Team analytical report
Team analytical report
An abstract should be a single paragraph without paragraph indentation and the lines left aligned, not justified; it is typically between 150 and 200 words. Many researchers read abstracts to determine if reading the entire report/article is necessary and the information is germane to his or her research. Therefore, the abstract should give an overview of the report/project and describe all main points of the paper (i.e., Introduction, Collected Data, and Recommendations). The abstract does include the summary findings, but it does not include details. Listing keywords and phrases from the report in the abstract with help researchers who use computer programs to scan published articles. Keywords or phrases should be generic in nature and not be long or report specific. For example, a team could list “dog groomers” not “ABC Dog Grooming.” The list of keywords and phrases should be on a separate line and indented.
Keywords: dog groomers, kennels, veterinarians. [Actual keywords are not italicized.]
Table of Contents
[Students may use this template or the Word feature to generate a table of contents for their report. Note: When generating a table of contents, there must always be two listings for each level. A minimum of two levels are required with no more than three levels listed. NOTE: Wherever there are brackets, teams need to change the titles to represent the team’s material. Such changes will occur here in the TOC and in the headings within the paper. Any other titles must remain as they are. REMINDER: Remove all brackets (and instructional information within if there is any) in the paper!]
Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Definition, Description, Background………………………………………………………………………. #
Purpose of the Report and Intended Audience…………………………………………………………. #
Scope of the Inquiry……………………………………………………………………………………………. ##
Methods of Inquiry………………………………………………………………………………………………##
Limitations of the Study/Report……………………………………………………………………………. ##
Team Qualifications……………………………………………………………………………………………..##
Collected Data………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ##
[First Topic for Investigation]………………………………………………………………………………..##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Second Topic for Investigation]……………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Third Topic for Investigation]………………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
Recommendations ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ##
[First Topic for Recommendation]……………………………………………………………………….. ##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Second Topic for Recommendation]……………………………………………………………………..##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Third Topic for Recommendation]………………………………………………………………………..##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
[Relevant subtopic]……………………………………………………………………………………##
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………##
References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ##
Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ##
Appendix B………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ##
Title of the Paper
Introduction
Definition, Description, Background
This section gives the reader necessary history on the potential problem. How long has this been an issue or how long has the topic been discussed in the industry? When any facts are provided, a citation must be used. The team cannot generically guess at issues; students must find, use, and cite credible, professional sources that support these facts.
If writing about a general workplace issue, the team may want to address such questions as: What is the potential problem or issue? How widespread is the issue? How long has it been in place? What is the effect on employees or industry? Is it a local, regional, national or global issue? How are the responsibilities divided among employers and employees?
If writing about a business or industry, the team should give some demographic information. Where is the business located, and what is the population of that location? Is it more residential or industrial? Is the area more family oriented? How many employees are on the payroll of the business, what is the business’ target audience, when was it established, what is new, and so forth? Are there any current issues that may affect/may be affecting the company either directly or indirectly? What is happening in this business’ field locally, nationally, or globally?
Purpose of the Report and Intended Audience
This section informs the reader why the report is being written and why the topic is being investigated. This section could include research and citations (in addition to that in the previous section) to help the reader better understand the need to investigate this topic. This section will vary in length depending on the team’s use of sources.
Additionally, teams must discuss the intended audience. Who will be reading this report? Who are the stakeholders and decision makers? Members of an organization? Government Representatives (local, state, national)? Investors? The goal of the paper is to provoke that intended audience into action.
Scope of the Inquiry
The scope of this paper centers on the general research questions the team asked and investigated. The team will discuss what they questioned, not what they wanted to discover. The questions in this section should reflect the content of the Collected Data section. This section needs to provide a good analysis of the scope of the inquiry in paragraph format; however, general questions the team researched can be listed as bullet points.
Methods of Inquiry
The methods section tells readers how the team found answers to the research questions. What is the scope in regard to the methodology of inquiry collection? A step-by-step process is needed here with each step detailed as to what was collected, how it was collected, when it was collected, who it was called from, and where it was collected.
Teams should give enough information so readers do not question how or why the teams collected data without being too detailed. For example, teams could write, “Our team administered a five-question survey over a two-week period to students at a local university. Using a Likert scale, students were asked to rate their satisfaction with vending machine selections.” Teams should not write, “Devon went to the cafeteria of Davenport University from 12:00pm to 1:30pm on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. He would walk up to random people and nicely ask them to fill out this survey.”
Additionally, this section will include how the team administered surveys, conducted interviews, and/or did secondary research. This section should be detailed enough to move beyond providing a short overview and is written in paragraph format. If the team used raw data obtained online or from other sources, that information should not be presented here; instead, a description of where the data was found and why this data was chosen should be included.
All important resources used for this report will be analyzed in this section as well: why the information was chosen, how it was chosen and obtained, how the information is credible, and so forth. Critical thinking needs to be applied to all of the above discussions.
Limitations of the Study/Report
What obstacles did the team encounter? Were there time constraints, resource restraints, and so forth? What was possible to discover about the topic/questions/business/data? This section will not be long. It will be a paragraph or two. [A paragraph is typically five to eight sentences.]
Team Qualifications
What gives the team credibility on this report? How does the team have responsible knowledge over others? What makes the team members qualified to complete this report? Teams should demonstrate what research was used to provide the team with credible knowledge. This section should not name authors specifically but can list individual qualifications. [For example, “The team includes members who are seeking degrees in XYZ and hold memberships in XYZ” not “Devon belongs to The Young Republicans.”] This section will be a short paragraph or two [five to eight sentences.]
Collected Data
This entire section will present facts. An introductory paragraph gives a brief overview telling what the team is going to reveal. This paragraph focuses on the analysis of the collected data. If data was not collected by the team but was instead gathered from existing sources, it is still considered collected data, which will be analyzed.
Topics of investigation should present only what is actually happening or has happened. Teams should not put personal opinion or any recommendations in this section of the report. This section analyzes the data gathered and what that data means to the outcome of the situation or problem initially proposed in this paper. Additionally, how does this data fit into previous research? (Ideally, this paper is building on previous research.) Avoid language such as should, might, or could.
A table or figure could fit well in this section. If a table or a figure will help define and/or explain a concept or data set, the team should insert that table or figure in text and provide discussion. Teams should discuss the data within the table or figure and immediately refer the reader to said table or figure using parenthetical citation (Figure 1) or (see Table 1).
Figures and tables should be included any place within the document where graphical support adds understanding to the information. The figure (Figure 1) and table (Table 1) in this template demonstrate formatting, no matter where they appear in the document, provided the research is conducted and gathered by the writers of this paper. If the research involves data collected from a source outside of the writers of this paper, then the figure (Figure 2, see Appendix A) and table (Table 2, see Appendix B) must include source information in the citation underneath the graphic(s). Tables or figures should be placed either in the text or in the appendices, not both. Here is an example of a figure placed in the text.
Figure 1. Traditional marking instruments used in assessing student reports.
In APA, tables do not use vertical lines or shading, and horizontal lines are used sparingly. Here is an example of a table placed in text:
Table 1
Student Reaction to Writing Papers
| Barf! | Whatever. | Sweet! | |
| College of | |||
| Arts & Sciences | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| Business | 10 | 7 | |
| Health | 14 | 2 | |
| Technology | 56 | 1 | |
| Totals | 88 | 11 | 1 |
Note: The table represents 100 Davenport University students addressing their initial reaction to writing reports. While the survey went out to all students, 57% of the responders were from the College of Technology, 16% from the College of Health, 17% from the College of Business, and only 10% from the College of Arts & Sciences.
When using tables and figures never say, “see above (or below) table.” Instead, indicate the table or figure by its number and refer to each one by using parenthesis. For example, (see Table 1), (see Table 1, Appendix A), (see Appendix A), and so forth. Examples are used within this document, too.
Secondary sources are those sources that have analyzed other data, consist of previous studies, and come from qualitative sources. The team’s claim is built upon these secondary sources, even questioning their validity to the questions posed in this paper.
First Topic for Investigation
Insert discussion of first topic including what is actually happening or has happened. Teams should not put personal opinion or any recommendations in this section of the report. Avoid language such as should, might, or could. This section will restate some information from previous sections and the preceding paragraph. If teams are going to make recommendations for areas currently not utilized by the subject, those areas must still be mentioned in this section. [Example: If a business (the subject) does not utilize Twitter/have a Twitter account, the team should state that fact in this section and then make the recommendation to create/utilize a Twitter account in the recommendation section.] Each member of the team must investigate and then write about at least one topic under collected data as part of the required 3 pages of research-based writing per team member.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics. Note: Subtopics are not mandatory. However, if one subtopic is used, there must be a second under that same heading. Additionally, not all topics of investigation may require subtopics.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Second Topic for Investigation
Insert discussion of second topic including what is actually happening or has happened. Teams should not put personal opinion or any recommendations in this section of the report. Avoid language such as should, might, or could. This section will restate some information from previous sections and the preceding paragraph. If teams are going to make recommendations for areas currently not utilized by the subject, those areas must still be mentioned in this section. [Example: If a business (the subject) does not utilize Twitter/have a Twitter account, the team should state that fact in this section and then make the recommendation to create/utilize a Twitter account in the recommendation section.]
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Third Topic for Investigation
Insert discussion of third topic including what is actually happening or has happened. Teams should not put personal opinion or any recommendations in this section of the report. Avoid language such as should, might, or could. This section will restate some information from previous sections and the preceding paragraph. If teams are going to make recommendations for areas currently not utilized by the subject, those areas must still be mentioned in this section. [Example: If a business (the subject) does not utilize Twitter/have a Twitter account, the team should state that fact in this section and then make the recommendation to create/utilize a Twitter account in the recommendation section.]
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Recommendations
This section is in addition to the three main sections shown in the Lannon text. Students should thoughtfully consider the application of the information they have obtained for the analytical report. The recommendations should directly lead from what the team has discovered from its investigation.
An introductory paragraph will give a brief overview telling the reader what the team is going to recommend. This paragraph will revisit information already stated in previous sections but teams will focus recommendations based on their research and collected data. This is the only section in this report that can include personal opinions and suggestive language such as should, might, or could, provided all recommendations are based on the analysis.
First Topic for Recommendation
Insert discussion of recommendations. This section will restate some information from previous sections and the preceding paragraph. Recommendations are made to improve or sustain best practices for the subject. These recommendations should be based on the team’s research. While three recommendations are included here, the number will vary depending on what research yielded. For service learning, these recommendations should be tied to any products created for the organization.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics. Note: Subtopics are not mandatory. However, if one subtopic is used, there must be a second. Additionally, not all topics of recommendation may require subtopics; however, if an investigation topic has subtopics, then the recommendation should have an equal number of subtopics.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Second Topic for Recommendation
Insert discussion of topic investigation recommendations. This section will restate some information from previous sections and the preceding paragraph. Recommendations are made to improve or sustain best practices for the subject. These recommendations should be based on the team’s research.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Third Topic for Recommendation
Insert discussion of topic investigation recommendations. This section will restate some information from previous sections and the preceding paragraph. Recommendations are made to improve or sustain best practices for the subject. These recommendations should be based on the team’s research.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Relevant subtopic. This section discusses all continuing topics and subtopics.
Conclusion
This section should wrap up the analytical report, summarize findings, and/or encourage the reader to take the next step in the process and act on the recommendations. This section will be several paragraphs as it will summarize the various sections. No new information is presented in the conclusion. It could include the additional headings as shown in the text if the instructor requires them. The conclusion should not include citations, meaning there should be no quotes or paraphrasing. The conclusion is about summary and critical thinking.
References
All entries should be in alphabetical order. URLs should be listed without a hyperlink and
should not be followed by a period.
Interviews and personal communications are not listed in the reference page. Instead they are
cited in text: (First initial. Last name, personal communication, month day, year). For
complete information, check your handbook/text for examples.
The reference section starts on a new page. References should be double spaced and have a
hanging indent.
This section could be several pages long depending on how many sources the team uses; each
member of the team is required to contribute five minimum sources, so a three-member
team will have at least 15 reference entries, but more may be used.
Those references that do not end with a URL will use a period as end punctuation.
Appendix A
Appendices (which are optional) list additional information authors used to compile data but may not be needed in the main text of the paper or may be too large or long (such as greater than a half a page). If there is only one appendix, label it “Appendix.” If there is more than one appendix, label each with a capital letter: Appendix A, Appendix B, and so forth. Appendices may include tables (see Appendix B), raw data, interview transcripts (see Appendix C), or figures (see Appendix A). Authors may choose to place tables and figures in text, in an appendix, or use a combination of both ways when deciding the best way to display information for the reader. Tables or figures should be placed either in the text or in the appendices, not both.
Figure 2. Chart showing percentage of school age children grades K-12 that have experienced bullying in various forms. Adapted from “Facts about bullying > national statistics” by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014, retrieved from www.stopbullying.gov/news/media/facts
Appendix B
Appendices (optional) list additional information authors used to compile data but may not be needed in the main text of the paper. If there is only one appendix, label is “Appendix.” If there is more than one appendix, label each with a capital letter: Appendix A, Appendix B, and so forth.
Example of a table with full citation using an outside source
Table 3
Enrollment and Tuition for Select Private Colleges in Michigan
Name of College Enrollment Annual Tuition Cost
Adrian College 1,201 $23,090
Aquinas College 2,678 $16,450
Baker College 10,567 $8,220
Calvin College 4,224 $22,940
Grace Bible College 308 $12,769
Hope College 3,226 $24,780
Kalamazoo College 1,391 $40,728
Note: Data from this table comes from Complete List: Michigan Colleges and Universities. (2008, August 10). MLive.com. Retrieved from http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/08/guide_michiga_colleges_and_un.html
Appendix C
Transcript of Interview with Name of Person
Job Title, Date of Interview
(You are encouraged to have your interview questions pre-approved by your instructor.)
Q: Describe your job, what do you do?
A: I work for a Christian non-profit organization that’s made up of 15 member agencies who do relief and development work around the world. We support one of the pieces of the work that they do; which is sustainable food security. You could say it’s having a plate of food in front of you now, but for us it means being able to have food for their children, ten to fifteen years from now. So it’s helping them in the long term. So my job is working with the agencies on the overseas programs and looking at where they’d like to spend the money they have for the Food Resource Bank.
Q: What do you like about your job?
A: The people. I think for me it’s visiting the people in the rural communities around the world, and watching their stories of resilience and courage. I love their desire to feed their families, and educate their children especially. I’m so blessed to be around people who don’t measure success by the stuff they have, but in terms of relationships, in terms of having a future for their families.
Q: In your own words describe sustainability & what it means to you?
A: Sustainability for me is that something can continue on its own without external inputs. For instance; that farmer can grow his crop, that he has enough resources to be able to fertilize the crop without relying on someone else to do it for him. To be able to do that long term is the key. There’s a lot that goes into that, like does he have his own land? If you don’t have your own land, you’re not motivated to really take care of it. There are some good government policies that help farmers, but because of the corruption, it means that those policies aren’t implemented.
Q: How has working in a job of sustainability affected your life?
A: Well every job in sustainability is different, but I spend so much of my time traveling, and I’m so exposed to be able to learn from so many different people in so many different walks of life. From farmers, to governments. It’s also hard to be close to the community backs home since I’m gone so much. So everything has it’s positives and negatives, I’ve learned how to sleep on an airplane, which is a plus, but sometimes it makes you feel a little counter-cultural. When you think about sustainability, it’s the kind of things
