Deck 11: Planning Reports and Proposals

Question 1

To conduct an effective database search on the web,you should use multiple search engines.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Position papers spell out lasting guidelines on company policies and procedures.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Interim progress reports to clients are rarely needed.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Solicited proposals spend a great deal of time explaining why the client should take action.

Question 5

You can improve your database search results by using Boolean operators.

Question 6

Very few reports require a work plan.

Question 7

Use problem factoring to divide a complex problem into more manageable pieces.

Question 8

Analytical reports are primarily intended to educate readers.

Question 9

Business reports help companies make decisions and solve problems.

Question 10

Secondary research consists of information that others have gathered (and published,in many cases).

Question 11

A justification report is an internal report designed to persuade top management to approve a proposed investment or project.

Question 12

A memo summarizing an employee's trip to a trade show would be an example of a personal activity report.

Question 13

A "statement of purpose" lists the reason(s)for conducting the research project.

Question 14

The most useful way to phrase your purpose statement is to begin with an infinitive phrase (to plus a verb),which helps pin down your general goal (e.g. ,to inform,to identify,to analyze ).

Question 15

A summary takes a side in an issue and offers support for that side.

Question 16

When using the Internet to conduct research,you can be reasonably sure that any information you find will be accurate.

Question 17

When writing informational reports,it's important to begin by developing a problem statement.

Question 18

The statement of purpose for a report is always presented as a question.

Question 19

When you speculate on the cause of a problem,you're forming a hypothesis.

Question 20

Analytical reports are used to assess opportunities,to solve problems,and to support decisions.

Question 21

Most information reports use a topical organization.

Question 22

The direct and indirect approaches are never combined in a business report.

Question 23

Unsolicited proposals offer less flexibility than solicited proposals since recipients are expecting to receive them.

Question 24

According to the fair-use doctrine,you can use other people's work only as long as you do not unfairly prevent them from benefiting as a result.

Question 25

The online surveys you see on many websites today potentially suffer from sampling bias.

Question 26

A focus group is a group of employees working on a very specific project.

Question 27

The mode is the number that occurs most often in a set of figures.

Question 28

Although it is persuasive,the 2 + 2 = 4 approach is not an efficient way to organize an analytical report.

Question 29

When conducting an interview,you should ask both open-ended and closed-ended questions.

Question 30

Directories are considered invaluable for marketers,job seekers,and others who need to establish a prospect list.

Question 31

A good paraphrase should be the same length as or slightly longer than the original passage.

Question 32

If sales for the first six months of the year were $24,000,$20,000,$23,000,$20,000,$19,000,and $21,000,the mean for the six months would be $20,000.

Question 33

Observation,surveys,and interviews are all types of primary research.

Question 34

The longer the message,the more effective the indirect approach is likely to be.

Question 35

A survey is considered valid if it measures what it is intended to measure.

Question 36

Start with primary research for your project;it will give you a grounding in the area,and it can save considerable time and money for the overall assignment.

Question 37

Trends analysis is common in business.

Question 38

Making notes about research materials is one area where computers aren't very helpful.

Question 39

Even if you paraphrase material,it's best to give credit to the source you obtained the original information from.

Question 40

Evidence is the support for the thinking behind your conclusion.

Question 41

A drawback of the yardstick approach is that ________________

A)it's not very logical.
B)your audience needs to agree with the criteria you're using.
C)it's not very useful for proposals.
D)your audience may consider it too short and simple when it comes to comparing many criteria.

Question 42

An informational report that summarizes a proposed business venture is called a(n)____________

A)business plan.
B)compliance report.
C)operating report.
D)personal activity report.

Question 43

Which of the following is not a common type of organization for analytical reports?

A)The 2+2 approach
B)The chronological approach
C)A focus on conclusions or recommendations
D)The yardstick method

Question 44

One way to reduce the confusion presented by having two or more alternatives is to establish a yardstick for evaluating all of them.

Question 45

Which of the following is not a common type of organization for informational reports?

A)According to importance
B)According to chronology
C)According to logic
D)According to spatial orientation

Question 46

To paraphrase effectively,______________

A)give a brief summary of what the writer meant to say,but from your point of view.
B)use the word "paraphrase."
C)use quotation marks to identify any phrases you have borrowed from the source.
D)draw a conclusion of the facts and report it.

Question 47

Progress reports ________________

A)describe what occurred during a convention or conference.
B)give approval to proceed with an idea,project or task.
C)persuade top management to approve a project.
D)range from updates in simple memo form to comprehensive status reports.

Question 48

To make the best of any search tool _______________

A)choose one search engine and stick with it.
B)use web directories,online databases,and metasearch engines.
C)look beyond the first page of results.
D)avoid Boolean operators.

Question 49

In the 2 + 2 = 4 approach,the main points in your outline are ________________

A)quantitative in nature.
B)the main reasons behind your conclusions.
C)less important than your recommendations.
D)more important than your recommendations.

Question 50

When writing analytical reports for skeptical readers,the most persuasive and efficient structure is ________________

A)the spatial approach.
B)the sequential approach.
C)the 2 + 2 = 4 approach.
D)none of the above.

Question 51

Solicited proposals are prepared ______________

A)by companies attempting to obtain business.
B)by government regulatory agencies.
C)by companies at the request of external parties that require products or services.
D)by clients who wish to acquire the services of highly regarded companies.

Question 52

Monitor/control reports include ________________

A)policies and procedures.
B)plans,operating reports,and personal activity reports.
C)solicited and unsolicited sales proposals.
D)research,justification,and troubleshooting reports.

Question 53

Some external parties prepare a formal invitation to bid on their contracts,called _______________

A)an investigation report.
B)a request for proposal.
C)an alternate hypothesis report.
D)a request for project report.

Question 54

Conclusions and recommendations are stated at the beginning of a report _____________

A)if readers are likely to be receptive or open-minded.
B)if the indirect format is being used.
C)if the report is analytical.
D)never.

Question 55

A Policy report may be ________________

A)used as a compliance report.
B)an external report only.
C)a document listing changes over time.
D)a brief description of business procedures.

Question 56

In an unsolicited proposal,the writer ______________

A)might have to convince the audience that a problem exists.
B)uses the direct approach since it works best for unsolicited proposals.
C)uses a style approved by the company or the organization.
D)enumerates the client's options regarding such business decisions as product-line expansion.

Question 57

Which of these documents would not usually qualify as primary research?

A)A sales report from a company rep
B)The most recent issue of a trade magazine in your industry
C)Correspondence with a particular customer
D)Your company's latest balance sheet

Question 58

A justification report ______________

A)provides the history of a problem,and then presents and analyzes possible solutions.
B)describes what has happened in a department or division during a particular period.
C)is an internal proposal to persuade top management to approve a project.
D)explains a decision that has already been made.

Question 59

Intellectual property includes patents,copyrighted materials,trade secrets,and _____________

A)blogs.
B)internet domain names.
C)company website code.
D)social media.

Question 60

Problem factoring is when you ______________

A)develop a schedule for your research.
B)limit the scope of your investigation.
C)develop alternative hypotheses.
D)break the problem into a series of smaller questions.

Question 61

In evaluating material you have gathered for a report ______________

A)you can assume that any information taken from a web page will be credible and reliable.
B)you should throw out any information whose source is an organization that might be biased.
C)you should check the material for credibility,currency,and completeness.
D)all of the above.

Question 62

In a particular set of figures or data,the number that occurs most often is called the ______________

A)mean.
B)median.
C)mode.
D)correlation.

Question 63

Search engines identify and rank individual webpages that contain a specific work or phrase.

Question 64

If you,or your organization,have certain biases that influence your report conclusion,____________________

A)make sure you keep them to yourself;otherwise,you might be negatively labeled.
B)do additional research so you can eliminate those biases.
C)suggest actions for the company to take based on your biases.
D)inform the audience,as is your ethical obligation.

Question 65

The recommendations made in a report should be ______________

A)the same as the conclusions.
B)opinions or interpretations.
C)what the audience wants to hear.
D)practical and acceptable to the people that have to make them work.

Question 66

When taking notes on your research material ______________

A)bookmark,download,or print out pages from library databases.
B)avoid trying to use computer programs for this task,as they get in the way more than they help.
C)leave out subject headings.
D)avoid highlighting or marking up your notes because they may be difficult to read later.

Question 67

All operating reports provide feedback on a wide variety of an organization's functions including,sales,inventory,expenses,shipments,and so on.

Question 68

In the 2 + 2 = 4 approach ,reports demonstrate that everything adds up and your support each reason with evidence to support your main points.

Question 69

A(n)feasibility report is an internal proposal used to explore the ramifications of a decision that is about to be made.

Question 70

A(n)informational report is easier to organize than an analytical report because it simply provides nothing but facts.

Question 71

Whereas informational reports focus on facts,analytical reports include interpretation,conclusions,and recommendations.

Question 72

Using the yardstick approach is useful when you need to use a number of criteria to decide which option to select from two or more possibilities.

Question 73

Most informational reports use a(n)topical organization for arranging material.

Question 74

Copyright protection is initiated the moment the expression is put into fixed form.

Question 75

To paraphrase effectively ______________

A)avoid using any business language or jargon.
B)double-check your version against the original to make sure that you haven't altered the meaning.
C)make sure your version is the same length as or longer than the original.
D)do all of the above.

Question 76

Survey results are considered reliable when ______________

A)similar results would be obtained if the survey were repeated under similar conditions.
B)a representative group of people has been surveyed.
C)the research measures what it was intended to measure.
D)the phrasing of the questions is unbiased.

Question 77

Conclusions differ from recommendations in that conclusions ______________

A)are opinions or interpretations of information.
B)are objective.
C)are acceptable to readers.
D)suggest what ought to be done about the facts.

Question 78

A guideline to help you obtain valid and reliable survey results is ______________

A)to not expect people to give you more than 10 or 15 minutes of their time.
B)to give people plenty of time to research their answers.
C)to ask all open ended questions because people like to talk about things they know.
D)to ask people about specific dates in the past.

Question 79

What would be the median for the following set of monthly salaries: $1200,$1200,$1300,$1500,$1700,$2000,$2800?

A)$1200
B)$1500
C)$1671.43
D)$1700

Question 80

Informational reports can be grouped into four general categories: (1)to monitor and control; (2)to implement policies and procedures; (3)to demonstrate compliance;and (4)to document progress.