What is in a recommendation?: a perspective from work-based doctorates

This paper is about writing effective recommendations for action based on inquiries, evidence or arguments that have the purpose of effecting change. The importance of the topic for higher education is evident in the increasing accountability being asked of research from within institutions, in other words, research which provides evidenced-based conclusions but which need compelling recommendations for them to be acted upon. These recommendations might be for individuals or organisations and can range from the personal to the collective through a range of approaches and settings or workplaces: home, school, factory or business hub. Recommendations are calls to action that need to be persuasive if they are to convince others to act. We discuss how recommendations might be developed and presented calling firstly on the insights found in Aristotle's Rhetoric and then developing a phronetic method for presenting recommendations with the intent of helping them achieve the legitimate goals of their authors, supported by a review of 20 work-based doctorates.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

This paper is about writing effective recommendations for action based on inquiries, evidence or arguments that have the purpose of effecting change. The importance of the topic for higher education is evident in the increasing accountability being asked of research from within institutions, in other words, research which provides evidenced-based conclusions but which need compelling recommendations for them to be acted upon. These recommendations might be for individuals or organisations and can range from the personal to the collective through a range of approaches and settings or ...  [+] Show more