Chapter 11

For best results, all members of a report-writing group should be assigned the task of editing the final draft.

False

No one can post or edit articles in Wikipedia except the site moderator.

False

Secondary research produces new information through the use of surveys.

False

The Boolean operator AND is used to expand a search by adding variations to the basic search term.

False

The decimal outlining method uses Roman numerals to show the major sections of a business report.

False

The ranking technique provides a scale showing the complete range of possible attitudes on a topic and assigns number values to the positions on the scale.

False

Which of the following falls under the "organize the material" step of collaborative writing projects?

Group participants must base the report's structure on the time, place, quantity, factor, or other relationships in the data.

Descriptive statistics are typically used to generalize about a population based on the study of a sample.

False

In the absence of any information establishing Mr. Simon Chavez as a good credit risk, you conclude he is a poor risk and turn down his application for a store credit card. Which fallacy is most likely to undermine the validity of your decision?

Acceptance of lack of evidence as proof to the contrary

Which of the following is a source of primary research?

An interview

Garrett conducts a study of a company that shows that employees who work more than eight hours a day are paid more than their coworkers. This leads Garrett to believe that working longer hours results in higher pay rates. However, re-analysis of the data from the study shows that the employees working longer hours have salaried jobs and are paid the same rate no matter how many hours they work. Their higher pay rate is a result of their increased responsibilities. Which of the following errors in interpretation is illustrated by Garrett's initial conclusion?

Drawing an illogical cause-effect conclusion

A technique of good report writing is to bring to life the contents of your report by using passive-voice verbs as much as possible.

False

Demographic testing measures a person's experience when interacting with a product.

False

Which of the following is true about collaborative writing projects?

If possible, you should have at least two face-to-face meetings

Which of the following is true about secondary research?

It uses material that someone else has published

Which of the following statements about searching online is true?

Not all documents published online are indexed

Which of the following is true of treating research participants ethically?

Participants in a research study have the right to informed consent

Which of the following is true about problem statements?

Problem statements are generally written as descriptive statements

Which of the following headings, taken from the same report, violates parallelism of construction?

Production Cost is increasing

Which of the following organization patterns is best suited for creating an outline of a report regarding the progress of a company merger?

The time-based pattern

What is the advantage of RSS feeds?

They keep users up to date on the Internet information they're interested in.

Common factors that need to be investigated for reports include subtopics of the overall topic and possible causes of a problem.

True

Websites should be evaluated for completeness, accuracy, and reliability.

True

Which of the following statements about constructing headings is not true?

Words like an, a, and the should always be avoided in headings

A listserv is

an electronic mailing list

The small-scale version of a survey that is conducted before the actual survey is distributed is referred to as a(n)

pilot study

If the information you have collected has some relation to geographic location, you should typically use a ________ pattern of organization.

place-based

The ________ in a business report is also called the research or report objective and is typically written in the form of a question.

purpose statement

During the report-writing process, to minimize errors while interpreting your information you should

refrain from interpreting a lack of evidence as proof to the contrary

A metasearch engine allows you to

search websites using more than one search engine

Carmen identifies each member of the group she wants to sample and records their identifications on a list. She cuts the list into strips, each with a single identification, and puts them into a basket. She then closes her eyes and draws strips of paper from the basket until she has the number of strips she wants. Carmen is using ________ sampling.

simple random

Primary research produces new information through the use of things like

surveys