Chapter 58. RECOMMENDATION REPORT
Advanced Methods of
Recommendations ---
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Introduction
These advanced ideas and/or applications can help
you understand and use this paper's type of thinking better. For
additional information, check the chapter's
Grammar Book
Links
in the right column.
Recommendation reports are one of the more sophisticated forms of general
professional and business writing. they involve step-by-step critical
thinking. They are, in critical thinking practice, what is called a
"problem-solving" technique or tool. This is because, in true
critical-thinking fashion, they present a problem and reach a solution by first
going through a series of logical, thoughtful steps, including
1. Gathering all relevant
background data
2. Exploring all aspects of the
problem--causes and results
3. Establishing a set of
real-world criteria for examining solutions
4. Brainstorming a number of
solutions
5. Applying the criteria to the
solutions to rate the solutions
6. Ranking the two or three best
possible solutions
7. Re-examining & revising a
step before the next one
8. Re-examining the whole and
revising it before finishing
9. Using the solution
10. Evaluating its effectiveness
and possible alternatives to it
A shorter summary of this
process can be called the "D.A.R.E." model:
D.A.R.E. System
(rev. 7-12)
D. |
Describe |
Describe your text (or your
problem or need) and all its surrounding issues. |
A. |
Analyze |
Analyze your information by
sorting it according to several possible systems. |
R. |
Respond/React |
Respond or react by offering several possible
pros and cons--arguments--from public, academic, or other spheres and/or
your own carefully weighed thoughts.. |
E. |
Evaluate |
Having collected all this data,
evaluate which is best using a set of criteria: judge it as a legal
judge might, using the evidence to critique it fairly and squarely. |
(For additional discussion about using these four steps of
D.A.R.E., go to "The
Steps of D.A.R.E. in a Critical Review" in another chapter.)
A worksheet for applying
critical thinking skills to an academic or professional paper can be found in
the "Critical Thinking"
chapter.
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Writing a Recommendation Letter for a Person
A recommendation letter can be as simple as a verification that the person has
worked for a company, or a much richer and potentially very important document
written by a supervisor, faculty member, fellow employee, or friend to help
someone gain employment entrance into a program. The latter type of
recommendation letter is especially important to write well so that the author
of it does not "damn with faint praise" by writing about the subject of the
letter with lukewarm assessments and a lack of significant personal detail.
The best recommendation letters are one to two typed, single-spaced pages in
length, written in standard professional letter format. They are written
using anecdotes about the subject, details of their work and/or academic record,
a statement of whether the author of the letter would enjoy working with the
person, and strong praise of the subject in especially important areas. A
good recommendation letter also often will have at least one paragraph
discussing two or three of the subject's weaknesses; a great recommendation
letter will explain what the subject has done or is doing to turn those
weaknesses into strengths.
A recommendation letter has many of the same elements as a personal statement.
See the chapter in this textbook on "Applying
for Jobs" for a discussion of personal statements and a sample of a well
written personal statement.
Writing an Analysis
An analysis is a common type of paper in collegiate writing. At a
disciplinary or college-major level, it usually requires applying one or more
theories to a specific reading, event, person, or situation. In
professional recommendation writing, one or more theories--or several parts of
one theory--can be applied to a problem or need, the results analyzed, and then
the theory or part of the theory that is most effective can be applied. To
learn how to write an analysis, go to the chapter in this textbook called "Analysis."
Writing an Evaluation Paper
Evaluative writing in an academic setting can also
be applied to professional writing and activities. For evaluative criteria
and other aspects of academic evaluative writing, see well developed chapter in
this textbook called "Evaluation."
Writing a Critical Review
Writing a critical review in a professional
situation generally means reviewing one or more professional books or articles
so that others can decide whether to read them. The steps of thinking
involved in a critical review include (1) summary or description of the reading,
(2) arguments or interpretations of it by the reviewer and/or other potential
readers, and (3) evaluation of the quality of the work and thinking in it based
on a set of criteria. Disciplinary/professional critical reviews are
discussed in the chapter in this textbook called "Critical Review."
Writing Evaluative Conclusions in a Business Report, Performance Review, or
System Review
The most common type of formal
professional and business
writing (other than letters) probably is the "Professional
Report." Often, a professional business report simply is a step-by-step, objective
description of a system, project, or person. However, in some situations,
a writer may be asked to provide evaluative conclusions as well. If that
is the case, an evaluative system must be clear to both the writer and his or
her audience: if it is not obvious (or legal concerns require full reporting),
then the writer should be careful to describe what evaluative criteria are being
used. In this kind of report, the evaluative comments may occur at the end
of each topic section, as a separate evaluative topic section at the end, or
briefly as part of the conclusion.
A job performance review or a systems review are specific types of business
reports that require thorough evaluation. These types of reports can be
broken into topic sections as described above. The introduction and/or
first topic section should, however, very clearly describe the subject, the need
or purpose of the review, and the criteria that will be used. To see more
about writing a simple business report, go to "Professional
Report" in this textbook.
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|
Writing Theory
for Students: Writing an Xxxxxx |
Important basics about critical
thinking can be found in this textbook's chapter called "College
Thinking."
A more advanced discussion of
critical thinking can be found in this textbook's chapter called "Critical Thinking."
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