Week 5 - Arguments & Business Reports

Business Reports

Business Reports

• 4 scenarios

• Your task:

  • Develop a problem statement
  • Find data to support your analysis
  • Document your data
  • Conduct and document your analysis (reproducibly)
  • Write a report that makes a recommendation
  • Present your findings

Business Reports

By Wednesday, clone the repository

This weekend, find a dataset

Next week, document your dataset

As we cover each section of a report/paper, use the business report to practice.

Argument & Rhetoric in Technical Writing

Arguments

Fundamentally an argument is a claim backed up by evidence

Supporting information:

• definitions
• citations to authority or past work
• data (& models & charts)

Counter-arguments

Powerful approach: anticipate and address counter-arguments as part of your argument.

Strategies:

• Argue against the counter argument directly
• Accept the counter argument’s premise, but claim ___ matters more
• Reject the premise of the counter argument and explain why the premise is faulty

It’s important (in most circumstances) to treat opposing viewpoints fairly

Audience

All arguments are made to a specific audience.

Anticipate your audience’s concerns and what arguments are likely to be most effective at addressing those concerns.

Reading Critically

Every source you use is also making an argument

• Understand the author’s perspective/background
• Don’t consider anyone the ultimate authority
• Identify potential sources of bias
• Consider the audience the author is addressing - is it the same as your audience?

Practice

Let’s listen to an argument about declining attention.

Take notes - how is the author making the argument?

Practice

What were the key components of the argument?

Did the argument change your views?

Why or why not?