This section lists your requirements for successfully completing the ENGL 361 Technical Report
project.
Tasks
Choose, research, and propose a recommendation to a situation of your choosing.
Use bibliographic search techniques to identify all relevant research published within the
last eight years. (Pre-2016 material must be approved; you must defend inclusion of any
material over 20 years old.)
Conduct and show relevant primary (interviews, surveys, experiments) and secondary
research to test the validity and applicability of research findings to your client’s particular
interests. (Often, this mainly involves interviewing the client to identify the kind of
information most pertinent to the client’s interests.)
Read and synthesize information from no fewer than 6 published sources that your
bibliographic search identified. Your report must include citations from these sources
(vary your sources to include secondary works that are not exclusively online–i.e. books,
government documents, newspaper or magazine articles, abstracts, or other sources).
*Remember your reference page (along with the rest of the report) must be in
APA format.
Write a 5 – 10page (body) recommendation report synthesizing your research findings and
directing them to your client’s particular needs. Include at least one graphic illustration
(table, graph, and/or figure). I must approve reports that are more than 10 body pages.
Attach any documents that may be pertinent to the readability of your report (to be placed in
the Appendix).
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Design
Your report should be a formal report. It can be double-spaced or single-spaced
just be consistent. Number the pages and allow at least one-inch margins on all sides. Use headings
to guide the eye quickly through the report. In addition to discussing your preliminary library
research, you must attach a reference page. Use the current APA style for bibliographic and
internal documentation (no footnotes).
Length
You must meet all the specifications rendered in this document. It may take you 5-7 pages to do this,
or 8-10 depending on the information that you need to present. Nonetheless, excluding front and
back matter, your report body must be 5-10 pages.
Format
Your research report should have all the parts of a formal report (outlined on page 476—Table 18.1):
letter of transmittal, cover page, title page, abstract, table of contents, list of illustrations, general
introduction, body, conclusion, recommendation, and references.
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Listed below is Table 18:1 as outlined in your textbook; additional guidelines are explained below:
Table 18.1 Elements of a Typical Report
Section of
the report
Purposes of the section Required elements in the
section
Front matter to orient the reader to the subject
to provide summaries for technical and
managerial readers
to help readers navigate the report
to help readers decide whether to read the
document
letter of transmittal
cover
title page
abstract
table of contents
list of illustrations
Body to provide the most comprehensive
account of the project, from the problem
or opportunity that motivated it, to the
methods and the most important findings
introduction
methods
results
budget—required only if
needed.
conclusions
recommendations
Back matter to present supplementary information, such
as more-detailed explanations than are
provided in the body
to enable readers to consult the secondary
sources the writers used
glossary—required only if
needed.
list of symbols—required only
if needed.
references
appendix
attachments (see below)
Additional Guidelines
Your textbook provides information on how to write the required elements for the front matter,
body and back matter of your report. Additional requirements and guidelines that your report must
include are outlined below.
Cover—Create your own design.
Title Page—Must be in APA format.
Letter of Transmittal—The letter of transmittal introduces the readers to the report. It should be
brief, and include the following:
An address to the recipient by title and surname
A brief summary of the background leading up to the report.
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The key findings of the report
Summary of the report
Special problems
Financial implications
Conclusions and recommendations
Table of Contents—The table of contents should be numbered and titled appropriately. List of
Tables and Figures: This project only requires one illustration, but you most certainly may include
more.
Abstract—Provide a general overview of your topic and findings.
Introduction—Open with a summary paragraph introducing and incorporating the essentials of the
report (Why is the report being written?). You will probably write this last but make it the first thing
the reader sees. Identify your topic and purpose clearly and include all related issues surrounding the
topic. Forecast the report with a brief introduction of the conclusions or recommendations drawn.
Findings—Methods: Identify your methodology (What steps or tasks did you take to conduct your
report?). Results: Carefully present the results of your findings. What data and/or evidence did you
collect to illustrate your observations. Discuss the purpose of the report. Indicate specific questions
you will be answering.
Budget (optional)—Depending on your topic, you may need to include a budget. Your budget
should indicate the cost that your client will incur.
Conclusion—Describe the interpretation of your results.
Recommendations—Use your findings and conclusions to indicate your
recommendations.
NOTE: If you have conclusions that lead to separate recommendations, create two separate
sections, one for Conclusions, another for Recommendations. If your conclusions are essentially
recommendations, then create a header titled, “Conclusions and Recommendations.” It is usual to
list and number specific conclusions and recommendations.
**IMPORTANT** Do not introduce new information under these headings. All
conclusions and recommendations need to be derived from facts and arguments from the body of
the report.
References and Bibliographic Information—References are the sources you refer to in a report.
The APA style requires that you attach a page titled, “References” at the end of your report and list
them in alphabetical order. A bibliography is an alphabetical list of works used (but not referred to in
the report) in preparing the report. For your report, references are required; a bibliography is
optional. In addition to print sources, your references may include interviews, private papers,
unpublished lecture notes, etc… If you include a complete bibliography of works identified or
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consulted, place it after the Reference Page, and give it a meaningful title (e.g., “Comprehensive
Listing of Published Research on Online Help Conversations”).
Appendix (Optional)—Follows the bibliography. An appendix provides supplemental information
that is not essential to the report. Each appendix bears a label and letter (e.g., Appendix A, Appendix
B), and pages of each appendix are usually numbered separate from each other and from the report
(e.g., A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2).
Attachments — 1 required, photocopy of a key print source is needed). Attachments are standalone documents included for the reader’s convenience. They follow all appendices, and are
numbered rather than lettered (e.g., Attachment 1, Attachment 2). Label your required attachment as
follows: “Attachment 1: Key Source,_____” and fill in the title of the print source you chose to
include to enable me to quickly check the quality of your documentation and paraphrase.
Acceptance Criteria
Deliverables must meet the specifications in this document.
All final topics must be pre-approved by instructor.
Deliverables
Library Research due: (See Syllabus)
Literature Review due: (See syllabus)
Report draft due: (See syllabus)
Final report due: (See syllabus)
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