Objective:

This assignment provides the COMM$8280$ students with an opportunity to work together in groups to apply the different tools and knowledge learned in the course to develop an analytical report for a real$-$world business problem.

Grading:

The assignment accounts for $30\%$ of the overall COMM$8280$ course grade. This assignment includes the following stages.

$$ Instructor approval

$$ Preliminary submission.

$$ Collecting data and Organizing the Report

$$ Writing the report

All submissions must be in Microsoft Word.

Instructor Approval $/$ Topic Selection:

Each group must select a topic of immediate practical importance that affects the community. Write a clear statement of purpose and submit the proposal to your instructor. The statement of purpose should identify the topic and scope of the proposed paper. The professor will accept or reject the topic using the pass $/$ fail criteria in eConestoga. A $$F$$ in the grade book indicates the topic must be modified.

Deliverables:

i$.$ Proposal. Statement of purpose submitted in the text box in the course shell. $($Pass $/$ Fail$)$

Phase $1$: Preliminary submission

a$.$ Complete an audience$/$purpose profile $($See Figure $2\mathrm{.}2$ in the textbook or Word template in eConestoga Week $2$ content$).$

b$.$ Develop a tree chart of possible questions $($See Figure $7\mathrm{.}3$ in the textbook$).$

c$.$ Complete a preliminary project management plan. The example is provided in the week $3$ class PowerPoint.

Deliverables:

Submissions must be in MS Word. One file or two. Worth $5\%$ of the overall course grade.

a$.$ Audience$/$purpose profile $-$ maximum two pages

b$.$ Research questions$-$ maximum two pages

c$.$ Project Management Plan$-$ maximum one page

Phase $2$: Collecting and organizing data $($Research process$)$

In this stage, you are expected to perform research on the topic that you have selected. It is always a good practice to start with general reference sources for an overview.

a$.$ Explain the strategy that you used to perform your research. Evaluate and interpret your findings.

$$ Bullet point format is acceptable.

$$ Questions identified in the phase $1$ tree chart should be addressed.

b$.$ Make a working outline $($See Figure $19\mathrm{.}5$ in the textbook$).$

Deliverables:

Submissions must be in MS Word. One file or two. Worth $5\%$ of the overall course grade.

a$.$ Research evaluation report along with findings$-$ maximum three pages

b$.$ Working outline$-$ maximum two pages

Phase $3$: Final Report

a$.$ Use APA@Conestoga for appropriate format and citations.

b$.$ Proper paraphrasing must be used. Direct copying is not acceptable without quotations.

c$.$ Proofread carefully and add all needed supplements $($title page, table of contents, abstract$,$ summary, appendix, glossary$).$ See section $19$ of the textbook.

Deliverables:

Submissions must be in MS Word. Two separate files. Worth $20\%$ of the overall course grade. The grade will be slipt with $15\%$ for the group and $5\%$ for individual contributions. Refer to the rubric for details.

a$.$ Final analytical report$-$ Max $20$ pages.

b$.$ Separate submission of updated project management plan focusing on which members are responsible for what parts of the assignment$$less than one page.

All submissions must be in Microsoft Word.