Transcript Purpose statement - McGraw

chapter
eight
© 2015 McGraw-Hill Education.
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chapter
eight
Researching and
Writing Reports
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Learning Objectives
 Write clear problem and purpose
statements.
 List the factors involved in the problem.
 Explain the common errors in
interpreting data.
 Organize information in outline form.
 Turn an outline into a table of contents.
 Prepare reports that are focused,
objective, and interesting, and
collaborative.
Definition of Report
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An orderly and objective
communication of factual
information that serves a
business purpose.
Determine Purpose
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 Create a clear problem and purpose
statement.
− The problem is a clear description of the
situation.
− The purpose statement may ask why the
problem is happening.
 Conduct a preliminary investigation.
− Gather facts to better understand the
problem.
− Study the company’s files and consult experts.
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Determine Problem
Declarative statement (problem):
“Sales are decreasing at Company X.”
Infinitive phrase (purpose):
“To determine the causes of decreasing
sales at Company X…”
Question statement (purpose):
“What are the causes of decreasing
sales at Company X?”
Determine Factors
Types of factors:
• Subtopics in informational and some analytical
reports
• Hypotheses for problems requiring solutions
• Bases of comparison in evaluation studies
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Sample Purpose
and Subtopics
Purpose statement: To review operations
of Company X from January 1 through
March 31.
Subtopics:
1. Production
2. Sales and promotion
3. Financial status
4. Computer systems
5. Product development
6. Human resources
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Sample Problem
and Hypothesis
Purpose statement: To find out why sales at the
Springfield store have declined.
Hypotheses:
1. Activities of the competition have caused the
decline.
2. Changes in the economy of the area have
caused the decline.
3. Merchandising deficiencies have caused the
decline.
4. Changes in the environment (population shifts,
political actions, etc.) have caused the decline.
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Sample Problem
and Comparison
Purpose statement: To determine whether
Y Company’s new location should be
built in City A, City B, or City C.
Comparison bases:
1. Availability of skilled workers
2. Tax structure
3. Community attitude
4. Transportation facilities
5. Nearness to markets
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Gather Information
Needed
 Primary
− Observation
− Experiments
− Surveys
•
•
•
•
Telephone
Mail/Email
Web surveys
Interviews (personal,
expert)
− Company records
(raw data)
 Secondary
– Library
– Online
– Company records
(interpreted data)
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Avoid Human Error
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 Do
− Report the facts as they are.
− Beware of unreliable and
unrepresentative data.
− Tailor your claims to your data.
 Do not
− Think that conclusions are always
necessary.
− Interpret lack of evidence as proof to
the contrary.
− Compare noncomparable data.
− Draw illogical cause-effect
conclusions.
− Oversimplify.
Appropriate Attitude
and Practices
 Maintain a judicial
attitude.
 Consult with others.
 Test the interpretations.
− Test of Experience: “Is this
conclusion logical in light
of all I know?”
− Negative Test: Build a
case for the opposite
interpretation and see if
it’s stronger.
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Statistical Tools
for Data Analysis
 Statistical tools enable writers to simplify data.
 Most readers can understand descriptive
statistics, measures of central tendency,
dispersion, ratios, and probability.
 Inferential statistics enable you to generalize
about a population based on the study of a
sample.
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A Logical Conclusion
Q. A study produced data that showed United
States college students to be far behind their
comparable groups in European countries. The
conclusion was made that the educational
systems in these European countries are
superior to that in the United States.
A. The education systems are not comparable.
The United States is committed to a system of
educating the masses. Many of the other
countries maintain a system of highly selective
education.
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