Essay Instructions: (please include bibliography page)
Note: At the bottom I have included the transcribed interview, which can be used as the 6th reference) Thanks a bunch!!!!
What is the purpose and scope of the formal report?
In this unit, you will work independently to plan and write a formal analytical report that draws upon field-specific information from your chosen field of study and that is written to members of your field (i.e., experts). You will have freedom to choose a topic for this report, but your topic must be informed by your future career plans. That is, if you are a public health major whose goal is to work in the areas of reproductive health and community advocacy, then your report should be guided by this goal. You would then conduct research focused on a specific line of inquiry related to these areas.
Your research will culminate in a final analytical report that “provides a formal response to a research question” (Johnson-Sheehan 652). Thus you should first establish a question related to your topic. For instance, if your topic is reproductive health among teens, your research question might be “What are the benefits and disadvantages of abstinence-only programs?” or it might be “What are the most effective alternatives to abstinence-only programs?” Your report should then address your research question, offering possible solutions.
Knowing how to write a well-crafted research report is an impressive skill to possess. More specifically, in this project, you will learn to:
• Define a research question that is manageable, feasible, and relevant (i.e., answers a “so what?”)
• Analyze research that responds to a focused line of inquiry
• Familiarize and prepare yourself for work in your professional field
• Use rhetorical strategies appropriate for other experts in your field
• Conduct an interview as a method of research
What are the required deliverables for the formal report?
Because this assignment will be due on May 5 (less than a month from now), you will need to work diligently to complete this project. In addition, we will have limited class time to work on this assignment, so you will have to complete most of this work outside of class. The deliverables for this unit include:
• Email of introduction to your chosen interviewee (5% of Unit 3 grade)
• Interview questions, notes, and transcript (20% of Unit 3 grade)
• Formal report (70% of Unit 3 grade)
• Thank you email (5% of Unit 3 grade)
What is the email of introduction?
To facilitate the development of your formal report, you must research a site and establish a client contact. You will go through this process following the guidelines here, and then you will draft an email of introduction to your chosen interviewee that explains your research agenda and requests an interview.
Your contact person is an important first step in creating a successful report. You should begin by brainstorming a list of sites and organizations related to your chosen profession. Those sites need to be local so that you may visit with a local contact for that organization. After you have brainstormed a list of sites and organizations, begin researching them to narrow down your choices. You want to find a client contact at your selected site, and thus, you will need access to contact information. Use these criteria in selecting a site and contact person:
• Site must be local and geographically accessible.
• Site must be related to your chosen profession and field.
• Site must provide you with permission to visit.
• Contact person must *not* be a relative or close friend.
• Contact person must be a member of your chosen profession.
• Contact person must be amenable to a 30-minute interview and follow-up email contact from you.
• Contact person must be willing to discuss your research topic.
• Contact person must understand that your visit is for a course project and be willing to help you in achieving the project's goals by providing information.
After you have determined a prioritized list of sites and contacts, you should talk to your contact person explaining the scope of this project and asking for a 30-minute interview. You must explain the tight timeline for the course and secure the interview right away. You also may want to have a back-up client just in case.
How do I develop the content of my email of introduction?
Your email should introduce yourself and your rationale for choosing to enter your field of study. Provide your major, year in school, and future professional ambitions. Then, explain your research, explaining to your interviewee what you hope to find out and learn from this class project. Outline the professional and project benefits of working with your contact and his or her organization. Tell the contact why you have chosen him/her to interview for this process. Finally, request an interview and include specific dates and times during which you are available to meet. Indicate that you will follow up with a phone call in a couple of days, in case you don’t hear back from them
IMPORTANT: You should carbon copy me on the e-mail you send to your chosen interviewee. Include my email address, marissaj@d2l.arizona.edu, in the BCC line of your email.
How do I develop the form of my email of intent?
The email should be from you, listing your full name and your full email address in the "From" line of your message (Be certain that the email address, itself, is professional). You should address the email to the client and BCC me using my formal title--again, use my full name and full email address (marissaj@d2l.arizona.edu). The subject line, just as in your memos, should be descriptive and useful.
Your email should follow formal guidelines similar to those for a letter. Here are some more guidelines for formatting your email:
• Don't use a colorful background or other stylized font choice--use the default formatting for your email. Many email programs cannot read the elaborate or decorative email message formats.
• Greet your reader formally (e.g., Ms. Contreras or Professor Contreras). Follow this greeting with a colon or comma.
• Create clear paragraphs developing the message as instructed above.
• Close the message with "Sincerely" or a similarly professional closing. Be certain, then, to provide your full names and contact information (email addresses, phone #s, preferred calling times if you have restrictions).
• Use appropriate capitalization and spelling (spell check your email before sending it).
How do I prepare for my contact interview?
Prior to developing your formal report, you should conduct at least one interview with a member of your future profession. You should be prepared to ask the contact about his or her background in the field (education, career trajectory, etc.), as well as his or her knowledge of your chosen research question.
Your goals for this interview are manifold:
1. to gain useful and relevant data about your line of inquiry.
2. to gain useful and relevant data about your contact and profession.
3. to guide other aspects of your research process.
4. to establish a professional contact.
developing effective interview questions
As you prepare to conduct your interview, you should be certain to email a confirmation of the day, date, time and location of your scheduled interview. If you want to audio record the interview, you must ask your contact's permission. You also should take notes during the interview in case the audio recorder fails.
The following are points to consider as you draft your interview questions:
• As you plan your interview, think about not only the individual questions but also the shape of the interview as a whole.
• Avoid asking questions for which you already have adequate answers.
• Have at least six well-developed questions, but don't let these questions stifle the natural flow of the conversation.
• Listen carefully to the responses and ask follow-up questions based upon the interviewee's interests and concerns.
• Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no.
• Avoid asking questions that are too broad.
• Avoid starting the interview with questions that are too narrow.
• Avoid asking leading questions that assume a particular answer and discourage the interviewee from voicing alternative interests/concerns.
creating an interview transcript
You should transcribe your interview notes in a Word file. This transcription should capture, as much as possible, the questions, responses, and tone of the interview with your client. If the client allows you may wish to record your interview digitally to aid with the transcription process; otherwise, have a template of your questions with space for note taking, then take notes during the interview.
What do I need to include in my formal report?
Your report should incorporate research from a variety of sources, including your interview. When researching your topic, you should consult both scholarly (peer reviewed) and popular sources; you should also evaluate the credibility of all sources before citing them in your report. These sources should be relevant to your research agenda and should help you answer the question you have set out to answer. Your report should include the following:
• A memo of transmittal (no more than 1 page) that details
o Your understanding of the rhetorical situation (the central message and idea, readers, and purpose)
o How you have crafted your report to meet experts’ needs and expectations
o Any information I should know before reading the document
• A well designed cover sheet that includes the title, your name, date, and the name of the person(s) to whom it was submitted.
• An abstract (a paragraph) that provides a summary of the main ideas of the report in the order they are presented. The abstract should be its own separate page.
• Report: Introduction that outlines the relevance of the report question (i.e., explains the “so what?”) and includes a brief overview of the main ideas and organization of the report itself.
• Report: Research Methods section that details the sources you consulted in writing the report. This section should elaborate on 2-3 key sources (for instance, if you found the majority of your information in one article and one book, you’d want to discuss these at length). This section should convince your reader of the validity/credibility of your sources.
• Report: Findings section that objectively describes at least three key findings. This is the portion of your report that will detail the information relevant to your topic, and you should include support for the recommendations you will make later.
• Report: Discussion of Findings sections that presents your own analysis of the research you’ve found. What conclusions can you draw based on the research?
• Report: Conclusions and Recommendations section that summarizes the main points of the report, discusses the significance of these points, and makes recommendations to readers about potential solutions.
• A bibliography or Works Cited page, correctly formatted in MLA or APA format. Please note that I will deduct significant points for not following correct format here.
• Other: Your report should demonstrate the concepts you learned this semester, including the design principles and writing strategies central to technical communication.
• Page Requirements: Your report will probably be between 4-6 pages in length single-spaced, not including the supporting documents (cover memo, table of contents, etc.)
acceptable sources
Your report should incorporate research from at least six sources, one of which will be your interview. Your research should come primarily from peer-reviewed journals and books. You can consult—but should not rely heavily upon--newspapers and magazines. You must limit the Web sites you reference to two or less.
How to I draft my thank-you email?
In order to demonstrate your appreciation for your contact's participation in your research project, you will create an email of thanks. This email should specifically explain how the contact helped you in this project and what you learned from working with him or her. As your contact-researcher relationship is coming to an end, your message should leave the client feeling reward by your interactions. You will first draft this email in a Word document, and then send the final revision at the end of the semester after you have completed the project. You should follow the same formal email guidelines as provided in the email of intent section of this project.
Interview:
Interview of Courtney Jones from Wingspan of Tucson
Q: Courtney, can you tell me a little more about your education, where did you study, what did you major in?
A: I am from Bisbee Arizona and I attended college here in Tucson, AZ. I obtained my associates of science at Pima Community College. I then decide to transfer over to The University of Arizona , that is when I decided to shoot for my Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health education.
Q: Can you tell me more about Wingspan, and the type of work do you perform?
A: First of all, Wingspan is Southern Arizona's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community center. Wingspan is a non-profit, charitable organization that serves Tucson and Southern Arizona. Wingspan's mission is to promote the freedom, equality, safety and well-being of LGBT people.
Wingspan envisions a community in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who are treated with dignity and respect, live in a community free from violence and abuse, live healthy and interconnected lives, are free to live openly with pride. I am the main coordinator of the organization and I work hard everyday to provide the LBGT people with helpful and reliable sources and information to advocate safe sex practices ands STD prevention. I refer those who want to seek further medical assistance to other community clinics of low cost.
Q: Based on the research I am doing, do you think that there are enough LBGT programs being advocated thoroughly in the U.S. today? Why?
A: To be honest with you, I do not think that there are sufficient LBGT programs out there because there is not enough funds right know do to the economic crisis, and most importantly because there are persons who are homophobic and do not accept LBGT persons as part of their world. I do believe that there is a stigma within society today. That is why we try to work toward the elimination of homophobia, heterosexism, racism, sexism, classism, ageism, ableism, and other forms of oppression in our communities and our lives.
Q: Do you believe that this issue will become better, different or will remain the same?
A: I believe that this issue will remain the same, unless the “conservative society” changes their viewpoints towards the importance of sexual health and prevention. I think that this is the only way to expand our resources, and of course with the funds of the government. Also, to promote the empowerment of marginalized groups within the LGBT communities such as youth, seniors, and people with disabilities.
Q: Thank you Courtney, now do you feel like Wingspan has reached out to many persons since you first satred working here?
A: You know, I feel like this organization has chosen to make a difference in LGBT persons’ lives because I have noticed the difference it has made in each individual. I have seen persons walk in, with their confidence level not one hundred percent confident, but we make them feel at home and that they can trust us, and they leave with a smile on their faces.
Q: In a few years from now, would you still be working for Wingspan?
A: Of course, if time allows and the LBGT advocacy expands, hopefully wingspan will grow and there will be lots of centers within the state of Arizona. I want to be part of that moment and share the empowerment with many teenagers and college students who need assistance and have that communication with them. This will make the world a better place.
Source:
Jones, Courtney. (2009). Wingspan. www.wingspan.org.
There are faxes for this order.
