chapter 2 epc

8/2/2019 Chapter 2 EPC

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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 primaryand 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 assecondary 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).

Primary Secondary

1. Interviews

2. Surveys

3. Laboratory Work

4. Field Work

5. Personal Observation

1. Books

2. Journals

3. Periodical Database

4. Magazines

5. Encyclopedias

6. Company Report7. 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 word-

processing operators might pose these questions:

What kind of chair design do experts in the field of workplace environmentrecommend 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 ofthe 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 throughresults, 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

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 searchengines, 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.

Various sites on the Web can be found.

The most popular search engine is Googlesearch.

Other search engines are Yahoo, Wikipedia,universities and government websites.

Online sources like magazines, news andjournals can be accessed via online too.

Internet

The larger the library you visit, the more likelyyou are to find books by specialist publishersand periodicals that delve into more specific

subject areas.

Books

Encyclopedias are alphabetically arrangedcollections of article.

You may want to start by consulting a generalencyclopedia, then examine more subject-focused encyclopedias such as Encyclopediasof Physics.

Encyclopedia


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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.

Figure 1: Google Search Process

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

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

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

Look for other links to credible sources.

Check Wikipedia entries to find footnotes to other useful sources.

Review the Wikipedia pages to get overview on the topic.

Notice that the two links are entries in Wikipedia.

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


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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 andother 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.

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. Therecommendation 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.

Make a recommendation based on the conclusions.

Present data and draw conclusion(s) from the data

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

Recommendation Report


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What are the elements in a Recommendation Report?

Front Section

i. Cover Page

Title of the reportAuthor's name

Name and title of the authority to which the report is

to be submittedDate of submissionExecutive summary

Front Section

Introduction

Discussion

ConclusionsRecommendation

Body Section

Reference list

AppendicesFinal Section

Voice Recognition Software:Recommendation For Medical Transcriptionists

Prepared by Tan Mei Ling

Vice President of Operations

Prepared for Ahmad Bin Khalil

President

July 27, 2011

Define the purpose of

the report.

Include the name and

title of the author.

Include the name of theauthority and the title

to which the report is

Include the date

of submission.


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Body Section

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 aproject description. These are the basic guidelines:

State your purpose

Include scope description

Include criteria of the company

Include information on report format

Introduction

With the recent, widely advertised breakthroughs in voice

recognition software, many medical practices are considering itsuse 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

The voice recognition software programs compared are Dragon

Systems NaturallySpeaking 3.0 Preferred Edition and IBM

ViaVoice 98 Executive. Discussion of Dragon Systems

NaturallySpeaking also includes its Medical Suite. Eight

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.

Indicate the topic, purpose of the

report and method of

investigation.

Discuss the criteria of the

company or organization.


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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%.

Minimum system requirements

Both programmes run on Pentium-powered persona

computers utilizing Windows 95. 98 or NT 4.0 and require 16-

bit 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)

L2

Cache

Dragon Pentium/133Mhz 32 180 None

ViaVoice Pentium/166

Mhz

40 180 256KB

Begin the point-by-point

comparisons here. Discuss each

point under the respective

criteria.

Criteria No. 1

Criteria No. 2


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Capacity to manage a customizable, specialized medic

vocabulary.

Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking offers a so-calle

Medical Suite targeted for medical professionals an

is specified as an alternative to transcriptio

Marketing materials state that an extensiv

vocabulary of thousands of words, including medic

procedures, terms, drugs, diagnose, and symptom

are included. The software allows creation of multip

vocabularies for speciality customization, if desired.

IBM offers add-on VoiceType Vocabularies for us

with ViaVoice. The medical vocabularies available afor Emergency Medicine Dictation and Radiolog

Dictation. No other speciality customization

available.

Integration with Microsoft Word

Both programmes integrate with Word 97 and can therefore b

used with existing word processing software.

Ease and speed of installation, customization and use

Each programme uses wizards to install and configur

hardware, and all programmes support macros for frequent

used phrases:

Dragon uses its wizard to train the system

recognize the users voice within 4 minutes. I

CommonWizard feature enables any user to creat

medical specialty macros. Commonly used an

required medical forms which are electronical

stored, can be called up readily with the user bein

prompted to fill out each section of a form.

IBM also trains the system by means of reading fro

selected texts for about 30 minutes, and its wiza

adjusts microphone and speaker volume levels.

Criteria No. 4

Criteria No. 3

Criteria No. 5


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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.

Industry ratings and awards

Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking web site lists over fift

awards, some of which are listed here:

PC Magazine, Editors Choice, October 2009; th

particular article is referenced several times in th

report.

The Best New Products/Software. Business Wee

January, 2008.

5 Star Rating. PC/Computing, November 2007

IBM has not mentioned anywhere on its site, nor do any award

or industry recognition show up on multiple web searches for th

product.

Inclusion of microphones

Dragon ships with a VXI Parrott 10-3 microphone; P

Magazine notes that it is usable, comfortable an

performs well.

IBM provides an Andrea NC-80 microphone, which P

Magazinestates is not as comfortable as the XVI Parro

10-3.

Cost

Dragon retails for RM540 when purchased directly from

Dragon or through resellers. Howeve

NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite which is preferable fo

medical practices, costs RM2985. An add-on Medica

Specialty Vocabulary is available for RM150. One year o

800-number telephone support for all products is a

additional Rm600, for a total cost of RM4255, exclusiv

of tax and shipping costs, for the Medical Suite.

IBM software programme costs RM450, and the medica

specialty add-ons are RM720. However, because thes

add-ons are for emergency medicine and radiology, the

are not useful to its practices.

Criteria No. 8

Criteria No. 7

Criteria No. 6


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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.

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.

Whole-to-Whole Approach

Model A

- Cost of Model A

- Function of Model A

- Warranty of Model A

Model B

- Cost of Model B

- Function of Model B

- Warranty of Model B

Point-by-Point Approach

Cost on Model A & Model B

Function on Model A & ModelB

Warranty on Model A & ModelB


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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.

Conclusion

1. Both programmes specify system requiremen

that are well within the parameters of existin

computer systems.

2. Both integrate with Microsoft Word 97.

3. Both can be installed by the average user wi

reasonable ease.

4. Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking Medical Sui

is by far the most expensive voice recognitio

programme costs RM4255, including one year

technical support, whereas the other costs belo

RM800, exclusive of support.

5. Dragon Systems microphone is considered to b

more usable in comparison to the oth

microphones tested by PC Magazine.

6. Dragon has accumulated a lengthy list of awards.

7. Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking Medical Sui

with Add-On Vocabularies is easily customizab

for most practices needs for specialized medic

vocabularies and medical forms.

8. Dragon technology is the most accurate.9. Although Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking

considerably more expensive than IBM,

accuracy, speed, ease of use, and flexibility justi

the extra expense.

Restate all the key conclusions

from the comparison sections (for

example which option has a

better cost and so on).


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Thus, the conclusion section first lists the primary conclusions--the simple, single-

category 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, andwhy? 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.

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)

State which option you

recommend and summarizes the

key reasons.

Recommendation

Dragon Systems NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite is

strongly recommended for its superior accuracy, powerfu

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

NaturallySpeaking Medical Suite, solving some of the

record-keeping problems faced by most medical practices.


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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. Forexample, 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.

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

Has the report been proofread

thoroughly?

Grammatical problems?

Word choices? Punctuations?

Typos?

Is your report concise and

precise?

Where can you find awkward,

wordy, or unclear sentences?

What suggestions do you have for

making the language of this report

sound more professional?


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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 uselessinformation.

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 beverbs, and redundant phrasing.

2. Review for technical-style problems. Technical documents typically contain problemsinvolving 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 audienceand 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 _________________________.

chapter 2 epc

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