This report describes the progress I have made in preparing my report that analyzes the costs for a parent to work outside the home compared to those of one parent staying home to care for the child(ren). I will discuss my activities from March 1 through March 21, 1998. Listed below are brief descriptions of the audience, scope, and purpose of my report.

Audience

My cost analysis research will target the following audience: married couples who have one or more child(ren) under age five, who are expecting their first child, or who are planning to have a child (or children).

Scope

I will focus my analysis on the costs incurred by the woman because she is usually the parent who opts to stay home to care for the children. I will also describe alternative work situations that employees can explore with their employers. I will not address issues concerning which parent will give up his or her career to care for the children or how beneficial it is for the children to have a parent home.

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to give parents a realistic view of the costs associated with working outside the home. Armed with this information, these parents will be able to determine how much income they will actually realize after deducting these expenses. Additionally, by learning about alternative work arrangements, parents can be fully informed to make their personal work and child-care decisions.

Listed on page 2 is the work I have completed so far. I have organized this section by task as outlined in the project schedule of the planning proposal.

Prepare proposal:

Prepared and delivered planning proposal to John Doe.

Design/conduct survey:

Designed, constructed and pretested questionnaire.

Distributed survey to COMM 393 students via e-mail message; 15 percent of the respondents returned the survey, and I anticipate that the remaining respondents will reply by March 26.

Conduct interviews:

Sent inquiry letters to the following individuals:

• Marta Perez, Director of Human Relations, Montgomery County Government

• Rebecca Delaney, COMM 393 student and telecommuter

Compiled list of local commercial daycare providers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Work in Progress

Listed below are the assignments I am working on now. I have organized this section by task as outlined in the project schedule of the planning proposal.

Design/conduct survey:

Tabulating results of survey as responses arrive.

Conduct interviews:

Interviewing by telephone local commercial daycare centers to determine their fees for infant and toddler child care.

Conduct library research:

Locating and reviewing publications of interest through Internet and online library searches.

Organize information:

Evaluating and organizing information as it arrives.

Work Remaining

Listed on page 3 are the assignments I still need to complete. I have organized this section by task as outlined in the project schedule of the planning proposal.

Design/conduct survey:

Finish tabulating results of survey.

Conduct interviews:

Interview alternate sources if I do not receive responses to the inquiry letters I sent.

Finish interviewing local commercial daycare centers.

Conduct library research:

Finish publication review.

Organize information:

Finish organizing report information.

Prepare report:

Write, edit, submit for review, and revise draft of report.

Prepare final version of report.

Final Report Deadline: April 12, 1998

Successes

In general, my project is running smoothly. I have been able to locate several sources that contain valuable supporting information for my report. For example, I received an e-mail message that described a telecommuting conference to be held in May. I went to the conference organizer's Web site and was able to locate valuable statistical information and the name of a telecommuting expert who wrote a book about the subject.

Although I have not received all the survey responses, the COMM 393 students who have replied have given me excellent, usable information. In addition, I am receiving positive feedback from them about the survey structure, and many students have expressed an interest in my topic.

Complications

A reliable source informed me that I may not receive a timely response to my inquiry letter addressed to the Director of Human Resources for Montgomery County. If this delay occurs, I have located an employee of the Montgomery County Police Department who is willing to talk to me about their job-sharing program. This personal interview will be an acceptable substitute.

Because I had several projects due concurrently, I have been unable to completely follow the original project schedule I outlined in my planning proposal. I had to make adjustments in the following categories as listed below:

Design/conduct survey:

I started the survey process six days later than I originally stated. I increased the time to conduct the survey from three days to one week to give my respondents more time to answer the questions. I also increased the time to tabulate the surveys from one day to nine days because I am recording responses as I receive them.

Conduct interviews:

Although I began the interview process according to my original schedule, I added an extra week to complete the interviews. Since I interviewed some of my sources by inquiry letter, I needed the additional time to await their responses.

Conduct library research:

I started my research according to my original schedule, but I added five extra days to locate and review the publications. I sent for some information via the Internet, but I will receive it via postal mail.

Organize information:

The delay in the project starting time required that I organize my information as I receive it. As a result, I only need one day, instead of the original four days, to finish organizing the material.

Prepare report:

I reduced my initial draft writing by one day because I believe I will need only three days, instead of four, to write the first draft of my report. This change will also put me back on schedule and allow me to finish the report by the April 12 deadline.

Table 1 on page 5 graphically represents my revised project schedule. Shaded boxes indicate dates that I revised from my original schedule.

Conclusion

Although I started my research for the final project later than I had anticipated, I have been able to adjust my schedule so that I can complete the final report on time. Additionally, I expect to stay within my estimated budget.

Table 1: Comparison of Original Project Schedule to Revised Project Schedule*

*Shaded boxes indicate revised dates.