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CONTENTS PART 1

COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE

Chapter 1 Introduction to Technical Communication

Chapter 2 Meeting the Needs of Specific Audiences

Chapter 3 Persuading Your Audience

Chapter 4 Weighing the Ethical Issues

Chapter 5 Teamwork and Global Considerations

Chapter 6 An Overview of the Technical Writing Process

PART 2

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Chapter 7 Thinking Critically about the Research Process

Chapter 8 Evaluating and Interpreting Information

Chapter 9 Summarizing Research Findings and Other Information

PART 3

ORGANIZATION, STYLE, AND VISUAL DESIGN

Chapter 10 Organizing for Readers

Chapter 11 Editing for a Professional Style and Tone

Chapter 12 Designing Visual Information

Chapter 13 Designing Pages and Documents

PART 4

SPECIFIC DOCUMENTS AND APPLICATIONS

Chapter 14 Email, Texts, and Instant Messaging

Chapter 15 Workplace Memos and Letters

Chapter 16 Résumés and Other Job-Search Materials

Chapter 17 Technical Definitions

Chapter 18 Technical Descriptions, Specifications, and Marketing Materials

Chapter 19 Instructions and Procedures

Chapter 20 Informal Reports

Chapter 21 Formal Analytical Reports

Chapter 22 Proposals

Chapter 23 Presentations and Video Conferencing

Chapter 24 Web Pages and Social Media

PART 1—COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE CHAPTER 1 – Introduction to Technical Communication True or False Questions 1. _____ Technical communication rarely focuses on the author’s personal thoughts or feelings. 2. _____ Few technical documents have a persuasive purpose. 3. _____ Phone calls, conversations, and meetings have largely replaced the need for written documents. 4. _____ Most technical writing is done in teams. 5. _____ All documents have some persuasive aspect, even if the persuasion is implicit. 6. _____ Technical writers cannot be held responsible for faulty information, but the companies they work for can. 7. _____ A technical communicator might be called an information architect, technical editor, or content developer. 8. _____ Digital communication is the universal global standard for technical communication. Fill-In-The-Blank Questions 9. ________________ - centered documents focus on what people need to learn, do, or decide. 10. Communication and critical thinking are examples of __________________ skills. 11. Most technical documents are intended to persuade, inform, or ___________________. Multiple Choice Questions 12. Which document provides an example of technical writing primarily intended to persuade? (a) a grant proposal to obtain funding from a community agency (b) a training manual for coffee shop employees for making different drinks (c) instructions for assembling a desk 4

(d) a handout from a doctor explaining how to prepare for surgery 13. When trying to make sense of information, people should __________.

(a) consider how others might interpret the information (b) rely on Internet search technology to judge the credibility of a source (c) assume that information found by them should also be shared (d) let the data speak for themselves 14. Effective technical documents __________. (a) use visuals as a substitute for words when possible (b) include tangential information as a bonus to readers (c) avoid white space (d) stay away from integrating links 15. Compared to the others, which statement is most accurate? (a) As long as a document is persuasive, it need not be clear and efficient. (b) Instructions and procedures are two types of persuasive documents. (c) At some point, every job involves being a technical communicator. (d) Technical documents focus on the writer’s needs. 16. Technical communication__________. (a) avoids using chat sessions (b) generally focuses on highly trained technical audiences (c) emphasizes writing long technical passages (d) may include blog posts 17. When communicating globally, it is important to __________. (a) consistently deliver documents using informal language (b) emphasize face-to-face communication to ensure everyone gets to know each other (c) make sure to include hard-copy formats (d) adjust the form of communication to the specific cultural context

CHAPTER 1 ANSWER KEY 1.

reader

10.

portable

11.

instruct

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

PART 1—COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE CHAPTER 2 – Meeting the Needs of Specific Audiences True or False Questions

1. _____ A document may have both a primary and secondary purpose. 2. _____ Highly technical audiences need facts and figures explained in the simplest terms. 3. _____ A social media post may be an appropriate format for technical communication. 4. _____ Technical writers should provide readers with more than they want or need. 5. _____ Determining all the needs of a large and diverse audience is easy to do. 6. _____ Calculating the final costs of a document is not a technical communicator’s concern. 7. _____ When writing a memo for audiences with varying backgrounds and responsibilities, the author should consider the tone used and its appropriateness for those audiences. 8. _____ A short document can be rewritten at different levels for different audiences. Fill-In-The-Blank Questions 9. An audience with no specialized training is called a _______________ audience. 10. The image of a writer that readers see “between the lines” is called the writer’s _____________, and is created by the tone the writer adopts. 11. The ____________ Profile anticipates your readers and their needs. Multiple Choice Questions 12. When considering informative abstracts, note that they__________ . (a) are confusing to nonexperts (b) are essential to any length document (c) can help nonexperts understand highly technical reports (d) are only appropriate for experts 13. Compared to the others, which reader provides an example of a semitechnical audience for a manual on beekeeping? (a) someone who has knowledge about beekeeping from images in the media (b) a person with some background from attending a few beekeeping workshops (c) a doctoral student specializing in hive construction and bee waggle dances (d) a beekeeper with 15 years of experience 7

14. Workplace readers expect that the tone of a communication __________. (a) reflects the relationship between the writer and reader (b) is consistently informal (c) is consistently formal (d) is consistently semiformal 15. Primary readers of a document are those who __________. (a) advise decision makers (b) are the main users of the document (c) are generally outside an organization (d) indirectly need the information 16. When a writer faces an audience with different technical levels, a preferred approach would be to develop __________. (a) a one-page document with the lowest level of information (b) a comprehensive manual with the highest level of information (c) a Web resource with links to different levels of information (d) a social media feed focused on the needs of one set of readers

CHAPTER 2 ANSWER KEY 1.

nontechnical

10.

persona

11.

Audience and Use

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

PART 1—COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE CHAPTER 3 – Persuading Your Audience True or False Questions 1. _____ Stereotypes can be helpful to understand a cultural frame of reference. 9

2. _____ After their minds are made up, people are easily swayed to change their position. 3. _____ Scarcity is an example of a subjective criterion that can move people to accept a persuasive appeal. 4. _____ Unbiased expert opinion can lend credibility to any claim. 5. _____ A claim is a statement of the point a communicator is trying to make. 6. _____ A blunt approach works best with audiences from other cultural backgrounds. 7. _____ Communicators within organizations often face unstated constraints when making an argument. 8. _____ The most persuasive argument is the one that presents the strongest case from the personal perspective.

writer’s

Fill-In-The-Blank Questions 9. The three levels of response to persuasion are __________, __________, and __________. 10. __________ are limits or restrictions imposed by a situation. 11. A(n) _______________ involves careful reasoning that supports a claim. Multiple Choice Questions 12. When someone “goes over a supervisor’s head,” they are violating which type of constraint when making their case? (a) organizational constraint (b) legal constraint (c) ethical constraint (d) psychological constraint 13. Compared to the others, which outcome is the most ideal response to persuasion? (a) internalization (b) identification (c) compliance (d) rationalization 10

14. When preparing an argument, communicators should __________. (a) focus on points of disagreement between themselves and the audience (b) identify goals they share with the audience (c) avoid conceding any points (d) be as indirect as possible about what they want 15. Strategies for effectively connecting with an audience include __________. (a) rational connection and evidence connection strategies (b) relationship connection and audience connection strategies (c) rational connection and relationship connection strategies (d) power connection and driven connection strategies 16. Which strategy can help avoid potential negative effects of the Internet on persuasion, such as the confirmation bias? (a) Allow commercial search algorithms to weigh the truth of Internet claims. (b) Critique the author’s point of view and check the source of the information. (c) Quickly scan social media posts for the main idea. (d) Seek out like-minded social media posts that make the same claims. 17. Which type of persuasive skill is being used in this company statement: “Some individual training budgets will be reduced so that everyone will be able to have equal access to training.” (a) offering evidence (b) providing expert testimony (c) considering cultural context (d) appealing to common goals or values 18. Compared to the others, which example illustrates an explicit persuasive goal? (a) to assure readers that the data presented is accurate (b) to convince readers that the facts in a report are correct (c) to convince readers to fund a project (d) to convince the reader that the writer is competent

CHAPTER 3 ANSWER KEY 1.

internalization, identification, compliance

10.

Constraints

11.

argument

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

PART 1—COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE CHAPTER 4 – Weighing the Ethical Issues True or False Questions 1. _____ Using upbeat images to downplay the negative messages of written text may be persuasive, but it is unethical. 2. _____ Ethical decisions are always clear-cut, with one correct answer. 3. _____ In advertising, false claims or suggestions are legally prohibited. 4. _____ Groupthink is another way of referring to good teamwork. 5. _____ Whistle-blowers usually are rewarded for going public with their company’s unethical behavior. 6. _____ Deliberate miscommunication, such as “padding” a résumé, is fairly routine in the workplace. 7. _____ Proprietary information is not the exclusive property of a company. 8. _____ Plagiarism and copyright infringement are the same thing. Fill-In-The-Blank Questions 9. Often confused for teamwork, ______________ is an interaction pattern that can arise when group 13

pressure prevents individuals from questioning, criticizing, or reporting bad news. 10. ____________ occurs when a person claims the work of another as their own. 11. A code of ____________ offers guidelines for avoiding ethical abuses within a specific organization or company. Multiple Choice Questions 12. In a report, a company researcher decides to omit results indicating health risks associated with a new cleaning product that has great potential in the international market. Which type of communication abuse best describes the actions of the researcher? (a) failing to divulge proprietary information (b) exploiting cultural differences (c) withholding information people need for their jobs (d) falsifying or fabricating data 13. Which post could be an example of an unethical use of social media? (a) complaining about the bad service you experienced at a restaurant last night (b) posting a picture of you and a friend at a restaurant’s opening night (c) letting others know that the rumor around town is that the owner of a restaurant abuses the workers there (d) posting a picture of the latest item added to a restaurant’s menu 14. Which conclusion accurately summarizes the circumstances of whistle-blowers? (a) Few whistle-blowers regret their decision to go public. (b) Whistle-blowing is a helpful strategy for career advancement. (c) Negative consequences are rare for whistle-blowers. (d) Federal law provides universal protection to whistle-blowers. 15. Frieda feels the need to act in her own self-interest, which is a(n)___________, but she also has certain values that she wants to uphold; in other words, her ___________. (a) obligation; ideals (b) consequence; obligations (c) ideal; consequences (d) obligation; consequences 16. Which activity is an example of a violation of libel laws? 14

(a) publishing false information about someone without causing any apparent harm to that person (b) publishing truthful, negative information about someone, but it unintentionally results in damage to that person’s career opportunities (c) publishing any negative information about someone (d) publishing truthful, negative information with the clear intention of causing harm and resulting in damage to someone’s reputation 17. When leaving a job, which action is ethical? (a) removing only hard-copy documents created on the job (b) avoiding saying anything negative about your employer (c) taking a digital copy of work samples you created on the job (d) leaving a note for your coworkers describing the reasons you are resigning

CHAPTER 4 ANSWER KEY 1.

groupthink

10.

Plagiarism

11.

ethics

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

PART 1—COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE CHAPTER 5 – Teamwork and Global Considerations True or False Questions