[Get Solution] Business Applications Report

Writing Intensive (WI) Outcomes The writing assignments described in this syllabus promote writing as a process that allows discovering, exploring, and formulating original ideas and theses. A successful completion of the term project involves several iterations of writing, revising, and critical thinking that successively improve the final product. Successful completion of the writing project will help students: • Learn how to synthesize existing literature in the general area of Business and specific area of Business Analytics. • Identify an area of interest in Business Analytics and formulate a problem based on their synthesis of the literature. Convert the identified problem into a testable hypothesis in a way that is understandable to a general audience. • Not only choose an appropriate analytical method to test the hypothesis, but also defend that choice using a formal writing style (vocabulary, tone, level of formality etc.) that is appropriate for an academic setting. • Present empirical findings and their interpretation in a convincing language supported with appropriate logical arguments. • Produce a complete report that adheres to rules of grammar, syntax, and punctuation with proper attention to sentence, paragraph, section, and chapter structure. WRITING PROJECT Writing Intensive (WI) Requirement Each student will individually complete a 3,500-word report through a draft/feedback/revision process. The due dates for various components of this report including the first draft, and the final (revised) draft based on instructor feedback can be found in the timeline provided in this syllabus. Data The data required for analysis will be provided by the instructor. Students can also use a publicly available secondary data source subject to prior approval from the instructor. ****Report Components The report should include all sections listed below. The word counts are provided for guidance. A variation of ±100 words per section is acceptable but the minimum length requirement for the report is 3,500 words. Note that some report components do not count towards minimum word requirement. One double-spaced page of text contains approximately 250 words, so the written part of the report (excluding the title page, abstract, list of references, and appendices) should be about 14 double-spaced pages. 1. Title page: This should include title of the report, author name and affiliation, and date of submission. 2. Abstract: This should be a brief description of the problem, methodology used, key finding(s), and main conclusion(s). 3. Introduction (500 words): This section should provide background to the problem. Why is this problem interesting? What have other researchers done in this area? What are the expected 6 findings? Students will need to cite past applied studies. The main objective of this section is to identify the outcome variable of interest. 4. Methodology (1,000 words): The methodology should be based on coverage of prediction and classification topics in this course. For example, students can choose OLS regression, logistic regression, a decision tree model, or any other method covered in class that is consistent with variables included in the analysis. This section will include a brief description of the variables, the method used and its mathematical assumptions, comparison of related methods, potential pitfalls or weaknesses of the method, and analytical steps required to implement it. 5. Results (1,500 words): This section will include a detailed description of all preprocessing procedures performed (such as data cleaning, missing value handling, variable transformations etc.) and key findings from data analysis. A thoughtful use of well-constructed graphs and well-structured tables is highly encouraged. Students will report results from their exploratory and visual analysis of the data, followed by a description and interpretation of results from the predictive model. 6. Discussion (500 words): This section will provide key conclusions based on findings reported in the Results section, and practical importance and implications of those findings. Any shortcomings or limitations of source data, methodology or other aspects of the study should be identified. 7. List of references: This section should document all sources of information used in the report. 8. Appendices (if applicable): This optional section should include any part of the report that does not belong other sections. Report Grading Criteria The attached template is in Word format. It provides guidance on various report components. Please use this template as the starting point of your report. The sample files contain samples of published papers. They are intended to provide examples of research studies based on quantitative data analysis.