When I was preparing my section of the discussion for the graduate symposium, I came up with the line, "Communication is the currency of commerce," which suggests that there's a lot to be gained from effectively communicating with people with whom there was initially no felt need to do so. Based on this core thought, I am going to look at two broad themes for my research:
1. Is the English language versatile enough to reach out to even those individuals who cannot speak it? This extends beyond the concept of hybrid languages such as Spanglish (Spanish-English) or Hinglish (Hindi-English) and examines how individuals incorporate English words and phrases into their everyday communication. What motivates them to do this, and how does the language facilitate this process?
2. Using plurilingualism as a tool for promoting diversity: There is considerable evidence that language proficiency in corporations—or the lack thereof—broadly impacts operations and results. The impact of the language barrier cannot be evaluated using simple measures such as dollars spent on interpreters or days lost in translating documents. Instead the true cost needs to be seen in terms of the way it distorts and damages relationships. These in turn impose pressures and constraints on the strategies pursued by the company. The key areas that may be negatively affected by such issues are buyer/seller relationships, foreign market expansion, joint ventures, and staffing policies.
In short, I am going to examine how divergence can in turn lead to convergence, and determine the best possible ways to facilitate the process of inclusion within the organizational context.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Editing Access to Healthcare
Editing Healthcare Project Proposal
Topic
I want to study the language surrounding access to healthcare system in the United States among marginalized populations.
Observation
Different populations have greater access to healthcare over others. Other than the healthcare providers there are other agencies out there to help facilitate during this process of finding adequate and proper healthcare. Now that a new healthcare bill is being implemented, there will have to be multiple strategies to reach the large audience of the general public without excluding particular populations.
It is important to advertise and educate everyone our nation on how to adequately access the new healthcare system. Why? Language has a powerful impact on how people percieve and understand the healthcare system and the support that it offers. Vice versa, language can serve as a powerful tool that can exclude certain populations that do not understand or are unaware of what is availible.
Purpose
To create a system that uses a language that is more exclusive to increase access to the healthcare system.
Research Question
How can we create a system with greater access to healthcare?(through the language we use) And is it the responsibility of health careproviders, other organizations, media campaigns, or education to help consumers find access points to healthcare.
Research Angle
For my research, I want to specifically look at the language of healthcare's impact on consumer perception and knowledge of heathcare access. Also, I want to see test the use of information and communication technology to provide more informed health literature. My research will include studies on the effects of language on people's understanding of research and gather more information on movement's like the plain english campaign.
Communication During the Editing Process
While looking for articles along the lines of communication during the editing process, like some of you mentioned, I have been attempting to narrow my topic. The idea for my topic came from the work experience that I talked about in class the other day. Some of the articles that I chose are more about workplace teamwork and collaboration in general but dedicate some discussion to editing specifically. For example, one of the articles that I selected from the Business Communication Quarterly deals with a "process-oriented approach to teamwork". Although, this article is not written about editing per se, it does mention the use of track changes and the difficulties encountered when they are not used.
As with Jessi's and Lindsay's projects, I also plan on addressing how technology with the introduction of various editing software programs and tools, such as track changes, has affected collaboration in the editing process. One article, "Learned Correctors to Technical Editors" details the progression of the technical editing profession. I would like to include this article to show issues that editors have faced in the past and the solutions that were offered to correct them. Similarly, I plan to include a few articles that discuss different approaches used by editors and the varying levels of effectiveness with each. I realize now that it may sound like my topic is too broad, but I think where I am going with this is "Here are the problems editors have encountered in communicating during the editing process" and "Here are some possible solutions and pros and cons of different methods".
My overall theme is going to be communication and collaboration during the process of editing documents using a computer. The book that I borrowed from Scott titled "Electronic Literacies in the Workplace" includes a chapter ,"Online Editing, Mark-up Models, and the Workplace lives of Editors and Writers", which is directly related. Also, another article titled "A Model of Norm Development for Computer Mediated Teams" deals with teamwork in general. All of these articles includes lessons that when taken collectively would make for an effective editing process. While I realize that this topic is nothing groundbreaking, I am interested in this research so that I will know what to expect if I were to hold an editing position and so that I will be able to employ various editing approaches depending on my workplace's preferences. From this research, I will hopefully be in a position to make suggestions during the process. I think this research could also be extended to other professions that require group collaboration (as do most) and would be helpful for students entering into the workforce.
As with Jessi's and Lindsay's projects, I also plan on addressing how technology with the introduction of various editing software programs and tools, such as track changes, has affected collaboration in the editing process. One article, "Learned Correctors to Technical Editors" details the progression of the technical editing profession. I would like to include this article to show issues that editors have faced in the past and the solutions that were offered to correct them. Similarly, I plan to include a few articles that discuss different approaches used by editors and the varying levels of effectiveness with each. I realize now that it may sound like my topic is too broad, but I think where I am going with this is "Here are the problems editors have encountered in communicating during the editing process" and "Here are some possible solutions and pros and cons of different methods".
My overall theme is going to be communication and collaboration during the process of editing documents using a computer. The book that I borrowed from Scott titled "Electronic Literacies in the Workplace" includes a chapter ,"Online Editing, Mark-up Models, and the Workplace lives of Editors and Writers", which is directly related. Also, another article titled "A Model of Norm Development for Computer Mediated Teams" deals with teamwork in general. All of these articles includes lessons that when taken collectively would make for an effective editing process. While I realize that this topic is nothing groundbreaking, I am interested in this research so that I will know what to expect if I were to hold an editing position and so that I will be able to employ various editing approaches depending on my workplace's preferences. From this research, I will hopefully be in a position to make suggestions during the process. I think this research could also be extended to other professions that require group collaboration (as do most) and would be helpful for students entering into the workforce.
The Perils of Research
Did you know practically every scientific article includes the words "editor" and "language" ? Perfect.
It is fascinating how the culture of technology changes language—everything from the recognition of emoticons to the speed of marketing has changed. For editors, this language shift is especially important as the expectations of audiences are shifting as well.
Thus far in my research, I have yet to find anything that directly embraces the change technology has had on language, and on editors themselves. An article published in 2005 by Blake Morrison establishes that editors are losing control in “this market.” It seems however, that few article writers like to establish what this market is, how it has changed, or ways in which editors have to change their own ways.
There are a handful of articles from around 1997 that are all about how writing has changed because of Word Processing. This is interesting, but we are a little beyond this point now. We’re not questioning how fast a reader must move across a screen or how writers have to write in choppy, quick statements to make up for an audience with a technology driven attention span (a.k.a. a short one). We can already embrace these facts. But have editors embraced this? How do they feel about wikis and the negative attitude toward editing from the freedom of technology philosophy? How have our cultural standards changed?
There is no question that a huge shift is forcing people to recognize how writing is changing and the job of the editor. In Jerome McGann and Dino Buzzetti’s article, "Critical Editing In A Digital Hemisphere", for example, the authors are focusing on the tools that change editors’ jobs. Does editing software challenge the professionalism of the editor’s mind?
As I am left with eight semi-related articles and more questions than answers, it seems that the research here is off to a good start. As to why I picked this subject, I can only say that I find Twitter fascinating—journalists are writing news briefs in 140 characters or less (check out http://jprof.blogspot.com/2009/01/writing-for-twitter-good-journalism-in.html). How do we control ourselves now?
It is fascinating how the culture of technology changes language—everything from the recognition of emoticons to the speed of marketing has changed. For editors, this language shift is especially important as the expectations of audiences are shifting as well.
Thus far in my research, I have yet to find anything that directly embraces the change technology has had on language, and on editors themselves. An article published in 2005 by Blake Morrison establishes that editors are losing control in “this market.” It seems however, that few article writers like to establish what this market is, how it has changed, or ways in which editors have to change their own ways.
There are a handful of articles from around 1997 that are all about how writing has changed because of Word Processing. This is interesting, but we are a little beyond this point now. We’re not questioning how fast a reader must move across a screen or how writers have to write in choppy, quick statements to make up for an audience with a technology driven attention span (a.k.a. a short one). We can already embrace these facts. But have editors embraced this? How do they feel about wikis and the negative attitude toward editing from the freedom of technology philosophy? How have our cultural standards changed?
There is no question that a huge shift is forcing people to recognize how writing is changing and the job of the editor. In Jerome McGann and Dino Buzzetti’s article, "Critical Editing In A Digital Hemisphere", for example, the authors are focusing on the tools that change editors’ jobs. Does editing software challenge the professionalism of the editor’s mind?
As I am left with eight semi-related articles and more questions than answers, it seems that the research here is off to a good start. As to why I picked this subject, I can only say that I find Twitter fascinating—journalists are writing news briefs in 140 characters or less (check out http://jprof.blogspot.com/2009/01/writing-for-twitter-good-journalism-in.html). How do we control ourselves now?
Nicole's Final Project
I'm still ironing out the details, but for my final project I know I want to look at language usage in health communication. Specifically, I want to look at the way pharmaceutical drugs are marketed to the general public. At first my topic was too broad, and now, as I've begun to research, I'm fearing its too narrow so comments and responses are welcome.
For a long time I've been interested in the way we talk about medications and vaccines. In the United States we have pharmaceutical reps who sell certain drugs to doctors, but we also have medicine that is marketed directly to the common population. We often see TV commercials that are targeted to the general public asking us to self-diagnosis ourselves. "Do you suffer from tiredness or disinterest? You may be suffering from depression. Talk to your doctor about this drug." These advertisements are often written to sound like more of a public service announcement and less of an advertisement for a product. While I think talking about medicine this way has certain ethical issues, these advertisement writers know what they are doing because the ads are effective. I imagine pharmaceutical reps who are trying to sell the same products to doctors use very different language, and different persuasive techniques. I would love to look into this more, but I'm afraid the topic is too broad for this assignment.
Even when marketing drugs to people, different language is used for different populations. I'm thinking specificially of the Gardasil vaccine and how it is marketed to young women. Gardasil is a HPV vaccine recently introduced into the market. Women between the ages of 9 and 25 are encouraged to get the expensive three dose vaccine - it may even become a government mandated vaccine in a few years. It is supposed to prevent most types of cervical cancer - the kinds you can get from sexual activity. I've heard advertisements for Gardasil that sound VERY MUCH like a public service announcement. I've noticed that these ads sound different depending if the target audience is a 20+ sexually active woman compared to a preventative precaution for (hopefully not sexually active) nine-year-olds. I've seen print advertisements for college-aged women, high school women, and I've also seen literature that is obviously directed to mothers of 9-12 year-olds. I am interested in looking at these ads specifically, but, like I said, this topic may be too narrow.
I'm also interested in the way commercials use language like "4 out of 5 doctors agree" in their ads and how this has changed over time. I know that some doctors endorsed cigarettes thirty years ago.
For a long time I've been interested in the way we talk about medications and vaccines. In the United States we have pharmaceutical reps who sell certain drugs to doctors, but we also have medicine that is marketed directly to the common population. We often see TV commercials that are targeted to the general public asking us to self-diagnosis ourselves. "Do you suffer from tiredness or disinterest? You may be suffering from depression. Talk to your doctor about this drug." These advertisements are often written to sound like more of a public service announcement and less of an advertisement for a product. While I think talking about medicine this way has certain ethical issues, these advertisement writers know what they are doing because the ads are effective. I imagine pharmaceutical reps who are trying to sell the same products to doctors use very different language, and different persuasive techniques. I would love to look into this more, but I'm afraid the topic is too broad for this assignment.
Even when marketing drugs to people, different language is used for different populations. I'm thinking specificially of the Gardasil vaccine and how it is marketed to young women. Gardasil is a HPV vaccine recently introduced into the market. Women between the ages of 9 and 25 are encouraged to get the expensive three dose vaccine - it may even become a government mandated vaccine in a few years. It is supposed to prevent most types of cervical cancer - the kinds you can get from sexual activity. I've heard advertisements for Gardasil that sound VERY MUCH like a public service announcement. I've noticed that these ads sound different depending if the target audience is a 20+ sexually active woman compared to a preventative precaution for (hopefully not sexually active) nine-year-olds. I've seen print advertisements for college-aged women, high school women, and I've also seen literature that is obviously directed to mothers of 9-12 year-olds. I am interested in looking at these ads specifically, but, like I said, this topic may be too narrow.
I'm also interested in the way commercials use language like "4 out of 5 doctors agree" in their ads and how this has changed over time. I know that some doctors endorsed cigarettes thirty years ago.
Writing for the Web
Studies of how users read on the Web found they do not actually read: instead, they scan the text. A study of five different writing styles found that a sample Web site scored 58% higher in measured usability when it was written concisely, 47% higher when the text was scannable, and 27% higher when it was written in an objective style instead of the promotional style used in control condition and many current Web pages. Combining these three changes into a single site that was concise, scannable, and objective at the same time resulted in a 124% higher measured usability.
My goal has always been to become a web interface designer or web developer once I graduate JMU. As a graduate student, I have tried to create my own path throughout the program to better my Web skills, through programming, graphics, and interface design. One of the only areas I have not had the pleasure of experimenting or researching with is Web writing. As an undergraduate, I was taught that it was different from academic writing mostly because of its purpose. Like the first paragraph states, users normally aren't going to a website to spend a lot of time. We are busy individuals and don't always have the time to read each and every word. Therefore, we scan.
For my final, I want to take a closer look of the differences between academic writing and Web writing. Is there a format to Web writing, besides the obvious ingredients of audience and purpose? Some individuals scan print writing as well; what is the difference between the two? These are only a few questions that I hope to explore. Mostly, in the end, I hope to learn and produce another piece that I can show for not only the comprehensive exam in the Fall, but also to future employers my vast experience with the Web.
My goal has always been to become a web interface designer or web developer once I graduate JMU. As a graduate student, I have tried to create my own path throughout the program to better my Web skills, through programming, graphics, and interface design. One of the only areas I have not had the pleasure of experimenting or researching with is Web writing. As an undergraduate, I was taught that it was different from academic writing mostly because of its purpose. Like the first paragraph states, users normally aren't going to a website to spend a lot of time. We are busy individuals and don't always have the time to read each and every word. Therefore, we scan.
For my final, I want to take a closer look of the differences between academic writing and Web writing. Is there a format to Web writing, besides the obvious ingredients of audience and purpose? Some individuals scan print writing as well; what is the difference between the two? These are only a few questions that I hope to explore. Mostly, in the end, I hope to learn and produce another piece that I can show for not only the comprehensive exam in the Fall, but also to future employers my vast experience with the Web.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Communicating in Virtual Organizations
In her book "Communication in a Virtual Organization," Sandra Collins describes collectivism as a key feature of virtual organizations, because they "recognize the value of collaboration and networking rather than relying on pure authority" or traditional bureaucracies (p. 7). This focuses on human dynamics, and recognizes the need for these dynamics to remain in the forefront of our communication practices, not the technology used to facilitate it. Collectivism also demonstrates the difficulties that may arise in the implementation of the ideal "new" organization, which is flat, flexible, networked, global, and diverse. Such organizations emphasize greater flexibility, speed, and reliance on networked structures and de-emphasize traditional hierarchical structures.
Communication in the virtual form is expected to be rapid and customized in response to specific, ad-hoc demands at any given point in time. This means that communication content and direction are likely to be more temporary, as links between various entities within the organization and outside it are formed and dissolved over time. Consequently, a likely tension in the virtual form will be simultaneous needs for more and richer communication, on the one hand, and pressures for greater transaction efficiencies, on the other.
Learning how to communicate effectively is an important element in technical communication, where there's not just the transmission of information, but the addition of value in interpreting the message and making it comprehensible to a specific target audience. Breaking a message down is a critical step in the communication process, because a simple message facilitates easier and quicker dissemination of information, leading to the ability to make better decisions, ones which are probably more robust due to the fact that there's more visibility to the environment that the decisions impact. I believe that adding this kind of tangible value, particularly in a virtual organizational context where information overload is the norm, is an example of a key success factor in the communication process.
Communication in the virtual form is expected to be rapid and customized in response to specific, ad-hoc demands at any given point in time. This means that communication content and direction are likely to be more temporary, as links between various entities within the organization and outside it are formed and dissolved over time. Consequently, a likely tension in the virtual form will be simultaneous needs for more and richer communication, on the one hand, and pressures for greater transaction efficiencies, on the other.
Learning how to communicate effectively is an important element in technical communication, where there's not just the transmission of information, but the addition of value in interpreting the message and making it comprehensible to a specific target audience. Breaking a message down is a critical step in the communication process, because a simple message facilitates easier and quicker dissemination of information, leading to the ability to make better decisions, ones which are probably more robust due to the fact that there's more visibility to the environment that the decisions impact. I believe that adding this kind of tangible value, particularly in a virtual organizational context where information overload is the norm, is an example of a key success factor in the communication process.
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