technical writing, october 24th, 2013

TODAY

1) Checking in with Dr. Anderson2) Dr. Phill’s advice for making your research

readable3) Activity: making information user friendly4) Homework

Anderson

Since we last discussed readings, you’ve read chapter 7 and chapter 13 from the Anderson text. As I’ve said before, Anderson does a great job with the book; I sort of feel like he nailed it. But let’s review the key points before we move into some more report-targeted activities.

In Chapter 7, there are 7 guidelines for research. See how that works? 7 in 7?

Guideline 1: Review your research objectives.

What?This one’s easy: know what you’re trying to

find out. It’s easy to get lost while researching. Keep reminding yourself what

you want to know.

Guideline 2: Arrange your information in analyzable form.

What?Research is useless if the data ends up so

dense or so poorly formatted (or overwhelming) that it cannot be used for the

purposes it is meant to be used for.

This is a biggie. We’re coming back here in a bit for an activity.

Guideline 3: Look for meaningful relationships in the information.

What?It used to be just look for “relationships.” But

rhetorically, they need to be meaningful. Say you have car accident data. There are two Samoans, and both of them just had fender benders. NOT

really meaningful. But if there are 45 people under the age of 18, and all of them wrecked because

they were texting, THAT means something.

Guideline 4: interpret each relationship for your readers.

What?Why did the two Samoans not mean much?

Because it’s not a statistically relevant sample. Why do the 45 youths mean something? 45

participants with the same outcome indicates high possibility for a one-to-one relationship.

You need to tell the reader that.

Guideline 5: Explain why each relationship is important to your readers.

What?Do you like young people?Do you like them… alive?

Do you think they have phones?Then let’s look at this texting problem!

Guideline 6: Recommend actions based on your analysis.

What?We won’t do this until our proposals.

BUT…To keep our example going, wouldn’t we suggest finding a way to keep kids from

texting while driving?

Guideline 7: Think critically about your analysis.

What?In a report, you get facts, you give them to

us. If your analysis is bad, you end up muddying the facts. So… don’t do that! Be thoughtful, and think through what you’re doing with the information you find. With

great fact comes great responsibility.

So that’s Anderson on reports.Next up, in chapter 13, he talks to us about

using graphics.

Guideline 1: Look for places where graphics can increase your communication’s

usefulness and persuasion.

What?This was my biggest comment on your

instructions. Sometimes you NEED a photo or a screenshot. Look for those places.

Guideline 2: Select the graphic that will be most effective.

What?Know when to use what sort of chart or

graph. This is not the best use below.

Guideline 3: Make each graphic easy to understand and use.

What?Remember the graphic is there to help. It

should… help. If it’s super-complex, misleading, shoddy, or shifty it won’t do the

job.

Guideline 4: Use color to support your message.

What?Remember the use of color can make it so

that people notice certain words or can make I clear that numbers like 2, 3, and 4 all

go together.

Guideline 5: Use graphic software and existing graphics effectively.

What?Basically: 1) don’t reinvent the wheel and 2) no one likes a crappy Photoshop job. If you

design an image, do it right.

Guideline 6: Integrate your graphics with your text.

What?You want the text to flow into and around

the graphic. A graphic sitting all by itself can be very confusing.

Guideline 7: Get permission and cite the sources in your graphics.

What?It’s still data. You treat it just like everything else. Except screenshots from Ted, because

I’m not citing the last slide.

Guideline 8: Avoid graphics that mislead.

What?You want to be careful with your

representation of statistics. Real life example: I saw a report from one of the programs

where I was a student that boasted a 100% Native American graduation rate: Me. The

huge 100% bar on their graph was JUST ME.

So after some Anderson…

The really important, like super key points, from what we read for the last few days are that you have data that you will use in your report, but you can’t just go get it and stick it in the report.

Sort of like how you wouldn’t get ground beef, cans of tomatoes and beans, an onion, some peppers and various spices and chuck them on the table (you’d make chili!), you don’t just throw raw data at people. That’s why we call it raw data. Cook it!

Dr. Phill’s Four Ways to Cook Your Data ‘till It’s Done

Way 1: Cut that fat!

You’re going to have a plethora of data. Of datai? Of datasususus?

Anyway…The goal is to only relate to the reader what she needs. If you’re researching the safest

cars for families, the data sheet might include the colors it comes in. Not

important. Cut the fat!

Way 2: Flavor it Right

To continue the metaphor…If you see raw chicken, Ragu sauce, a block of

cheese, bread crumbs, eggs, and a box of spaghetti sitting on my counter…

You don’t expect I’m going to serve you meatloaf, right?

A secret: humans are pattern recognizing machines. So use that when organizing your

data.Sequence things in ways that make arguments

already. The Mercedes C is best in class, five star safety

rating. It has 20 airbags. It has dynamic anti-lock brakes. It’s made of win.

(see how a case is being made with the data?)

Way 3: Chop it up Fine

Sometimes data is just overwhelming.Information is everywhere, and thanks to technology, we generate even more of it

each and every second. While I was talking just now, more data flew into existence.

Sometimes you need to carve out just the right pieces.

An example: if you’ve been following the “debates” about the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), there are claims– data

points, as individuals talk and write– that it is KILLING small businesses.

But if you take an actual example, there’s a man who was on FOX news last night. He

employs 4 people. He claims that Obamacare “means I can’t hire more employees.”

The ACA states that at over 50 employees, an employer must kick in insurance. So that guy would have to expand by 47 employees

to be hurt.

Ergo, taken as a chopped out piece, this data doesn’t say what it said. But we had to cut

around it to find that.

Way 4: Make it easy to swallow.

Look at this:

Imagine it in writing. Reports show that Washington state had

seven percent unemployment, while Montana had five (repeat with new number 48X).

All the data is on that map. But we can chew on that. Write it in paragraph form and I’ll

break into hives.

So…Sadly, there’s no set recipe for “report.” That’s why we’ve been looking at audiences and expectations and such. There is, however, for our class activity!

On the course website there are links to two documents from Apple: The data sheet for the original iPad and the data sheet for the brand new iPad Air. Please pair up with someone, get to a computer, and open those links.

The activity

Pretend for this activity Dr. Phill runs a writing center that owns 10 original iPads for student use.Your job is to explain to me in the report– and we just need a data treatment for this activity, not the whole report– the upgrades from the original model to the new model.

Think about what we talked about today as you treat the data.

When you finish treating the data

Email it to me.

For Tuesday, read Anderson, Chapter 14.

Remember your case study is due via email on Tuesday.

Have a good weekend! Stay warm!