Ryan K. Boettger

Quantitative Content Analysis: Its Use in Technical Communication

Quantitative content analysis can enrich research in technical communication by identifying the frequency of thematic or rhetorical patterns and then exploring their relationship through inferential statistics. Over the last decade, the field has published few content analyses, and several of these applications have been qualitative, diluting the methods inherent rigor. This paper describes the versatility of quantitative content analysis and offers a broader application for its use in the field. This discussion frames two original case studies that illustrate the design variability that content analysis offers researchers.

The Naked Truth about the Naked This: Investigating Grammatical Prescriptivism in Technical Communication

The decision to follow the demonstrative this with a noun phrase is important to students’ writing development. Previous research has emphasized when students should not attend this rather than studying why students make the choice. Using a corpus-linguistic approach, we investigated 1,999 instances of (un)attended this in student technical and academic writing. High shares of unattended this were found in both text types as well as in original and revised drafts.

Rubric Use in Technical Communication: Exploring the Process of Creating Valid and Reliable Assessment Tools

Assessing the quality of student efforts and products is a continual necessity for academics and practitioners in technical communication; however, the process of constructing valid and reliable rubrics remains an underexplored topic in the field. This paper first addresses some of the assessment concerns and then describes a case study that documents the development and implementation of one holistic and five analytic rubrics to evaluate undergraduate projects. The discussion focuses on identifying site-specific criteria and training effective raters and is intended to help academics respond to their required accreditation mandates and offer practitioners alternatives for evaluating products and services.

Update to who says what to whom? Assessing the alignment of content and audience between scholarly and professional publications in technical communication (1996–2013)

Academe-industry relations are an ongoing topic in the conversation on technical communication. Key issues in the conversation include alignment between academic curricula and industry needs, the effectiveness of the preparation provided by academic programs, and the alignment of interests between the two groups. However, no study has attempted to empirically assess the extent of the academic and industry alignment empirically. This paper provides updated results from our ongoing exploration of this issue. It is guided by the following questions: (1) What content areas are covered by both peer-reviewed and trade publications?, (2) What content areas are unique to each type of publication?, and (3) Who is the intended audience of the content? To assess this alignment, we coded for three major content areas in a random sample of 986 articles published between 1996 and 2013 in four leading peer-reviewed journals (IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Technical Communication, and Technical Communication Quarterly) and one publication for practicing technical communicators (Intercom).

What are the most common title words in technical communication publications

While titles are an important component of scholarly and trade publications, they have been understudied within the field of professional and technical communication. In particular, the field has not empirically analyzed the titles of publications within our discipline. Such empirical study can present a clearer picture of how our field has evolved and what are the theoretical and practical tenets of our discipline. In this study, we begin to explore these issues. First, in a corpus that includes the title of every article published in the five major technical communication scholarly publications and the one trade publication between 1996 and 2013, we determine what the most common words used within titles are. We then determine what words are unique to scholarly publications or trade publications. Finally, we explore how the common words have changed over time.

Analyzing Error Perception and Recognition Among Professional Communication Practitioners and Academics

We investigated the perception and recognition of errors in a population of practitioners and academics in professional and technical communication. Specifically, we measured 303 participants’ botheration levels of 24 usage errors and then correlated those results against their ability to recognize the errors. Results indicated that practitioners were often more bothered by errors than academics and that participants’ overall botheration level might have fluctuated over the past 40 years. Participants’ botheration level also appeared to associate with their ability to identify error. Finally, we found that participants’ gender, job type, and years working in the field influence their error perception.

An overview of research methods in technical communication journals (2012–2016)

This study reports an empirical content analysis of research methods utilized by technical communication researchers over the past five years. In the study, we coded 117 articles for their topical content, research method, and whether the research presented was RAD (replicable, aggregagble, and data-driven). We found clear patterns emerging and discuss potential implications for research in technical communication.

Improving the data information literacies of technical communication undergraduates

The research training that technical communication undergraduates receive remains an under examined but never more timely topic of discussion. The skills a practicing technical communicator must possess is quickly expanding. In particular, technical communicators require data collection, curation, and analysis competences. In our paper, we offer three case histories that illustrate how to increase the data information literacies of technical communication undergraduates. Our observations were recorded in three classroom settings: a content analysis course, a SEO and website analytics course, and a UX app development and design course. We conclude with suggestions for improving data information literacy in technical communication undergraduates well as a call to action for further research on this topic.

Are we missing the boat? A roundtable discussion on research methods and how they define our field

Despite continued sustainability as an academic field of study, researchers of technical communication have struggled with employing appropriate research methods in their studies. In this panel, the panelists will each discuss an aspect of this struggle framed within their own experiences and expertise. Topics will include the quality of evidence in research studies; quality of methodology in workplace studies; current trends in technical communication research; and alternative methods for answering technical communications research questions. We will then facilitate a discussion with the attendees to further explore this ongoing concern in the field.

Workshop: Integrating data-driven learning into the technical writing classroom

Technical writing service courses have become a mainstay across institutions of higher education. However, the heterogeneous student population that these courses attract leads to generic instruction that often contradicts how students are expected to communicate within their respective fields. This workshop aims to provide participants with a basic introduction to data-driven learning as well as how to use corpora and text processing tools to facilitate more tailored technical writing instruction.