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1Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
Unit 1
1 INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 What Is Technical Communication?
1.2 The Challenges of Producing Technical Communication
1.3 Characteristics of a Technical Document
1.4 Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents
1.5 Skills and Qualities Shared by Successful Workplace Communicators
1.6 How Communication Skills and Qualities Affect Your Career
Summary
Unit End Exercise
Questions for practice
References
1.1. Objectives
To develop technical documents that meet the requirements with standard guidelines. Understanding the essentials and hands -on learning about effective
Website Development. To understand ho w people in the technical world find,
create, and deliver technical information. As a technical communicator, a person
whose main job is to produce documents such as manuals, reports, and websites,
he will often find himself writing documents on his own, participating in teams
that write them, and contributing technical information for others who read and
write them. The purpose of Technical Communication is to help you learn the
skills you need to communicate more effectively and more efficiently in your
professional life.
1.2. What Is Technical Communication?
Technical information is most commonly communicated through documents,
such as proposals, reports, emails, social media posts, podcasts, computer assisted
files, blogs, and wikis. These documents are a key component of technical
communication, so too is the process : i. e. writing and reading tweets , social
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exchanges like Zoom, Google Meet or Cisco Webex with colleagues. Technical
communication contains a set of activities that people do to discover, shape, and
transmit information.
Technical communication begins with listening, speaking, and reading . Consider
an example , Mr. Anaas Khanna , the CFO at a retail company reads an article
about a new kind of computer security threat on E -Commerce websites . He
doesn’t understand all the details of the threat, but he concludes that it could hurt
her company’s IT infrastructure. H e sets up a meeting with Mr. Aarish Khanna ,
the IT supervisor to talk about it, to see whether he knows about it and thinks it
could be a problem. It turns out that he is aware of the issue and has been doing
some research about it. The CFO asks him to keep going, discuss it with his IT
team , and contact h im after his study .
A week goes by, and the IT supervisor gets back to the CFO . He tells him that his
research suggests the threat is real and serious. He asks him to write a recommendation report discussing the nature and scope of the threa t and
presenting a strategy for combatting it.
How does the IT supervisor begin to write that report? He starts by speaking with
his colleagues in the company and outside of it, and then reading discussion
boards, blogs, and trade magazines online. Next, h e devises a plan to have various
people in IT draft sections of the report, and he creates a schedule for posting
their drafts to the company’s online writing space,
Google Drive, so that all the team members can read and comment on the report
as it develo ps. Ten days later, after he and his team have revised, edited, and
proofread the report, he sends it to the CFO .
But that’s not the end of the story. The CFO reads the report and agrees with the
team’s findings: the company needs to make some changes to the IT infrastructure and invest in some new software to combat this serious security
threat. He decides to meet with h is own colleagues to see if they agree with him .
He points them to the report on the company network and sets up a meeting for
later that week.
In short, to produce technical communication you use the four basic
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• listening,
• speaking,
• reading, and
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3Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
To analyze a problem, find and evaluate evidence, and draw conclusions.
These are the same skills and processes we use when you write in college, and the
principles we have studied in our earlier writing courses apply to technical
communication. The biggest difference between technical communication and the
other kinds of writing we have done is that technical communication has a
somewhat different focus on audience and purpose .
In technical communication, our audience will likely include peers and super visors in our comp any, as well as people outside our company. O ur purpose
will li kely be to reinforce or change their attitudes toward the subject we are
writing about, to motivate them to take particular actions, or to help them carry
out their own work -related tasks.
Consider one more example, suppose Dr. Nashrah is a public -health s cientist
working for the Indian Medical Research A gency on Covid -19. She just
completed a study showing that, for most adults, moderate exercise boost up
immunity benefit s as strenuous exercise. After participating in numerous meetings with her colleagues and after drafting, critiquin g, and revising many
drafts, she produce four different documents: a journal article for other scientists ,
a press release to distribute to popular print an d online publications , a blog post
and podcast for your agency’s website . In each of these documents, she present
the key information in a different way to meet the needs of a particular audience.
1.3. The Challenges of Producing Technical Communication
Technic al communication is challenging because people are complicated, and
collaborating with people is at the heart of the process.
No matter what document you produce or contribute to, you need to begin by
considering three sets of factors:
• Audience -related f actors .
Does your audience know enough about your subject to understand a detailed
discussion, or do you need to limit the scope, the amount of technical detail, or
the type of graphics you use?
Does your audience already have certain attitudes or expecta tions about your
subject that you wish to reinforce or change?
Will the ways in which your audience uses your document, or the physical
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4TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Does your audience speak English well, or should you present the information in
several languages?
Does your audience share y our cultural assumptions about such matters as the
need to spell out details or how to organize the document, or do you need to
adjust your writing style to match a different set of assumptions?
Does your audience include people with disabilities (of vision, hearing, movement, or cognitive ability) who have needs you want to meet?
Purpose -related factors. Before you can write, you need to determine your
purpose:
what do you want your audience to know or believe or do after having read your
document?
Document -related factors.
Does your budget limit the number of people you can enlist to help you or limit
the size or shape of the document? Does your schedule limit how much information you can include in the document?
Does your subject dictat e what kind of document (such as a report or a blog post)
you choose to write?
Does the application call for a particular writing style or level of formality?
If you are writing a set of instructions for installing a solar water heater and you
want those instructions to be easily understood by people who speak only Tamil ,
you will need more time and a bigger budget to have the document translated, and
it will be longer and thus a little bit harder to use, for both English /Hindi and
Tamil speakers. You mig ht need to save money by using smaller type, smaller
pages, and cheaper paper, and you might not be able to afford to print it in full
color. In technical communication, you do the best you can with your resources of
time, information, and money. The more carefully you think through your options, the better able you will be to use your resources wisely and make a
document that will get the job done.
1.4. Characteristics of a Technical Document
Almost every technical document that gets the job done has six major
characteristics:
1) It addresses particular readers : Knowing who the readers are, what they
understand about the subject, how well they speak English, and how they
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5Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
how to structu re it, how much detail to include, and what sentence style and
vocabulary to use.
2) It helps readers solve problems : For instance, you might produce a video
that explains to your company’s employees how to select their employee
benefits, or a document spelli ng out the company’s policy on using social
media in the workplace.
3) It reflects the organization’s goals and culture : For example, a state government department that oversees vocational -education programs submits an annual report to the state legislature i n an effort to secure
continued funding, as well as a lot of technical information to the public in
an effort to educate its audience. And technical documents also reflect the
organization’s culture. For example, many organizations encourage their
employee s to blog about their areas of expertise to create a positive image
of the organization.
4) It is produced collaboratively : No one person has all the information, skills,
or time to create a large document. You will work with subject -matter
experts —the variou s technical professionals —to create a better document
than you could have made working alone. You will routinely post questions
to networks of friends and associates —both inside and outside your own
organization —to get answers to technical questions.
5) It uses design to increase readability : Technical communicators use design
features —such as typography, spacing, and color —to make a document
attractive so that it creates a positive impression, helps readers navigate the
document, and helps readers understan d it.
6) It consists of words or images or both : Images —both static and moving —
can make a document more interesting and appealing to readers and help the writer communicate and reinforce difficult concepts, communicate instructions and descriptions of object s and processes, communicate large
amounts of quantifiable data, and communicate with nonnative speakers.
1.5. Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents
Eight characteristics distinguish excellent technical documents:
1) Honesty. The most important measure of excellence in a technical document is honesty. You need to tell the truth and not mislead the reader,
not only because it is the right thing to do but also because readers can get
hurt if you are dishonest. If you are dishon est, you and your organization
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failure to provide honest, appropriate information caused a substantial
injury or loss, your organization might have to pay millions of dollars.
2) Clarity . Your goal is to produce a document that conveys a single meaning
the reader can understand easily. An unclear technical document can be
dangerous. A carelessly drafted building code, for example, could tempt
contractors to use inferior materials or techni ques. In addition, an unclear
technical document is expensive. Handling a telephone call to a customer
support center costs 5– 10 for a simple question but about 20 – 45
for a more complicated problem —and about a third of the calls are the more
expensive kind (Carlaw, 2010). Clear technical communication in the product’s documentation (its user instructions) can greatly reduce the number and length of such calls.
3) Accuracy . A slight inaccuracy can confuse and annoy your readers; a major
inaccuracy ca n be dangerous and expensive. In another sense, accuracy is a
question of ethics. Technical documents must be as objective and unbiased as you can make them. If readers suspect that you are slanting information —by overstating or omitting facts —they will do ubt the validity
of the entire document.
4) Comprehensiveness. A good technical document provides all the information readers need. It describes the background so that readers unfamiliar with the subject can understand it. It contains sufficient detail so
that readers can follow the discussion and carry out any required tasks. It
refers to supporting materials clearly or includes them as attachments. A
comprehensive document provides readers with a complete, self-contained
discussion that enables them to use t he information safely, effectively, and
efficiently.
5) Accessibility . Most technical documents are made up of small, independent
sections. Because few people will read a document from the beginning to
the end, your job is to make its various parts accessible . That is, readers
should not be forced to flip through the pages or click links unnecessarily to
find the appropriate section.
6) Conciseness . A document must be concise enough to be useful to a busy
reader. You can shorten most writing by 10 to 20 percent s imply by eliminating unnecessary phrases, choosing shorter words, and using economical grammatical forms. Your job is to figure out how to convey a
lot of information economically.
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7) Professional appearance . You start to communicate before anyone reads
the first word of the document. If the document looks neat and professional,
readers will form a positive impression of it and of you. Your document
should adhere to the format standards of your organization or your professional field, and it should be well designed. For example, a letter
should follow one of the traditional letter formats and have generous
margins.
8) Correctness . A correct document is one that adheres to the conventions of
grammar, punctuation, spelling, mechanics, and usage. Sometimes,
incorr ect writing can confuse readers or even make your writing inaccurate.
The more typical problem, however, is that incorrect writing makes you
look unprofessional. If your writing is full of errors, readers will wonder if
you were also careless in gathering, analyzing, and presenting the technical
information. If readers doubt your professionalism, they will be less likely
to accept your conclusions or follow your recommendations.
1.6. Skills and Qualities Shared by Successful Workplace Communicators
People who are good at communicating in the workplace share a number of skills
and qualities. Four of them are:
I. Ability to perform research . Successful communicators know how to
perform primary research (discovering new information through
experiments, observations, interviews, surveys, and calculations) and
secondary research (finding existing information by reading what others
have written or said). Successful communicators seek out information
from people who use the products and services , not just from the
manufacturers. Therefore, although successful communicators would visit
the T ata Motors website to learn about the technical specifications of a
Tata Nano if they wanted to find out what it is like to drive, own, or repa ir,
they would b e sure to search the Internet for information from experts not
associated with T ata, as well as user-generated content : information from
owners, presented in forums such as discussion boards and blogs.
II. Ability to analyze information . Successful communicat ors know how to
identify the best information —most accurate, relevant, recent, and
unbiased —and then figure out how it helps in understanding a problem
and ways to solve it. Successful communicators know how to sift through
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8TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
facts. They know how to evaluate a situation, look at it from other people’s
perspectives, and zero in on the most important issues. III. Ability to solve problems. Successful communicators know how to break
big problems into smaller ones, figure out what isn’t working right, and
identify and assess options for solving the problems. They know how to
compare and contrast the available options to achieve the clearest, most
objective understanding of the situation. IV. Ability to speak and write clearly . Successful communicators know how
to express themselves clearly and simply, both to audiences that know a lot
about the subject and to audiences that do not. They take care to revise,
edit, and proofread their documents so that the documents present accurate
information, are easy to read, and make a professional impression. And
they know how to produce different types of documents, from tweets to
memos to presentations.
In addition to the skills just described, successful workplace communicators have
seven qualities that relate to professional attitudes and work habits:
I. They are honest. Successful communicators tell the truth. They don’t
promise what they know they can’t deliver, and they don’t bend facts.
When they make m istakes, they admit them and work harder to solve the
problem.
II. They are willing to learn. Successful communicators know that they don’t
know everything —not about what they studied in college, what their
company does, or how to write and speak. Every profes sional is a lifelong
learner.
III. They display emotional intelligence. Because technical communication
usually calls for collaboration, successful communicators understand their
own emotions and those of others. Because they can read people — through
body langu age, facial expression, gestures, and words —they can work
effectively in teams, helping to minimize interpersonal conflict and
encouraging others to do their best work.
IV. They are generous. Successful communicators reply to requests for
information from colleagues inside and outside their own organizations, and
they share information willingly. (Of course, they don’t share confidential
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9Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
V. They monitor the best information. Successful communicators seek out
opinions from others in their organization and in their industry. They
monitor the best blogs, discussion boards, and podcasts for new approaches
that can spark the ir own ideas. They use tools such as RSS (really simple
syndication or rich site summary, a utility that notifies users when new
content appears on sites they follow) to help them stay on top of the torrent
of new information on the Internet. They know how to use social media and
can represent their organization online.
VI. They are self -disciplined. Successful communicators are well organized and
diligent. They know, for instance, that proofreading an important document
might not be fun but is always essential . They know that when a colleague
asks a simple technical question, answering the question today —or
tomorrow at the latest —is more helpful than answering it in a couple of
weeks. They finish what they start, and they always do their best on any
document, f rom the least important text message to the most important
report.
VII. They can prioritize and respond quickly. Successful communicators know
that the world doesn’t always conform to their own schedules.
Because social media never sleep, communicators sometimes need to put
their current projects aside in order to respond immediately when a
stakeholder reports a problem that needs prompt action or publishes
inaccurate information that can hurt the organization. And even though
speed is critically important, they know that quality is, too; therefore, they
make sure every document is fully professional before it goes out.
1.7. How Communication Skills and Qualities Affect Your Career
Many college students believe that the most important cours es they take are those
in their major. Some biology majors think, for example, that if they just take that
advanced course in genetic analysis, employers will conclude that they are
prepared to do more -advanced projects and therefore hire them.
Therefore, many college students are surprised to learn that what employers say
they are looking for in employees are the communication skills and qualities
discussed in the previous section. Surveys over the past three or four decades
have shown consistently that em ployers want people who can communicate. Look
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10TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
communicate effectively about biology. When they hire a civil engineer, they
want a person who can communicate about civil engineering .
A survey by Millennial Branding, a research and management consulting firm
that helps companies find and train Generation Y employees, sifted data from
more than 100,000 U.S. companies. The results showed that 98 percent of those
companies named communic ation skills as extremely important for new employees. The next two most important characteristics? Having a positive
attitude (97 percent) and teamwork skills (92 percent).
Job Outlook , a report produced by the National Association of Colleges and
Employers, found that communication skills, teamwork skills, and problem -
solving skills top the list of skills and qualities that employers seek.
Their main conclusion: “. . . the ideal candidate is a good communicator who can
make decisions and solve prob lems while working effectively in a team”. On a 5 -
point scale, where 5 equals “extremely important,” here are the top ten skills and
qualities, according to employers, and the scores they earned:

Most of these skills relate back to the previous discussio n about the importance of
process in technical communication.
A study of more than 100 large American corporations, which together employ 8
million people, suggests that writing is a more important skill for profession als
today than it ever has been. Two-thirds of professionals need strong writing skills
in their daily work. These companies spend, on average, 67900 per employee for
writing training. Would a company rather not have to spend that 67900? Yes.
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11Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
You’re going to be producing and contributing to a lot of technical documents,
not only in this course but also throughout your career. The facts of life in the
working world are simple: the better you communicate, the more valuable you
are.
Summary
In this chapter we understood the devel opment of technical documents that meet
the requirements with standard guidelines. Also the essentials and hands -on
learning about effective Website Development. The chapter also covered how
people in the technical world find, create, and deliver technical information and
the purpose of Technical Communication is to help you learn the skills you need
to communicate more effectively and more efficiently in your professional life.
Unit End Exercise
Q. No 1. Technical communication begins with_____
a. Listening, speaking, and reading .
b. Reading, writing and email
c. Reading, sending email and receiving email
d. Writing, posting and testing
Q. No 2. No matter what document you produce or contribute to, you need to
begin by considering three sets of factors:
a. Audience -related, Purpose -related and Document -related
b. People -related, process -related and product -related.
c. Internet -related, Intranet -related an d Extranet -related.
d. GEO -related, LEO -related, MEO -related
Q. No 3. The most important measure of excellence in a technical document
is _____, you need to tell the truth and not mislead the reader, not
only because it is the right thing to do but also because reade rs can get
hurt if you are dishonest.
a. Honesty
b. Rudeness
c. Harshness
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Q. No 4. People who are good at communicating in the workplace share a
number of skills and qualities. Four of them relate skills are ____
a. Ability to perform research, Ability to analyze information,
Ability to solve problems and Ability to speak and write clearly
b. Ability to dance, ability to sing, ability to act and ability to cry.
c. Ability to run, ability to swim, ability to walk and ability to fly.
d. Ability to Read, Ability to wr ite, ability to remember and ability
to recall.
Q. No 5. Which of the following is an example of collaborative writing application
a. Wikipedia
b. MS Paint
c. VLC media player
d. Calculator
(Solution: 1 -a, 2-a, 3-a, 4-a, 5-a)
Questions for practice
1. People in the working world communicate technical information for a
number of purposes, many of which fall into one of two categories:______
and _________
2. When you communicate in the workplace, you always have a clear____ and
_____ __________
3. ________is frequently communicated through documents, such as proposals, emails, reports, podcasts, computer help files, blogs, and wikis.
4. Technical communication begins with _________, ________ and ______ .
5. Technical communication is challenging because ________________, and
________________ is at the heart of the process.
6. A technical document you produce or contribute to need to begin by
considering three sets of factors: ______, ______ and ________.
7. Almost every technical document that gets the job done has six major
characteristics: _____, _____, _____, _____, _____ and _____.
8. Eight characteristics distinguish excellent technical documents: _____,
_____, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____and _____. munotes.in

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13Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
9. The most important measure of excellence in a technical document is ______.
10. The goal to produ ce a document that conveys a single meaning the reader
can understand easily is known as __________ ___
11. A good technical document provides all the information readers need, this
property is known as __________ ___
12. The adherence to the conventions of grammar, punctuation, spelling, mechanics, and usage is known as __________ ___
13. People who are good at communicating in the workplace share a number of
skills and qualities. Four of them relate to the skills are ________________, ___________________, __________________ and ___________________.
14. One characteristic that distinguishes technical communication from many
other kinds of writing is its ____________ to clarify concepts and present
data.
References: Books and References: Sr. No. Title Author/s Publisher Edition Year 1. Technical Communication Mike Markel Bedford/St. Martin's 11 2014 2. Innovation Management and New Product Development Paul Trott Pearson 06 2017 3. Handbook of Technical Writing Gerald J. Alred , Charles
T. Brusaw ,
Walter E. Oliu Bedford/St. Martin's 09 2008 4. Technical Writing 101: A Real -World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Content Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O'Keefe scriptorium 03 2009 ™™™™ munotes.in

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Unit 1
2 UNDERSTANDING ETHICAL AND
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Unit Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 A Brief Introduction to
2.2 Your Ethical Obligations
2.3 Your Legal Obligations
2.4 The Role of Corporate Culture in Ethical and Legal Conduct
2.5 Understanding Ethical and Legal Issues Related to Social Media
2.6 Communicating Ethically Across Cultures
2.7 Principles for Ethical Communication
Summary
Unit End Exercise
Questions for practice
References
2.0 Objective
Understanding the Technical Communication Environment . Ethical and legal
issues are all around you in your work life. Ethical and legal pitfalls lurk in the
words and graphics of many kinds of formal documents. One thing is certain:
there are many serious ethical and legal issues related to technical communication, and all professionals need a basic understanding of them.
2.1 A Brief Introduction to Ethics
Ethics is the study of the principles of conduct that apply to an individual or a
group. For some people, ethics is a matter of intuition —what their gut feelings
tell them about the rightness or wrongness of an act. Others see ethics in terms of
their own religion or the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like them to treat
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15Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
Manuel G. Velasquez outlines four moral standards that are useful in thinking
about ethical dilemmas
i. Rights. This standard concerns individuals’ basic needs and welfare.
Everyone agrees, for example, that people have a right to a reasonably safe
workplace. When we buy a product, we have a right to expect that the
information that accompanies it is honest and clear. However, not
everything that is desirable is necessarily a right. For example, in some
countries, high -quality health care is considered a right. That is, the
government is requi red to provide it, regardless of whether a person can
afford to pay for it. In other countries, health care is not considered a right.
ii. Justice. This standard concerns how the costs and benefits of an action or a
policy are distributed among a group. Fo r example, the cost of maintaining
a high -speed broadband infrastructure should be borne, in part, by people
who use it. However, because everyone benefits from the infrastructure, the
standard of justice suggests that general funds can also be used to pay for it.
Another example: justice requires that people doing the same job receive
the same pay, regardless of whether they are male or female, black or white.
iii. Utility. This standard concerns the positive and negative effects that an
action or a policy has, will have, or might have on others. For example, if a
company is considering closing a plant, the company’s leaders should
consider not only the money they would save but also the financial hardship
of laid -off workers and the economic effects on the community. One tricky
issue in thinking about utility is figuring out the time frame to examine. An
action such as laying off employees can have one effect in the short run —
improving the company’s quarterly balance sheet —and a very different
effect in the long run —hurting the company’s productivity or the quality of
its products.
iv. Care. This standard concerns the relationships we have with other
individuals. We owe care and consideration to all people, but we have
greater responsibilities to people in our families, our workplaces, and our
communities. The closer a person is to us, the greater care we owe that
person. Therefore, we have greater obligations to members of our family
than we do to others in our community

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2.2 Your Ethical Obligations
In addition to enjoying rights, an employee assumes obligations, which can form a clear and reasonable framework for discussing the ethics of technical communication. The following paragraph outlines three sets of obligations that you have as an employee: to your employer, to the public, and to the environment.
Obligations to the Employer
You are hired to further your employer’s legitimate aims and to refrain from any
activities that run counter to those aims. Specifically, you have five obligations:
• Competence and diligence. Competence refers to your skills; you should
have the training and experience to do the job adequately. Diligence simply
means hard work.
• Generosity. Although generosity might sound like an unusual obligation,
you are obligated to help your co -workers and stakeholders outside your
organization by sharing your knowledge and expertise. Generosity shows
professionalism and furthers your organization’s goals.
• Honesty and candor. Candor means truthfulness; you should report to your
employer problems that might threaten the quality or safety of the
organization’s product or service. You should not steal from your employer.
Stealing includes such practices as embezzlement, “borrowing” offi ce
supplies, and padding expense accounts.
Trimming is the smoothing of irregularities to make research data look extremely
accurate and precise.
Cooking is retaining only those results that fit the theory and discarding the
others.
Forging is inventing some or all of the data or even reporting experiments that
were never performed. In carrying out research, employees must resist any
pressure to report only positive findings.
• Confidentiality. You should not divulge company business outside of the
company. If a competitor finds out that your company is planning to
introduce a new product, it might introduce its own version of that product,
robbing you of your competitive advantage. Many other kinds of privileged
information —such as in formation on quality -control problems, personnel
matters, relocation or expansion plans, and financial restructuring —also
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17Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
involves insider information : an employee who knows about a de velopment
that will increase (or decrease) the value of the company’s stock, for
example, buys (or sells) the stock before the information is made public,
thus unfairly —and illegally —reaping a profit (or avoiding a loss).
• Loyalty. You should act in the employer’s interest, not in your own.
Therefore, it is unethical to invest heavily in a competitor’s stock, because
that could jeopardize your objectivity and judgment. For the same reason, it
is unethical (and illegal) to accept bribes or kickbacks. It is unethical to
devote considerable time to moonlighting (performing an outside job, such
as private consulting), because the outside job could lead to a conflict of
interest and because the heavy workload could make you less productive in
your primary posit ion.
Obligatio ns to the Public
Every organization that offers products or provides services is obligated to treat
its customers fairly. As a representative of an organization, and especially as an
employee communicating technical information, you will frequently confront
ethical questions.
In general, an organization is acting ethically if its product or service is both safe
and effective. The product or service must not injure or harm the consumer, and it
must fulfill its promised function. However, th ese commonsense principles
provide little guidance in dealing with the complicated ethical problems that arise
routinely.
Who is responsible for injuries and product failures: the company that provides
the product or service or the consumer who purchases i t? In individual cases,
blame is sometimes easy enough to determine. A person who operates a chainsaw
without reading the safety information and without seeking any instruction in how
to use it is to blame for any injuries caused by the normal operation of the saw.
But a manufacturer that knows that the chain on the saw is liable to break under
certain circumstances and fails to remedy this problem or warn the consumer is
responsible for any resulting accidents.
Obligations to the Enviro nment
One of the mos t important lessons we have learned in recent decades is that we
are polluting and depleting our limited natural resources at an unacceptably high
rate. Our excessive use of fossil fuels not only deprives future generations of
them but also causes possibly irreversible pollution problems, such as global
warming. Everyone —government, businesses, and individuals — must work to
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But what does this have to do with you? In your daily work, you probably do not
cause pollution or deplete the environment in any extraordinary way. Yet you will
often know how your organization’s actions affect the environment. For example,
if you work for a manufacturing company, you might be aware of the environmental effects of making or using your company’s products. Or you might
help write an environmental impact statement.
As communicators, we should treat every actual or potential occurrence of
environmental damage seriously. We should alert our supervisors to the situation
and work with them to try to reduce the damage. The difficulty, of course, is that
protecting the environment can be expensive. Clean fuels usually cost more than
dirty on es. Disposing of hazardous waste properly costs more (in the short run)
than merely dumping it. Organizations that want to reduce costs may be tempted
to cut corners on environmental protection.
2.3 Your Legal Obligations
Technical Writing professionals sh ould know the basics of four different bodies
of law: copyright, trademark, contract, and liability.
Copyri ght Law
As a technical writer , you are frequently reminded to avoid plagiarism . A writer
caught plagiarizing would likely fail the assignment and possibly the course and
might even be expelled from his post . A medical researcher or a reporter caught
plagiarizing would likely be fired or at least find it difficult to publish in the
future. But plagiarism is an ethical, not a legal, iss ue. By contrast, copyright is a
legal issue. Copyright law is the body of law that relates to the appropriate use of
a person’s intellectual property: written documents, pictures, musical compositions, and the like. Copyright literally refers to a person’s right to copy
the work that he or she has created. The most important concept in copyright law
is that only the copyright holder —the person or organization that owns the
work —can copy it. For instance, if you work for University of Mumbai, you can
legally copy information from the mu.ac.in website and use it in other official
documents. This reuse of information is routine in business, industry, and government because it helps ensure that the information a company distributes is
both consistent and accurate.
However, if you work for AnAriNash Consultancy Services (ACS) Ltd. , you
cannot simply copy information that you find on the Converge Soft Solutions
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19Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
written permission fr om CSS Ltd. to use its intellectual property, you would be
infringing on C SS Ltd ’s copyright.
Under fair -use guidelines, you have the right to use a portion of a published work,
without getting permission, for purposes such as criticism, commentary, news
reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. Because fair use is based on a set of
general guidelines that are meant to be interpreted on a case-by-case basis, you
should still cite the source accurately to avoid potential plagiarism.
Trademar k Law
Companies use trademarks and registered trademarks to ensure that the public
recognizes the name or logo of a product.
• A trademark is a word, phrase, name, or symbol that is identified with a
company. The company uses the TM symbol after the product name to
claim the design or device as a trademark. However, using this symbol does
not grant the company any legal rights. It simply sends a message to other
organizations that the company is claiming a trademark.
• A registered trademar k is a word, phrase, name, or symbol that the company has registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The
company can then use the ® symbol after the trademarked item. Registering
a trademark, a process that can take years, ensures much more lega l
protection than a simple trademark throughout the United States, as well as
in other nations. Although a company is not required to use the symbol,
doing so makes it easier to take legal action against another organization
that it believes has infringed on its trademark.
All employees are responsible for using trademark and registered trademark
symbols accurately when referring to a company’s products.
Contract Law
Contract law deals with agreements between two parties. In most cases, disputes
concern whe ther a product lives up to the manufacturer’s claims. These claims
take the form of express warranties or implied warranties. An express warranty is
a written or oral statement that the product has a particular feature or can perform
a particular function. For example, a state ment in a printer manual that the printer
produces 17 pages per minute is an express warranty. An implied warranty is one
of two kinds of non -written guarantees:
• The merchantability warranty guarantees that the product is of at least
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• The fitness warranty guarantees that the product is suitable for the buyer’s
purpose if the seller knows that purpose. For example, if a car salesperson
know s that a buyer wishes to pull a 5,000 -pound trailer but also knows that
a car cannot pull such a load, the salesperson is required to inform the buyer
of this fact.
Liability Law
Under product -liability law, a manufacturer or seller of a product is liable for
injuries or damages caused by the use of that product. Liability is an important
concern for communicators, because courts frequently rule that manufacturers are
responsible for providing adequate operating instructions and for warning consumers about the risks of using their products. Manufacturers of products used
in the United States have a legal duty to warn users by providing safety labels on
products (and the same information in their accompanying instructions) and by
explaining in the instructions how to use the products safely. According to
intellectual -property attorney
Kenneth Ross (2011), the manufacturer has this duty to warn when all four of
these characteristics apply:
1. The product is dangerous.
2. The danger is or should be known by the manufacturer.
3. The danger is present when the product is used in the usual and expected
manner.
4. The danger is not obvious to or well known by the user.
2.4 The Role of Corporate Cultu re in Ethical and Legal Conduct
Most employees work within organizations, such as corporations and government
agencies. We know that organizations exert a powerful influence on their employees’ actions. Organizations with strong ethical cultures —organizations in
which ethical values are promoted at all levels and employees see that everyone
lives up to the organization’s stated values —experience fewer ethical problems
than organizations with weak ethical cultures. In organizations with st rong ethical
cultures, far fewer employees feel pressure to commit misconduct, far fewer
employees observe misconduct, far more employees report the misconduct that
they see, and there is far less retaliation against employees who report
misconduct.
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Compa nies can take specific steps to improve their ethical culture:
• The organization’s leaders can set the right tone by living up to their
commitment to ethical conduct.
• Supervisors can set good examples and encourage ethical conduct.
• Peers can suppor t those employees who act ethically.
• The organization can use informal communication to reinforce the formal
policies, such as those presented in a company code of conduct.
In other words, it is not enough for an organization to issue a statement that
ethical and legal behavior is important. The organization has to create a culture
that values and rewards ethical and legal behavior. That culture starts at the top
and extends to all employees, and it permeates the day -to-day operations of the
organization .
An important element of a culture of ethical and legal conduct is a formal code of
conduct. Most large corporations in the United States have one, as do almost all
professional societies. (U.S. companies that are traded publicly are required to
state whe ther they have a code of conduct —and if not, why not.)
Codes of conduct vary greatly from organization to organization, but most of
them address such issues as the following:
• adhering to local laws and regulations, including those intended to protect
the environment
• avoiding discrimination
• maintaining a safe and healthy workplace
• respecting privacy
• avoiding conflicts of interest
• protecting the company’s intellectual property
• avoiding bribery and kickbacks in working with suppliers and customers A
code of conduct focuses on behavior, including such topics as adhering to
the law. Many codes of conduct are only a few paragraphs long; others are
lengthy and detailed, some consisting of several volumes.
An effective code has three major characteristics:
• It protects the public rather than members of the organization or profession.
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• It is specific and comprehensive. A code is ineffective if it merely states
that people must not steal or if it does not address typical ethical offenses
such as bribery in companies that do business in other countries.
• It is enforceable. A code is ineffecti ve if it does not stipulate penalties,
including dismissal from the company or expulsion from the profession.
2.5 Understanding Ethical and Legal Issues Related to Social
Media
User -generated content, whether it is posted to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
YouTube, Google Groups, Yelp, Pinterest, or any of the many other online
services, presents significant new ethical and legal issues. Just as employers are
trying to produce social -media policies that promote the interests of the organization without infring ing on employees’ rights of free expression, all of us
need to understand the basics of ethical and legal principles related to these new
media. A 2012 report by the law firm Proskauer Rose LLP, “Social Media in the
Workplace Around the World 2.0,” surveye d some 250 companies from the
United States and many other countries. Here are some of the survey findings
(Proskauer Rose LLP, 2012, p. 2):
• More than two -thirds of employers have social -media policies.
• More than one -third of employers monitor their employees’ use of social
media sites.
• One-quarter of employers block employee access to social media.
• Half of the employers reported problems caused by misuse of social media
by employees. One -third of businesses have had to take disciplinary a ction
against an employee for misuse of social media.
Over the next few years, organizations will revise their policies about how
employees may use social media in the workplace, just as courts will clarify some
of the more complicated issues related to so cial media and the law. For these
reasons, what we now see as permissible and ethical is likely to change. Still, it is
possible to identify a list of best practices that can help you use social media
wisely —and legally —in your career. However, if you thin k your employer is
acting illegally or unethically, start by investigating the company’s own resources
for addressing such problems. Then, if you are still dissatisfied, consider whistle -
blowing .


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2.6 Communic ating Ethically Across Cultures
Companies do not necessarily have the same ethical and legal obligations when
they export as when they sell in the same country . For this reason, communicators
should understand the basics of two aspects of writing for people in other
countries: communicati ng with cultures with different ethical beliefs and communicating in countries with different laws.
Communicati ng with Cultures with Different Ethical Beliefs
Companies face special challenges when they market their products and services
to people in other countries (and to people in their home countries who come
from other cultures). Companies need to decide how to deal with situations in
which the target culture’s ethical beliefs clash with those of their own culture.
Communicati ng in Countries with Different Laws
When U.S. companies export goods and services to other countries, they need to
adhere to those countries’ federal and regional laws. For instance, a company that
wishes to export to Montreal must abide by the laws of Quebec Province and of
Canada. A company that wishes to export to Germany must abide by the laws of
Germany and of the European Union, of which it is a part. In many cases, the
target region will not allow the importation of goods and services that do not
conform to local laws. The hazardous -product laws of the European Union, in
particular, are typically more stringent than those of the United States.
Because exporting goods to countries with different laws is such a complex topic,
companies that export devote considerable resou rces to finding out what they
need to do, not only in designing and manufacturing products but also in writing
the product information.
2.7 Principles for Ethical Communication
Although it is impossible to state principles for ethical communication that will
guide you through all the challenges you will face communicating in the
workplace, the following ten principles provide a starting point.
Abide by Relevant Laws
You must adhere to the laws governing intellectual property. Here are s ome
examples:
• Do not violate copyright. When you want to publish someone else’s
copyrighted material, such as graphics you find on the Web, get written
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• Honor the laws regarding trademarks. For instance, use the tr ademark
symbol (TM) and the registered trademark symbol (®) properly.
• Live up to the express and implied warranties on your company’s products.
• Abide by all laws governing product liability.
Abide by the Appropriate Pro fessional Code of Conduct
Your field’s professional organization, such as the American Society of Civil
Engineers, is likely to have a code that goes beyond legal issues to express ethical
principles, such as telling the truth, reporting information accurately, respecting
the privacy of others, and avoiding conflicts of interest.
Abide by Your Organizatio n’s Policy on Social Media
If your employer has a written policy about how employees may use social
media, study it. If there is no written policy, check with Human Resource s or your
supervisor for advice. If you think that you will be unable to abide by the
employer’s policy —whether written or not —you should not work there or you
should abide by it while you try to change it.
Take Advantage of Your Employer ’s Ethics Resources
Your employer is likely to have a code of conduct, as well as other resources,
such as an Ethics Office, which can help you find information to guide you in
resolving ethical challenges you encounter. Your employer will likely have a
mechanism fo r registering complaints about unethical conduct anonymously.
Tell the Trut h
Sometimes, employees are asked to lie about their companies’ products or about
those of their competitors. Obviously, lying is unethical. Your responsibility is to
resist this pre ssure, going over your supervisor’s head if necessary.
Don’t Mislead Your Readers
A misleading statement —one that invites or even encourages the reader to reach a
false conclusion —is ethically no better than lying. Avoid these four common
kinds of misleadi ng technical communication:
• False implications. If, as an employee of SuperBright, you write “Use only
SuperBright batteries in your new flashlight,” you imply that only that
brand will work. If that is untrue, the statement is misleading. Communicators sometimes use clichés such as user-friendly , ergonomic ,
and state -of-the-art to make a product sound better than it is; use specific,
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25Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
• Exaggerations. If you say “Our new Operating System 2500 makes system
crashes a thing of the past” when the product only makes them less likely,
you are exaggerating. Provide specific technical information on the
reduction of crashes. Similarly, do not write “We carried out extensive
market research” if all you did was make a few phone calls.
• Legalistic constructions. It is unethical to write “The 3000X was designed
to operate in extreme temperatures, from –40 degrees to 120 degrees
Fahrenheit” if the product does not operate reliably in those temperature s.
Although the statement might technically be accurate —the product was
designed to operate in those temperatures —it is misleading.
• Euphemisms. If you refer to someone’s being fired, say released , not
granted permanent leave or offered an alternative c areer opportunity .
Use Design to Highlight Importa nt Ethical and Legal Informatio n
Courts have found that burying information in footnotes or printing it in very
small type violates a company’s obligation to inform consumers and warn them
about hazards in using a product. When you want to communicate safety
information or other facts that readers need to know, use design features to make
that information easy to see and understand. Figure 2.3 shows how design
principles can be used to communicate nutritional information on food labels.
Be Clear
Clear writing helps your readers understand your message easily. Your
responsibility is to write as clearly as you can to help your audience understand
what you are saying. For instance, if you are writing a product warranty, make it
as simple and straightforward as possible. Don’t hide behind big words and
complicated sentences. Use tables of contents, indexes, and other accessing devices to help your readers find what they need.
Avoid Discriminatory Langu age
Don’t use language that discriminates against people because of their sex,
religion, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, or physical or mental abilities.
Employees have been disciplined or fired for sending inappropriate jokes through
the company emai l system.
Acknowledge Assista nce from Others
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26TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Summary
Ethical and legal issues are all around you in your work life. If you look at the
website of any bike manufacturer, for example, you will see that bicyclists are
always shown wearing helmets. Is this because bike manufacturers care about
safety? Certainly. But bike makers also care about product liability. If a company
website showed cyclists without helmets, an injured cyclist might sue, claiming
that the company was suggesting it is safe to ride without a helmet. Ethical and
legal pitfalls lurk in the words and graphics of many kinds of formal documents.
In producing a proposal, you might be tempted to exaggerate or lie about your
organization’s past accomplishments, pad the résumés of the project personnel,
list as project personnel some workers who will not be contributing to the project,
or present an unrealistically short work schedule. In drafting product information,
you might feel pressured to exaggerate the quality of the products shown in
catalogs or manuals or to downplay the hazards of using those products. In
creating graphics, you might be asked to hide an item’s weaknesses by manipulating a photo of a product. One thing is certain: there are many serious
ethical and legal issues related to technical communication, and all professionals
need a basic understanding of them.
Unit End Exercise
Q. No 1. _______is t he study of the principles of conduct that apply to an
individual or a group.
a. Ethics
b. Directions
c. Posters
d. Proposal
Q. No 2. Competence & diligence, Generosity, Honesty & candor, Confidentiality and Loyalty are the five obligation on you to your
_____
a. Employer
b. Teacher
c. Mentor
d. Neighbor
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27Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
Q. No 3. Abiding to Copyright law is a ______ obligation.
a. Legal
b. Ethical
c. Moral
d. Social
Q. No 4. ____deals with agreements between two parties. In most cases, disputes concern whether a product lives up to the manufacturer’s
claims. These claims take the form of express warranties or implied
warranties.
a. Contract law
b. Trademark Law
c. Criminal Procedure Code
d. IT Law
Q. No 5. Which of the following are the four common kinds of misleading
technical communication:
a. False implications, Exaggerations, Legalistic constructions and
Euphemisms
b. Honesty, Rudeness, Harshness and Boldness
c. Legal, Ethical Moral and Social
d. Reading, Writing, Sending and receiving
(Solution: 1-a, 2-a, 3-a, 4-a, 5-a)
Questions for practice
1. Ethics is the study of the _________________________________________.
2. Ethicist Manuel G. Velasquez outlines four moral standards that are useful
in thinking about ethical dilemmas: _____, _____, _____ and ___ ___.
3. Five obligations towards an employer are: _____, _____, _____, _____ and
__________ ___.
4. Obligations to the public is that an organization is acting ethically if ___________________________________________________________. munotes.in

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28TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
5. Professionals should know the basics of four different bodies of law:
__________________, _______________ , __________________________
and ______________________.
6. Copyright law is the body of law that ______________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
7. ____________ literally refers to a person’s right to copy the work that he or
she has created.
8. A trademark is a ______________________________________________
______________________________ ______________________________.
9. The company uses the _______ symbol after the produ ct name to claim the
design or device as a trademark.
10. A registered trademark is a word, phrase, name, or symbol that the company has __________________________ __________ _____________________.
11. The company can then use the _____ symbol after the tra demarked item.
12. Contract law deals with ____________________ _____________________.
13. An express warranty is a ______________________________________
_______________________________________ ______________________
14. An implied warranty is one of two ki nds of non -written guarantees:
i. ________________________
ii. ________________________
15. Under product -liability law, a manufacturer or seller of a product is liable
for _________________________________________________________.
16. Liability is an i mportant concern for communicators, _________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.
17. According to i ntellectual -property attorney Kenneth Ross (2011), the manufacturer has this duty to warn when all four of these characteristics
apply:
i. ________________________________________________________
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29Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
iii. ________________________________________________________
iv. ________________________________________________________
18. Codes of conduct vary greatly from organization to organization, but mo st
of them address such issues as the following:
i. ________________________________________________________
ii. ________________________________________________________
iii. ________________________________________________________
iv. ____________________ ____________________________________
v. ________________________________________________________
vi. ________________________________________________________
vii. ________________________________________________________
19. An effective code has three majo r characteristics:
i. ________________________________________________________
ii. ________________________________________________________
iii. ________________________________________________________
References: Books and References: Sr. No. Title Author/s Publisher Edition Year 1. Technical Communication Mike Markel Bedford/St. Martin's 11 2014 2. Innovation Management and New Product Development Paul Trott Pearson 06 2017 3. Handbook of Technical Writing Gerald J. Alred , Charles
T. Brusaw ,
Walter E. Oliu Bedford/St. Martin's 09 2008 4. Technical Writing 101: A Real -World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Content Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O'Keefe scriptorium 03 2009 ™™™™ munotes.in

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Unit 1
3 WRITING TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS

Unit Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Planning
3.2. Drafting
3.3. Revising
3.3. Revising
3.5. Proofreading
Summary
Unit End Exercise
Questions for practice
References
3.0 Objectives
This chapter presents a writing process that focuses on the techniques and tools
most useful for technical writers. If you don’t already have a process that works
for you, yes. But your goal should be to devise a process that enables you to write
effective documents that is, documents that accomplish your purpose and efficiently ie without taking more time than necessary.
3.1. Planning
Planning, which can take more than a third of the total time spent on a writing
project, is critically important for every docum ent, from an email message to a
book -length manual. Start by thinking about your audience, because you need to
understand whom you are writing to before you can figure out what you need to
say about your subject.
Analyzing Your Audience
If you are lucky, y ou can talk with your audience before and during your work on
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know, what they want to know, and how they would like the information
presented. You can test out drafts, making ch anges as you go.
Even if you cannot consult your audience while writing the document, you still
need to learn everything you can about your readers so that you can determine the
best scope, organization, and style for your document. Then, for each of your
most important readers, try to answer the following three questions:
• Who is your reader? Consider such factors as education, job experience and
responsibilities, skill in reading English, cultural characteristics, and
personal preferences.
• What are your reader’s attitudes and expectations? Consider the reader’s
attitudes toward the topic and your message, as well as the reader’s
expectations about the kind of document you will be presenting.
• Why and how will the reader use your document? Think about what readers
will do with the document. This includes the physical environment in which
they will use it, the techniques they will use in reading it, and the tasks they
will carry out after they finish reading it.
Analyzing Your Purpose
You cannot s tart to write until you can state the purpose (or purposes) of the
document. Ask yourself these two questions:
• After your readers have read your document, what do you want them to
know or do?
• What beliefs or attitudes do you want them to hold?
A statement of purpose might be as simple as this: “The purpose of this report is to recommend whether the company should adopt a healthpromotion program.” Although the statement of purpose might not
appear in this form in the final document, you want to sta te it clearly now to
help you stay on track as you carry out the remaining steps.
Choosing Your Writing Tools
Writers have more tools available to them than ever before. You probably do
most of your writing with commercial software such as Microsoft Office or
opensource software such as Open Office, and you will likely continue to do
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number and type of composition tools, however, knowing your options and
choosing the one that best m eets your needs can help you create a stronger
document.
If you travel often or if many people in different locations will collaborate on a
given document, you may find it useful to work with a cloud -based tool such as
Google Drive. Specialized tools built for professional writers can be particularly
useful for long, complicated projects that require heavy research;
Scrivener, for example, lets you gather your research data in a single location and
easily reorganize your document at the section or chap ter level. Composition
programs optimized for tablets, such as WritePad, convert handwriting into text,
translate text into a number of languages, and feature cloud -based storage. Before
you begin a big project, consider which type of writing tool will bes t meet your
project’s needs.
Generating Ideas About Your Subject
Generating ideas is a way to start mapping out the information you will need to
include in the document, deciding where to put it, and identifying additional
information that may be required.

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Researc hing Additional Information
Once you have a good idea of what you already know about your topic, you must
obtain the rest of the information you will need. You can find and evaluate what
other people have already written by reading reference books, scholarly books,
articles, websites, and reputable blogs and discussion boards. In addition, you
might compile new information by interviewing experts, distributing surveys and
questionnaires, making observations, sending inquiries, and co nducting
experiments. Don’t forget to ask questions and gather opinions from your own
network of associates, both inside and outside your organization.
Organizing and Outlining Your Document
Although each document has its own requirements, you can use exis ting
organizational patterns or adapt them to your own situation. For instance, the
compare -and-contrast pattern might be an effective way to organize a discussion
of different health -promotion programs. The cause -and-effect pattern might work
well for a d iscussion of the effects of implementing such a program.
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At this point, your organization is only tentative. When you start to draft, you
might find that the pattern you chose isn’t working well or that you need
additional information that doesn’t fit into the pattern.
Once you have a tentative plan, write an outline to help you stay on track as you
draft. To keep your purpose clearly in mind as you work, you may want to write it
at the top of your page before you begin your outline.
Selecting an Applicatio n, a Design, and a Delivery Method
Once you have a sense of what you want to say, you need to select an application
(the type of document), a design, and a delivery method. You have a number of
decisions to make:
• Is the application already chosen for me? If you are writing a proposal to
submit to the U.S. Department of the Interior, for example, you must follow
the department’s specifications for what the proposal is to look like and
how it is to be delivered. For most kinds of communication, however, you
will likely have to select the appropriate application, such as a set of
instructions or a manual. Sometimes, you will deliver an oral presentation
or participate in a phone conference or a videoconference.
‡ What will my readers expect? If your reade rs expect a written set of
instructions, you should present a set of instructions unless some other
application, such as a report or a manual, is more appropriate. If they expect
to see the instructions presented in a simple black -and-white booklet —and
there is no good reason to design something more elaborate than that —your
choice is obvious. For instance, instructions for installing and operating a
ceiling fan in a house are generally presented in a small, inexpensive
booklet with the pages stapled togeth er or on a large, folded sheet of paper.
However, for an expensive home -theater system, readers might expect a
glossy, full -color manual.
‡ What delivery method will work best? Related to the question of reader
expectations is the question of how you will deliver the document to your
readers. For instance, you would likely mail an annual report to your
readers and upload it to your company website. You might present industry
forecasts on a personal blog or on one sponsored by your employer. You
might deliv er a user manual for a new type of photo -editing program online
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It is important to think about these questions during the planning process, because
your answers will largely det ermine the scope, organization, style, and design of
the information you will prepare. As early as the planning step, you need to
imagine your readers using your information.
Devising a Schedule and a Budget
During the planning stage, you also must decide when you will need to provide
the information and how much you can spend on the project. For instance, for the
project on health -promotion programs, your readers might need a report to help
them decide what to do before the new fiscal year begins in two months.
In addition, your readers might want a progress report submitted halfway through
the project. Making a schedule is often a collaborative process: you meet with
your main readers, who tell you when they need the information, and you estimate ho w long the different tasks will take.
You also need to create a budget. In addition to the time you will need to do the
project, you need to think about expenses you might incur. For example, you
might need to travel to visit companies with different kinds of health -promotion
programs. You might need to conduct specialized database searches, create and
distribute questionnaires to employees, or conduct interviews at remote locations.
Some projects call for usability testing —evaluating the experiences of prospective users as they try out a system or a document.
The cost of this testing needs to be included in your budget.
3.2. Draftin g
When you have at least a preliminary outline, it is time to start drafting. Some
writers like to draft within the outline created on their word -processing program.
Others prefer to place a paper copy of their outline on the desk next to their
keyboard and begin drafting a new document that follows that outline.
Using Templates
For your draft, you might consider using an existing temp late or modifying one to
meet your needs. Templates are preformatted designs for different types of
documents, such as letters, memos, newsletters, and reports.
Templates incorporate the design specifications for the document, including
typeface, type size, margins, and spacing. Once you have selected a template, you
just type in the information.
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Using templates, however, can lead to three problems:
• They do not always reflect the best design principles. For instance, most
letter and memo templates d efault to 10 -point type, even though 12 -point
type is easier to read.
• They bore readers. Readers get tired of seeing the same designs.
• They cannot help you answer the important questions about your document.
Although templates can help you format inf ormation, they cannot help you
figure out how to organize and write a document.
Sometimes, templates can even send you the wrong message. For example,
résumé templates in word processors present a set of headings that might work
better for some job applica nts than for others.
In addition, the more you rely on existing templates, the less likely you are to
learn how to use the software to make your documents look professional.
Using Styles
Styles are like small templates that apply to the design of smaller elements, such
as headings. Like templates, styles save you time. For example, as you draft your
document, you don’t need to add all the formatting each time you want to
designate an item as a first -level heading. You simply highlight the text you want
to be a first -level heading and use a pull -down menu or ribbon at the top of your
screen to select that style. The text automatically incorporates all the specifications of that style.
If you decide to modify a style —by italicizing a heading, for inst ance— you need
to change it only once; the software automatically changes every instance of that
style in the document. In collaborative documents, styles make it easier for
collaborators to achieve a consistent look.
3.3. Revising
Revising is the process of lo oking again at your draft to see whether it works.
After you revise, you will carry out two more steps —editing and proofreading —
but at this point you want to focus on three large topics:
• Audience. Has your understanding of your audience changed? Will y ou be
addressing people you hadn’t considered before? If so, how will that change
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• Purpose. Has your understanding of your purpose changed? If so, what
changes should you make to the document?
• Subject. Ha s your understanding of the subject changed? Should you
change the scope —that is, should you address more or fewer topics?
Should you change the organization of the document? Should you present more
evidence or different types of evidence?
On the basis of a new look at your audience, purpose, and subject, you might
decide that you need to make minor changes, such as adding one or two minor
topics. Or you might decide that you need to completely rethink the document.
There are two major ways to revise: by yo urself and with the assistance of others.
If possible, use both ways.
Studying the Draft by Yourself
The first step in revising is to read and reread your document, looking for
different things each time. For instance, you might read it once just to see whether
the information you have presented is appropriate for the various audiences you
have identified. You might read it another time to see whether each of your
claims is supported by appropriate and sufficient evidence.
Start with the largest, most imp ortant problems first; then work on the smaller,
less important ones. That way, you don’t waste time on awkward paragraphs you
might eventually decide to delete. Begin by reviewing the document as a whole
(for organization, development, and content), savin g the sentence -level concerns
(such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling) for later.
One effective way to review your whole document for coherence is to study the
outline view of the document. Figure 3.1 shows how the outline view helps you
see how the do cument is organized.
After you have studied your draft to see if there are problems with its
organization, study it to answer six additional questions:
• Have I left out anything in turning my outline into a draft?
• Have I included all the elements my r eaders expect to see?
• Is the document persuasive?
• Do I come across as reliable, honest, and helpful?
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Seeking Help from Others
For technical documents, it is best to turn to two kinds of people for help.
Subject -matter experts (SMEs) can help you determine whether your facts and
explanations are accurat e and appropriate. If, for instance, you are writing about
fuel-cell automobiles, you could ask an automotive expert to review your document. Important documents are routinely reviewed by technical experts
before being released to the public.
The second ca tegory of reviewers includes both actual users of your existing
document and prospective users of the next version of the document.
These people can help you see problems you or other knowledgeable readers
don’t notice. For instance, a prospective user of a document on fuel -cell
technologies might point out that she doesn’t understand what a fuel cell is
because you haven’t defined the term.
How do you learn from SMEs and from users and prospective users? Here are a
few techniques:
• surveying, interviewing, or observing readers as they use the existing
document
• interviewing SMEs about a draft of the document
• conducting focus groups to learn users’ or prospective users’ opinions about
an existing or proposed document
• uploading the docume nt to an online writing space, such as Microsoft
SharePoint or Google Drive, and authorizing people to revise it It is important to
revise all drafts, but it is especially important to revise drafts of documents that
will be read and used by people from ot her cultures.
If your readers come from another culture, try to have your draft reviewed by
someone from that culture. That reviewer can help you see whether you have
made correct assumptions about how readers will react to your ideas and whether
you have chosen appropriate kinds of evidence and design elements.
3.4. Revising
Having revised your draft and made changes to its content and organization, it’s
time for you to edit. Editing is the process of checking the draft to improve its
grammar, punctuation, styl e, usage, diction (word choice), and mechanics (such
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yourself, but you might also ask others for assistance, especially writers and
editors in your organization. One technology that e nables people at different
locations to work together is a wiki, a website that lets authorized readers edit a
document (also referred to as a wiki) and archives all the previous versions of the
document. The resources devoted to editing will vary depending on the importance of the document. An annual report, which is perhaps the single most
important document that people will read about your organization, will be edited
rigorously because the company wants it to look perfect. A biweekly employee
newsletter also will be edited, but not as rigorously as an annual report. What
about the routine emails you write every day? Edit them, too. It’s rude not to.
3.5. Proofreading
Proofreading is the process of checking to make sure you have typed what you
meant to type. The following sentence contains three errors that you should catch
in proofreading:
There are for major reasons we should implementing health -promotion program.
Here they are:
1. “For” is the wrong word. It should be “four.”
2. “Implementing” is the wrong verb form. It should be “implement.” This
mistake is probably left over from an earlier version of the sentence.
3. The article “a” is missing before the phrase “health -promotion program.”
This is probably just a result of care lessness.
By the way, a spell -checker and grammar -checker didn’t flag any of these errors.
Although some writers can proofread effectively on the screen, others prefer to
print a copy of the text. These writers say that because the text looks different on
the page than it does on the screen, they are more likely to approach it with fresh
eyes, as their eventual readers will, and therefore more likely to see errors.
Regardless of whether you proofread on screen or on paper, the process is no fun.
You’re exha usted, you’re thoroughly sick of the document, and proofreading is
not the most exciting thing you have ever done. But it is vital to producing a
clear, well -written document that reflects your high standards and underscores
your credibility as a professio nal. Don’t insult yourself and your readers by
skipping this step. Reread y our draft carefully and slowly, perhaps out loud, and
get a friend to help. You’ll be surprised at how many errors you’ll find.
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3.6. Summary
This chapter explained the writing process t hat focuses on the techniques and
tools most useful for technical writers, that enables a technical writer to write
effective and efficiently .
Unit End Exercise
Q. No 1. ______ can take more than a third of the total time spent on a writing
project, is critically important for every document.
a. Planning
b. Cut
c. Copy
d. Pasting
Q. No 2. Which of the following is a Cloud based application that converts
handwriting into text, translate text into a number of languages, and
feature cloud -based storage?
a. WritePad
b. Notepad
c. Calculator
d. Remote Login
Q. No 3. Who, what, when, where, why, and how are popularly known as six
_____ questions.
a. Journalist’s
b. Geologist’s
c. Data analyst’s
d. Software Tester’s
Q. No 4. One way to expand on your topic is to write your main idea or main
question in the middle of the page and then write second -level and
third -level ideas around it, is known as ____.
a. Clustering
b. Merging
c. Collecting
d. Deleting
Q. No 5. One way to help you expand on your topic is to write your main idea
or question at the top of the page and then write s econd -level and
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41Chapter 3: Writing Technical Documents
a. Branching
b. Merging
c. Collecting
d. Deleting
Q. No 6. Revising is the process of looking again at your draft to see whether it
works. After you revise, you will carry out two more steps —editing
and proofreading — during this which are the three large topics to
focus on:
a. Audience, Purpose and Subject
b. Plan, Do and Act
c. People, Product and Process
d. Unit testing, integration testing and System testing.
Q. No 7. Drawing a wider knowledge base is ____ of Collaboration.
a. Advantage
b. Disadvantage
c. Limitation
d. Problem
Q. No 8. Collaboration can lead to interpersonal conflict, is a ___ of collaboration.
a. Disadvantage
b. Advantage
c. Merit
d. Application
Q. No 9. Most word processors offer three powerful features that you will find
useful in collaborative work:
a. Comment, revision and highlighting feature.
b. Cut, copy and paste
c. Save, Open and close
d. Save, Save -as and Make a copy
Q. No 10. _____technology allows two or more people at different locations to
simultaneously see and hear one another as well as exchange documents, share data on computer displays, and use electronic
whiteboards.
a. Videoconferencing
b. Instant Messaging
c. Email
d. Word processing
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42TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Questions for practice
1. ________, which can take more than a third of the total time spent on a
writing project, is critically important for every document, from an email
message to a book -length manual.
2. For each of your most important readers, try to answer the following three
questions:_______ ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. 7KH VL[ -RXUQDOLVW¶V TXHVWLRQV BBBBBBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBBB
___________, ___________, ___________ and ____ can help you figure
out how much more resea rch you need to do.
4. ______ is a process of writing without plans or restrictions, without stopping, can help you determine what you do and do not understand. And
one phrase or sentence might spark an important idea.
5. One way to expand on your topic is to wr ite your main idea or main
question in the middle of the page and then write second -level and third -level ideas around it, this technique is known as ______________________________
6. Branching is a technique of ______________________________________
________ _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
7. __________ are preformatted designs for different types of documents,
such as letters, memos, newsletters, and reports.
8. Templates incorporat e __________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.
9. Collaboration draws on a wider knowledge base. Therefore, a collaborative
document can be _______________________________________________
__________ ___________________________________________________
10. Collaboration provides a better idea of how the audience will read the
document. Because ____________________________________________,
working with collaborators produces _______________________________
_____________________________________________________________
11. Collaboration takes more time than individual writing. It takes longer
because of the ________________________________________________
to communicate.
12. Participating in a meeting involves _______ ___ and ___________. If you
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43Chapter 3: Writing Technical Documents
13. Most word processors offer three powerful features that you will find
useful in collaborative work: _________________ feature, _________________ feature and _________________ feature.
14. _________ is real -time, text -based communication between two or more
people.
15. ______ i s an asynchronous medium for sending brief textual messages and
for trans ferring files such as documents, spreadsheets, images, and videos.
16. ________________________technology allows two or more people at different locations to simultaneously see and hear one another as well as
exchange documents, share data on computer displays , and use electronic
whiteboards.
17. The best -known ________ is Wikipedia, an online __________ that contains some four million articles written and edited by people around the
world.
References: Books and References: Sr. No. Title Author/s Publisher Edition Year 1. Technical Communication Mike Markel Bedford/St. Martin's 11 2014 2. Innovation Management and New Product Development Paul Trott Pearson 06 2017 3. Handbook of Technical Writing Gerald J. Alred , Charles
T. Brusaw ,
Walter E. Oliu Bedford/St. Martin's 09 2008 4. Technical Writing 101: A Real -World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Content Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O'Keefe scriptorium 03 2009 

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Unit 2
4 INTRODUCTION TO CONTENT WRITING
& BLOG CREATION
Unit Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 An Overview
4.3 What Is Content Writing? & Its Types
4.4 Distribution of your content across various channels.
4.5 How to create Blogs.
4.6 Study different challenges to create blogs.
4.7 Understand the psychology behind your web traffic
4.8 Creating killing landing pages which attract users
4.9 Using Landing Page Creators
4.10 Setting up Accelerated Mobile Pages
4.11 Identifying UI UX Experie nce of your website or blog
Summary
Unit End Exercise
List of References
Bibliography
4.0 Objectives
It covers the technological developing skills for writing Article, Blog, E -Book,
Commercial web Page design, Business Listing Press Release, E-Listing and
Product
Description.
This chapter will help you to understand
• What is Content Writing? And its types.
• Different channels for distribution.
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45Chapter 4: Introduction to Content Writing & Blog Creation
• Understand the psychology behind your web traffic
• Creating killing landing pages which attract users
• Using Landing Page Creators
• Setting up Accelerated Mobile Pages
• Identifying UI UX Experience of your website or blog
4.1 Introduction
Excellent and rich content is the backbone of a website. The content you put up
says volumes about who you are as a brand. content writing includes things like
writing your website copy, product descriptions, sales collateral, advertisements,
and focusing on traditional print media (like press releases or print ads) and
infographics. This is the nuts -and-bolts type of content writing that often people
don’t think about or spend a lot of time on.
4.2 An Overview
In this digital era many people find themselves helpless to reach to the people
with their ideas, so content writing, blog creation will help in it. The students can
understand the concept of Content Writing and its types, Different channels for
distributi on after reading this chapter. Students will be able to create Blogs
without any challenges. They will understand the psychology behind your web
traffic and will be able to Create killing landing pages to attract users. In this
chapter we learn to identify UI UX Experience of your website or blog.
4.3 What Is Content Writing? & Its Types
Content writing is the process of planning, writing and editing web content,
typically for digital marketing purposes. It can include writing blog posts and
articles, scrip ts for videos and podcasts, as well as content for specific platforms,
such as tweetstorms on Twitter or text posts on Reddit.
From Facebook posts to eBooks to newsletters to websites, content marketing can
take many shapes —and so should your content writing! We’re going to take a
look at the different types of content writing and how you can improve your
content writing skills.
What are the types of content ?
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1. Blog Posts/Articles
Perhaps the most dominant form of content on the web, blog posts, and
articles have a great de al to offer your audience. Detailed written content
can drive lots of organic traffic to your site, while also informing consumers
about your products, brand, and expertise in the field.
Long -form pieces of content allow brands to match up with popular que ries
and searches that are relevant to their audience by answering questions or
teaching concepts. Additionally, blog sections are golden opportunities for keyword optimization and gaining inbound links, which dramatically helps with SEO
and traffic growth . These types of online content allow writers to include
multiple targeted keywords, especially long -tail ones, to increase link ratings on the SERPs.
According to the latest research from HubSpot , businesses that utilize blogs
in content marketing specifically are 13 times more likely to increase their
ROI. Another great thing about blogging is that it is quite easy to incorporate into most websites.
Blog posts are often used to drive in organic traffic by creating content that
is relevant to their audience’s common searches. For instance, Harver offers
a software program for hiring and recruiting, so their blog tends to focus on
articles with advice on best practices.

Source : https://harver.com/blog/
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Platforms like WordPress and Blogger can help you get started in building a
following and driving traffic. But, you should also be publishing blog
content on your own website for SEO. While blog posts and articles can be
long, they tend to range anywhere between 300 to 2,000 words, with
the optimal length being around 1,600.
2. White Papers, eBooks, and Report s
White papers, eBooks, and reports allow brands to extrapolate on their
topics and incorporate more details. Typically, this type of content tends to
be around 3,000 to 5,000 words in length – and is commonly downloadable
as PDFs.
Long -form content has pr oven to be abundantly valuable to businesses of
all kinds. Ultimately, the goal of this type of content is to promote an in -
depth level of expertise and industry knowledge.

Source : https://www.salesforce.com/form/conf/sales/5 -things -productive -
salespeople -do/
eBooks ca n boost your rankings for keywords while also collecting lead
information and providing valuable insight for readers.
White papers and reports may take longer than blogs to develop, but
statistics indicate that they’re incredibly effective at garnering peo ple’s
attention and establishing expertise in any content marketing distribution
strategy.
According to Survey, about 79 percent of B2B buyers share white papers
with colleagues, and eBooks can be shared thousands of times.

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3. Podcasts
Podcasts weren’t a big deal a decade ago, but now, there are more than 29
million podcast episodes on the airwaves. Over half of Am erican consumers
have listened to at least one episode and 32% listen regularly.
According to this graph from Statista , it is estimated that there will be as
many as 13 2 million podcast listeners by the year 2022!

Image Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/786826/podcast -listeners -
in-the-us/
This form of audio has grown rapidly over the past several years, and it’s a
smart idea for businesses to jump on the band wagon.
Podcasts are an engaging, personable tactic in which you can reach users –
even people who don’t enjoy reading can learn about your products and
brand ideas. Podcasts allow customers to consume content more passively.
For example, they can listen to a podcast while at the gym or driving, but
they couldn’t read an article and do these things.
Fortunately, there are plenty of content marketing distribution software
solutions and platforms available to promote your podcast.
For example, the Penguin Rand om House is one of the leading publishing
companies in the industry – but they noticed a shift as people were more
interested in audiobooks and podcasts as opposed to printed content.
They launched their own podcast called “The Penguin Podcast”.
The conten t shares insightful interviews with popular authors. By utilizing
this popular concept, Penguin Random House was actually able to increase
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their revenue as their listeners agreed that they were more likely to purchase
a book from the publisher after listening to an episode on the author.
For our in -house podcast, The Ma rketing Microscope , We primarily cater
towards B2B entities by focusing on marketing subjects. However, podcasts
are just as relevant to B2C organizations.
4. Email Newsletter/Nurturing Campaigns
If your business consistently has new products, updates, or information to
share with readers, a regular email newsletter is a “bread and butter” form of digital content delivery. And as you’ve seen from the previously mentioned reports, email content far and away has the best ROI of content
used by bot h B2B and B2C organizations.
Emails are simple, concise, and generally short – making them pretty easy
to create on a consistent basis. The key is to give your emails meaningful
headlines so they don’t end up in the spam or trash folder.
Nurturing campaigns occur when you send a series of these emails out to
your subscribers, then gather data about them to speed up the buying
process and alter your content creati on for the better. It is often best to
create a trigger -based email system that will create semi -personalized email
content based around user behavior.
For example, Salesforce often sends a follow -up email after a customer has
interacted with their website and submitted their email address.

If the customer doesn’t respond, a follow -up letter then is automatically
sent two weeks later.
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This gives off a more personal vibe to their content – as opposed to a
traditional “newsletter” approach. However, both types of emails are extremely popular and effective.
5. Videos
Did you know that 75 million people in the United States watch an online
video every day?
The ease of use and accessibility of video over the past several years has
made it a must -use form of content for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Mark Zuckerberg himself has even gone on record stating that he believes
most online content will be video in the near future!
Not convinced?
Take a look at how much time Americans usually spend watching various
kinds of vi deo platforms, including live television and social media apps.

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Image Source: https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2018/time -
flies-us-adults -now-spend -nearly -half-a-day-interacting -with-media/
Video has become an increasingly popular form of co ntent production,
mostly because people watch all kinds of media on their smartphones
around the clock.
One reason why this content form is so popular is because it can also be
consumed somewhat passively. Furthermore, you have a better chance of
keeping a viewer’s attention with a 30 -second video clip – as opposed to a
long article they have to read.
Live video is another popular type of digital content that many brands are
using to build engagement with their audience in real -time. And according
to Facebook’s own research, people engage with live streams for three
times as long as other content.
Many brands are jumping on the live stream train to host live tutorials or
Q&A sessions that keep their audiences glued in. For example, Banish
Beauty hosts weekly live streams with the CEO and other influencers to
announce new products, show tutorials, or answer submitted questions.
We can expect to see this kind of media content distribution gain even more
influence over the next few years.
6. Thought Leadership or POVs
People love hearing from experts. It gives them a source of information
they can trust, no matter what subject or industry they’re researching. To jump on the thought leadership train, you can conduct/publish interviews with leaders in the field to get advice and helpful information.
You might even try to get some experts to do a guest post on your website
here and there to give their point of view on the hot trends.
These interactions can be done in the form of a blog, podcast interview,
video, or even a webinar – then shared through a variety of content
distribution sites.

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7. Infographics
Infographics are great because they’re eas ily shareable and consumable.
They create interesting visual representations of information and statistics,
making them far easier to read than just a list of numbers and facts.
Readers love infographics because they often make concepts easier to
understan d and digest. In fact, consumers are thirty times more likely to
fully consume a piece of content if it is an infographic – compared to one
that is only written in text.
Content producers like them because they’re relatively quick to create but
pack a powerful punch. If lots of your content is based around facts and figures, turning these articles into visual content is a simp le but highly effective way to drive in more interested traffic. There are numerous tools available to help you easily create content online, too. Visme.co is a great option, as well
as PiktoChart and Canva.
Here’s a quick tutorial from Piktochart showing you just how easy it can be
to create an impressive infographic w ith their software.
With these tools, all you really need to do is add the data you want to
include, arrange it in an artful yet readable manner, then add it on your blog
and/or social media profiles.

8. How -To Guides
As soon as you type the phrase “how to” into Google’s search box, the
engine gives you countless suggestions. Google itself has found that queries
including the phrase “how to” have increased by 140% over the past fifteen
years.

Whether people are attempting to learn how to boil eggs for the first time or
download a YouTube video, a comprehensive how -to guide can be extremely helpful.
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Think about what people need to learn in your field and what kind of
informative directions you can provide. If you play your cards right, you
can create a how -to guide that goes viral within your industry.
How -to guides can be videos, long -form articles, or infographics. The most
important aspect is that it is easy to understand, so including lots of visuals
is usually a good route to take.
If you need inspiration on what to create, take a look at your customer
service department’s most common inquiries. Help your customer s
troubleshoot issues by creating content that shows them step -by-step
instructions to answer those FAQs.
Shopify does a great job of this on their own blog, with numerous guides to
help entrepreneurs launch their online stores with the platform.

Source https://www.shopify.com/blog/topics/guides
9. Social Media Posts
There is no question that every single business should be utilizing social
media in some capacity. But using your social media platforms as content
distribution networks isn’t enough; you should also be creating content
that’s specific to your various channels.
Social media platfor ms are essentially turning into brand -focused search
engines. 40% of consumers have used a social media site to research new
businesses and products. Furthermore, consumers are more likely to purchase from brands who are active and engaging on their social accounts.
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Source https: //www.smartinsights.com/social -media -marketing/social -
media -strategy/new -global -social -media -research/
Many social channels have released new features that businesses can use to
engage even more with their followers and speed up the sales cycle.
For instance, on Instagram and Snapchat, you can create stories or share
live chats with your viewers. You can even include tools like polls or Q&A
submissions to make things more interactive.

Source https://www.instagram.com/joindrop/
Social platforms are also making it easier than ever for customers to buy
products directly through posts. Instagram now allows brands to embed
direct product links on published posts as well as in their stories.
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Source https://www.instagram.com/ultabeauty/
Other platforms like Pinterest and Facebook have similar offerings, too.
Remember, be sure not to keep your social content strictly promotional.
Most users tend to find this behavior quite annoying and will most likely
unfollow your account if you are only trying to sell them stuff. Instead, they
prefer brands to be honest, friendly, and helpful.

Source https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/q2 -2017/
Explore the various options on the social media platforms you use, then
experiment with different kinds of content for your followers.
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10. Case Studies and Client Profiles
Case studies and client profiles are more difficult to find on most business
websites because they take a great deal of time and energy to create.
However, they also hold a substantial amount of weight with readers –
they’re essentially success stories that show the power of your company and
its services.
They are also extremely influential on B2B buyers. 79% of these consumers preferred case studies over any other type of content marketing –
as they helped them make a m ore informed purchasing decision.

Source: Content Preferences Survey Report
Creating this content does take time, and you will need to reach out to past
customers and clients to make sure they are ok with you building a case
study around them. You will also need concrete data to prove these results.
Remember that these do not always need to be long -form content either. Testimonial videos can also be extremely effective, like this case study video from Pioneer Business Systems featuring their clients at Elliot Lee
Real Estate.
By researching and taking an in -depth look at a specific subject (most likely
a positive story from your own body of work), your business can increase
its trustworthiness and expertise in the eyes of users – backed with proven
success.
The more specific results you can showcase and the deeper you can dive
into your process; the mor e effective people will believe your company can
be.
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11. Webinars
Webinars are another form of engaging content that can do wonders to
educate customers. These are typically used by B2B organizations – as they
tend to be quite factual.
Webinars have proven to be extremely effective for increasing marketing results, sales, and engagement rates. According to research from ClickMeeting, 76% of B2B buyers have made a purchase after w atching a
webinar.
Obviously, webinars need to be interesting and relevant to keep your
audience engaged. The majority of viewers prefer webinars to last between
thirty to forty -five minutes. Also, 92% of viewers want to interact through a
live Q&A session at the end, so be sure to include this option.
Another smart tip here is to collaborate with other thought leaders in your
industry to hear their expert opinion and provide exclusive content. For
example, Kissmetrics created a webinar featuring the CEO of Mammoth
Growth, who is an expert on marketing.

Source :https://www.gotostage.com/channel/54240c1d411c4281879a2cb309
e0787f/recording/04c725fec054418a970025740a96a359/watch?source=
CHANNEL



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4.4 Distribution of your content across various channels.
Content Distribution is the act of promoting content to online audiences in multiple media formats through various channels. These channels can be categorized into three groups: Owned, Earned, and Paid.
• Owned Content Distribution: This includes distributing content to web
properties that belong to you, like your blog, email newsletter, social
media, or microsite.
• Earned Content Distribution: This is when third -parties distribute your content or content about you through press coverage, guest article contributions, retweets or shares, or product reviews.
• Paid Conte nt Distribution: This is when you explicitly pay for content
distribution. Payment could take many forms, but often works on a cost -
per-click (CPC) model where the owner of the content pays a certain
amount every time someone clicks through to view the con tent.

How Does Outbrain Content Distribution Work?
Outbrain falls into the paid content distribution bucket. Our content recommendation modules are installed on thousands of premium publications
around the world. Websites like CNN, ESPN, Time Inc, and the Washington
Post, entrust us to serve interesting articles and videos to their engaged audience
of readers, and our algorithms personalize these content recommendations to each individual consuming content on these premium publications. Marketers pay using a cost -per-click bidding system to show up in these modules.
Content Types for Distribution
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There are many types of content that you can distribute. From blog posts to case
studies, infographics to podcasts, and white papers to videos, your distributio n
strategy is only limited by your imagination.

Content Distribution Examples by Industry
If you’re looking for specific examples relevant to your brand’s industry, there
are several case studies describing how companies have used Outbrain’s paid
content distribution and the positive results they’ve seen for their businesses.
Associations and Government
• The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) uses content distribution to engage senior decision -makers.
• Shelter uses content distribution to ed ucate people in housing need.
Automotive
• Nissan boosted the visibility of a new model through content distribution.
• SEAT built an awareness and consideration of their three flagship models
through content distribution.
Business and Finance
• Visa distributed video to influence decision -makers.
• Money Dashboard targeted mobile devices to boost engagement of their
content and drive signups.
Education
• Babbel, the online language learning platform, drove 4.5 million users to
their digital magazine through content distribution
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Fashion and Lifestyle
• One Kings Lane, a home decor e -tailer, reduced its cost -per-acquisition by
50% with content distribution.
Food, Beverage, and CPG
• Huggies reached traffic through content distribution that spends 22% more time on their site compared to search engine traffic.
Health
• 8fit, a personalized fitness app, received over 30,000 downloads per month by distributing their content.
Public Relati ons
• Fleishman Hillard, a top global communications firm, turned local press
into national coverage through content distribution.
Tech and Telecommunications
• Trend Micro, a cloud security company, reached small and medium -sized
enterprises through content distribution.
Travel and Hospitality
• Tourism Ireland saw a 33% drop in bounce rate, and 335% increase in
dwell time from content distribution.
Content Distribution Tools
There are many different tools beyond Outbrain that can be used to round out
your content distribution strategy. Here are a few of our favorites.
Mailshake.com – Email outreach is still an effective way of getting your content
in front of the right people. Manually sending new content to your contacts is very time consuming, but the personal touch is still a critical piece of this outreach puzzle. Mailshake allows you to automate certain pieces of the process
that will save you to ns of time.
Wisestamp.com – Think about all the emails your employees send everyday.
They all have some kind of standard email signature that usually includes a link
or two. Wisestamp allows you to make use of that space to include links to your
most recen t piece of content.
ClicktoTweet.com – Making it easier for the consumers of your content to share
that content is an important part of any distribution strategy. Adding share buttons
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would want to tweet is taking this strategy to the next level. Click to Tweet makes
doing this dead simple.
GaggleAmp.com – Your employees are often the most active sharers of your
content, but coordinating what, when, and where to share is a logistical nightmare
and can keep your content’s reach from growing. GaggleAmp allows you to hook up all the social networks of your employees to a central hub, controlling everything about the employee sharing process in one place.
4.5 How to create Blogs .
As per a study, blogs contribute 55% more to any business. But here the agony is
to be unique between these 160 million blogs and gain people’s responsiveness.
As the competition is getting tougher you also need to change your techniques
and to your
adva ntage will be your own thoughts in easy language, which is comprehensible
to all age and classes. Let’s see how we can dig into ourselves to get better results
and make sure that our blog is not lost in many.
1. Find your Interest First
We all have some kind of interest always, and we all take blogging in a
different way. For some it is just a money -making formula, and for some
it giving out important information. Discover within yourself for the
information that you are very good at, an d think will be beneficial to your
target readers.
2. Think of Good Keywords for Your Site
Again, by a survey it has been seen that 45% of the traffic is able to come
to your site by search engine. It means that your keyword net should be
strong. For that you need to think on a customer’s behalf that what kind of
key words you will put to locate your kind of a site. Once you are satisfied
put them on your text and title of your post.
3. Go Easy
People, who love to read, take book and blog reading and writ ing
differently. They can read a novel of 1000’s of pages patiently, but in your
blog you can’t take the risk. So, your paragraphs must be 4 to 5 lines and
yes, your headline should also be able to attract the readers. If you have
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4. Don’t Overuse the Popup Ads
We do write blogs to earn but not at the cost of reader’s frustration. If you
bombard the page with ads your readers are going to get irritated of
course. Imagine what you would do if you face l odes of ads in between
your reading an article. Come out of the page, right? They would do the
same. And I am sure; you wouldn’t want to go off without saying a thing.
5. Make Use of Captions For Images
Pictures create a good visual effect. Since the childhood we all get fascinated to see pictures. You can take advantage of it. You can make your blog more attractive using these free pictures at FreeDigitalPhotos.net and us.fotolia.com Images related to your blog with
a caption will create a better effect a nd attract people to click on it.
6. Ask To Take Action
Your goal is to increase the business, so for that you need to ask your
people to subscribe for your e -books, newsletters, or prompt them to click
on shop now. After reading your blog the next step s hould be to move
further or take action.
7. Social Media Connection
The 28 % of the traffic is generated through the social network. As per the
survey Facebook leads any social media sites followed by Twitter than
LinkedIn. So make sure to use them wisely to your interest.
What does it take to Create a Blog?
To make a blog we have different alternatives, this time we are going to mention
the 2 most common and easy to follow:
• Create a blog with your own domain, and your own web hosting. We
can do what we want and it is also easier to monetize. This is the most
recommended option, but it requires us to make a small investment of
money and it will take us more time to complete.
• Use an existing blogging platform such as Blogger.com where you just
have to have a Gmail account and we can create our Blog in a few steps.
It is not necessary to buy a domain or a web host. The platform is all -
inclusive and ready to go.
Create your blog for Free on Google!
Creating your own blog can take a little time, between 10 to 30 minutes. So, grab
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Believe it or not it is very easy, at the beginning it costs a bit because it is
something new, but once you take hold of the thread it becomes a routine and
each new thing is easier and easier to learn.
Once we have practice and are already familiar with all this, we can advance to a
higher level by creating a blog with our own domain and web hosting.
We are going to make our first blog in 5 steps:
1. Choose the na me of the blog.
2. Create an account on Blogger.
3. Customize the blog.
4. Write and publish your first article. The fun part!
5. Monetize your blog. Get income through ads that visitors see on your
blog.
At the end of the article, we also leave you a video where you can see an example
of the steps explained here.
Step 1: Choose a blog name
The first step in finding a good blog name is choosing your topic.
If you're not sure what to blog about, there are a few ways to find a good blog
topic:
• Hobbies and passions. Hobbi es or other interests that you are passionate
about are a great place to start. Cooking, travel, fashion, sports, and cars
are classic examples. But even blogging about weirder hobbies can be
successful, as your audience is literally anyone in the world co nnected to
the internet.
• Life's experiences. They all have lessons that they have learned through
life experience. Sharing this knowledge can be of great help to others in
similar situations. For example, some mothers who have children with
autism problems have helped other people by sharing advice and tips
through their personal experience. Think about the things you have
experienced in life. This could be related to your family (example: a blog
about being a stay-at-home mom ), work (a blog about experienc es in
dealing with clients) or other life experiences (a blog about how to deal
with a troublesome moment like illness or divorce, or about a happy
moment, how to prepare for a wedding or the birth of a child ).
• A personal blog. A personal blog is a blog about you. This will include a
variety of topics; from things you do on a daily basis to random thoughts
and reflections. This is a great way to share your thoughts with the world
without having to stick to just one topic.
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A good blog name should be descriptive so potential readers can instantly know
what your blog is about just by name.
There are almost 2 billion websites online on the Internet.
In other words, staying ori ginal can be quite a challenge.
As well as being able to register a Gmail email with your names and surnames the
first time, there are also many interesting names waiting to be chosen.
Step 2: Create a Blogger account
• Sign in to Blogger . To log in you only need a Gmail account. Follow this
link: blogger.com
• Click CREATE YOUR BLOG. If you have not yet logged int o Gmail , a
window will appear to log in with your email account, otherwise it will
ask you to choose an account in which you have already logged in.
Choose the account with which you want to manage your blog.
• Then it will ask you to choose the name of the Blog. Write the name
you want to give your blog and click Next.
• Choose an address or URL for your blog and click Save. The address
must be a name without spaces or special characters.
• Important! If the address is already occupied, you will see a warning
with an exclamation point. To continue choose a different name.
• It will ask you for a visible name , enter the name of your blog and click
"finish".
• It is done! You now have a Blogger account.
Below you will see the interface of the Blogger platform, each time you enter this
screen it will be your starting point:

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Step 3: Customize the blog
In this step we have to "dress our" blog so that it has a design with which we can
differentiate ourselves from the rest, for this we go where it says "Theme".
• Below you will see a list of themes or templates and choose the one you
like the most.
• You can see a preview and if you like it, click Apply
• If you click on "View Blog" you can see what your new blog looks like.
• Now we are going to customize the cover phot o, for this we will click on
"Design" and then on "Theme Designer"
• We will see a thumbnail on the left, and we click on change image. Now
we can upload a photo to give our blog a more personal look.
• Now we can return to the screen by clicking on the orange blogger icon
that appears in the upper left.
Step 4: Write and publish your first article.
Now the fun begins, writing your first post.
For this, we will first explain how you should create the content and then the
practical part.
Each blog post must be i nformative and engaging
It is not always easy to propose different topics on a regular basis.
After all, it is your space.
But there are some elements that each and every blog post should strive to
include.
• Define the blog post: Create an engaging title th at stimulates curiosity
and encourages clicks. Use the first paragraph of your post to clearly
define the topic of your article and provide a possible hook to keep the
reader reading.
• Engaging the reader: At the end of each blog post, a common tactic used
to engage readers is to pose a meaningful question to your audience and
ask them to respond in the comments. This simple measure can multiply
commitment by 10 and keep them coming back for more.
• Original content: the publications your blog should always be original. Never plagiarize, especially if you want to earn some money. Your content should come from your heart, your brain, your knowledge base,
and your experience. You can get topic ideas from other blogs, but make
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• Orig inal photos: It is easy to include images downloaded from the Internet or free image sites, but even better to include your own photos.
Another idea is to take free images and manipulate them with a free photo
editor.
It's time to publish your first article
1. From the main Blogger screen, click on "New Post."
2. Next you will see the editing interface. Using it is very simple, in this
image you will see the main options.
3. The toolbar is very similar to that of editors such as Microsoft Word,
Excel, etc. Wit h it, you can shape your texts by adding images or links.
4. If you want to see a preview, click the preview button at the top.
5. When everything is ready, click on the button that says "publish" in the
upper left.
6. And that's it, that's all. Do not forget to share the content on social networks or with friends and acquaintances.
Congratulations!
Now you know how to start your own blog and publish content!
Step 5: Monetize your blog
Once you have made the effort to create excellent blog content, and you start
receiving visits, you can start to earn money in different ways, the most common
is by showing ads around the content, although it may also be that people with
businesses related to your topic offer you a payment for mentioning them on the
blog or putting a s ponsored link.
Blogs have the potential to be extremely lucrative, but no one starts making
money in the first week, or even the first month.
It could take anywhere from six months to a year to begin to see a steady stream
of income.

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Blogging takes work and dedication, but once you develop a large enough audience, there are several methods you can employ to monetize your blog.
4.6 Study different challenges to create blogs.
In reality, blogging is a full -time job and requires dedication, patience, creativity,
commitment, marketing skills, and so much more.
The sad reality is that there are lots of problems bloggers face and they cause
most of the beginning bloggers to fail. Especially it is a drag to browse already
popular blogs and see th e whole range of skills and talents on display: excellent
writing, brilliant photography, fun videos and witty debates in the comments. And
yet, if you ever feel discouraged from starting something just because other
people are far ahead, remember to have the courage to suck at something new.
Besides, those blogs probably have a whole team of professionals working for
them. No one has all the talents.
Anyway, now that we’re past the initial pep talk, let’s talk about the absolutely
necessary quality for a b eginning blogger: optimism. It’s indeed true that mostly
whenever there’s a problem, there is also the solution! So, let’s identify the 10
major blogger issues and discuss the solutions in more detail.
1 Not having a clear topic and niche for the blog
2 Lack o f quality content
3 Writing style
4 Voice
5 Plagiarism alert!
6 Not keeping on topic
7 Not enough traffic
8 Absence of feedback
9 Few or no repeat visitors
10 Low income
1. Not having a clear topic and niche for the blog
Finding the right topic for your blog website is the very first and probably
most important step in blogging. A lot of beginners fail here because of
the unwillingness to narrow down their blog’s focus.
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way going to bring you success.
Think of all your favorite blogs or just the blogs you know. Notice how
you can clearly differentiate blogs on current issues in your country from
blogs dedicated to, say, Katy Perry’s fashion choices? Exactly. Readers
need to know what you’re promising. That’s why all those wishy -washy
personal blogs get categorized and branded as soon as they gather even a
small readership. Wondering which 7 blog niches are growing in popularity recently? Check out this article.
Here you can read about all the pros of having a niche while blogging,
from attracting a specific audience to better -planned SEO. blog topic ideas
Solution: When building a house, the first stones are chosen most carefully and constructed with extra caution. It’s the same with blogging:
selecting your focus should be done very carefully, so that you’re able to
stick to it.
You better start by making a list of all the things that you love/are
passionate about.
Then start the process of evaluation: consider the importance of each of
the topics for yourself personally and your knowledge about each, do a bit
of research to identify the competition. That way you can narrow down
the list until you reach one single topic.
Make it as specific as possible. But again, make sure it’s not so specific it
becomes boring for you or you’ll abandon your readers halfway thr ough.
2. Lack of quality content
Nothing matters as much as quality content. It’s your biggest weapon
when attracting readers and trying to keep their attention.
Lack of high -quality content can be a hell of a problem.
Also, pay attention to the very real tradeoff between quality and quantity.
There may be exceptions, but typically the well -researched original piece
of reporting you spent three days writing is better than the genial shower
thought.
5-star blog content
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important questions: Why am I interested in this? What’s the value or
uniqueness of this particular narrative angle?
On the other hand, you shouldn’t forget the readers — in the end, you are
writing for your audience. It might be useful to settle for yourself why the
post will be important or engaging for the target audience, how t rendy or
important the topic is, and how your ideal reader will be transformed or
moved by reading your piece.
I’d also advise doing some research: reading the top -ranked posts on the
same topic to assess the competition so that you can bring s omething new
and interesting to the table.
Finally, quality content depends on media use, too, so try to include more
than plain boring text.
Videos, images, links, polls, and games will liven up your blog and make
it more unique. Medium is the message after all.
Wanna know where you can find free images for your blog? Click here for
a list of the 10 best websites that’ll help you beautify your blog.
3. Writing style
You don’t need to be a professiona l writer to blog, but your writing style
might become a blogger problem if it’s too dull, monotonous, academic or
something along those lines.
Ultimately, you don’t target yawning readers, do you? yawning woman
with a smartphone
Solution: It might seem like a cliché, but the best thing you can do to
improve your writing is write the way you talk.
Keep it simple and short: the simpler your speech, the more attractive it is.
If your readers felt like reading com plicated words and elaborate sentence
structures, they’d probably pick up Ulysses, instead of visiting your blog.
Here you will find detailed tips on how to write the way you talk.
4. Voice
Your blog is your brand and you need to have a unique voice to keep your
readers interested.
As it goes, fans of Taylor Swift would hardly listen to your Metallica, and
lovers of romance literature probably wouldn’t appreciate your sci -fi!
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However, finding that one specific fitting voice might be quite hard sometimes because you definitely have more than just one style of expression.
"Find your voice" with a microphone to the left of it
Solution: Think about your target audience. Whether you’re targeting
angsty teenagers, photographers or professional cooks is quite important
when choosi ng your voice.
Once you’ve specified the audience, you need to research their culture and
check the specific terms and slang they use, the style they like. Some
bloggers even advise to write for one ideal reader.
5. Plagiarism alert!
Sometimes it’s hard to get rid of the impression that all the best music has
already been composed, the best books written, and the best drawings
painted.
Whatever you do, it eventually turns out that someone somewhere already
had t he same idea, realized it, and you were messing with someone else’s
intellectual property the whole time. And there is no way to prove you
never even heard of the dude!
So, plagiarism is a big threat to your blogging career.
A lamp with "Copy" written to its left and "Paste" to its right
Solution: This is one of the hardest issues to face.
One general piece of advice would be reading more to expand your
mindset and be more aware of what’s been said already. Pa raphrasing, if
used properly, is also a powerful tool. But that doesn’t mean that using the
same idea and replacing a few words with synonyms is going to work.
Another important aspect is making sure to stop and check whenever
you’re suspicious about a certain idea or formulation and not being afraid
of quoting and referencing, if it comes to that.
We are indeed standing on the shoulders of giants, after all! Finally, online plagiarism detecting services, such as quetext and edubirdi e are
quite helpful.
6. Not keeping on topic
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Failing to k eep on topic is one of the reasons some bloggers fail to
maintain and grow their community.
a maze with a question mark at the center of it
Solution: All you have to do is stay loyal to your niche and restrain from
getting too broad . If your blog is about progressive metal music, writing a
post about a new great garage rock revival band can be considered a
betrayal.
Consider each post before you start working on it, make sure it belongs to
at least one of your blog’s cate gories. Try to think like your readers again.
If your blog is aimed at marine biologists, become one! Just kidding, try
to think as one and decide whether the topic is interesting for them.
If your answer is “hardly,” you are better off without that post.
7. Not enough traffic
Here comes one of the most heartbreaking problems: you work hard on
your posts, you have informative and interesting content, but your blog
gets no traffic. The search engines just hide your blog from potential
readers.
A colorful chart with a dozen of different characters around it
Solution: Self -promotion is key to being successful in the blogger world.
You need to make yourself visible to the engines.
You might have heard of SEO. Maybe you’re already sick of it and think
it’s overrated, but the thing is that SEO can pull you out of the shadows.
You need to know the basics of SEO to adjust your posts and content in a
way that Google never passes by without noticing you.
Self-promotion nowadays is such a vast realm that there are almost too
many things you can do to get your blog read. Besides working on your
blogging website’s SEO, you can write guest posts and link back to your
blog, buy an ad s pot in a similar blog, make a special effort to write on the
trendiest subjects, optimize your website’s performance, make friends
with influencers and get a shoutout. But none of these will work out that
well if you don’t work on your site’s SEO.
Yet another thing that you can do to increase your traffic is social media promotion. Opening a Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter page and spreading information about the existence of your blog might not be a bad
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8. Absence of feedback.
How do you interpret the silence of your readers? Is your content just “no
comment” cool or are they indifferent? It’s disheartening (ha!) to put your
heart into you , the posts only to get 0 attention in return!
A thought bubble made up of different cartoon people
Solution: Well, for now keep in mind that most readers who read your
blog will not leave a comment no matter what. You see, that’s just the
most common way people browse. So, one way to get more feedback and
that boo st of serotonin that comes with it, try to devise other ways visitors
can participate. Can they just “like” or click a specific emoji? Vote in an
online survey? Take a test or play a game?
If you’re dead set on getting more comments, remember that give -and-
take works both in life and on the blogosphere, so commenting on others’
blog posts is one option. The important thing though is to show your
readers that you value their say.
Be responsive; try to reply to the comments y ou get as quickly as possible.
Engage your readers by explicitly asking for their opinion, encouraging
them to leave you feedback.
Finish your posts with a question for your readers, asking about what they
think on the topic, etc.
9. Few or ze ro repeat visitors
You might be read but not consistently. If very few are willing to stick
around and follow your blog, something is definitely wrong.
Welcome back written on a painting next to a plant and a notebook
Solution: It’s important to consider the fact that most people these days
browse everything through social media sites. Mostly, people don’t type
in URLs, they “like” a page on Facebook or “follow” it on Instagram or
Twitter and then if something that content creator posts sparks their interest, only then they click. Meaning it is absolutely crucial that you
foster you social media presence. Even better if you form a community
that will like and share your blog posts in exchange of, well, you liking
and shari ng their posts.
In general, I do believe that once you fix all the above -mentioned issues
— especially the ones regarding consistency and quality of content — more and more people will be eager to return to your blog and subscribe/bookmark.
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posts or events. If you’re not sure how to create a newsletter, check this
article out.
10. Low income.
Finally, last but surely not the least painful problem, if your initial
motivation was money, is low income.
Coins stacked up near a calculator
Solution: First thing to keep in mind is that you need to be patient. Nothing
happens right away. It’s reasonable to have other income sources to rely on until
you gain popularity.
Don’t stick to just one platform — promote yourself on many! Then, after your
blog develops and flourishes, there are lots of ways to make money through it,
most connected with monetization and selling ads.
One of the most widely used methods is monetizing the blog with CPC and CPM
ads. Here you’ll find valuable advice on how to make money with your blog.
Dotcomonly has a detailed article on how to start a blog and make money, or you
can consider building and selling a course with an online course platform.
Blogging isn’t easy, but now you’re prepared to handle what’s coming at you. To
have a quality blog you’ll need to invest a lot of effort and stay patie nt.
4.7 Understand the psychology behind your web traffic
What is Website Traffic and how to interpret it?
Definition: Website traffic refers to web users who visit a website. Web traffic is
measured in visits, sometimes called "sessions," and is a common way to measure
an online business effectiveness at attracting an audience.
Web traffic is important — but not the only thing
When ecommerce took off in the 1990s, the metric of web traffic was first viewed
as the most important means of determining a website's popularity, as other
metrics did not yet exist to gauge online success. As digital marketers got savvier,
analyzing a website's performance became much more comprehensive.
Analysts no longer just ask "how many people visited?" Now, it's just as — if not
more — important to find out:
How long did users stay? Bringing in huge amounts of traffic is ultimately
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What % of users made a purchase? For an online business to flourish, it needs a
large audience. But it also needs to be the right audience. Determining how many
users buy products, commonly measured by conversion rate, shows whether an
ecommerce store is effectively selling marketing their product offerings.
How much does it cost to bring in a visitor? Some web traffic is free, but many
online stores rely on paid traffic — such as PPC or affiliates — to support and
grow their business. Cost of Acquiring Customers (CAC) and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) are arguably the two most important ecommerce metrics. When balanced with AOV (average order value) and CLV (customer lifetime
value), a business can assess and adjust its ad spend as necessary.
Website traffic is not the be all, end all of ecommerce performance measurements. But it is still a great starting point to determine a website's popularity and visibility. Consider two contrasting ecommerce underachievers:
a) Website A:Effective call to actions and concise yet eloquent product descriptions convert a high percentage of visitors to sale, but they only
bring in minimal traffic.
500 monthly visits * 40 sales = 8% Conversion Rate (CR)
b) Website B: Ranks highly in natural Google search listings, puts out we ll-
received content, and brings in paid advertising. They do outstanding with
web traffic, yet convert a minimal number of visitors.
5000 visits, 40 sales = 0.8% CR
This example illustrates why marketing metrics such as web traffic cannot be
viewed in a vacuum. Two contrasting websites achieve the same outcome, where
they are failing to capitalize on what they do well. By focusing on the one metric
where they excel, it fails to acknowledge the area for improvement. By studying
the whole picture and optimizing areas of subpar performance, ecommerce stores
give their customers the best possible experience while maximizing revenue.
How is website traffic actually recorded?
When someone visits a website, their computer or other web -connected device
communicates with the website's server. Each page on the web is made up of
dozens of distinct files. The site's server transmits each file to user browsers
where they are assembled and formed into a cumulative piece with graphics and
text. Every file sent r epresents a single “hit”, so a single page viewing can result
in numerous hits.
It is not only the traffic on the website's homepage that is monitored. Rather, all
segments of the website are constantly monitored by the server to determine
exactly how many hits each receives. In web vernacular, a single visit is known as
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Servers are able to compile every request for a web page, arming its operator with
the information needed to determine how popular the site is and which pages
receive the most attention. When a web server processes a file request, it makes
an entry in what is known as the “server log” on the server's hard drive. The log
gathers entries acros s posterity, forming a valuable database of information that
the site owner can analyze to better understand the website's visitor activity.
4.8 Creating killing landing pages which attract users
Landing pages are single web pages that advertisers employ t o direct users after
they have clicked on a digital advertisement. Unlike your standard website pages,
landing pages are designed specifically for your ads, making them designed to
drive conversions and to increase your return on ad spend. They can be crea ted
using code or landing page builder platforms and tools. The landing page’s
website URL is then linked to your ad from your advertising platform of choice.
Besides being created to support your ad’s message, landing pages are different
from your website pages because they typically focus on one message and do not
include external links like a menu or toolbar. It sounds counterintuitive not to
want users to visit other pages on your site. However, the job of the landing page
is to get users to take a cert ain action that aligns with your advertisement’s offer.
Landing pages may be used in a variety of ways, but most often they are used to
capture lead information. To get a user to happily hand over their information,
such as their email address, the landing page usually includes an attractive offer.
Users would already be aware of the offer as the ad they click on would have
announced the offer, so the landing page gives them an easy way of getting what
they click on the ad for.
A successful landing page wil l connect an ad to an offer seamlessly through
consistent styling, design and messaging. Visitors to the site will then convert
easily, providing you with their contact information that can be used in future
email marketing campaigns.
Who Landing Pages Are Right for?
Advertisers who want to get the most out of their ad spend and optimize ads for
maximum conversion should use landing pages. The general rule of thumb for
PPC advertising is that a unique landing page should be used for each campaign.
Use landi ng pages to ensure users are able to get what they clicked on your ad for
easily.
Landing pages should be used for:
• Advertisers who don’t have great websites: Landing pages are a cost -
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• Businesses without offers available on their website: It’s unlikely that
you will have an existing webpage that precisely matches the messaging
of your ad, so custom landing pages are an effective way of matching ads
to offers
• PPC advertisers who want to control the sales funnel further: Landing
pages reduce normal website noise, such as menus, leading to a clearer,
on-page call to action, which results in a higher conversion rate than
generic web pages
Even if you’re confident in y our business website , you will likely benefit from
using a professional landing page. Businesses that switch from linking web pages
and ads to landing pages and ads usually see an increas e in the number of
conversions their ad produces. The main point of using your ad spend is to
generate business and capturing leads and driving users through your sales funnel
via a landing page is a surefire way to do that.
Are you into real estate busine ss? If so, you’ll benefit from our article on real
estate landing pages , check it out!
Landing Page Cost
Landing pages cost nothing to use and can be free to build if you’re creating them
using code or via a free landing page builder platform. The top landing page
builder sites charge users a monthly fee ranging from $25 to over $99, however.
If you are able to hire someone to build your landing page for you, it can cost
anything from $5 for a freelancer from Fiverr to more than $500 for a professional marketing company.
Landing Page Providers — Features and Cost Provider Starting Cost Best For >ĞĂĚƉĂŐĞƐ$25 per month Businesses that want to build their own landing pages without coding knowledge at a very affordable price hŶďŽƵŶĐĞ$79 per month Businesses that are tech-savvy and in need of SSL encryption /ŶƐƚĂƉĂŐĞ$99 per month Those who want to build landing pages quickly based on their existing website design A Marketing
Agency $300-$700+ per landing page Businesses with larger budgets that want to outsource their landing page build to a local business &ŝǀĞƌƌ$5-$300+ per landing page Those who do not want to build a landing page in-house and are on a tight budget munotes.in

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If you need help deciding which landing page builder is best for you, take the
quiz below. It will offer you a customized recommendation based on your
responses.
How to Create a Landing Page in 8 Steps
To create a landing page, first determine the right platform for building it, then
define your goals, pick a call to action, write your copy and design your ad and
link your landing page to your ad.
Follow these eight steps to create a landing page that will help increase your on -
page conversions:
1. Determine the Right Landing Page Platform for You
Your landing page platform is where you will build your landing page. Tho se
developing pages using code may do this via their website’s backend, whereas
those seeking easy -to-design landing pages that do not require design or web
knowledge would choose landing page builders like Leadpages or Instapage .
Since the average person doesn’t know how to write code, you will most likely
use a landing page builder platform.

Landing page examples.
2. Define Your Goal
The goal of your landing page is your conversion objective; this is most often
lead collection, event registration , newsletter opt -ins or downloads. The goal of
your landing page should match your advertising goal. Keep your advertising
goal in mind to be better equipped to design a landing page that will reach said
goal. If you’re using a landing page builder, choose a template that will fit both
your goal and brand.
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Leadpages landing page templates.
3. Pick a Call to Action
Your landing page’s CTA needs to reflect your ad’s CTA. For example, if your
ad says “get a free pass” and your landing page says “become a mem ber now,”
then there is a discrepancy between the two. Facebook considers changing your
offer from ad to landing page a deceptive marketing practice and may, therefore,
reject your ad or even shut down your account for doing so.

Landing page CTA example.
4. Write a Catchy Headline
Your headline should more or less match the headline of your ad. However, it is your chance to reiterate the reason a user is visiting your landing page. Reminding them why they’re there keeps them on the page and makes them more
likely to convert. Remember that mobile landing pages have a limited amount of
space, so keep your headline short and to the point. The more you say, the less
that will be read.
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Landing page headline example.
5. Source Supporting Media
Every landing page should include a visual to make it more aesthetically pleasing
and to help convey the ad’s message. Most often, landing pages use images, but
there are instances when a business will choose to use a video instead of an image
on their landing page. No matter which you choose, be sure that your media is
high quality, sends a positive message and is relevant to your ad’s goal and your
brand. Try Pond5 for tons of quality images at no cost.

Choose an image for your landing page.
6. Use a Simple Contact Form
The less on your landing page, the better — contact form included. It’s tempting
to request lots of user contact information, but the more you require a user to
provide, the less likely they will convert. For example, if you’re offering a free
guide that is sent electronically, you don’t need to request a user’s phone number
or mailing address. Instead, condense the form to require only their name and
email address to help drive more conversions.
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Example of a good landing page contact form.
7. Link Your Landing Page to Your Ad
To get your ad directing clicks to your new landing page, you will need to update
your ad’s URL with that of your landing page. Those creating their landing page
using code will use their own custom URL, whereas those using a landing page
builder will be able to generate a URL that can be copy and pasted automatically.
Link your Landing Page to Google Ads
If you’re using your new landing page for a Google ad, start by logging in to your
Google Ads account.

Go to your ads in Google Ads.
Select the corresponding campaign, then go to Ads.
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Update Ads in Google Ads.
You will then have the option to update the URL of existing ads, create a new ad
or duplicate an existing ad. This is where you can input your new URL.

Edit existing Google Ad.

Update URL in Google Ads.
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Link your Landing Page to Facebook Ads
If you’re using your new landing page for a Facebook ad, you will want to
confirm that your landing page complies with Facebook’s strict advertising
policies.
Once you’re familiar with the differences of Facebook landing pages, go to your
Facebook Ads Manager account. Click the “Ads” tab in the upper right -hand side
of the screen. Ads tab in Facebook Ads Manager.
From the Ads page, either create a new ad by pressing the green “+Create” button
or update an existing ad by hovering over it and clicking or duplicate.

Edit or create a new Facebook ad.
If creating a new ad, follow the prompts. If you’re updating an ad, copy and paste
your landing pages URL and click “Publish” to save.
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Update a Facebook Ad’s URL
8. Add Analytics Tracking to Landing Page
In order to track your landing page’s performance, yo u will need to be sure to add
data and analytics tracking to your page. There are a number of analytics tools
you can use, from the classic (and free) Google Analytics to Heap . These will
give you a code, which is then inputted into your landing page code. If you’re
using a website builder, you will pas te that code into the area of your website
platform designated for analytics tracking.
8. Optimize Your Landing Page
Once your landing page is live and up -to-date, you’ll want to begin monitoring
and optimizing your landing page. Like your ads, ad settings , audience and
keywords, landing pages need to be continuously improved. Using data from the
landing pages gives advertisers insights into areas of opportunity they can use to
update and optimize ads.
Some elements are very obviously going to impact landin g page effectiveness
while others can be very surprising. For example, you know tweaking a headline
or using an alternative image will impact your landing pages success but, oddly,
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changes like switching the font or changing the color of the CTA button can also
impact conversion rates drastically.
Here are some ways to optimize your landing page:
• Segment by traffic source: Segment your audience via ads and adjust
landing pages to better fit groups of people that convert
• Try different offers: Create campaigns that call out two offers to discover which is more effective at capturing leads
• Adjust color scheme: Color can have a powerful impact on conversions;
you may find certain colors outperform others, so be sure to test them in
your design
• Change image: It may seem obvious to you which image is best for your
landing page, but what actually resonates with your target audience could
be something different
• Instill urgency: Try using limited offers with only a certain number of
offers available or for only a small window of time to test if that drives
more conversions
• Play on emotions: Test both ad copy that makes people happy, as well as
ad copy that plays on people’s pain points to find which works best for
your target audience
• Adjust sales cop y: You may not realize that you’re overselling, but you
also might not see that you’re underselling either; try variations of sales
copy for your offer to discover your sales sweet spot
• Include testimonials: People trust others more than they trust busines ses,
so using testimonials in your landing page can help increase conversions;
test different testimonials to see which is more effective
• Always A/B test landing pages: Find out which landing page is the most
effective by using two different ones simultane ously
To optimize landing pages, you will make adjustments one at a time.
Updating only one aspect of the landing page lets you better understand if
that change was fruitful or not. For example, if you change both your
headline and your image a nd that results in increased conversions, you
won’t be able to tell whether the headline or the image drove the increase.
Also, remember that changing an offer or CTA will mean you also need to
update your ad copy to match it.
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Tips for Creating Great Landing Pages
Landing pages may all look a bit different to reflect each advertiser’s branding,
messaging and offer. However, great landing pages have a few things in common.
Landing pages will all follow a similar format to ensure clean and clutter -free
pages, a straightforward CTA, a compelling offer and more.
Here are some tips for creating a great landing page:
• Don’t use more than one CTA: It can be appealing to use more than one
CTA, but don’t do it as landing pages should only use one CTA
• Choose a val uable offer: An offer might be cost -effective, but consider
whether it is enticing to your audience and whether the offer will help you
reach your goals
• Be clear in your message: Be sure not to confuse your ad’s message
• Keep your design clean: Don’t muddy up your landing page with a lot of
copy and images; keep it simple to make it effective
In our article 10 Landing Page Examples: Anatomy of a Great Landing Page ,
we dissect landing pages to help you understand what differentiates a good
landing page from a great landing page, which you can use to design your own.
Landing page template examples.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Where Can I Create a Free Landing Page?
It’s not impossible to find a free way to create a landing page, but the catch is
most free options come with caveats. For example, you can create a landing page
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for free if you know how to build web pages using code, although the average
small business ow ner’s area of expertise isn’t in web development. Other free
options exist, such as Mailchimp, Wix and Squarespace, but to create free landing
pages with them, you will need to become a member.
Is a Splash Page the Same as a Landing Page?
A splash page is not synonymous with a landing page. A splash page is essentially a pop -up on a website. A landing page, on the other hand, is its own
freestanding web page.
How Do I A/B (or Split) Test Landing Pages?
A/B testing is a simultaneous test of two differing lan ding pages run to segments
of the same audience. Platforms like CrazyEgg allow automated A/B testing,
which enables users to change single variables on th eir landing pages and see how
that change affects conversions.
Can I Use the Same Landing Page for Facebook Ads and Google Ads?
Facebook Ads and Google Ads have different requirements for landing pages.
Failing to comply with Facebook’s advertising policie s can lead to rejected ads
and banned accounts. If you think your landing page would be good to use with
your Facebook ads, be sure to update it to meet Facebook’s requirements.
The Bottom Line
Landing pages are where users land when they click on your ad. They are your
opportunity to convert valuable clicks to leads and achieving your advertising
goal. Advertisers that use landing pages typically see higher conversion rates,
making their ads more effective and their ad spend go further. If you’re not using
them already or not using them at all, it’s time to start.
If you’re hesitant to create your landing page yourself using code or a landing
page builder, you can still get a great landing page. Fiverr is a great source for
finding professional freelancers who are experts at building landing pages that
convert. For as little as $5, you can test out landing pages for yourself and start
seeing more conversions right away.
4.9 Using Landing Page Creators
The 9 best landing page builder apps
• Google Sites for making free landing pages
• Carrd for building landing pages q uickly
• Mailchimp for driving email newsletter signups
• KickoffLabs for competitions and giveaways
• Unbounce for small businesses with a budget
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• Leadpages for selling products on a landing page
• Instapage for easily making lots of landing pages
• Landingi for professional marketers
4.10 Setting up Accelerated Mobile Pages
What Is AMP?
In October 2018 , Google announced Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), a very
accessible framework for creating fast -loading mobile web pages. The open -
source initiative is designed to enable publishers to easily improve speed (and
consequently, the user experience) for their mobile readership without sacrificing
any ad revenue that they may rely upon.
Although experienced developers can often achieve similar results through intensive performance optimizations, publishers often neglect this due to resource constraints. AMP allows these optimizations to be easily achieved without altering the primary mobile web experience.
There’s also the added benefit of its future usage by Google and other prominent
web technology companies, who are encouraging its use by integrating it heavily
into their respective platforms.
How Does AMP Work?
Essentially a framework for creating mobile web pa ges, AMP consists of three
basic parts:
1. AMP HTML: A subset of HTML, this markup language has some custom tags and properties and many restrictions. But if you are familiar
with regular HTML, you should not have difficulty adapting existing
pages to AMP HTML. For more details on how it differs from basic
HTML, check out AMP Project’s list of required markups that your AMP
HTML page “must” have.
2. AMP JS: A JavaScript framew ork for mobile pages. For the most part, it
manages resource handling and asynchronous loading. It should be noted
that third -party JavaScript is not permitted with AMP.
3. AMP CDN: An optional Content Delivery Network, it will take your
AMP -enabled pages, cache them and automatically make some performance optimizations.
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How Will You AMP Your Site?
For starters, you will have to maintain at least two versions of any article page:
The original version of your article page that users will typically see, and the
AMP version of that page.
Since AMP doesn’t permit things, such as form elements and third -party
JavaScript, you likely will not be able to have lead forms, on -page comments and
some other elements you may be used to having on your page in a standard
implementation. (Although there is currently a hack using iframes that provides a
solution to this. Thanks to Conrad O’Connell for helping me verify the hack.)
It is also likely that you will have to rewrite your site tem plate to accommodate
the restrictions. For example, all CSS in AMP must be in -line and be less than
50KB. Due to loading -intensiveness of custom fonts, they must be loaded using a
special amp -font extension, in order to better control that loading.
Multime dia must be handled specially. For example, images need to utilize the
custom amp-img element and must include an explicit width and height. (When
converting a legacy website to an AMP template, this can be a major pain if the
width and height attributes aren’t already being used). Additionally, if your
images are animated GIFs, you need to use the separate amp-anim extended
component .
Like images, there is a custom tag that must be used to embed locally hosted
videos via HTML5, called amp -video. For embedding YouTube video, however
— which the majority of web videos are — there is a separate extended compone nt, amp-YouTube .
There is also support for things such as slideshows via amp -carousel and image
lightboxes via amp -image -lightbox, as well social media embeds for Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Vine via their own extended components .
These tag and extended components aren’t difficult to use; they just require some
planning in your site desig n.
In order for Google (and other technologies supporting the AMP Project) to
detect the AMP version of your article, you will need to modify the original
version of the article page. The original article page must include the following
tag, essentially a canonical tag for AMP pages:

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(Currently, “article,” “recipe,” “review” and “video” are listed as page type
examples on GitHub.)
Moreover, it also indicates that Schema.org meta data “is a requirement to make
your content eligib le to appear in the demo of the Google Search news carousel.”
So if you’re trying to get a future benefit from Google by implementing AMP,
make sure you get your schema right!
How Can I Monetize with Ads In AMP?
The increased rise of ad blockers has made it difficult for publishers to monetize
their websites. For some users, improving website load time has been an incentive
to use ad blockers, which can aid in improving browsing speed. AMP may be
seen as a response to this issue, with the project stat ing:
A goal of the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project is to ensure effective ad
monetization on the mobile web while embracing a user -centric approach. With
that context, the objective is to provide support for a comprehensive range of ad
formats, ad network s and technologies in Accelerated Mobile Pages.
As a result, a number of the most popular ad networks are currently using
the amp-ad extended component (with more compatibility likely on the way):
• Amazon A9
• AdReactor
• Google AdSense
• AOL AdTech
• Google Doubleclick
• Flite
• Taboola
• Adform
• DotAndAds
• plista
• Smart AdServer
• Yieldmo
If you want to see what these looks like, examples for each ad network are
provided within the .md files on AMP’s GitHub page .
If your monetization is more complex — utilizing paywalls or subscriptions —
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Does AMP Have Analytics?
Yes. In fact, analytics in AMP is very smart. To prevent multiple analytics tracking from slowing down a site, they implemented the philosophy of “measure
once, report to many.” There are two paths to enable analytics functionality with
AMP for your website:
• The Amp -Pixel Element: This is a simple tag that can be used to count
page views as a typical tracking pixel would, using a GET request. There
are a number of variables that can be passed through it, such as DOCUMENT_REFERRER and Title.
• The Amp -Analytics Extended Component: This is a little bit more advanced than the amp -pixel. It is likely what you’ll use to implement
analytics on your site because it allows for a greater level of co nfiguration
for analytics interactions.
If you aren’t trying to get Google Analytics working, amp -analytics is the way to
go. You will need to add the necessary JavaScript library in the and then
configure it via some JSON markup in the secti on of your page.
If you are interested in Google Analytics in AMP, check out the Google’s AMP
Analytics section on their developer page. It has several examples of implementations.
What Will AMP Look Like On Google?
Google has provided a demo of what an AMP feature would look like in the
SERP. You can try it out by navigating to g.co/ampdemo on your mobile phone
(or emulate it with in Chrome Developer Tools). Then, search for something like
“Mars.” You will see a carousel toward the top with AMP articles.
Click on one for a reading experience embedded in the SERP. You can swipe
right or left to read another AMP -enabled article. It’s a different experience from
simply navigating to a publisher’s AMP page.

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Several major publishers can be found within the demo, such as The Guardian
(example AMP page ) and The Washington Post ( example AMP page ).
How Do I Get Started With AMP In WordPress?
One of the easiest ways to get your hands dirty with AMP right now is to
implement it on a WordPr ess website. An official plugin is being developed by
Automattic/WordPress, and it is frequently being updated on GitHub.
Step 1: Install The Official WordPress Plugin
To get started, head over to the amp-wp GitHub page and click the “Download
ZIP” button.
You can install this on your WordPress site just as you would any other WordPress plugin.
Once it’s installed, you simply need to append ³DPS´ to an article page (or, if
you don’t have nice permalin ks, you can alternatively append ³"DPS ´ ).
Step 2: Validate & Tweak
Eventually, the Google Search Console should pick up on the AMP version of
your articles via the rel=”amphtml” tag appended by the plugin, allowing easy
validation of articles in bulk. Th e only problem with it, in my experience thus far,
is that it doesn’t detect changes very quickly. If you fix something, the correction
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I recommend using a combination of the Search Console and Chrome validation
process. To use the Chrome validation process, go to one of your AMP pages in
Chrome and append ³GHYHORSPHQW ´ to the end of the URL. Hit Control +
Shift + I to open Chrome Developer Tools and head over to Console.
You may need to refresh the page, but once you do, it will either say “AMP
validation successful” or give you a list of issues to fix.

More than likely, simply installing the WordPress plugin will not be enough, and
you will have to go through and validate all of the pages you’d like to benefit
from Acce lerated Mobile Pages.
Depending on how your articles are formatted, you may need to make some
changes in order to get the AMP pages to validate. The most common problems I personally experienced were with specifying height and width attributes for images a nd correcting old YouTube embed codes that weren’t using https.
Step 3: Get Schema Markup To Validate
As previously mentioned, it is also important to have valid schema markup on
your AMP pages. To test your pages for valid markup, you can use Google’s
Structured Data Testing Tool . I had some issues with WordPress not displaying a
publisher logo and needed to make the following modification to the plugin.
Edit the class -amp-post-template.php file, either via FTP or within your
WordPress Dashboard (go to Plugins > Editor and then select “AMP”) and
change:

if ( $site_icon_url ) {
$metadata['publisher']['logo'] = array(
'@type' => 'ImageObject',
'url' => $site_icon_url,
'height' => sel f::SITE_ICON_SIZE,
'width' => self::SITE_ICON_SIZE,
);
}
to:

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$metadata['publisher']['logo'] = array(
'@type' => 'ImageObject',
'url' => 'http://domain.com/wp -content/uploads/logo -60.png',
'height' => 60,
'width' => 170,
);
Make sure to replace the URL with a path to your own publisher logo and to
specify height and width in pixels. You can find information for relevant markup
here, which specifies that “ideally, lo gos are exactly 60px tall with width <=
600px.”
Step 4: Getting Google Analytics Working With The AMP WordPress
Plugin
What good is a website if you can’t track it with analytics? The AMP WordPress
plugin doesn’t enable amp -analytics out of the box, but it ’s fairly straightforward
to enable.
4.11 Identifying UI UX Experience of your website or blog
You need to learn about two important web design specialties: UX and UI design.
They sound similar but don’t mistake them for the same thing. They’re unique
and contribute to different elements to the overall design – and to how your
website moves customers through your sales funnel.
For most small business owners, your website is a digital portfolio that tells more
about your business, your company’s values and v iews, and your products or
services.
But did you know that a good website design also contributes to 75% of your website’s credibility? That’s why it’s important to have at least a basic understanding of UX and UI design, so you know how they work in tand em to
ensure your website is driving your business goals.
First things first: let’s understand the meaning of these two acronyms and how
they relate to your business website.
UX stands for User Experience: This area of web design weaves critical analysis
and logic to understand and plan for a user’s interaction with products, systems,
and services. It includes usability, design, navigation, and impression. Simply put,
it’s about creating a user -centric design. UX design is like the blueprint of a
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UI stands for User Interface: It’s all the little meeting places between a user and a
computer program, in this case, your website. The interface is a set of commands
or menus that h elp a user communicate with the program. UI design determines
how easily and intuitively a person can do what they need to do with your site. UI
design is like the furnishings and paint and little details that evoke the mood of a
home.
Both UX and UI are coherent design disciplines with a similar focus, which pave
the way for a fantastic end -product. It wouldn’t be wrong to state that UX and UI
are complementary aspects of web design, with one being incomplete without the
other.
When it comes to their diff erences, it’s important to project these disciplines as
separate organizational roles. While UX is more of a data -driven projection of
how the customer is expected to feel when on your website, UI takes the design
patterns and even the minutest of details into consideration.
Plus, UI design is about making the layout delightful and enjoyable, whereas UX
design concerns ease of usage. UX is more of a concept or rather a feeling that
promises seamlessness, responsiveness, and the overall premise of the websit e.
On the other hand, UI comprises elements, tools, technical tidbits, and digital
interfaces directly associated with the design process.
If you’re a visual learner, take a look at this image that shows the differences
between UX and UI design: illustrati on of a drawing of a brain divided in two
sections that describe the ux and the ui characteristics
Top Reasons to Invest in UX Design
The post -pandemic era might just be the ideal time to invest in UX design.
Visitors and prospective customers pay close at tention to user -friendly websites,
and Google’s recent algorithm updates have been heavily focused on UX design
ranking signals. Your site’s user experience officially impacts where you sit in the
search results.
Here are the top five reasons to invest in UX design:
Improve the customer experience: The right UX design is all about anticipating
your users’ needs and wants, then helping them easily move through your website
toward an ultimate goal. An excellent UX design encourages extensive interac tion
with your business through suggested next steps, call -to-action (CTA) buttons,
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Decrease bounce rate: When the immediate result of landing on your website is a
strong UX design with a clear path to find relevan t information, visitors are more
likely to stick around on your site which means a lower bounce rate.
Drive eCommerce sales: For an eCommerce website, a strong UX design can
result in fewer instances of cart abandonment, thereby leading to an increased
number of purchases. Believe it or not, a responsive and customer -centric UX
design actually pushes conversions and sales figures up by 400%! A web design
agency can build you a high -quality eCommerce website, or you can choose an
eCommerce platform like Shopify or Wix that allows some flexibility to customize your design and boost sales.
Cut customer service costs: An efficient UX layout can save a massive amount of
money on customer service when people can find answers to their questions with
ease and don’t need to contact the company via forms, chats, calls, emails, or
social media. If the website is interactive and easy to use, paths to information
and processes will feel self -explanatory.
Improve ranking signals: User experience has evolved into a vital ra nking signal.
With Google valuing mobile -friendliness and website loading speeds as vital cogs
in the ranking wheel, there is no choice but to incorporate UX design as a priority
in your SEO and business growth strategies.
UX Best Practices for Website Own ers
UX design is essentially building a home for your content. You have to plan for
the right number of rooms, doors, and windows before you can start building it!
Always start a website redesign project by mapping out what content you have
and what conten t you need. The content should guide the structure – you don’t
want to just pick a design and then try to make your content fit into awkward
places! If a website redesign is on your mind, start by mapping out ideas based on
the content flow. Assess the exi sting and planned content before envisioning a
working UX prototype for where it will all go. A content -centric approach takes
care of the page transitions and overall flow of the website.
A good way to approach a UX strategy for your website is to know yo ur users’
goals. Why did they come to your website, what do they need to be able to do,
and how can you help them quickly accomplish it? For instance, you could
conduct phone or chatbot surveys, or create a pop -up survey on your website.
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Good UX design is about creating a positive outcome, and it all comes down to
usability. A good UX strategy might mean having to let go of certain superfluous
design elements to accommodate ease, speed, and simplicity. More often than not,
this approach also takes the audience base into consideration. With the positive
outcome being the essence of any UX design, your focus should be on easier
decision -making and faster navigation.
Don’t ask too much upfront in your website’s lead forms! Each field a user needs to enter is a small barrier to conversion because it requires effort and a willingness to share personal details. Try to pare down form submissions, CTAs,
and similar elements, especial ly if you are starting out. The more typing and
sharing a person needs to do, the more annoying the process becomes. A good UX design is about asking only for the basic details required to start a conversation with your customer.
Summ ary
This chapter helps to understand the concept of Content Writing and its types,
Different channels for distribution. Students will be able to create Blogs without
any challenges. They will understand the psychology behind your web traffic and
will be able to Cre ate killing landing pages to attract users. In this chapter we
learn to identify UI UX Experience of your website or blog.
Unit End Exercise
Exercise 1. Create a blog on anyone of the following topics.
1. Computer Technology Blogs.
2. Robotics Blogs.
3. Fashion Blogs.
4. Food Blogs.
5. Travel Blogs.
6. Music Blogs.
7. Lifestyle Blogs.
8. Fitness Blogs.
9. DIY Blogs.
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Exercise 2. Answer the following questions
1. What Is Content Writing? & Its Types
2. How Does Outbrain Content Distribution Work?
3. How to create Blogs?
4. What does it take to Create a Blog?
5. What are major blogger issues and discuss the solutions in more detail?
6. What is Website Traffic and how to interpret it?
7. Explain landing pages in brief.
8. How to Create a Landing Page?
9. What Is AMP? How Does i t Work?
List of References
https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/measuring -the-user-experience
https://expresswriters.com/what -is-content -writing/
https://10web.io/blog/10 -biggest -issues -bloggers -face-and-how-to-tackle -them/
https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how -to-create -a-landing -page/
https://zapier.com/blog/best -landing -page -builders/
https://forgeandsmith.com/blog/ux -vs-ui-how-they-work -together -in-web-design/
Bibliography
Technical Communication Mike Markel Bedford/St. Martin's 11th Edition
Innovation Management and New Product Development Paul Trott
Handbook of Technical Writing Gerald J.Alred , Charles T.Brusaw , Walter E.
Oliu.

™™™™
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Unit 2
5 ORGANIZING YOUR INFORMATION

Unit Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 An Overview
5.3 Understanding Three Principles for Organizing Technical Information
5.4 Understanding Conventional Organizational Patterns
Summ ary
Unit End Exercises
List of References
Bibliography
5.0 Objectives
This chapter will help readers to understand the basic concept of Information
handling and organising it. This chapter will help to answer questions like What is
Information? How to organize information? And What are its benefits? etc.
5.1 Introduction
This chapter establishes the theoretical and philosophical basis for the thesis. Key
concepts are examined. These concepts are ”data ”, “information” and “meaning”
and an associated concept, “learning”. Habermas’ Theory of Communicative
Action, is referred to in order to explain how, in the process of sharing information,
people reconstruct meaning. Learning is a specific case of sharin g information and
constructing meaning.
Organizing is the second part of the perception process, in which we sort and
categorize information that we perceive based on innate and learned cognitive
patterns. Three ways we sort things into patterns are by us ing proximity, similarity,
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together go together. For example, have you ever been waiting to be helped in a
business and the clerk assumes that you and the person standing beside you are
together? The slightly awkward moment usually ends when you and the other
person in line look at each othe r, then back at the clerk, and one of you explains
that you are not together. Even though you may have never met that other person
in your life, the clerk used a basic perceptual organizing cue to group you together
because you were standing in proximity t o one another.
5.2 An Overview
During the planning phase of your writing process, you need to organize the
information that will go into a document. Writers draw on a number of structures,
or organizational patterns, to deliver information to their audie nces. But how do
you know which organizational patterns will work best for a given project? Is it a
question of the information you want to communicate? The audience you are
addressing? The purpose you are trying to achieve? The culture in your own
company ? Short answer: to varying degrees, all of these factors will influence the
pattern you choose. To get some ideas, talk with experienced co -workers, study
other similar documents, and read this chapter.
At this point, you should know for whom you are writi ng and why, and you should
have completed most of your research. Now it is time to start organizing the
information that will make up the body of your document, whether it is a print
document or an online one
5.2.1 What is Information?
Information is stimuli that has meaning in some context for its receiver. When
information is entered into and stored in a computer, it is generally referred to as
data. After processing -- such as formatting and printing -- output data can again be
perceived as information .
5.2.2 Why do we need to organise information?
Organizing information is at the heart of information science and is important in
many other areas as well. In bibliographic and similar information systems it
involves classification as well as the d escription of documents or other entities; in
database management it is known as data modelling ; in artificial intelligence, as
knowledge representation for expert systems, natural language understanding, and
other purposes; in psychology, as the structure of memory and cognition; in
linguistics, as syntax and semantics and structure of discourse; in technical writing,
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classification of organisms and in the study of information t ransferred through
genes. In all scholarly and scientific fields, organizing information is important for
establishing frameworks for thought used in research and teaching. It assists in the
formation of useful concepts and it serves to clarify terminology to assist both
authors and readers. Many of these topics are coming together in the emerging
discipline of cognitive science. Finally, philosophy of knowledge is concerned with
the clarification of many of these issues.
5.2.3 Benefits of organized Informa tion
Organise data
How do you find the research data you and your collaborators have created,
gathered and manipulated? As time passes and data volumes and file numbers
increase how do you prevent the issue becoming unmanageable? It is very easy for
research (and any other) data to become disorganised, and data organisation isn’t
going to be top of your list of priorities. However data organisation is time well
spent. Use file and folder structures, and name, describe and document your data.
This will save time, reduce errors and enable you and others to find and understand
what you have done. Practical methods and processes, used consistently are
required.
Benefits
Ɣ Save time – being able to find things
Ɣ Reduce loss of data
Ɣ Reduce errors e.g. badly described data, confusion between file versions
Ɣ Enable you and others to find and come back to what you have done
Ɣ Enable you and others to understand what you have done (description)
Ɣ Enable you and others to understand how your data was derived
Ɣ Understand why exactly you recorded what you did
Ɣ Provide evidence of work undertaken
Ɣ Provide evidence of validity of work undertaken
Ɣ Verification – evidence of logical processes and methods
Ɣ Retraceability
Ɣ Reproducibility
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Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust introduced a structured electronic records
system within mental health, with the intention to support operational and researc h
activity. This involved creating and implementing a comprehensive and consistent
scheme of structuring and naming files and folders. One direct benefit of this work
was to facilitate research activity which included searching through and analysis of
text of medical records. It was found that evidence could be discovered in a matter
of minutes, which previously demanded hours or even days of effort looking for
and manually searching through physical medical records.
5.3 Understanding Three Principles for Organizing Technical Information
In organizing your information, analyse your audience and purpose, use conventional patterns of organization, and display your organizational pattern
prominently.
As with any important writing task, you might want to discuss your ideas about
how to organize the document with others in your netw ork. They might identify
other factors that you should consider or suggest other patterns of organization that
might work better for your audience, purpose, and subject.
5.3.1 Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
In organizing your information, analyze your audience and purpose, use con -ventional patterns of organization, and display your organizational pattern prominently.
As with any important writing task, you might want to discuss your ideas about
how to organi ze the document with others in your network. They might identify
other factors that you should consider or suggest other pat -terns of organization that
might work better for your audience, purpose, and subject.
Although you thought about your audience and purpose as you planned and
researched your subject, your analyses of audience and purpose are likely to change
as you continue. Therefore, it is useful to review your initial assessment of audience
and purpose before you proceed.
Will your audience like th e message you will present? If so, announce your main
point early in the document. If not, consider a pattern that presents your important
evidence before your main point. Is your audience used to seeing a particular
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you will probably want to use that pattern, unless you have a good reason to use a
different one.
What is your purpose in writing the document? Do you want your audience to
understand a body of information or to accept a point of view and perhaps act on
it? One purpose might call for a brief report without any appendixes; the other
might require a detailed report, complete with appendixes.
If you are addressing people from other cultures, remember that organizati onal
patterns can vary from culture to culture. If you can, study documents written by people from the culture you are addressing to see whether they favor an organizational pattern different from the one you are considering.
As you do so, ask yourself the following four questions:
Ɣ Does the document follow expected organizational patterns?
For example, this chapter discusses the general -to-specific pattern. Does the
document you are studying present the specific information first?
Ɣ Do the introduction and conclusion present the kind of information you
would expect?
In the United States, main findings are often presented in the introduction; in
some other cultures, the main findings are not presented until late in the
document.
Ɣ Does the d ocument appear to be organized linearly?
Is the main idea presented first in a topic sentence or thesis statement? Does
supporting information follow? In some cultures, main ideas are withheld
until the end of the paragraph or document.
Ɣ Does the documen t use headings? If so, does it use more than one level?
If documents from the culture you plan to address are organized very
differently from those you’re used to seeing, take extra steps to ensure that
you don’t distract readers by using an unfamiliar or ganizational pattern.
5.3.2 Using Conventional Patterns of Organization
This chapter presents a number of conventional, or commonly used, patterns of
organization, such as the chronological pattern and the spatial pattern. You should
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information already exists. Using a conventional pattern makes things easier for
you as a writer and for your audience.
For you, a conventional pattern serves as a template or checklist, helping you
remember which information to include and where to put it. In a proposal, for
example, you include a budget, which you put near the end or in an appendix. For
your audience, a conventional pattern makes your document easier to read and
understand. Readers who are familiar with proposals can find the information they
want because you have put it where others have put similar information.
Does this mean that technical communication is merely a process of filling in the
blanks? No. You need to assess the writing situation continuously as you work. If
you think you can communicate your ideas better by modifying a conventional
pattern or by devising a new pattern, do so. However, you gain nothing if an
existing pattern would work just as well.
5.3.3 Displaying Your Organizational Pattern Prominently
Make it easy for your readers to understand your organizational pattern. Displaying
your pattern prominently involves three main steps:
Ɣ Create a detailed table of contents. If your document has a table of contents,
including at least two levels of headings helps readers find the information
they seek.
Ɣ Use headings liberally. Headings break up the text, making your pages more
interesting visually. They also communicate the subject of the section and
improve readers’ understanding.
Ɣ Use topic sentences at the beginning of your paragraphs. The topic sentence
announces the main point of a paragraph and helps the reader understand the
details that follow.
5.4 Understanding Conventional Organizational Pat terns
Every argument calls for its own organizational pattern. Table 5.1 explains the
relationship between organizational patterns and the kinds of information you want
to presen t.
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TABLE 5.1 Organizational Patterns and the Kinds of Information You
Want To Present
IF YOU WANT
TO . . . CONSIDER USING THIS ORGANIZATIONAL
PATTERN FOR EXAMPLE . . .
Explain events
that occurred or
might occur or
tasks that the
reader is to carry
out. Chronological. Most of the time, you present information in chronological order. Sometimes, however, you use
reverse chronology. You describe the process used to diagnose the problem with the accounting software. Or, in
a résumé, you describe your
more -recent jobs before your earlier ones.
Describe a
physical object
or scene, such as
a device or a
location Spatial. You choose an organizing principle such as top-to-bottom, e ast-to-west,
or inside -to-outside. You describe the three main
buildings that will make up
the new production facility.
Explain a
complex
situation, such as
the factors that
led to a problem
or the theory that
underlies a
process General to specific. You present general information first, then specific information. Unde rstanding
the big picture helps readers
understand the details. You explain the major changes and the details of a
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Present a set of
factors More important to less important. You discuss the most -important issue first, then the next -most -important issue, and so forth. In technical communication, you don’t want to create suspense. You want to present the most -important
information first. When you launch a new product, you discuss market niche, competition, and then pricing.
Present
similarities and
differences
between two or
more items Comparison and contrast .
You choose from one of two patterns: (1) discuss all the factors related to one item, then all the factors related to
the next item, and so forth; (2)
discuss one factor as it relates
to all the items, then another
factor as it relates to all the
items, and so forth. You discuss the strengths and weaknesses of three companies bidding on a contract your company is offering. You discuss everything about Company 1, then everything about Company 2, and then everything about Company 3. Or you discuss the management structure of Company 1, of Company 2, and of Company 3; then you address the engineering
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Assign items to
logical
categories or
discuss the
elements that
make up a single
item Classification or partition . Classification involves placing items into categories
according to some criterion. Partition involves breaking a single item or a group of items into major elements. For classification, you group the motors your company manufactures according to the fuel they burn: gasoline or diesel. For
partition, you explain the operation of each major component of one of your motors.
Discuss a
problem you
encountered, the
steps you took to
address the
problem, and the
outcome or
solution Problem -methods -solution . You can use this pattern in discussing the past, the present, or the future. Readers understand this organizational pattern because they use it in their everyday lives. In describing how your company is responding to a new competitor, you discuss the problem (the recent loss in sales), the methods (how you plan to examine your product line and business practices), and
the solution (which changes will help your company prosper).
Discuss the
factors that led
to (or will lead
to) a given
situation, or the
effects that a
situation led to
or will lead to Cause and effect. You can start from causes and speculate about effects, or you can start with the effect and try to determine which factors were the causes of that
effect. You discuss factors that you
think contributed to a recent sales dip for one of your products. Or you explain how you think changes to an existing product will affect its fu ture sales.
Long, complex arguments often require several organizational patterns. For
instance, one part of a document might be a causal analysis of the problem you are
writing about, and another might be a comparison and contrast of two options for
solving that problem. Figure 5.1 , an excerpt from a user’s manual, shows how
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Figure 5.1 Using Multiple Organizational Patterns in a Single Document
CHRONOLOGICAL
The definition of chronological order is arranged in the order it happened. It used
to describe events. An example of chronological is a biography that starts in 1920
and goes through 1997 . Arranged in the order of occurrence. In order of time from
the ear liest to the latest.
Figure 5.2, a timeline presented on the University of Washington’s website, is
organized chronologically.

Figure 5.2 Information Organized Chronologically
From www.washington.edu/2y2d/about -2y2d/timeline/ .
Reprinted by permission.
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SPATIAL
A spatial pattern of organization arranges information according to how things
fit together in physical space ; i.e., where one thing exists in relation to another.
This pattern works well when a writer wishes to create a mental picture of
something which h as various parts distinguished by physical location.

Figure 5.3 Information Organized Spatially
Source: EnergyStar,2014:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_sealing.hm_improvement_ins
ulation_table .
GENERAL TO SPECIFIC
The general -to-specific pattern is probably one of the more common patterns in
college writing. It may be used in any of these familiar places:
Ɣ introduction to a paper
This information is addressed to homeowners who want to add insulation
to their attics or floors. To help readers understand how much
insulation they need
based on their climate,
the writers could have
used an alphabetical
list of cities or states or
zip codes. Instead, the
writers chose a map because it enables readers to quickly and easily “see” the climate in their region.
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Ɣ background in a research paper
Ɣ opening paragraphs for a discussion or an analysis
Ɣ essay examination answers
As the name suggests, this pattern is characterized by a movement in your thinking
from a generalization to specific details. Your opening paragraph would begin with
a general statement and then add details that explain it. The details may become
increasingly more specific. The pattern ends with a broad statement that summarizes your thinking that resulted from the details.
Figure 5.4 from
https://www.umgc.edu/current -students/learning -resources/writing -center/online -
guide -to-writing/tutorial/chapter3/ch3 -10.html

In this example, the first sentence presents the general statement about the writing
process. The succeeding statements consist of details and examples, introduced by
the transitions first, second, and third. Finally, the pattern ends with a broad or
gener al statement that summarizes what the writer wishes to conclude about the
meaning of the details.
This paragraph could have introduced a longer paper in which the writer discusses
the kinds of training needed to learn to write, analyzes the results of a st udy about
learning to write, or even introduces a topical literature review about teaching
writing. You can see that the general -to-specific pattern is one you will use
frequently because of its versatility as well as its obvious ability to quickly and
effectively introduce your readers to your ideas.
You may find this pattern useful for writing mission and vision statements, definitions, marketing analyses, reports of scientific investigations, topical literature reviews, feature articles, editorials, and formal arguments from principle.
Also, this mode of writing reflects deductive reasonin g, where your conclusion
follows necessarily from your premises.
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MORE IMPORTANT TO LESS IMPORTANT
The more -important -to-less-important organizational pattern recognizes that readers often want the bottom line —the most -important information —first. For
examp le, in an accident report , you describe the three most important factors that
led to the accident before describing the less -important factors. In a feasibility study
about building a facility, you present the major reasons that the proposed site is
appropriate, then the minor rea sons. In a proposal to design a new microchip, you
describe the major applications for the new chip, then the minor applications.
For most documents, this pattern works well because readers want to get to the
bottom line as soon as possible. For some docum ents, however, other patterns work
better. People who write for readers outside their own company often reverse the
more -important -to-less-important pattern because they want to make sure their
audience reads the whole discussion. This reversed pattern is also popular with
writers who are delivering bad news. For instance, if you want to justify
recommending that your organization not go ahead with a popular plan, the reverse
sequence lets you explain the problems with the popular plan before you present
the plan you recommend. Otherwise, readers might start to formulate objections
before you have had a chance to explain your position.
Figure 5.5, from the U.S. Department of Agri culture, shows the more -important -
to-less-important organizational structure.

Figure 5 .5 Information Organized from More Important to Less Important
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2012:
http://www.fs.fed.us/restoration/Bark_Beetle/overview.shtml .
Here the writer uses the words “first” and “second” to signal priority. Safety is the most important issue; reforestation is less important, as suggested
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COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Typically, the comparison -and-contrast pattern is used to describe and evaluate two
or more items or options. For example, in a memo , you compare and contrast the
credentials of three finalists for a job. In a proposal to design a new microchip, you
compar e and contrast two different strategies for designing the chip. In a video
explaining different types of low -emissions vehicles, you compare and contrast
electric cars and hybrids.
The first step in comparing and contrasting two or more items is to determi ne the
criteria : the standards or needs you will use in studying the items. For example, if
a professional musician who plays the piano in restaurants was looking to buy a
new portable keyboard, she might compare and contrast available instruments
using th e number of keys as one criterion. For this person, 88 keys would be better
than 64. Another criterion might be weight: lighter is better than heavier.
Almost always, you will need to consider several or even many criteria. Start by
deciding whether each c riterion represents a necessary quality or merely a desirable one. In studying keyboards, for instance, the number of keys might be a
necessary quality. If you need an 88 -key instrument to play your music, you won’t
consider any instruments without 88 keys . The same thing might be true of touch -
sensitive keys. But a MIDI interface might be less important, a merely desirable
quality; you would like MIDI capability, but you would not eliminate an instrument
from consideration just because it doesn’t have MIDI .
Two typical patterns for organizing a comparison -and-contrast discussion are
whole -by-whole and part-by-part. The following example illustrates the difference
between them. The example shows how two printers —Model 5L and Model 6L —
might be compared and co ntrasted according to three criteria: price, resolution, and
print speed.

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Figure 5. 6 Comparison -and-contrast pattern
You can have it both ways. You can begin with a general description of the various
items and then use a part -by-part pattern to emphasize particular aspects.
Once you have chosen the overall pattern —whole -by-whole or part -by-part—you
decide how to order the second -level items. That is, in a whole -by-whole passage,
you have to sequence the aspects of the items or options being compared; in a part -
by-part passage, you have to sequence the items or options themselves.
Because the comparison -and-contrast organizational pattern is used frequently in
evaluating items, it appears often in product descriptions as part of the argument
that one company’s products are better than a competitor’s. There is nothing
unethical in this. But it is unethical to misrepresent items, such as when writers
portray their own product as better than it is or portray their competitor’s as worse
than it is.
Obviously, lying about a product is unethical. But some practices a re not so easy
to characterize. For example, suppose your company makes tablet computers and
your chief competitor’s model has a longer battery life than yours. In comparing
and contrasting the two tablets, are you ethically obligated to mention battery li fe?
No, you are not. If readers are interested in battery life, it is their responsibility to
figure out what your failure to mention battery life means and seek further
information from other sources. If you do mention battery life, however, you must
do so honestly, using industry -standard techniques for measuring it. You cannot
measure your tablet’s battery life under one set of conditions and your competitor’s
under another set.

Figure 5.7 Information Organized by Comparison and Contrast
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014:
http://www.census.gov/library/infographics/labor_force.html .
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CLASSIFICATION OR PARTITION
Classification is the process of assigning items to categories. For instance, all the
students at a university could be classified by sex, age, major, and many other
characteristics. You can also create subcategories within categories, such as males
and females majoring in business.
Classification is common in technical communication. In a feasibility study about
building a facility, you classify sites into two categories: domestic or foreign. In a
journal article about ways to treat a medical condition, you classify the treatments
as surgical or nonsurgical. In a description of a major in a college catalog , you
classify courses as required or elective.
Partition is the process of breaking a unit into its components. For example, a
home -theater system could be partitioned into the following components: TV,
amplifier, peripheral devices such as DVD players, and speakers. Each component
is separate, but together they form a whole system. Each component can, of course,
be partitioned further.
Partition is used in descriptions of objects, mechanisms, and processes. In an
equipment catalog , you use partition to describe the major components of one of
your products. In a proposal , you use partition to present a detailed description of
an instrument you propose to develop. In a brochure , you explain how to operate a
product by describing each of its features.
In Figure 5.8, the writer uses classification effectively in introducing categories of
tornados to a general audience

Figure 5.8 Information Organized by Classification
The Enhanced Fujita (EF) rating scale classifies tornados according to their wind
speed and destructiveness.
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2012 Explanation of
EF-scale ratings: www.srh.noaa.g ov/hun/?n=efscale_explanation .
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PROBLEM -METHODS -SOLUTION
The problem -methods -solution pattern reflects the logic used in carrying out a
project. The three components of this pattern are simple to identify:
Ɣ Problem. A description of what was not working (or not working
effectively) or what opportunity exists for improving current processes.
Ɣ Methods. The procedures performed to confirm the analysis of the
problem, solve the problem, or exploit the opportunity.
Ɣ Solutio n. The statement of whether the analysis of the problem was correct
or of what was discovered or devised to solve the problem or capitalize on
the opportunity.
The problem -methods -solution pattern is common in technical communication. In
a proposal , you de scribe a problem in your business, how you plan to carry out
your research, and how your deliverable (an item or a report) can help solve the
problem. In a completion report about a project to improve a manufacturing
process, you describe the problem that motivated the project, the methods you used to carry out the project, and the findings: the results, conclusions, and recommendations.
Figure 5.9 shows the problem -methods -solution pattern


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Figure 5.9 Information Organized by the Problem -Methods -Solution Pattern
Reprinted by permission of TASER International, Inc.
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Technical communication often involves cause -and-effect discussions. Sometimes
you will reason forward, from cause to effect: if we raise the price of a particular
product we manufacture (cause), what will happen to our sales (effect)? Sometimes
you will r eason backward, from effect to cause: productivity went down by 6
percent in the last quarter (effect); what factors led to this decrease (causes)? Cause -
and-effect reasoning, therefore, provides a way to answer the following two
questions:
Ɣ What will be th e effect(s) of X?
Ɣ What caused X?
Arguments organized by cause and effect appear in various types of technical
communication. In an environmental impact statement , you argue that a proposed
construction project would have three important effects on the ecos ystem. In the
recommendation section of a report , you argue that a recommended solution would
improve operations in two major ways. In a memo , you describe a new policy and
then explain the effects that you anticipate the policy will have.
Cause -and-effect relationships are difficult to describe because there is no scientific
way to determine causes or effects. You draw on your common sense and your
knowledge of your subject. When you try to determine, for example, why the
product your company introduced la st year sold poorly, you start with the obvious
possibilities: the market was saturated, the product was of low quality, the product
was poorly marketed, and so forth. The more you know about your subject, the
more precise and insightful your analysis will be.
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But a causal discussion can never be certain. You cannot prove why a product failed
in the marketplace; you can only explain why the factors you are identifying are
the most plausible causes or effects. For instance, to make a plausible case that the
main reason for the product’s weak performance is that it was poorl y marketed, you
can show that, in the past, your company’s other unsuccessful products were
marketed in similar ways and your company’s successful products were marketed
in other ways.
Figure 5.10 illustrates an effective cause -and-effect argument. The wri ter is
explaining why electric vehicles have not sold well in the United States.

Figure 5.10 A Discussion Organized by the Cause -and-Effect Pattern
Summ ary
After reading this chapter readers will understand the definition of Information,
How to organised information and the benefits of organising it. Reader will also
understand the Three Principles for Organizing Technical Information, Organisational Patterns , etc.
Unit End Exercise
1. Find the website of a company that makes a product used by professionals in
your field. (Personal computers are a safe choice.) Locate three discussions
on the site that use different organizational patterns. For example, there wil l
probably be a passage devoted to ordering a product from the site ( using a
chronologic al pattern ), a description of a product ( using a partition
pattern ), and a passage descr ibing why the company’s products are superior
to those of its competitors ( using a comparison -and-contrast argument ).
Print a copy of the passages you’ve identified.
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For each of the lettered topics that follow, identify the best organizational
pattern for a discussion of the subject. For example, a discussion of distance
education and on -campus courses could be organized using the comparison -
and-contrast pattern. Write a brief explanation of why the organizational
pattern you chose for each topic would be the best one to use. (Use each of
the organizational patterns discussed in this chap ter at least once.)
a. how to register for courses at your college or university
b. how you propose to reduce the time required to register for classes or
to change a schedule
c. your car’s dashboard
d. the current price of gasoline
e. advances in manufacturing technology
f. the reasons you chose your college or major
g. a student organization on your campus
h. two music -streaming services
i. tablet computers
j. how you propose to increase the ties between your college or
university and local business and industry
k. college courses
l. increased security at airports
m. the room in which you are sitting
n. the three most important changes you would like to see at your school
o. a guitar
p. cooperative education and internships for college students
q. how to prepare for a job interview
2. What is mean by Information? Why it is important to organise the
information?
3. Explain the three principles to organise information?
4. What are Conventional Organizational Patterns? Explain in brief.
List of References
Technical Communication Mike Merkel 11th Edition.
TASER International, Inc. munotes.in

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Bibliography
https://www.macmillanhighered.com/brainhoney/resource/6698/digital_first_cont
ent/trunk/test/techcomm11e_full/techcomm11e_full_ch7_3.html
https://cherylchongmh.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/topic -1-the-need -for-
information -resource -description/
https://www2.le.ac.uk/services/research -data/old -2019 -12-11/organise -data
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/?n=efscale_explanation

™™™™

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Unit 2
6 EMPHASIZING IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Unit Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Writing Clear, Informative Titles
6.3 Writing Clear, Informative Headings
6.4 Writing Clear Informative Lists
6.5 Writing Clear Informative Paragraphs
Summary
Unit End Exercises
List of References
Bibliography
6.0 Objectives
This chapter will help reader to understand
Writing Clear, Informative Titles
Writing Clear, Informative Headings
Writing Clear, Informative Lists
Write effective Paragraph Lists
Write effective sentence Lists
Writing Clear, Informative Paragraphs structure.
6.1 Introduction
MOST OF US WOULD AGREE that there is too much information for us to
learn —and not nearly enough time for us to learn it. That is why instant messages
and microblogs such as Twitter are so popular: we can read them quickly and then
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But much of what needs to be communicated in the workplace cannot be reduced
to 140 characters or an 8 -second video. For instance, a plan to create a new
interactive corporate website that will enable vendors and customers to do business
with the company conveniently and securely will require many hallway conversations, emails, and meetings —and a number of lengthy documents. When
you write information longer than a few hundred words, you want to help your
readers understand what you are writing about and wh at your main point is. you
want to help them see how you have organized the information. You want to
emphasize the most -important information. doing so helps them find that information, understand it, and remember it. your audience will be able to read you r
document faster and understand it better. And they will be more likely to agree with
your ideas and view your recommendations positively.
This chapter discusses a number of techniques to help you emphasize the most -
important information in your technica l documents: writing clear and informative
titles and headings, using lists, and structuring paragraphs effectively.
6.2 Writing Clear, Informative Titles
The title of a document is crucial because it is your first chance to define your
subject and purpose for your readers, giving them their first clue to whether the
document contains the information they need. The title is an implicit promise to
readers: “This document is about Subject A, and it was written to achieve Purpose
B.” Everything that follows ha s to relate clearly to the subject and purpose defined
in the title; if it doesn’t, either the title is misleading or the document has failed to
make good on the title’s promise.
You might want to put off giving a final title to your document until you have
completed the document, because you cannot be sure that the subject and purpose
you established during the planning stages will not change. However, you should
jot down a working title before you start drafting; you can revise it later. To give
yourse lf a strong sense of direction, make sure the working title defines not only
the subject of the document but also its purpose. The working title “Snowboarding
Injuries” states the subject but not the purpose. “How To Prevent Snowboarding
Injuries” is bette r because it helps keep you focused on your purpose.
An effective title is precise. For example, if you are writing a feasibility study on
the subject of offering free cholesterol screening at your company, the title should
contain the key terms free chole sterol screening and feasibility. The following title
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If your document is an internal report discussing company business, you might not
need to identify the c ompany. In that case, the following would be clear:
Offering Free Cholesterol Screening: A Feasibility Study
Or you could present the purpose before the subject:
A Feasibility Study of Offering Free Cholesterol Screening
Avoid substituting general terms, s uch as health screening for cholesterol
screening or study for feasibility study ; the more precise your terms, the more useful
your readers will find the title. An added benefit of using precise terms is that your
document can be more accurately and effect ively indexed in databases and online
libraries, increasing the chances that someone researching your subject will be able
to find the document.
Before settling on a title, test its effectiveness by asking whether readers will be
able to paraphrase it in a clear, meaningful sentence. For instance, “A Feasibility
Study of Offering Free Cholesterol Screening to Employees of Thrall Associates”
could be paraphrased as follows: “This document reports on a project to determine
whether it is feasible to offer free cholesterol screening to employees of Thrall
Associates.” But notice what happens when the title is incomplete: “Free Cholesterol Screening.” With only those three words to go on, the reader has to guess about the
document’s purpose. The reader knows that the document has something to do with
free cholesterol screening, but is the writer recommending that screening be
implemented, modified, or discontinued? Or is the writer reporting on the success
of an existing screening program?
Clear, comprehensive tit les can be long. If you need eight or ten words to say what
you want to say about your subject and purpose, use them.
6.3 Writing Clear, Informative Headings
Headings, which are lower -level titles for the sections and subsections in a
document, do more tha n announce the subject that will be discussed in the
document. Collectively, they create a hierarchy of information , dividing the
document into major sections and subdividing those sections into subsections. In
this way, coherent headings communicate the r elative importance and generality of
the information that follows, helping readers recognize major sections as primary
(likely to contain more -important or more -general information) and subsections as
secondary or subordinate (likely to contain less -import ant or more -specific
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content but also through their design. For this reason, make sure that the design of
a primary heading (sometimes referred to as a level 1 heading , 1 heading , or A
heading ) clearly distinguishes it from a subordinate heading (a level 2 heading , 2
heading , or B heading ), and that the design of that subordinate heading clearly
distinguishes it from yet a lower level of subordinate heading (a level 3 heading , 3
heading , or C heading ).
The headings used in this book illustrate this principle, as does the example below.
Notice that the example uses both typography and indentation to distinguish one
heading from another and to communicate visually h ow information at one level
logically relates to information at other levels.

The best way to make sure you use typefaces and indentation consistently is to use
the Styles function. A style is a set of formatting instructions that you can apply to
all ti tles, headings, lists, or other design elements that you want to look alike.
Because you create a style only once but then apply it to any number of headings
or other design elements, you’re far more likely to format these items consistently
than if you we re to format each one individually.
Styles also speed up the process of changing the appearance of titles, headings, and
lists. As you revise, you might notice that two levels of headings are insufficiently
distinct. You can easily use the Styles function to change the design of one of those
headings so that it is distinct and therefore does a better job of helping readers
follow the discussion and understand where they are in the document. In addition,
you can create new styles to ensure consistency when, for instance, you further
subdivide a subsection of a document or introduce bulleted lists into the discussion.
Because a heading is a type of title, much of the advice about titles in the previous
section also applies to headings. For instance, a clear, i nformative heading is crucial
because it announces the subject and purpose of the discussion that follows it, just
as a title does for the whole document. Announcing the subject and purpose in a
heading helps readers understand what they will be reading or , in some cases, helps
them decide whether they need to read the section at all. For the writer, a heading
eliminates the need for awkward transitional sentences such as “Let us now turn to
the advantages of the mandatory enrolment process” or “The next st ep in replacing
the saw blade is to remove the arbour nut from the drive shaft.”
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Effective headings help both reader and writer by forecasting not only the subject
and purpose of the discussion that follows but also its scope and organization.
When readers encounter the heading “Three Health Benefits of Yoga: Improved
Muscle Tone, Enhanced Flexibility, Better Posture,” they can reasonably assume
that the discussion will consist of three parts (not two or four) and that it will begin
with a discussion of mus cle tone, followed by a discussion of flexibility and then
posture.
Because headings introduce text that discusses or otherwise elaborates on the
subject defined by the heading, avoid back -to-back headings. In other words, avoid
following one heading direc tly with another heading:
3. Approaches to Neighbourhood Policing
3.1 Community Policing
According to the COPS Agency (a component of the U.S. Department of Justice),
“Community policing focuses on crime and social disorder.” . . .
What’s wrong with back -to-back headings? First, they’re illogical. If your document contains a level 1 heading, you have to say something at that level before
jumping to the discussion at level 2. Second, back -to-back headings distract and
confuse readers. The heading “3. Approaches to Neighbourhood Policing”
announces to readers that you have something to say about Neighbourhood
policing — but you don’t say anything. Instead, another, subordinate heading
appears, announcing to readers that you now have some thing to say about
community policing.
To avoid confusing and frustrating readers, separate the headings with text, as in
this example:
3. Approaches to Neighbourhood Policing
Over the past decade, the scholarly community has concluded that community
polic ing offers significant advantages over the traditional approach based on
patrolling in police cars. However, the traditional approach has some distinct
strengths. In the following discussion, we define each approach and then explain
its advantages and disa dvantages. Finally, we profile three departments that have
successfully made the transition to community policing while preserving the major
strengths of the traditional approach.
3.1 Community Policing
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The text after the heading “3. Approaches to Neighbo urhood Policing” is called an
advance organizer . It indicates the background, purpose, scope, and organization
of the discussion that follows it. Advance organizers give readers an overview of
the discussion’s key points before they encounter the details in the discussion itself.
Follow these four suggestions to make your headings more effective. Ɣ Avoid long noun strin gs. The following example is ambiguous and hard to
understand:
Proposed Production Enhancement Strategies Analysis Techniques Ɣ Is the heading introducing a discussion of techniques for analyzing strategies that
have been proposed? Or is it introducing a dis cussion that proposes using certain
techniques to analyze strategies? Readers shouldn’t have to ask such questions.
Adding prepositions makes the heading clearer: Ɣ Techniques for Analyzing the Proposed Strategies for Enhancing Production Ɣ This heading announ ces more clearly that the discussion describes techniques for analyzing strategies, that those strategies have been proposed, and that the strategies are aimed at enhancing production. It’s a longer heading than the original,
but that’s okay. It’s also muc h clearer. Ɣ Be informative. In the preceding example, you could add information about how
many techniques will be described: Ɣ Three Techniques for Analyzing the Proposed Strategies for Enhancing Production
You can go one step further by indicating what you wish to say about the three
techniques: Ɣ Advantages and Disadvantages of the Three Techniques for Analyzing the Proposed Strategies for Enhancing Production Ɣ Again, don’t worry if the heading seems long; clarity is more important than
conciseness. Ɣ Use a grammatical form appropriate to your audience. The question form
works well for readers who are not knowledgeable about the subject ( Benson,
1985 ) and for nonnative speakers: Ɣ What Are the Three Techniques for Analyzing the Proposed Strategies for
Enhancing Production? Ɣ The “how -to” form is best for instructional material, su ch as manuals:
How To Analyze the Proposed Strategies for Enhancing Production
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Analyzing the Proposed Strategies for Enhancing Production Ɣ Avoid back -to-back headings. Use adva nce organizers to separate the headings
Figure 6.1 shows steps for How To Modify and Create Styles

Figure 6.1 Steps To Create And Modify Style In Ms -word
6.4 Writing Clear Informative Lists
Technical documents often contain lists. Lists are especially effective in conveying
information that can be itemized (such as three physical conditions that frequently
lead to patients’ developing adult -onset diabetes). Lists also work well for presenting information that can be expressed in a sequence (such as the operation
of a four -stroke gasoline engine: intake , compression , ignition , exhaust ).
This section explains how to create effective paragraph lists and sentence lists.
WRITE EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPH L ISTS
A paragraph list is a list in which the bulleted or numbered items are paragraphs,
not merely phrases or sentences. Figure 6.2 shows the same information presented
in traditional paragraphs and in a paragraph list.

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For readers, the chief advantage of a paragraph list is that it makes the information
easier to read and remember. Readers see the structure of the discussion — often in
a single glance — before they read the details. Once they start reading the list, they
can more easily follow t he discussion because its design mirrors its logic. For
example, a paragraph -list discussion of the four stages of mitosis ( prophase ,
metaphase , anaphase , telophase ) would arrange the stages in the order in which
they occur and would use bullets or numbers to distinguish one stage from another.
As a result, the paragraph -list format enables readers to navigate the discussion
easily and confidently, if only because they can see where the discussion of
prophase ends and the discussion of metaphase begins.

Figure 6.2 Traditional Paragraphs and a Paragraph List
For you as a writer, turning parag raphs into lists has four advantages:
It forces you to look at the big picture. While drafting a document, you can easily
lose sight of the information outside the paragraph you are writing. Turning
traditional paragraphs into paragraph lists expands your perspective beyond a
single paragraph, increasing your chances of noticing that an important item is
missing or that an item is unclear. It also increases the chances that you’ll think
more deeply about how items and key ideas are related to one another.
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It forces you to examine the sequence. As you write paragraph lists, you get a chance to reconsider whether the sequence of the information is logical. Sometimes, the visual dimension that lists add to the text will reveal an illogical
sequence you might h ave overlooked in traditional paragraphs.
It forces you to create a helpful lead -in. Every list requires a lead-in, or
introduction to the list; without one, readers are left to guess at how the list relates
to the discussion and how the items in the list relate to each other. In the lead -in,
you can add a number signal that further forecasts the content and organization of
the material that follows:
Auto sales declined last year because of four major factors:
It forces you to tighten and clarify your prose. When you make a list, you look
for a word, phrase, or sentence that identifies each item. Your focus shifts from
weaving sentences together in a paragraph to highlighting key ideas, giving you an
opportunity to critically consider those key ideas an d revise accordingly.
WRITE EFFECTIVE SENTENCE LISTS
A sentence list is a list in which the bulleted or numbered items are words, phrases,
or single sentences. Figure 6.3 shows a traditional sentence and a list presenting the
same information.
If you don’t have enough space to list the items vertically or if you are not permitted
to do so, number the items within the sentence:
We recommend that more work on heat -exchanger performance be done (1) with a
larger variety of different fuels at the same temperatu re, (2) with similar fuels at
different temperatures, and (3) with special fuels such as diesel fuel and shale -oil-
derived fuels.

Figure 6.3 A Traditional Sentence and a Sentence List
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Creating Effective Lists
These five suggestions will help you write clearer, more effective paragraph lists
and sentence lists.
Set off each listed item with a number, a letter, or a symbol (usually a bullet).
— Use numbered lists to suggest sequence (as in the steps in a set of instru ctions)
or priority (the first item being the most important). Using numbers helps readers
see the total number of items in a list. For sublists, use lowercase letters:
Item
Subitem
Subitem
Item
Subitem
subitem
— Use bullets to avoid suggesting either sequence or priority, such as for lists of
people (everyone except number 1 gets offended). For sublists, use dashes. Ɣ Item
– subitem
– subitem
— Use an open (unshaded) box ( ) for checklists.
Break up long lists. Because most people can remember o nly 5 to 9 items easily,
break up lists of 10 or more items. ORIGINAL LIST REVISED LIST Tool kit: Tool kit: handsaw Saws coping saw – handsaw hacksaw – coping saw compass saw – hacksaw adjustable wrench – compass saw box wrench Wrenches Stillson wrench – adjustable wrench socket wrench – box wrench
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129Chapter 6: Emphasizing Important InformationORIGINAL LIST REVISED LIST open-end wrench – Stillson wrench Allen wrench – socket wrench – open-end wrench – Allen wrench Ɣ Present the items in a parallel structure. A list is parallel if all the items have the
same grammatical form. For instance, in the parallel list below, each item is a verb
phrase. NONPARALLEL PARALLEL Here is the sequence we plan to follow: Here is the sequence we plan to follow: 1. writing of the preliminary proposal 1. write the preliminary proposal 2. do library research 2. do library research 3. interview with the Bemco vice president 3. interview the Bemco vice president 4. first draft 4. write the first draft 5. revision of the first draft 5. revise the first draft 6. preparing the final draft 6. prepare the final draft Ɣ Structure and punctuate the lead -in correctly. The lead -in tells readers how the
list relates to the discussion and how the items in the list relate to each other.
Although standards vary from one organization to another, the most common lead -
in consists of a grammatically complete clause followed by a colon, as shown in
the following examples: Ɣ Following are the three main assets: Ɣ The three main assets are as follows: Ɣ The three main assets are the following: Ɣ If you cannot use a grammatically complete lead -in, use a dash or no punctuation
at all: Ɣ The co mmittee found that the employee did not cause the accident acted properly
immediately after the accident reported the accident according to procedures ż Punctuate the list correctly. Because rules for punctuating lists vary, you should
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lists as follows: ż — If the items are phrases, use a lowercase letter at the start. Do not use a period
or a comma at the end. The white space beneath the last item indicates the end of
the list. ż The new facility will offer three advantages: ż lower leasing costs ż shorter commuting distance ż a larger pool of potential workers ż — If the items are complete sentences, use an uppercase letter at the start and a
period at the end. ż The new facility will offer three advantages: ż The leasing costs will be lower. ż The commuting distance for most employees will be shorter. ż The pool of potential workers will be larger. ż — If the items ar e phrases followed by complete sentences, start each phrase with
an uppercase letter and end it with a period. Begin the complete sentences with
uppercase letters and end them with periods. Use italics to emphasize the phrases. ż The new facility will offer three advantages: ż Lower leasing costs. The lease will cost $1,800 per month; currently we pay $2,300. ż Shorter commuting distance. Our workers’ average commute of 18 minutes would
drop to 14 minutes. ż Larger pool of potential workers. In the last decade, the population has shifted
westward to the area near the new facility. As a result, we would increase our
potential workforce in both the semiskilled and the managerial categories by
relocating. ż — If the list consists of two kinds of i tems — phrases and complete sentences —
capitalize each item and end it with a period. ż The new facility will offer three advantages: ż Lower leasing costs. ż Shorter commuting distance. Our workers’ average commute of 18 minutes would
drop to 14 minutes. ż Larger pool of potential workers. In the last decade, the population has shifted
westward to the area near the new facility. As a result, we would increase our
potential workforce in both the semiskilled and the managerial categories by
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131Chapter 6: Emphasizing Important InformationƔ In most lists, the second and subsequent lines, called turnovers , align under the first
letter of the first line, highlighting the bullet or number to the left of the text. This
hanging indentation helps the reader see and understand the organization of the
passage.
In many other cultures, headings and lists are considered too informal for some
documents. Try to find samples written by people from the culture you are
addressing to examine their use of headings and lists. Consider the following
questions in studying docum ents from other cultures: Ɣ How does the writer make the information accessible? That is, how does the
writer help readers easily find the information they need, without flipping through
pages or clicking links unnecessarily? Ɣ How does the writer show the relationship among types of information? Are
they grouped, highlighted, listed, s et off by headings, or set in a typeface different
from that used for other types of information? When information that can be
itemized or sequenced is conveyed, what form does the itemization or sequencing
take? Ɣ How does the writer communicate to readers the organization of the document
as a whole and of the parts making up the whole? Ɣ How does the writer make transitions from one subject to another? As noted
earlier, a heading eliminates the need for awkward transitional sentences. In some
cultures, however, the heading itself would be considered awkward —and possibly
brusque, informal, or disrespectful. Ɣ Figure 6.4 shows steps for How To Create Numbered and Bulleted Lists

Figure 6.4 How To Create Numbered and Bulleted Lists
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6.5 Writing Clear Informative Paragraphs
There are two kinds of paragraphs —body paragraphs and transitional paragraphs —
both of which play an important role in helping you emphasize important
information.
A body paragraph, the basic unit for communicating information, is a group of
sentences (or sometimes a single sentence) that is complete and self -sufficient and
that contributes to a larger discussion. In an effective paragraph, all the sentences
clearly and directly arti culate one main point, either by introducing the point or by
providing support for it. In addition, the whole paragraph follows logically from
the material that precedes it.
A transitional paragraph helps readers move from one major point to another. Like
a body paragraph, it can consist of a group of sentences or be a single sentence.
Usually it summarizes the previous point, introduces the next point, and helps
readers understand how the two are related.
The following example of a transitional paragraph a ppeared in a discussion of how
a company plans to use this year’s net proceeds.
Our best estimate of how we will use these net proceeds, then, is to develop a
second data center and increase our marketing efforts. We base this estimate on our
current plans and on projections of anticipated expenditures. However, at this time
we cannot precisely determine the exact cost of these activities. Our actual
expenditures may exceed what we’ve predicted, making it necessary or advisable
to reallocate the net proceed s within the two uses (data center and marketing) or to
use portions of the net proceeds for other purposes. The most likely uses appear to
be reducing short -term debt and addressing salary inequities among software
developers; each of these uses is discus sed below, including their respective
advantages and disadvantages.
The first sentence contains the word “then” to signal that it introduces a summary
and The final sentence clearly indicates the relationship between what precedes it
and what follows it.
Structure Paragraphs Clearly
Most paragraphs consist of a topic sentence and supporting information.
The Topic Sentence Because a topic sentence states, summarizes, or forecasts the
main point of the paragraph, put it up front. Technical communication shoul d be
clear and easy to read, not suspenseful. If a paragraph describes a test you
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The point -to-point continuity test on Cabinet 3 revealed an intermittent open circuit
in the Phase 1 wiring.
Then go on to explain the details. If the paragraph describes a complicated idea,
start with an overview. In other words, put the “bottom line” on top:
Mitosis is the usual method of cell division, occurring in four stages:
(1) prophase, (2) metaphase, ( 3) anaphase, and (4) telophase.
Putting the bottom line on top makes the paragraph much easier to read, as shown
in Figure 6.4.
Make sure each of your topic sentences relates clearly to the organizational pattern
you are using. In a discussion of the physi cal condition of a building, for example,
you might use a spatial pattern and start a paragraph with the following topic
sentence:
On the north side of Building B, water damage to about 75 percent of the roof
insulation and insulation in some areas in the north wall indicates that the roof has
been leaking for some time. The leaking has contributed to . . .

Figure 6.5 A Topic Sentence Works Better at the Start of the Paragraph
Your next paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that continues the spatial
organizational pattern:
On the east side of the building, a downspout has eroded the lawn and has caused
a small silt deposit to form on the neighboring property directly to the east. Riprap
should be placed under the spout to . . .
Note that the phrases “on the north side” and “on the east side” signal that the
discussion is following the points of the compass in a clockwise direction, further
emphasizing the spatial pattern. Readers can reasona bly assume that the next two
parts of the discussion will be about the south side of the building and the west side,
in that order.
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Similarly, if your first topic sentence is “First, we need to . . . ,” your next topic
sentence should refer to the chronolo gical pattern: “Second, we should . . .” (Of
course, sometimes well -written headings can make such references to the organizational pattern unnecessary, as when headings are numbered to emphasize
that the material is arranged in a chronological pattern.)

The Supporting Information The supporting information makes the topic sentence
clear and convincing. Sometimes a few explanatory details provide all the support
you need. At other times, however, you need a lot of information to clarify a difficult thought or to defend a controversial idea. How much supporting information to provide also depends on your audience and purpose. Readers
knowledgeable about your subject may require little supporting information; less -
knowledgeable readers might require a lot. Likewise, you may need to provide little
supporting information if your purpose is merely to state a controversial point of
view rather than persuade your reader to agree with it. In deciding such matters,
your best bet is to be generous wit h your supporting information. Paragraphs with
too little support are far more common than paragraphs with too much.
Supporting information, which is most often developed using the basic patterns of
organization, usually fulfils one of these five roles:
It defines a key term or idea included in the topic sentence.
It provides examples or illustrations of the situation described in the topic sentence.
It identifies causes: factors that led to the situation.
It defines effects: implications of the situation.
It supports the claim made in the topic sentence.
A topic sentence is like a promise to readers. At the very least, when you write a
topic sentence that says “Within five years, the City of McCall will need to upgrade
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its wastewater -treatment facilities because of increased demands from a rapidly
rising p opulation,” you are implicitly promising readers that the paragraph not only
will be about wastewater -treatment facilities but also will explain that the rapidly
rising population is the reason the facilities need to be upgraded. If your paragraph
fails to discuss these things, it has failed to deliver on the promise you made. If the
paragraph discusses these things but also goes on to speculate about the price of
concrete over the next five years, it is delivering on promises that the topic sentence
never made. In both situations, the paragraph has gone astray.
Paragraph Length How long should a paragraph be? In general, 75 to 125 words
are enough for a topic sentence and four or five supporting sentences. Long
paragraphs are more difficult to read than sho rt paragraphs because they require
more focused concentration. They can also intimidate some readers, who might
skip over them.
But don’t let arbitrary guidelines about length take precedence over your own
analysis of the audience and purpose. You might ne ed only one or two sentences
to introduce a graphic, for example. Transitional paragraphs are also likely to be
quite short. If a brief paragraph fulfills its function, let it be. Do not combine two
ideas in one paragraph simply to achieve a minimum word c ount.
You may need to break up your discussion of one idea into two or more paragraphs.
An idea that requires 200 or 300 words to develop should probably not be squeezed
into one paragraph.
A note about one -sentence paragraphs: body paragraphs and transiti onal
paragraphs alike can consist of a single sentence. However, many single -sentence
paragraphs are likely to need revision. Sometimes the idea in that sentence belongs
with the paragraph immediately before it or immediately after it or in another
paragra ph elsewhere in the document. Sometimes the idea needs to be developed
into a paragraph of its own. And sometimes the idea doesn’t belong in the document
at all.
When you think about paragraph length, consider how the information will be
printed or display ed. If the information will be presented in a narrow column, such
as in a newsletter, short paragraphs are much easier to read. If the information will
be presented in a wider column, readers will be able to handle a longer paragraph.
Dividing Long Paragra phs
Here are three techniques for dividing long paragraphs.
Break the discussion at a logical place. The most logical place to divide this
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relatively long and cues are m inimal, this strategy should be reserved for skilled
readers.
High -tech companies have been moving their operations to the suburbs for two
main reasons: cheaper, more modern space and a better labour pool. A new office
complex in the suburbs will charge fr om one -half to two -thirds of the rent charged
for the same square footage in the city. And that money goes a lot further, too. The
new office complexes are bright and airy; new office space is already wired for
computers; and exercise clubs, shopping cente rs, and even libraries are often on -
site.
The second major factor attracting high -tech companies to the suburbs is the
availability of experienced labour . Office workers and middle managers are
abundant. In addition, the engineers and executives, who tend to live in the suburbs
anyway, are happy to forgo the commuting, the city wage taxes, and the noise and
stress of city life.
Make the topic sentence a separate paragraph and break up the supporting
information. This version is easier to understand than the one above because the
brief paragraph at the start clearly introduces the information. In addition, each of
the two main paragraphs now has a clear topic sentence.
High -tech companies have been moving their operations to the suburbs for two
main reasons: cheaper, more modern space and a better labor pool.
First, office space is a bargain in the suburbs. A new office complex in the suburbs
will charge from one -half to two -thirds of the rent charged for the same square
footage in the city. And that money go es a lot further, too. The new office
complexes are bright and airy; new office space is already wired for computers;
and exercise clubs, shopping centers, and even libraries are often on -site.
Second, experienced labour is plentiful. Office workers and mi ddle managers are
abundant. In addition, the engineers and executives, who tend to live in the suburbs
anyway, are happy to forgo the commuting, the city wage taxes, and the noise and
stress of city life.
Use a list. This is the easiest of the three versions for all readers because of the
extra visual cues provided by the list format.
High -tech companies have been moving their operations to the suburbs for two
main reasons:
Cheaper, more modern space. Office space is a bargain in the suburbs.
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137Chapter 6: Emphasizing Important Information
And that money goes a lot further, too. The new office complexes are bright and
airy; new office space is already wired for computers; and exercise clubs, shopping
centers, and even libraries are often on -site.
A better labor pool. Office workers and middle managers are abundant. In addition,
the engineers and executive s, who tend to live in the suburbs anyway, are happy to
forgo the commuting, the city wage taxes, and the noise and stress of city life.
USE COHERENCE DEVICES WITHIN AND BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
For the main idea in the topic sentence to be clear and memorable, you need to
make the support —the rest of the paragraph —coherent. That is, you must link the
ideas together clearly and logically, and you must express parallel ideas in parallel
grammatical constructions. Even if the paragraph already moves smoothly from
sentence to sentence, you can strengthen the coherence by adding transitional
words and phrases, repeating key words, and using demonstrative pronouns
followed by nouns.
Adding Transitional Words and Phrases Transitional words and phrases help the
reader un derstand a discussion by explicitly stating the logical relationship between
two ideas. Table 6.1 lists the most common logical relationships between two ideas
and some of the co mmon transitions that express those relationships. TABLE 6.1 Transitional Words and Phrases RELATIONSHIP TRANSITION addition also, and, finally, first (second, etc.), furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly comparison in the same way, likewise, similarly contrast although, but, however, in contrast, nevertheless, on the other hand, yet illustration for example, for instance, in other words, to illustrate cause-effect as a result, because, consequently, hence, so, therefore, thus time or space above, around, earlier, later, next, soon, then, to the right (left, west, etc.) summary or conclusion at last, finally, in conclusion, to conclude, to summarize Transitional words and phrases benefit both readers and writers. When a munotes.in

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transitional word or phrase explicitly states the logical relationship between two
ideas, readers don’t have to guess at what that relationship might be. Using
transitional words and phrases in your writing forces you to think more deeply
about the logical relationships between ideas than you might otherwise.
To better understand how transitional words and phrases benefit both reader and
writer, consider the following pairs of examples: WEAK Demand for flash-memory chips is down by 15 percent. We have laid off 12 production -line workers. IMPROVED Demand for flash-memory chips is down by 15 percent; as a result, we have laid off 12 production -line workers. WEAK The project was originally expected to cost $300,000. The final cost was $450,000. IMPROVED The project was originally expected to cost $300,000. However, the final cost was $450,000.
The next sentence pair differs from the others in that the weak example does contain
a transitional word, but it’s a weak transitional word:
WEAK According to the report from Human Resources, the employee spoke rudely to a group of customers waiting to enter the store,
and he repeatedly ignored requests from co -workers to unlock
the door so the customers could enter. IMPROVED According to the report from Human Resources, the employee spoke rudely to a group of customers waiting to enter the store;
moreover , he repeatedly ignored requests from co -workers to
unlock the door so the customers could enter.
In the weak version, and implies simple addition: the employee did this, and then
he did that. The improved version is stronger, adding to simple addition the idea
that refusing to unlock the door compounded the employee’s rude behavior,
elevating it to something more serious. By using moreover , the writer is saying that
speaking rudely to customers was bad enough, but the employee really crossed the
line when he refused to open the door.
Whichever transitional word or phrase you use, place it as close as possible to the
beginning of the second idea. As shown in the examples above, the link between
two ideas should be near the start of the second idea, to provide context for it.
Consider the following example:
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The vendor assured us that the replacement parts would be delivered in time for the
product release. The parts were delivered nearly two weeks after the product
release, however.
The idea of Sentence 2 stands in contrast to the idea of Sentence 1, but the reader
doesn’t see the transition until the end of Sentenc e 2. Put the transition at the start
of the second idea, where it will do the most good.
You should also use transitional words to maintain coherence between paragraphs,
just as you use them to maintain coherence within paragraphs. The link between
two par agraphs should be near the start of the second paragraph.
Repeating Key Words Repeating key words — usually nouns — helps readers
follow the discussion. In the following example, the first version could be
confusing:
UNCLEAR For months the project leaders carefully planned their research. The cost of the work was estimated to be over $200,000. What is the work: the planning or the research? CLEAR For months the project leaders carefully planned their research. The cost of the research was estimated to be over $200,000.
From a misguided desire to be interesting, some writers keep changing their
important terms. Plankton becomes miniature seaweed , then the ocean’s fast food.
Avoid this kind of word game; it can confuse readers.
Of course, too much repetition can be boring. You can vary nonessential terms as
long as you don’t sacrifice clarity.
SLUGGISH The purpose of the new plan is to reduce the problems we are seeing in our accounting operations. We hope to see a reduction
in the problems by early next quarter. BETTER The purpose of the new plan is to reduce the problems we are seeing in our accounting operations. We hope to see an
improvement by early next quarter.
Using Demonstrative Pronouns Followed by Nouns Demonstrative pronouns —
this, that, these, and those — can help you maintain the coherence of a discussion
by linking ideas securely. In almost all cases, demonstrative pronouns should be
followed by nouns, rather than stand alone in the sentence. In the fo llowing examples, notice that a demonstrative pronoun by itself can be vague and munotes.in

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140TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
confusing.
UNCLEAR New screening techniques are being developed to combat viral infections. These are the subject of a new research effort in
California. What is being studied in California: new screening techniques or viral infections? CLEAR New screening techniques are being developed to combat viral infections. These techniques are the subject o f a new research
effort in California. UNCLEAR The task force could not complete its study of the mine accident. This was the subject of a scathing editorial in the union
newsletter. What was the subject of the editorial: the mine accident or the task f orce’s inability to complete its study of the accident? CLEAR The task force failed to complete its study of the mine accident. This failure was the subject of a scathing editorial in the union
newsletter.
Even when the context is clear, a demonstrative pronoun used without a noun might
interrupt readers’ progress by forcing them to refer back to an earlier idea.
INTERRUPTIVE The law firm advised that the company initiate proceedings. This caused the company to search for a
second legal opinion. FLUID The law firm advised that the company initiate proceedings. This advice caused the company to search for
a second legal opinion.
Summary
After reading this chapter readers will understand Writing Clear, Informative Titles
Writing Clear, Informative Headings Writing Clear, Informative Lists , Write
effective Paragraph Lists , Write effective sentence Lists Writing Clear, Informative
Paragraphs structure
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Unit End Exercise a.
1. Write a one -paragraph evaluation of each of the following titles. How
clearly does the title indicate the subject and purpose of the document? In
what ways does it fall short of incorporating this chapter’s advice about
titles? On the basis of your analysis, rewrite each title.
Recommended Forecasting Techniques for Haldane Company
A Study of Tablet Computers
Agricultu re in the West: A 10 -Year View
2. Write a one -paragraph evaluation of each of the following headings. How
clearly does the heading indicate the subject and purpose of the text that
will follow it? In what ways does it fall short of incorporating this chapter’ s
advice about headings? On the basis of your analysis, rewrite each heading
to make it clearer and more informative. Invent any necessary details.
Multigroup Processing Technique Review Board Report Findings a. The Great Depression of 1929 b. Electronic Health Records
3. Write a short note on following
a. Writing Clear, Informative Titles
b. Writing Clear, Informative Headings
c. Writing Clear, Informative Lists
d. Write effective Paragraph Lists
e. Write effective sentence Lists
f. Writing Clear, Informative Paragraphs structure
List of References
Technical Communication Mike Merkel 11th Edition.
Bibliography
https://www.macmillanhighered.com/brainhoney/resource/6698/digital_first_cont
ent/trunk/test/techcomm11 e_full/techcomm11e_full_ch9_2html

™™™™™
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Unit 3
7 CREATING GRAPHICS
Unit Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Functions of Graphics
7.3 The Characteristics of an Effective Graphic
7.4 Understanding the Process of Creating Graphics
7.5 Using Color Effectively
7.6 Choosing the Appropriate Kind of Graphic
7.7 Creating Effective Graphics for Multicultural Readers
Summary
References
Questions
7.0 Objectives
This chapter will help you to understand --
Ɣ The role of graphics in research
Ɣ The characteristics of good graphics and how to use graphics effectively
Ɣ Different types of graphics and their applications areas
Ɣ Factors to keep in mind whil e using colors and creating graphics for
multicultural readers
7.1 Introduction
Research done by Gatlin in 1988 suggests that around 83% of what we learn derives
from what we see, only 11% derives from what we hear. It is well established that
visual elements in addition to words are more effective as compared to only words.
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This chapter will introduce you to different types of graphics, where to use them ,
and essential points to keep in mind while using graphics.
7.2 The Functions of Graphics
Graphics are essenti al in demonstrating logical and numerical relationships. Many
times, flowcharts, bar graphs, pie charts , etc. are used to show various data and
relationships. The sales over last 5 years, Production of manufacturing unit over
last 10 years can be shown in a better way using graphics as compared to words
only.
Graphics can communicate spatial information in a better way than words alone.
For e.g., the s tructure of the heart and aorta is better show n using a graphical
representation as compared to describing the same in words.
Graphics can communicate steps more easily . Flowcharts can be used to show
algorithms or troubleshooting steps. Tabular representation of possible warning
signs or problems and their s olutions is more effective tha n explaining the same in
statements.
Graphics save space, many times information in one paragraph can be easily
conveyed in a simple diagram, chart , or table. Graphics can reduce cost s for
documents intended for international readers. Since translation cost is charged per
word translated, presenting information in graphical form with limited usage of
words reduces the overall cost for the translation . So, one should try to incorporate
more and more graphics in the document.
7.3 The Characteristics of an Effective Graphic
An effective graphics must be clear, understandable, meaning and related to the
topic of discussion. The f ollowing five principles provide guidelines for creating
effective graphics:
Ɣ Graphics should serve a purpose : Main aim of the graphic is to allow easy
understanding of complex information. Avoid unnecessary clip -arts without
any relevant content ; example a person standing on the podium, a person
shaki ng hands , etc. Do not include graphics unless it will help readers to
understand and remember the information in a better manner and for a longer
duration .
y Graphics should be simple and uncluttered : Sometimes 3D graphs are
harder to understand as compared to 2D graphs . Understandability of the
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y Graphic s should present a manageable amount of information:
Presenting too much information in one figure can create confusion. Consider
the maturity and familiarity of the audience and choose graphics appropriate
to present a certain type of information. Depending on the situation and the
audience, one may need t o choose between a bar graph , a table or a pie chart. y Graphic should meet readers’ format expectations: General and basic
format conventions should be followed . E.g., diamond represents Decision
points, ovals represent start and endpoints, rectangle represents processing in
a general flowchart. When drawing a flowchart, follow said conventions,
unless there is a good reason for not following them.
y Graphic should be clearly labeled: Every graphic should have clear, uniq ue
and informative title. The columns and rows in table, axes and lines, bar in
graphs should be clearly labeled along with units of measurement.
Following suggestions will aid in the creation of Honest Graphics:
y When using graphics created by someone, m ake sure to cite the source.
y Data relevant for explaining the point should be included in the graphic.
y Begin axes of graph at zero mark.
y Do not change the values on axes to hide the intensity of data.
y Do not change the type of graphics to hide any data point .
y Show item s as they are, avoid manipulation of image s or photograph s to
make them look smaller or bigger.
y Do not use shading to misrepresent an item’s importance.
Guidelines for integrating graphic and text:
Graphics alon e do not serve the purpose. It is important to integrate graphics into
the document with appropriate text.
y Place the graphic in an appropriate location: Place the directly after the
relevant point is discussed in the document. If graphics is used as supporting
information, it can be included in appendix rather than in main text or main
body of the document.
y Introduce the graphics in the text: Refer to the graphics by Figure No.
Avoid positional references like figure above, figure below, next figure , or
previous figure. If the graphics is in the appendix, provide cross -reference.
E.g., “For complete details of sample population refer Appendix 1, page no.
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y Explain the graphic in the text: Do not merely state the title of the text,
rather elaborate what is shown in the graphic. E.g., Figure No. 1 depicts the
grade distribution of students of class 4th in the Science Paper .
y Make the graphic clearly visible: Distinguish or separate graphics from text using white spaces. Ensure sufficient distance is maintained between graphics and text in all four directions.
y Make the graphic accessible: In case of long documents (more than 10 -20
pages), include the list of i llustrations i.e., list of tables and list of figures. It
makes it easier for the reader to locate the figures and tables.
7.4 Understanding the Process of Creating Graphics
Creating graphics involves the following activities: planning, producing, revisin g
and citing.
7.4.1 Planning the Graphics
Consider the following points while planning the graphics:
Audience: Understand the characteristics of the readers. E.g., are they familiar with
standard notations or icons in field, what is the motivation behind reading the
document, do you need to emphasize on certain text using colors and shape? What
kinds of general graphics can readers understand? For e.g., for the general public,
reading a bar graph or a pie chart is easy. They , however can have difficulty in
understanding a radar graph. So, the graphics that are used in document or research
paper should depend on kind of audience and their background knowledge.
Purpose: What kind of information are you trying to convey to the readers? For
e.g., to convey the exact value of sales over the last 5 years then a table will be
appropriate, but to show the trend line graph will work. So, the choice of graphics
depends upon the kind of information to be conveyed and emphasized.
The kind of information to be communicated : Many times, the information
dictates the choice of graphics. E.g., to list down the population of states, a table
will be an appropriate graphic whereas to show rainfall across the country map will
be a good choice of graphic.
Physical condition: The physical conditions like amount of lightin g, surface space
available, screen size etc. , will dictate the choice of colors, type . and shape of lines .
and size of graphics.
When planning creation of graphics consider 4 important factors:
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Money: Consider cost involved in creation of graphics and project budget. Creation
of high -quality graphics can be expensive.
Equipment: Decide and acquire tools and software required f or creating graphics.
For e.g., photoshop, adobe illustrator , etc.
Expertise: Do you have the knowledge required for creating graphics? Or is there
anyone who has the required expertise?
7.4.2 Producing Graphics :
Resources may not always be available, and hence one of the following methods
must be chosen while producing graphics:
Using existing Graphics: At the student level, it may be allowed to use the copies
of existing graphics, but beware of the copyright issues and acquire proper
permis sions before using graphics . It is also important to check whether the graphic
matches other graphics, does it match the tone required , and does it provide the
information you are looking for. Cite the graphic properly and assign your own
figure number and title.
Modifying existing Graphics: Graphics already present can be scanned, digitized ,
and modified electronically using graphics software.
Creating Graphics: Graphics diagrams, charts, graphs, tables , etc. can created
using different softwares. For e.g., Paint, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator etc. Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel have features that help in
creation of wide range of charts, graphs, and tables.
Have someone else Create Graphics: In case , very high-quality graphics is
required then , there are professional -level graphics software, which may be present
with some technical publication department that has graphic experts. Either the
work of graphics creation can be subcontracted or you can use ‘pay by use ’
softwares to create graphics.
7.4.3 Revising Graphics:
Allocate sufficient time and money to revise the graphics. Follow the checklist for
graphic effectiveness given in the chapter. Get the review on your graphics from
people with similar background as your readers and incorporate their suggestions
while revising the graphics.
7.4.4 Citing Source of the Graphics
Self-created graphics do not require citation . But correct citation must be provided
for all other graphics. Depending on the citation format used, graphics may be cite d
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Print source:
Source: Verduijn, 2015, p. 14. Copyright 2015 by Tedopres International B.V.
Reprinted with permission.
Online source:
Source: Johnson Space Center Digital Image Collection. Copyright 2015 by
NASA. Reprinted with permission.
When based on existing graphics, state that your graphic is “based on” or “adapted
from” your source:
Source: Adapted from Jonklaas et al., 2011, p. 771. Copyright 2008 by American
Medical Association. Reprinted with permission.
7.5 Using Color Effectively
Colors help to create interest, emphasize the information , and establish visual
patterns to promote understanding.
Consider Six Principles to use colors effectively:
Do not Overdo it: Limit the usage to only 2 -3 colors at a time. Colors should be
utilized to depict important graphics and small items. Use colors where they will
add more value as compared to black -white.
Use Colors to Emphasize a Particular Item: Colors are interpreted before the
shape, size , or placement of objects on the page. Color does the job of drawing the
reader ’s attention to an item or group of items on the page. So, use colors where
they add emphasis to different kinds of information.
Use Color to Create Pattern: Here the principle of repetition is applied. Colors
can be effectively combined with multiple patterns to depict more information. For
example, use red for safety comments but place the m in octagonal resembling a
stop sign . In this example, 2 visual clues are provided to the reader 1st in terms of
sign and 2nd in terms of color. Colors can be used to highlight design features such
as text boxes, rules, screens, headers , and footers.
Use Contrast Effectively: Visibility of a color depends on its background color.
For instance, white and black have good contrast and hence black letters are easily
visible on white background. Utilize such principle s while using colors. Do not use
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Figure 1: Effect of Contrast
Take advantage of any symbolic meanings of colors: In different cultures , the
colors are associated with different meaning s. Red is a common color associated
with heat, danger or electricity, orange is associated with a warning, green is
associated with trees or forest, blue is generally associated with w ater bodies like
lakes, rivers. But keep in mind the culture of the audience while doing so as in
different cultures colors are interpreted differently.
The color can obscure or swallow up the text : Observe figure 2, the text in both
boxes is of same type and size but due to the difference in background color, the
text appears to be of different sizes. The color of text and color of the background
should have enough contrast for the text to be forefront and not hidden in the
background. If the contrast is less, it will be difficult to read the text.

Figure 2: Example of Obscure or swallow up text
7.6 Choosing the Appropriate Kind of Graphic
Tables and figures are two basic types of graphics used in technical documents.
Table lists the data by arranging it in rows and columns. Graphs, charts, diagrams
and photographs are included in figures category. Generally, figures and tables are
labeled separately.



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Table 1: Types of graphics used according to the purpose. Purpose Type of Graphic What the graphic does best Illustrating Numerical Information Table Large amount of numeric data with number of items and sub items . Bar Graph Lists relative values in form of bars of data. Infographic Combine visual and textual information. Visually provides statistical significance
of the data by comparing some metrics. Line Graph Handles more data as compared to bar graph, depicts data over time or other metric s on x-axis. Pie Chart Depicts relative contribution of species in a specific area (e.g., % of viewers watching different genre s of TV shows) . Illustrating Logical Relationships Diagram Shows properties and components of items and relationships among them . Organizational Chart Generally, depicts hierarchy in an organization. Illustrating Process Descriptions and
Instructions Checklist List of equipment, items, steps or actions . Table Shows numbers of items or indicates the state (on/off) of an item. Flowchart Steps or stages in a process or procedure. Logic Tree Depicts logical flow in a system. Illustrating Visual and Spatial Characteristics Photograph Depicts an object or a process via actual images. Map Generally used to show the geographical representation of a dataset . Line Drawing Shows simplified representations of Objects, showing otherwise hidden areas. Screenshot Depicts an object or a process via actual images taken from a computer screen .

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7.6.1 Illustrating Numerical Information
Numerical information is best depicted using tables, bar graphs, infographics, line
graphs , and pie charts.
7.6.1.1. Tables:
Tables are an excellent and preferred medium to present a large amount of precise
numerical data. For e.g., GDP of Different countries ac ross 10 years. Grade
distribution of students in different cities in Maharashtra.
Title of the table is generally placed at the top. Title should give information about
the contents of the table and a ny relevant information about data in the table. Tables
contain rows and columns. They can have their separate headings. Below the table
source statements indicating the sources used for data depicted in table and
footnotes can be placed.
Guidelines for C reating Effective Tables:
• It is essential to include the units of measurement for every type of data.
Indicate the unit of measurements, also make sure all the data is having
uniform unit of measurements. Unit of measurement can be mentioned in
title, column or row heading.
• List the items being compared in the stub - the left -hand column. Items in
a table should be order ed according to some metric. Arrange the items in
some logical order – smallest to largest, chronological , alphabetical , most
important to least important, geographical , etc. In case, the items fall into
different categories, group the m and include the name of categories in the
stub. In case grouping is not possible skip a line after every 5 rows or use
alternate colors of rows to increas e readability.
• Within columns arrange data clearly and logically. For e.g., use decimal
tab feature to align numbers based on decimal point. Do not use different
units in a column unless quantities are dissimilar. For example , instead of
writing 1hr, 90mins, 4500 sec; convert all values to mins or hrs as follows
1hr, 1.5hr,1 .25hr.
• Do the math. Provides totals, or percent increase or decrease wherever
appropriate.
• Use dot leaders or dashes if a column contains a blank spot i.e., no data is
present. Do not substitute it with zero. Note that Sales data unavailable and
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• Limit the width of the table , so that reader can scan the complete row at a
time. Stack the works in case of long headings o r data.
• Use rules only when necessary ; to separate title and heads, make them thin
rather than thick.
• Any addition al information needed to understand the table can be included in
footnotes at end of table.
• State the source of information, if you are not the creat or of the information.
7.6.1.2. Bar Graphs:
Bar graphs are excellent for showing relative numeric values of two or more items.
For e.g., Sales of Product A and Product B across last 5 years. Bar graphs can be
vertical or horizontal. Generally , vertical bar graph is used for showing size,
amount or height , or horizontal bar graph is used for showing speed and distance .
However, there is no rule associated with what to depict using which kind of bar
graph; vertical or horizontal can be used irrespective of what data they are showing.
Using gr idlines and mentioning the value on bar can increase the readability of the
graph.
Guidelines for Creating Effective Bar Graph s:
• Maintain the proportions of vertical and horizontal axis. Vertical axis is
generally 25% shorter than horizontal axis. An e xcessively long vertical axis
exaggerates the differences in quantities while excessively long horizontal axis
minimizes the diff erences in quantities. As shown in figure 3 and 4 .

Figure 3: Example of a readable Bar Graph [Proper Names used for bars and
axes, Axis starts at zero, Grid lines are present, Data value mentioned on bar,
vertical and horizontal are in proper proportion.]
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Figure 4: Elongated Vertical Axis

Figure 5: Example of Bar Graph - Axes do not start at Zero
• Whenever possible begin quality scale at zero. Graphs can be misleading if
scales don’t start at zero , as shown in figure 5 .
• In case it is not practical to start the quantity scale at zero, break the axis at a
common point.
• Signal the amount on the axis using tick marks. Tick marks and gridlines
increase the readability of the graph and help readers to gauge quantities
easily as shown in figure 3 .
• Arrange the bar using some logical sequence. For vertical bar graph use
chronological sequence, for horizontal bar graph use descending order
starting at the top.
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• Place title below the figure and indicate the source of information if you have
not generated it.
Following are Five B asic Variations of Bar Graph:
• Grouped Bar Graph : Allows comparison of 2 or 3 aspects for each item.
E.g., Showing results of offline and online sales of the store. Different colors
are generally used to distinguish types of bars, in this case; let’s say red for
offline sales and green for online sales.
• Subdivided Bar Graph: Different aspects are stacked on to p of one another.
Difficult to read individual quantities, total is easily readable. Indicating
individual quantities in bar can increase readability.
• 100- percent Bar Graph: Used to show relative proportions of aspects that
make up several items. For e.g. , Proportion of Grade O, A, B, C , and D
students in a class.
• Deviation Bar Graph: Used to show how different quantities deviate from
the threshold value. Used mostly for profit and loss or increase or decrease
in sales. Positive side will represent profit or increase; while negative side
will indicate loss or decrease .
• Stratum Graph: Also called as an area graph, used to show change in
quantities over a ti me period. It is d ifficult to read hence must be used with
caution.
7.6.1.3. Informatics – Information Graphics
It is a combination of graphics and words. Used to represent factual data about a
topic and it allows to communicate a visual/ verbal argument. Figure 6 shows an
infographic about infographics.

Figure 6:Infographic about Infographics
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's,
11th edition.
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Guidelines for Creating Effective Infographics:
• A good infographic is based on a claim. The content in the infographics is
provided as evidence to support the claim. The nature of the claim will dictate
the choice of graphics.
• Use accurate data to support the claims, check and recheck the sources and
cite them correctly.
• Follow the guidelines for the type of graphics being included in informatics.
• The text part of infographics must be concise, in case of longer text break it
down into small pointers.
• Do not overload the infographics with information. Use white spaces to
separate graphics and text.
• Revise and evaluate and test the infographics before publishing.
7.6.1.4. Line Graphs:
They are used to show changes in quantity o ver a time period or any metric like
position etc. For e.g., Project completion status over the development schedule. Bar
graphs emphasize the quantities themselves while line graphs highlight the change
in quantities. Use different colors or patterns in c ase the lines intersect. If lines are
intersecting greatly, it is a good idea to draw separate graphs. Do not include more
than 3 or 4 lines in one graph. Figure 7, shows an example of line graph.
Guidelines for Creating Effective Line Graphs:
• Begin the scale at zero, if not possible indicate a break in axis clearly.
• Maintain reasonable proportions of axes. Vertical axis is generally 25%
shorter tha n horizontal axis.
• Use tick marks to increase readability. For more precise readability use
gridl ines horizontal, vertical , or both.

Figure 7: Line Graph
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7.6.1.5. Pie Charts:
Pie charts help in indicating relative sizes of the parts of a whole. Figure 8 shows a
sample pie chart.

Figure 8: Pie Chart
Guidelines for Creating Effective Pie Charts:
• Divide the pie chart in to no more than 7 slices; as the size of slices reduce s
judging the relative size becomes difficult. Combine the very small quantities
in one slice named as ‘others’ and provide details in footnote.
• Arrange the slices, starting with the biggest slice on top, moving clockwise
in order of decreasing size.
• Label each slice and include the percentage and raw number. Label horizontally if space permits, else label radially.
• Use bright and contrasting colors to highlight a slice. Otherwise s eparate a
slice from pie to emphasize it. This can be used when the said slice is the
main topic of your discussion.
• Make sure the software used follows the guidelines for pie chart. Fancy visual
effect s and 3D pie charts can hamper the ability to comprehe nd the chart.
• Use patterns, shades or colors [combinedly called as Fill Patterns]to distinguish the slices but don’t overdo them.
• Make sure the addition of all percentages is 100%.
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7.6.2 Illustrating Logical Relationships
Graphics aid in showcasing logical relationships between items. For e.g., Showing
major components of an electronic circuit. Diagrams and organi zational chart s as
generally used to show logical relationships.
7.6.2.1 Diagrams:
Diagram visually represents the relationship between different items in a system.
A diagram is a visual metaphor that uses symbols to represent relationships among
items or their properties. Examples may include schematic, circuit diagrams, UML
diagrams, blueprints etc. Figure 9 shows an example of diagram. Different parts of
diagram can be numbered and labels of numbers can be listed below the diagram.

Figure 9: Sample Diagram showing Different Parts of a House
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Technical Com munication”, Bedford/St. Martin's,
11th edition.
7.6.2.2 Organisational Charts:
They use simple geometric shapes like rectangles, squares etc. to depict logical
relationship s like hierarchy, decomposition , functional divisions of system or work
breakdown structure. Figure 10 shows an example of organi zational chart.
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Figure 10: Organizational Chart
7.6.3 Illustrating Process Descriptions and Instructions
Graphics like checklist s, flowcharts and logic trees can be used to show process
descriptions, list s, or flow of instructions or actions.
7.6.3.1 Checklist:
Checklist is used for different purposes like listing the equipment or materials of
an experiment or list the steps to perform or parameters to check etc. Checklist is
list of items with a checkbox against each item. Images of items may be included.
Tabulated representation can be used to list the activities/ tasks that n eed to be
performed at regular interval s. The s ample checklist is shown in figure 11.

Figure 11: Checklist with Pictures
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's,
11th edition.
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7.6.3.2 Flowcharts:
Flowcharts are used to depict the steps of a process or procedure. Open system
flowcharts have a start and an endpoint, while closed system flowcharts are cyclic
i.e., they end where they begin. Labeled geometric symbols are used to show
different stages/steps in flowcharts, usually connected via arrows to show the
direction of flow. A deployment flowchart shows the person responsible for the
task along with the tasks and their flow and dependencies. The s ample flowchart is
shown in figure 12.

Figure 12: Flowchart
7.6.3.3 Logic Trees:
Logic trees use branching metaphor s. Logic trees are used in some decision -making
process es or to visualize the effects of different decisions at different stages. The
sample logic tree is shown in figure 13.

Figure 13: Logic tree
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7.6.3.4 Techniques for showing action or motion:
Sometimes in descriptions or instruction manual; actions or motion depicts the
process more appropriately. For e.g., How to change the battery of a weighing
machine, how to remove filter from air purifier. Animation and videos are best to
show these kinds of graphics , but sometimes there is a need to communicate these
things using static graphics or print documents. While doing so, s how the action
from the reader’s point of view , use arrows to indicate the direction, use symbols
like shake lines to indicate vibrations, starburst lines to show blinking or on light ,
or include both before or after image. Figure 14 shows this.

Figure 14: Techniques for showing action or motion
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's,
11th edition.
7.6.4 Illustrating Visual and Spatial Characteristics
Photographs, Maps, li ne drawing s, and screenshots are used to show visual and
spatial characteristics.
7.6.4.1 Photographs:
Photographs are the best way to reproduce visuals, e.g., a photograph of dashboard.
Sometimes photographs show too much information, in that case , use a diagram.
The r everse is also possible, where an inside detail may be hidden or obscured by
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another component. Keep a note of such issues. At times, you might have to crop
photos to save space. Do so if it helps to convey the point more appropriately. E.g.,
In figure 15 (a) is better as it shows the surrounding environment (b) is better as it
emphasizes the structure of the building.

Figure 15: (a) Photograph with background, (b) Cropped Photograph
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Techni cal Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's,
11th edition.
Guidelines for presenting photographs effectively:
• Remove any unnecessary background. Crop the photograph to show only
necessary details.
• Electronically manipulating the photograph to change the size, dimensions ,
or characteristics of the object is unethical and should be avoid ed at any cost.
• Help users understand the perspective. Take photograph at an angle or from
a perspective to emphasize the object’s depth, height, width , etc.
• If appropriate, include a common object like a ruler or coin, to help the reader
get a sense of scale.
• Label the component or important features if necessary.
7.6.4.2 Screenshots:
Images of computer s, mobile , or some other screens are taken , to guide readers
through the steps for performing a task, or to introduce different components of the
screen to readers. Generally, screenshots are used in user manuals of software,
mobile phones, wearable devices, or devices like microwave displays. They are
very effective in training the users to use the software or display devices.
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7.6.4.3 Line Drawing:
Line drawing s represent actual objects in a simplified form. They can also be used
to show internal and external regions of the object ( e.g.: submarines , ships, aircraft ,
etc). They are simplified visual representations of objects; and offer the following
advantages over photographs:
• Attracts reader ’s attention to the desired information in a better way compared to the photograph.
• Line drawings help to highlight information that could have been hidden due
to bad angle or bad lighting.
• Line drawings are easier to read and understand.
Three basic variations of line drawing are Phantom, Cutaway , and Exploded
drawings, shown in figure 16. Phantom drawings show internal regions of the
object which generally is obscured by the walls. Cutaway drawings “remove” a
part of the surface to showcase what is underneath. Cutaway drawings show
internal and external section s of the object in a sing le image. Exploded drawings
separate components while maintaining their physical relationship.

Figure 16: Phantom, Cutaway and Exploded drawings
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's,
11th edition.
7.6.4.4 Maps:
Maps are available as clip arts; which can be edited using graphics program. Maps
can be used for different types of information like for e.g., Showing the location of
showrooms of a company, density of population or resources in state or country.
Contour maps are used to show the elevation of the land.
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7.7 Creating Effective Graphics for Multicultural Readers
Just as words, graphics and colors have different meaning s in different cultures. It
is necessary to understand your audience and create graphics or build documents
taking into consideration their cultural inclinations and backgrounds. This is
necessary to ensure the meaning of the graphic remains similar to what you intend
to say.
Be awa re of and consider the following points while creating Graphics for
Multicultural Readers:
Different Reading patterns: In some cultures, documents are read from Left to
Right, while in others documents are read from Right to Left. For e.g., Urdu is read
from Right to Left, English, Hindi is read from Left to Right. Do not assume
directions, rather explicitly indicate them using arrows. Ensure how to sequence
graphics that show the action.
Varying cultural attitudes toward giving instruction: People in certain countries
like Japan are very polite and deferential. They would like instruction s that are
spelled out and polite . In some other countries , people may feel insulted if
instructions are too detailed.
Deemphasize Trivial Details: Certain objects can come in different shapes in
different regions. Instead of following a specific pattern while depicting these
objects, consider developing a generic image not specific to any country.
Avoid Culture -Specific Language, Symbols, and References: Avoid casual use
of national symbols like national flag, national emblem etc. Do not use picture of a
mouse to symboli ze the computer mouse, as the device is known by different names
in different languages. Use colors appropriately ; different colors have different
meanings in different culture s. Yellow symbolizes jealously, betrayal, weakness,
and contradiction in France, while it symbolizes bravery, wealth, and refinement in
Japanese culture.
Portray People Very Carefully: The physical appearance from clothing, hairstyle,
to physical features is cultural and race specific. A photograph of women in western
outfit s might not go well with culturally conservative countries. Use stick figures
that do not suggest or point to any single culture or race.
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Cultural differences are subtle but they will clear ly impact the reader of your
research work. Learn as much as possible about your readers and their culture
before using any graphics or publishing any work.
Consider following checklist to aid yo u in making correct decisions regarding
graphics:
• Make sure graphics has a definite purpose and presents a manageable amount
of information in a simple and uncluttered manner.
• Label the graphics clearly. Introduce and explain the graphics in text
properly.
• Make sure the graphics are placed in logical position in the document .
• Check the format and cultural expectations for your readers. Make sure your
graphics are not offensive to them.
• Portray correct and accurate information in graphics. Do not manipulate the
graphics to hide any details or show misleading information.
• When using existing graphics, check for copyright issues, cite the source of
graphics correctly.
Summary
Graphics play a crucial role in any type of documentation. This chapter covers
different types of graphics and their application areas. Every type of graphics has
an application area. The choice of graphics, appropriate use of color, following
basic rules, do’s and don’ts, will aid in creation of effective graphics. Due
consideration should be given while creating graphics for multi -cultural readers.
Questions
1. Three basic variations of ________ are Phantom, Cutaway and Exploded
drawings. (bar graph, line d rawings , line graph, pie chart)
2. In __________ Bar Graph, different aspects are stacked on top of one
another. ( Subdivided, 100-percent, Slacked, Grouped)
3. To integrating graphics and Text consider following guidelines EXCEPT_______. (Make the graphic clearl y visible, Do Not introduce the
graphic in the text , Place the graphic in an appropriate location, Explain the
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4. In using color in graphics and page design, keep these principles in mind
EXCEPT_____. (Don’t overdo it, Use color to creat e patterns, Use contrast
effectively, Use Dark colors instead of light )
5. _________convey large amounts of numerical data easily, and they are often
the only way to present several variables for a number of items. (Text,
Diagrams, Tables , Pie Charts)
6. A graphic should present a manageable amount of information because_______. (Graphics takes lots of space, Text itself enough to represent data, Presenting too much information can confuse readers,
Lesser information is easier to draw)
7. While Planning Graphics consider the following important factors: ________
(Money, Time, Equipment & Expertise, All of these )
8. ___________ use branching metaphor. ( Logic trees, Line Graphs, Photographs, Screenshots)
9. Which of the following graphics will you use to show: List of equipment,
items, steps or actions? ( Check Lists , Bar graph, Diagrams, Maps )
10. Which of the following graphics cannot be used to Illustrating Visual and
Spatial Characteristics? (Photographs, Maps, Line Drawings, Tables )
References
1. Mike Markel, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's, 11th
edition, 2014.
2. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what -colors -mean -in-other_b_9078674
3. https://www.macmillanhighered.com/BrainHoney/Resource/6698/digital_fi
rst_content/trunk/test/techcomm11e_full/techcomm11e_full_ch12_14.html

™™™™
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Unit 3
8 RESEARCHING YOUR SUBJECT
Unit Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Understanding the Difference Between Academic and Workplace Research
8.3 Understanding the Research Process
8.4 Choosing Appropriate Research Methods
8.5 Conducting Secondary Research
8.6 Conducting Primary Research
Summary
Unit End Exercise
References
Further Reading
8.0 Objectives
This chapter will help you to understand –
Ɣ Concept of Academic and Workplace Research
Ɣ Generic Processes of Conducting Research
Ɣ Concept of Primary and Secondary Research and how to conduct them
8.1 Introduction
Research is conducted in the workplace all the time. As a shop owner, you will
research which new product line will be more successful. As an interior designer ,
you will be research ing how to give maximum storage capacity, with optimum
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of the technique used, it will be necessary to sort out relevant information from
irrelevant and accurate from inaccurate data .
This chapter focuses on primary and secondary information research . Primary
research concerns about generating new technical information in the field of
interest; via experimentation or survey etc. Primary Research is also called the
original research because it attempts to answer the questions that have not be en
attempted earlier. Hence , Primary Research depends on the original or first -hand
data. Whereas, Secondary Research involves identifying, studying , and
combining the technical information other people have already researched and
experimented , in the subject of your interest. There is a possibility that secondary
research needs to be conducted to understand the latest trends in the field before
conducting the primary research to discover new knowledge. 8.2 Understanding the Differences Between Academic and Workplace Research
Even though there are some similarities in Academic and Workplace research
they will differ in their goals and methods. The g oal of academic research is to
find information that will help you to answer certain questions. For e.g. Which is
the most appropriate time to train a baby’s brain for the most effective development? At what age do babies start perceiving different languages? etc. The questions are more abstract as compared to the applied research. The aim is
to find the underlying principles of the phenomena. While doing academic
research; it is necessary to conduct extensive secondary research.
With Workplace Research the goal is to find information to help you answer a
pract ical question. For e.g., what will happen we automate the working of the
sales department? What would be the effect of going from offline/physical shop
to online shop? How will your customers react to it? Where should we open a
new shop? What will be the e ffect of the location of the shop on the sales? So, it
must be understood that primary research is mandatory when it comes to
answering these practical questions. Because there is a need to understand and
acquire knowledge about the organi zation’s processes, employee’s reaction to
change, customer’s reaction to change wrt the external business environment,
what will be the repercussion of your decision. So, there is a need to collect and
analyze internal and external data, before decision ma king.
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8.3 Understanding the Research Process
The Research Process aims to find the required information effectively and
efficiently. The objective is to spend an optimal amount of time to get the information that will answer your questions and will help you to meet the research goals.
The process below is an overview of the research process. Even though it is
explained as a part of the planning stage, additional research may be needed at the
drafting, revising, editing, proofreading stages. These steps must be followed
when addition al research is required to support an argument, clear a perspective,
or support a claim. The res earch process goes as follows:
Analyze your Audience: Identify the most important readers, their characteristics, attitude towards the subject, background , and motivation for
reading. For e.g., If the readers of the document, are experts of the field, the
arguments provided in the document should be supported with hard evidence.
While for novice audience s, it will be important to explain the basics terms before
going into the detail ed concepts .
Analyze the Purpose: Identify the purpose of the document. The p urpose will
help you identify the type of information the reader is expecting. Identify the
takeaway from the document; for e.g., which method is better, how to refine a
method or problem in a ny method, what do you have to convey.
Analy ze your Subject: Use freewriting and brainstorming to identify what is
known and what is unexplored or unknown in the subject.
Visualize the Deliverables: Identify the methodology or the application for
delivering the ideas. The application can be a proposal, report , or website content .
Is an oral presentation involved? This will depend on the goals of the document .
Deliverables are the tangible outcomes of your research.
Work out a Schedule and Budget for the Project : Define the deadline for the
project. Based on the li st of sponsors, note down the budget of the project. This
will assist in identifying the modes of data collection .
Determine What Information will need to be part of th e Deliverable :
Envision an outline of the content in the report and identify the key information to
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Determine What Information Need s to be Acquired: After the secondary
research, identify information available and information that needs to be collected
for the completion of the project or report.
Create Questions that need to be Answered in Deliverable: Questioning is an
excellent way of brainstorming . Questioning will initiate your thought process
and provide some clarity on what more information is needed, or which aspects
should be considered , etc.
Conduct Secondary Research: Identify, analy ze and study the reports, journals
articles, blogs , and other material, regarding the subject of interest.
Conduct Primary Research: Identify the sources for data collection. The
sources may be interviewing the expert people in your or other organization, via
questionnaires, analysis of social media data, analysis of organizational data , etc.
Evaluate the Information: Identify the quality of information gathered. The
quality of the information can be evaluated by assessing the relevance, accuracy,
comprehensiveness , and bias es of the data.
Do more Research: Based on the results of the evaluation of information, certain
question s may remain unanswered. In this case , more research will need to be
conducted. This process will continue till enough information is collected to
deliver a high -quali ty project report.
Note: Research project/ project is used as a common word for a journal article,
research paper publishes or a thesis presented. Deliverables are the tangible
outcomes of your research.
8.4 Choosing Appropriate Research Methods
While conducting the research, a mix of different research methods need s to be
chosen depending upon, what questions you are aiming to answer. Identify the
questions you need to answer and accordingly choose the research methods to
answer them. Table 1 provides an overview of research techniques that may be
utilized for answering particular questions.

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Table 1: Research Techniques for Different Types of Questions Type of Question Example of Question Appropriate Research Technique Theory behind a process or technique How does covid-19 vaccine work? Encyclopaedias, websites of professional institutes, journal
articles. Searching with topic
related keywords. History of a phenomenon When and where was the first covid 19 case
found? Same as above. Techniques that can solve the problem How can transmission of covid 19 be
contained? Recent information is available on websites and social media.
Searching with topic related
keywords and standard
terminologies. Possible changes in the current situation How will new virus strains affect infection
rates? Journal articles, websites have long-range predictions. Forecast
may be present on expert’s blogs
or discussion boards. Availability of products to perform
a task or provide a
service Which masks will provide optimum
protection from covid -
19 virus? Search websites, blogs and discussion boards. Reputed
vendors have their websites. Identify strengths and weaknesses of
competing products
and services Which sanitizer is most effective? Benchmarking articles, discussion boards, blogs will
provide comparisons, reviews
and opinions on products and
services. Expert recommendation on
product or service Which is the most recommended soap for
babies? Interviewing experts via personal or telephonic interview or
written inquires. Reading blogs,
discussion boards, journal
articles written by experts in
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service detergent power that sanitises the cloths
along with removing
dirt? public survey on company website, blog or social media
handle. Studying recent journal
articles or blogs. Facts about way of working or
procedures
performed in
organi sation How do RT-PCR tests work? Interviewing relevant people via face-to face, telephonic
interview. Lessons learned from cause of
problem in
organization What caused the leakage of CO gas? Interviewing people closely related to problem. Inspection of
the scene. Opinion of personnel regarding a situation What is the opinion of development team
about which
methodology scrum or
spiral will be better for
current Project? Use Interviews or Questionnaires to gather data depending on
number of personnel. Usability and suitability of a
product or service in
organization What do testers think of selenium as a n
automation tool? Product reviews on blogs, websites, discussion bo ards.
Observe use of product or
schedule demo. Interview can
help to gather more information
about product. Experimentation
can help to compare two
products.
Follow the Guidelines noted below to Optimize the Data Collection Procedure:
Be Persistent: Don’t get discouraged upon failure of a research technique. It is a
part of the research. First, rethink your data collection approach. If need be, ask
for help from the librarians or colleagues. Posting questions on discussion boards
may also h elp.
Record your Data Carefully: Record the sources, note the URLs, bookmark any site you may wish to visit later. Record the information collected either electronically or on paper. When conducting interviews make sure to record the
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Triangulate your Research Methods: Triangulating refers to utilizing multiple
research methods for data collection. For e.g., when buying a tool for your
organization; research needs to be conducted to find the appropriate tool that will
fit the needs of an organization. This data collection can be done using websites
of vendors, interviewing people who are already using a similar tool, taking a trial
of the product. Now consider the data collected using the above 3 methods in
your research. Avoid relying on any single source. The document to be published
will often be read by people from different backgrounds and perspectives. People
are attracted to data coming from their culture.
8.5 Conducting Secondary Research
The aim of conducting secondary research is to obtain an expert opinion on the
topic of interest. In case of the requirement of specific books or paid subscriptions, a library can be utilized as a resource. The research can be done on
the internet, or it can be done at an information center. Information center collects
different types of information, crucial and required for organization’s operations.
In other words, it is like an organization’s library.
8.5.1 Understanding the Research Media:
Technical information is available in print and digital format. The information is
published in four major media :
• Print Media: They include books, journals, reports , and other documents in
printed format. Printed documents are portable with an option of physical
note-making. In case the documents don’t need to be updated frequently ,
this form of media is quite popular.
• Online Databases: Different libraries such as LexisNexis, ProQuest, InfoTrac, Gale Virtual Reference, and ERIC, provide access to a large
database of journal articles, conference proceedings, and other documents.
Some of these services are free while others are available f or a fee .
• Websites: There are bill ions of web pages that contain different
information ; right from online versions of magazines and journals to conversion calculator s, statistical software, current survey data, audio -
video , podcast , etc.
• Social Media: This term encompasses user -generated content, discussion
board - where online discussions happen regarding a topic, or a blog – which
is a web-log, a web-based periodical published by a person or organi zation
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8.5.2 Using Traditional Research Tools:
Six basic Research tools that allow the collection of information from different
media :
• Online Catalogs: Online Catalogs are nothing but the database of books,
materials, films, CDs, records, tapes , etc. These catalogs list and describe
the available resources at one or more libraries. Usually , the searching
facility is available; search by type of media, date of publication, l anguage,
content, etc is allowed.
• Reference Works: Reference works generally include dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, atlas , and other research tools.
They can be either printed or online works.
• Periodical Indexes : Periodical s are generally related to a specific topic.
Hence, they are an excellent source of topic -specific information. They are
recent and authoritative. The pro blem is searching for relevant articles from
the vast collection of periodicals there are dozens of journals in your subject
and there is a chance that an article is useful in one of the hundreds of
publications. Here periodical indexes will help you determine the articles of
your interest according to the subject, title, author , etc. the brief list is given
below:
• Applied Science & Technology Index
• Business Source Premier
• Engineering Vi llage
• 5HDGHUV¶*XLGHWR3HULRGLFDO/LWHUDWXUH
You can also use a directory search engine to search for the required periodical.
If the library does not have the article of your interest, you may have to take
means for securing it. Interlibrary loan, find the library that has your article and
acquire it from there. The w aiting period may be more than a week. Another
option is to use the se rvice or document -delivery service such as IngentaConnect
or you can use a free database. Log on to the services to acquire the document of
your choice.
• Newspaper Indexes: Major newspapers around the world are indexed by
subjects. Electronic versions of the newspapers are also available. Print and
Electronic version s can be different, it is preferred to refer to the print
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• Abstract Services: They are like indexes, but in addition to the listing
articles an d documents with their titles and author name, they also include
the abstracts - a small summary of the article. Reading the abstract helps to
decide whether the article is useful in your research or not.
• Government information: Government keeps on publishing different information, either as a report, book , or brochure. You can always refer to
and cite these as resources in your research. It’s a good idea to use
government websites are a starting point to search for government -
published information. Websites for Indian Government: https://www.india.gov.in/ , https://dot.gov.in/useful -links - links to various
useful sites, https://goidirectory.gov.in/ - provides a single access point to
many government websites.
8.5.3 Using social media and other interactive resources
Interactive resources, including social media during this age of the internet has
allowed dynamic sharing and generation of content. This dynamic sharing allows
the collection of information across the globe. This, however, reduces the accuracy of the content since the content available is unreviewed. Hence, caution
should be maintained while utilizing such resources. Next, we discuss the three
categories of social media - Discussion boards, wikis , and Blogs . Followed by the
two processes to streamline their use - Tagged Content, RSS feeds .
• Discussion boards: Discussion panels organized by a variety of industries
or public organizations are a good resource for the collection of area -
specific information. Such panels can offer practical advice regarding an
issue or a topic. It provides diverse, up -to-date inform ation with a broad
point of view.
• Wikis : A Wiki is a form of a website, private to a community or public in
some instances that allows the creation and editing of new or past content collaboratively. A Wiki contains the information and articles about conferences, books, reviews, documents, etc. Wikis have up -to-date
information, that is voluntarily collaborated by members of the community
and edited by editors. It is a good idea to collaborate the information found
on the wiki with some other sources. To search wikis on the web, add the
word "wiki" to the search or use search engines like wiki.com.
• Blogs: Blogs are maintained by technical -scientific organi zations,
universities, private companies , or even individuals. They contain information that is often useful for researchers. It must be remembered the
blogger may not voice his/her own opinions in the case of a company -
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from NASA known as the “ NASA Technologies Spin -off to Fight Climate
Change ” blog .

Figure 1: Example of a Blog
Source: https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/3075/nasa -technologies -spin-
off-to-fight -climate -change/
• Tagged content: Tags are one or multi -word descriptors utilized by the
public to categorize and label various forms of content on the internet
including but not limited to blog entries videos, podcasts , etc. These tags
are then used by social media platforms as a way to tag an item. Facebook,
Instagram have the concept of hashtag (#); it makes tagging and searching
easier. Example of some tags a re #innovation, #fitlife, #contestalert,
#IGotVaccinated, #VaccinesSaveLives etc. Figure 2 is an example of blogs
tagged with GoogleGlass on site the Technorati. Technorati is a site that
currently tracks more than a hundred million blogs and a quarter bil lion
pieces of tagged social media.
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Figure 26HDUFK5HVXOWVIRU%ORJV7DJJHGZLWK³*RRJOH*ODVV´
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's, 11th edition.
• RSS [Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication] Feeds: This
technology enables new content from many selected websites to be searched in a single place which can be an email program or software. This
allows a quick search regarding new content available on the internet. There
is a special program called RSS Aggregator that will be alerted by the RSS
Feeds. Figure 3 shows a website that off ers RSS Feeds.

Figure 3: A Website Offering RSS Feeds : Shows how to use RSS feeds on the
Library of Congress website. Source: Library of Congress, 2013:
www.loc.gov/rss/ .

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8.5.4 Evaluating the Information
Once all the information is collected using secondary research sources, it is
import ant to analyze the complete informatio n together. This allows the user to
find out any loopholes, ambiguity , or contradiction s in the collected information
before moving forward.
Following are c haracteristics that must be present in any information that is
collected via secondary research:
Accuracy: Accuracy in the collected information is paramount to research.
Collecting inac curate information can lead to wastage of time doing an
unnecessary study.
Unbiased: The sources collected should be unbiased. They should not have any
financial stake in the project. Example – A Company that is manufacturing plastic
will be very much interested in a survey which proves that food in plastic
containers is good to be utilized for convenience.
Comprehensive: The information collected, should cover different kinds of
people with an array of demographic characteristics like gender, age, cultural
characteristics , etc. representing the diverse viewpoint on the topic.
Appropriately Technical: Good information should be sufficiently in detail to
respond to the needs of the study. An overly detailed or under -detailed
information will only harm the study.
Current: The information should be relevant to the current situation. 20-year-old
census data will not be useful to devise the advancements needed in the country
today or for the next 5 years.
Clear: Information must be easy to understand because unclear information is
likely to be misunderstood or there will be waste of time trying to figure out the
meaning of information.
The sources such as discussion boards, blogs , or general user content on inter net
does not undergo formal review as for the books and professional journals, hence
it is very important to understand this fact when using the unreview ed sources for
information in your research.


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Table 2 gives the guidelines for evaluating print and online sources.
Table 2: Guidelines for Evaluating Print and Online Sources. Points Printed sources Online sources Authorship Analyze the name and credentials of the author . Analyze other publication by the author . Utilize search engines and verified online platforms to evaluate author’s credentials and past articles.
Be careful about personal opinion blogs and unedited sources like Wikipedia. Publisher Verify the publisher’s reputation. Look out for academic or scholarly publishers. Reliable journals are funded by university or professional association.
Trade publications ( i.e., magazines about specific industries) are often biased to the industry. For example, publication about advantages of fossil fuels by oil and gas companies might be biased. Identify the publisher’s identity from the document. Beware of various internet sites build for publicity. Credible blogs or documents are likely to cite information from varied sources instead of a specific set of sites that might be biased. Personal blogs should be avoided given the lack of information about the author’s expertise. Knowledge of literature Analyze the document’s bibliography, its depth , and
novelty. Analyze the source as any normal document. Look out for references in form of links. Accuracy and
verifiability of the information Are the assumptions, theories, and methods utilized in the documents, reasonable to general beliefs in the field. Analyze the conclusions and their relation with the observed
data and evidence. Construction of the site and its public opinion is important while verifying documents on that site. Analyze document for its accuracy like any other printed document . Timeliness Analyze the publication timeline of the document and its
references . Be wary of all the documents on an incomplete site.
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8.6 Conducting Primary Research
Primary research needs to be conducted to support the data from secondary
research. Even though b ooks, journals , and online sources offer a plethora of
information, the need for new information arises in research. Hence, it is
necessary to conduct primary research for obtaining this information. They are 8
major categories through which primary reach can be conducted : Analysis of
social media data, Observation and Demonstrations, Inspections, Experiments,
Field research, Interviews, Inquires , and Questionnaires.
8.6.1 Analysis of Social Media Data
Social media is an epicente r of about 30 million comments and 7 million photos
every hour across the world. Social media also possesses 453 years of video
footage ( McCaney, 2013 ). Various useful insights can be obtained from this
continuous source of information which can be effectively utilized by organizations. Hence, businesses are making efforts to research social media data
to identify trends in purchasing habits, identify required services and develop and
strengthen brand loyalty. For example, some companies like Nielsen have be en
monitoring TV viewing habits via physical means to improve content and
advertising patterns. The r ise of social media has shifted the research direction of
Nielsen towards analyzing social media trends to obtain information regarding
TV program populari ty. This data is sold and used to identify the popularity,
decide advertising prices , etc.
Government agencies also use social media data for various purposes . Language
processing algorithms have been utilized by U.S. Geological Survey and the
Center for D isease Control (U.S federal agency) in conjunction with Twitter to
obtain real -time information about earthquakes and to monitor the spreading of
diseases, respectively. Such agencies utilize the power of social media and the
natural tendency of the public tweet about such pressing issues in real time.
Popular social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, Linked In etc provide their
APIs, to help with the analysis of data. Tools like HootSuite allows companies t o
analyze what people are saying about the company on social media. HootSuite
also allows you to man age the social media presence and provide analytics i.e.,
demographics data like who is following the company, their attitude , and
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Figure 4: HootSuite Dashboard
Source: Mike Markel 2014, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's,
11th edition.
8.6.2 Observation and Demonstrations
Observation and Demonstrations are very common forms of primary research.
Observing an activity involves watching a specific activity or general scenario in
person while understanding its inference. For example, observing the eating
habits of the students during lunch might lead to the development of a better meal
plan catered to the needs and requirements of the students. Often observation is
used as primary means of collecting data. Once a pattern is observed, more
insight and information about that obse rvation can be acquired using interviewing
or any other form of primary research for more clarity on observations made . In
our example, after observation, you can interview students regarding their food
choices to understand the reasons behind them. It is important to be prepared
beforehand to note down the factors of concern, in case you get the chance to
interview the participant during observation, interview ques tions must be ready
with you. Consider research ethics, during observation, do not observe person ’s
behavior where the privacy is mandatory.
In a demonstration, you are watching someone carry out a process. The
demonstration has a predetermined goal. For example, before buying new software, you may visit the developer’s facility or an organization that is already
using this software to see the demonstration on how this software works. This
will help you figure out if it is a good fit for your company.


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8.6.3 Inspections
Inspection is similar to observation but requires active participation fr om the
participants. For example, to identify the root cause of delay in a production line
in an industry, an inspection is required. Inspection might involve analyzing all
activities happening in the production line, observe the timescale required for
each activity, compare it with the ideal time required for each activity to complete
and eventually figure out the root cause of the delay.
In inspection professional s apply their knowledge and judgment, as they are
inspecting a site, object , or document. It is more complicated as compared to
observation as it includes, some types of testing and analysis.
Before performing an inspection, it is essential to study the process you are
inspecting, decide data required for analysis and documentation. Analyze if any
evidence is requ ired, like photographs, video files or computer data, then prepare
the material an d equipment for collecting that data.
8.6.4 Experiments
Experiments involve four phases namely establishing hypothesis, testing the
hypothesis, analyzing the data , and repor ting the data.

Figure 5: Steps in Experimentation
Establishing hypothesis: Hypothesis is an informed guess. Hypothesis is a
statement generating a relationship between some factors in the experimental
study. Goal of the experiments is to prove or disprove the hypothesis. For
example, conducting weekly tests for a class will improve student’s preparation
and therefore the score in the final test. This hypothesis establishe s the
relationship between the weekly test s and the performance of students in final test. The hypothesis must be concrete. For example, rather than saying “Conducting weekly test s will help students perform better in the final test” say
that “Conducting week ly test s will lead to 5% increase in performance of final
test”.
Testing the Hypothesis: Experiments have to be conducted to test the established
hypothesis . Generally, there are two groups: Experimental group and controlled
group. Both the groups should b e identical, except for condition being studied. In
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our example: both groups will have equal number of students, experimental group
will be given weekly test s then the final test while control group will directly
attempt the final test. Note the final exam papers for both groups must be same.
Average score in the final test from both groups can be utilized to support or
refute the established hypothesis.
Analyzing the Data: This step discusses the results of the experiments. In this
step, we go over the obtained data to look out for correlations between the data.
We observe if changing one parameter in the system leads to any specific change
in the results. In our case , we wish to find the cor relation between the result of
weekly test s on performance of the final test. We check to find if the correlation is
casual relationship or there is a serious change in marks of students who appeared
for weekly test s and then the final test against the students who directly appeared
for the final test.
Reporting the Data: Researchers will report their findings. When reporting the
findings, what was done, why it was done, what was observed, what is the
meaning , and significance of observation and what can be the next step in the
research a ll these point s must be explained.
8.6.5 Field Research
Field research involves a qualitative discussion of the system at hand. In contrast
to experimental research which yield s quantitative data, field research allows you
to analyze parameters that can’t be quantitatively analyzed. I t concerns how some
parameters change the quality of experience provided. For example, you wish to
observe behavior of people of a tribe, behavior o f migratory birds, the impact of
sports on development of children. There will be some studies when both qualitative and quantitative elements are present, in such cases you can use
combination of field research and experimentation.
Whenever we are observ ing the behavior of animals or people it is important to
minimize two common issues: effect of experiment on the behavior being studied
and bias in recording and analysis of data and observations.
Effect of experiment on behaviour being studied: When the subject [person or
animal whose behaviour you are planning to observe] of the experiment, knows
that they are being observed, the behaviour of the subject may change. Hence
observer’s presence is kept hidden from the subject. If cameras are used for
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Bias in recording and analysis of data and observations: Bias can occur from
both observers and subjects’ end. If the subject knows the aim or hypothesis of
the res earch, then the behaviour of the subject can be biased. Hence, it is crucial,
that subject is not aware of hypothesis of the research. Similarly, observer s can be
biased while making observations. The details of which groups [experimental or
control group] they are observing is not disclosed to the observers to avoid bias.
So, generally the data is double -blind to avoid subject and observer ’s bias .
8.6.6 Interviews / Interviewing for Information:
Interviewing is a well -known and commonly used method for da ta collection in
research. Interviews are useful when the subject of interest is new or narrow to be
covered in published and professional literature. The process of interviewing
involves determining the appropriate interviewee, preparing beforehand for th e
interview, conducting it , and completing the notes after the interview.
Determining the proper Person to interview: Defining the subject, purpose of
the interview may direct you towards the right choice of person for the interview.
It is important to choose correct respondent – i.e., the person to interview
(interviewee). While choosing the respondent answer the following three questions: What questions do you want to answer? Who is the appropriate source
to obtain this information? How willing is the person to be interviewed? If
research is regarding finding a material to store the product such that material and
produ ct do not react. A material scientist may be a person whom you can
interview.
1. Colleague or academician in appropriate areas of research
2. Personal from professional societies.
3. Person form companies. Information can be obtained from Contact Us or
About Us p ages on the website
4. Web search on domains line .gov, .edu or .org.
Preparing for the interview:
• Do your homework: Collect a sufficient amount of information about the
person and the organi zation person works for. On contacting the interviewee for the firs t time, provide your introduction and state the subject
and the goal of the interview. Put forth the form and duration of the
interview and seek a suitable time slot. In case you wish to record the
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• Preparing Questions: Once the appointment is made prepare a list of
questions. Be very specific and crisp, avoid vague and general questions.
Avoid close -ended questions ask open -ended questions . The i nterviewer
must always prepare list of the areas to be covered, questions to be asked
during the interview. Interview is lively and unlike printed questionnaire; it
is added and adapted as per the responses.
• Check your Equipment: Check the recorder or video camera in case the
interview is to b e recorded.
Conducting the interview:
• Arrive before time for the interview. Explain the subject, purpose of the
interview. State how information gathered from the interview will be used.
Ask permission before recoding.
• During the interview, take pin -pointed notes or memory jogging notes that
will aid to recall the conversion later on. Do not ask the interviewee to slow
down just because you are taking detailed note s. Interviewer should scan
the notes for loopholes and ambiguous points. If such points are found,
politely ask the interviewee for clarification.
• Keep the first few questions ready, and start with those, to avoid any
nervousness.
• Be prepared to ask foll ow-up questions. Depending on answers, decide
what questions to ask next. If the respondent is changing the direction of
discussion, ask question that can get interview back on track.
• In case the conversation steers into unwanted domain, make sure to be
prepared to politely ask the respondent to answer your original question.
Don’t be rude at all.
• When concluding the interview thank the respondent. Ask for a follow -up
interview if required.
• Ask permission to quote the respondent, also ask permission to use the
name.
After the Interview:
• Expand the notes soon after the interview: As soon as the interview is
over, refer to the notes and expand them depending on recollection of the interview. Postponing this step will result in some information being skipp ed, or there is a chance that you may forget some important points.
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• Send a brief thank -you note to the respondent thanking him/her for the time
and information provided.
• When using data from the interview, include a transcript or excerpt from the
interview. The c omplete transcript can be included in an appendix.
Interviewing by phone or email:
When taking face to face interview is not possible, other two options are
interview ing by phone or e -mail. The rules that apply for face -to face interview
are also applicable for telephonic interview.
The major problem faced in the telephonic interview s is the lack of non -verbal
cues. It can be challenging to take note s while speaking on p hone. A good headset
or high -quality speakerphone can help with this problem.
An E-mail interview complicates the situation more as compared to a telephonic
interview. The spontaneity and immediacy of face -to-face or telephonic interview
are absent with e -mail interview.
Certain principles need to be followed while opting for email interviews. Jot down and prepare your question beforehand. Contact the participant and introduce yourself. Give an idea about the number of questions planned for the
interview and the level of detail expected in the answers. Give a reasonable
deadline to the interviewee or ask them for a reasonable deadline.
Checklist for Interviewing successfully:
• Prepare a list of question s to ask. The order of the questions should go from
simple, less complex to more complex, and difficult aspects later on.
• Be objective, do not state your opinions on the subject, let you r interviewee
talk on the subject. Focus on listening carefully to what the interviewee has
to say.
• Ask any additional, fol low-up questions.
• Make sure to clarify any ambiguity or loopholes.
• Be pleasant but purposeful.
• Don’t hesitate while asking any follow -up or leading questions.
• In case, the interview gets side-tracked be polite enough and ask certain
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• In case you wish to record the interview, do it with prior permission. Even
if you are reco rding the interview be alert during the interview, so any
points or critical questions are left out.
• Thank the interviewee for the time and inputs. Ask for permission to
contact again in case any clarification is required.

8.6.7 Inquires
It is an alternative to a personal interview. It can either take the form of a letter,
email, or message through the organization’s website. Digital inquiries are more
convenient compared to physical letters. But physical letters will be used when
the topic is important or topic is sensitive or there is safety concern . Disadvantage
related to Inquires is that it gives you little opportunity to follow up, asking for
clarification. Also, the person to whom you are addressing the inquiry may not
completely understand the questions and might choose not to help.
8.6.8 Questionnaires :
Refer to Chapter 9 Section 7 .
Summary
Academic research is conducted with goal of answering a specific question, while
workplace research is conducted to find answers to a practical question. Choosing
appropriate research technique is crucial for the success of the research. Not all
research q uestions can be answered using same technique. This chapter will help to understand which techniques to choose for different types of research questions.
Primary research is conducted after collecting first -hand information, in secondary research we use information that is already collected to conduct our
study. This chapter discussed various aspects of research process and types of
researches, means of information collections and evaluation, ways of conducting
primary and secondary research.
An importan t aspect of secondary research is ensuring that characteristics like -
accuracy, unbiasedness, comprehensiveness, technical correctness, clarity and
current relevance are present in any information that is collected via secondary
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References
1. Gerald J. Alred , Charles T. Brusaw , Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Mart in's, Edition 9, 2008.
2. https://www.hootsuite.com/
3. https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_principles -of-sociological -inquiry -
qualitative -and-quantitative -methods/s13 -01-field-research -what -is-it-and-
.html
4. https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/3075/nasa -technologies -spin-off-to-fight -
climate -change/
Unit End Exercise
1. In_________ Many major newspapers around the world are indexed by
subject. (Online Catalogs , Periodical Indexes , Newspaper Indexes ,
Reference Works )
2. In ________ you simply watch some activity to understand some aspect of
it. (Experiments , Observation , Demonstration , Inspections )
3. _________ are extremely useful when you need information on subjects
that are too new to have been discussed in the professiona l literature or are
too narrow for widespread publication . (Interviews , Inspections ,
Demonstration , Inspections )
4. In __________, your goal is to find information that will help answer a
scholarly question. (academic research , workplace research, number research, d escriptive research )
5. In _________, your goal is to find information to help you answer a
practical question . (academic research, workplace research, number research, descriptive research)
6. The ___________ lacks the spontaneity and the immediacy of an in -person
or a phone conversation. (Face to face interview , Call interview, E-mail
interview , Telephonic interview)
7. The workplace colleagues or faculty in appropriate academic departments,
and l ocal chapters of professional societies etc. are the sources that can help
you decide the appropriate person to __________ . (Literature review ,
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187Chapter 8: Researching Your Subject
8. In the process of interviewing for information the first step is ______________. ( Determining the Proper Person to Interview ,
Preparing for the Interview , Conducting the Interview , Concluding the
interview)
9. _____________ is an alternative to a personal interview. It can either take
the form of a letter, email, or message through the organ ization’s website.
(Questionnaire, Experiments, Social Media analysis, Inquires)
10. Which of the following is characteristic that must not be present in any information that is collected via secondary research? (Clear, Current, Biased , Accurate)
Further Reading
1. William G.Zikmund, B.J Babin, J.C. Carr, M.Griffin, “ Business Research
Methods ”–Cengage –8e-2016
2. Gerald J. Alred , Charles T. Brusaw , Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008.
3. https://rss.com/b log/how -do-rss-feeds -work/
4. https://www.hootsuite.com/
5. https://wiki.com/

™™™™™
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Unit 3
9 RESEARCH, ITS DOCUMENTATION AND
REPORT COMPONENTS
Unit Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction and Overview of Report Components
9.2 Literature Reviews
9.3 Interviewing for Information
9.4 Documenting Sources
9.5 Copyright
9.6 Paraphrasing
9.7 Questionnaires
9.8 Abstracts
9.9 Introductions
9.10 Tables of Contents
9.11 Executive Summaries
9.12 Feasibility Reports
9.13 Investigative Reports
9.14 Laboratory Reports
9.15 Test Reports
9.16 Trip Reports
9.17 Trouble Reports
Summary
Unit End Exercise
References
Further Reading
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9.0 Objectives
This chapter will help you to understand the:
• Components of a Research Document , Types of reports and their contents
• Preparation of questionnaires, and procedure and checklist for conducting
interviews
• Copywrite Rules and Documentation of sources of information in different
formats
9.1 Introduction and Overview of Report Components
Documenting the research is as importa nt as conducting it; to ensure that it is
clearly conveyed to the audience. This chapter focuses on different aspects which
will aid in documenting the research work performed. Research is not only
conducted on a larger scale every time, small -scale resear ches are conducted on
day to day basis in the industry. They have to be reported as well, different types
of reports that will help in this task have been discussed towards the end of the
chapter.
9.2 Review of Related Literature - Literature Reviews
A lit erature review summarizes the relevant literature available in printed or
electronic form on a specific topic over a period of time. E.g., a Literature review
may describe different methods used for summarizing the documents over the last
10 years. Or different Swarm Intelligence Algorithms which have been developed
for a particular problem over the last 5 years. The literature review aims to give a
reader a complete idea about a subject and, the material they can refer to for
further reading.
Sometimes, literature review is at the forefront of a journal article or a thesis to
provide information regarding the research performed in the field prior to the
study at hand. It is the n used as a background by the write r for further discussion
on the s ubject. Literature review on its own could also be a whole document.
Such fully developed literature reviews are an excellent starting point for detailed
research. To prepare literature review, extensive reading of material published on the concerned topi c is very important. When referring to multiple sources; it is
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judging its value. A researcher must maintain all the sources used and document
them in the bibliography format chosen . A good way to begin literature review is
by defining the scope - area to be covered and different types of works to be
reviewed; e.g. articles, journals or books, blogs, etc. General order followed is
earliest relevant literature and then progressin g to most recent literature
[chronological order] . Work can be divided into sub -categories of the topic.
An annotated bibliography is a term related to literature review. In it each
bibliographic item is described in a single block of text, the contents c overed
include purpose, scope, main topics covered, historical importance, and any other
important information as per the writer.
A good researcher is a good analyzer of related literature. He after reading
between the lines forms his own opinion on how hi s chosen topic is different
from the related literature referred to. He also attempts to detail how his approach
is unique from what has been referred to in the related literature. If the researcher
is able to spell the above two things, he is considered t o have studied related
literature in depth.
9.3 Interviewing for Information
Refer to Chapter 8 Section 8.6.6
9.4 Documenting Sources
Documenting Sources standardizes the way researchers document the information
sources and cite the m. Uniformity in documenting sources and papers makes it
simple to recognize and understand the types of sources that were used for a
project or report . Readers of your work will not only look at your citations to
understand them but to possibly explore them as well.
Docum enting sources serves three purposes:
• Allows readers to refer to explore the subject more
• Aids as proof to assertions and arguments made by write r. Citing the
sources allows users to strengthen their claims and support their arguments
on a topic in a docu ment.
• Provides credit to authors of original work and avoids plagiarism.
Three main systems are used : APA, IEEE, and MLA style.
American Psychological Association (APA): APA is a system of citing articles
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191Chapter 9: Research, its Documentation and Report Components
field. Referred to as an author -date method of documentation, as it emphasizes
author (s) and date of publication, this makes the currenc y of the research clear. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Standards Style Manual (IEEE): The IEEE system is used for technical documents in areas of computer engineering, telecommunications, electric power, biomedical technology, et c. In this system of citations, the bibliographical reference number
is utilized to identify the sources of the information. Hence, such a style is called
the number -style method.
Modern Language Association (MLA): MLA system gives importance to pages
from which references have been made. Hence uses parenthetical in -text citation.
Generally used in humanities and literature.
Table 1: Referencing Different Source Documents in APA, IEEE and
MLA Style Document Citation APA Style IEEE Style MLA Style In-Text Citation (Author’s Last Name, Year)
(Barkley, 2007) [Bibliographical reference number
corresponding to a
bibliography entry]
[B1] (Author’s Last Name Page Number)
(Barkley 162) References Entry (Book with Single Author ) Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title
in italics . City, State
(abbreviated) or
Country of
Publication:
Publisher.
Barkley, B. T.
(2007). Project
management in new
product
development . New
York, NY: McGraw -
Hill. [Bibliographical reference number]
Author’s Last Name,
First and
Middle Initial (or
Full First Name),
Title in Italics . Place
of
Publication:
Publisher, Date of
Publication, Pages.
[B1] Barkley, B. T.,
Project Management
in New Product
Development .
New York:
McGraw -Hill, 2007,
pp. 112 –125. Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title
Italicized . Place of
Publication:
Publisher, Date of
Publication. Medium
of publication.
Barkley, Bruce T.
Project Management
in New Product
Development .
New York:
McGraw,2007.
Print. munotes.in

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192TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENTDocument Citation APA Style IEEE Style MLA Style Book Multiple
Authors Jones, E., Haenfler, R., & Johnson, B.
(2007). Better world
handbook: Small
changes that make a
big difference.
Gabriola Island,
British Columbia,
Canada: New
Society. [B2] Jones, E., Haenfler, R., and
Johnson, B., Better
World Handbook:
Small Changes That
Make a Big
Difference . Gabriola
Island, BC: New
Society, 2007, pp.
129–142. Jones, Ellis, Ross Haenfler, and Brett
Johnson. Better
World Handbook:
Small Changes That
Make a Big
Differ ence. Gabriola
Island, BC: New
Society, 2007. Print. Journal Article Valentine, S., & Fleischman, G.
(2008). Ethics
programs, perceived
corporate social
responsibility and
job satisfaction.
Journal of Business
Ethics, 77, 159–172. [B9] Valentine, S., and Fleischman, G.,
“Ethics programs,
perceived
corporate social
responsibility and
job satisfaction,”
Journal of
Business Ethics , vol.
77, pp. 159 –172,
2008. Valentine, Sean, and Gary Fleischman.
“Ethics Programs,
Perceived Corporate
Social
Responsibility, and
Job Satisfaction.”
Journal of Business
Ethics 77 (2008):
159-72. Print. Newspaper Article Chazan, G. (2007, November 29). Can
wind power find
footing in the deep?
Wall Street Journal,
p. B1. [B11] Chazan, G., “Can wind power
find footing in the
deep?” Wall Street
Journal , sec. B, 29
Nov. 2007. Chazan, Guy. “Can Wind Power Find
Footing in the
Deep?” Wall Street
Journal 29 Nov. 2007: B1+. Print. Edition other than first edition Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007).
The leadership
challenge (4th ed.).
New York,
NY:Wiley. [B4] Kouzes, J. M., and Posner, B. Z., The Leadership Challenge, 4th ed. New York: Wiley, 2007, pp. 221 –247. Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner.
The Leadership
Challenge. 4th
ed. New York:
Wiley, 2007. Print. Short Work from a Web Site, with an DuVander, A. (2006, June 29). Cookies make the [B13] DuVander, A., “Cookies make
the web go DuVander, Adam. “Cookies Make the
Web Go ’Round.” munotes.in

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193Chapter 9: Research, its Documentation and Report ComponentsDocument Citation APA Style IEEE Style MLA Style Author Web go ’round. Retrieved from http://www .
webmonkey.com/we
bmonkey/
06/26/index3a.html ’round.”Webmonkey. 29 June 2006.
[Footnote should
follow with
www.webmonkey.c
om.] Webmonkey. 29 June 2006.Web. 20 Dec.
2007. Short Work from a Web Site, with a Corporate or an Organizatio
nal Author General Motors. (2007). Company
profile. Retrieved
from
http://www.gm .
com/corporate/about
/company.jsp [B14] General Motors. “Company
Profile.” General
Motors . 2007. [Footnote should follow with www.gm.com.] General Motors. “Company Profile.”
General Motors .
General Motors, 2009.Web. 14 July 2009. Blog Entry (APA,
MLA)/
Entire
website
(IEEE) Gwozdz, G. L. (2005, December 5).
Deductibility of 529
plans [Web log
post]. Retrieved
from
http://glgcpa.blogsp
ot.com/ [B12] Society for Technical
Communication.
Society for
Technical
Communication . 2008. [Footnote should follow with www.stc.org.] Ojala, Marydee. “EPA Comes to
SLA.” Infotoday
Blog. 7 June
2007.Web.
12 Sept. 2007. Source: Gerald J. Alred , Charles T. Brusaw , Walter E. Oliu,
“Handbook of Technical Writing” Bedford/St. M artin's, Edition 9, 2008.
9.5 Copyright
Copyright refers to the legal right of the owner of the Intellectual Property.
Copyright is a tool to provide legal protection for any kind of literary, dramatic, musical, or intellectual work. It also provides the owner exclusive rights to distribute, dis play, reproduce or perform the copyrighted work. The work to be
copyrighted can be in printed or electronic format. Once a work is copyrighted, it
protects the original work from its date of creation even if they are not published
or contain notice of copy right.
Permission must be obtained from the author if you decide to reproduce a
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copyright law. Permissions: you can write to the copyright holder to seek
permission to use th e copyrighted material. It can be the author of the work or the
editor or publisher of the work. For websites, the information regarding copyright
and email address for contact is generally provided in terms of use. While asking
for permission, details abo ut the intended mode o f usage of the material should be
disclosed. Copyright holders may charge the fee and specify the conditions and
limits of usage.
Exceptions: There are certain exceptions to this copyright law. Specific print and web materials like te xt, visuals, or other graphics can be utilized without permission.
Rules for copyrighting are complex, so it is required that you check carefully the
copyright status of any resource you wish to use. The following points are
included under the exception to copyright:
Educational material : It is allowed to use some material from copyrighted for
the educational purpose such as notes for students, without any fee or permission
as long as fair use criteria are satisfied.
Company boilerplate : Employees are allowed to use material from in -house
manuals, reports, an d other company documents. This is allowed as the company
is right owner and author of the material.
Public domain material: Unclassified work created by the U.S. Government or
outsourced to some agency by the U.S government comes under the public
domain. This material is not copyrighted. This applies to old works that were
never copyrighted or their copyright has lapsed. Be careful, as some parts of
public reports may include “added features” that are copyrighted. Even though the
researcher is using copyright exception material, he must not forget to acknowledge the source in the bibliography
Copyleft Material : Wikipedia is an example of public access sites that follow the
copyleft principle and grant permission to freely distribute, copy and modify the
material.
Ethics Note: it is important to give credit to the source of material. Refer to the
section of documenting sources to find out how to appropriately cite the different
sources.


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9.6 Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is the idea of understanding the essential ideas of another writer and
restating the same in your work. An example is shown in figure 1. While paraphrasing, essential information from the source, in the form that is appropriate for the report, is restated in words of the author. Researcher should be
cautious not to lose the original sense and meaning while paraphrasing. Note that
quotation marks are not used while paraphrasing , as we are not quoting the source
document/ author word for word. However, while paraphrasing, proper citations should be included to give credit to the original author of the idea being paraphrased. Paraphrasing is very important while writing a literature review or
any review research paper.

Figure 1: Example of Paraphrasing
Source: Gerald J. Alred , Charles T. Brusaw , Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008.
9.7 Questionnaires
The questionnaire is a series of questions based on a topic that can be distributed among people either electronically or in printed format. Like Interviews, Questionnaires are also used as a method for data collection in research. Questionnaires allow collection of data from a larger group of people in les ser
time. When preparing questionnaire keep in mind the purpose, audience, type,
and kind of data that needs to be collected.
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Advantages:
• They allow you to gather data from a larger population in less time period
as compared to personal interviews. Reaching the population from larger
geographical location is possible easily.
• Respondents get more time to think and answer. Pressure is not present
while answering questions provided in a questionnaire as compared to the
personal interview, re ducing the bias.
• Questionnaires by their very nature can be anonymous and hence reduce the
bias an d provide objective data.
• The cost of distributing questionnaires and collecting data is lower as
compared to personal interviews.
Disadvantages:
• The kind o f people responding to the questionnaire is the people who have
strong opinions about the topic. So, it is important to be careful, while
drawing conclusions based on questionnaire data.
• Obtaining data in a questionnaire format limits the possibility of fo llow-up
questions. Hence, it needs to be designed so that it will logically lead from
one question to another.
• It is easy for respondents to misunderstand the questions or supply incorrect
answers. Using proper validations can solve this problem in electr onic
questionnaires; this option is not applicable in paper questionnaires.
• Respondent rate will not exceed 50%, in most case, it will be around 10% to
20%.
• Respondents take a longer amount of time to respond to the questionnaire as
compared to question asked during personal interviews ; hence a longer
waiting period .
Selecting respondents / Administrating the questionnaires :
Selecting respondents for the questionnaire is essential to ensure the collection of
relevant and unbiased data. The difficulty in the collection of data depends upon
the data to be collected and the spectrum of the population to be interviewed for
the same. For e.g., For a survey of traveling habits of citizens in Mumbai, the
scope and volume are high. Considering t he entire population is not feasible,
hence a cross -section of the population - sample; has to be selected for administrating questionnaires. Collection of data from parents from a particular munotes.in

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school regarding the new curriculum is easier than the previous e xample. If your
sample is not representative of the general demographic, making generalized
statements based on the data can be inappropriate.
Preparing the questions:
While designing the questionnaire keep in mind the following:
• Questionnaire must be as brief as possible. Questions should be clear,
concise, unambiguous. For Long questionnaires, there are chances that
respondents may not completely answer all questions.
• Complicated questions might not yield appropriate data.
• Ideally, questions should be yes/no type, multiple choice. Such questions
are easier to answer and analyze.
• Design questions while looking out for any possible loopholes. Questions asking for answers within a particular range of numbers should have options covering a wide range of answers. Ensure that there is no overlap
or holes between the options.
• Question should be neutral. Question should not lead to a particular answer.
This may lead to inaccurate, screwed, or biased data.
Testing the questionnaire :
Before sending the questionnaire to the respondents, it is a good idea to test it
first. The first level of testing can be done with your colleagues. Administer the
questionnaire to your colleagues and ask them to identify any problems. Revise
the quest ionnaire. As the second level of testing, share the questionnaire with few people with similar backgrounds as your final respondents. Collect their feedback. This will be your second level of scrutiny. Correct the questionnaire by
making necessary changes. Finally, administer the questionnaire to intended respondents. This process is very important as once the questionnaire is administered to intended respondents, it can not be altered or resent.
Presenting the questionnaire data :
Once the questionnaire i s acquired from the respondents, it is necessary to collect
the data based on a defined metric. Collection of the data is followed by analyzing
the data to generate representable data or figures. The data is presented in the
body of the report and lesser i mportant data can be included in an appendix. Often
different versions of the same information will be presented in both places. For
e.g., the concise version is documented in the body of the document while the
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summarise the data from multiple choice questions or scales like Likert scale.
However, for short answers and essay -type questions, it is best to process the
answers and transform the respondent's opinion to a standard set of answers,
before quantifying them. Objectivity should be maintained while doing so.
Checklist to consider whi le designing questionnaire:
• Always attach a cover letter along with your questionnaire. A cover letter
should include the purpose of the questionnaire, the date by which response
is expected, how and where to send the questionnaire.
• If a physical letter is used to send the questionnaire, then included the
stamped self -addressed envelope along with the mail.
• The question should be multiple -choice, Likert scale questions as much as
possible as they are easier to answer.
• Do not collect age, gender, educat ion, occupation, or salary details, if such
information is not valuable for the research.
• State if the information provided by the respondent will be kept confidential.
• Provide a section, maybe end of questionnaire for the respondents to give
additional c omments.
• Provide your contact details - Phone no. email id, mailing address along
with the questionnaire.
• Provide appreciation to those respondents who have answered the questionnaire properly or have responded within deadline with some certificate etc.
Table 2: Types of Questions Type of Question Example Comments Multiple Choice What type of masks do you prefer using?
A. Cloth
B. Surgical
C. N95 Respondent is supposed to select any one of the choices provided. Likert Scale 4-day week will improve Respondent ranks how much he munotes.in

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Number of responses may be even or
odd. Providing an odd number of responses increases the chances that respondents might select the middle response. Semantic Differentials New Protocols Effective _ _ _ _ _ _ Not Effective Respondent will select a response along a continuum. At end of the continuum are pair of opposing adjectives. Helps to measure the feeling of respondents regarding a particular issue. Ranking Rank the Location for conducting the conference. 1- most prefe rred, 4 - least
preferred
Sikkim
Manali
Lonavala
Ooty Used to identify the priorities of respondents
Short Answers What changes should we implement to boost the economy?
1. __________
2. ___________
3. ___________ Respondents will answer the question in brief. Short Essay How do you think is the new business process working; what are the effects of the same?
Useful to obtain detailed information regarding a topic. However, the
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9.8 Abstracts
An abstract is a summary of a journal article, report, dissertation, or any other
work. Its goal is to highlight major points of the study allowing the reader to
decide whether they are interested in obtaining the details of the full work.
Abstracts are diffe rent from summaries.
Abstracts are typically 200 - 250 words long and are sometimes published along
with the original study. However, they can also be published on their own in
periodical indexes and by abstracting services. Hence, an abstract should be
written in a manner that is understandable on its own.
Abstracts can be classified as informative or descriptive, depending on the kind of
information they contain. A descriptive abstract summari zes the purpose, scope,
and methods used to arrive at reported findings, it can be considered as an expanded version of the table of content in statement format. Whereas informative abstract along the purpose, scope and research methods used also
summaries the conclusions and recommendations. So informative abstract can be
considered an expanded version of descriptive abstract. While writing Informative
Abstract you can focus on the tone and scope of the original work without going
into its details. In figure 2; if only the first few statements are considered it's an
example of Descriptive Abstract, with additional statements it's an example of
Informative abstract. The type of abstract to be chosen depends on the audience,
organization , or publication. Informative abstract work s well for wide audiences
who are interes ted in conclusions and recommendations. While Descriptive
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Figure 2: Sample Abstract
Source: Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008. Generally, abstracts must be written after finishing the complete report, document, or research paper, otherwise, the abstract may no t accurately reflect the
report or document. Abstracts should be begun by the aim/subject and scope of
the document. Use major and minor headings of the table of content to discuss the
primary and secondary ideas and decide what material is relevant to the abstract.
Focus on writing clear and concise abstract, avoid unnecessary words or ideas.
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Write complete sentences, avoid very small or big sentences. Make sure not to
omit any articles or important transitional phrases (like however, therefore , but,
etc.) while trying to make the abstract concise. Combine ideas using subordination and parallel structure. It is essential to spell out all the used
abbreviations at their first occurrence.
9.9 Introductions
The document should start with an opening or introdu ction. An opening is
generally preferred for correspondence and routine reports to focus the reader's
attention on the topic and then the report proceeds with the body. For complex
reports and other documents , an introduction is written. It is mandatory to write
an introduction for any formal report or major proposals. The introduction will set
the stage by providing necessary information to understand the discussion that
follows in the body.
Routine Opening: Routine Opening is used when the audience is fa miliar with
the topic or the content been written is brief or routine. For example, when
writing a letter, memo or e -mail.
Opening strategies:
Other opening strategies are utilized in different types of documents to grab the
reader's attention and motivate them to read the complete document . Opening
strategies can be as follows:
• Objective : One strategy involves directly beginning the report by discussing the aims of the projective to give a clear idea to the reader.
Starting statement using su ch a strategy would b e- The primary goal of the
report is …………
• Problem Statement : In this strategy, you start the report by directly
discussing the problem being handled in the project and providing some
preface regarding the background of the problem. For e.g., This report is
aimed at reducing the accidents on the job floor. Depending on the type of
report the problem statement can be mentioned in short or it can be more
elaborate and part of a full -scale introduction.
• Scope: You can start your document by giving the parameters of material,
limitations, level of detail presented in the report. Enabling the reader to
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• Background : This opening strategy involves providing a brief history of
the subject and lend a perspective. The background of the report can put
forth a ground -based on which the entire report is set up.
• Summary : Summary can be used as an opening strategy. Don’t use filler
words like “This report …”. Instead utilize concise statements which provide a summary of the document without using unnecessary jargon. For
e.g., Instead of writing “This report summaries the advantages of adding
heuristic approach in a summary generation .” write that “A way to improve
summary generation algorithm is to use heuristic approach towards summary generation.”
• Interesting Detail: Starting the document with an interesting detail can
grab the attention of the reader. Hence, such details are utilized as a part of
opening strategies.
• Definition : Document can be opened with the definition of the prime term
related to your subject of research.
• Anecdote: An interesting opening strategy is to provide an anecdote related
to the topic to build the reader's interest. This strategy is suitable for long
documents or presentations.
• Quotations: Quotations can be used to stimulate interest in the subject, but
they must be pertinent to the subject and not randomly selected.
• Forecast: Sometimes forecast can help garner the attention of the readers.
Hence, it can also be utilized as an opening strategy.
• Persuasive hook : This strategy specifically utilizes persuasion overtly to
garner the interest of the reader.
Full-Scale Introduction :
A full-scale introduction aims at providing the rea ders, general information about
the background of the document. This in turn enables a better understanding of
the document.
An introduction should accomplish the following goals:
• State the subject: It should impart background information including
relevant definitions, history, theory to provide necessary context.
• State the purpose: Clearly state the purpose of the document. Does the
document provide a new perspective or clarifies the existing persp ective?
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• State the scope: The details covered; details not covered should be
mentioned.
• Preview the development of the subject: This is the outline of the
documentation. What information is provided; sections cov ered are to be
mentioned.
• Introduction or opening can be written in the end. Many writers prefer
this as, once the body of the document is drafted a full perspective is
achieved, which makes writing introduction easier.
• Manuals and Specifications: Introductions are written differently for academic papers, journal articles, and manuals or specifications. For manuals and specifications identify the topic, primary purpose in a line or 2.
Be specific, but do not go into elaborate detail.
• Introduction should provide broad frame of reference and general Understanding of the topic; this sets the stage for the entire document .
• Understand the technical and demographic background of your audience or
readers. When writing for programmers, there is no need to elaborate on
terms such as loops, polymorphism, inheritance. When writing for a novice
person, then explaining the term like constructor, polymorphism, the inheritance would be a good idea.
• In case there are any dependencies, let’s say topic A is dependent on topic
B and topic B is dependent on topic A. How to deal with such scenarios ?
One solution will be to give a broad and general idea about both topics A as
well as B. Then go on dealing w ith topic A in detail followed by topic B in
detail.
9.10 Tables of Contents
Generally, if a document is more than 10 pages in length it should have a table of
contents section at the start of the document. It gives a preface to the organization
of the doc ument and assists the readers in finding different sections of the
document. The table of contents lists the major headings and sub -headings of the
document in their exact form. The table of content is placed after the Title page
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Figure 3: Table of Content Example
Source: Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008.
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9.11 Executive Summaries
Executive summary of work integrates principal points of the work. Since it can
be the only section read by many readers, it should concisely represent the whole
document. They are different from abstracts. The abstract is used by reade rs to
decide if to read the full work or not. It differs from abstract as in, abstracts aim to
garner interest amongst the readers about the study whereas summary reflects the
original work in small text. Executive summaries are generally read by readers
when the document is very long; to get a brief idea about the contents represented
in the document. The length of the summary is around 10 % of the original
document. Executive summary should cover the following pointers: purpose, scope, methods/ procedures used, findings, results, and process to obtain results, conclusions, recommendations, and reasons for recommendations. Ensure that
the executive summary can be read independently of the original document,
research paper, or report. It can sometimes incl ude a figure, table, or footnote if
the information is required and essential. Executive summary should not refer to
any figure or reference a table provided in the document.
Executive summary checklist:
• It is advisable to write executive summary after completing the whole
document.
• Executive summary is generally placed at the beginning of the body of the
report.
• Do not include any information that is not present in the original document.
• Avoid jargons. Define any new or necessary terminologies.
• Define meanings of uncommon symbols and provide full forms of abbreviations.
• Do not avoid the use of transitional words and phrases like therefore, hence,
next, etc. to make the executive summary short.


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9.12 Feasibility Reports
The introduction of the feasibility report should communicate the intention of the
report, illustrate the rationale for the report, and include relevant background
information. It can also list the report's scope, proce dure, and tools utilized for the
subsequent analysis and specific shortcomings/limitations of the report.
The body of the report should ideally provide a detailed review of the possible
alternatives for fulfilling the listed goals of the project. It is adv ised to examine every option using specific criteria. Such criteria might include, cost and financing, staff availability, technical feasibility and other project -specific
requirements. Each sub -section here should b e labeled with headings to guide the
readers.
The conclusion discuss es the available options and suggested the most suitable/feasible option based on the criteria. Following the summary in the
conclusion section, the recommendation section provides the writer’s outlook on
the best possible alternative meeting the criteria.
9.13 Investigative Reports
An investigation report provides a detailed analysis of a workplace problem or an
issue. It is generated based on a request for specific information or about a
specific issue. Example as shown in the figure 4. It evaluates whether the company should adopt the program called "Basic English" to train and prepare
documentation for the non -English people.
The sections must include – primary and secondary purpose, the scope of investigation, e xtent, findings, and conclusion. It should open with a statement of
its primary purpose, secondary purpose (if any), then it should define the scope of
the investigation, including a survey of opinions (if conducted) and its analysis,
including any informa tion related to defining and understanding the extent of
investigation undertaken. Lastly with findings and conclusions significance of the
report must be discussed. In case the person requesting the investigation has
asked for your recommendations; add th e results of your findings to the report.
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Figure 4: Investigative Reports
Source: Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008.
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9.14 Laboratory Reports
A laboratory report is a tool for communicating information acquired for a major
laboratory investigation or testing. The report should be initiated by listing the
aim of conducting the said tests or investigation. It should list equipment, methods used in an adequate amount of detail, and accuracy. This data is required
to determine or check the accuracy of the investigation conducted as well as
replicate the procedure or inv estigation required. The problems encountered,
results, the conclusion , recommendations if any must be listed down. This
emphasis may require the use of passive voice. Even then you should present the
results of laboratory investigation clearly and precise ly. If the report requires
graphs and tables integrate the m in the report.
9.15 Test Reports
Test Reports are different from laboratory reports in size as well as scope. They
are considerably smaller, less formal, and more routine as compared to laboratory
reports. They are generally presented as a memo or letter, depending on whether
the recipien t is inside or outside the organization. Irrespective of the format, the
test report should have a subject line to identify the test being discussed in the
report. The report should be initiated by stating the purpose of the test. This can
be omitted in ca se the aim matches with the subject line. The body should contain
the data, procedures used to conduct the test, results, and if necessary, their
interpretation. If appropriate and required, conclude the report with recommendations made as a result of the test. Figure 5 shows an example - Report
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Figure 5: Test Reports
Source: Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008.
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9.16 Trip Reports
Trip Report is a permanent record of a business trip and its accomplishments,
generally written as a memo or an email, and is addressed to the supervisor
Example is shown in figure 6. The trip report aims to provide managers and other
staff members essential information about the results of the trip. The subject line
should denote the details and date of the trip, the body should enlist why was trip
was made, people visited during the trip, what were the discussions and accomplishments achieved in the trip. For every activity a separate section with a
heading should be devoted, it is not mandatory to give equal space to each
activity , rather elaborate more about important ones. Foll owed by a body, end
report with conclusions and recommendations. If required record of expenses can
be attached to the trip report.

Figure 6: Trip Reports
Source: Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008.
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9.17 Trouble Reports
The trouble reports are created to analyze events such as accidents, equipment
failures, or health emergencies. For e.g. the trouble report in figure is regarding an
accident involving personal injury. Because these reports are internal documents
they are usually written in memo format. The report should assess the cause of the
problem and suggest the changes necessary to prevent its recurrence. The subjec t
line must precisely state the problem being reported. Then, the body of report,
should provide a detailed, precise description of the problem. The description of
problem should include the details of the problem, information regarding location
and time o f the problem, details regarding the injury to personnel and damage to
property, and finally information regarding work stoppage. In the conclusion ,
state what actions have or will be taken to correct the cause of the problem . Such
actions might include sp ecific recommendations to improve safety practices, improve equipment and add protective clothing which might reduce the recurrence of the issue. These reports are associated with insurance claims,
worker compensation awards, or lawsuits, hence information noted must be
precise; the time, dates, location, treatment of injury, witnesses, or other crucial
information should be recorded with a great deal of accuracy. A neutral tone
should be used while writing this report, it should not blame a person .
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Figure 7: Trouble Reports
Source: Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of
Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, Edition 9, 2008.

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Summary
Documenting the research is an important aspect of research. Dif ferent document
and reports are generated as result of small -scale and large -scale research. Their
structure, components and content may differ according to the purpose, extent,
audience etc. Apart from research conducted for project or a big experimental
study, small scale researches are also conducted and reports are written for same;
for example, Feasibility reports, Investigative Reports, Laboratory Reports, Test
Reports, Trip Reports and Trouble Reports. This chapter discusses purpose and
content of t hese reports, content in general research paper and the copyright rules. Providing correct references is an important part of any research. Generally, three
referencing styles are used widely - APA, MLA and IEEE. This chapter enlists
how to use these referencing styles to list different types of references used like
books, journal articles, blogs, newspaper articles etc.
Another aspect discussed is information gathering, two indispensable aspects of
information g athering are questionnaires and interview.
Unit End Exercise
1. An __________ summarizes and highlights the major points of a formal
report, trade journal article, dissertation, or other long work. ( Abstract ,
Summary, Report, Table)
2. In Literature review, you can arrange your discussion __________, beginning with a description of the earliest relevant literature and progressing to the most recent. (Decreasingly, Chronologically , Z to A,
Randomly)
3. The _________________ enables writers to support their assertion s and
arguments in documents like proposals, reports, and trade journal articles.
(Documenting sources , Paraphrasing, Copyright, Questionnaires)
4. Identify correct APA style citation: i. (Author’s First -Last Name, Year) ii.
(Author’s First Name, Year) iii. (Year, Author’s Last Name) iv. (Author’s
Last Name, Year)
5. Identify the citation style: [1] Barkley, B. T., Project Management in New
Product Deve lopment. New York: McGraw -Hill, 2007, pp. 112 –125. (APA
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6. A ___________ tells readers what has been published on a particular subject and gives them an idea of what material they should read further .
(Copyright , Literature review , Paraphrasing , Questionnaires )
7. A small amount of material from a copyrighted source may be used for
___________ purposes. (Educational , Industry , Professional , Commercial)
8. The ___________ differ from abstracts in that readers scan abstracts to
decide whether or not to read the work in full. (Trip Reports , Trouble
Reports , Executive summaries , Feasibility Reports )
9. A/An _____________ offers a precise analysis of a workplace problem or
an issue in respons e to a request or need for information. (Trip Report ,
Investigative Report , Trouble Report , Feasibility Report )
10. The _____________ are created to analyse events such as accidents, equipment failures or health emergencies. (Trip Reports, Investigative Report s, Trouble Reports , Feasibility Reports)
References
1. Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu, “Handbook of Technical Writing” Bedford/St. Martin's, 9th Edition, 2008.
2. Mike Markel, “Technical Communication”, Bedford/St. Martin's, 11th
edition, 20 14.
3. https://www.bibme.org/mla
4. https://alison.com/course/entrepreneurship -copyright -and-industrial -design
Further Reading
1. William G. Zikmund, B. J Babin, J.C. Carr, M.Griffin, “Business Research
Methods” –Cengage –8e-2016.
2. https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp -content/uploads/IEEE -Reference -
Guide.pdf
3. www.mlahandbook.org
4. www.apastyle.org
™™™™™
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Unit 4
10 WRITING PROPOSALS
Unit Structure
10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 An Understanding the process of Writing Proposals
10.3 The Logistics of Proposals
10.4 The-'HOLYHUDEOHVۅRI3URSRVDOV
10.5 Persuasion and Proposals
10.6 Writing a Proposal
10.7 The Structure of the Proposal
10.8 Writing Informational Reports
10.9 Understanding the Process of Writing Informational Reports
10.10 Writing Directives
10.11 Writing Field Reports
10.12 Writing Progress and Status Reports
10.13 Writing Incident Reports
10.14 Writing Meeting Minutes
10.15 Writing Recommendation Reports
10.16 Understanding the Role of Recommendation Reports
10.17 Using a Problem -Solving Model for Preparing Recommendation Reports
10.18 Writing Recommendation Reports
Summary
Unit End Questions
References

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10.0 Objectives
A proposal is an essential marketing document that helps cultivate an initial
professional relationship between an organization and a donor over a project to be
implemented. The proposal outlines the plan of the implementing organization about the project, giving extensive information about the intention, for implementing it, the ways to manage it and the results to be delivered from it.
Enormous opportunities existing in the sector have led to the trend of making
proposal writing a profession. Proposal writing poses many challenges, especially
for small and unskilled NGOs. Here, we discuss some basic and n ecessary
information required for developing a proposal.
In this unit you will be able to define the proposal, writing a different type of
proposal , writing directives for proposal and also different types of reports and
structure of proposal.
10.1 Introdu ction
A proposal is an essential marketing document that helps cultivate an initial
professional relationship between an organization and a donor over a project to be
implemented. The proposal outlines the plan of the implementing organization
about the project, giving extensive information about the intention, for implementing it, the ways to manage it and the results to be delivered from it.
A proposal is a very important document. In some cases, a concept note precedes a
proposal, briefing the basic fac ts of the project idea. However, the project idea faces
a considerable challenge when it has to be presented in a framework. The proposal
has a framework that establishes ideas formally for a clear understanding of the
project for the donor. Besides, unles s the ideas are not documented in writing, they
do not exist. Hence, a proposal facilitates appropriate words for the conception of
an idea. Proposals have recently become more sophisticated. This reflects the
increased competitiveness and larger resources existing in the NGO sector. The
trend of inviting proposals for contracting development programs began with the allotment of substantial resources for development that triggered off the mushrooming of NGOs around the world.
A PROPOSAL is an offer to carry out research or to provide a product or service.
For instance, a physical therapist might write a proposal to her supervisor for
funding to attend a convention to learn about current rehabilitation practices. A
defense contractor might s ubmit a proposal to design and build a fleet of drones for
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organization for funding to provide more services to the homeless community.
Whether a project is small or big, within y our own company or outside it, it is likely
to call for a proposa l.
10.2 An Understanding the process of Writing Proposals
Writing a proposal calls for the same process o f planning, drafting, revising,
editing, and proofreading that you use fo r other kind s of documents. The Focus on
Process box on the next page presents an overview of this process.
10.3 The Logistics of Proposals
Proposals can be classified as either internal or external; external proposals are
either solicited or unsolicited. Figure shows the relationships among these four
terms
Internal proposals are submitted to the writ er’s own organization; external
proposals are submitted to another organization.

Fig 1 0.3.1.1 The Logistics of Proposal [ 1] • Internal proposal
An internal proposal is an argument, submitted within an organization, for carrying
out an activity that will benefit the organization. An internal proposal might
recommend that the organization conduct research, purchase a product, or change
some aspect o f its policies or procedures. For example, while working on a project
in the laboratory, you realize that if you had a fiber -curl measurement system, you
could do your job better and faster. The increased productivity would save your
company the cost of th e system in a few months. Your supervisor asks you to write
a memo describing what you want, why you want it, what you’re going to do with
it, and what it costs; if your request seems reasonable and the money is available,
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you’ll likely get the new system. Often, the scope of a proposal determines its
format. A request for a small amount of money might be conveyed orally or by
email or a brief memo. A request for a large amount, however, is likely to be
presented in a formal report . • External Proposal
No org anization produces all the products or provides all the services it needs.
Websites ne ed to be designed, written, and maintained; inventory databases need
to be created; facilities need to be constructed. Sometimes projects require unusual
expertise, such as sophisticated market analyses. Because many companies supply
these products and services, most organizations require that a p rospective supplier
compete for the business by submitting a proposal, a do cument arguing that it
deserves the business.
Solici ted and Unsolicited
Proposals External proposals are either solicited or unsolicited. A solicited proposal
is submitted in response to a request from the prospective customer. An unsolicited
proposal is submitted by a supplier who believes that the prospe ctive customer has
a need for goods or services.
Solicited Proposals -: When an organization wants to purchase a product or
service, it publishes one of two basic kinds of statements: ‡ An information for bid (IFB) is used for standard products. When a state agency needs
desktop computers, for instance, it informs computer manufacturers of the configuration it
needs. All other things being equal, the supplier that offers the lowest bid for a product
with that configuration wins the contract. When an agen cy solicits bids for a specific brand
and model, the solicitation is sometimes called a request for quotation (RFQ). ‡ A request for proposal (RFP) is used for more -customized products or services. For
example, if the Air Force needs an “identification, frie nd or foe” system, the RFP it
publishes might be a long and detailed set of technical specifications. The supplier that can
design, produce, and deliver the device most closely resembling the specifications —at a
reasonable price —will probably win the contr act
Unsolicited Proposals -: An unsolicited proposal is like a solicited proposal except that
it does not refer to an RFP. In most cases, even though the potential customer did not
formally request the proposal, the supplier was invited to submit the propos al after people
from the two organizations met and discussed the project. Because proposals are expensive
to write, suppliers are reluctant to submit them without assurances that they will be
considered carefully. Thus, the word unsolicited is only partial ly accurate.
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10.4 The “Deliverables”of Proposals
A deliverable is what a supplier will deliver at the end of a project. Deliverables
can be classified into two major categories: research or goods and services.
Research Proposals: In a research proposal, you are promising to perform research
and then provide a report about it. For example, a biologist for a state bureau of
land management writes a proposal to the National Science Foundation requesting
resources to build a window -lined tunnel in the forest to study tree and plant roots
and the growth of fungi. The biologist also wishes to investigate the relationship
between plant growth and the activity of insects and worms. The deliverable will
be a report submitted to the Nationa l Science Foundation and, perhaps, an article
published in a professional journal
Research proposals often lead to two other applications: progress reports and
recommendation reports. • After a proposal has been approved and the researchers have begun work, they
often submit one or more progress reports, which tell the sponsor of the project
how the work is proceeding. Is it following the plan of work outlined in the
proposal? Is it going according to schedule? Is it staying within budget? • At the end of the p roject, researchers prepare a recommendation report, often called a final report, a project report, a completion report, or simply a report. A recommendation report tells the whole story of a research project, beginning with
the problem or opportunity that motivated it and continuing with the methods used in carrying it out, the results, and the researchers’ conclusions and recommendations. • People carry out research projects to satisfy their curiosity and to advance
professionally. Organizations often requi re that their professional employees carry
out research and publish in appropriate journals or books. Government researchers
and university professors, for instance, are expected to remain active in their fields.
Writing proposals is one way to get the res ources —time and money for travel,
equipment, and assistants —to carry out research.
Goods and S ervices proposal • A goods and services proposal is an offer to supply a tangible product (a fleet of
automobiles), a service (building maintenance), or some combination of the two
(the construction of a building). • A vast network of goods and services contracts spans the working world. The U.S.
government, the world’s biggest customer, spent $327 billion in 2009 buying
military equipment from organizations that submitted proposals (U.S. Department
of Defense, 2013). But goods and services contracts are by no means limited to
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manufacturer; a company that makes spark plugs might buy it s steel and other raw
materials from another company. • Another kind of goods and services proposal requests funding to support a local
organization. For example, a women’s shelter might receive some of its funding
from a city or county but might rely on gra nts from private philanthropies.
Typically, an organization such as a shelter would apply for a grant to fund
increased demand for its services due to a natural disaster or an economic
slowdown in the community. Or it might apply for a grant to fund a pilo t program
to offer job training at the shelter. Most large corporations have philanthropic
programs offering grants to help local colleges and universities, arts organizations,
and social -service agencies
10.5 Persuasion and Proposals
A proposal is an arg ument. You must convince readers that the future benefits
will outweigh the immediate and projected costs. Basically, you must persuade
your readers of three things:
• that you understand their needs
• that you have already determined what you plan to do and that you are able
to do it
• that you are a professional and are committed to fulfilling your promises
Understanding the readers “Need”
The most crucial element of the proposal is the definition of the problem or
opportunity to which the proposed project responds. Although this point seems
obvious, people who evaluate proposals agree that the most common weakness they
see is an inadequate or inaccurate understanding of the problem or op portunity.
Readers’ Needs in an Internal Proposal
Writing an internal proposal is both simpler and more complicated than writing an
external one. It is simpler because you have greater access to internal readers than
you do to external readers and you can get information more easily. However, it is
more complicated because you might find it hard to understand the situation in your
organization. Some colleagues will not tell you that your proposal is a long shot or
that your ideas might threaten someone in t he organization. Before you write an
internal proposal, discuss your ideas with as many potential readers as you can to
learn what those in the organization really think of them .
Readers’ Needs in an External Proposal When you receive an RFP, study it
thoroughly. If you don’t understand something in it, contact the organization. They
will be happy to clarify it: a proposal based on misunderstood needs wastes
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carefully. How can yo u define the problem or opportunity so that readers will
understand it? Keep in mind readers’ needs and, if possible, their backgrounds.
Concentrate on how the problem has decreased productivity or quality or how your
ideas would create new opportunities. When you submit an unsolicited proposal,
your task in many cases is to convince readers that a need exists. Even if you have
reached an understanding with some of your potential customer’s representatives,
your proposal will still have to persuade other of ficials in the company. Most
readers will reject a proposal as soon as they realize that it doesn’t address their
needs.
10.6 Writing a Proposal
Although writing a proposal requires the same writing process that you use for
most other kinds of technical documents, a proposal can be so large that two
aspects of the writing process —resource planning and collaboration —are even
more important than they are for smaller documents.
Like planning a writing project and also planning a proposal requires a lot of
work. You need to see whether your organization can devote the needed resources
to writing the proposal and then to carrying out the project if the proposal is
approved. Sometimes an organization writes a proposal, wins the contract, and
then loses money because it lacks the resources to do the project and must
subcontract major portions of it. The resources you need fall into three basic
categories: • Personnel. Will you have the technical personnel, managers, and support people
you will need? • Facili ties. Will you have the facilities, or can you lease them? Can you profitably
subcontract tasks to companies that have the necessary facilities? • Equipment. Do you have the right equipment? If not, can you buy it or lease it or
subcontract the work? Some co ntracts provide for the purchase of equipment, but
others don’t.
Collaboration is critical in preparing large proposals because no one person has the
time and expertise to do all the work. Writing major proposals requires the expertise
of technical personn el, writers, editors, graphic artists, managers, lawyers, and
document -production specialists. Often, proposal writers use shared document
workspaces and wikis. Usually, a project manager coordinates the process.
Proposal writers almost always reuse existi ng information, including boilerplate
such as descriptions of other projects the company has done, histories and
descriptions of the company, and résumés of the primary personnel who will work
on the project. This reuse of information is legal and ethical as long as the
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10.7 The Structure of the Proposal
Proposal structures vary greatly from one organization to another. A long, complex
proposal might have 10 or more sections, including introduction, problem, objectives, solution, methods and resources, and management. If the authorizing
agency provides an IFB, an RFP, an RFQ, or a set of guidelines, follow it closely.
If you have no guidelines, or if you are writing an unsolicited propos al, use the
structure shown here as a starting point. Then modify it according to your subject,
your purpose, and the needs of your audience .

Fig10.6.1.1 The structure of Proposal Part 1 [1]
For a proposal of more than a few pages, provide a summary. Many organizations
impose a length limit —such as 250 words —and ask the writer to present the
summary, single -spaced, on the title page. The summary is crucial, because it might
be the only item th at readers study in their initial review of the proposal.
The summary covers the major elements of the proposal but devotes only a few
sentences to each. Define the problem in a sentence or two. Next, describe the
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proposed program and provide a brief stat ement of your qualifications and
experience. Some organizations wish to see the completion date and the final
budget figure in the summary; others prefer that this information be presented
separately on the title page along with other identifying informati on about the
supplier and the proposed project


Fig10.6. 1.2 The structure of Proposal part 2 [1]
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Fig10.6. 1.3 The structure of Proposal part 3[1]
10.8 Writing Informational Reports
COMPLEX, EXPENSIVE PROJECTS call for a lot of documents. Before a project
begins, a vendor might write a proposal to interest prospective clients in its work.
After a project is completed, an organization might write a completion report to
document the project or a recommendation report to argue for a future course of
action. In between, many people will write various informational reports.
Whether they are presented as memos, emails, reports, or web pages, informational
reports share one goal: to describe something that has happened or is happening
now. Their main purpose is to provide clear, accurate, specific information to an
audience. Sometimes, informational reports also analyze the situation. An analysis
is an explanation of why something happened or how it happened. For instance, in
an incident report about a n accident on the job, the writer might speculate about
how and why the accident occurred .


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10.9 Understanding the Process of Writing Informational Reports
Writing informational reports involves the same writing process used in most other
kinds of technical communication. The Focus on Process box below outlines this
process.
If your informational report will be addressed to people from other cultures, think
about how your readers will react to your choice of application and your writing
style. If yo ur readers expect a formal style, you will want to select a formal
application (such as a report) rather than a memo. And consider adjusting your
writing style, perhaps by adding parenthetical definitions and graphics or by using
shorter sentences or more headings, to help readers whose first language is not
English.
In writing informational reports, pay special attention to these steps in the writing
process. PLANNING In some cases, determining your audience and to whom to address the
report is difficult. Choosing the appropriate format for your report can
also be difficult. Consider whether your
organization has a preferred format for
reports and whether your report will be
read by readers from other cultures who might expect a formal style and applicatio n DRAFTING Some informational reports are drafted on site. For instance, an engineer might
use a tablet computer to “draft” a report
as she walks around a site. For routine reports, you can sometimes use sections of previous reports or boilerplate. In a status report, for instance, you can copy the description of your current project from the previous report and then update it as necessary REVISING Informal does not mean careless. Revise, edit, and proofread. Even
informal reports shoul d be free of
errors.
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10.10 Writing Directives
A supervisor writes a directive explaining a company’s new policy on recycling
and describing informational sessions that the company will offer to help
employees understand how to implement the policy
Fig10.10.1.1 The Writing Directives [1]
10.11 Writing Field Reports
A common kind of informational report describes inspections, maintenance, and
site studies. Such reports, often known as field reports, explain problems, methods, results, and conclusions, but they deemphasize methods and can include recommendations .

Fig 10.11.1.1 Field Report [1]
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10.12 Writing Progress and Status Reports
A progress report describes an ongoing project. A status report, sometimes called
an activity report, describes the entire range of operations of a department or
division. For example, the director of marketing for a manufacturing company
might submit a monthly status report.
A progress report is an intermediate communication between a proposal (the
argume nt that a project be undertaken) and a completion report (the comprehensive
record of a completed project) or a recommendation report (an argument to take
further action). Progress reports let you check in with your audience .
Regardless of how well the pro ject is proceeding, explain clearly and fully what
has happened and how those activities or events will affect the overall project. Your
tone should be objective, neither defensive nor casual. Unless your own ineptitude
or negligence caused a problem, you’ re not to blame. Regardless of the news you
are delivering —good, bad, or mixed —your job is the same: to provide a clear and
complete account of your activities and to forecast the next stage of the project. Questionnaire for Field Report When you write a field report, be sure to answer the following six questions:
• What is the purpose of the report?
• What are the main points covered in the report?
• What were the problems leading to the decision to perform the procedure?
• What methods were used?
• What were the results ?
• What do the results mean?
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Fig 1 012.1 .1 The Progress and status Report [1]
Organizing Progress and Status Reports The time pattern and the task pattern, two
organizational patterns frequently used in progress and status reports status report
is usually organized according to task; by its nature, this type of report covers a
specified time period
Concluding Progress and Status Reports In the conclusion of a progress or status
report, evaluate how the project is proceeding. In the broadest sense, there are two
possible messages: things are going we ll, or things are not going as well as
anticipated. If appropriate, use appendixes for supporting materials, such as
computations, printouts, schematics, diagrams, tables, or a revised task schedule.
Be sure to cross -reference these appendixes in the body of the report, so that
readers can find them easil y
10.13 Writing Incident Reports
An incident report describes an event such as a workplace accident, a health or
safety emergency, or an equipment problem. (Specialized kinds of incident reports
go by other names, such as accident reports or trouble reports.) The purpose of an
incident re port is to explain what happened, why it happened, and what the
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organization did (or is going to do) to follow up on the incident. Incident reports
often contain a variety of graphics, including tables, drawings, diagrams, and
photographs, as well as video s.
Incident reports can range from single -page forms that are filled out on paper or
online to reports hundreds of pages long .
10.14 Writing Meeting Minutes • Minutes, an organization’s official record of a meeting, are distributed to all those
who belong to the committee or group represented at the meeting. Sometimes,
minutes are written by administrative assistants; other times they are written by
technical professionals or technical communicators. • In writing minutes, be clear, comprehensive, objective, and diplomatic. Do not
interpret what happened; simply report it. Because meetings rarely follow the
agenda perfectly, you might find it challenging to provide an accurate record of
the meeting. If necessary, interrupt the discussion to request a clarificatio n. • Do not record emotional exchanges between participants. Because minutes are the
official record of the meeting, you want them to reflect positively on the
participants and the organization. For example, in a meeting a person might say,
undiplomatically, that another person’s idea is stupid, a comment that might lead
to an argument. Don’t record the argument. Instead, describe the outcome: “After
a discussion of the merits of the two approaches, the chair asked the Facilities
Committee to consider the app roaches and report back to membership at the next
meeting. • Many organizations today use templates like this one, which has three
advantages: 1. Because it is a word -processing template, the note taker can enter information on
his or her computer or tablet dur ing the meeting, reducing the time it takes to
publish the minutes. 2. Because the template is a form, it prompts the note taker to fill in the appropriate
information, thus reducing the chances that he or she will overlook something
important. 3. Because the template is a table, readers quickly become accustomed to reading it
and thereby learn where to look for the information they seek.
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Fig10.14. 1.1 The Minutes of meeting [1]
10.15 Writing Recommendation Reports
A recommendation report can be the final link in a chain of documents that begins
with a proposal and continues with one or more progress reports. This last, formal
report is often called a final report, a project report, a recommendation report, a
completion report, or simply a report .

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10.16 Understanding the Role of Recommendation Reports
A recommendation report can be the final link in a chain of documents that begins
with a proposal and continues with one or more progress reports. This last, formal
report is often called a final report , a project report, a recommendation report, a
completion report, or simply a report .
A recommendation report can also be a freestanding document, one that was not
preceded by a proposal or by progress reports. For instance, you might be asked for
a recommendation on whether your company should offer employees comp time
(compensating those who work overtime with time off) instead of overtime pay. This task would call for you to research the subject and write a single recommendation report .
Most recomm endation reports discuss questions of feasibility. Feasibility is a
measure of the practicality of a course of action. For instance, a company might
conduct a feasibility study of whether it should acquire a competing company. In
this case, the two courses of action are to acquire the competing company or not to
acquire it. Or a company might do a study to determine which make and model of
truck to buy for its fleet.
A feasibility report is a report that answers three kinds of questions : • Questions of possib ility. We would like to build a new rail line to link our
warehouse and our retail outlet, but if we cannot raise the money, the project is not
possible. • Questions of economic wisdom. Even if we can afford to build the rail link, should
we do so? If we use all our resources on this project, what other projects will have
to be postponed or canceled? Is there a less expensive or a less financially risky
way to achieve the same goals? • Questions of perception. Because our company’s workers have recently accepte d a
temporary wage freeze, they might view the rail link as an inappropriate use of
funds.
10.16 Using a Problem -Solving Model for Preparing
Recommendation Reports
The writing process for a recommendation report is similar to that for any other
technical communication: 1. Planning. Analyze your audience, determine your purpose, and visualize the
deliverable: the report you will submit. Conduct appropriate secondary and primary
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233Chapter 10: Writing Proposals2. Drafting. Write a draft of the report. Large projects often cal l for many writers and
therefore benefit from shared document spaces and wikis. 3. Revising. Think again about your audience and purpose, and then make appropriate
changes to your draft. 4. Editing. Improve the writing in the report, starting with the largest is sues of development and emphasis and working down to the sections, paragraphs, sentences, and individual words. 5. Proofreading. Go through the draft slowly, making sure you have written what you
wanted to write. Get help from others.
In addition to this model of the writing process, you need a problem -solving model
for conducting the analysis that will enable you to write the recommendation report.
Fig.10.16. 1 The recommendation Report [1]
10.17 Writing Recommendation Reports • Reports that are lengthy and complex are often written collaboratively. As you
begin the project that will culminate in the report, consider whether it would make
sense to set up a shared writing space, a wiki, or some other method for you and
your team members to write and edit the report collaboratively.
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234TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT• If you are writing your recommendation report for readers from other cultures, keep
in mind that conventions differ from one culture to another. In the United States,
repor ts are commonly organized from general to specific. That is, the most general
information (the abstract and the executive summary) appears early in the report.
In many cultures, however, reports are organized from specific to general. Detailed
discussions of methods and results precede discussions of the important findings. • Similarly, elements of the front and back matter are rooted in culture. For instance,
in some cultures —or in some organizations —writers do not create executive
summaries, or their execut ive summaries differ in length or organization from those
discussed here. According to interface designer Pia Honold (1999), German users
of high -tech products rely on the table of contents in a manual because they like to
understand the scope and organiza tion of the manual. Therefore, writers of manuals
for German readers should include comprehensive, detailed tables of contents.
Table 1 0.17.1 Detailed contents [1]

Study samples of writing produced by people from the culture you are addressing
to see how they organize their reports and use front and back matter.
Writing the Body of the Report
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The sample recommendation report includes these elements:
Introduction The introduction helps readers understand the technical discussion that follows. Start by analyzing who your readers are. Then consider these questions: • What is the subject of the report? If the report follows a proposal and a progress
report, you can probabl y copy this information from one of those documents,
modifying it as necessary. Reusing this information is efficient and ethical. • What is the purpose of the report? The purpose of the report is not the purpose of
the project. The purpose of the report is to explain a project from beginning
(identifying a problem or an opportunity) to end (presenting recommendations). • What is the background of the report? Include this information, even if you have
presented it before; some of your readers might not have read your previous
documents or might have forgotten them . • What are your sources of information? Briefly describe your primary and secondary research, to prepare your readers for a more detailed discussion of your
sources in subsequent sections of the repo rt. • What is the scope of the report? Indicate the topics you are including, as well as
those you are not. • What is the scope of the report? Indicate the topics you are including, as well as
those you are not. • What are your recommendations? In a short report containing a few simple
recommendations, include those recommendations in the introduction. In a lengthy
report containing many complex recommendations, briefly summarize them in the
introduction. • What is the organization of the report? Indicate your orga nizational pattern so that
readers can understand where you are going and why. • What key terms are you using in the report? The introduction is an appropriate
place to define new terms .
Method
The methods section answers the question “What did you do?” In drafting the
methods section, consider your readers’ knowledge of the field, their perception of
you, and the uniqueness of the project, as well as their reasons for reading the report
and their attitudes toward the project. Provide enough information to e nable readers
to understand what you did and why you did it that way. If others will be using the
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Results
Whereas the methods section answers the question “What did you do?” the results
section answers the question “What did you see or determine?” Results are the data
you discovered or compiled. Present the results objectively, without comment.
Save the interpretation of the results —your conclusions —for later. If you combine
results and c onclusions, your readers might be unable to follow your reasoning and
might not be able to tell whether the evidence justifies your conclusions.
Conclusions
Conclusions answer the question “What does it mean?” They are the implications
of the results. To d raw conclusions, you need to think carefully about your results,
weighing whether they point clearly to a single meaning
Recommendations
Recommendations answer the question “What should we do?” As discussed earlier
in this chapter, recommendations do not always flow directly from conclusions.
Always consider recommending that the organization take no action or no action at
this time.
Fig 10.17.1.1 The recommendation Report [ 1]

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Fig 10.17 .1.2 Sample Of Recommendations Reports [1]
Summary • A proposal is a very important document. Writing a proposal is important task for
communication between two ends. • A proposal is an essential marketing document that helps cultivate an initial
professional relationship between an organization and a donor over a project to be
implemented.
Writing a proposal calls for the same process of planning, drafting, revising,
editing , and proofreading that you use for other kinds of documents . • Understand structure of proposal and also different types of proposal. • Different types of proposal written in different format. • Each proposal is written in different manner. • Reports also having different types but each report is having its own format.



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Unit End Exercise 1. What is Proposal? And Explain different types of Proposal . 2. What are different types of reports ? 3. Write any business Proposal.
How to write recommendation report?
References
1. Technical Communication Mike Markel Bedford/St. Martin's 11 2014
2. Innovation Management and New Product Development Paul Trott Pearson
06 2017
3. Handbook of Technical Writing Gerald J. Alred , Charles T. Brusaw ,
Walter E. Oliu Bedford/St. Martin' s 09 2008
4. Technical Writing 101: A Real -World Guide to Planning and Writing
Technical Content Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O'Keefe scriptorium 03
2009
5. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Peter Drucker Harper Business 03 2009

™™™™

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239Chapter 11: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Websites
Unit 4
11 REVIEWING, EVALUATING, AND TESTING
DOCUMENTS AND WEBSITES
Unit Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Understanding Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing
11.3 Reviewing Documents and Websites, Conducting Usability Evaluations
11.4 Conducting Usability Tests
11.5 Using Internet tools to check writing Quality
11.6 Duplicate Content Detector
11.7 What is Plagiarism?
11.8 How to avoid writing plagiarism content?
Summary
Unit End questions
References
11.0 Objectives • Revising, editing, and proofreading — for studying and changing your draft in
order to make it easier to use. • Evaluating refers to having other people help you by reading the draft and
communicating with you about its strengths a nd weaknesses • Testing refers to formal techniques of observing people and analyzing their
actions as they try to use your draft to carry out tasks .
11.1 Introduction
The techniques for improving the usability of documents and websites. In technical
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software program to carry out a task. In other words, usability measures how
successfully a document achieves its purpose and meets its audience’s needs. More
specifically, usability refers to five factors related to a person’s use of the item
11.2 Understanding Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing • Reviewing refers to three techniques —revising, editing, and proofreading — for
studying and changing your draft in order to make it easier to use. You have used
these techniques in this writing course . • Evaluating refers to having other people help you by reading the draft and
communicating with you abou t its strengths and weaknesses. You probably have
had people help you evaluate some of your drafts in the past. • Testing refers to formal techniques of observing people and analyzing their
actions as they try to use your draft to carry out tasks. You likely have not used
testing before.
Fig 11.2.1 Relationship among Reviewing, Evaluating and Testing [ 1] • Importance . If a document or site is important, evaluate and test as much as you
can. For instance, an annual report is so important that you want to do everything
you can to make it perfect. Your company’s website also is crucial. You keep
evaluating and testing it even after it is launched. A routine memo describing a
workaround for a technical problem is not as important. Review it yourself, and
then se nd it out. • Time. Almost every document has a deadline, and almost every deadline comes
too quickly. If the document is even moderately important and you have the hours,
days, or weeks to evaluate and test it, do so.
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241Chapter 11: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Websites• Money . It costs money to evaluate and test drafts, including employee time and
fees for test participants. If there is no good reason to spend the money, don’t.
11.3 Reviewing Documents and Websites, Conducting Usability
Evaluations • Reviewing a document or website is the process of studying and changing a draft
to make it easier to use. Reviewing a document consists of three tasks: revising,
editing, and proofreading. In carrying out these tasks, you will likely work from
larger issues to smaller issues. You will first review the doc ument as a whole (for
scope, organization, and development), saving the smaller issues (such as sentence -
level concerns) for later. That way, you don’t waste time on awkward paragraphs
or sentences that you might eventually throw out. • What is a usability e valuation? To evaluate the usability of a draft, you ask someone
to study the draft, looking for ways to improve its usability. That person then
communicates his or her impressions and suggestions, either in writing or in an
interview. You can perform usability evaluations of existing or prototype documents or sites. A prototype is a model that is built to simulate the look and feel
of an item before it is produced commercially. In technical communication, a
prototype is typically an early draft of a docume nt, website, or software program.
A prototype can range in sophistication from a simple drawing of a computer screen
to a fully functioning system that looks exactly like a commercial product. • Most types of formal usability evaluations involve three catego ries of people in
addition to the writer: • Users . In technical communication, users are people who use a document, site, or
program, usually as part of their jobs. They’re your primary audience, so they are
an important source of feedback. They can be curre nt or future users; they can be
novice, experienced, or expert users. They are probably not people who work with
you for the company that makes the product, because such people are likely to have
specialized knowledge that would make them atypical. • Subject -matter experts (SMEs ). An expert in the subject of the document,
website, or software can be very useful in evaluating a draft. For instance, a
database engineer is presumably an SME in database software programs. This
person probably could see more —and d ifferent —potential problems in a new
database program than a typical user could. He or she might also be the person in
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242TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT• Usability experts . An expert in ergonomics, human -computer interaction, usability
engine ering, or cognitive psychology typically designs the usability evaluation.
That is, he or she determines which questions to ask about the draft and how to
most effectively and efficiently obtain answers. He or she might also carry out the
evaluation. Or, a usability expert might evaluate a draft himself or herself.
Although there are many varieties, usability evaluations usually take one of five
major forms: • Surveying or interviewing users. Evaluator’s survey or interview users to learn
about the strengths and weaknesses of a document or site. These techniques
sometimes reveal problems that can be fixed; for instance, you might learn that
your users would really like to have a printed list of keyboard shortcuts to tape to
the office wall. More often, however, these techniques provide attitudinal information; that is, they reveal users’ attitudes about aspects of using the draft. • Observing users. To understand how people use an existing document or site,
evaluators go to their workplaces and observe them as th ey work. Observations can
reveal, for example, that typical users are unaware of a feature that you assumed
they used. This insight can help you see that you need to make that feature easier
to find and use. Arrange the visit beforehand, and bring food to establish good will. • Interviewing SMEs and usability experts. An evaluator might ask an expert to
study the draft for usability and then interview that person, asking general questions
about the strengths and weaknesses of the draft or focused questions ab out
particular aspects of the draft. One well -known version of an expert evaluation is
called a cognitive walk -through, in which the evaluator asks an expert to carry out
a set of tasks, such as signing up for RSS (rich site summary or really simple
syndic ation) on a blog, a prototype, or an existing site. The evaluator watches and
notes the expert’s actions and comments. Another version of an expert evaluation
is called a heuristic evaluation. A heuristic is a guideline or desirable characteristic,
such as that every page of a website should include an easy -to-find link to the home
page. A heuristic evaluation, then, is an assessment of how well a draft adheres to
a set of guidelines. After an expert conducts a cognitive walk -through or a heuristic
evaluati on, the evaluator interviews the expert. • Conducting focus groups. A focus group is a meeting at which a group of people
discuss an idea or product. Typically, the people are current or prospective users.
Let’s say your company sells a software program called FloorTraxx, which helps
people design custom floors. A focus g roup might consist of FloorTraxx customers
and perhaps other people who have indicated an interest in designing custom floors
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customers liked and disliked about the product, whether they were satisfied with
the results, and what changes they would recommend in an updated version. The
moderator would also seek to learn what information the prospective customers
would need before deciding to purchase the product. • Using a commercial usa bility service -: Companies such as User Testing .com
offer usability testing of websites. You specify how many “users” you wish to have
evaluate your site, their demographics (such as age, sex, web experience, and
nationality), the context in which they ar e to use the site, a set of simple tasks they
are to carry out, and a set of questions (such as “What do you like best about the
site?”). You then receive a brief report from each person who evaluated your site
and a video of the person thinking aloud whil e trying to carry out the tasks.
Although such usability services claim that they are performing usability testing,
in fact they are performing basic evaluations; real usability testing always involves
real users. Real usability testing, as described in th e next section, provides more
detailed information because the testing team conducts the test in a controlled
laboratory environment and can interact more extensively with test participants.
11.4 Conducting Usability Tests
The testing team has to plan the test carefully and stay organized. Typically, the
team creates a checklist and a schedule for the test day, specifying every task that
every person, including the test participant, is to carry out. Conducting the test
includes interacting with the test participant both during the formal test and later,
during a debriefing session.
The big differences between usability evaluation and usability testing are that testing
always involves real users (or people who match the character istics of real users) carr ying
out real tasks, often takes place in a specialized lab, is recorded using more sophisticated
media, and is documented in more formal reports that are distributed to more people.
Three basic principles underlie usability testing: • Usability testing perm eates product development. Usability testing involves testing
the document, site, or software rigorously and often to make sure it works and is
easy to use. Prototypes, newly completed products, and products that have been in
use for a while are all tested . • Usability testing involves studying real users as they use the product. Unlike
usability evaluations, which often involve experts, testing is done by real users,
who can provide important information that experts cannot. Real users make
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software that included an error -recovery message that said, “Press Any Key to
Continue.” The manufacturer received hundreds of calls from users who couldn’t
find the “Any” key. • Usability testing i nvolves setting measurable goals and determining whether the
product meets them. Usability testing involves determining, first, what the user is
supposed to be able to do. For instance, in testing a wiki, the testers might decide
that the user should be ab le to find the “Edit” function and then edit and save a
sentence successfully in less than 30 seconds .
Conducting Usability Tests • The testing team has to plan the test carefully and stay organized. Typically, the
team creates a checklist and a schedule for the test day, specifying every task that
every person, including the test participant, is to carry out. Conducting the test
includes interacting with the test participant both during the formal test and later,
during a debriefing session.
Interacting with the Test Participant Among the most popular techniques for
eliciting information from a test participant is the think -aloud test, in which the
participant says aloud what he or she is thinking while using a document or a
website. Consider the earlier example of FloorTraxx software for designing custom
floors. In planning to test the software, you would first create a set of tasks for the
participant to carry out: ‡ Calculate the area of a floor. ‡ Calculate the number of tiles needed for a proj ect. ‡ Estimate the amount of adhesive needed for a project. ‡ Generate the bill of materials needed for a project. ‡ Calculate the cost of materials and number of hours of labor for a project.
As the participant carries out each task, he or she thinks aloud a bout the process.
Because this process might make the test participant feel awkward, the test
administrator might demonstrate the process at the beginning of the session by
thinking aloud while using one of the features on a cell phone or finding and using
an app on a tablet.
While the test participant thinks aloud, a note taker records anything that is
confusing and any point at which the test participant is not sure about what to do.
If the test participant gets stuck, the administrator asks a leading que stion, such as
“Where do you think that function might be located?” or “What did you expect to
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for granted or embarrass the test participant for failing a task. For example, “W hy
didn’t you click the Calculate button?” assumes that the user should have seen the
button and should have known how to use it.
In addition, questions should not bias the test participant. When testers ask a
participant a question, they should try not to reveal the answer they want. They
should not say, “Well, that part of the test was pretty easy, wasn’t it?” Regardless
of whether the participant thought it was simple or difficult, his or her impulse will
be to answer yes.
Usability specialists Joseph S. Dumas and Janice Reddish recommend using neutral
phrasing, such as “How was it performing that procedure?” or “Did you find that
procedure easy or difficult?” (1999). In responding to questions, testers should be
indirect. If the participant asks, “Should I press ‘Enter’ now?” they might respond,
“Do you think you should?” or “I’d like to see you decide.
To ensure that the test stays on schedule and is completed on time, the test
administrator should set a time limit for each task. If the test participant cannot
complete the task in the allotted time, the administrator should move on to the next
task
Debriefing the Test Participant, A
After the test, testers usually have questions about the test participant’s actions. For
this reason, they debrief the parti cipant in an interview. The debriefing is critically
important, for once the participant walks out the door, it is difficult and expensive
to ask any further questions, and the participant likely will have forgotten the
details. Consequently, the debriefin g can take as long as the test itself did .
While the participant fills out a posttest questionnaire, the test team quickly looks
through the data log and notes the most important areas to investigate. Their
purpose in debriefing is to obtain as much information as possible about what
occurred during the test; their purpose is not to think of ways of redesigning the
product to prevent future problems. Usability specialists Jeffrey Rubin and Dana
Chisnell (2008) suggest beginning the debriefing with a n eutral question, such as
“So, what did you think?” This kind of question encourages the participant to start
off with an important suggestion or impression. During the debriefing session,
testers probe high -level concerns before getting to the smaller deta ils. They try not
to get sidetracked by a minor problem.
Interpreting and Reporting the Data from a Usability
Test After a usability test, testers have a great deal of data, including notes,
questionnaires, and videos. Turning that data into useful inform ation involves
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246TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT• Tabulate the information. Testers gather all the information from the test,
including performance measures, such as how long it took a participant to complete
a task, and attitude measures, such as how easy the participant found the task. • Analyze the information . Testers analyze the information, concentrating on the
most -important problems revealed in the test and trying to determine the severity
and the frequency of each one. • Report the information . Writing a clear, comprehensive report often leads the
testers to insights they might not have achieved otherwise. • Although usability testing might seem extremely expensive and difficult, testers
who are methodical, open -minded, and curious about how people use their
docume nts or websites find that it is the least -expensive and most effective way to
improve quality
11.5 Using Internet tools to check writing Quality
The challenge most writers face is to string words together in a way which makes
sense, sounds good and at the same time make the reader feel hooked to it. So, the
likely solution for this is to follow “practice makes a man perfect.” Take up the
help of a technological tool and be different in your writing ability as it will sharpen
your writing style and allow you to sequence words at the right place.
Suggested below are few writing tools which any individual be it a student or an
aspiring writer can make use of to improve their writing skills at many levels.
These online writing tools can help.
1. Hemingway Editor
Copy and paste your content in for evaluation or write directly in the text
editor and get highly visual feedback.
Hemingway Editor highlight s passages of text that need improvement, with
colors varying with the type of issue flagged.
2. Grammarly
This is a personal favorite. I use the Chrome extension so Grammarly can
make suggestions wherever I’m writing, whether in Google Docs, email,
Word Press, etc. Even as a professional editor, I find it helpful for quickly
highlighting issues. I can then either accept the tool’s recommendations or
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The free version will catch glaring errors, and there’s a paid upgrade if you’re
looking for more help on sentence structure and complex grammar issues.
3. Pro Writing Aid
Pro Writing Aid understands the value of words in communicating successfully and has developed an editing tool which improves writing. The
online version is free to use (up to 3,000 words) and you can upgrade to
premium services for a small monthly fee.
4. SpellCheckPlus.com
SpellCheckPlus.com does what it says on the tin. This useful tool checks your
spelling and grammar to ensure that your text is correct, thus making a better
impression on your audience. Spelling mistakes and typos can say a lot about
the value you place on your company or product. Don’t fall at the first hurdle;
make sure that your message is error -free.
5. Proof HQ
Proof HQ is a global leader in online proofreading and assures improved
productivity and creativity. Used by thousands of brands and agencies
worldwide, this tool includes core modules which streamline the review and
approval process from start to finish.
6. Language Tool
Language Tool is an Open Source proofreading program that boasts software
which can detect errors that simple spell checkers miss. The online tool is
available in more than 20 different languages .
7. Checker
1Checker is a free online service which aims to eliminate any embarrassing writing mistakes. The accurate proofreading tool also enhances text readability so SEO content can go from sub -standard to superb .
11.6 Duplicate Content Detector
Duplicate content is content that appears on more than one onl ine location, meaning
different websites. If you publish your own content in more than one place, you
have duplicate content. If you copy someone else’s content onto your site or if they
publish yours on their site, that’s duplicate content.
Search engines can have a difficult time determining which content is more relevant
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engines is to give users the best results possible when they search for a particular
term. Google and othe r search engines may choose to exclude duplicate content
from their search engine queries.
When you are writing your content, you may unintentionally make your content
too similar to already -published content. It’s always a good idea to double check
everyt hing you write using plagiarism checkers to make sure your content is viewed
as unique. Several of these tools are available at no cost.
Here are some good free tools that can be used to check for duplicate content: • Copyscape – This tool can quickly check the content that you have written against
already published content in a matter of seconds. The comparison tool will
highlight content that shows up as duplicate, and it will let you know what
percentage of your content matches already -published content. • Plagspotter – This tool can identify duplicate pages of content across the web. It’s
a great tool for finding plagiarists who have stolen your content. It also allows you
to automatically monitor your URLs on a weekly basis to identify duplicate
content. • Duplichecker – This tool quickly checks the originality of the content you are
planning to post on your site. Registered users can do up to 50 searches per day. • Siteliner – This is a great tool that can check your entire site once a month for
duplicate conte nt. It can also check for broken links and identifies pages that are
most prominent to search engines. • Smallseotools – A variety of SEO tools are available, including a plagiarism
checker that identifies fragments of identical content.
11.7 What is Plagiar ism? • Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional. • The word plagiarism has come from the Latin word ‘ plagiaries ,’ which means to
kidnap. As the plagiarism definition suggests, when someone uses the work of
another artist without properly citing the source or giving credit, then that will be
an instance of plagiaris m. Plagiarism is a punishable offense, and it is a form of
intellectual theft. • It is effortless to plagiarize any content or article from the website, but at the same
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The student often uses parts of an article in his project without crediting the source,
therefore, committing plagi arism. The teachers must warn the students about
plagiarism. • If the student is changing the word order or summarizing the work or using exact
lines from a text without using quotation marks or citing the source, that is not
crediting the source correctly, then it will be considered plagiarism.
11.8 How to avoid writing plagiarism content?
At its core, plagiarism is an ethical issue. A writer who submits plagiarized work
is committing theft with the hope of benefiting from that theft. This is true whether
you’re turning in a school paper to get an “A” or are a writer by trade expecting
monetary compensation.
Avoiding plagiarism is paramount as a writer because it compromises your
integrity. Aside from losing the respect of your mentors and peers, it could co st you
valuable professional referrals and future career advancement. If you’re still in
school, plagiarism may result in lost financial aid or leadership roles.
Additionally, it takes credit or profit away from the original creator of the work
which may m ean more trouble if the source takes legal action against you.
5 ways to avoid plagiarism
Fortunately, it’s not all scary. Avoiding plagiarism is actually easy to do now that
you have a foundational understanding of what it is. To help you steer clear of t his
taboo, here’s how to avoid plagiarism in your writing.
1 Cite your source
When alluding to an idea or wording that’s not your own, add a citation in
your writing that identifies the full name of the source, the date it was
published, and any other ci tation element that’s required by the style guide
you’re adhering to.
2. Include quotations
If you insert a source’s words into your writing, verbatim, one of the
simplest yet obvious ways to avoid plagiarism is by using quotation marks
around the text to denote that the words aren’t your own. A direct quote
should also cite the source so that readers know who the quote is from.
3. Paraphrase
Paraphrasing is rewriting a s ource’s ideas or information into your own
words, without changing its meaning. But be careful —paraphrasing can slip
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Successfully paraphrasing without plagiarizing involves a bit of a dance.
Reword and format your writ ing in an original way, and try to avoid using
too many similar words or phrases from the source. The key is to do so
without altering the meaning of the idea itself. Remember, you’re still using
another’s idea so you’ll need to include a citation to the s ource.
4. Present your own idea
Instead of parroting the source’s ideas or words, explore what you have to
say about it. Ask yourself what unique perspective or point you can contribute
in your writing that’s entirely your own. Keep in mind that if you’re alluding
to a source’s ideas or words to frame your own point, you’ll still need to apply
the guidelines above to avoid plagiarizing.
If you’re writing on the same topic for multiple assignments, it can be
tempting to recycle some of your previous words —this is called “self -
plagiarism”. The risk involved with self -plagiarism is just as high if the
publisher or your instructor didn’t give you permission to reuse your old
work.
5. Use a plagiarism checker
While conducting your research on a topic, so me phrases or sentences might
stick with you so well that you inadvertently include them in your writing
without a citation. When in doubt, using an online plagiarism checking tool
can help you catch these issues before submitting your work.
There are sev eral plagiarism checkers online, such as the one offered by
Small SEO Tools. Grammarly also offers a plagiarism checker that scans
your text for borrowed content for free. These tools let you know whether or
not parts of your writing are plagiarized —and so me even highlight the
specific words or sentences of concern and identify where the text originated
from.
These suggestions can be helpful in avoiding plagiarism in your work and is
worth the effort. In addition to being more aware of what constitutes
plagiarism, figuring out how to avoid plagiarism ultimately takes daily
practice.
Summary 1. Reviewing refers to three techniques —revising, editing, and proofreading — for
studying and changing your draft in order to make it easier to use. You have used
these techniques in this writing course . 2. munotes.in

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251Chapter 11: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Websites3. Techniques for improving the usability of documents and websites. 4. In technical communication, usability refers to how easily a person can use a
document, site, or software program to carry out a task. 5. Review the do cument and avoid the plagiarism. 6. Duplicate content should be avoided. 7. Quality of document is also checked using various Internet tool.
Unit End Exercise 1. What is plagiarism? How it can be avoided? 2. What is Usability Test? 3. Explain the relationship between Reviewing, Evaluating and testin g. 4. How to avoid writing plagiarism content?
References
1. Technical Communication Mike Markel Bedford/St. Martin's 11 2014
2. Innovation Management and New Product Development Paul Trott Pearson
06 2017
3. Handbook of Technical Writing Gerald J. Alred , Charles T. Brusaw ,
Walter E. Oliu Bedford/St. Martin's 09 2008
4. Technical Writing 101: A Real -World Guide to Planning and Writing
Technical Content Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O' Keefe scriptorium 03
2009
5. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Peter Drucker Harper Business 03 2009

™™™™™
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Unit 4
12 INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
AN INTRODUCTION
Unit Structure
12.0 Objectives
12.1 Introduction
12.2 The importance of innovation
12.3 Models of innovation
12.4 Innovation as a management process.
12.5 Market adoption and technology diffusion:
12.6 Time lag between innovation and useable product
12.7 Innovation and the market
12.8 Innovation and market vision
12.9 Analyzing internet search data to help adoption and forecasting sales
12.10 Innovative new products and consumption patterns
12.11 Crowd sourcing for new product ideas
12.12 Frugal innov ation and ideas from everywhere
12.13 Innovation diffusion theories
Summar y
Unit end questions
References
12.0 Objectives • Recognize the importance of innovation; • explain the meaning and nature of innovation management; • provide an introduction to a management approach to innovation; • appreciate the complex nature of the management of innovation within
organizations ; • describe the changing views of innovation over time; • recognize the role of key individuals within the proc ess; • recognize the need to view innovation as a management process. munotes.in

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12.1 Introduction Innovation management is a combination of the management of innovation processes, and change management. Innovation management allows the organization to respond to exte rnal or internal opportunities, and use its creativity
to introduce new ideas, processes or products.
Innovation management includes a set of tools that allow managers plus workers
or users to cooperate with a common understanding of processes and goals .
Innovation management allows the organization to respond to external or internal
opportunities, and use its cre ativity to introduce new ideas , processes or products .
It is not relegated to R&D; it involves workers or users at every level in contributing creatively to an organization's product or service development and
marketing.
By utilizing innovation management tools , management can trigger and deploy the
creative capabilities of the work force for the continuous development of an
organization. Common tools include brainstorming , prototyping , product lifecycle
management , idea management, design thinking, TRIZ , Phase –gate model , project
management , product line planning and portfolio management The process can be
viewed as an evolutionary integration of organization, technology and market by
iterating series of activities: search, select, implement and capture.
12.2 The importance of innovatio n • Innovation can be simply defined as a "new idea, creative thoughts, and new
imaginations in form of device or method". However, innovation is often also
viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, silent
needs, or existing m arket needs. • Such innovation takes place through the provision of the more effective products,
processes, services, technologies, or business models that are made available to
markets, governments and society. • The term "innovation" can be defined as somet hing original and more effective that
"breaks into" the market or society. Innovation is related to, but not the same as,
invention, as innovation is more apt to involve the practical implementation of an
invention (i.e. new/improved ability) to make a mea ningful impact in the market or
society. All organizations can innovate, including hospitals, universities, and local
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macro and micro trends, developing competences, and finding financial support for
new inventions and at last practically applying those inventions for better solutions .
IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION • Solving problems: Most ideas are actually derived from attempts to solve existing
problems. As such, when you encourage innovation, you are opening doors for
solutions to problems both within and outside your company. If your business
provides services, you might realize t hat your customer do not have an avenue to
share their opinions, complaints, and compliments. The only avenue available
could be the physical office. So, to solve the problem, you could decide to operate
a virtual office where customers’ needs can be atten ded to within a short time. The
customers will be happy and as a result, your sales will go higher. • Adapting to change: : This is especially evident in the technological world where
there are rapid changes defining the business. Change is inevitable and in novation
is the method to not only keep your business afloat, but also ensure that it remains
relevant and profitable. With the rise in mobile phones, traditional telephone had
to find ways to remain relevant. Same case with your business, when you develop
an innovation culture, you remain relevant at all times. • Maximizing on globalization: With markets all over the world becoming more
interlinked, greater opportunities are emerging in these new markets and with that,
new needs and challenges. For instance, China and India are estimated to be the
leading markets, and Africa is predicted to be the next “hot spot”. Therefore, if your
company hopes to tap into this market share, innovation is a must to enable you to
capitalize on the opportunities opening up. • Facing up the competition: The corporate world is always very competitive, and
with many new companies coming up, the top position in the industry is no longer
a reserve of a few. To retain or establish your company’s cutting edge, you can
compete strategic ally by having a dynamic business that is able to make strategic
and innovative moves and thus cut above the rest. • Evolving workplace dynamics: The demographics in the work place are constantly changing. With the new generation that has entered the market place;
new trends are also coming up. Innovation is therefore critical to ensure the smooth
running of the company. • Customers’ changing tastes and preferences: The current customer has a great
variety of products and services available to him and is well i nformed of his choices
than before. The company must therefore keep itself abreast with these evolving
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12.3 Models of innovation • The resource -based view of innovation considers that a market -driven orientation
does not provide a secure foundation for formulating innovation strategies for
markets that are dynamic and volatile; rather a firm’s own resources provide a much
more stable context in which to develop its innovation activity and shape its
markets in accordance with its own view . • The resource -based view of innovation focuses on the firm and its resources,
capabilities and skills. It argues that when firms have resources that are valuable,
rare and not easily copied they can achieve a sustaina ble competitive advantage –
frequently in the form of innovative new products. • Models of Innovation as follows: • Serendipity: Many studies of historical cases of innovation have highlighted the
importance of the unexpected discovery. The role of serendipity or luck is offered
as an explanation. As we have seen, this view is also reinforced in the popular
media. It is, after all, everyone’s dream that they will accidentally uncover a major
new invention leading to fame and fortune. On closer inspection of the se historical
cases, serendipity is rare indeed. After all, in order to recognize the significance of
an advance, one would need to have some prior knowledge in that area. • Linear Models: Innovation = = theoretical concept + + technical invention + +
commercial exploitation
Fig12.3.1 Linear mode ls of innovation [2]
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256TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT• Basically, "the linear model" is based on the assumption that innovation is
applied science . It is "linear" because there is a well-defined set of stages that
innovations are assumed to go through. Research (science) comes first, then
development, and finally production and marketing. • the innovation process has traditionally been viewed as a sequence of separable
stages or activit ies. There are two basic variations of this model for product
innovation. First, and most crudely, there is the technology driven model (often
referred to as technology push) where it is assumed that scientists make unexpected
discoveries, technologists ap ply them to develop product ideas and engineers and
designers turn them into prototypes for testing. It is left to manufacturing to devise
ways of producing the products efficiently. Finally, marketing and sales will
promote the product to the potential co nsumer. In this model, the marketplace was
a passive recipient for the fruits of R&D. This technology -push model dominated
industrial policy after the S econd World War . Whilst this model of innovation can
be applied to a few cases, most notably the pharma ceutical industry, it is not
applicable in many other instances; in particular, where the innovation process follows a
different route. • simultaneous coupling model of innovation:
The linear models are only able to offer an explanation of where the initial stimulus
for innovation was born, i.e. where the trigger for the idea or need was initiated.
They concentrate on what is driving the downstream efforts AND NOT on how
innovations occur.
The simultaneous coupling model, below, suggests that it is the result of the
simultaneous coupling of the knowledge within all 3 functions that will foster
innovation.
Furthermore, the point of commencement for innovation is not known in advance.
y Manufacturing
y R & D
y Marketing • INTERACTIVE MODEL
Here the technology -push is linked together with the market -pull models
There is no explicit starting point, like the simultaneous coupling model.
It emphasizes that innovation occurs as the result of the inte raction of the needs in
society and the marketplace, the latest science and technology advances in society
together with the organization capabilities Market pull Technology push Latest
sciences technology advances in society R&D Manufacturing Marketing Needs in
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Fig.12.3.2 The chronological development of models of innovation [2 ]
12.4 Innovation as a management process.
The fact is coming up with an idea is the least important part of creating something
great.
The preceding sections have revealed that innovation is not a singular event, but a
series of activities that are linked in some way to the others. This may be described
as a process and involves: • a response to either a need or an opportunity that is cont ext dependent; • a creative effort that, if successful, results in the introduction of novelty; • The need for further changes. Usually, in trying to capture this complex process,
the simplification has led to misunderstandings.
The simple linear model of in novation can be applied to only a few innovations
and is more applicable to certain industries than others.
The pharmaceutical industry characterizes much of the technology -push model.
Other industries, like the food industry, are better represented by t he market -pull
model. For most industries and organizations , innovations are the result of a
mixture of the two. Managers working within these organizations have the difficult
task of trying to manage this complex process.
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Fig.12.3.3 Cyclic Innovation Model [2] • Nowadays the cyclical model is preferred. However, many innovative processes
and developments are still linear. Too often, it is believed that only innovation in
the technological sector can lead to innovation. • The innovations do need to be placed i n the right context, so the value of the
innovation becomes clear. This is possible after research into market transitions or
societal needs. • An example of an invention, which was developed and spread out according to the
Cyclic Innovation Model, is the bi nary number system. The binary number system
is used for calculations in nearly every computer. • The system, in which the numbers 1 and 0 are used, was developed by the German
scientist Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnits (1672). The technique was then applied
in products (computers) and changed society in such a way that the other worlds
were also motivated to start innovating in this field. • A linear innovation model focusses, as said, on the technological sector and the
stream of investments. A consequence of this may be that the market is flooded
with supply -driven products for which it has not been determined whether there is
a demand. • Innovation is therefore surely not only a matter of a technological breakthrough,
but the value creation must be clear. Still, it is difficult to identify this value creation
beforehand, because value is added all throughout the innovation process. • Whether there is a demand for the product or service or not, value is created
somewhere in the Cyclic I nnovation Model, which can lead to Innovations.
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12.5 Market adoption and technology diffusion
The role of the market within the wider context of innovation is ever -present. The
relationship between new technology and the market is examined within the
diffu sion of innovations and market adoption. Diffusion of innovations is a theory
that seeks to explain how, why and at what rate new technology spread through an
industry and markets. Diffusion involves the initial adoption of a new technology
by a firm or in dividual. Adoption examines all those decision -making factors and
an understanding of these can help firms ensure their products are chosen over
competitors .
Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what
rate new ideas an d technology spread. ... Within the rate of adoption, there is a point
at which an innovation reaches critical mass. The categories of adopters are
innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
12.6 Time lag between innovation an d useable product
We are all taught at school that Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.
He was working in his lab trying to kill deadly bacteria, when he noticed a blue
mould growing on the petri dish. He noticed that the bacteria around the mo uld was
dissolving. But, for almost 10 years, nobody could purify the mould. Finally, in
1938, a team of scientists led by Howard Florey (Australian born) and Ernst Chain
(German born) helped to develop penicillin. It was first used in the Second World
War where it was mass -produced by the US Department of Agriculture. But it did
not become widely available until after 1945. So, we have a period from 1928 from
the invention, to 1943 when we have a useable product – 15 years. Interestingly,
the Nobel Prize f or medicine was won in 1945 by all three: Florey, Chain and
Fleming. Clearly, the Nobel Foundation recognizes their equal contribution. Chain
and Florey are not so widely remembered. This partly helps to explain the
misunderstanding we have with innovation : that we fail to acknowledge the 15
years of work turning the idea into a commercial product.
Adoption is defined as the relative speed at which participants adopt an innovation.
Rate usually is measured by the length of time required for a certain percen tage of
the members of a social system to adopt an innovation (Rogers, 1962). In general,
individuals who first adopt an innovation require a shorter adoption period
(adoption process) when compared to late adopters. Within the adoption curve, at
some poin t the innovation reaches critical mass. This is when the number of
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12.7 Innovation and the market
We have explored the reasons why some state that contexts are more conducive to
deeper le vels of entrepreneurial activity and innovation, whilst others promote
‘petty entrepreneurialism’ with short -term, accumulation -ridden intentions. This
point also tries to explain how some nations achieved a strong transformation from
basic industries and joined the vanguard of technology development. In that
respect, it was suggested that, although knowledge accumulation is a socially and
spatially focused process, geographical shifts have occurred throughout history
when ‘state -societal arrangements’ were conducive and there may be possible
openings for late -developing nations in the future.
This, however, is by no means a simple process. emphasized the inclusion of
commercialization within the process of innovation. this part of the innovation
process th at proves so extremely difficult for many firms. There have been many
exciting scientific advances, such as Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin
(1928) and Crick and Watson’s discovery of DNA (1953) but, in both cases, it was
over 20 years later tha t commercial products emerged from the science and
technology: antibiotics in the first case and numerous genetic advances including genetic fingerprinting in the second. Commercializing technology and new products, in particular, then, is one of the key c hallenges within innovation. We
now turn our attention to this process and, in particular, the diffusion of i nnovations
and market adoption .
12.8 Innovation and market vision
We all respond differently to different types of innovations. It is because of this
that the role of marketing is so valuable to firms developing new products and
services. For example, in the context of disruptive innovations, which require a
greater change in existing patterns of behavior and thinking, consumers would
perceive a higher level of risk and uncertainty in their adoption decisions relative
to continuous innovations that depend on established behavioral patterns and
perceptions. Take internet banking as an example: this is a type of service that
necessitates ch anges in perceptions and the established patterns of behavior and
requires the formation of new consumption practices.
Indeed, the underlying internet technology itself is a disruptive innovation. Yet,
here in lies the problem: highly innovative products h ave an inherent high degree
of uncertainty about exactly how an emerging technology may be formulated into
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the ability to look into the future and picture products and servi ces that will be
successful, is a fundamental requirement for those firms wishing to engage in
innovation. It involves assessing one’s own technological capability and present
or future market needs and visioning a market offering that people will want to
buy. Whilst this may sound simple, it lies at the heart of the innovation process
and focuses our attention on the need to examine not only the market but the way
the new product offering is used or consumed.
12.9 Analysing internet search data to help ado ption
and forecasting sales
Recently, researchers have used internet search traffic to analyze the immense body
of information made available by hidden traces left behind by consumers. Jun et al.
(2014) used search traffic to analyze the adoption process o f a new technology,
specifically hybrid cars. The research compared technology searches that specified
the technology name with searches that specified the brand name.
The results showed that the traffic of searches that specify a product’s brand name
was significant for explaining sales. Significantly, brand -focused search traffic
showed a superior ability to forecast sales volume compared to macro -indicators,
such as GDP growth or oil prices that had been used previously to forecast car
demand.
12.10 Inno vative new products and consumption patterns
This introduces another variable that needs to be considered by the firm developing
innovative products. In addition to new technology within the product and product
capabilities, the firm must also consider how these will affect consumption of the
product.
the relationship between these three key variables that the firm needs to consider
as it develops new product ideas. Sometimes, whilst the technology has been
proven and the capabilities of the product demons trated to be superior to existing
products, if the extent of change in the pattern of consumption by the consumer is
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Fig12.1.1 Three critical dimensions of change -of-technology intensive
products [2]

Fig.12.2.2 Penetration of consumer electronics, 1978 ± 2004 [2]
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A good example of this would be the failed Apple Newton (personal digital
assistant) or even the personal computer whic h, as Figure 12.2.6 .2 illustrates, took
over 20 years to achieve a 70 per cent market penetration rate .
12.11 Crowd sourcing for new product ideas
Crowdsourcing is a method of getting ideas, content, support or other types of
solutions from a group of people. The term was coined by Wired magazine in 2005.
Effectively, it is outsourcing solutions to crowds through social media. Research
by Poetz and Schreier (2012) suggests that, at least under certain conditions,
crowdsourcing might constitute a promisi ng method to gather user ideas that can
complement those of a firm’s professionals at the idea -generation stage in NPD.
Crowdsourcing sites, such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, allow fans to give
financial support in exchange for incentives, so people can c omplete their projects.
There are many other businesses that incorporate the idea of getting input from the
masses into their business model. Applause (formerly uTest) is a technology
application -testing site that enables crowd beta testing worldwide. Loca l Motors
brings crowdsourcing to new vehicle innovations. Businesses around the world can
build consensus, get instant product feedback, listen to, and incorporate customers’
input. Engaging crowds to make products better is getting easier, thanks to socia l
media and consumers’ desire to have their voices heard. Many firms provide
contests to encourage participation. Four of the most common techniques are
illustrated below: • Ask which product customers would like produced.
This toy store needed to know whi ch LEGO product would sell the fastest, so it set
up a simple vote contest and asked its customers directly. It motivated people to
vote by running a giveaway of the winning LEGO set to a contest participant. • Ask which products customers prefer.
The shoe company, Crocs, for example, hosts a ‘new release shoes day’ contest on
Facebook. It engages its fans by asking them what their favorite new shoe is that
week, and fans who participate have a chance to win Croc shoes. Crocs then gains
relevant consumer ins ights about market preferences. • Ask customers to name the new product
In 2014, Sony looked to the public to help develop a name for its new wireless
speaker product. The speakers are small balls in pink, white and black. Sony posted
the contest on its blog and promoted it on all of its social sites, through media and other promotional methods. Participants entered their suggested names by commenting on the blog post. munotes.in

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264TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT• Ask customers for new product variations
Walkers Crisps (Lay’s) has been hosting contes ts to engage the public by creating
new crisp flavor ideas. And the Lay’s ‘Do Us a Flavor ’ contest is one of the most
successful new product crowdsourcing campaigns. Participants can access the
contest through Facebook or their contest landing page.
12.12 Frugal innovation and ideas from everywhere 1. Frugal innovation has also been applied to public service design and delivery. In India and other developing economies, creating frugal solutions to deliver improved or previously non -existent public services has given more people access
to a wider range of services 2. The bottom of the pyramid is the largest, but poorest socio -economic group. In
global terms, this is the three billion people who live on less than US$2.50 per day.
The phrase ‘bottom of the pyramid’ is used in particular by people developing new
models of doing business that deliberately target that demographic, often using new
technology (see Innovation in action below). Thus, developing no frills products
and services is not new; one only has to look at airlines, retailing and automotive .
So, what is fru gal innovation? In their book Frugal Innovation, Navi Radjou and
Jaideep Prabhu (2015) argue it is more about the process of reducing the complexity
and cost of a good and its production. 3. Usually, this refers to removing non -essential features from a durab le good, such
as a car or phone, in order to sell it in developing countries. Designing products for
such countries may also call for an increase in durability and, when selling the
products, reliance on unconventional distribution channels. These are busi ness
ideas that have long been used before. 4. The chairman of the Chinese computer -maker Lenovo argued that it is the best
company in the world at balancing innovation and efficiency. By keeping costs
down, it has stolen market share from its big Western riv als. Lenovo has recently
ousted HP to become the world leader in desktop computers. One may argue that
the Chinese firm is not an imaginative innovator like Apple, whose radical designs
transform whole markets. Rather, it is able to execute design and inno vation
economically and be a frugal innovator .
12.13 Innovation diffusion theories • Technological diffusion is the process by which innovations, whether they are new
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265Chapter 12: Innovation Management an Introduction
economies. Diffusion involves the initial adoption of a new technology by a firm
(inter -firm diffu sion) and the subsequent diffusion of the innovation within the firm
(intra -firm diffusion), the latter being the process by which the firm’s old
technologies and facilities are replaced by new ones • Innovation diffusion theories try to explain how an innov ation is diffused in a social
system over time; the adoption of an innovation is, therefore, a part of the wider
diffusion process. Such theories tend to be more comprehensive relative to their
adoption theory cousins. • Perceived innovation characteristics theory, which is a part of the innovation
diffusion theory of Rogers (1962), is similar to adoption theories, such as the theory
of reasoned action (TRA), the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the technology
acceptance model (TAM), as it includes analy sis down to the individual level. • Yet, diffusion of innovation theories, in general, includes many more factors, such
as the influences of psychological or personal features, technology perceptions,
communication behavior and socio -demo graphic attributes on diffusion or adoption process. It is worth saying at this point that the study of how and why
consumers purchase goods and services falls within the arena of consumer buyer
behavior and there are lots of very good textbooks that explore this subject in g reat
detail. The purpose of introducing some of these concepts here is to ensure the
reader is aware of the important influence of this body of research on explaining
how and why some new product innovations are successful and why others are not. . • Everett Rogers is usually credited with introducing the concept of diffusion theory
to the business community. Rogers’ work was undertaken initially in developing
countries where he studied the diffusion of new ideas amongst communities
(Rogers, 1962). He later de veloped his work and applied it to new product
innovations in the market and was able to illustrate different consumer categories
on the basis of its relative time of adoption . • Indeed, the diffusion curve is much related to the concept of the product life cycle,
which shows the level of total sales over time. The close relationship between these
two concepts would be expected to the extent that s ales are proportional to
cumula tive adoption .
Summary
This chapter has explored the wider context of innovation, in particular the role of
the state and the role of the market. It has shown that innovation cannot be separated
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features, including economic, social and political institutions and processes and
mechanisms that facilitate the flow of knowledge between industries and firms. It
has also shown the powerful influence of the market on innovation; in particular
the need to consider long time frames when developing technol ogy and innovative
new products. Finally, this chapter discussed an aspect of innovation that is
frequently overlooked – the pattern of consumption of the new product or new
service. It is changes to the way the new product or service is consumed that all too
often determine whether it will be a success or not.
Unit End Exercise 1. Explain how market vision can help the innovation process 2. How does diffusion differ from adoption? 3. How does frugal innovation differ from targeting low income segments? 4. List some o f the additional factors that affect the adoption of highly innovative
products.
List of References
1. Technical Communication Mike Markel Bedford/St. Martin's 11 2014
2. Innovation Management and New Product Development Paul Trott Pearson
06 2017
3. Handbook of Technical Writing Gerald J. Alred , Charles T. Brusaw ,
Walter E. Oliu Bedford/St. Martin's 09 2008
4. Technical Writing 101: A Real -World Guide to Planning and Writing
Technical Content Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O'Keefe scriptorium 03
2009
5. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Peter Drucker Harper Business 03 2009

™™™™™
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267Chapter 13: Managing Innovation within Firms
Unit 4
13 MANAGING INNOVATION WITHIN FIRMS
Unit Structure
13.0 Objectives:
13.1 Organisations and innovation
13.2 The dilemma of innovation management
13.3 Innovation dilemma in low technology sectors
13.4 Dynamic capabilities
13.5 Managing uncertainty
13.6 Managing innovation projects
13.7 The Role of individual in an Innovation Process
13.8 IT systems and their impact
13.9 Organizational characteristics that facilitate the innovation process
13.10 Organic versus mechanistic organisational structures
Summary
Unit End Exercise
Questions
13.0 Objectives
• Identify the factors organisations have to manage to achieve success in
innovation;
• Explain the dilemma facing all organisations concerning the need for creativity and stability;
• Recognize the difficulties of managing uncertainty and identify the activities performed by key individuals in the management of innovati on;
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13.1 Organisations and innovation
Organization and innovation is understood to encompass processes which lead to
the establishment or adoption of new production and management models, not only for production but also for tangible and intangible resources. The organizational innovation concept is part of the concept of innovation and development, and accentuates new ideas and the propensity for change within
organizations. This is also called process innovation and includes expenditures for
innovation and development in the calculation of cost.
13.2 The dilemma of innovation management
Almost all organisations have fundame ntal tension between the need for stability
and creativity. To stand in the todays competition, companies require stability and
static routines to accomplish daily tasks efficiently and quickly. For example, the
processing of millions of cheques by banks e very day or the delivery of food by
multiples to their retail outlets all over the country, demands high levels of
efficiency and control. On the other hand, companies also need to develop new
ideas and new products to be competitive in the future. Hence t hey need to
nurture a creative environment where ideas can be tested and developed. This
poses one of the most fundamental problems for management today as shown in
figure 13.1 .
Figure 13.1
Example: To examine the operations and activities of the companies from Mars to
Ford and from P&G to Sony, these companies have to ensure that their products
are carefully manufactured to precise specifications and that they are delivered for
customers on time day after day. In this hectic, repetitive and highly organised
environment, the need to squeeze out any slack or inefficiencies is crucial to
ensure a firm’s costs are lower than their competitors’. Long -term economic
growth is dependent on the abilit y of firms to make improvements to products and
manufacturing processes. This means that firms need to somehow make room for
creativity and innovation, that is, allow slack in the system.
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Here, then, is the dilemma: ‘If the company seeks to innovate as per the
competitive environment and technologies, there may be possibility of failing in
innovations efforts as well the corporation itself will fail.’ So, how do firms try to
reduce costs and slack to improve competitiveness on the one hand and then try to
provide slack for innovation on the other? To deal with this dilemma it is
expected to balance the activities. The firm needs to ensure there is a constant
pressure to drive down costs and improve efficiency in its operations. At the same
time, it needs to provide room for new product development and making
improvements. The most obvious way forward is to separate production from
research and development (R&D) but, whilst this usually is done, there are many
improvements and innovations that arise out of the operations of the firm. Indeed,
the operations of the firm provide enormous scope for innovation. This is the
fundamental tension at the heart of an enterprise’s long -run survival. The basic
problem confronting an organisation is to engage in sufficient e xploitation to ensure its future viability. Exploitation is about efficiency, increasing productivity, control, certainty and variance reduction. Exploration is about
search, discovery, autonomy, innovation and embracing variation. Ambidexterity
is about d oing both. In organisational terms, dynamic capabilities are at the heart
of the ability of a business to be ambidextrous – to compete simultaneously in
both mature and emerging markets – to explore and exploit. Ambidexterity entails
not only separate stru cture sub -units for exploration and exploitation, but also
different competencies, systems, incentives, processes and cultures – each
internally aligned. Current research is exploring how firms should dynamically
reconfigure resource portfolios to leverage organisational ambidexterity for new
product development .
13.3 Innovation dilemma in low technology sectors
As per the research conducted in low technology industries, it shows use of process driven innovation approach, so there is rare chance of disruptive innovation activities. It is characterised by high path dependency which is continuously stabilised by inc remental innovation activities. High return on
investment is generated from continuous optimisation of processes and of the
existing technologies, thereby reinforcing the development paths. The process
innovation literature defines capital costs, developm ent costs and switching costs.
This cost -minimising orientation is particularly apparent in many mature industries, such as the food and FMCG industries, where price -based competition
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Example: The paint and photographic industries suggests that t his focus can result
in a shift in the balance of innovation, towards efficiency at the expense of long -
term adaptation. This, in turn, creates an emphasis on exploitative activities,
crowding out more significant innovations. Whilst these activities may h elp firms
learn and adapt quickly in the short term, they were seen to inhibit a longer -term
focus and lead to inertia. This creates
a pressure on R&D to improve the product and production process to lower costs
over time, which can, in turn, stifle more s ignificant innovation. Thus, maybe the
innovation dilemma in low -tech sectors is even worse than high tech sectors.
13.4 Dynamic capabilities To escape from the innovation dilemma: The literature on organisational capabilities offers insight into the diffe rent resources and environment necessary for developing incremental and radical innovations. Incremental innovation reinforces the capabilities of established organisations, whilst radical innovation
forces them to ask a new set of questions, to draw on ne w technical and
commercial skills, and to employ new problem -solving approaches. The impact
of this on the nature of innovation activities is that, as the organisation learns and increases its efficiency, subsequent innovation is increasingly incremental. Another constraint on innovation that can arise from this is a shift to simply
meeting existing customer needs.
The literature on dynamic capabilities seems to offer the most likely solution for
firms. It has found that every firm has a zero -level or basel ine set of routines, i.e.,
those that serve the purpose of producing and marketing the given products and
services currently in the portfolio (how we earn a living now). Some firms have
dynamic capabilities, i.e., those routines that relate to the innovati on of products
and services, to the innovation of the production process, or to the search and
attraction of new customers, etc. – dynamic capabilities implement the change of
old routines with new ones.
13.5 Managing uncertainty
The management of the inn ovation process involves trying to develop the creative
potential of the organisation. It involves trying to foster new ideas and generate
creativity. Managing uncertainty is a central feature of managing the innovation
process. This has been recognised fo r over 40 years within the innovation and
R&D management literature. At the very least, there is the uncertainty of output
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process – i.e., how to produce it. Pearson offered a helpful uncertainty matrix for
managers to help them deal with different levels of uncertainty. This recognised
that different environments required different management styles as per Pearson’s
uncertainty map.
Pearson’s uncertainty map

Figure 13.2
Pearson’s uncertainty map provides a framework for analysin g and understanding
uncertainty and the innovation process. The map was developed following
extensive analysis of case studies of major technological innovations. If a market
opportunity has been i dentified, the final product idea may be fairly well-
established , but much uncertainty may remain about how, exactly, the company is
to develop such a product. So, Pearson’s framework divides uncertainty into two
separate dimensions: uncertainty about ends (what is the eventual target of the
activity or project); and uncertainty about means (how to achieve this target). Here, several projects were unsuccessful and there were, probably, several occasions where decisions had to be taken regarding future fundi ng. Decisions
had to be made, such as whether to cancel, continue or increase funding. In these
situations, because the degree of uncertainty is high, senior managers responsible
for million -dollar budgets have to listen carefully to those most closely inv olved
and those with the most information and knowledge. Further information and
knowledge usually are available with the passage of time, so time is another
element that needs to be considered. Indeed, it is because time is limited that
decisions are requ ired. It is clear; however, that many decisions are made with
imperfect knowledge, thus there is, usually, an element of judgement involved in
most decisions. Pearson’s framework, shown in Figure 13.2, addresses the nature
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of the uncertainty and the way it changes over time. The framework is based on
the two dimensions, with uncertainty about ends on the vertical axis and uncertainty about means on the horizontal axis. These axes are then divided,
giving four quadrants.
Quadrant -1 – It represents activities involving a high degree of uncertainty about
means and ends. The ultimate target is not clearly defined and how to achieve this
target is also not clear. This has been labelled exploratory research or blue sky
research, because the work sometimes seems so far removed from reality that
people liken it to working in the clouds! These activities often involve working
with technology that is not fully understood and where potential products or
markets have also not been identified. This is largely the domain o f university
research laboratories, which usually are removed from the financial and time
pressures associated with industry.
Qudrant -2 - In this area, the end or target is clear. For example, a commercial
opportunity may have been identified but, the mean s of fulfilling this has yet to be
established. Companies may initiate several different projects centred on different
technologies or different approaches to try to achieve the desired product. Also,
additional approaches may be uncovered along the way. Hence, there is considerable uncertainty about precisely how the company will achieve its target.
This type of activity often is referred to as development engineering and is an on-
going activity within manufacturing companies that are continually examining
their production processes, looking for efficiencies and ways to reduce costs.
Example: The Guinness ‘In -can system’ company was clear about its target –
trying to make the taste of Guinness from a can taste the same as draught
Guinness. Precisely how thi s was to be achieved was very uncertain and many
different research projects were established.(In -can system –Figure 13.3)

Figure 13.3
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