Finding Out Who Likes What: A Research Tool Kit for Technical Communicators  

As new technologies revolutionize our communication options, technical communicators must be increasingly accountable for the outcomes of our products and messages. Research in the behavioral and cognitive sciences has provided many data tools that can be very useful to technical communicators. Techniques such as simple descriptive statistics, the Delphi method, trained observers, chi-square analysis, and aptitude/treatment interaction analysis can help technical communicators discover and document the impact of your messages by revealing what you did right, who says so, and who disagrees.

Ausburn, Lynna J. and Floyd B. Ausburn. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Research>Writing>Technical Writing

Interpreting Textual Data in Writing Research    

This article discusses a theoretical framework for situating interpretations of textual data collected during research. Based on the reader response theory of Louise Rosenblatt, this framework consists of a continuum representing the range of interpretative assumptions--stances--researchers can bring to their reading of textual data. The continuum is bounded by the two most extreme stances defined by Rosenblatt as efferent, roughly comparable to the stereotypical scientific interpretative tradition, and aesthetic, roughly comparable to the stereotypical humanities interpretative tradition.

Thompson, Isabelle. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Research>Methods>Writing

Is Professional Writing Relevant? A Model for Action Research    

This article argues that engaged 'action research' can help professional writing researchers both develop new and interesting collaborative models and help our profession develop a greater relevance to those not reading our journals and attending our conferences. I outline one particular, localized approach in the hope that our troubles, struggles, and failures at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee can help others to develop their own programs and can further our discussion of community engagement.

Clark, Dave. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>Research>Writing>Business Communication

Leveraging the Power of Google to Perform Research

As a writer, there is undoubtedly no better tool for researching than Google. This article focuses on how to use Google to find analyst research, important data and other factoids that will round out the quality of your white papers.

Stelzner, Michael A. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>Research>Search

Problems and Joys of Reading Research Papers for Practitioner Purposes  

Discusses reasons that practitioners read research papers and the obstacles that they face when reading research papers. Jarrett provides several examples and suggestions for improving the accessibility of research papers for practitioners. Her suggestions include writing clear titles, ensuring that the abstract states the study population and limitations of the study, and ensuring that the conclusions are written clearly. She also discusses her criteria for determining whether or not a research paper is relevant to her work.

Jarrett, Caroline. Journal of Usability Studies (2007). Articles>Publishing>Research>Writing

Who's Writing Your White Papers? The Never Ending Debate of Technical Knowledge Versus Writing Proficiency

A common mistake that many companies make when starting a white paper project, is the assumption that a technical subject matter expert who has used, developed, or is highly knowledgeable about the topic is automatically assumed to be best qualified as its author.

Kantor, Jonathan. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>Research>White Papers

An Ergonomic Format for Short Reporting in Scientific Journals Using Nested Tables and the Deming's Cycle    

The typical structure of a scientific report involves highly standardized sections. The key concept of a scientific report is the reproducibility of results. Because not only clarity but also conciseness is a tool for the advancement of science, a new format using nested tables is proposed with the aim of improving the design of short reports in scientific journals, namely short communications, short technical reports, case reports, etc. This format is based on the ergonomic philosophy of visual encyclopaedias (one topic, one page) and on the quality system of the Deming's cycle (plan--do--check--act) for continuous improvement. This new editing tool has several advantages over existing forms, because it provides quick and ergonomic, reader-friendly research reports that, at the same time, would render a saving in terms of available space and publishing costs of the printed version of scientific journals.

Hortol, Policarp. Journal of Information Science (2008). Articles>Scientific Communication>Research>Technical Writing

Moving into User Research: Establishing Design Guidelines

The best technical writers do user research to understand the audience for their documentation, create user profiles or personas, perform task analyses, and do usability testing to ensure that their documentation meets users’ needs. All of these are activities in which a user researcher engages. Thus, as a technical writer, you can start amassing experience in user research and building a portfolio of user research documentation.

Six, Janet M. UXmatters (2009). Articles>User Experience>Research>Technical Writing

Rethinking the Articulation Between Business and Technical Communication and Writing in the Disciplines: Useful Avenues for Teaching and Research    

In a profound sense, the teaching of business and technical communication (BTC) is always already the teaching of writing in the disciplines (WID). Yet the WID dimension of BTC is often hard to see. The question this article addresses is, How might the North American tradition of BTC communication courses be more consciously—and effectively—articulated with the disciplines? The article reviews some of the research literature concerning the value of articulating BTC with WID in undergraduate education and program descriptions of such efforts to examine what BTC has done, is doing, and might do in the future to strengthen WID in BTC.

Russell, David R. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>TC>Research

Compliments and Criticisms in Book Reviews About Business Communication    

Research suggests that book reviews in academic journals tend to be positive but that readers prefer book reviews that include negative and positive evaluation. In this study, the author examines 48 books reviews from three business communication journals to determine whether these reviews are mainly positive. She counts compliments and criticisms, analyzing their location and topics. She also analyzes the force of the criticisms and strategies that reviewers use to mitigate criticism.

Mackiewicz, Jo M. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>Publishing>Research

How Not to Write Fiction

I have never fabricated or fictionalized research data. Besides being completely unethical, that would have missed the point. It would have taken all the fun out of it! How easy and how boring that would have been.

Spinuzzi, Clay. Blogspot (2009). Articles>Writing>Research>Ethnographies