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For your Recommendation Report, you will identify a food-related challenge that Virginia Tech students face, investigate solutions, and make a recommendation to an appropriate audience (such as Virginia Tech students, the Dean of Students, or the President).

You will include customary sections (e.g., intro, methods, results, conclusions, and recommendations), along with front and back matter.

Length: 10–15 single-spaced pages, including images, appendices, and appropriate formatting. There is not a minimum or maximum page length, but be sure to include all of the required information.

Example Report: See a general recommendation report in Figure 18.8: Sample Recommendation Report, on pages 504–527 of Markel and Selber.

Research Requirements: Whatever topic you choose, you need to be able to conduct both primary and secondary research.

Primary Research Secondary Research

Primary research is data that you gather yourself. Here are some examples:

  • gathering prices at several grocery stores for similar items.
  • trying several recipes and comparing the results.
  • interviewing people for their recommendations.
  • surveying people to learn their opinion.

As you gather your primary research, take photos or record videos that you can use to illustrate your report.

Secondary research is information that you find in books, articles, and webpages. Here are some examples:

  • looking up product reviews in Consumer Reports.
  • checking recipes in cookbooks or on foodie websites.
  • researching local food truck legislation.
  • finding USDA data on organic food production.

Your report should include a bibliography that provides documentation for all of the resources you have consulted.

Example Recommendation Report Topics

Here are some possible topics you can choose for your recommendation report. You can choose a topic that is not on the list as long as it fits the general topic of a food-related challenge that Virginia Tech students face.

Recommendations for . . .

Most of the possibilities listed above can be narrowed down to a stronger topic. For example, consider these options:

Recommendations for . . .

Here’s another possibility. The topic “Recommendations for Eating Vegan on Campus” could be modified to focus on these other ways of eating:

In addition to all those options, you could also focus on recommendations for off-campus, in your apartment, in downtown Blacksburg, and so on. There are many options you can choose, so feel free to find something that you are interested in.