Research and Documentation Report – Appetite for Profit (150 points)
This assignment is intended to explore the research process professionally. In research, you have to gather, summarize, and organize information before you can interpret it. Then in interpreting it, you must be able to answer questions and solve problems. You will be choose following issues from “Appetite for Profit” and use points made in “Hungry for Change” to create a research report on this topic. You MUST use a memo format for this assignment.
- Junk Food and Children – consider marketing to kids, schools, and the impacts on health
Structuring the Research Paper
The Introduction
- presentation of the problem or the research inquiry
- purpose and focus of the current paper
- summary or overview of the writer’s position or arguments
In the first part of the introduction, present the problem or the research inquiry. Then, sketch the background on the problem and review the literature on it to give your readers a context to show them how your research fits into the conversation currently ongoing in your topic area (you can use the text to establish this). You may tell why this problem has been a problem, why previous attempts have failed to solve it, or why you think this particular angle to the problem is important. You can also mention what benefits are to be gained from solving this problem or exploring this topic from your perspective. Finalize this paragraph by establishing your purpose/focus/claim/thesis.
Formal Research Structure
You will be investigating the problem you selected through research. You should rely on 4 sources to support and validate your position. The specific purposes for formal research should :
- find and understand data and information
- enter the discourse, or conversation, of other writers and scholars on your topic
- use primary and secondary resource
The Discussion Section
Your discussion section should generalize on what you have learned from your research. One way to generalize is to explain the consequences or meaning of your results and then make your points that support and refer back to the statements you made in your introduction. Your discussion should be organized so that it relates directly to your thesis. You want to avoid introducing new ideas here or discussing issues not directly related to the exploration and discovery of your thesis. This section, along with the introduction, is usually written in present tense.
The Conclusions and Recommendations Section
Conclusions unify your research results and discussion and elaborate on their significance to your thesis. Your conclusion ties your research to your thesis, binding together all the main ideas in your thinking and writing. By presenting the logical outcome of your research and thinking, your conclusion answers your research inquiry for you and your readers. You should recommend a course of action, make a prediction, propose a solution to a problem, offer a judgment, or speculate on the implications and consequences of your ideas.
The Reference List
Of course, your research paper is not complete without your list of references. Documenting your research paper to use your sources in a manner that maintains academic integrity.
Important Dates:
10/24-31 = Brainstorm and Draft week – Drafts should be uploaded for feedback and peer review by 10/31
10/31- 11/7 = Revisions and Peer Review – You must provide feedback to 3 students memo’s.
11/7 = Final Memo Due
Office Hours Online:
10/27 from 4-5pm
11/3 from 4-5pm
