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Business communicators face daily challenges that require data collection, idea gene ration, and concept organization. These activities arc part of the second phase of the writing process, which includes researching, organizing and composing. No smart businessperson would begin writing a message before collecting all the needed information We call this collection process research, a rather formal- sounding term. For simple documents, though, the procedure can be quite informal. Research is necessary before beginning to write because the information you collect helps shape the message. Discovering significant data after a message is half- completed often means starting over and reorganizing. To avoid frustration and inaccurate messages, collect information that answers a primary question:

• What does the receiver need to know about this topic?

When the message involves action, search for answers to secondary questions:

• What is the receiver to do? How is the receiver to do it? When must the receiver do it?

What will happen if the receiver doesn‘t do it?

Whenever your communication problem requires more information than you have in your head or at your fingertips, you must conduct research. This research may be formal or informal.

Formal Research Methods
Long reports and complex business problems generally require some use of formal research methods. To conduct formal research, you could:

Access electronically. Like other facets of life, the research process has been changed considerably by the computer. Most businesspeople begin any research process by seeing what they can find electronically. Much of the current printed material is now available from the Internet, databases, or CDs that can be accessed by computer. Database providers, such as the InfoTrac service that comes with this textbook, enable you to search millions of magazine, newspaper, and journal articles. The Internet also provides a wealth of information from public records, public and private organizations, and many other sources.

Search manually. You’ll find helpful background and supplementary information through manual searching of resources in public and institutional libraries. These traditional sources include periodical indexes for lists of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, along with the card catalogue for books. Other manual sources are book indexes, encyclopaedias, reference books, handbooks, dictionaries, directories, and almanacs.

Investigate primary sources. To develop firsthand, primary information for a project, go directly to the source. For example, you could conduct interviews or surveys, put together questionnaires, or organize focus groups. Formal research includes scientific sampling methods that enable investigators to make accurate judgments and valid predictions.

Experiment scientifically. Another source of primary data is experimentation. Instead of merely asking for the target audience’s opinion, scientific researchers present choices with controlled variables.

Informal Research Methods
Most routine tasks—such as composing e-mail messages, memos, letters, informational reports, and oral presentations require data that you can collect informally. For some projects, though, you rely more on your own ideas instead of—or in addition to—researching existing facts. Here are some techniques for collecting informal data and for generating ideas:

Look in the files. Before asking others for help, see what you can find yourself. For many routine messages you can often find previous documents to help you with content and format.

Talk with your boss. Get information from the individual making the assignment. What does that person know about the topic? What slant should be taken? What other sources would she or he suggest?

Interview the target audience. Consider talking with individuals at whom the message is aimed. They can provide clarifying information that tells you what they want to know and how you should shape your remarks.

Conduct an informal survey. Gather unscientific but helpful information via questionnaires or telephone surveys. In preparing a memo report predicting the success of a proposed fitness centre, for example, circulate a questionnaire asking for employee reactions.

Generating Ideas by Brainstorming
One popular method for generating ideas is brainstorming. We should point out, however, that some critics argue that brainstorming groups “produce fewer and poorer quality ideas than the same number of individuals working alone.” Proponents say that if “you’ve had bad luck with brainstorming, you’re just not doing it right.”2 Here are suggestions for productive group brainstorming: • Define the problem and create an agenda that outlines the topics to be covered.

• Establish time lirnits, remembering that short sessions are best.

• Set a quota, such as a minimum of 100 ideas. The goal is quantity, not quality.

• Require every participant to contribute ideas, accept the ideas of others, or improve on ideas.

• Encourage wild, “out of the box” thinking. Allow no one to criticize or evaluate ideas.

• Write ideas on flipcharts or on sheets of paper hung around the room.

• Organize and classify the ideas, retaining the best. Consider using cluster diagrams, discussed shortly.

Collecting Information and Generating Ideas on the Job
Assume you work in the corporate offices of Gap Inc., and you have been given the task of developing a student recruiting brochure for all Gap stores. You think this is a great idea because many students don’t know about exciting career opportunities and benefits at Old Navy and Gap. You know right away that you want the brochure to be colourful, exciting, concise, youthfully oriented, lightweight (because it has to be carried to campuses), and easily updated. Beyond that, you realize that you need ideas from others on how to develop this recruiting brochure. To collect data for this project, you decide to use both formal and informal research methods. You study recruiting brochures from other companies and talk with students to ask what information they would like to see in a brochure. You conduct more formal research among recently hired employees and among Gap division presidents and executives to learn what they think a recruiting brochure should include.

Working with an outside consultant, you prepare a questionnaire, to use in personal interviews with executives and employees. The interviews include some open- ended questions, such as “How did you start with the company?” They also contain more specific questions about the number of employees in their departments, intended career paths, academic requirements, Personality traits desired, and so forth.

Next you ask five or six fellow employees and team members to help brainstorm ideas for the brochure. In the session, your team comes up with the cluster diagram shown in Figure 6.1 The ideas range from the cost of the brochure to career development programs and some of your company’s appealing locations.

From the jumble of ideas in the initial cluster diagram, you see that you can organize most of the information into three main categories relating to the brochure Development Form, and Content. You eliminate, simplify, and consolidate some ideas and add other new ideas. Then you organize the ideas into sub clusters shown in Figure 6.2. This set of sub clusters could form the basis for an outline. Or you could make another set of sub clusters, further outlining the categories.