Posts

Blog Post #5

  a)              What have you learned about the processes of conducting a sound research study in class? I’ve learned that you can’t just jump right in with a topic that bothers you and survey people about what they think. In all seriousness, I learned that the best way to come up with a research study is to come up with a question that has meaning. Basically the “so what?” question. Research it, find articles, then find the gap from your topic that needs further research. In order to do that, you write your Literature Review, a discussion among the authors. From there, figure out the best way to conduct research. Personally, I enjoyed the qualitative methods and analysis, surveys and articles. Then you write your proposal. b)             What have these processes taught you about your future roles as a technical and professional communicator? They taught how to real...
1 comment
Read more

Blog Post 4: Plans for Revision & Stuff

It seems that some of the changes that I might make was discussed in my last blog post. One of the revisions that I want to do, though, is make one of my sources, The Non-designer's Design Book , the foundation of my literature review. When Dr. B. said that we need to condense our literature review a bit, I realized that making that book the basis of my literature review, I could still use my resources used AND bring in others. Robin Williams creates the fundamental principles of CARP that fit with most other designers' principles somehow and in someway. These sources will help show the necessity of knowing more about how companies are using certain design principles and rhetoric in a way that hides the intention of making more money off of the buyer than the buyer intends.  
1 comment
Read more

Blog Post 3: Where's the gap?

 Before writing my Literature Review, I worried too much about how I was going to find the gap. I like to have all my ducks in a row when I write my papers. The duck that was missing with this assignment was the gap. After talking to Dr. Bacabac for the second time (thank goodness for such a patient and helpful professor!), I finally sat down and wrote my review. Well, guess what... I found my duck! By the end of my Literature Review, I realized that the gap is showing the public how to identify visual rhetoric. This means that I need to call for a study that shows the ways viewers react to design choices such as color, word/picture placement, text (font size, shape, boldness), verbiage, and even punctuation. I would like to even include how people react to verbal(??) rhetoric as well: doublespeak, inflated language, jargon, and bamboozling. A couple of years ago, I wrote a research paper called " The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: A Look At BP’s Rhetoric," for my Engl 3030 cla...
1 comment
Read more

Research Topic and 10 Tentative Sources

I've decided to research how document design affects consumer decisions. I actually want to see what I can find out regarding the manipulation of restaurant patrons. Not sure about my research question, but I think I'll come up with it as I figure out where there might be gaps in the research. My 10 tentative sources are: Brown, J. L., Smith, K. C., Welding, K., & Cohen, J. E. (2020). Misleading tobacco packaging: Moving beyond bans on “light” and “mild.” Tobacco Regulatory Science , 6 (5), 369–378. https://doi.org/10.18001/TRS.6.5.6   Flora, C. (2005). Ordering under the influence.  Psychology Today ,  38 (5), 37. Retrieved from             http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=17996649&site=ehost-           live   McKeown, M. M. (2014). Culinary ambiguity: A canonical approach to deciphering menus. Harvard Journal on Legisl...
6 comments
Read more

Blog Post 1: Topic Interests

I honestly don't know what I want to research yet. The funny thing is, I've never considered researching something based on technical usage. I'm curious about scientific issues such the power of sleep or how reading can help heal the brain--which is so weird, because science is not my strong suit. With that said, as I was reading Dr. B's blog, I thought about the research study that Dr. McMurrin told our Technical Writing class about. It was a study on how the eyes move around on a page consisting of technical information, more or less. It would be quite interesting to research this topic and expand upon it if I can. Basically, why do our eyes pick out certain font, color,and  alignment over others, and how long do our eyes naturally focus on different areas of a page? Another topic that would be interesting would be what colors are most effective for different types of technical documents--especially when it comes to emotion--and why are they so effective? Or are they ...
3 comments
Read more