CHAPTER 2 RECOMMENDATION REPORT

Learning Outcome(s): By the end of this chapter students should be able to: i. define primary and secondary data ii. describe the elements in a recommendation report iii. produce a recommendation report

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Primary vs Secondary Data

Data is one of the most important and vital aspect of any research studies. Researchers conducted in different fields of study can be different in methodology but every research is based on data which is analyzed and interpreted to get information. There are various methods of interpreting data. Data sources are broadly classified into primary and secondary data. Types of Data Data that has been collected from first-hand-experience by conducting interviews and surveys is known as primary data. Primary data has not been published yet and is more reliable, authentic and objective. Primary data has not been changed or altered by human beings; therefore its validity is greater than secondary data. Data collected from a source that has already been published in any form is called as secondary data. The review of literature in any research is based on secondary data mostly from books, journals and periodicals. Secondary data is often readily available. After the expense of electronic media and internet the availability of secondary data has become much easier. Working with primary sources can help you expand upon what other people have already learned and add considerably credibility to your work. For instance, assume that your boss asks you to write a report about how well your companys new product is being received in the marketplace: you might consult sales reports and publish print and online reviews of the product (secondary research), but you might also survey people who use the product and interview some of them individually (primary research).

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Primary Interviews Surveys Laboratory Work Field Work Personal Observation

Secondary 1. Books 2. Journals 3. Periodical Database 4. Magazines 5. Encyclopedias 6. Company Report 7. Internet

Table 1: Different types of resources

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Before you start searching through libraries or surfing the Internet, you need a plan. In its simplest form, this plan may list the questions that you expect to answer in your quest for information. For example, a research strategy for a report on office chairs for wordprocessing operators might pose these questions: What kind of chair design do experts in the field of workplace environment recommend for word processors? Are they any data that connect the design of chairs with the efficiency of operators? Have any specific chair brands been recommended by experts? Is there information that suggests a connection between poor chair design and specific health problems?

Library Search The services that your library can provide during the research process are many. One of the most important ones is reference and information. Discussing your research topic with a reference librarian can be a very productive first step. The librarian can recommend reference books; provide instruction on how to search indexes, abstracts, and electronic databases; and guide you to collections such as government documents and noteworthy Web sites that you may not have found on your own. Make the most of your time with the reference staff by asking specific questions and returning whenever you need more help in locating or using sources.

Web Search Mining the Web for useful resources is always challenging but it can yield terrific results. Why is searching such a challenge? The Web is huge; it contains tens of millions of documents and is growing at an astounding rate The Web is constantly changing-sites are added, altered, moved and disappear without warning. The process of searching, sifting through results, downloading pages, and critically evaluating each Web page is time-consuming. Despite these challenges, the Web offers access to extraordinary resources that often have no print counterpart. Because of the Webs sheer size, a search will usually find something on any topic-possibly something of value or perhaps something useless. The later part of this chapter will explain various types of web based secondary sources.

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Exploring Your Sources

Internet

Various sites on the Web can be found. The most popular search engine is Google search. Other search engines are Yahoo, Wikipedia, universities and government websites. Online sources like magazines, news and journals can be accessed via online too.

Books

The larger the library you visit, the more likely you are to find books by specialist publishers and periodicals that delve into more specific subject areas.

Encyclopedia

Encyclopedias are alphabetically arranged collections of article. You may want to start by consulting a general encyclopedia, then examine more subjectfocused encyclopedias such as Encyclopedias of Physics.

As internet is becoming more advance, fast and reachable to the masses; it has been seen that much information that is not available in printed form is available on internet. In the past the credibility of internet was questionable but today it is not. The reason is that in the past journals and books were seldom published on internet but today almost every journal and book is available online. Some are free and for others you have to pay the price. Whereas, most people today, from students to professionals, begin their research of secondary sources by doing a Google search. Google, the most popular of the search engines, searches Web pages, government documents, online news sites, and other sources. Google also has a large collection of books and journal articles that it makes available through agreements with publishers or by digitizing works that either are in the public domain or are out of copyright.

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It is fine to start a Google search just to brainstorm ideas and develop approaches to get started. But you quickly will need to narrow down your findings and do some deeper digging. For instance, your search on electromagnetic radiation will yield thousands or even millions of results. Figure 1 outlines the process and results of a Google search. You should stick with sites from reliable sources such as universities or government research labs.

A search on "electromagnetic radiation" yields over two million hits.

Notice that the two links are entries in Wikipedia.

Review the Wikipedia pages to get overview on the topic.

Check Wikipedia entries to find footnotes to other useful sources.

Look for other links to credible sources.

Pay attention to credible sources such as government sites (.gov) or NASA.

Google also searches for images. Be sure the images are from credible sources.

Check the copyright status if you plan to use images in your report.

Figure 1: Google Search Process

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Guidelines for Researching on the Internet Expect limited results from any search engine. When using a search engine, select keywords or search phrases that are varied and technical rather than general. When using Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias, check out the footnotes and other reference to direct you to other reliable sources. Consider the domain type (where the site originates). For example, .com (commercial organization), .gov (government sites), .edu (educational institution) Identify the sites purpose and sponsor. Is the intent merely to relay information, to sell something, or to promote an ideology? The domain type might alert you to bias or a hidden agenda. Look beyond the style of a site. The fact that a Web site may look professional does not always mean that its content is reliable. Assess the currency of the sites material. When was the material created, posted or updated? Use bookmarks and hotlists for quick access to favourite Web sites. Save or print what you need before it changes or disappear. Download only what you need; use it ethically; obtain permission; and credit your sources.

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Recommendation Report
What is a recommendation report? A recommendation report is among one of the most important job related types of writing. It is a detailed report submitted to target readers who are usually in a position of authority such as supervisors, managers or departmental heads. The purpose of a report is to present a carefully created, well-supported proposal of a research you have conducted. Thus, a recommendation report starts from a selection of choices, and then recommends one based on the conclusions.

Recommendation Report

Analyse a problem, determine two or more options and then recommend the best solution(s), if any

Present data and draw conclusion(s) from the data

Make a recommendation based on the conclusions.

For example, a company might be looking for a grammar-checking software with the intention of purchasing the best available in the market. As the report writer on this project, you study the market for this type of application and recommend one particular product by comparing two or more products based on a set of criteria. The recommendation report answers the question "Which option should we choose?" or "Which is the better or best option?. The recommendation report has a specific format. The format of this report will be discussed later.

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What are the elements in a Recommendation Report?

Front Section

Title of the report Author's name Name and title of the authority to which the report is to be submitted Date of submission Executive summary Introduction Discussion Conclusions Recommendation

Body Section

Final Section

Reference list Appendices

Front Section i. Cover Page Voice Recognition Software: Recommendation For Medical Transcriptionists

Define the purpose of the report.

Prepared by Tan Mei Ling Vice President of Operations

Include the name and title of the author.

Include the name of the authority and the title to which the report is

Prepared for Ahmad Bin Khalil President

July 27, 2011

Include the date of submission.

submitted.

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Body Section
Introduction With the recent, widely advertised breakthroughs in voice recognition software, many medical practices are considering its Indicate the topic, purpose of the report and method of investigation. use for their transcription work. The expense, error rate and record-completion delays associated with conventional

transcription work have stimulated a search for better ways of accomplishing these essential record-keeping tasks. The following report reviews the capabilities and requirements of this new software and makes recommendations so as to propose the best voice recognition software on the market. Criteria

Discuss the criteria of the company or organization.

The voice recognition software programs compared are Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking 3.0 Preferred Edition and IBM ViaVoice 98 Executive. also Discussion includes its of Dragon Systems Eight

NaturallySpeaking

Medical

Suite.

categories of comparison will be made to effectively evaluate these competing programmes are in terms of: accuracy; minimum system requirements; capacity to manage a specialized medical vocabulary and medical records; integration with Microsoft Word; ease and speed of installation, customization, and use; industry ratings and awards; inclusion of microphones; and cost.

View this section as your chance to prepare both technical and nontechnical readers for the discussion ahead. Give information on the reports purpose, scope as well as a project description. These are the basic guidelines: State your purpose Include scope description Include criteria of the company Include information on report format
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Begin the point-by-point comparisons here. Discuss each point under the respective criteria.

Discussion The remainder of this report will discuss the criteria and conclude with my recommendation. Accuracy Dragon Systems Naturally Speaking scored highest on all of the accuracy tests performed by PC Magazine and was unequivocally selected as the Editors Choice. In these tests, the average accuracy was 91% and at times was considerably greater. Average accuracy for IBMs ViaVoice was 87%.

Criteria No. 1

Criteria No. 2

Minimum system requirements Both programmes run on Pentium-powered personal

computers utilizing Windows 95. 98 or NT 4.0 and require 16bit SoundBlaster-compatible sound cards. Random access memory (RAM) requirements for software running under Windows NT are higher for these programmes. However, only the RAM required for Windows 95 is listed in the table below, as it is the operating system used in most practices.

Comparison of Minimum System Requirements Software CPU RAM (MB) Hard Disk (MB) Dragon ViaVoice Pentium/133Mhz Pentium/166 Mhz 32 40 180 180 None 256KB L2 Cache

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Capacity to manage a customizable, specialized medical

Criteria No. 3

vocabulary. Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking offers a so-called Medical Suite targeted for medical professionals and is specified as an alternative state that to transcription. an extensive

Marketing

materials

vocabulary of thousands of words, including medical procedures, terms, drugs, diagnose, and symptoms, are included. The software allows creation of multiple vocabularies for speciality customization, if desired. IBM offers add-on VoiceType Vocabularies for use with ViaVoice. The medical vocabularies available are for Emergency Medicine Dictation and Radiology Dictation. available. No other speciality customization is

Criteria No. 4

Integration with Microsoft Word Both programmes integrate with Word 97 and can therefore be used with existing word processing software. Ease and speed of installation, customization and use Each programme uses wizards to install and configure hardware, and all programmes support macros for frequently used phrases: Dragon uses its wizard to train the system to recognize the users voice within 4 minutes. Its CommonWizard feature enables any user to create medical specialty macros. Commonly used and required medical forms which are electronically stored, can be called up readily with the user being prompted to fill out each section of a form. IBM also trains the system by means of reading from selected texts for about 30 minutes, and its wizard adjusts microphone and speaker volume levels.

Criteria No. 5

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Criteria No. 6

Industry ratings and awards Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking web site lists over fifty awards, some of which are listed here: PC Magazine, Editors Choice, October 2009; this particular article is referenced several times in this report. The Best New Products/Software. Business Week, January, 2008. 5 Star Rating. PC/Computing, November 2007

IBM has not mentioned anywhere on its site, nor do any awards or industry recognition show up on multiple web searches for the product. Inclusion of microphones Criteria No. 7 Dragon ships with a VXI Parrott 10-3 microphone; PC Magazine notes that it is usable, comfortable and performs well. IBM provides an Andrea NC-80 microphone, which PC Magazine states is not as comfortable as the XVI Parrott 10-3. Cost Criteria No. 8 Dragon retails for RM540 when purchased directly from Dragon or through resellers. However,

NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite which is preferable for medical practices, costs RM2985. An add-on Medical Specialty Vocabulary is available for RM150. One year of 800-number telephone support for all products is an additional Rm600, for a total cost of RM4255, exclusive of tax and shipping costs, for the Medical Suite. IBM software programme costs RM450, and the medical specialty add-ons are RM720. However, because these add-ons are for emergency medicine and radiology, they are not useful to its practices.

One of the most important parts of a recommendation report is the comparison of the options. Remember that you include this section so that readers can check out your reasoning and come up with different conclusions if they desire. This should be handled category by category, rather than option by option.
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Each of these comparative sections should end with a conclusion that states which option is the best choice in that particular category of comparison. Of course, it won't always be easy to state a clear winner--you may have to qualify the conclusions in various ways, providing multiple conclusions for different conditions.

Whole-to-Whole Approach

Point-by-Point Approach

Model A - Cost of Model A - Function of Model A - Warranty of Model A

Cost on Model A & Model B

Function on Model A & Model B

Model B - Cost of Model B - Function of Model B - Warranty of Model B

Warranty on Model A & Model B

Schematic view of the whole-to-whole and the point-by-point approaches to organizing a comparison

The point by point approach is critical in providing a systematic presentation of the strengths and weaknesses of the options being compared. To write an individual comparative section, be sure to do at least the following. Begin by stating the point by comparison and the related criteria. Compare and contrast the relevant details of each option related to the point of comparison. If one option is significantly less expensive, reasons why that might be so. Explain whether the differences are significant. State which is the best option for the point of comparison.

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Restate all the key conclusions from the comparison sections (for example which option has a better cost and so on).

Conclusion 1. Both programmes specify system requirements that are well within the parameters of existing computer systems. 2. Both integrate with Microsoft Word 97. 3. Both can be installed by the average user with reasonable ease. 4. Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite is by far the most expensive voice recognition programme costs RM4255, including one year of technical support, whereas the other costs below RM800, exclusive of support. 5. Dragon Systems microphone is considered to be more usable in comparison to the other

microphones tested by PC Magazine. 6. Dragon has accumulated a lengthy list of awards. 7. Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite with Add-On Vocabularies is easily customizable for most practices needs for specialized medical vocabularies and medical forms. 8. Dragon technology is the most accurate. 9. Although Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking is considerably more expensive than IBM, its

accuracy, speed, ease of use, and flexibility justify the extra expense.

The conclusions section of a recommendation report is in part a summary or restatement of the conclusions you have already reached in the discussion sections. In this section, you restate the individual conclusions, for example, which model had the best price, which had better accuracy, and so on. But this section has to go further. It must untangle all the conflicting conclusions and somehow reach the final conclusion, which is the one that states which is the best choice.

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Thus, the conclusion section first lists the primary conclusions--the simple, singlecategory ones. But then it must state secondary conclusions--the ones that balance conflicting primary conclusions. For example, if one software is very inexpensive and has lack accuracy, but another is rather expensive but has good or even excellent accuracy , which do you choose, and why? The secondary conclusion would state the answer to this dilemma. And of course as already mentioned, the conclusions section ends with the final conclusion--the one that states which option is the best choice.
Recommendation Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite is strongly recommended for its superior accuracy, powerful customization features, and industry recognition and awards. No other product comes close, and its strong advantages justify its considerably higher price. Once the programme has been customized, and the user has dictated for several weeks and becomes familiar with the software, acceptably accurate transcription and instantly available medical records should be possible with

State which option you recommend and summarizes the key reasons.

NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite, solving some of the record-keeping problems faced by most medical practices.

The final section of recommendation reports states the recommendation. You would think that ought to be obvious by now. Ordinarily it is, but remember that some readers may skip right to the recommendation section and bypass all your hard work! Also, there will be some cases where there may be a best choice but you would not want to recommend it. The recommendation section should echo the most important conclusions leading to the recommendation and then state the recommendation emphatically.

(Adapted from: McMurrey. D. A. (2002). Power Tools for Technical Communication. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth)

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Final Section References Appear on a separate page after the body section. lists all the information sources this writer drew on to create this report. The format follows APA style. Appendices Additional material that is useful but not essential to understanding the body of the report. Such as test plan, interview questions, etc

Executive Summary No report would be complete without an executive summary. This short section provides decision-makers with a capsule version of a report. It states the purposes of the report and provides background information, conclusions and recommendation. Consider it stand-alone section that should be free of technical jargon. Follow these basic guidelines in preparing this important section of the report: Put it on one page only Avoid technical jargon Include only important conclusions and recommendations Avoid references to the report body Use paragraph format Write the executive summary last

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Activity 1
To ensure that you understand the idea of point by point comparison, develop at least four points of comparisons for one or more of the following topics: Internet service provider Blackberry and iPhone iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab Mac and Desktop

Activity 2
Divide into groups of four or five students. Assume that your facilities director of your university has hired your team to recommend changes that would improve your classroom. Write an outline of the recommendation report agreed to by your group. For example, you may want to consider structural changes of any kind, additions of equipments, changes in the type an arrangements of seating, and so forth.

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Editing
Now, it is time to reread and revise the report. Spend some time to answer these questions first.

What suggestions do you have for making the language of this report sound more professional?

Has the report been proofread thoroughly?

Where can you find awkward, wordy, or unclear sentences?

Grammatical problems? Word choices? Punctuations? Typos?

Is your report concise and precise?

Reviewing and Revising It is time to do some reviewing and revising. When you review a report, you study it to see if it meets its requirements-whether it works for the intended purpose. Revising includes much more than fixing spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Among other things, that includes checking content, organization, transitions, format, and other issues. To make this process less complex, divide your reviewing and revising into three stages: First pass : Audience, purpose, content, organization, and transitions Second pass : Format issues Third pass : Style, grammar and mechanics

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First Pass : Audience, Purpose, Content 1. Review your report from the point of view of its intended readers, their situations and their purposes. 2. Review your report in terms of its content. Check to see if you have provided too little information, too much information, information at the wrong level, or useless information. 3. Review your report in terms of organization. Specifically, the sequencing of the major sections. 4. Review for transitions. Do transitions link one paragraph to the next? Second Pass : Design and Format 1. Review your report in terms of the document type and use. Decide whether to use a formal report, business letter or memo design. 2. Review your report in terms of its use of lists. Is there text that you can reformat as in-sentence, bulleted or numbered lists? 3. Review for its use of tables, graphs and charts. Can you find text that can be presented more effectively as tables? 4. Review for its use of highlighting. Is your use of bold and italics consistent and in keeping with a standard? Third Pass : Style, Grammar, Mechanics 1. Review your report for sentence problems. Looks for classic wordiness problems such as bad passive voice, weak be verbs, and redundant phrasing. 2. Review for technical-style problems. Technical documents typically contain problems involving abbreviations, acronyms, numbers, hyphens, symbols and etc. 3. Review for grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling problems. Check fragments, run-ons, comma splices, parallelism and etc.

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Revision Checklist As you reread and revise your recommendation report, watch out for problems such as the following:

Write a good introduction in which you indicate the situation and the audience and provide an overview of the contents. State requirementsthose factors that influence the decision or the choice of options. (And remember to state how important requirements are in relation to each other.) Indicate how the field of options was narrowed to the ones being compared. Organize the comparison of the options using the point-by-point approach. At the end of each comparative section, state the better choice in terms of comparison. Include a summary table, if possible, in which you summarize all the key data in a table form. Discuss the background on the problem or opportunitywhat brought about the need for the report. Include strong sections of definition, description, or both, as necessary, using the guidelines on content, organization, and format. Include a conclusion section where you restate all the key conclusions from the comparison section. State secondary conclusions in the conclusion section based on requirements that you state in the requirements section of the report. State a final conclusion in the conclusion sectionone that states which is the better choice. Include a recommendation section where you make the recommendation. Briefly mention the key factors influencing the recommendation.

Editing checklist Use this editing checklist on your final report to ensure that it has been written in an appropriate style and is as complete as possible. Have I: checked the report follows an appropriate structure? ensured the headings and subheadings accurately reflect the content of each section? ensured each paragraph contains a topic sentence? used paragraphs that aid the flow and analysis of the report's findings?

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structured the sections of the report logically used language/expression in the report that is: appropriate to the report's purpose? clear and easily understood? concise? non-sexist, non-racist and inclusive? suited to the needs of the reader?

made the report's purpose clear? fulfilled the terms of reference? written an introduction that: explains the report's purpose? defines the problem? guides the reader into the centre section of the report?

written a body section that: has headings and perhaps sub-headings? presents factual and objective information? analyses the findings?

written a conclusion that: draws the ideas together/ summarises the content and findings?

prepared recommendations that: offer solutions to any problems in the body? relate to the terms of reference? are concrete, specific and action oriented? are acceptable to the reader and possible to implement?

included appendices that are: relevant to the report? clearly labelled? necessary?

referenced appropriately in the text of the report? included a complete reference list?
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Activity 3
Write a recommendation report using a topic of your own. The goal of your Recommendation Report will be to aid a reader in solving a problem by presenting the results of research (primarily secondary research) and your evaluation of the significance of the findings. In your report, the recommendations will suggest specific actions to solve a problem that you identify. In addition, the report will highlight criteria for decision making in its structure.

General Guidelines:

1. Students will work in groups of 4-5.

2. All pages must be numbered. The font is Times New Roman, size 12 and double spacing.

3. The front page should include the name of the University, the title of the report, students names, Matric no. and group no. and the name of the lecturer

The deadline is _________________________.

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