Research Proposal, Engineering and Construction
The need: people with disability want to move without helping from others The goal: design a device to control the electrical wheel chair by voice and sensors Objectives: ? Inexpensive ? Reliable avoidance of obstacles. ?
Adjustable to many wheel
Project description
Assignment
For Wednesday, October 22, you are to write a long memo (about 1000 words + bibliography) to me proposing and describing in detail your term research project. Your purpose in this proposal is to use argument, rhetoric, and
research to persuade me to approve your project and to look forward to reading your short report and final formal recommendation report. These are the same principles and methods that you would use when writing on-the-job
to a management audience.
Read: SWW, Ch. 13, pages 601-36, esp. 629-36 (example on 631-34)
Outline of Required Sections
The memo must consist of six sections, with ?talking heads,? covering the areas in the following outline:
I. Problem, Issue, Controversy, Current Situation, Need, Importance
? demonstrate and emphasize the need for action with documented evidence, statistics, examples, case studies, expert testimony, personal experience, and researched facts which show that the ?old? way or the way something is
now is not perfect
? stress the bad consequences, missed opportunities, limitations, misconceptions, unsatisfactory alternatives, warnings
? relate the problem to your profession and your immediate audience (i.e., me as general public)
II. Recommendation, Possible Solutions, Tentative Thesis
? formulate the solution in an active proposal statement that states, ?Agent should perform Action?; specify an agent (type of organization, community, section of society, group, profession, etc.) that can do something about the
situation (N.B., that agent will be the audience for whom you will write your research reports); use this statement as a topic sentence
? include any background, definitions, and explanations that I will need to understand your proposal enough to approve it, but remember your purpose is not to tell me all about the subject; at this point you just need to get me
interested and convince me that the recommendation makes sense
? provide documented evidence that the improvement is feasible
III. Your Qualifications, Knowledge, and Interests
? mention classes, work experience, hobbies, personal interests
? identify the origin of your interest in the topic
? relate the topic to your values, feelings, and career goals
IV. Work Accomplished, Preliminary Findings, Methods, Materials
? demonstrate that you are using a systematic, comprehensive research strategy that is already producing results
? specify the search engine (e.g., Google) and databases (e.g., Proquest) and keywords used
? quantify the total number of potential sources you have found
? mention the best books, websites, and articles you have seen so far
? describe any background research you have done as preparation
? tell about any fieldwork and special strategies (e.g., interviews, e-mail, correspondence, trips, site visits, interlibrary loan)
? cite at least one company or organization”s website
? list some representative sources gathered so far in a preliminary working bibliography
? include this list of resources internally in this section, including all the works you actually cited
Read: SWW, Ch. 8, esp. pages 353-82, 383-97
V. Plans for Completion, Work Remaining
? specify the indexes and databases remaining to be searched
? mention future interviews, trips, correspondence, etc.
? indicate how many books, websites, and articles you have left to review
? set up a writing schedule of tasks and deadlines for the rest of the semester; this schedule should be in a bulleted list or table format
? suggest organizational strategies and ideas for the short and long reports
VI. Positive Implications, Future Consequences, Benefits, Results
? suggest how your recommendation would affect me and others involved in the situation directly and indirectly
? predict possible improvements in safety, cost, efficiency, quality, the nation”s economy, social conditions, environmental health, etc.
? support these claims with some documented evidence
Topics and Recommendations
Research what is happening in your field and select something you would like to recommend. Choose a recent (but not too current) development related to your career interests: a new process or method, a state-of-the-art
technology, an advanced piece of equipment, an opportunity for improvement, an urgent problem, a controversial issue. Talk to your advisor, a professor, a graduate student, an employer, a relative, a friend, me. Do some
preliminary reading in recent issues of professional journals. Scan the internet. Find a subject that interests you and then narrow it down to a manageable focus. Then identify an audience that can act on your recommendation.
Here are some examples of recommendations: 1) car manufacturers should develop four-wheel steering systems; 2) small residential construction companies should use computer-aided cost estimating; 3) large offices should
install wireless intranets; 4) retailers should activate web sites for e-commerce; 5) high school biology labs should teach anatomy with digital dissection; 6) electronics firms should research batteries for vehicle propulsion; 7)
electrical equipment manufacturers should use leadless ceramic chip carriers; 8) airlines should install cockpit cameras; 9) psychologists should use hypnosis to help patients stop smoking; 10) manufacturing companies should
improve safety standards for robots.
Audience
Part of the researching and narrowing process should involve identifying an audience in your field that needs to be persuaded and informed about the development you are recommending. In analyzing an appropriate audience, ask
yourself who has a problem, who is not taking advantage of available improvements, who has misconceptions about cost, conversion, training, maintenance? Remember: this proposal memo is written to me, but the final
recommendation report should be written to an on-the-job audience in your field. Usually, a type of audience field-wide needs your report, and so you can write your report to a generic professional audience, not just to one
specific company, organization, or individual. In any case, you should not assume a hypothetical corporate role or invent an imaginary situation. Just report your research and recommendations as yourself.
Format and Documentation
The format for your research proposal should roughly follow the example memo on pages 631-34 in Successful Writing at Work, except that the headings and sections should correspond to the outline prescribed in this memo.
Read: SWW, Ch. 4, esp. ?Memos,? pages 133-41
The paper should look professional and attractive, and it should observe the conventions and principles of good writing. Use headings to separate the sections. Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence. Document your
information using syntactical or parenthetical MLA or APA documentation, as described in Successful Writing at Work, pages 385-97. Provide full bibliographic information for your references in your preliminary list of sources.
Unless you have received my permission to use a documentation style that is standard in your field, the list of potential sources in your preliminary working bibliography should be written in standard MLA or APA style.
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