Topic to write about: The conflicts of interest between healthcare industry leaders and companies that provide drugs, medical devices, and other products and services to healthcare providers.
Assignment Objectives:
to practice research and documentation, to analyze and synthesize primary and secondary sources,
to determine what kinds of visual aids (graphs, charts, images, etc.) are effective and ethical, and to incorporate them into your document, and
present your findings in a formal report that uses appropriate citation, effective organization and formatting, and appropriate tone.
Assignment Directions:
You will prepare a formal report on the topic of your choice that relates to the field of business or study that is given. You will present your findings on your topic in a detailed, researched formal report of 2,000 words minimum.
Research & Sources Required:
You must use at least six electronic secondary sources in addition to any primary source information.
Note: Primary sources are raw, firsthand information; they are sources created by someone directly involved in the issue, while secondary sources are created by someone who is not directly involved in the issue.
Examples of primary sources include interviews, personal accounts, artifacts, and other direct communication from people immediately involved in the issue. Primary sources in healthcare might be reports written by healthcare providers, interviews with or personal accounts written by healthcare providers or patients, etc.
Secondary sources include reports written by researchers or journalists, meta-analyses of other studies, and other sources created by folks who are not directly involved. These sources might quote or otherwise incorporate primary sources. Most of your sources will be secondary sources.
Your sources should be current (no earlier than 2010 for most topics; later than 2016 is best) and reputable sources that will help you and your audience understand this topic.
These sources will help provide context, provide statistics, some history as to the issue, information as to how other places have dealt with similar concerns, and so on. You will synthesize the information you have gathered with your own ideas and insights.
You must make use of at least two (2) effective, relevant, and cited visuals in the document.
Required Length:
The Formal Report must be 2000+ words minimum. No maximum. This is approximately 6+ pages.
Other Requirements, Notes, and Tips:
Narrow your scope. Topics that are too broad may seem easier to research (Broad/vague topics like “Diabetes,” or “The Financial Crisis,” or “Construction Costs”), but the discussion of the material will be too superficial. Instead, you must tighten your focus (“Type 2 Diabetes in Los Angeles County” or “The Impact of Interest Rates on ____,” or “LEED Building in the City of Santa Monica.”)
Use headings and subheadings to organize your report. How many headings and what they are called will vary depending on your topic, but common major headings will usually include the following:
Introduction
Purpose or Problem
Background of the Issue
Discussion of the Issue
and finally Conclusions/Recommendations
You can and should have more specific subheadings within these larger headings to organize your report further!
