Writing for Business and Industry



Recommendation Report Criteria

At the end of this file are four criteria sections from textbook analytical reports (like you will be writing). Evaluate and compare the reports for completeness and strength of the criteria.

You are judging them as being presented in an effective format and having the proper content, not on the appropriateness of the criteria itself. In other words, if you feel readability should not be a criteria in the first example, that does not matter. Instead, judge it on if the author did a good job of justifying why she thought it was important and how she was going to measure it.

Do not make the assumption that any of these are good examples to use for your report. They all need work.

  1. Would you feel comfortable making a decision based on an evaluation from these criteria? Remember that this is just a list of the criteria, not the evaluation itself.
  2. How has the person defined how the criteria will be measured? For example, it may say graphics are very important for learning, but how will they know if the book has good graphics?
  3. What were the strengths and weaknesses of each criteria?
  4. If you were making comments to the author, what information would you asked to be added? Be specific.
  5. How could the design of the information be changed to make it easier to access? Be specific.

Recommendation Report Criteria 1


Recommendation Report Criteria 2


Recommendation Report Criteria 3

Criteria Definition

Described below will be the criteria upon which each textbook will be compared. The description will outline the parameters of the criterion, why it is important, and how will it be compared.

Chapter Text

Chapter text is a term used to describe all the ways in which information is related to the reader. It is important for the chapter text to be written in an organized manner in such a way that it maximizes its information. The following is the proper use of techniques in a typical chapter text:

Accessibility The accessibility for a reader to access information is determined by how well the chapter text is organized – the proper headings, labeling, definitions, examples, equations, and graphics. Accessibility also depends on the proper use of overall page layout and white spaces.

Equations Equations are mathematical illustration of ideas and information. Equations must standout from the remainder of the text, needs to be properly labeled, and the notions must be consistent throughout the book. Equations must also use notions that are universal for the discipline in which they are used.

Definitions Definitions are the explanation of key ideas and information. The definitions must stand alone from the remainder of the text and easily accessible for recalling. Definitions must also be able to accurately explain the paragraph or equation.

Graphics Graphics are the pictorial or graphical ideas of information. Graphics must be properly labeled throughout the text. They must also be accompanied by a caption and discussed upon within the text. In additions graphics should be placed as close as to the text that discusses them.

Chapter Examples

Chapter examples are problems that are worked out and relate to the ideas and information being taught within the chapter. They are important to the text because examples help relate practicality and theory in a mathematical equation. Examples help readers understand the information in a systematic order. Chapter examples must be able to likewise standout from the text and labeled appropriately. There should be plenty of adequate examples for each main idea within a chapter to help the reader relate the information into a mathematical equation. More significantly, the examples must be of ample difficult that it challenges the reader but does not frustrate them. Example should be explained in a two fold manner, theory and mathematical terms. The theory should explain the text and the mathematical part should provide a step by step solution. The chapter examples should be equally challenging even till the end of chapter problems.

Chapter Summary

The chapter summaries are located at the end of each chapter that summaries the main ideas in the chapter. The summary is great way to show the main concepts that are important, which concepts they should have a handle on, and it is a refresher to what was covered in the chapter. The chapter summary is usually less then a page in length so to use the least amount of text to convey the information to the reader. Within the summary, the text should include the main ideas, definitions, and also the main equations. Largely the summary should give a way for the reader to locate the main idea and its equations.

Chapter Questions

Chapter questions a set of problems located at the end of each chapter that test the theory and information leaned within the chapter. Chapter questions are important in testing the reader on the information that they have learned and in applying the ideas. Chapter questions need to be organized in a similar way to the text heading; that is, that the questions in a section should correspond to the text in the same heading. In addition, the question should increase in difficulty in doing so this will build reader confidence. Furthermore, there should be plenty of problems that the reader can continue to practice the use and formulas to retain them. The questions in the chapter need to build upon information in the current chapter as well as the previous chapter also.

Appendices and Supplement Material

This is information that is located at the end of the text book in a heading call Appendices or supplement information. It normally consists of tables, numerical constants system of units, variable definition, unit conversions, etc. The appendices are viably important because it is a swift reference to information that is other wise imbedded over a great number of chapters. Supplement Material is other resource that comes with the textbook such as, access to an online tutorial and problems, a resources cd, or a student workbook. Supplement Material is essential because it provides a secondary source to comprehensive information and extra problems to practice. The Appendices and Supplement Material will be measured on the amount of supplement information that is provided.

Recommendation Report Criteria 4


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