What do you do? Thorough research requires that a writer integrates information from a variety of reliable sources. Giving credit where credit is due will build your own credibility and enhance your document. Close with a signature. WebThe Nature of Technical Writing. That means a technical writer must consciously identify his/her biases and check to see if a bias has influenced any presentation: whether in charts and graphs, or in discussions of the evidence, or in source use (or, of course, in putting the crucial O ring information where the launch decision makers would realize it was important). There are always legal issues to consider when writing a professional document and they reflect in writing style. This means that any document from memos and emails to proposals and studies can be subject to revision by a court of law. What advice does a trusted supervisor or mentor offer? This includes scholarly and professional research, not just from a single database or journal, for instance, but from a variety. Such calculations may make it easier for you to look away and let someone else deal with it, but with a friend, you would be willing to risk some short-term awkwardness to do the right thing. There are a number of options (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-types-examples/) that a creator has in regards to how they want to set up permissions, but the idea is that these works are free for anyone to use; they are open source.
These sources should demonstrate that the writer has examined the topic from as many angles as possible. WebQuestion: In the textbook chapter: Ethics in Technical Writing, authors Hamlin, Rubio, and DeSilva discuss a memo they refer to as "a classic example of unethical writing." WebUnderstanding Ethical Guidelines for Writing. You should be aware of the code of ethics for physical therapists so that you work within those principles as you research and write your report. Thus, a simple change in perspective can change the impact of an image. However, a closer look at the numbers shows that the graph shows only a narrow range of numbers in a limited perspective (9100 to 9800). In practice, though, most folks are primarily looking for support. In day-to-day life, most people have a sort of sliding scale on what constitutes ethical behavior. For example, your small company continues to have problems with employee morale. Copyright law includes items whose distribution is protected by law (books, movies, or software). Thanks to Eleanor Sumpter-Latham, Humanities/Writing Professor at Central Oregon Community College for contributing to this chapter. Skim through the manual to familiarize yourself with its content and design. ENGL 145 Technical and Report Writing,by the Bay College Online Learning Department, licensed CC-BY. These sources should demonstrate that the writer has examined the topic from as many angles as possible. Without providing accurate citation information, the practice of cutting and pasting images is nothing less than plagiarism (or theft); it is unethical, and may be illegal if it violates copyright law. Just because some action enjoys the adulation of the masses, does not necessarily means it is ethical. Credibility can be established through many means: using appropriate professional language, citing highly respected sources, providing reliable evidence, and using sound logic. Collecting information from multiple brokers would demonstrate thorough and unbiased research. Some dangers may seem to be common knowledge, but companies should be aware of those and label the product accordingly, regardless of assumptions about common knowledge. In a technical report that contains research, a writer might discover conflicting data that does not support the projects goal. Though the data is identical, the pie chart on the left presents the information in a misleading way. . . Therefore, warnings should stand out from the rest of the documents, possibly with icons, colored fonts, or bolding. 1). Make sure you properly document all sources so as not to mislead a reader. Is it your responsibility to tell the truth (and potentially save childrens lives) or to cherry pick information that supports the parent groups initial intentions? WebThe Institutional Repository of Kennesaw State University For example, hiding some crucial bit of information in the middle of a long paragraph deep in a long document seriously de-emphasizes the information. A good writer with bad motives can twist words to make something sound like it is beneficial to all parties. Subject lines should be clear, brief, and specific. Lawsuits also have ramifications for a companys reputation. What are your competing obligations in this dilemma? Are they peer reviewed by experts in the field? In practice, though, most folks are primarily looking for support. A writer must consider a variety of issues that may arise when researching a topic for the business or technical world. On the other hand, putting a minor point in a prominent spot (say the first item in a bulleted list in a reports executive summary) implies that the item is important. In a far more serious situation, a person might not risk their lives to help a stranger, but they might risk their lives to help a close friend or relative. With a stranger, your calculations may include how the stranger might respond to the interruption, and both of you may feel some embarrassment in the exchange. As a guideline, ask yourself what would happen if your action (or non-action) became public. You collect a handful of sources that support the groups goal, but then you discover medical evidence that indicates vaccines do more good than potential harm in society. Using a large section of your report to prove an already established principle implies that you are saying something new about the principlewhich is not true. Learn more. Presenting data in graphical form can be especially challenging. It is amazing the number of stuff people will see and believe on social media. What kinds of support material and sources are ethical to use? A classic example of unethical technical writing is the memo report NASA engineers wrote about the problem with O ring seals on the space shuttle Challenger. What do you notice, however, about how that information is conveyed to the reader?
Thanks to Eleanor Sumpter-Latham, Humanities/Writing Professor at Central Oregon Community College for contributing to this chapter. There are different templates and structures for user manuals, case For example, this is why a faculty member cannot use their personal DVD for a movie screening on campus and charge students to attend the viewing. What if the writer discovers that a company falsified data about the effectiveness of its product? There are a number of reasons why a company may face a lawsuit or a recall. The home for CNM digital textbooks and OERs. An implied warranty can be reasonably inferred by the purchaser. While the company may be following the law, it is clear they could dispose of their waste more safely and be more responsible stewards of the neighborhood. Ask questions about who their decisions are affecting and why they are making those decisions. In day-to-day life, most people have a sort of sliding scale of what constitutes ethical behavior; they might tell a direct lie on trivial matters if being strictly honest will hurt someones feelings. The audience may find out too late that what you wrote only benefited you and actually hurt them. Your goal is to maintain and enhance your credibility, and that of your organization, at all times. WebThis handout will cover some of the major issues with appropriate language use: levels of language formality, deceitful language and euphemisms, slang and idiomatic expressions; using group-specific jargon; and biased/stereotypical language.
tailored to your instructions. The position of information in this document did not help them understand that the problem could be fatal. There are different templates and structures for user manuals, case This chapter will introduce some of the ethical issues that may arise as technical writers research, write, revise, and produce a technical document. Patents and trademarksare company names (WalMart), logos (the Target bullseye), processes or slogans (McDonalds Im lovin it) that belong to a person or company. (See chapter 10 for more information on ethical research principles.). Much of this chapter is concerned with the appropriate and ethical use and documentation of sources. (You would not necessarily identify the journal name in the report text itself, but it does need to appear in the endpaper documentation). .) accurately reflects the status of the principle; then you would go on to apply that principle to your specific task or proposal. Instead, you might stay back and call the police. WebA classic example of unethical technical writing is the memo report NASA engineers wrote about the problem with O ring seals on the space shuttle Challenger (the link provides You should ask yourself the following questions: Be cautious about using sources that are not reviewed by peers or editor, or in which the information cannot be verified, or seems misleading, biased, or even false. Ethical behavior, including ethical technical communication, involves not just telling the truth and providing accurate information, but telling the truth and providing information so that a reasonable audience knows the truth. If the bar graph above were to represent sales figures for a company, the representation on the left would look like good news: dramatically increased sales over a five-year period. Knowing your biases may help you begin to overcome them. WebUnethical behavior should absolutely be avoided in technical writing. If you use graphics (or anything at all) in an assignment that you did not create, you need to indicate as much. Research shows bringing in an outside expert, someone who is unfamiliar with the company and the stakeholders, has the potential to impact the greatest change. Emails. Since you are employed by this parents group, should you leave out the medical evidence, or do you have a responsibility to include all research, even some that might sabotage the groups goal? With a strong set of ethical values, you will be better prepared to make the right decision and stick to your principles when faced with an ethical dilemma. They should also be easy to understand. Collecting information from multiple brokers would demonstrate thorough and unbiased research. The chapter covers ethical principles, how ethics may affect the presentation of information, and some common ethical problems encountered by technical writers. In fact, if you can easily find 94 high-quality sources that confirm you are correct, you might want to consider whether your idea is worth developing. The chapter provides some practical information on how to make sure your writing is ethical and how to handle ethical dilemmas along with possible legal issues in the workplace. describe the function of workplace codes of ethics and conduct, related to information access and record management; determine if a sample written summary of given source material would be considered plagiarism or not; and. Now I just need some evidence to prove I am right!. Simply asking questions can be an effective way of bringing attention to your companys problems. Some of the stuff posted on social media can be unethical but this doesnt mean it is not legal. As always, consult a lawyer for specific information on how to construct warnings. ). Webnancy spies haberman kushner. 086 079 7114 [email protected]. Collectively, these people are called stakeholders because they have a stake in what you are writing. On the other hand, putting a minor point in a prominent spot (say the first item in a bulleted list in a reports executive summary) might be a manipulative strategy to emphasize information that is not terribly important. First, find out if the item can be used. 1 Misleading and regular pie charts. Professional documents can serve as evidence in disputes over contracts and in product liability lawsuits. A proposal is a persuasive technical writing document; it must convince the reader that the proposal idea The data in each is identical but the pie chart on the left presents information in a misleading way (see Figure 1). A simple example of bullying is giving another child constant put-downs at school. Which choice is really more ethical? WebA classic example of unethical technical writing is the memo report NASA engineers wrote about the problem with O ring seals on the space shuttle Challenger. Either you are saying it is a source when in fact you did not really use anything from it, or you have simply failed to clarify in the text what are your ideas and what comes from other sources. Only the copyright holder, the person/organization who owns the protected item, can copy it. Collecting information from multiple brokers would demonstrate thorough and unbiased research. Any written document in your own company is copyrighted by law once produced. Regulations and laws serve different purposes for Before you raise questions about your companys unethical practices, make sure you use evidence instead of accusations. An individual promotes a product on social media even though they know the product does not do what they advertised and is harmful. We observe the laws and regulations governing our profession. Throughout your career, you will be required to create many documents. Documenting source use in such a way as to either mislead your reader about the source or make identifying the source difficult is also unethicalthat would include using just a URL or using an article title without identifying the journal in which it appears (in the works cited/references; you would not likely identify the journal name in the reports body). The Another reason a company gets into a lawsuit may be over a recall. Some may be simple and straightforward, some may be difficult and involve questionable objectives. You discover, however, that to bring in such an expert is cost prohibitive. Many problems in documenting sources occur because the writer is missing the point of source use. The main point is clear. What is the nature of the ethical dilemma? An even more common ethics violation results from the person who designs the information mistakenly believing that they are presenting evidence objectively, without recognizing their own bias in how they presented that information. Chapter 3: Team Work and Collaborative Writing. See chapter 10 for more information on appropriately documenting your research. Using a large section of your report to prove an already established principle implies that you are saying something new about the principlewhich is not true. (See chapter 10 for more on research.). Be cautious when using figures, charts and tables, making sure they visually represent quantities with accuracy and honesty. It is easiest to first start asking questions. However, sometimes speaking up, and/or notifying authorities is the only right thing to do, as difficult as that may be. If you are a technical writer and you join any professional associations, such as the Society of Technical Communicators, you will need to be aware of their codes of ethics, which often published online (e.g. January 24, 2023; list of def comedy jam comedians who died; chris and rory drury You collect a handful of sources that support the groups goal, but then you discover medical evidence that indicates vaccines do more good than potential harm in society. In fact, if you can easily find 94 high-quality sources that confirm you are correct, you might want to consider whether your idea is worth developing. WebMore information regarding specific Creative Commons licenses can be accessed on the Creative Commons website. If you take the ethical route, and sales plummet, few people will recognize the ethical issue, but most will clearly understand that you caused the sales decline. The graphic below shows two perspectives of information in a pie chart. When a company is involved in a lawsuit or a recall, the company has to consider the consequences that these issues will have on their business and needs to consider the costs of repairing the companys reputation. It is important to think about ethics and articulate your ethical values before you find yourself in a situation where ethics will factor into your decision-making. If you click on the Tools button, you have the option of filtering results by how they are licensed. Imagine, further, that the company cannot afford to dispose of this waste more safely and that, if you turn them in, the company will close down, most of the town will be unemployed, and the towns entire economy will collapse.
See Figure 3 below. However, a closer look at the numbers shows that the graph shows only a narrow range of numbers in a limited perspective (9100 to 9800). Most stereotyping takes place subconsciously now since workplaces are careful to not openly discriminate. Also, although not required by law, it is a good idea to cite sources from inside your own company as well. Often, accusations are made about situations when people do not truly know the reason those decisions were being made. It is easy to get caught up in the facts and forget all the people involved. Influential people on social media can say anything and people will believe it. The material was edited for tone, content, and localization. Likewise, you can customize a Google image search so that only images that are open source will come up. In a technical report that contains research, a writer might discover conflicting data which does not support the projects goal. The companies have other potential options as well that may encourage and promote ethical Unlike personal or academic writing, technical and professional writing can be used to evaluate your job performance and can have implications that a writer may or may not have considered. { "09.1:_General_Principles" : "property get [Map MindTouch.Deki.Logic.ExtensionProcessorQueryProvider+<>c__DisplayClass228_0.
The intention may be good, but breaching ethics results in a slippery slope one that often leads to further and larger ethical breaches. https://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/, CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/technicalwriting/. You probably think about technical writing in relation to communicating technical information clearly in an accessible format that meets the needs of its audience. What are you willing to do? What will you do when you are asked, implicitly or explicitly, to compromise your ethics? What this allows you to do is base a solution around many different sides instead of just your own. Authors of technical documents typically do not have the time or space to belabor well-known points or common-sense data because readers do not need to read page upon page of something they already know or something that can be proved in a sentence of two. Graphics will usually be the first thing a reader notices about your document; if a reader finds your graphics misleading, your entire document may be called into question. The second idea Anderson describes is to use facts or reason, instead of accusation. It is something we may not even be aware we are doing, so it is always a good idea to have a peer or coworker proofread your documents to make sure you have not included anything that may point to discriminatory assumptions. Do not persuade people to do what is not in their best interest. What does this treatment of space add to the work? When crafting your communication, think about who will be affected by what you say and how you say it. The unethical feature was that the crucial information about the O rings (O rings provide a seal) was buried in a middle paragraph, while information approving the launch was in prominent beginning and ending spots. Imagine that these pie charts represented donations received by four candidates for city council. Often in technical writing, the underlying principle is already well-documented (maybe even common knowledge for your audience) and the point should be to use that underlying principle to propose a specific application. There is a good chance that at some point in your career you will find yourself in a situation that involves unethical behavior at your workplace. The bar graph on the right, on the other hand, shows the complete picture by presenting numbers from 0-1200 on the vertical axis, and we see that the sales figures, have in fact been relatively stable for the past five years. Thus, a simple change in perspective can change the impact of an image. Imagine that these pie charts represented donations received by four candidates for city council. We also acknowledge previous National Science Foundation support under grant numbers 1246120, 1525057, and 1413739. On the other hand, putting a minor point in a prominent spot (say the first item in a bulleted list in a reports executive summary) tells your reader that it is crucial. Sometimes, the copyright holder allows it if credit is given. Verified answer. Either you are saying it is a source when in fact you did not really use anything from it, or you have simply failed to clarify in the text what are your ideas and what comes from other sources. Ethical behavior, including ethical technical communication, involves not just telling the truth and providing accurate information, but telling the truth and providing information so that a reasonable audience can understand it. When writers present information visually, however, they have to be careful not to misrepresent or misreport the complete picture. In fact, if we look at the same data in a differently oriented chart, we can see that Item C represents less than half of the donations than those for Item A. In this case, your commitment to loyalty might outweigh your sense of self-preservation. 2023 Central New Mexico Community College, by Allison Gross, Annemarie Hamlin, Billy Merck, Chris Rubio, Jodi Naas, Megan Savage, and Michele DeSilva is licensed under, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, A classic example of unethical technical writing is the memo report NASA engineers wrote about the problem with O ring seals on the space shuttle Challenger (see, The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: A Study in Organizational Ethics. This, in turn, affects the companys public profit, and essentially its standing. Updated: 05/10/2022 When you can communicate clearly and effectively, and when it is your task to help others to Third, if possible, ask permission to use another persons work. WebUnethical Examples in Technical Writing When it comes to ethical and unethical technical writing, its important to remain transparent and truthful. Imagine that the company disposes of its chemical waste in a way that could endanger peoples health. It also means that you act to prevent actual harm, with set criteria for what kinds and degrees of harm are more serious than others (for example, someones life outweighs financial damage to your company; your companys success outweighs your own irritation). What do you notice about their presentation? art. This law extends beyond the major companies.