Assignment #1—Research Report (125 points) ENG 250
Context:
Imagine you work for a company that believes happy and content employees are a priority. The
company has given you the task of purchasing a television, for $1000 or less, for a 15x20 foot
break/conference room. Since the room is multi-purpose, so must be the television. The TV will
be used for presentations, casual get-togethers, quick breaks, and the occasional movie time. The
room is roughly laid out as depicted below.
Goal:
Write a research report advising the company on the best television given the financial and
spatial constraints. Use all available resources to help inform your decision and to establish
criteria for making that decision. This assignment will demand that you learn to intelligently use
various sources to uncover credible information and track down additional promising sources. Be
aware that while there is a great deal of time-wasting garbage in e-land and elsewhere, there are
also vast quantities of researched, credible information. Universities post large numbers of
documents on-line. Magazines and journals frequently post their articles. Government research
institutions often have huge and interesting electronic archives. Professional forums point to
interesting insights and problems. Manufacturers occasionally have extremely informative
websites concerning their product categories.
Your working thesis will likely evolve as you conduct research and you may not even have one
until you have delved into your topic a bit. The important thing is to be flexible and open-minded
and tenacious in your digging.
Length:
--The document should be 1000 to 1200 words in length.
--It must effectively incorporate at least two visuals. Visuals can be taken from any source (as
long as the source is cited) or you may create them.
--It should use at least 3 sources.
Objective: --Support your claims with SED’s (sufficient essential details)
--Present the content so all 7 C’s are met
--Choose appropriate detail
--Use accepted conventions for citing research
--Utilize effective writing strategies (i.e. analogy, narrative, comparison/contrast)
--Be organized (effective thesis and topic sentences), logical, and thoughtful
Due dates: Thesis and outline due Jan. 19
Rough Draft due Jan. 26
Final Draft due Jan. 28