Research is central to just about every career field, and when we develop solutions to complicated problems, the credibility of our solutions will usually be proven by the quality of the research we have done. The purposes of this MWA are first to ensure that we thoughtfully analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the technical documents we read. Additionally, we want to have a broad understanding of the research sources that are available to us, while also maturing our ability to sift through information and efficiently select high quality, credible support for our analyses. This has become more complicated in the 21st century due to the internet and the increasing amount of disinformation being published.
ASSIGNMENT
You have been hired by a local non-profit organization as part of a team of consultants that will improve the organization’s community presence. You will complete this task by evaluating its public website and a few of the technical documents on the website so that you can recommend improvements.
To complete this assignment, you will need to build upon the work you have done with SWAs 5 and 6 to:
• Research and analyze the primary audiences for and purposes of the non-profit organization’s website;
• Develop an evaluation of the website’s specific content and design, looking at strengths and weaknesses, making use of the PSTC principles from ch. 7, as well as your analysis of the primary audiences and purposes of the organization’s website;
• Research 5-10 sources as evidence supporting the kinds of changes that would help the organization’s website and technical documents meet the needs of their primary audiences and improve their community presence;
• Develop recommendations for improvements to and further development of the website and the technical documents on the website;
• Include your analyses and recommendations in a memo to the supervisor of your team of consultants and the organization’s CEO; and
• Provide your researched sources as an annotated bibliography in APA style (or the citation style used in your field) attached to end the memo. Click here for more information on what an annotated bibliography is.
FORMAT and LENGTH
Present your ideas as a proposal memo, which should be between 750-1000 words. At the end of your proposal memo, you should attach an annotated bibliography in APA style (or in the style used in your career field), which will consist of at least 5 credible, annotated sources that you referred to when creating your proposal. Each annotation paragraph should be 5-10 sentences. Click here for an example of a single annotated bibliography entry in APA format.
Click here to see a full student example of a proposal memo. This model is based off the example on PSTC pp. 308-315.
AUDIENCE
The audience for your proposal memo and annotated bibliography is the supervisor of your team of consultants and the company CEO. You will submit your proposal memo and sources to your supervisor and the CEO prior to joining up with the rest of your team to decide upon the exact changes the team will present to the board of trustees.
FORMATTING
Follow APA guidelines or the formatting style of your career field.
SUBMITTING WORK
See syllabus for guidelines and expectations for submitting work. Remember that your final portfolio for this MWA should contain evidence of whatever stages of the writing process you completed; therefore, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to have, along with the final draft, evidence of prewriting, an outline, rough draft, revised rough draft, edited rough draft, and a peer review.
Questions are an expected part of the learning process, so please ask any question that arise. I can be reached via email or Skype. Feel free to visit during office hours or set up an appointment for a time that fits your schedule.