Technical Report Writing Relative Frequency Homework Relative Frequency Table Solution Response Frequency Relative Frequency Relative Frequency Decimal Value Percent Value I do not drive a car 249 0.052201258 5.2201258% Never 118 0.024737945 7.6939203% Rarely 249 0.052201258 12.9140461% Sometimes 345 0.072327044 20.1467505% Most of the time 716 0.150104822 35.1572327% Always 3093 0.648427673 100.0000000% Totals ∑ =4770 ∑ =1 ∑ =100.0000000% 1. What is the sample size of this study? Answer The sample size is 4,770 2. Find both relative frequency values for each category and type it in the table above. The sums should total 1.0 and 100%, respectively. Answer Please refer from the table above 3. What percentage of students answered Always? Don’t round the answer. Answer From the table above, the percentage of students who answered Always is 0.648427673*100% = 64.8427673% 4. What percentage of students answered Never? Don’t round the answer. Answer From the table above, the percentage of students who answered Never is 0.024737945*100% = 2.4737945% 5. Create a bar chart (using % relative frequency values) in Microsoft Excel and copy/paste it in the space below. copy/paste here Answer Technical Report Writing Relative Frequency Homework Percentage relative frequency 100.0000000% 35.1572327% 20.1467505% 12.9140461% 5.2201258% I do not drive a car 7.6939203% Never Rarely Sometimes Most of the time Always Response Figure 1 A bar chart showing percentage of relative frequency against responses. 6. Create a pie chart (using % relative frequency values) in Microsoft Excel and copy/paste it in the space below. Follow these guidelines for the chart: Answer Technical Report Writing Relative Frequency Homework I do not drive a car 3% Never 4% Rarely 7% Sometimes 11% Always 55% Most of the time 20% Figure 2: A pie chart showing the percent value of relative frequencies with their corresponding responses. 7. Which chart—bar or pie—do you prefer and why? Answer I prefer the pie chart because of its visual representation of the information. By looking at, I can easily interpret the information presented. I’m not saying that the bar graph is not a good one but I think a pie chart has a good aesthetics, together with the information that can easily be interpreted by simply looking at it. Data Analysis Report Proposed Survey Question and Responses Name: In the spaces below, answer the following statements about your data analysis report topic. Identify your area of study: The area of study is wearable technology. It is an area of study in biomechanics. Copy and paste the assignment option scenario that you chose: Learning about various concepts related to your field of study can be a daunting task. New and updated information is frequently introduced into your discipline's ever-growing body of literature. Maintaining current knowledge of this information can impact your career success and your reputation in the field. Assume that you are a member of an introductory course in your field of study. The professor would like each class member to be well-grounded in the discipline, so he or she has decided that the class will publish an electronic manual that can be read by current and future students to learn all about various topics related to the discipline. Each subsequent semester, the manual will be updated by future students, so everyone can easily access the most recent materials. You'll write your information report to current and future class members, and the electronic manual will be available in PDF format on the course Web site. Identify the survey question and four survey response choices: Survey Question: What are some of the wearable technologies suitable for healthcare, and how are they used? Four Survey Response Choices: 1. Wearable sensors 2. Wearable fitness trackers 3. Smart health watches 4. Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors What 2 demographics will you use (e.g., males vs. females, commuters vs. on-campus residents)? Data Analysis Report Proposed Survey Question and Responses Children vs adults Why did you choose these 2 demographic groups? I chose these two demographic groups because wearable technology can be designed specifically for a particular age. Data Analysis Report Audience Profile Worksheet Name: Mohammed Aldossary Report Topic: Biomechanics Data Analysis Report Audience Profile Answer each of the following questions/prompts in detail. Who is the report’s primary reader and why? Answer: The report’s primary reader is university students who are interested to learn about biomechanics. The report will be part of an electronic manual that will be used by current and future students to keep them updated with the most recent materials about Biomechanics. What is the highest level of technicality that the primary reader can understand and why? Answer: The highest level of technicality that the primary reader can understand is the mechanical part of how the human body works. Most engineering students did physics as their primary subject and not biology, therefore, they would understand the mechanical part of biomechanics, rather than the biological part. Who is (or might possibly be) the report’s secondary readers and why? Answer: The report’s secondary students may be sports athletes since most would love to know how the human body functions mechanically, in a way that would prove helpful to their sports. Wearable technology is part of biomechanics and is very important for sports athletes, and thus this report proves to be a good source of information for sports athletes. What is the highest level of technicality that the secondary readers can understand and why? Answer: The highest level of technicality that the secondary readers can understand is how the body moves in unison, and how the body organs work. Secondary readers would find it difficult to understand engineering mechanics in biomechanics since some have not undertaken any engineering courses. What level of technicality should the report be written in and why? Answer: The report should be written in a slightly high level of technicality since the primary readers are current and future engineering students who have basic knowledge in engineering mechanics and thus would understand technical terms used in engineering. What are some potential problems you may run into when writing the report, not as a student taking this TRW course but as the technical writer in the assignment scenario? Answer: Some of the potential problems that I would come across would include having trouble defining some biological terms since I am not a biology student. Defining some concepts in a simple way without plagiarizing is quite difficult but I did manage. Considering your answers to the potential problems listed above, what specific and measurable actions can you take to address these problems if they occur? Answer: One of the specific and measurable action that I would take to address such a problem would be consulting different sources which would help to give me different definitions of some difficult biology concepts involved in biomechanics. Data Analysis Report Audience Profile Worksheet Name: Report Topic: Biomechanics Data Analysis Report Audience Profile Answer each of the following questions/prompts in detail. Who is the report’s primary reader and why? Answer: The report’s primary reader is university students who are interested to learn about biomechanics. The report will be part of an electronic manual that will be used by current and future students to keep them updated with the most recent materials about Biomechanics. What is the highest level of technicality that the primary reader can understand and why? Answer: The highest level of technicality that the primary reader can understand is the mechanical part of how the human body works. Most engineering students did physics as their primary subject and not biology, therefore, they would understand the mechanical part of biomechanics, rather than the biological part. Who is (or might possibly be) the report’s secondary readers and why? Answer: The report’s secondary students may be sports athletes since most would love to know how the human body functions mechanically, in a way that would prove helpful to their sports. Wearable technology is part of biomechanics and is very important for sports athletes, and thus this report proves to be a good source of information for sports athletes. What is the highest level of technicality that the secondary readers can understand and why? Answer: The highest level of technicality that the secondary readers can understand is how the body moves in unison, and how the body organs work. Secondary readers would find it difficult to understand engineering mechanics in biomechanics since some have not undertaken any engineering courses. What level of technicality should the report be written in and why? Answer: The report should be written in a slightly high level of technicality since the primary readers are current and future engineering students who have basic knowledge in engineering mechanics and thus would understand technical terms used in engineering. What are some potential problems you may run into when writing the report, not as a student taking this TRW course but as the technical writer in the assignment scenario? Answer: Some of the potential problems that I would come across would include having trouble defining some biological terms since I am not a biology student. Defining some concepts in a simple way without plagiarizing is quite difficult but I did manage. Considering your answers to the potential problems listed above, what specific and measurable actions can you take to address these problems if they occur? Answer: One of the specific and measurable action that I would take to address such a problem would be consulting different sources which would help to give me different definitions of some difficult biology concepts involved in biomechanics. Data Analysis Report: Finding Research Sources Name: Mohammed Aldossary Write down your data analysis report background claim: The area of study is wearable technology. It is an area of study in biomechanics Part One: Search Terms Develop a list of at least 5 credible search terms. At least 3 of them must include a Boolean operator (e.g., AND, OR, NOT). • • • • Term #1: Biomechanics Term #2: Wearable technologies suitable for healthcare Term #3 with Boolean: Biomechanics and healthcare Term #4 with Boolean: Biomechanics and wearable technology • Term #5 with Boolean: Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors Part Two: Finding Sources Find at least 5 credible sources that you will look up. All 5 sources must be a magazine, newspaper, or journal article from a Bierce Library academic database (e.g., Academic Search Complete, LexisNexis Academic, Newspaper Source, Article First). As an alternative to typing all the information below, you may print a copy of the database information page for each source. That way, you’ll have the information necessary to look up and read each source (which you’ll do in the follow-up lesson to this assignment). Source #1 (Article) • Name of Database: The University of Akron Libraries Catalog • Name of Author(s): Kharmanda, Ghias, El Hami, Abdelkhalak • Title of Article or Book Chapter: Biomechanics : optimization, uncertainties and reliability • Title of Book, Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: Reliability of multiphysical systems set; volume 5 • Publication Date: 2017 • Volume and Issue Numbers: Volume 5 • DOI Number: 10.1002/9781119379126 • Key Words Used to Find This Source: Biomechanics Briefly explain why you chose this source: This source has a lot of information on Biomechanics. Source #2 (Article) Page 1 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Finding Research Sources • • • • • • • • Name of Database: Directory of Open Access Journals Name of Author(s): Amir Mehmood, Adnan Nadeem, Kashif Rizwan, Nadeem Mahmood, Ahmad Waqas Title of Article or Book Chapter: A Study of Wearable Bio-Sensor Technologies and Applications in Healthcare Title of Book, Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: Sukkur IBA Journal of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Publication Date: 2017 Volume and Issue Numbers: Vol 1, Iss 1, Pp 67-77 DOI Number: 10.30537/sjcms.v1i1.9 Key Words Used to Find This Source: Wearable technologies suitable for healthcare Briefly explain why you chose this source: The article clearly explains the use of wearable sensors in healthcare. Source #3 (Article) • Name of Database: Science Citation Index • Name of Author(s): Enix, Dennis E., Mayer, John M. • Title of Article: Sacroiliac Joint Hypermobility Biomechanics and What it Means for Health Care Providers and Patients • Title of Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: PM&R, 11, S32–S39 • Publication Date: AUG 2019, • Volume and Issue Numbers: Supplement: 1 • DOI Number: 10.1002/pmrj.12176 • Key Words Used to Find This Source: Biomechanics and healthcare Briefly explain why you chose this source: This source gives a detailed explanation of the application of Biomechanics in healthcare. Source #4 (Article) • Name of Database: IEEE Xplore Digital Library • Name of Author(s): Veltink, P.H., De Rossi, D. Title of Article: Wearable technology for biomechanics: e-textile or micromechanical sensors? [Conversations in BME] • • • • • Title of Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine Publication Date: 2010 Volume and Issue Numbers: 29(3):37-43 DOI Number: 10.1109/MEMB.2010.936555 Key Words Used to Find This Source: Biomechanics and wearable technology Briefly explain why you chose this source: This article discusses the relationship between wearable technology and biomechanics. Page 2 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Finding Research Sources Source #5 (Article) • Name of Database: IEEE Xplore Digital Library • Name of Author(s): Narasimhan, Ravi, Parlikar, Tushar, Verghesel, George, McConnell, Michael V. • Title of Article: Finger-Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor • Title of Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) • Publication Date: 2018 • Volume and Issue Numbers: 3792-3795 • DOI Number: 10.1109/EMBC.2018.8513065 • Key Words Used to Find This Source: Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors Briefly explain why you chose this source: This article explores the finger wearable blood pressure measurement device to assist in frequent daytime and night time monitoring. Page 3 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Finding Research Sources Write down your data analysis report background claim: The area of study is wearable technology. It is an area of study in biomechanics Part One: Search Terms Develop a list of at least 5 credible search terms. At least 3 of them must include a Boolean operator (e.g., AND, OR, NOT). • • • • Term #1: Biomechanics Term #2: Wearable technologies suitable for healthcare Term #3 with Boolean: Biomechanics and healthcare Term #4 with Boolean: Biomechanics and wearable technology • Term #5 with Boolean: Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors Part Two: Finding Sources Find at least 5 credible sources that you will look up. All 5 sources must be a magazine, newspaper, or journal article from a Bierce Library academic database (e.g., Academic Search Complete, LexisNexis Academic, Newspaper Source, Article First). As an alternative to typing all the information below, you may print a copy of the database information page for each source. That way, you’ll have the information necessary to look up and read each source (which you’ll do in the follow-up lesson to this assignment). Source #1 (Article) • Name of Database: The University of Akron Libraries Catalog • Name of Author(s): Kharmanda, Ghias, El Hami, Abdelkhalak • Title of Article or Book Chapter: Biomechanics : optimization, uncertainties and reliability • Title of Book, Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: Reliability of multiphysical systems set; volume 5 • Publication Date: 2017 • Volume and Issue Numbers: Volume 5 • DOI Number: 10.1002/9781119379126 • Key Words Used to Find This Source: Biomechanics Briefly explain why you chose this source: This source has a lot of information on Biomechanics. Source #2 (Article) • Name of Database: Directory of Open Access Journals Page 1 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Finding Research Sources • • • • • • • Name of Author(s): Amir Mehmood, Adnan Nadeem, Kashif Rizwan, Nadeem Mahmood, Ahmad Waqas Title of Article or Book Chapter: A Study of Wearable Bio-Sensor Technologies and Applications in Healthcare Title of Book, Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: Sukkur IBA Journal of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Publication Date: 2017 Volume and Issue Numbers: Vol 1, Iss 1, Pp 67-77 DOI Number: 10.30537/sjcms.v1i1.9 Key Words Used to Find This Source: Wearable technologies suitable for healthcare Briefly explain why you chose this source: The article clearly explains the use of wearable sensors in healthcare. Source #3 (Article) • Name of Database: Science Citation Index • Name of Author(s): Enix, Dennis E., Mayer, John M. • Title of Article: Sacroiliac Joint Hypermobility Biomechanics and What it Means for Health Care Providers and Patients • Title of Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: PM&R, 11, S32–S39 • Publication Date: AUG 2019, • Volume and Issue Numbers: Supplement: 1 • DOI Number: 10.1002/pmrj.12176 • Key Words Used to Find This Source: Biomechanics and healthcare Briefly explain why you chose this source: This source gives a detailed explanation of the application of Biomechanics in healthcare. Source #4 (Article) • Name of Database: IEEE Xplore Digital Library • Name of Author(s): Veltink, P.H., De Rossi, D. Title of Article: Wearable technology for biomechanics: e-textile or micromechanical sensors? [Conversations in BME] • • • • • Title of Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine Publication Date: 2010 Volume and Issue Numbers: 29(3):37-43 DOI Number: 10.1109/MEMB.2010.936555 Key Words Used to Find This Source: Biomechanics and wearable technology Briefly explain why you chose this source: This article discusses the relationship between wearable technology and biomechanics. Source #5 (Article) Page 2 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Finding Research Sources • Name of Database: IEEE Xplore Digital Library • Name of Author(s): Narasimhan, Ravi, Parlikar, Tushar, Verghesel, George, McConnell, Michael V. • Title of Article: Finger-Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor • Title of Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper: 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) • Publication Date: 2018 • Volume and Issue Numbers: 3792-3795 • DOI Number: 10.1109/EMBC.2018.8513065 • Key Words Used to Find This Source: Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors Briefly explain why you chose this source: This article explores the finger wearable blood pressure measurement device to assist in frequent daytime and night time monitoring. Page 3 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Reading Research Sources Name: Mohammed Aldossary Write down your data analysis report background claim: The area of study is wearable technology. It is an area of study in biomechanics. Annotated Bibliography From your list of possible research sources, choose 3 that seem most promising and compile an APA formatted annotated bibliography. All three (3) sources must be a magazine, newspaper, or journal article from an academic database. The annotated bibliography will look like an APA References page, but below each source you’ll write a paragraph that summarizes and evaluates the source. The paragraph must cover all of the following information: • • • • Summarize the thesis of the article, as well as the main supporting arguments. Assess the quality of the information: How biased is the information? How reliable is it? How current is it? Reflect on how you will use this article in your background section: Does it provide you with supporting evidence? Background information? Supporting detail? A counterargument? Does it provide information you had not previously considered? From which UA library database did you find the article? Example McManus, K. (2011). No lines, no waiting. Industrial Engineer: IE, 43(8), 18. This article described how waiting in the service world is accepted. The author believed that waiting times need to be cut down as much as possible, and the way to do so is for service companies to hire industrial engineers. The article appeared in a periodical that is published by the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and it is indexed in the Academic Search Complete database, so its content should be reliable. However, some bias may be present since the article, written by an industrial engineer and appearing in an industrial engineering periodical, recommended that service companies should hire industrial engineers. The article is current, and I plan on using it as supporting detail for my argument. I found the article in the Academic Search Complete database. Page 1 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Reading Research Sources Source #1 Veltink, P. H., & De Rossi, D. (2010). Wearable technology for biomechanics: e-textile or micromechanical sensors? [Conversations in BME]. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, IEEE, IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag, 29(3), 37–43. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uakron.edu:2443/10.1109/MEMB.2010.936555 This article describes the use of two approaches which are important in the sensoring technology. Wearable devices have transformed neurorehabilitation and has proved to be a major milestone in the healthcare sector. The article is reliable since it is indexed in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library and hence is reliable. The article is current and has proven useful for this project. Therefore, the article proves to be biased since it does not contain new information about wearable technology for biomechanics. The article is updated and will be very useful as a supporting document for my background section. Source #2 Amir Mehmood, Adnan Nadeem, Kashif Rizwan, Nadeem Mahmood, & Ahmad Waqas. (2017). A Study of Wearable Bio-Sensor Technologies and Applications in Healthcare. Sukkur IBA Journal of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, (1), 67. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uakron.edu:2443/10.30537/sjcms.v1i1.9 [Summary and Evaluation Paragraph] Page 2 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Data Analysis Report: Reading Research Sources Source #3 Narasimhan, R., Parlikar, T., Verghesel, G., & McConnell, M. V. (2018). Finger-Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor. Conference Proceedings: ... Annual International Conference Of The IEEE Engineering In Medicine And Biology Society. IEEE Engineering In Medicine And Biology Society. Annual Conference, 2018, 3792–3795. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uakron.edu:2443/10.1109/EMBC.2018.8513065 [Summary and Evaluation Paragraph] Page 3 Visit the LibGuide at http://libguides.uakron.edu/EnglishComp for information about using academic databases to find research sources. Title of Report Introduction Purpose Briefly identify the reason for writing the report: what you are examining and why you are examining it. Problem Describe (a) the background or history of the situation that led to the problem, (b) describe the problem, (c) identify what (in general) needs to be done—without proposing a solution, (d) describe the impact of the problem—what should or will happen if it’s addressed; what could happen if it’s not addressed? Scope Review what the report will cover and why; review what the report will not cover and why. Background Review research and/or information related to the report’s purpose in order to help readers to appreciate why the report and its findings are important. Procedures/Methodology What raw data were collected? Where can this raw data be found (refer to the Appendix)? What sampling method of data collection was used? From whom were the data collected? How were the data measured (or calculated) and why? Describe the survey question and answers. Data and Results Report the results by (a) including the figures, and (b) referencing, describing, and reporting the data results in each figure. Your figures are placed in this section. Do not discuss the implications of or draw conclusions about the results. You’re only reporting objective observations of the data. Conclusion Assessment What do the data and results suggest? What do they mean? What subjective conclusions can you draw from them? Recommendation Based on the conclusion section, what do you recommend? What actions need to be taken? What follow-up studies should be done in the future to address uncertainties in the data? Contact Provide contact information in case of questions (your name, phone number and best time to reach you, and e-mail address). References Place your references here (double spaced). Appendix Place your raw data form here. Background Section as Argument First of all, note that all Background sections can be organized as an argument; however, the content of each Background depends on the kind of report you're writing. Before we take a look at the data analysis report's Background section, let's briefly discuss how the Background section of two other kinds of reports forms an argument. Research Report Let's define a research report as a written document that discusses an experimental procedure designed and carried out for the purpose of expanding (or adding to) a discipline's body of knowledge. For this report, the purpose of the Background section is to identify and review previous research that provides the foundation on which the experimental procedure attempts to build in order to advance the discipline's overall body of knowledge. Establishing the purpose of the Background section is important, because it helps you to formulate its claim. Here's how the argument can be organized: Claim = This study (or experimental procedure) will add knowledge to a particular discipline's well-established body of research. Reader Questions = (1) What body of research does it add to, and (2) what knowledge does it attempt to add? Support = (1) Review of prior research, and (2) the knowledge it attempts to add. In many research reports, the claim is not explicitly stated; rather, it is inferred. That is, one can safely assume that readers automatically understand that the report is trying to prove this unstated claim. As a result, the Background section often begins with a review of prior research and then concludes by identifying the knowledge that the experimental procedure should provide. This knowledge can take the form of supporting the results of prior research, refuting the results of prior research, and so forth. The rest of the report proves the claim to be true. Lab Report Let's define a lab report as a written document that discusses an experimental procedure designed and carried out for the purpose of expanding (or adding to) one's own body of knowledge about a particular discipline or topic. For this reason, the purpose of the Background section is to identify and review the body of research that already exists about the topic. Once again, you can write the Background section as an argument. Let's use the following example: You're conducting an experiment that shows how mixing solutions of copper ions with other ions results in different colors. Claim = Previous research explains the reasons why different colors are the result. Reader Questions = (1) What are those research sources, and (2) What do they report that is relevant to the topic? Support = (1) Review of prior research sources, and (2) their reported results relevant to the topic. Again, the claim in a lab report may not be stated explicitly; rather, it could be inferred. As a result, the Background section may only review the prior research by identifying the various research sources and reporting their results that are relevant to the topic. Now let's discuss the Background section of your data analysis report. Page 1 Data Analysis Report Background Section as Argument Just like for the research and lab reports, the Background section of a data analysis report can serve a different purpose. Let's define a data analysis report as a written document that recommends a statistics-driven solution to a well-defined problem. For our data analysis report, the purpose of the Background section is to identify and review previous research and/or information about the report's purpose in order to help readers understand why the report and its findings are important. Organizing the Background section as an argument can help establish that reader understanding. For the data analysis report, the argument is very simple: Claim = Topic Related to the Report's Purpose Reader Question = [Depends on the Claim] Support = (1) Review of research sources, and (2) their reported results relevant to the topic. Now you can understand why the Background section in a data analysis report is so difficult: identifying a topic that is related to the report's purpose must be completed before the claim or the reader question can be written. Some people have attempted to define the claim this way: Solving the problem is important. However, we already know that solving the problem is important, because the Introduction's Problem area clearly describes what could happen if the problem is addressed and what could happen if it's not addressed. Furthermore, students who have taken this route soon discovered that finding research sources to support the claim proved to be difficult. What steps can you take to help identify an important topic that is related to the report's purpose? The answer: focus freewrite about it. Let's look at a specific example. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 2 Example: Data Analysis Report Background Section as Argument Recall the mini-carrot (Gibillini's Garden Dijonaise dish) example. Let's use it to see how we can organize a Background section for the report. We've already discussed how (a) Gibillinis needs to purchase a new brand of mini-carrots for its signature dish, and (b) the Background section needs to convince readers that the report and its findings are important. Here's how to formulate the claim. Step #1: Focus Freewrite In order to stimulate your thinking about the topic related to the report's purpose, you can focus freewrite whatever comes to mind about it. Here's an example of focus freewriting: What should the background's claim be? We already know that the purpose of this report is to find a new brand of mini-carrot for Gibillini's signature dish, and the data analysis itself is about mini-carrots, so maybe the background section should review how mini-carrots are grown and/or manufactured. That would be interesting . . . but it really isn't relevant to the report's purpose which is to find a replacement mini-carrot for the signature dish. I mean, it really doesn't explain why the report and its findings are important. In the Scope section, I already mentioned how mini-carrot taste, texture, and color have already been considered, so those areas are not part of what I actually did when I measured all those mini-carrots. Why exactly did I measure all those mini-carrots? Why is it so important for every mini-carrot to be as close as possible to the same length? It has nothing to do with taste or texture or color. But it does have everything to do with how the restaurant's signature dish looks. That's why it's important. The way the dish looks is important. Otherwise, why would the chef care about the lengths. That's it. Now that you have a rough idea about why the report and its findings are important, you can use that idea to formulate a claim. Step #2: Write the Claim Remember the formula for the data analysis report claim: Topic Related to the Report's Purpose. Through focused freewriting, you've already established that the way food looks is important. You could write the following claim: The way food looks is important. The wording here is okay, but it doesn't sound very technical; that is, it sounds too informal. At this point, you can tweak the wording to sound more professional. How about this claim: Food presentation is important. It sounds like a good claim, so let's analyze it: Is it arguable? The answer: Yes. Reasonable people can disagree about whether or not food presentation is important. Is it a topic that is related to the report's purpose? The answer: Yes. The reason why you wrote the report and measured all the mini-carrots was totally related to the way the signature dish would look, which is clearly connected to the idea of food presentation. Do you think research sources can be found to support this claim? The answer: Yes. Food presentation is a big deal in restaurant business. There should be a lot of sources available to support the claim. At this point, the claim seems like a good one that can be used for the Background section. Step #3: List Various Search Terms Your job now is to find research sources that support the claim, that prove the claim to be true. We've already covered the steps you can take to find relevant search terms, so I won't repeat them here. However, keep in mind that a successful search for relevant sources begins with and is dependent upon a finely-tuned list of relevant search terms. Page 3 Step #4: Find the Sources The next lesson will provide further instruction about finding sources for your background section for the purpose of discovering research that supports the claim. Step #5: Read the Sources After you locate the research sources, you'll read them to see if they actually provide evidence that supports the claim. Step #6: Take Notes about the Sources As you're reading the sources, you'll take notes that can be used for quotes and paraphrases in the background section. Step #7: Write the Argument Outline After you locate your sources and take notes—all for the purpose of finding support for your claim—you can write the outline for your argument. Here's one possible outline for the mini-carrot Background section: Claim: Food presentation is important. Reader Question: Why is food presentation important? Support: People don't like to eat food that looks bad (as found in Source #1). Chefs spend a lot of time making their plates look good (as found in Source #2). A restaurant's reputation can hinge on its food presentation (as found in Source #3). Now we must determine whether or not the items of support prove the claim to be true. Some people might be satisfied with all three items of support and agree with the claim. However, our warrants help us to determine whether a logical connection exists between the claim and support. Let's look at the warrant for each item of support. 1. Food presentation is important (claim) because people don't like to eat food that looks bad (support), which can be found in Source #1 (a peer-reviewed academic source). The connection makes sense, the research source says it's true, and most reasonable people would recognize the source as credible (warrant), so the claim and support are logical. 2. Food presentation is important (claim) because chefs spend a lot of time making their plates look good (support), which can be found in Source #2 (a peer-reviewed academic source). The connection makes sense because chefs wouldn't spend so much time if food presentation wasn't important, the research source says it's true, and most reasonable people would recognize the source as credible (warrant), so the claim and support are logical. 3. Food presentation is important (claim) because a restaurant's reputation can hinge on its food presentation (support), which can be found in Source #3 (a peer-reviewed academic source). The connection makes sense, the research source says it's true, and most reasonable people would recognize the source as credible (warrant), so the claim and support are logical. Notice how the warrants are not based on popular opinion. Instead, they are based on the credibility of the research sources. If your sources are not credible (e.g., if they were taken from a Web site written by your friend who likes to eat in restaurants), then the items of support may not be considered credible by most reasonable people. If the sources are written by a world-famous restaurant critic and chef, then most people would agree that the sources are credible. Step #8: Write the Background Section Now you're ready to write the Background section of the report, following the outline. Keep in mind Page 4 that you can add your own common knowledge information to the Background section as well. Not every sentence needs to be supported with a research source. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 5 Example #2: Data Analysis Report Background Section as Argument We're almost finished with the lesson. Let's look at one more example of a Background section. Here's the scenario of the assignment: A restaurant chain wanted to replace its restroom electric hand dryers with paper towels to help reduce operating costs. As a result, the restaurant's management team hired an outside company to identify one paper towel brand with the greatest strength (out of three different brands) that would serve as a suitable electronic hand dryer replacement. The purpose of the report was to analyze the strength of three paper towel brands in order to recommend one as a suitable replacement for the electric dryers. Step #1: Focus Freewrite Here's one possible focus freewrite about the report's purpose: The restaurant managers want to lower the restaurant's operating costs by replacing the electric hand dryers with paper towels, mainly because the old electric hand dryers don't work well and are worn out, and because replacement dryers are very expensive. They also have been getting customer complaints about the electric dryers because they're unsightly and their start buttons have a lot of germs on them. Who wants to touch a filthy start button with just-washed hands? However, they also aren't quite sure if they'd like to switch over to the paper towels, because they can be more expensive than the one-time purchase and then continual operating costs (electric) of the dryers. I could write the background section about the importance of lowering the operating costs of a business, but doing so is unrelated to the report's purpose. They're not really doing so based on cost savings. I also could discuss the tensile strength of paper towels, but that topic doesn't connect clearly with the report's purpose, which is to replace the electric dryers with paper towels. I could discuss how paper towels are manufactured, but again, it's unrelated to the purpose. Well . . . the managers aren't quite sure if it's a good idea to replace the dryers with paper towels, but their customers are complaining about the dryers. But the reason why I'm even conducting this investigation is because the managers somehow think that paper towels would be better than the electric dryers. Perhaps that's what I should write about. Papers towels are better. Now that you have a rough idea about why the report and its findings are important, you can use that idea to formulate a claim. Step #2: Write the Claim Remember the formula for the data analysis report claim: Topic Related to the Report's Purpose. Through focused freewriting, you've already established a possible claim: Paper towels are better than electric hand dryers. This claim sounds pretty good and doesn't really need to be tweaked, so let's analyze it: Is it arguable? The answer: Yes. Reasonable people can disagree about whether or not paper towels are better. Is it a topic that is related to the report's purpose? The answer: Yes. The reason why you measured each paper towel's strength was because doing so helped to determine a suitable electric dryer replacement which, at least in a restaurant manager's mind, is connected to which method of hand drying (electric vs. paper towel) is better for customers and for the restaurant. Do you think research sources can be found to support this claim? The answer: Maybe. There should be enough sources available to support it (and obviously there were). At this point, the claim seems like a good one that can be used for the Background section. Step #3: List Various Search Terms You next would find research sources that support the claim, that prove the claim to be true. Page 6 Step #4: Find the Sources Using the search terms from the previous step, you will use the academic databases to find research sources that provide support for the claim. Step #5: Read the Sources After the research sources are located, you would read them to see if they actually provide evidence that supports the claim. Step #6: Take Notes about the Sources As you're reading the sources, you'll take notes that can be used for quotes and paraphrases in the background section. Step #7: Write the Argument Outline After locating the sources and taking notes—all for the purpose of finding support for the claim—you'll write an outline for the Background section argument: Claim: Papers towels are better than electric hand dryers. Reader Question: Why are they better? Support: Paper towels are healthier (Johnston, 2007; Weise, 2009; Preidt, 2014). Papers towels are better for the environment (Schildgen, 2013). Paper towels are quieter than electric hand dryers (Berkowitz, 2015). Instead of reviewing the warrants in a lot of detail, we can rather easily establish that the research sources, which came from scholarly articles, would be recognized by most reasonable people as creditable sources, so the claim and items of support appear to be logical. Step #8: Write the Background Section We'll cover this last step at another time. In the meantime, let's get started with completing Step #1 and Step #2 in this part of the lesson. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 7 Conclusion: Assessment Section In the assessment section, you'll write a detailed paragraph that covers the following items: Relative to the problem, what do the data results suggest (or what do they mean) regarding the total responses? Relative to the problem, what do the data results suggest (or what do they mean) regarding the responses for both demographics (e.g., male vs. female, commuters vs. oncampus residents, and so forth)? Keep in mind that you're drawing subjective conclusions about the data, so essentially you're providing your expert opinion about the data results—but you need to make sure that the data results support your opinion. We'll continue to use the Clean Access example for this section. Here's how the Assessment could be written: Assessment Only one out of four students expressed some level of satisfaction ("I like it" and "It's okay") with the Clean Access Program, indicating that a problem exists with the Internet experience for students in the Honors Complex. While male and female levels of dissatisfaction were identical, male students were more satisfied with the program by a margin greater than two-to-one compared to female students; however, a substantial percentage of male and female students clearly do not like the program. Comments: Notice the following important points about this section: It doesn't merely repeat the data results; it actually draws conclusions about or interprets the data results using general statements. The technical writer combined the "I like it" and "It's okay" responses and considered that they represented some level of satisfaction. This combination seems perfectly reasonable and illustrates the subjective nature of drawing conclusions from the data; however, the data also support this conclusion. It draws a general conclusion about the total responses first, and then it draws another general conclusion about both demographic responses second. The order doesn't matter, but addressing each one separately helps readers to clearly understand what the data results mean. Both sentences draw conclusions that are relevant to the following problem: Employees in the IT Department need to know if the Clean Access program is working well for students, but they don't how satisfied students are with it. The conclusions that were drawn from the data results provide clear answers that will help the IT employees to solve the problem and, from there, recommend a course of action if enough students are dissatisfied with the program. Now notice what conclusions the technical writer did not draw from the data results: He did not state that a majority of students were okay with the program based on the fact that fewer than half (or less than a majority) expressed dissatisfaction with it. Forty-five percent of 30,000 students is a huge number of people, so clearly a problem exists. Even if only 25% were dissatisfied, 25% of 30,000 students is 7500 students, so a problem still exists. He did not recommend a solution or a course of action that the IT employees should take. The purpose of the Assessment section is to draw conclusions about the data results, not to recommend a course of action. Page 1 After you've written the Assessment section, you're ready to complete the last section in the Conclusion: the Recommendation. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 2 Data Analysis Report: Recommendation Section In the recommendation section, you'll write a detailed paragraph—based on the conclusions that you wrote about in the assessment section—that covers the following items: What general course of action should be taken? What specific course of action do you recommend? What follow-up studies should be completed in the future to (a) address any uncertainties in the data, and/or (B) DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION WORKED? Here's how the recommendation section would be written for the NASA topic: Recommendation The Clean Access program by necessity needs to continue in order to protect student computers and to avoid security problems on the network. However, the level of dissatisfaction expressed by students—particularly female students—indicates a need for the university to investigate further why residents in the Honors Complex find the program problematic. Student representatives and staff members of Information Technology Services should meet to identify problems with the program and to discuss appropriate solutions which, if feasible, should be implemented immediately. APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH AFTER THE SOLUTIONS ARE IN PLACE, THE ORIGINAL SURVEY SHOULD BE REPEATED TO MEASURE STUDENT OPINIONS ABOUT THE REVISED CLEAN ACCESS PROGRAM IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHETHER FURTHER CHANGES ARE NECESSARY. Comments: For this report, no uncertainties in the data were present, so no information for the green section (about addressing any uncertainties in the data) was included. However, your project might require that a follow-up study be conducted (e.g., another survey) in order to discover missing data that could help solve the problem, and then a third follow-up study would determine if the recommended course of action worked or not. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 3 Data Analysis Report: Conclusion as Argument Recall how we analyzed the Conclusion section of the recommendation report to see if its argument made sense. We can check the data analysis report's conclusion section as well. Elements of Argument Recall our previous discussion about the two elements of argument: claim and support. The claim is a statement about what you believe to be true, while support takes on the form of data (e.g., statistics, facts) that proves the claim to be true. Think of the two sections of the conclusion in this manner: Claim = Recommendation (What general and specific course of action needs to be taken?) Support = Assessment Here's why I used only the "general and specific course of action" as the claim: Both of them are arguable statements. That is, reasonable people can disagree with them; however, they are statements that must be supported by the assessment section. The remainder of the recommendation (follow-up studies) provide the details for how the courses of action can be carried out, so they're not part of the actual claim. Let's test this statement using the Clean Access program example. Clean Access Topic as Argument Claim/Recommendation: The Clean Access program by necessity needs to continue in order to protect student computers and to avoid security problems on the network. However, the level of dissatisfaction expressed by students—particularly female students—indicates a need for the university to investigate further why residents in the Honors Complex find the program problematic. Support/Assessment: Only one out of four students expressed some level of satisfaction ("I like it" and "It's okay") with the Clean Access Program, indicating that a problem exists with the Internet experience for students in the Honors Complex. While male and female levels of dissatisfaction were identical, male students were more satisfied with the program by a margin greater than two-to-one compared to female students; however, a substantial percentage of male and female students clearly do not like the program. Argument: The Clean Access program by necessity needs to continue in order to protect student computers and to avoid security problems on the network. However, the level of dissatisfaction expressed by students—particularly female students—indicates a need for the university to investigate further why residents in the Honors Complex find the program problematic. Why? Because only one out of four students expressed some level of satisfaction ("I like it" and "It's okay") with the Clean Access Program, indicating that a problem exists with the Internet experience for students in the Honors Complex. Why else? Because even though male and female levels of dissatisfaction were identical, and even though male students were more satisfied with the program by a margin greater than two-to-one compared to female students, the fact still remains that a substantial percentage of male and female students clearly do not like the program. Comments: I slightly changed some of the words in the support text to make the argument flow more smoothly, but those changes didn't alter its meaning. As you can see, the argument makes sense. When you write your conclusion section for the data analysis report, make sure that your recommendations section (claim) and assessment section (support) form a persuasive argument. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 4 Data Analysis Report: Contact, References, and Appendix Sections After you write the Conclusion section of the report, only three major sections remain, each with a firstlevel heading: Contact, References, and Appendix. You're already familiar with the Contact and References sections, so let's briefly discuss the Appendix. Appendix The Appendix serves an important function in the report: it provides readers with access to your raw data so they can check your calculations to determine if they're correct. For this report, your raw data can be organized as a table which provides an accurate count for each response. Like all tables, you'll need to include a correctly-formatted APA caption. Recall from our last report how a table caption is formatted compared to a figure: The caption is placed above the table; it's placed below a figure. The table number is not italicized; it is italicized for a figure. The table number is placed separately on its own line and is not followed by a period; the figure number is not placed on its own line, and it is followed by a period. The table caption itself is italicized; for a figure, it's not. The table caption itself does not end with a period; a figure caption ends with a period. The table caption itself capitalizes the first letter of all major words; a figure caption does not. The only trait that both figures and tables share is that both captions are not complete sentences; instead, they're brief yet descriptive texts of the table or figure. Appendix Table Format In APA, tables are typically double spaced throughout, and vertical lines are not used in them. For this course, you may use MS Word's "table" features to include vertical and horizontal lines (to form boxes), and all text may be single spaced instead of double spaced for this reason: to save space on the printed page. Otherwise, your tables may run to more than two pages. Here's how the table for the Clean Access example would be formatted: Table 1 Raw Data for Clean Access Program Survey Male Female I like it. 1 0 It's okay. 6 3 Dissatisfied 9 9 No Opinion 4 8 Comments: Notice the following format guidelines for the Appendix table: The table does not need to take up the entire width of the page. The table is aligned all the way to the left margin. The table cell contents are centered vertically and horizontally in each cell. Each table cell includes some horizontal and vertical blank spaces. The table caption is typed in an italic font. Only the raw data are included; no percentages and no total responses are provided. Page 5 Data Analysis Report: Putting It All Together After you're finished writing the final three sections, here's what the entire data analysis report should look like after you complete the homework assignment for this lesson:* Analysis of Consistent Mini-Carrot Length for Gibillini's Garden Dijonaise Dish Introduction Purpose This report analyzes the number of equal length carrots per bag of two mini-carrot brands in order to determine which brand should be used for Gibillinis Restaurant's Garden Dijonaise dish. Problem For the past 30 years, Gibillinis has served the residents of greater Phoenix as one of the area's premier upscale restaurants. Among its selection of unique cuisine is its signature dish, Garden Dijonaise, which earned a "Best of Best Award" for taste and presentation. Garden Dijonaise, Gibillinis' most popular entrée, is decorated with a circular pattern of mini-carrots whose length is identical to the naked eye. Recently, Gibillinis lost its sole supplier of mini-carrots, so an alternative brand-whose mini-carrots are as close to an equal length as possible-must be found in order to preserve the excellent presentation of Garden Dijonaise. J.Organics, a regional supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, carries two alternative brands that have been selected by the head chef and that need to be analyzed to determine which brand offers the most consistent mini-carrot length per bag. Selecting the brand with the best consistency in length is necessary so that the prestige and appearance of Garden Dijonaise is preserved. The selection of the best alternative is also imperative in maintaining Gibillinis' good name and excellent food. Failing to find a suitable mini-carrot replacement would require a change in the company's signature dish, which could lead to customer dissatisfaction with its presentation and, as a consequence, possibly lead to a decline in sales and customer satisfaction. Scope The gathering and evaluation of data include only an analysis of mini-carrot length consistency, because consistent length is the only remaining determining factor that affects the visual appeal of Gibillinis' signature dish. Taste, texture, and color are not taken into account because the kitchen chef already considered these factors when he chose the two brands that are compared for this project. Background Due to recent economic struggles, many restaurants are looking for ways to lower costs. One of the best ways restaurants can minimize expenses is by decreasing operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. To do so, many restaurant managers have decided to exclusively use paper towels instead of napkins. This choice has been shown to save companies a tremendous amount of money. Using paper towels instead of napkins, the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group will save about $70,000 this year (Miller, 2009, para. 16). In addition, households have recognized the cost savings attributed to only using paper towels. According to Toth (2009), paper towels have replaced about every other type of household paper product except toilet tissue (para. 1). However, for commercial restrooms, the O&M cost of hand dryers is less than that of paper towel dispensers. Paper towel dispensers are made cheaper and tend to malfunction more than hand dryers. Maintenance workers need to restock paper towel dispensers on a regular basis, whereas hand dryers Page 6 only require one-time installation. Also, restroom users are often messy when they dispose of paper towels, requiring extra maintenance work for cleanup (Koerner, 2008, para. 12). Nonetheless, hand dryers present problems in two main areas, customer preference and hygiene. When hand dryers hit the market in the 1970s, they were not popular with consumers. According to research, consumers' perceptions have not changed as hand dryers are only in six percent of public restrooms in the United States (Weise, 2009, para. 17). Restaurant managers have to weigh the O&M cost savings against their customers' comfort, but the issue of greater concern is hygiene. According to Weise (2009), hand dryers may discourage people from washing their hands because of the required drying time (para. 26). Health authorities recommend over twice the time of use for hand dryers compared to paper towels (Johnston, 2007, para. 4). Paper towels require less time of use because they create friction, which helps remove bacteria from hands. In contrast, the flow of air created by hand dryers causes bacteria to disperse into the air, facilitating cross-contamination between individuals (Weise, 2009, para. 19). Based on the evidence, paper towels outperform hand dryers from a health standpoint, but another area of interest is the environmental efficiency of each method. According to Koerner (2008), hand dryers are usually more environmentally friendly than paper towels because they use less energy over a given period of time (para. 3 & para. 18). However, Koerner (2008) also found that the difference in long-term carbon emissions is small (para. 19). Therefore, restaurant managers should base their decision on O&M costs, customer preference, and hygiene. Based on the motto and reputation of Otto's Kitchen, customer preference and hygiene should outweigh O&M costs, supporting the exclusive use of paper towels. Procedures/Methodology In the survey, the author of this report gathered student opinions about the university's Clean Access program (see Appendix for raw data results), using a combination of stratified sampling (parenthetical definition here) and systematic sampling (parenthetical definition here). Twenty male and twenty female students who reside in the Honors Complex and who were willing to participate in the survey, were asked the following question: "What is your opinion regarding the new Clean Access program for connecting to the Internet?" Students could respond in one of four ways: (1) I like it, (2) It's okay, (3) Dissatisfied, or (4) No Opinion. Response data were calculated in two ways. [Explain how the relative frequency of one group vs. the second group was calculated and explain why you chose to use relative frequency for the comparison.] [Explain how the relative frequency of all responses from both groups was calculated and explain why you chose to use relative frequency.] Data and Results Figure 1 is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program. Approximately 2.5% of all students liked the program, 22.5% thought it was okay, 45% were dissatisfied, and 30% had no opinion. Page 7 Figure 1. Student opinions about the Clean Access program. Figure 2 is a bar chart that shows . . . Figure 2. Male and female student opinions about the Clean Access program. Conclusion Assessment Only one out of four students expressed some level of satisfaction ("I like it" and "It's okay") with the Clean Access Program, indicating that a problem exists with the Internet experience for students in the Honors Complex. While male and female levels of dissatisfaction were identical, male students were more satisfied with the program by a margin greater than two-to-one compared to female students; however, a substantial percentage of male and female students clearly do not like the program. Recommendation The Clean Access program by necessity needs to continue in order to protect student computers and to avoid security problems on the network. However, the level of dissatisfaction expressed by studentsparticularly female students-indicates a need for the university to investigate further why residents in the Honors Complex find the program problematic. Student representatives and staff members of Information Technology Services should meet to identify problems with the program and to discuss Page 8 appropriate solutions which, if feasible, should be implemented immediately. Approximately one month after the solutions are in place, the original survey should be repeated to measure student opinions about the revised Clean Access program in order to determine whether further changes are necessary. Contact For question or concerns regarding this report, contact Sandy Smith at 330-972-6888 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays or by e-mail at ssmith@marketresearch.co. References [list references here] Appendix Table 1 Raw Data for Clean Access Program Survey Male Female I like it. 1 0 It's okay. 6 3 Dissatisfied 9 9 No Opinion 4 8 *Please note that different examples were used for each section, so the report does not represent just one example. Your report will focus on only your proposed (and accepted) project report topic. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 9 Data and Results: Disclaimer The example that will be presented in this lesson should give you a better idea about how such a report is organized. However, keep in mind the following information when you read through it: The section may contain mechanical, grammatical, and style errors. The section may include areas of wordiness that have been left unedited, including the use of to be and to have verbs, along with the possible use of this, these, and those without a referent, and the possible use of expletives (e.g., there is, there are, it has been stated that, and so forth). Edit the final draft of your report to eliminate wordiness and other style weaknesses. Consider this section as one example of a categorical (qualitative) data analysis report, not as a template of words, phrases, and graphic styles you can pick up. Don't duplicate the report's wording and graphic presentation; improve it. The assignment requirements, APA format, and grading scale for this example may differ from yours. Think about what you're writing within the context of your assignment and current APA guidelines. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 1 Data and Results: Good Example Recall the criteria we need to keep in mind for this section: Report objective observations. Reference, describe, and report the data results in each figure. Show the figure. Don't draw conclusions about the data. Now let's take a look at a good example of reporting data for the Clean Access program that we discussed in an earlier lesson. The Clean Access survey compared male vs. female responses as the two data groups. Remember, however, that for this report, you'll report two data results: (a) Group #1 vs. Group #2 responses, and (b) total responses—Group #1 plus Group #2 responses combined. For the Clean Access results, we'll then compare the following two responses: Male vs. Female responses. Total Responses (Male plus Female responses combined). Let's begin with examples of reporting the combined responses. Good Example of Reporting of Data Figure 1 is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program. Nearly one-half of all students were dissatisfied with the program, about one in four students thought the program was okay, and almost one-third had no opinion. Fewer than 3% of all students expressed satisfaction with the Clean Access program. Figure 1. Student opinions about the Clean Access program. Example Comments Notice how this example meets all four criteria listed above: 1. The second and third sentences report the objective results of the data; that is, they don't state any personal opinions about the data. Even though it rounds the numbers up—for example, nearly one-half for 45%, about one in four for 22.5%, almost one-third for 30%, and fewer than 3% for 2.5%—it still is an objective reporting of the data, especially since readers can easily see the exact number results on the figure itself. 2. The paragraph references (Figure 1), describes (is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions Page 2 about the Clean Access program), and reports (the remainder of the paragraph) the figure. 3. The figure is shown, along with its APA-formatted caption. 4. It doesn't draw any conclusions about the data. Now let's look at some other examples. Note: When you report the total responses, you can use either a pie chart (illustrated above) or a bar chart. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 3 Data and Results: Another Good Example Once again, recall the criteria we need to keep in mind for this section: Report objective observations. Reference, describe, and report the data results in each figure. Show the figure. Don't draw conclusions about the data. Now let's take a look at a second good example of reporting data regarding the Clean Access program that we discussed in an earlier lesson. Good Example of Reporting of Data Figure 1 is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program. Approximately 2.5% of all students liked the program, 22.5% thought it was okay, 45% were dissatisfied, and 30% had no opinion. Figure 1. Student opinions about the Clean Access program. Example Comments Some people may not like to report any results other than the exact statistical data percentages from the study. In these cases, you can always just report the actual results. Again, notice how this example meets all four criteria listed above: 1. The second sentence reports the objective results of the data; that is, reasonable people would not disagree that the data reported are the actual data results. 2. The paragraph references (Figure 1), describes (is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program), and reports (the remainder of the paragraph) the figure. 3. The figure is shown, along with its APA-formatted caption. 4. It doesn't draw any conclusions about the data. Many of my students use this method of reporting their data results, because it helps prevent the writer from making a subjective observation about the data and/or drawing a conclusion about the data results. Now let's look at some incorrect ways of reporting the data. Note: When you report the total responses, you can use either a pie chart (illustrated above) or a bar chart. Page 4 Data and Results: Wrong Reporting Now let's take a look at an example of the wrong way to report data results. Wrong Way to Report Data Figure 1 is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program. Approximately 2.5% of all students liked the program, 22.5% thought it was okay, 45% were dissatisfied, and 30% had no opinion. The data indicated that most students are dissatisfied with the Clean Access program. Figure 1. Student opinions about the Clean Access program. Example Comments What's the problem with this paragraph? Recall the four criteria we need to keep in mind for the Data and Results section: Report objective observations. Reference, describe, and report the data results in each figure. Show the figure. Don't draw conclusions about the data. Notice how the first three criteria are met: 1. The second sentence reports the objective results of the data; that is, reasonable people would not disagree that the data reported are the actual data results. 2. The paragraph references (Figure 1), describes (is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program), and reports (the remainder of the paragraph) the figure. 3. The figure is shown, along with its APA-formatted caption. However, the last sentence in the paragraph (The data indicated that most students are dissatisfied with the Clean Access program.) draws a conclusion about the data, which violates the last criteria: 4. Don't draw conclusions about the data. Keep in mind that all four criteria must be met, so this paragraph doesn't correctly report the data results. Let's look at another example of bad data reporting. Page 5 Note: When you report the total responses, you can use either a pie chart (illustrated above) or a bar chart. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 6 Data and Results: Another Example of Wrong Reporting Now let's take a look at a second example of the wrong way to report data results. Wrong Way to Report Data Figure 1 is a pie chart that shows overall levels of student dissatisfaction with the Clean Access program. A large number of students were dissatisfied with the program, many students thought the program was okay, and a significant number had no opinion. Very few students expressed satisfaction with the program. The data indicated that too many students are not satisfied with the Clean Access program; therefore, changes should be made to it. Figure 1. Student opinions about the Clean Access program. Example Comments This paragraph has a lot of problems? Recall the four criteria we need to keep in mind for the Data and Results section: Report objective observations. Reference, describe, and report the data results in each figure. Show the figure. Don't draw conclusions about the data. Notice how the second and third criteria are met: 2. The paragraph references (Figure 1), describes (is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program), and reports (the remainder of the paragraph) the figure. 3. The figure is shown, along with its APA-formatted caption. However, after the first sentence, the remainder of the paragraph violates the first and fourth criteria: 1. The reporting of data is subjective; that is, reasonable people could disagree with the reported results. For example, representing 45% as a large number of students is a subjective statement; reasonable people can disagree about whether it's a large number or a huge number or a big number. Also writing that many students thought the program was okay is very subjective, because reasonable people can disagree about what the word "many" means. Likewise, using the word "significant number" to represent 22.5%, and using "very few" to represent 2.5% are both very subjective terms. Page 7 4. The paragraph also draws conclusions about the data (the data indicated that too many students are not satisfied with the Clean Access program) and then makes a recommendation (therefore, changes should be made to it). Again, all four criteria must be met, and this paragraph meets only two of them, so it doesn't correctly report the data results. Note: When you report the total responses, you can use either a pie chart (illustrated above) or a bar chart. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 8 Data and Results: Reinforcing a Good Example I don't like to end with a bad example, so read through one of the good examples once again so it remains fresh in your mind: Figure 1 is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program. Approximately 2.5% of all students liked the program, 22.5% thought it was okay, 45% were dissatisfied, and 30% had no opinion. Figure 1. Student opinions about the Clean Access program. Again, the example meets all four criteria for the effective reporting of data results: 1. The second sentence reports the objective results of the data; that is, reasonable people would not disagree that the data reported are the actual data results. 2. The paragraph references (Figure 1), describes (is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program), and reports (the remainder of the paragraph) the figure. 3. The figure is shown, along with its APA-formatted caption. 4. It doesn't draw any conclusions about the data. Note: When you report the total responses, you can use either a pie chart (illustrated above) or a bar chart. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 9 Data and Results: Reporting Group #1 and Group #2 After you report the total data results, you'll also need to report the results of each data group. For the Clean Access program example, you would report the Male and Female responses, following the same four criteria. I don't want to give you the exact wording to use, because you can organize your reporting in a few different ways. Here's how this part of the Data and Results would be written: Figure 2 is a bar chart that shows . . . [Remember that you must report the results for each group.] Figure 2. Male and female student opinions about the Clean Access program. Report the data in the same manner as before in Figure 1. However, you may report it separately (all four male responses first and then all four female responses second) or one response at a time (e.g., male I Like It, female I Like It; male It's Okay, female It's Okay, and so forth). Remember: Remain objective. Don't make any subjective comparisons. Again, the reporting must meet all four criteria: Report objective observations. Reference, describe, and report the data results in each figure. Show the figure. Don't draw conclusions about the data. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 10 Data Analysis Report: Your Report So Far At this point, you will have written four out of five major sections. Here's how your data analysis report should look after you complete the homework assignment for this lesson:* Analysis of Consistent Mini-Carrot Length for Gibillini's Garden Dijonaise Dish Introduction Purpose This report analyzes the number of equal length carrots per bag of two mini-carrot brands in order to determine which brand should be used for Gibillinis Restaurant's Garden Dijonaise dish. Problem For the past 30 years, Gibillinis has served the residents of greater Phoenix as one of the area's premier upscale restaurants. Among its selection of unique cuisine is its signature dish, Garden Dijonaise, which earned a "Best of Best Award" for taste and presentation. Garden Dijonaise, Gibillinis' most popular entrée, is decorated with a circular pattern of mini-carrots whose length is identical to the naked eye. Recently, Gibillinis lost its sole supplier of mini-carrots, so an alternative brand-whose mini-carrots are as close to an equal length as possible-must be found in order to preserve the excellent presentation of Garden Dijonaise. J.Organics, a regional supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, carries two alternative brands that have been selected by the head chef and that need to be analyzed to determine which brand offers the most consistent mini-carrot length per bag. Selecting the brand with the best consistency in length is necessary so that the prestige and appearance of Garden Dijonaise is preserved. The selection of the best alternative is also imperative in maintaining Gibillinis' good name and excellent food. Failing to find a suitable mini-carrot replacement would require a change in the company's signature dish, which could lead to customer dissatisfaction with its presentation and, as a consequence, possibly lead to a decline in sales and customer satisfaction. Scope The gathering and evaluation of data include only an analysis of mini-carrot length consistency, because consistent length is the only remaining determining factor that affects the visual appeal of Gibillinis' signature dish. Taste, texture, and color are not taken into account because the kitchen chef already considered these factors when he chose the two brands that are compared for this project. Background Due to recent economic struggles, many restaurants are looking for ways to lower costs. One of the best ways restaurants can minimize expenses is by decreasing operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. To do so, many restaurant managers have decided to exclusively use paper towels instead of napkins. This choice has been shown to save companies a tremendous amount of money. Using paper towels instead of napkins, the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group will save about $70,000 this year (Miller, 2009, para. 16). In addition, households have recognized the cost savings attributed to only using paper towels. According to Toth (2009), paper towels have replaced about every other type of household paper product except toilet tissue (para. 1). However, for commercial restrooms, the O&M cost of hand dryers is less than that of paper towel dispensers. Paper towel dispensers are made cheaper and tend to malfunction more than hand dryers. Maintenance workers need to restock paper towel dispensers on a regular basis, whereas hand dryers Page 11 only require one-time installation. Also, restroom users are often messy when they dispose of paper towels, requiring extra maintenance work for cleanup (Koerner, 2008, para. 12). Nonetheless, hand dryers present problems in two main areas, customer preference and hygiene. When hand dryers hit the market in the 1970s, they were not popular with consumers. According to research, consumers' perceptions have not changed as hand dryers are only in six percent of public restrooms in the United States (Weise, 2009, para. 17). Restaurant managers have to weigh the O&M cost savings against their customers' comfort, but the issue of greater concern is hygiene. According to Weise (2009), hand dryers may discourage people from washing their hands because of the required drying time (para. 26). Health authorities recommend over twice the time of use for hand dryers compared to paper towels (Johnston, 2007, para. 4). Paper towels require less time of use because they create friction, which helps remove bacteria from hands. In contrast, the flow of air created by hand dryers causes bacteria to disperse into the air, facilitating cross-contamination between individuals (Weise, 2009, para. 19). Based on the evidence, paper towels outperform hand dryers from a health standpoint, but another area of interest is the environmental efficiency of each method. According to Koerner (2008), hand dryers are usually more environmentally friendly than paper towels because they use less energy over a given period of time (para. 3 & para. 18). However, Koerner (2008) also found that the difference in long-term carbon emissions is small (para. 19). Therefore, restaurant managers should base their decision on O&M costs, customer preference, and hygiene. Based on the motto and reputation of Otto's Kitchen, customer preference and hygiene should outweigh O&M costs, supporting the exclusive use of paper towels. Procedures/Methodology In the survey, the author of this report gathered student opinions about the university's Clean Access program (see Appendix for raw data results), using a combination of stratified sampling (parenthetical definition here) and systematic sampling (parenthetical definition here). Twenty male and twenty female students who reside in the Honors Complex and who were willing to participate in the survey, were asked the following question: "What is your opinion regarding the new Clean Access program for connecting to the Internet?" Students could respond in one of four ways: (1) I like it, (2) It's okay, (3) Dissatisfied, or (4) No Opinion. Response data were calculated in two ways. [Explain how the relative frequency of one group vs. the second group was calculated and explain why you chose to use relative frequency for the comparison.] [Explain how the relative frequency of all responses from both groups was calculated and explain why you chose to use relative frequency.] Data and Results Figure 1 is a pie chart that shows overall student opinions about the Clean Access program. Approximately 2.5% of all students liked the program, 22.5% thought it was okay, 45% were dissatisfied, and 30% had no opinion. Page 12 Figure 1. Student opinions about the Clean Access program. Figure 2 is a bar chart that shows . . . Figure 2. Male and female student opinions about the Clean Access program. *Please note that different examples were used for each section, so the report does not represent just one example. Your report will focus on only your proposed (and accepted) project report topic. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 13 Introduction: Purpose As an example, I'm going to use a report that was written for a fictitious restaurant project. No other details about the project will be provided, because the introduction, if it's written well, should provide all the information you need. Once again, you should recognize the introduction section's organization and format right away. Why? Because it includes essentially the same areas or subsections as the introduction you wrote for the recommendation report. Report Title Before we review how the report looks so far, you'll need to write a title. The title is a first-level heading, so it's typed in 12-point Bold Times New Roman and centered at the top of the page. Because your report involves data analysis, you can title your report this way: Analysis of ________________. Using the mini-carrot example, the title could be written this way: Analysis of Consistent Mini-Carrot Length for Gibillini's Garden Dijonaise Dish. Following the title is the Introduction section. It begins with the following first-level (bold) heading (Introduction), and the first subsection of the Introduction is the Purpose section. It calls for a secondlevel (underlined) heading, because it represents a major subsection within the introduction. Here's how the introduction section looks so far. Report Title Introduction Purpose The Purpose section simply and briefly identifies the reason for writing the report: what you are examining and why you are examining it. Here's an example: This report analyzes the number of equal length carrots per bag of two mini-carrot brands in order to determine which brand should be used for Gibillinis Restaurant's Garden Dijonaise dish. Format of all paragraphs: 12-point Times New Roman, single-spaced; double space after the paragraph. Comment: Notice how this one-sentence purpose statement clearly identifies the project you are reporting on and the reason why you examined it. Even though I provided very little information about the project, you should now have a much better idea about what it involves just from reading the Purpose section. Remember: For this course, write your Purpose section using only one sentence. Introduction Format So Far Here's how the introduction section is formatted so far: Analysis of Consistent Mini-Carrot Length for Gibillini's Garden Dijonaise Dish Introduction Purpose This report analyzes the number of equal length carrots per bag of two mini-carrot brands in order to determine which brand should be used for Gibillinis Restaurant's Garden Dijonaise dish. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak Page 1 Introduction: Problem The second subsection, the Problem, can often be the most difficult part of the Introduction. It calls for a second-level (underlined) heading, just like the Purpose subsection. However, you need to cover these four areas for every problem: 1. Review the background or history of the situation that led to the problem. 2. Describe the problem. 3. Identify what (in general) needs to be done-without proposing a specific solution. 4. Describe the impact of the problem: What should or will happen if the problem is addressed? What could happen if it's left unaddressed? Let's put together a Problem section that covers all four areas for the restaurant example. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 2 Four Areas of the Problem Section You've already written a Problem section for the recommendation report, so I won't go into a lot of details; besides, each area's required content is self-explanatory, so as you're reading, notice how the example provides the needed information. 1. Review the background or history of the situation that led to the problem. For the past 30 years, Gibillinis has served the residents of greater Phoenix as one of the area's premier upscale restaurants. Among its selection of unique cuisine is its signature dish, Garden Dijonaise, which earned a "Best of Best Award" for taste and presentation. Garden Dijonaise, Gibillinis' most popular entrée, is decorated with a circular pattern of mini-carrots whose length is identical to the naked eye. Comments: This area provides a context for helping readers to understand the problem. In this case, it provides background information that explains how the problem developed. 2. Describe the problem. Recently, Gibillinis lost its sole supplier of mini-carrots, Comments: This area typically is stated briefly in one or two sentences. Pay particular attention to the fact that the problem area in no way includes a solution. For example, the writer could have stated that Gibillinis needs to find a new supplier and brand of mini-carrots. However, finding them is not the problem; it's the solution. Only state the problem. 3. Identify what (in general) needs to be done—without proposing a specific solution. so an alternative brand-whose mini-carrots are as close to an equal length as possible-must be found in order to preserve the excellent presentation of Garden Dijonaise. J.Organics, a regional supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, carries two alternative brands that have been selected by the head chef and that need to be analyzed to determine which brand offers the most consistent mini-carrot length per bag. Comments: This area identifies what needs to be done in general. Notice how it identifies a "general" solution. Think of this general solution like you would an essay's thesis statement. Both require more information or further explanation, which will be revealed later in the report. 4. Describe the impact of the problem: What should or will happen if the problem is addressed? What could happen if it's left unaddressed? Selecting the brand with the best consistency in length is necessary so that the prestige and appearance of Garden Dijonaise is preserved. The selection of the best alternative is also imperative in maintaining Gibillinis' good name and excellent food. Failing to find a suitable mini-carrot replacement would require a change in the company's signature dish, which could lead to customer dissatisfaction with its presentation and, as a consequence, possibly lead to a decline in sales and customer satisfaction. Comments: Notice how this area criterion requires that you describe what "could" happen if the problem is addressed and what "could" happen if it's left unaddressed. First, you don't need to address these two parts in order; whatever conveys the meaning most effectively should be used. Second, sometimes you know what "will" happen if the problem is left unaddressed, so you can use the word "will" instead of "could." In this example, you already know that if left unaddressed, the signature dish would change, but the consequence of doing so is unknown, so using the word "could" in the last sentence is appropriate. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak Page 3 Problem Section: Putting It All Together Notice how smoothly the Problem section reads from one area to the next when you put all the areas together, using this formula: 1. Review the background or history of the situation that led to the problem. + 2. Describe the problem. + 3. Identify what (in general) needs to be done—without proposing a specific solution. + 4. DESCRIBE THE IMPACT OF THE PROBLEM: WHAT SHOULD OR WILL HAPPEN IF THE PROBLEM IS ADDRESSED? WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF IT'S LEFT UNADDRESSED? For the past 30 years, Gibillinis has served the residents of greater Phoenix as one of the area's premier upscale restaurants. Among its selection of unique cuisine is its signature dish, Garden Dijonaise, which earned a "Best of Best Award" for taste and presentation. Garden Dijonaise, Gibillinis' most popular entrée, is decorated with a circular pattern of mini-carrots whose length is identical to the naked eye. Recently, Gibillinis lost its sole supplier of mini-carrots, so an alternative brand-whose minicarrots are as close to an equal length as possible-must be found in order to preserve the excellent presentation of Garden Dijonaise. J.Organics, a regional supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, carries two alternative brands that have been selected by the head chef and that need to be analyzed to determine which brand offers the most consistent mini-carrot length per bag. SELECTING THE BRAND WITH THE BEST CONSISTENCY IN LENGTH IS NECESSARY SO THAT THE PRESTIGE AND APPEARANCE OF GARDEN DIJONAISE IS PRESERVED. THE SELECTION OF THE BEST ALTERNATIVE IS ALSO IMPERATIVE IN MAINTAINING GIBILLINIS' GOOD NAME AND EXCELLENT FOOD. FAILING TO FIND A SUITABLE MINI-CARROT REPLACEMENT WOULD REQUIRE A CHANGE IN THE COMPANY'S SIGNATURE DISH, WHICH COULD LEAD TO CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION WITH ITS PRESENTATION AND, AS A CONSEQUENCE, POSSIBLY LEAD TO A DECLINE IN SALES AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. Notice how this Problem section is three paragraphs long. Combining them all into one paragraph would have been too overwhelming for the reader; two paragraphs would have been okay, but three paragraphs seems to work best in terms of making this section easier to read. Now let's look at how the Introduction section is taking shape so far. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 4 Introduction: Purpose and Problem Here's how the proposal would be formatted so far: Analysis of Consistent Mini-Carrot Length for Gibillini's Garden Dijonaise Dish Introduction Purpose This report analyzes the number of equal length carrots per bag of two mini-carrot brands in order to determine which brand should be used for Gibillinis Restaurant's Garden Dijonaise dish. Problem For the past 30 years, Gibillinis has served the residents of greater Phoenix as one of the area's premier upscale restaurants. Among its selection of unique cuisine is its signature dish, Garden Dijonaise, which earned a "Best of Best Award" for taste and presentation. Garden Dijonaise, Gibillinis' most popular entrée, is decorated with a circular pattern of mini-carrots whose length is identical to the naked eye. Recently, Gibillinis lost its sole supplier of mini-carrots, so an alternative brand-whose mini-carrots are as close to an equal length as possible-must be found in order to preserve the excellent presentation of Garden Dijonaise. J.Organics, a regional supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, carries two alternative brands that have been selected by the head chef and that need to be analyzed to determine which brand offers the most consistent mini-carrot length per bag. Selecting the brand with the best consistency in length is necessary so that the prestige and appearance of Garden Dijonaise is preserved. The selection of the best alternative is also imperative in maintaining Gibillinis' good name and excellent food. Failing to find a suitable mini-carrot replacement would require a change in the company's signature dish, which could lead to customer dissatisfaction with its presentation and, as a consequence, possibly lead to a decline in sales and customer satisfaction. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 5 Introduction: Scope The third and final subsection of the Introduction is the Scope section. It also calls for a second-level (underlined) heading, because it represents a major subsection within the introduction. The Scope lets readers know to what extent the report will cover the topic. That is, it clearly identifies the report's limitations, so readers aren't misled about the report's contents. The Scope for a proposal is different than a Scope section for the recommendation report. Instead of covering three areas, it only covers two: 1. Scope of the Report (what the Project will Cover and Why). 2. Limitations of the Report (what the Project will not Cover and Why). Example Here's how the Scope is organized for the restaurant proposal: 1. Scope of the Report (what the Project will Cover and Why) The gathering and evaluation of data included only an analysis of mini-carrot length consistency because consistent length was the only remaining determining factor that affects the visual appeal of Gibillinis' signature dish. Comment: Notice how this statement is short and concise. Readers will know exactly what the proposed study will cover. 2. Limitations of the Report (what the Project will not Cover and Why) Taste, texture, color, and other factors were not taken into account, because the kitchen chef had already considered these factors when choosing the two brands that would be compared for this project. Comment: Astute readers will want to know what the proposed project does "not" cover, so the third and final section of the scope identifies the "relevant" areas that the project will not cover and why it won't cover them. Important: Make sure that all the limitations of the report are relevant to the study. Putting It All Together To create the Scope section, just combine both areas: 1. Scope of the Report (what the Project will Cover and Why). + 2. Limitations of the Report (what the Project will not Cover and Why). The gathering and evaluation of data included only an analysis of mini-carrot length consistency, because consistent length was the only remaining determining factor that affects the visual appeal of Gibillinis' signature dish. Taste, texture, color, and other factors were not taken into account,because the kitchen chef had already considered these factors when choosing the two brands that would be compared for this project. Comment: The Scope is small enough that you can easily combine both areas into only one paragraph. Again, notice how smoothly one area flows into the next. At this point, the Introduction section is written. Let's see how the formal proposal memo looks so far. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 6 Introduction: Purpose, Problem, and Scope Here's how the Introduction of a formal proposal memo would be formatted: Analysis of Consistent Mini-Carrot Length for Gibillini's Garden Dijonaise Dish Introduction Purpose This report analyzes the number of equal length carrots per bag of two mini-carrot brands in order to determine which brand should be used for Gibillinis Restaurant's Garden Dijonaise dish. Problem For the past 30 years, Gibillinis has served the residents of greater Phoenix as one of the area's premier upscale restaurants. Among its selection of unique cuisine is its signature dish, Garden Dijonaise, which earned a "Best of Best Award" for taste and presentation. Garden Dijonaise, Gibillinis' most popular entrée, is decorated with a circular pattern of mini-carrots whose length is identical to the naked eye. Recently, Gibillinis lost its sole supplier of mini-carrots, so an alternative brand-whose mini-carrots are as close to an equal length as possible-must be found in order to preserve the excellent presentation of Garden Dijonaise. J.Organics, a regional supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, carries two alternative brands that have been selected by the head chef and that need to be analyzed to determine which brand offers the most consistent mini-carrot length per bag. Selecting the brand with the best consistency in length is necessary so that the prestige and appearance of Garden Dijonaise is preserved. The selection of the best alternative is also imperative in maintaining Gibillinis' good name and excellent food. Failing to find a suitable mini-carrot replacement would require a change in the company's signature dish, which could lead to customer dissatisfaction with its presentation and, as a consequence, possibly lead to a decline in sales and customer satisfaction. Scope The gathering and evaluation of data included only an analysis of mini-carrot length consistency, because consistent length was the only remaining determining factor that affects the visual appeal of Gibillinis' signature dish. Taste, texture, and color were not taken into account, because the kitchen chef had already considered these factors when choosing the two brands that would be compared for this project. Copyright 2012- 2016 Michael Johanyak The University of Akron is an Equal Education and Employment Institution. Page 7
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