CONTENTS

1.0 Objective Overview

2.0 Assignment Details

2.1 Title Page

2.2 Purpose Statement

2.3 Methods Statement

2.4 Prescribed Footnote

2.5 Context

2.6 Decision Task

1.0 OBJECTIVE OVERVIEW

The Objective assignment is the second assignment. Before you begin the Objective assignment, your instructor must approve the proposal.

The goal of this assignment is to define the purpose of your analysis and the methods you will use, to improve your descriptions of the decision maker (or decision maker group) and the organization, if applicable, and then to add the necessary context for the reader to understand the decision task and why it is an important decision. In this assignment, you do not want to describe any particular option or solution. That will be the focus of the Options assignment.

2.0 ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

This text describes in very prescribed ways how you must complete this assignment. After each prescribed item below, you will see in parentheses the typical number of paragraphs (P) needed (e.g., "1-2P" means "1 to 2 paragraphs are typically needed"). The outline also indicates when a figure (F) or table (T) is typically needed or required. Details about how to create and format figures and tables is in the "Figures and Tables" section of the "Resources" chapter.

Your Objective assignment must include:

1. An informative title and title page with one artistic visual aid, your name, email address, phone number, and date. (1F)

2. A purpose statement paragraph, appropriately adapted as prescribed, that includes prescribed footnote. (1P)

3. A methods statement paragraph, appropriately adapted as prescribed. (1P)

4. An expanded and improved description of the context for the decision task, including details about the organization and decision maker or decision making group. Typically include two figures, one highlighting the organization or other contextual detail and another highlighting the decision maker(s). If there is no organization, include alternate figure that highlights a relevant aspect of the context. (3-5P and 2F)

5. An improved description of the decision task, why the decision is important, and when the decision is needed. (1P)

To submit your assignment, follow the assignment submission instructors provided to you by your instructor in the course syllabus or on the course site of your institution's learning management system.

2.1 Title Page

Rather than place your name, official school email address, and phone number in the upper left corner of the first page (as you did for the Proposal assignment), I want you instead to create a title page with an artistic visual aid. You need an informative title, a properly and attractively designed visual aid used in an artistic rather than formal way, and the prescribed contact information. All of these items should be attractively arranged on a single title page.

Title. You need to create an informative title. Technically, this will be a "working" title since you may change it as you learn more from your analysis.

Titles of technical communication documents should be clear and useful. These factors may weigh against a "catchy" title. While a catchy title might attract additional readers or viewers, technical communication may not be intended for a large, broad audience. Useful and clear titles are often direct and informative. Technical communication also aims to be true and logically organized. Technical communicators are expected to be people that readers and listeners can trust as judicious and logical. A catchy title may lead readers to doubt the seriousness of the author or presenter. For these reasons, you may want to avoid catchy titles like:

• (avoid) "Don't Horse Around with Unprofessional Financial Advisors: A Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis"

You might identify two or three words that summarize your analysis and a short plain description separated by a colon (:). Here are a few examples:

• "H2A Workers, US Workers, or Technology Investments: How Best to Address _________'s Labor Challenges"

• "Argentina, France, or Mexico: Identifying the Best Student Abroad Program for ____________"

• "Full Retirement, Phased Retirement, or No Retirement: What Option Is Best for ____________."

You might consider other ways to use a colon in your title. A colon is a punctuation mark that separates two ideas, the second of which expands or illustrates the first. For example, you might adapt and/or combine one of the following titles:

• "Options and Solutions to __________'s Labor Challenges: 2020 to 2025"

• "A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Study Abroad Options: Argentina, France, or Mexico?"

• "Retirement Recommendations: A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for _____________."

As always, the first, last, and all important words in a title should be capitalized. Titles are not sentences and should not have ending punctuation unless the title is a question in which case a question mark is appropriate. Titles should be enclosed in quotation marks except when a title is used as a title (e.g., as a heading for a written report). Shorter titles are better than longer titles, all else being equal.

Artistic Visual Aids. To create a visual aid, you will need to read the entire "Figures and Tables" section of the "Resources" chapter. You will need to pay particular attention to the details about "Artistic Visual Aids" that are at the end of the "Format" section. Here are some links to reports that can give you ideas about how to design your title page using an artistic image:

Contact Information. Include your first and last names, your official school email address, and a contact phone number.

Date. You should also include the month and year of publication on your title page.

2.2 Purpose Statement

After your title page, you need to state what you will analyze (purpose statement) and how you will analyze it (methods statement). The purpose statement is typically a single paragraph that clearly and succinctly describes the useful purpose of the analysis. The methods statement is typically a single paragraph that clearly and succinctly describes step-by-step the analytical process you will use.

For the Objective assignment, your purpose statement paragraph must start with a single sentence that captures as succinctly as possible what you do in your analysis. That sentence should following the format below as closely as possible. As similar as the examples are below to each other, that is how similar your purpose statement should be.

Your purpose statement paragraph must have three parts, but exclude the numbers and quotation marks from your paragraph:

1. _____[1]_____ is the _____[2]_____ at/with/of the _____[3]_____ and must decide which/what _____[4]_____ would be best to _____[5]_____ given _____[6]_____ priorities and current circumstances.

2. After you adapt and insert the above sentence, next add several more sentences to the purpose statement paragraph that explain generally why this kind of decision is important at this time.

3. End the purpose statement paragraph with this sentence, "This analysis examines why the best option in this situation would be for _____[7]_____ to _____[8]_____."

In the first blank [1], insert the name(s) of the decision maker or makers. In the second blank [2], insert the person's title or position in the organization. In the third blank [3], insert the name of the organization. In the fourth blank [4], insert the name of thing to be optimized. In the fifth blank [5], insert the relevant verb. In the sixth blank [6], insert the relevant pronoun (e.g., "his", "her", or "their" or just insert "the organization's". In the seventh blank [7], insert the name of the decision maker or makers. Leave the eight blank [8] empty (i.e., just a blank) for now; later you will insert here whatever the highest ranking option is from your analysis.

Below are some examples to make the above prescribed language clearer. Remember, as similar as these examples are to each other, that is how similar your purpose statement paragraph should be.

• Faculty members in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Kentucky must decide what meeting format would be best for their faculty meetings after the risks of COVID-19 subside given their priorities and current circumstances. [Add several sentences that explain generally why this kind of decision is important.] This analysis examines why the best option in this situation would be for faculty members to ____________________.

• James Smith, a part-time beef cattle farmer in Frankfort, Kentucky, must decide what niche marketing strategy, if any, would be best to pursue given his priorities and current circumstances. [Add several sentences that explain generally why this kind of decision is important.] This analysis examines why the best option in this situation would be for this farmer to ____________________.

• Bill and Cindy Brown are nearing retirement and must decide which city in the United States would be best for them to retire to given their priorities and current circumstances. [Add several sentences that explain generally why this kind of decision is important.] This analysis examines why the best option in this situation would be for this couple to ____________________.

• The President's Sustainability Advisory Council at the University of Kentucky must decide what campus-based climate change mitigation project would be best for UK to implement over the next 10 years given the committee's priorities and current circumstances. [Add several sentences that explain generally why this kind of decision is important.] This analysis examines why the best option in this situation would be for the committee to recommend that the UK President support plans to ____________________.

• Jane Brown and Raquel Brown are co-owners of Two Gals Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky. They must decide what plan would be best to solve the distillery's increasing on-site storage problems given the firm's priorities and current circumstances. [Add several sentences that explain generally why this kind of decision is important.] This analysis examines why the best option in this situation would be for the co-owners to ____________________.

2.3 Prescribed Footnote

Okay, at this point you might be wondering, "How can I just cut-and-paste the exact wording from this online textbook into my paper without giving proper attribution?". Great question. To avoid plagiarism, one option would be to distinguish clearly your work from the work that Roger Brown (i.e., the author of this textbook) did using quotation marks and proper citations. In academia, this is the default expectation. Another option is to alter clearly this default expectation.

The problem with the first option is that it will require you to interrupt your writing constantly with distracting and intrusive citations and quotation marks. In some writing assignments, that might be necessary, for example, if your instructor says that you must follow the default expectation regarding originality. The writing assignments in this text allow you--with limits--to modify the default originality expectations. Thus, you can follow the second option (i.e., establish clearly alternate expectations regarding originality). If this sounds confusing, you should read the "Attribution, Citation, and Plagiarism" section in the "Resources" chapter of this textbook now.

To alter the default originality expectations and keep your text nice and tidy, you will (must) simply add a footnote to your text that explains clearly the alternate expectations. This should be done at the earliest possible opportunity. A footnote at the end of the first paragraph that informs the reader what the altered expectations should be regarding the originality of your work is sufficient.

This will be a prescribed footnote. It must go at the end of the first complete sentence of the purpose statement paragraph. Here is the text of that prescribed footnote:

• This analysis comports with standard scholarly expectations regarding originality. The author, for instance, clearly identifies and distinguishes all work (e.g., data, images, and ideas) taken wholly or in part from any external source. The only exception is that the author adapts without further attribution some specific analytical techniques, organization, and wording as prescribed by Roger Brown’s online textbook, Technical Communication in Economics, accessed on _____[1]_____ at https://a.triplesilver.com.

In the blank [1], insert the date that you first accessed the online textbook.

Here are a few clarification. First, if you do not know what a footnote is or how to insert a footnote easily into your own text, you should read the "Credibility, Evidence, and Footnotes" section in the "Resources" chapter of this text.

Second, the above footnote should not be in italics when you cut-and-paste it into your paper, except that the title of the textbook should be (as always) italicized or underlined.

Third, if during the course of conducting your analysis, you receive from a classmate or other reviewer editorial help with grammar, spelling, and/or formatting or other kinds of similarly minor assistance (e.g., a suggestion to consider a different demand or supply shift factor), you should modify the above footnote to include recognition of those specific individuals and their specific minor contributions. Here is the additional text you should add to the above prescribed footnote:

• This analysis comports with standard scholarly expectations regarding originality. The author, for instance, clearly identifies and distinguishes all work (e.g., data, images, and ideas) taken wholly or in part from any external source. The only exception is that the author adapts without further attribution some specific analytical techniques, organization, and wording as prescribed by Roger Brown’s online textbook, Technical Communication in Economics, accessed on _____[1]_____ at https://a.triplesilver.com. The author also acknowledges minor helpful contributions from _____[2]_____ who improved earlier drafts of this report with their helpful suggestions, including help with grammatical, spelling, and formatting errors. Any remaining mistakes are the responsibility of the author.

In the first blank [1], insert the date that you first accessed the online textbook. In the second blank [2], insert the name(s) of the person(s) who provided you with basic assistance.

Be careful! Each of these footnotes tell readers that you (the author) do not make any efforts to distinguish your work from any of the work found in this (Brown's) online textbook but that you do make every effort to distinguish clearly your work from everyone else's work (i.e., all work that is not Brown's and not yours). Also, be aware that, as noted in the "Overview" chapter of this textbook, you are not authorized to and must not copy, adapt, or modify any analysis from any former student or any analysis that uses this textbook

If you have been assigned to use this text for your class, you can assume that your instructor is okay with you using this footnote to alter the default originality expectations, allowing you to copy-and-paste or otherwise adapt anything from this text without attribution, provided you include the above footnote in your text as prescribed. If your instructor has authorized you to work in groups with other students, be sure that you are clear how much assistance from your fellow group members your instructor has authorized. The extended version of the footnote above does not typically, for instance, authorize you to copy the ideas, wording, or formatting (i.e., the "work") of any other person, including a fellow student.

2.4 Methods Statement

After your purpose statement paragraph comes the methods statement paragraph. For this assignment, you must simple cut the methods statement paragraph below and paste it into your analysis as the second paragraph. You should edit the font and font size, of course, to match your preferences.

• In this analysis, the author first describes the decision context, including who the decision maker is, what decision needs to be made, and why. Second, the author names and describes _____[1]_____ relevant decision criteria and the relative importance of each. Third, the author describes _____[2]_____ promising options. The author then evaluates how well each option satisfies the _____[3]_____ decision criteria, calculates a weighted score for each option, and determines finally each option’s overall ranking.

Leave the first blank [1] empty for now; later you will insert the number of evaluation criteria you have in your analysis. Leave the second blank [2] empty for now; later you will insert the number of options you have in your analysis. Leave the third blank [3] empty for now; later you will insert the number of evaluation criteria you have in your analysis.

2.5 Context

What comes after your purpose statement paragraph that contains your prescribed footnote describing alternate originality expectations and your methods statement paragraph? The answer is in the methods statement paragraph. Remember, that paragraph tells the reader what your analytical method will be step-by-step. And, the prescribed method statement says that "the author first describes the decision context, including who the decision maker is, what decision needs to be made, and why." So, that's what you do next. Here's a short video to explain.

OVERVIEW OF THE OBJECTIVE ASSIGNMENT AND HOW TO DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT (12:41)

The video says that the objective section should be one or two pages, excluding the title page. The prescribed outline in the "Overview" chapter says that this section should be three to five paragraphs (i.e., 3-5P). Remember too that this section requires two figures (i.e., 2F).

Also, as you describe the analytical context, you must include two relevant and helpful figures. Figures are a type of visual aid. If you have not already read the "Figures and Tables" section of the "Resources" chapter, you should do that now. You must have two figures in this section of your paper in addition to the artistic figure that is required as part of your title page. I recommend that you find one figure that helpfully depicts who the decision maker is or decision makers are. I recommend that the other figure shows something useful about the organization if the decision maker is part of an organization. If there isn't an organization, you will need to identify some other subject for your second required figure.

Your figures must be formatted as prescribed in the "Figures and Tables" section of the "Resources" chapter of this text. In fact, the main reason that I want you to create and insert two figures in this section is so that I can see that you know how to select and format figures correctly. It is likely true that you are not ready to--or you probably shouldn't--bother the decision maker and say, for example, "May I please take your picture with your farm in the background for the report I'm writing with your analysis?". So, if you prefer, I invite you to use a temporary image (e.g., a screen shot or picture that you take) that tells the reader in words what kind of picture you hope to include. You can do this for all of the figures that are required in this assignment.

2.6 Decision Task

The objection section of your paper should end with a clear statement of the decision task. In many cases, this statement will be--or can be--the same or nearly the same as the first sentence of this section. Recall these examples from above:

• The foregoing context highlights why faculty members in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Kentucky must decide what meeting format would be best for their faculty meetings after the risks of COVID-19 subside given their circumstances and priorities.

• The foregoing context highlights why James Smith, a part-time beef cattle farmer in Frankfort, Kentucky, must decide what niche marketing strategy, if any, is best to pursue given his circumstances and priorities.

• The foregoing context highlight why Bill and Cindy Brown are nearing retirement and must decide which city in the United States would be best for them to retire to given their circumstances and priorities.

• The foregoing context highlight why the President's Sustainability Advisory Council at the University of Kentucky must decide what campus-based climate change mitigation project would be best for UK to implement over the next 10 years given the committee's priorities and current circumstances.

• The foregoing context highlights why Jane Brown and Raquel Brown are co-owners of Two Gals Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky. They must decide what plan would be best to solve the distillery's increasing on-site storage problems given the firm's priorities and circumstances.

You don't want your restatement of the decision task to be mechanically worded. So, you can explain in your own words that your description of the context has naturally led to and helped clarify what the main question of this analysis is and why it is important.

Keep in mind that, as discussed in the "Overview" chapter, how you frame the decision task is important. You don't want to frame the task too narrowly, or you will unnecessarily and prematurely constrain the set of potential options. But, you likewise don't want to frame the decision task too broadly that would allow for possibilities that the decision maker is unwilling to consider.

It is typically not a good idea to frame a decision task in terms of a particular set of options. For example, it is probably too constraining to write, "Roger must decide if a new Toyota Corolla, new Honda Civic, or a new Mazda 3 is best." It may or may not be a good idea to frame the decision task in terms of the evaluation criteria. Again, doing so can be unnecessarily and prematurely constraining since you likely don't yet know what the evaluation criteria should be. But, if it seems like it helps clarify the decision task, you can.