Conducting Research and Technical Writing

                                                     Technical Writing

    Technical writing and its place in the literary world are mostly factual, instructional, and unemotional or non-opinionated. Conducting research and converting information into a simplified version which distinguishes sources can be accomplished with technical writing. Interpreting blueprints, schematics and drawings uses technical writing to find a simpler, all inclusive form of communication to point out specifics and topics of importance. Separating complex information into categories and describing each one in an easy to understand format is the essence of technical writing. It is accomplished with a professional tone and uses a professional vocabulary to provide information in a work type setting or to inform a customer of instructions for assembling a product. Specific jargon or words that are common to a particular discipline are most often used to reach the primary audience Technical writing can be used to transfer highly complex information from technical manuals into easy to understand verbiage to save time on workplace assignments or to clarify and compartmentalize large amounts of information. Summarizing the specific information needed from a large amount of information to move forward is done with technical writing.

 

                                               Targeting the Audience

     When performing technical writing a writer needs to understand a few things about the audience in order to provide adequate information without overloading the reader with un-necessary wording. Culture, demographics and the level of experience with the subject matter of the audience must be considered to produce an effective piece. There may be several types of audiences involved so defining the specific, or primary audience and secondary audiences is vital to setting up the piece as well.

                                                  The Writing Process

  The writing process can be started in many ways including brainstorming where all ideas are collected and sorted for validity. If a team is tasked to write a technical document it is termed collaborative writing and organization and planning of the team, assignments is vital to success.

 Coaching and mentoring along with editing and setting deadlines and milestones helps to keep he project in motion. Topics should be divided up between the team members should be done by subject matter expertise so that the shaping of the final product is uniform. It is a good idea to consistently review and provide feedback to each member of the team to gain greater perspective on the overall progress and content of the document.

     The makeup of the document should include graphics or charts to support the text, however not so as to clutter up or overburden the audience. Photographs can add or distract the audience in both positive and negative ways so it is critical to select pictures that are not offensive to diverse groups and stick to a narrow view of the subject.

  Individual or team writing should begin with an outline containing all topics to be contained in the document. Organizing them into predictable, sensable and easy to follow order makes for a successful outline. Drafting a tentative outline and reviewing all relevant information is also a good strategy before beginning any free writing. The writing process should then begin gathering research including appropriate and trustworthy sources that have been vetted for accuracy and conformance to the subject matter to be documented. Finding suitable sources can be tricky as the web id full of information which contains no factual basis but is readily available.

                      Conducting Technical Research at the Workplace

     Depending on the type of workplace and the information to be gathered through research, the scope and responsibilities of the audience must be considered. Medical information and simple assembly instructions for a book case require quite different criteria for providing information and sources are critical for on may not be very important for another.

   Using previously published materials and attempting to simplify them into commonly used language offers the best solution for disseminating information. This requires research and investigating sources for suitability, content, and evaluating the trustworthiness of the source.

 Qualitative and quantitative are the two types of research that follow different paths. They can be combined to express the value of both. “While there can be overlap between the two, as well as studies that use a mixed approach, generally qualitative research is about description and quantitative research is about numerical data” Ashford Library (2014).

 

                                               

                                               Primary and Secondary Data

     The use of primary and secondary data is an area that must be divided and primary data directly shows the point that one is attempting to make and secondary data backs it up and adds more credibility to conducting research in the workplace. Sometimes several sources may conflict and showing current, more relative data can remove or answer questions regarding objectivity of data.

                                

                        Documenting Sources and Plagiarism

     Finding and documenting credible sources is essential to providing accurate data in conducting research and in performing technical writing. Finding and quoting outdated information even from a trusted source will not produce good results. Using a formula for checking sources such as APA or other formats to show that you have used the work of others and the information that you provide is a blending of your own ideas with others and documenting sources allows for the reader to understand this. Using too many works of others and claiming them as your own is called plagiarism. Failing to cite the source of information is also considered plagiarism and is often punished in academic work assignments as cheating.

     In the workplace there can be copyright infringements and legal ramifications if work from one is used by another to gain profit or notoriety. Many laws are enacted and enforced to protect these type of infringements and to protect the credibility of the originators works. While novice researchers may use more work of others experts and experienced researchers use others works to verify or back up their own findings or to add updated findings to the work of others as advancements are discovered. Disproving others findings can also be a reason to use others works and proper citing acknowledges the incorrect information as being corrected.

 

                                  Evaluating Electronic Sources

    Using electronic sources offers the researcher a vast sea of material but it must be sorted for accuracy and its author must be accredited with experience including academic or other professional background.  Selecting sources and information can add credibility to research if it comes from a reliable and credible source. Information can be obtained which was entered into web sites randomly and some sites can be edited by anyone as is the case with Wikipedia. While many subjects can be researched using this site, the information is suspect as it can be edited at any time by any one. There are credits and sources throughout the information on the site that can be used to verify information and the credibility of the source however it is not recommended to use this type of informational gathering when conducting research.

  Sources that contain published, academically accurate information from scientific journals, periodicals, and other types of articles can be checked and the credential of the authors can be verified before using this type of information in conducting research. Statistical quotations should be checked out as well due to the reliability of the source. Some statistics can be used to portray or convince the reader of issues and situations that are almost the opposite by using outdated material, exaggeration, and unethical means to gather statistical data or do not use reliable data.

                                                         

                          Completing, and Organizing Research and

                          Structuring Data into a Document

    The successful writer uses writing process that involves placing relative information into a document in a structured manner to allow the reader and audience to follow it on a journey that maintains their interest while also keeping their attention. Maintaining the spirit of the document throughout is essential and using too much information on any one subject can distract the focus away from the desired topic. To achieve a successful outcome a document containing research in the workplace must maintain its relevancy throughout the document or presentation. To do this successfully a writer must blend all of the topics to tell an informative story void of opinions, emotion, and feelings regardless of the passion the writer has for the subject and keep a balance throughout. Finally it is good to have others review and edit the final document prior to submission because an experienced writer can spot mistakes and when portions should be expanded or changed to accommodate the relevant topics.

 

Reference:

Smith-Worthington, D., Jefferson, Sue.  (2011)Technical Writing for Success, 3rd Edition. South-Western, VitalBook file.

Ashford University Library (2014) Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods.