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Blog no. 5

a) What have you learned about the processes of designing a sound research study in class? b) What have these processes taught you about your future roles as a technical/professional communicator and digital rhetorician? One thing I learned about the process of designing a research study is that it takes some brainstorming. I wouldn't have finalized my project without Dr. Bacabac's help. Collaboration and building ideas can be very useful. To add to that, sleeping on a thought is also a valid and useful strategy. Sometimes, we can ruminate on something too much, so much so that we feel like we have thought about everything there is to think about the topic. Stepping away for a few hours or even a day or two can be a useful reset for the mind. The process has mostly taught me (reaffirmed is probably a better word) that readers cannot read my mind. I have to be explicit, detailed, and clear in everything I write so that readers can understand my work and other researchers would b...
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Blog post #4

 After the peer review, the first thing that I realized I need to edit was the fact that my study is going to essentially be one small drop in a nearly empty bucket. I need to better emphasize that I am mostly calling attention to the need and showing how Annett's (1982) list may or may not be relevant in a more modern era. This study is more of a prologue than an introduction. I also have some citation errors to fix. I tried to do narrative citations, but I didn't do them properly. Thankfully Professor Bacabac pointed out where I went wrong! Finally, I think I need to give a better overview of Annett's list. It was incredibly informal with no methods, discussion, results, nothing. Basically, he got a bunch of editor friends together, analyzed student work, and came up with ten items. I want to express how informal that study was and how I want to do the same thing but through a more academic process than just me and my friends.
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Blog post #3

 My gap in the knowledge is more of a lack of update. I'm focused on common errors in technical writing and originally thought to compile a list for students from existing lists. However, the most recent list of common errors I found was from 1982, and it was based on a list from 1975, I believe. The sources I found focused on technical writing errors and how to correct them, but they were very much from the perspective of "common sense" rather than concrete gathered data. For example, participants in multiple sources were handed a list of errors and asked questions like how much each error bothered them, how the tone of the document was, and similar things. What I want to do is conduct a massive study analyzing current student work and come up with concrete data on what modern technical writing errors are. For example, maybe students don't know how to automatically format section headers (which is also an accessibility issue). However, while this study will fill the ...
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 I decided to go for the topic of common mistakes in technical writing. For these sources, I've mostly found solutions but I plan to dive deeper into finding problems from peer reviewed sources rather than random lists found on google to get a starting point. Annett, C. H. (1982). An Editor’s View: Ten Common Errors in Technical Writing. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 12(3), 185-190. https://doi-org.libproxy.utahtech.edu/10.2190/W558-WV3D-F1P6-HXMD  Campbell, K. S., Naidoo, J. S., & Smith, J. (2021). When Your Boss Says, “You Need to Sound More Professional”: Writing Style and Writer Attributions. International Journal of Business Communication, 60(4), 1071-1094. https://doi-org.libproxy.utahtech.edu/10.1177/23294884211025735  Edens, B. (1980). Readability and Creativity in Technical Writing. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 10(4), 329-336. https://doi-org.libproxy.utahtech.edu/10.2190/FDXC-J28W-GLC1-CCUN   NOTE: CANNOT FIND F...
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 Hi guys! Sorry for the late blog, travelling was rough. But in a nutshell, here are some topics I would be interested in pursuing: The visual design of popular fiction book covers: When it comes to books, the first thing that draws people in is the cover. I think it would be interesting to look at trends, standard templates, and different visual layout formulas of arguably popular book series (by sales) to see if there's any connection. Along those same lines, the construction of book titles: I'm sure we've all noticed that the previous years saw a rise in book titles that follow what I like to call the "A Bowl of Mac and Cheese" convention. Think A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, A Court of Thorns and Roses, House of Salt and Sorrows, A Song of Ice and Fire, etc. The interesting thing is that these books here span a wide range of years, so where did this naming convention come from? Is there a reason it's so popular? What is it about this naming convention t...
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 Here is a test for my blog. Hello! :)
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