Posts

Final Reflection

 Question: What have you learned about the processes of designing a sound research study in class?  I learned about the importance of having clear research questions and logical, achievable methods for answering them. Your questions are the foundation of your research, so they should be specific and aim to fill a research gap. You should also know the purpose of your research and what it could add to general scholarship. Knowing these things early makes designing the rest of your proposal much smoother. After all, it's hard to travel somewhere when you don't know your destination. Additionally, I learned the importance of choosing methods that suit your research questions. I originally thought about doing a survey—mostly for the fun of it—but soon realized that it didn't make any sense for my research questions. I settled on only doing a content/rhetorical analysis for both accessibility and efficacy.  
1 comment
Read more

Plans for Revision

 After receiving feedback on my literature review, I plan to incorporate better transitions into my writing. I've always struggled with that, so Professor Bacabac's suggestions are very helpful. As for my research proposal outline, I need to consider more preliminary implications. I wasn't able to come up with much for it, but I'm sure I can figure it out. I also need to further develop the research gap in my literature review. I managed to expand on my gap after submitting my lit review, so that should be easy to incorporate.   I'm still unsure of my research methods. I plan to do a content analysis and possibly a survey. I don't know if the survey will be effective for my research questions; coding past and current technologies and documents might be the best choice.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Research Gap

 There seems to be a temporal research gap in my topic, Gender Bias in Technical Communication. The sources I found were from the 1990s and 2000s, indicating that updated research is needed. Due to this, there's also a gap in the consideration of technology. The internet has changed, and so have general societal values. These new values pose an opportunity to research how gender bias has continued and if attempts to remedy bias have proven effective. 
3 comments
Read more

7 sources for research topic

 My research topic is how biases affect technical communication. I will probably narrow it down to something more specific, like gender bias. Examples of this would be using gendered language that assumes the reader is male and alienating the rest of the audience, or by depicting one gender in a harmful and offensive way.   The seven possible sources I have found are the following:   Shenk, Robert. “Gender Bias in Naval Fitness Reports? A Case Study on Gender and           Rhetorical Credibility.”   Sánchez, Fernando. “Trans Students’ Right to Their Own Gender in Professional           Communication Courses: A Textbook Analysis of Attire and Voice Standards in Oral Presentations.”  Gurak, Laura J., and Nancy L. Bayer. “Making Gender Visible: Extending Feminist           Critiques of Technology to Technical Communication.”   Lay, Mary M. “The Value of Gen...
2 comments
Read more

Possible Research Topic for PTW

 The topic that I am most likely to choose to research is how biases affect technical communication. I think this could be interesting because it ties into ethics. There's a lot to consider with ethics when writing professionally. You have to know your audience, such as any accessibility issues they might have. It's also important to consider any information you might choose to include or omit entirely, as well as the way you present the information. Inherent biases are very likely to affect how someone presents information or the way that they react to new information. Much of professional and technical communication carries a lot of weight, like legal documents, so presenting the information accurately and plainly is crucial.      TOPIC GOAL QUESTIONS TYPE METHODS Biases in technical communication Explore ethical responsibilities of technical writers 1.      How has...
1 comment
Read more