What You Will Learn and Practice

• How to analyze your audience and purpose so that you can choose how to present information clearly and effectively. [CLO 1]
• How to find and evaluate original, ethical evidence that supports your position through primary and secondary research. [CLO 2 & 3]
• How to write documents you may encounter in the workplace (specifically front matter for a report). [CLO 4]
• How to use colors, layout, and formatting that make your documents understandable and easy to read. [CLO6]
• How to take advantage of design principles, including contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity, to communicate your ideas effectively. [CLO 7]

What I Want You to Do

Using the data that you gathered during your primary and secondary research, write the Results section of your Recommendation Report. The Results Section is sometimes called the Findings Section. The names are interchangeable.

Why I Want You to Do It

The Results section is where you tell your readers about what you found when you conducted research. I am breaking the report out, section-by-section, to guide you through the process of writing the document and help make sure you include everything that is required for a complete report.

Where You Can Find Help

• From Markel & Selber, Chapter 18:
  
  • The details on the Results Section, from pp. 493–494:
    “Results are the data you discovered or compiled. Present the results objectively, without comment. Save the interpretation of the results—your conclusions—for later. If you combine results and conclusions, your readers might be unable to follow your reasoning and might not be able to tell whether the evidence justifies your conclusions. Your audience’s needs will help you decide how to structure the results. How much they know about the subject, what they plan to do with the report, what they expect your recommendation(s) to be—these and many other factors will affect how you present the results.”
  • Example Results Section, on pp. 516–522 (part of the sample recommendation report in Figure 18.8).
• LinkedIn Learning video, “Understand the findings section” (4m 9s), from the Technical Writing: Reports course.

When to Do It

• Suggested Due Date: By 11:59 PM on Friday, April 15, 2022.
• Grace Period: The grace period for this activity ends at 11:59 PM on Friday, April 29, 2022.

How You Do It

1. Return again to all the information you recorded on your website (both primary and secondary research).
2. Open the word processor document where you are working on your recommendation report.
3. Scroll through the outline you created to the location for your Results section.

Tips for Writing Sub-Headings

• Use the headings in the Results Section of the sample recommendation report in Figure 18.8 of the textbook as a model.
• Consult the advice in the “Writing Clear, Informative Headings,” section on pp. 199–202 (in Chapter 9 of the textbook).
• Use the help on the Professional Design for Reports page.
4. Make any changes necessary to the headings for the sub-sections of your Results Section:
   • If you have already worked on your Methods Section, ensure that sub-headings from your Methods Section match those here in the Results Section.
   • If you have not worked on your Methods Section, choose one of the following:
     • If you added sub-sections when you created your outline, check your headings to ensure that you have included all the tasks you completed in your research.
     • If you did not include sub-sections in your outline, add them now, covering all the tasks that you completed in your research.
5. Write the content for the Results Section:
   1. Sort the data that you found during your research into the different sub-sections of your Results Section. Include the results of both your primary and secondary research.
   2. Expand on the information with other notes and information that you have.
   3. Work back through the information you have added to make sure you have sentences and clear ideas.
   4. Ensure that any information you quote from your primary or secondary research is enclosed in quotation marks. Examples might be something that someone says in a response to a survey or interview (both primary research) or something stated in an journal article or book (both secondary research).
   5. Add Documentation and Citations anywhere that you include paraphrased information or quotations from outside sources.
6. Review the section and make any additions or changes, using the information from the textbook and LinkedIn Learning video as needed. At this point, focus in particular in making sure that you have included everything that answers the question, “What did you see or determine?”
7. Move on to the next part of your report that you want to work on.

How to Assess & Track Your Work

You track and grade your own work in this course. Be sure to complete the following tasks:

• Track your work in your Weekly Work Log.

This is a working draft for your Best Submission. It is marked Complete in Canvas when you submit it for one of the two Feedback Discussions.