GIS Technology Report
You are required
to turn in a report. Please visit the Course
website for the due date of report.
Here are some possible ideas.
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Implication
of GIS in a particular in a particular business / organization / industry.
For example, implication of GIS in IT industry or disaster recovery.....
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Since some of
you are ERM or MIS concentration students, you may want to write implication
of GIS in ERM or MIS filed.
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Utilization
and implementation of GIS in pubic organizations are growing fast. For
example, you may want to write about importance and utilization GIS in
government projects such as disaster prevention.
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If you can
support your report arguments by mapping using real world data that will be
the best way to improve your report quality.
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If you cannot
come up with a report idea at all, you are allowed write a report using one
of the below example reports. In other words, your job is to refine and to
improve an example report's quality. Thus, quality of your report MUST be
better than the example report that you are going to benchmark.
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Remember!
You must PARAPHRASE in order to borrow information from a source
without plagiarizing. Otherwise, you will be charged for plagiarism.
Sample report -
Implication of GIS in Marketing
Report
Deliverables:
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You must turn
in the report by dues dates.
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Submit your
report through the course Balckboard (just like turning in an assignment)
Report Format: Need at least 10 references (six from the Internet
site and four from article from newspaper, magazine, book and etc.) You can
download a full-length journal or magazine article thru CSUB library digital
service
The report should be: Typed, single-spaced, 3 pages (excluding the cover
page), with one inch margins and use Times New Roman 12 point font.
Report References
For your report references, you can use academic journals, magazines, books, and
Internet sources. You must use at least 5 references. The report must be typed,
single-spaced, at least 4 pages (including the cover page), with one inch
margins and use Times New Roman 12 point font. Remember that your
report must follow APA Citation Style. Please visit the course FAQ on the
class website for detail information about the APA Citation Style. Also, you
MUST comply with below guidelines.
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The full list
of all references cited in the report should appear at the end of the text,
in alphabetical order by author, and in ascending chronological order for
each author. They should be formatted in the house style.
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References
must be cited in the text, and should be cited alphabetically in the format
shown by the following examples: Batty, 2003; 2005a; Batty and Xie, 1994;
Webster et al, 1999b.
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Where more
than one reference appears for the same year, labels a, b, c etc should be
used, in the order in which the reports are cited.
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All authors
and editors should be listed for each citation.
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Any
unpublished material, or material published by an organization or department
(such as conference proceedings) must be accompanied by full contact details
of availability, as shown in the example references (it is not
sufficient, for example, to provide the name and year of a conference and
the place at which it was held).
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A full
contact address is required for any organizations.
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Acts of
Parliament, statutes, government publications, legal judgments, etc, must be
fully referenced as shown in the example references.
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First and
last pages should be provided for all articles published in journals or
books
Report Guidelines That You MUST Comply With
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Write the
report as if it were going to be read by someone who has no knowledge about
the subject matter. This means that you must cite the authors and the year
of publication when you refer to published work. Also, assume that the
person reading the report is not predisposed to agree with you, but needs to
be convinced.
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Do not
present just facts or just opinions. Your aim should be to make an argument
backed up by evidence. "Facts" only become evidence when they are connected
to an argument, and when you show why these facts are relevant to the points
at hand.
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The best
reports consider at least some counter-arguments. Who would disagree with
what you are saying and why? What opposing arguments do/would they make and
why don't you find that convincing? Why should a reader accept your
argument? You make your own position stronger if you present and refute
counter-arguments. Often the best reports begin by presenting the arguments
they oppose, demonstrating how such a perspective is flawed, and then
showing how their position is more suitable.
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Make an
outline of your thoughts before you begin. You can use this outline to
structure your ideas, but don’t feel that you have to stick to it too
carefully. Outlines are helpful, however, when used to make sure that you
have included all of your ideas and that they are presented in a logical
order.
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Your report
will be graded on several different criteria, including: strength of
argument, use of research material, presentation and writing style, grammar,
spelling, etc. Of course, content is most important, but writing style,
spelling and grammar can all add or detract from the persuasiveness of your
argument. Be sure to edit your report several times.
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The structure
of the report should include an introduction, a body, a conclusion, and a
list of references. Each of these sections can include as many paragraphs as
you wish.
A good
introduction briefly describes the specific research question that will be
answered in the report. Feel free to hint as to what conclusions you will draw
and any opposing arguments that you will address, but don’t spell it all out
here. It is often helpful to go back and edit the introduction after you have
finished writing the report to ensure that it truly reflects what the report is
about.
The body of the
report should include everything that you want to say. Describe the issue in
depth. Why is the issue important? What does prior research on the topic find?
What evidence, theories, or reasoning do different researchers give to support
their stances? What are the strengths/weaknesses of arguments made by
researchers? What are your reactions to the ideas/materials you find? Someone
reading your report should be able to read only the first sentence of each
paragraph and have a pretty good idea of what the report is all about. The rest
of each paragraph should be used to back up that topic sentence.
The conclusion
should be used to briefly summarize the main points/arguments and spell out the
conclusions that you have drawn from the research. Also, feel free to be
adventurous. What couldn’t this report cover? What are some related side issues
that could be further explored? What are some solutions to a problem you
analyzed?