Scientific Writing
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Scientific Writing is a course designed to equip students with the essential skills needed to effectively communicate scientific ideas, research findings, and technical information to a variety of audiences. The course covers key principles of clear and concise writing, structure and organization of scientific papers, preparation of abstracts, literature reviews, and research articles, as well as strategies for effective peer review and ethical considerations in publication. Students will gain experience drafting, revising, and editing scientific documents, and will develop the ability to critically evaluate both their own work and that of others within the context of scientific communication.
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Technical Communication with 2016 MLA Update 11th Edition by Mike Markel
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
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Q1) As used in Chapter 1, what does accessibility mean?
Answer: Accessibility refers to the ease with which readers can find the information they seek.
Q2) Chapter 1 cites three reasons for ensuring that technical communication is honest. The first is that being honest is the right thing to do. What is one other reason?
Answer: The other two reasons are that (1) if you are dishonest, readers can get hurt and (2) if you are dishonest, you and your organization could face serious legal charges.
Q3) Chapter 1 lists six defining characteristics of technical communication. One characteristic is that technical communication addresses particular readers. What are three other characteristics mentioned in the chapter?
Answer: The other five characteristics of technical communication are that it helps readers solve problems, it reflects the organization's goals and culture, it is produced collaboratively, it uses design to increase readability, and it consists of words or images or both.
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Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
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Q1) Chapter 2 lists four areas of law relevant to ethical issues in technical communication. One is copyright law. What are two others?
Answer: The other three areas are trademark law, contract law, and liability law.
Q2) Which of these resources is likely to be available to employees of a company with a strong ethical culture?
A) a code of conduct or a code of ethics
B) a way to submit ethics concerns anonymously
C) an ethics office or an ombudsperson
D) All responses are correct.
Answer: D
Q3) Chapter 2 states that you have five obligations to your employer. One obligation is honesty and candor. What are two of the other obligations?
Answer: The other four obligations are competence and diligence, generosity, confidentiality, and loyalty.
Q4) saying that a new line of air fresheners is "guaranteed to stave off any and every odor that comes your house's way" would be an example of what?
Answer: Exaggeration.
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Chapter 3: Writing Technical Documents
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Q1) Chapter 3 describes the writing process as a series of stages. One stage is drafting. What are two other stages discussed in Chapter 3?
A) planning
B) brainstorming
C) proofreading
D) researching
Answer: A, C
Q2) Templates are useful because they organize a document for you.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
Q3) You should choose the method of delivering your document after the document is complete.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
Q4) Editing your documents is a way to show respect to your audience.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Writing Collaboratively
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Q1) which three of the following features of word-processing software are particularly useful in collaboration?
A) thesaurus feature
B) spell-checker feature
C) revision feature
D) comment feature
E) highlighting feature
Q2) one way to listen more effectively is to pay attention to the speaker. What are two other ways?
A) Listen for main ideas.
B) Take notes while the speaker is speaking.
C) Avoid getting emotionally involved with the speaker's ideas.
D) Tape-record what the speaker is saying.
Q3) Which three of the following forms are discussed in Chapter 4 as tools to help ensure that a team's efforts will be successful?
A) work-schedule form
B) task-deadline form
C) self-evaluation form
D) team-member evaluation form
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Chapter 5: Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
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Q1) Chapter 5 lists three specific reasons a writer should analyze his or her audience during the planning phase. One is so that the document appeals to the audience's interests and needs. What are the other two reasons?
Q2) Chapter 5 identifies seven categories of cultural variables "on the surface." One category is political. Which of these is NOT a category of surface cultural variables?
A) economic
B) social
C) religious
D) philosophical
E) technological
Q3) Social-media activities can provide an organization with signficant information about members of their target audiences.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Chapter 5 describes three categories of audience. What are they?
Q5) What mistake did McDonald's make when it printed takeout bags decorated with flags from around the world?
Q6) for what primary purpose do private companies use social-media data?
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Chapter 6: Researching Your Subject
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Q1) What kind of information is found in a periodical index?
Q2) With which research method does the researcher have the least amount of control?
A) field research
B) interviews
C) experiments
D) inquiries
Q3) You should select research methods before determining what research questions to pursue.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Primary research is the set of sources that you consult while you are in the document-planning stage.
A)True
B)False
Q5) When obtaining information on products and services from websites, discussion boards, and blogs, it is important not to assume that vendors' claims are accurate.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is the difference between secondary research and primary research?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Organizing Your Information
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Q1) Your supervisor has asked you to write a completion report about a project you completed to improve the employee onboarding program at your company. Of the organizational patterns discussed in Chapter 7, which would be most logical and effective for describing the project?
Q2) Why are cause-and-effect relationships difficult to describe?
Q3) Chapter 7 gives three guidelines for organizing information spatially. One is to provide signposts. What are the other two?
Q4) Which of these organizational patterns does NOT benefit from the use of "signposts" in your document?
A) more important to less important
B) comparison and contrast
C) general to specific
D) chronological
Q5) Which of the organizational patterns below depends on relationships that can be difficult to prove?
A) cause and effect
B) comparison and contrast
C) general to specific
D) spatial
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Chapter 8: Communicating Persuasively
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Q1) What type of argument restates the main point without presenting any evidence to support it?
Q2) How does culture affect the process of persuasion?
A) It determines the content of effective arguments.
B) It determines the structure of effective arguments.
C) Both A and B are correct.
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q3) Which method of addressing opposing viewpoints is likely to be least effective?
A) Point out any problems in the logic of the opposing viewpoint or the facts used to support it.
B) Try to reconcile the opposing viewpoint with your own.
C) Avoid discussing the opposing viewpoint.
D) Show that the opposing viewpoint is less strong and attractive than your own.
Q4) When used as evidence, what does an effective example do?
A) It makes concrete ideas more abstract.
B) It makes abstract ideas more concrete.
C) It makes concrete ideas more figurative.
D) It makes abstractions less didactic.
Q5) What type of argument states that a claim is valid because many people think it is or act as if it is?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Emphasizing Important Information
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Q1) you should jot down a working title before you start drafting a document to give you a sense of direction, then come back and revise it at the end.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of these statements does NOT identify a benefit of turning a paragraph into a list?
A) It forces you to reorder the sequence.
B) It forces you to look at the bigger picture.
C) It forces you to create a helpful lead-in.
D) It forces you to write more precisely and more clearly.
Q3) What is an advance organizer?
A) an outline of the document you are drafting, showing its content and organization
B) the text that introduces a list
C) any text that indicates the background, purpose, scope, and organization of the discussion that follows it
D) transitional words and phrases, such as first, therefore, furthermore, or consequently
E) None of the responses are correct.
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Chapter 10: Writing Correct and Effective Sentences
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Q1) In which of the following sentences is qualifying information emphasized?
A) The schedule could fall apart if anyone is absent for several days.
B) Shellie will get promoted if she improves her performance rating.
C) If the new administrator gets her way, all of the adjunct instructors will get raises.
D) I will finish my homework if I can stop watching television.
Q2) Which of the following sentences has a strong subject?
A) The firm issued a statement about the newly promoted lawyers.
B) The statement from the college about the newly promoted professors was published in the newspaper.
C) The use of fireworks in this city is strictly prohibited.
D) The challenge of pursuing higher education while using a foreign language should not be underestimated.
Q3) What is the past perfect tense used to describe?
Q4) How should you punctuate a restrictive modifier?
A) Use commas to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
B) Use dashes to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
C) Add no extra punctuation.
D) Precede it with a comma and the word which.
Q5) What is a euphemism?
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Chapter 11: Designing Print and Online Documents
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Q1) Chapter 11 lists three kinds of physical impairments that may prevent someone from fully using your site. One is hearing impairment. What is another?
Q2) What is the difference between a serif typeface and a sans-serif typeface?
Q3) An inappropriate choice in which of following areas has the highest potential to confuse an international audience?
A) the thickness of the paper
B) the type of binding used
C) the pictures used as icons
D) the typeface chosen for body text
Q4) In typography, what is leading?
Q5) What is chunking?
Q6) One of the main challenges of document design is using as few pages as possible while still making the document easy to read.
A)True
B)False
Q7) You receive a progress report in which all of the first-level headings are in the same typeface and type size and have the same spacing and color. Which design principle do these characteristics reflect?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Creating Graphics
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Q1) Chapter 12 discusses five characteristics that make a graphic clear and understandable. One characteristic is that the graphic meets readers' format expectations.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Many Western hand gestures, such as the "okay" sign, are considered obscene in other cultures.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What does copyright law have to do with graphics?
A) Copyright determines who may modify a graphic.
B) Copyright determines who has the ability to read a graphic.
C) Copyright determines who has the right to publish or republish a graphic.
D) Copyright determines the medium of a graphic.
Q4) Which of the following graphics would be best suited to showing the stages of a procedure or a process?
A) checklist
B) drawing
C) organization chart
D) flowchart
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Chapter 13: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Web Sites
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Q1) Which word best summarizes the role of a test administrator relative to a participant in a usability test?
A) teacher
B) director
C) facilitator
D) contributor
Q2) Which of the following statements effectively summarizes a main principle of usability testing?
A) A single usability test at the end of product development is better than three tests over time.
B) It is important to let usability testing come to you in the moment; do not overplan it.
C) Test the person using the manual, not the manual.
D) Test the manual, not the person using the manual.
Q3) The first phase of usability testing is preparing for the test. What is the final phase?
A) conducting the test
B) interpreting and reporting data from the test
C) telling participants which parts of the test they got wrong
D) thanking participants for their time
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Chapter 14: Writing Correspondence
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Q1) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Clichés make your writing shorter and more efficient.
B) Clichés are a good way to write with the "you attitude."
C) Clichés give your writing a stilted tone.
D) Clichés give your writing a contemporary touch.
Q2) The terms letter and memo are interchangeable.
A)True
B)False
Q3) which of the following is NOT a guideline for effective on-the-job microblogging?
A) Sound like a person.
B) Apologize when you make a mistake.
C) Regard your followers as a market for your company's products and services.
D) Learn the technology.
Q4) Chapter 14 states two reasons language errors in correspondence are unprofessional. One is that they suggest a lack of respect for your reader and for yourself. What is the other reason?
Q5) Provide an example of a salutation.
Q6) What is flaming?
Q7) What does the notation "cc" stand for in a letter, memo, or email?
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Chapter 15: Writing Job-Application Materials
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Q1) Chapter 15 describes a plain-text résumé. Which two of the following are forms of a plain-text résumé?
A) a résumé created in PowerPoint and submitted on disk
B) an ASCII résumé
C) a résumé posted to a Usenet newsgroup
D) a résumé posted on an Internet discussion board
E) a text résumé
Q2) A job-application letter should expand on all the information contained in your résumé.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Why is it important to include keywords in your LinkedIn profile?
Q4) what is a "transferrable skill"?
A) a skill that you can apply across many different job settings and professional fields
B) a skill that you take when you transfer from one company to the same job in a different company
C) a skill that you develop through attending special training classes
D) a skill that you learn through a mentoring technique called skill-transfer
Q5) what is an elevator pitch?
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Chapter 16: Writing Proposals
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Q1) What are the main categories of resources required for completing a proposed project?
A) personnel, potential, and qualifications
B) personnel, facilities, and equipment
C) qualifications and experience
D) personnel, budget, and tangential resources
Q2) In which situation might you present your proposal as a memo?
A) when your proposal is lengthy-more than 10 pages
B) when your audience is external
C) when your audience is internal
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q3) Which of these is NOT a common deliverable for the end of a research project?
A) completion report
B) progress report
C) recommendation report
D) project report
Q4) What do the initials IFB stand for?
Q5) To be persuasive, proposal writers must demonstrate that they understand readers' needs. what other two things must they demonstrate?
Page 18
Q6) What is the difference between formative evaluations and summative evaluations?
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Chapter 17: Writing Informational Reports
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Q1) What is another name for a status report?
Q2) what does an incident report describe?
Q3) Which of the following statements best describes a progress report?
A) A progress report is an initial document that helps establish a project.
B) A progress report is an intermediate document produced while a project is ongoing.
C) A progress report is a summative document produced at the conclusion of a project.
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q4) What is the difference between a progress report and a status report?
A) There is no difference.
B) A progress report communicates the current status of an ongoing project, whereas a status report is an update on the entire range of operations of a department or division of an organization.
C) A status report communicates the current status of an ongoing project, whereas a progress report is an update on the entire range of operations of a department or division of an organization.
D) A progress report is written for readers outside of the originating organization, whereas a status report is written for readers within the organization.
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Chapter 18: Writing Recommendation Reports
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Q1) You are writing a recommendation report on which vendor of audio-visual services to hire for your company's annual conference. The three vendors you considered are Adams, MicMasters, and Zenith. You concluded that Zenith was by far the best option, followed by Adams and then MicMasters, both of which were barely satisfactory. However, you have just learned that the top two managers at Zenith, with whom you met, have left the company. The personal service provided by these managers was a big factor in your positive assessment of the company. What recommendation should you make now?
A) Recommend Zenith anyway.
B) Recommend the next best company, Adams.
C) Recommend postponing a decision until you know more about the new management at Zenith.
D) Recommend starting over on the report.
Q2) you must establish your decision criteria before you determine your options for addressing the problem.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In what order should definitions relevant to a report be presented in a glossary?
Q4) In a decision matrix, which factor demonstrates a criterion's importance?
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Chapter 19: Writing Lab Reports
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Q1) In the context of a lab report, what does replicability mean?
Q2) which of these is NOT an element common to most lab reports?
A) task schedule
B) title
C) discussion
D) conclusion
Q3) How familiar should you assume your audience will be with the particulars of your experiment?
Q4) How should you present your data in the results section?
A) in text only
B) in graphics only
C) in a mix of text and graphics appropriate for your audience
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q5) Which of the procedures you performed should you mention in the "Materials and Methods" section of your report?
Q6) What are author guidelines?
Q7) The discussion portion of a lab report is also called an analysis.
A)True
B)False
Q8) Ideally, what will the title and abstract of a report help readers do?
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Chapter 20: Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
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Q1) What are the four signal words commonly used to indicate the levels of seriousness in comments?
Q2) A writer is creating an employee handbook for assembly-line workers and their supervisors. One particular extended definition is approximately a page long. Where should the writer place this definition if it will be of interest to only the supervisors?
A) in a marginal gloss
B) in a footnote
C) in an appendix
D) in the text
Q3) Which two types of organizational patterns are most common for mechanism descriptions?
A) comparison and contrast
B) functional
C) spatial
D) radial
Q4) What is the function of a conventions section?
Q5) The introduction to a set of instructions should answer six questions, one of which is "Why should the reader carry out this task?" what is one other question?
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Chapter 21: Making Oral Presentations
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Q1) Chapter 21 lists a number of points to keep in mind if you become nervous before giving an oral presentation. One is to realize that you are prepared. What is one other mentioned in the chapter?
Q2) which factors should you take into account when using Prezi to prepare a presentation?
A) You will be able to access the free version only when you have access to the Internet.
B) You can collaborate with others on your Prezi presentation in real time.
C) You will need to pay a fee in order to present your Prezi presentation to the public.
D) Once you decide on a sequence for a specific presentation, you will need to use that same sequence each time you deliver the presentation.
Q3) What should you do if a belligerent audience member rejects your response during a question-and-answer session and insists on restating his or her point?
Q4) an effective 20-minute presentation could take 13 hours to prepare.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In an oral presentation, what is an advance organizer?
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