Week 02

Week 2: Audiences, Research,
Organization, Proposals, Definitions &
Descriptions

ENG 3302
Winter
Roundtree

Chapter 5. Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose ©
2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's

Table of Contents
Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose…….…slide 3
Researching Your Subject…………………...….slide 16
Organizing Your Information…………………....slide 39
Writing Proposals…………………………….…..slide 54
Writing Definitions, Descriptions Instructions….slide 72


Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose


Determine four important
characteristics of your audience:

• Who are your readers?
• Why is your audience reading your
document?
• What are your readers’ attitudes and
expectations?
• How will your readers use your document?

Chapter 5. Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's 4

Consider six factors about
your most important readers:

• the reader’s education
• the reader’s professional experience
• the reader’s job responsibility
• the reader’s personal characteristics
• the reader’s personal preferences
• the reader’s cultural characteristics


Classify your readers into three categories:

• a primary audience of people who will use
your document in carrying out their jobs
• a secondary audience of people who need to
stay aware of developments in the
organization but who will not directly act on or
respond to your document
• a tertiary audience of people who might take
an interest in the subject of the document

Your readers have
attitudes and expectations:

• attitudes toward you
• attitudes toward the subject
• expectations about the document


Why and how will your
readers use your document?

• Why is the reader reading your document?
• How will the reader read your document?
• What is the reader’s reading skill level?
• What is the physical environment in which the
reader will read your document?


Learn about your audience:

• Determine what you already know about your
audience.
• Interview people.
• Read about your audience online.
• Search social media for documents your
audience has written.


Understand seven cultural
variables that lie “on the surface”:

• political
• economic
• social
• religious
• educational
• technological
• linguistic

Understand six cultural variables
that lie “beneath the surface”:

• focus on individuals or groups
• distance between business life and private life
• distance between ranks
• nature of truth
• need to spell out details
• attitudes toward uncertainty


Consider four points about
cultural variables “beneath the surface”:

• Each variable represents a spectrum of
attitudes.
• The six variables do not line up in a clear
pattern.
• Different organizations within the same culture
can vary greatly.
• An organization’s cultural attitudes are fluid,
not static.

Use these eight strategies when
writing for readers from other cultures:

• Limit your vocabulary.
• Keep sentences short.
• Define abbreviations and acronyms in a
glossary.
• Avoid jargon unless you know your readers are
familiar with it.


Use these eight strategies when writing
for readers from other cultures (cont.):

• Avoid idioms and slang.
• Use the active voice whenever possible.
• Be careful with graphics.
• Be sure someone from the target culture reviews
the document.

Chapter 5. Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's

Determine your purpose:

Ask yourself:
• What do I want this document to accomplish?
• What do I want readers to know or believe?
• What do I want readers to do?


Researching Your Subject


Understand the differences between
academic and workplace research:

• In academic research, your goal is to find
information that will help you answer a
scholarly question.
• In workplace research, your goal is to find
information that will help you answer a
practical question, usually one that involves
the organization for which you work.

Chapter 6. Researching Your Subject © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's 17

The research process consists of 12 steps:
• Analyze your audience.
• Analyze your purpose.
• Analyze your subject.
• Visualize the deliverable.
• Work out a schedule and a budget.
• Determine what information will need to be
part of that deliverable.


The research process
consists of 12 steps (cont.):
• Determine what information you still need to
acquire.
• Create questions you need to answer in your
deliverable.
• Conduct secondary research.
• Conduct primary research.
• Evaluate your information.
• Do more research.


Choose appropriate research methods:

• What types of research media might you use?
• What types of research tools might you use?
• What types of primary research might you
conduct?


Follow three guidelines
when researching a topic:

• Be persistent.
• Record your data carefully.
• Triangulate your research methods.


Know the four types of information media:

• print
• online databases
• Web sites
• social media


Know how to use six basic research tools:

• online catalogs
• reference works
• periodical indexes
• newspaper indexes
• abstract services
• government information


Understand these five forms of social media:

• discussion boards
• wikis
• blogs
• tagged content
• RSS feeds


Look for information that is . . .

• accurate
• unbiased
• comprehensive
• appropriately technical
• current
• clear


When evaluating print and online
sources, examine these five factors:

• authorship
• publisher
• knowledge of the literature
• accuracy and verifiability of the information
• timeliness


Understand the seven techniques
of primary research:

• observations and demonstrations
• inspections
• experiments
• field research
• interviews
• inquiries
• questionnaires


Conducting an experiment
consists of four phases:

• establishing a hypothesis
• testing the hypothesis
• analyzing the data
• reporting the data


Field research is vulnerable
to two common problems:

• the effect of the experiment on the behavior
you are studying
• bias in the recording and analysis of the data


Consider three factors
when choosing a person to interview:

• What questions do you want to answer?
• Who could provide the information you need?
• Is the person willing to be interviewed?


Prepare for the interview:

• Do your homework.
• Prepare good questions.
• Check your equipment.


Begin the interview:

• Arrive on time.
• Thank the respondent.
• State the subject and purpose of the interview.
• If you want to record the interview, ask
permission.


Conduct the interview:

• Take notes.
• Start with prepared questions.
• Be prepared to ask follow-up questions.
• Be prepared to get the interview back on
track.


Conclude the interview:

• Thank the respondent.
• Ask for a follow-up interview.
• Ask for permission to quote the respondent.


After the interview, do two tasks:

• Write down the important information while the
interview is fresh in your mind.
• Send a brief thank-you note.


Questionnaires are
vulnerable to three problems:

• Some of the questions will misfire.
• You won’t obtain as many responses as you
want.
• You cannot be sure the respondents are
representative.


Using questionnaires effectively
calls for four steps:

• Ask effective questions.
• Test the questionnaire.
• Administer the questionnaire.
• Present questionnaire data in your document.


Understand the six
common types of questions:

• multiple choice
• Likert scale
• semantic differentials
• ranking
• short answer
• short essay


Organizing Your Information


Understand three principles for
organizing technical information:

• Analyze your audience and purpose.
• Use conventional patterns of organization.
• Display your organizational pattern
prominently in the document.

Chapter 7. Organizing Your Information © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's 40

Ask four questions when you
study documents from other cultures:

• Does the text follow expected organizational
patterns?
• Do the introductions and conclusions present
the kind of information you would expect?
• Does the text appear to be organized linearly?
• Does the text use headings? If so, does it use
more than one level?


Display your organizational
pattern prominently:

• Create a detailed table of contents.
• Use headings liberally.
• Use topic sentences at the beginnings of your
paragraphs.


Understand eight typical
patterns of organization:

• chronological
• spatial
• general to specific
• more important to less important
• comparison and contrast
• classification and partition
• problem-methods-solution
• cause and effect

Follow these three guidelines for
organizing information chronologically:

• Provide signposts.
• Consider using graphics to complement the
text.
• Analyze events where appropriate.


Follow these three guidelines for
organizing information spatially:

text.
• Analyze events where appropriate.


An example of
information organized spatially

Source:
Metropolitan
Museum of Art,
2010
<www.metmuseum.
org/toah/world-
regions/#/09/World-
Map>.


Follow these two guidelines for organizing
information from general to specific:

text.


Follow three guidelines for organizing information
from more important to less important:

• Explain why one point is more important than
another.
text.


Follow these four guidelines for organizing
information by comparison and contrast:

• Establish criteria for the comparison and
contrast.
• Evaluate each item according to the criteria
you have established.
• Organize the discussion.
text.


Follow these six guidelines for organizing
information by classification or partition:

• Choose a basis of classification or partition that fits
your audience and purpose.
• Use only one basis of classification or partition at a
time.
• Avoid overlap.
• Be inclusive.
• Arrange the categories in a logical sequence.
• Consider using graphics to complement the text.


An example of information
organized by partition

Source: Canon, 2010
<www.usa-
canon.com/cusa/cons
umer/products/camera
s/digital_cameras/pow
ershot_sx210_is#Box
Content>.


Follow these five guidelines for organizing
information by problem-methods-solution:

• In describing the problem, be clear and specific.
• In describing your methods, help your readers
understand what you did and why you did it that
way.
• In describing the solution, don’t overstate.
• Choose a logical sequence.
• Consider using graphics to complement the text.


Follow these four guidelines for
organizing information by cause and effect:

• Explain your reasoning.
• Avoid overstating your argument.
• Avoid logical fallacies.
text.


Writing Proposals


Writing a proposal requires seven steps:

• Analyze your audience.
• Analyze your purpose.
• Gather information about your subject.
• Choose the appropriate type of proposal.
• Draft the proposal.
• Format the proposal.
• Revise, edit, proofread, and submit the proposal.
Chapter 16. Writing Proposals © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's 55

The logistics of proposals


Solicited and unsolicited
proposals respond to different needs:

• Solicited proposals are sent in response to an
information for bid (IFB) or a request for
proposal (RFP).
• Unsolicited proposals are submitted by a
supplier who believes that the prospective
customer has a need for goods or services.


Proposals lead to two kinds of deliverables:

• research
• goods and services


A successful proposal
is a persuasive argument:

• Show that you understand your readers’
needs.
• Show that you have decided what you plan to
do and that you are able to do it.
• Show that you are a professional and that you
are committed to fulfilling your promises.


Follow these six suggestions
when writing international proposals:

• Understand that what makes an argument
persuasive can differ from one culture to another.
• Budget enough time for translating.
• Use simple graphics, with captions.
• Write short sentences, using common vocabulary.
• Use local conventions regarding punctuation,
spelling, and mechanics.
• Ask if the prospective customer will do a read-
through.

Follow these four guidelines
to demonstrate your professionalism:

• Describe your credentials and work history.
• Provide your work schedule.
• Describe your quality-control measures.
• Include your budget.


Avoid these four
common dishonest practices:
• saying that certain qualified people will
participate in the project, even though they will
not
• saying that the project will be finished by a
certain date, even though it will not
• saying that the deliverable will have certain
characteristics, even though it will not
• saying that the project will be completed under
budget, even though it will not


There are three reasons
to write honest proposals:

• to avoid serious legal trouble stemming from
breach-of-contract suits
• to avoid acquiring a bad reputation, thus
ruining your business
• to do the right thing


To follow through on a proposal,
you need three categories of resources:

• personnel
• facilities
• equipment


A typical proposal includes six sections:

• summary
• introduction
• proposed program
• qualifications and experience
• budget
• appendixes


An introduction answers seven questions:

•What is the problem or opportunity?
•What is the purpose of the proposal?
•What is the background of the problem or opportunity?
•What are your sources of information?
•What is the scope of the proposal?
•What is the organization of the proposal?
•What key terms will you use in the proposal?


Task schedules are
presented in one of three formats:

• table
• bar chart or Gantt chart
• network diagram


An example of a task schedule as a table


An example of a task
schedule as a bar chart


An example of a task
schedule as a network diagram

A network diagram provides more useful information than either a
table or a bar chart.


There are several techniques
for evaluating completed work:

• quantitative evaluations
• qualitative evaluations
• formative evaluations
• summative evaluations


Writing Definitions, Descriptions,
Instructions


What are definitions,
descriptions, and instructions?

• A definition is typically a brief explanation of
an item or concept using words and
(sometimes) graphics.
• A description is typically a longer explanation,
usually accompanied by graphics, of an
object, mechanism, or process.
• A set of instructions is a kind of process
description intended to enable a person to
carry out a task.
Chapter 20. Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's 73

Definitions have two main uses:

• Definitions clarify a description of a new
development or a new technology in a
technical field.
• Definitions help specialists communicate with
less knowledgeable readers.


Use these four strategies when defining
terms for readers from another culture:

• Add a glossary (a list of definitions).
• Use Simplified English and easily
recognizable terms in definitions.
• Pay close attention to key terms.
• Use graphics to help readers understand a
term or concept.


There are three types of definitions:

• parenthetical
• sentence
• extended


Sentence definitions follow a typical pattern:

Item = category + distinguishing characteristics


Follow these four guidelines to
write effective sentence definitions:

•Be specific in stating the category and the
distinguishing characteristics.
•Don’t describe a specific item if you are defining a
general class of items.
•Avoid writing circular definitions.
•Be sure the category contains a noun or a noun phrase
rather than a phrase beginning with when, what, or
where.


Eight techniques are
used in extended definitions:
• graphics
• examples
• partition
• principle of operation
• comparison and contrast
• analogy
• negation
• etymology


Decide where to place the definition:

• in the text
• in a marginal gloss
• in a hyperlink
• in a footnote
• in a glossary
• in an appendix


Descriptions are verbal and visual
representations of three items:

• objects
• mechanisms
• processes


Follow these four principles
when writing descriptions:

• Clearly indicate the nature and scope of the
description.
• Introduce the description clearly.
• Provide appropriate detail.
• Conclude the description.


Answer these five questions to introduce
object or mechanism descriptions:

• What is the item?
• What is the function of the item?
• What does the item look like?
• How does the item work?
• What are the principal parts of the item?


Answer these six questions to
introduce process descriptions:

• What is the process?
• What is the function of the process?
• Where and when does the process take place?
• Who or what performs the process?
• How does the process work?
• What are the principal steps of the process?


Provide appropriate detail in
mechanism and object descriptions:

• Choose an appropriate organizational
principle:
 functional
 spatial
• Use graphics.


Provide appropriate detail
in process descriptions:

• Structure the step-by-step description
chronologically.
• Explain causal relationships among steps.
• Use the present tense.
• Use graphics.


An example of a process
description based on a graphic


Consider five questions
when designing a set of instructions:

• What are your reader’s expectations?
• Do you need to create more than one set of
instructions for different audiences?
• What languages should you use?
• Will readers be anxious about the information?
• Will the environment in which the instructions
are read affect the document design?


Follow these two guidelines
to design clear, attractive pages:

• Create an open, airy design.
• Clearly relate the graphics to the text.


Examples of cluttered
and attractive page designs

Source: Slide- Source: Anthro,
Lok, 2005 2005
<www.slide- <www.anthro.com/
lok.com/ assemblyinstructio
assembly/P246 ns/300-5237-
8/P2468.pdf>. 00.pdf>.


Understand the four signal words
used in manuals and instructions:

• Danger indicates an immediate and serious hazard
that will likely be fatal.
• Warning indicates the potential for serious injury or
death or serious damage to equipment.
• Caution indicates the potential for anything from
moderate injury to serious equipment damage or
destruction.
• Note indicates a tip or suggestion to help readers
carry out the procedure successfully


An example of a safety label


A typical set of instructions
includes these four elements:

• title
• general introduction
• step-by-step instructions
• conclusion


Write effective titles for instructions:

Effective titles:
• How-to. “How to Install the J112 Shock
Absorber”
• Gerund. “Installing the J112 Shock Absorber”

Ineffective titles:
Noun strings. “J112 Shock Absorber Installation
Instructions”


Consider answering these six questions
when drafting introductions for instructions:

• Who should carry out this task?
• Why should the reader carry out this task?
• When should the reader carry out this task?
• What safety measures or other concerns should
the reader understand?
• What items will the reader need?
• How long will the task take?


Follow these six guidelines
when drafting steps in instructions:

• Number the instructions.
• Present the right amount of information in each
step.
• Use the imperative mood.
• Don’t confuse steps and feedback statements.
• Include graphics.
• Do not omit articles (a, an, the) to save space.


Typical elements in the
front matter of a manual:

• introduction or preface
• overview of the contents
• conventions section
• “where to get help” section
• list of trademarks


Typical elements in the
back matter of a manual:

• set of specifications
• list of safety regulations and industry
standards
• tips on maintenance and servicing
• copyright page
• index
• glossary


Consider these three questions when
writing instructions for multicultural readers:

• In what language should the information be
written?
• Do the text or graphics need to be modified?
• What is the reader’s technological
infrastructure?


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