• Time Required
• 6–8 hours, including reading time

This module focuses on the research you will conduct for your Recommendation Report. We will spend three week focusing on your primary research and secondary research. As part of your research, you will compose two documents:

• A technical description of your research process
• Instructions for conducting your primary research

By the end of the module, you should have chosen specific secondary resources and sketched out a plan for your primary research.

Connections to the Recommendation Report

The primary and secondary research you conduct will support your report in these ways:

• The research will be used throughout your report, as appropriate to explain and support your recommendation.
• The research description will become a graphic organizer for the Methods section of your report.
• The instructions will be described in the Methods section of your Recommendation Report.
• The instructions will be included as an Appendix in your Recommendation Report.

 

What You Will Learn & Practice

• How to analyze your audience and purpose so that you can choose supporting material that is convincing to your readers and decide the best way to present information clearly and effectively. [CLO 1]
• How to find and evaluate ethical evidence in secondary sources, such as books, articles, podcasts, and videos, and through primary research, such as observation, inspection, experiment, and interview, that supports your position, that supports your position. [CLOs 2 & 3]

 

Activities to Complete

📚 To Read This Week

• Markel & Selber, Chapter 6: “Researching Your Subject”
• Documentation and Citations for Your Projects (Visit the links on this page for additional information)
• Professional Design for Descriptions
• Markel & Selber, Chapter 20, “Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions,” pp. 561–569
• Research Description Criteria

📝 To Write This Week

• Talk about the reading in Chapter 06 Review.
• Begin the secondary research on your topic.
• Complete the Introducing Your Research Description activity to gather details for your research description.
• Track the research you do to create a draft of the Research Description Assignment (and complete Feedback Discussion activities below).
• Assess yourself with the Research Description Self-Check to see your progress.
• Make a Primary Research Plan to prepare for next week’s activities.

💬 To Discuss This Week

1. Post any Questions about the Recommendation Report or Questions about the Research Description that you have (optional). You can check these Discussions for answers as well.
2. You can participate in either of these discussions, depending upon when you have a draft ready to share. If you want, you can participate in both of them as well. It’s completely up to you. Remember that if you post a draft, you will assigned two drafts to add feedback to.

   Research Description Feedback Discussion

   • Follow the directions in the Research Description Feedback Discussion to share what you have created with the class for peer feedback.
   • After peer review partners are assigned (Saturday, September 18), read drafts from your classmates and offer feedback on how to revise. Feedback is due by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, September 22.

   Second-Chance Research Description Feedback Discussion

   • If you need more time to write your Instructions draft, follow the directions in Second-Chance Research Description Feedback Discussion.
   • After peer review partners are assigned (Thursday, September 23), read drafts from your classmates and offer feedback on how to revise. Feedback is due by 11:59 PM on Monday, September 27.

📓 To Track This Week

• Track and reflect on the work you have done for the week in your Work Log for the Week of 09/13, reviewing the Weekly Work Log Guidelines if needed.

 

 

Image Credit: All She’s Armed With Is Research. by Markus Binzegger on Flickr, used under a CC-BY 2.0 license.