Hybrid Engines Versus Turbocharged Engines

Overview

For your major course project, you will research and write a recommendation report that analyzes an option or options for a realistic situation and recommends a course of action for a theoretical client, management, or other professional entity similar to the ones you expect to encounter in your professional future.
In order to do so, envision yourself early in your professional career. Fabricate a theoretical, but realistic and entirely plausible professional situation, in which you must analyze one or more option (products, actions, techniques, theoretical approaches, applications, etc.) for a professional entity you are either employed by, hired by, or obligated to in some manner. This could be your boss, an agency providing grant money, a client you have been hired by, etc. (The term “client” will be used below and in the Proposal assignment prompt to refer to this entity.)
You will detail your rhetorical situation and seek permission to move forward in your Proposal assignment. See the Proposal prompt for additional details.
After your project is approved, you will continue forward with the report project. You will research and draft the document within the conventions of the formal report genre. You will turn in the Recommendation Report by the due date, complete with graphics and visuals, appropriate front and end matter, as well as a transmittal memo (cover memo) to your instructor uploaded to Canvas as a Microsoft Word document.
Recommendation Report Assignment
For the recommendation report assignment, you will write a document that analyzes an option or options to solve a problem or create a beneficial opportunity for a theoretical client and ultimately makes a recommendation to the client. The analysis can be a comparative analysis, a feasibility analysis, or a causal analysis (or a combination).
Although you are doing your analysis for a theoretical report and client, the option(s) you will be analyzing must be real, or have a substantial basis in reality. Spend some time investigating your options and creating a client, rhetorical situation, and realistic choices to fit the situational parameters of this assignment. It is also imperative to replicate a plausible situation, imitating what you can expect in your professional future as closely as you can.
Remember, your recommendation report is worth 150 points, or 30 % of your overall grade.
Guidelines for Selecting Report Topics
Your recommendation report will help the report's readers make an informed decision about a realistic choice they must make, a problem that needs solving, or a situation that needs resolving.
The type of report you produce for this assignment will be determined by the rhetorical situation you fabricate and by the focus of the investigation that situation will require. Use one of the following types of analysis for your report project.
A comparative analysis, deciding between competing products or approaches to perform a needed task, service, or to solve a problem:
The report might compare and contrast two competing products, investigate how the features or components of each will perform within the situation, and recommend one product over the other.
This type of analysis begins with a basic question—Is X or Y better for our purposes?
A feasibility analysis, determining whether a solution is feasible (in terms of budget, resources, likelihood of success, etc.):
The report might investigate whether X is a feasible solution to a client's problem and, based on the results of the investigation, make a recommendation to implement X, pursue another alternative, or to continue with the status quo.
This type of analysis begins with a basic question—Is X a good idea for our purposes?
A causal analysis, determining the likely effect of a course of action a client is considering taking:
The report might investigate precedents for taking the course of action, analyze the likelihood of various effects if the client pursues that course, and make a recommendation to pursue the course of action or not.
This type of analysis begins with a basic question—What will happen if we do X?
A combination analysis, using the different forms of analysis above to reach a conclusion about a problem or opportunity:
Many report topics will combine the above possibilities to answer a question or evaluate an option.
General Report Requirements
The general report requirements are as follows:
Length: The body of the report should be approximately 6-8 pages, single-spaced, not including the front and end matter (title page, executive summary, table of contents, list of illustrations, appendices, visuals, bibliography/works cited pages, etc.).
Visuals: Use a minimum of three visuals, unless you have arranged otherwise with your instructor.
Format: Format your report as a professional document. Use single-spaced paragraphs with extra spaces between paragraphs. Use at least two levels of headings in addition to the title (main sections and subsections), with appropriate formats for each level. Use headers and/or footers.
Research: Include at least five credible sources of information for your data.
Citations: Provide complete APA citations for all sources of information, including interviews and onsite visits. (If you would like to use a different citation style appropriate for your field of study, talk with me.)
Content Requirements: The Elements of the Formal Report
Virtually all government agencies and businesses produce formal reports of one type or another. A formal report is a public presentation of the best efforts of the company or agency; companies, therefore, try to demonstrate their excellence through the superior quality of their reports. A formal report generally includes the following components:
a transmittal letter or memo (not usually bound with the report)
the front matter (title page, executive summary, and table of contents)
the body of the report
the end matter (supplemental material placed at the end of the report: bibliography and appendix)
You will develop your report for the client and other audiences identified in your project proposal; however, for this assignment, you will write the transmittal memo to your instructor rather than to the client. The transmittal letter or memo will work similarly to how your cover memos work for other assignments throughout the semester. You will explain to me what you did to accomplish your tasks for the report, what writing choices you made along the way in order to put together your analysis as appropriate to your specific rhetorical situation.
We will discuss specifics of front and end matter and formatting issues once we get closer to the report deadline. In the mean time, begin by conducting research and putting together your analysis. The rough draft of the report does not have to be properly formatted, but the major content of the report should be taking shape by the first due date below.