Practical models for technical communication - Shannon Kelley 2021

Advanced research
Research methods for technical communication

Technical communication sometimes requires research skills beyond the academic approaches described in this chapter. If you need to create a document on a topic outside your area of specialty, you may need to work with subject matter experts as sources of information. This section covers how to build communication skills, work with subject matter experts, and conduct usability testing to create more effective technical documents.

Communication Skills

Your primary skill as a technical communicator is the ability to use language in a way that makes your topic easy to understand. Another valuable skill is the ability to learn new topics quickly and relate them to existing knowledge. This is why technical communicators are always in demand. Not everyone has the ability to do this well.

See Chapter 8 for more on the Known-New Contract.

Technical communicators often need to learn about new subject areas quickly. The eight research skills discussed in this chapter provide a good starting place for any topic. Your primary skill is your ability to communicate, not your ability to possess exhaustive knowledge.

Develop an understanding of the difference between key ideas and details or examples. Look for connections between new areas of knowledge and existing knowledge. Often, you’ll find that topics about which you know little have a similarity to topics about which you know a lot. Use this to your advantage. The similarities between the known and the unknown can facilitate understanding.

Sometimes, you’ll need outside help to learn about a new topic or to check your understanding of a new topic. In these cases, you’ll need to look for a subject matter expert.

Consult a Subject Matter Expert

While learning as much as possible about your topic is important, don’t assume that you need to be the ultimate authority to create effective technical documents. If you lack mastery of a subject and need to check your accuracy, a subject matter expert (SME) can help. Collaborating with an SME is common for technical communicators. You should learn to rely on them, particularly during the research process.

If you embark on a new project in an unfamiliar topic area, find an SME to interview early. Often, your employer will arrange this for you. The SME might be a coworker in a different department of your company. If you are working for a company as part of a temporary contract, the SME might be a full-time employee for that company or another freelancer on a contract. Once the relationship has been established, ask the SME questions to help you in your research. The SME will likely save you considerable time and effort by pointing you in the right direction. Be sure to consult with the SME at the end of your project—their perspective will be invaluable in fact-checking your work.

Don’t be intimidated to work with SMEs or to attempt technical writing in new content areas. While most technical communicators have specialized skills and knowledge beyond technical communication, most will be asked to create materials outside of that specialized skill or knowledge. The ability to communicate clearly about complex ideas is a highly desirable skill.

Conduct Usability Testing

Sometimes part of your research will involve getting feedback from the document’s future users through a process called “usability testing.” The purpose of this task is to determine whether users understand the document. If they don’t, then you need to conduct additional research and revise the document.

See Chapter 9 for more on usability testing.

Willing and unbiased volunteers to test your document are crucial. If the testers are too familiar with the content or if they have some stake in the content’s success, it may be difficult to get reliable and unbiased feedback. Usability testing often requires additional time and is an important part of the research phase of a project.

Case Study

Develop a Research Plan

This case study is an opportunity for you to put into practice what you’ve learned. Part of this chapter focuses on effective academic and professional research. Look at the following case study to consider how developing a plan before you begin can help you stay on track:

See Chapter 11 for more on formal reports.

James has been assigned a formal report for his technical communication course. The research process is vital to an effective formal report. James’s instructor gave him a choice of topics, so he chose the college’s parking situation as his topic. He uses the following research plan and questions to guide his project:

” Identify the problem: What is the problem and can it be explained in a single sentence? For example, James wants to examine parking issues on campus, so he needs to identify a specific parking problem. Is there a lack of parking? Is parking too expensive? Are the parking lots inaccessible?

” Make observations: What observations can be made about this problem to formulate a research question that is based on the user’s experience? For example, James finds out who is in charge of campus parking and asks questions such as, “How many parking spots are currently available? For students? Faculty? Visitors? How many parking passes are issued per term, per year?”

” Develop a hypothesis: What is an educated guess (hypothesis) about how to solve this problem? Does the solution match the problem? For example, if the problem is that parking is too expensive, then James shouldn’t offer a solution that involves adding more parking spots, which would lead to an increase in parking fees.

” Test with research: What does other research say about this hypothesis? For example, James looks into how other colleges handle parking on campus. If he can’t find exactly what he’s looking for, then his next step will be to investigate how large corporations handle parking.

” Consider primary research: What are the benefits of conducting a survey or interviewing people connected to the problem? For example, James explores whether his college’s research and development department can send out a survey about the parking situation to students.

” Evaluate research: Are the sources credible? For example, James asks himself, “What makes the source credible? Is it relevant? What authority does it have on the topic? And what is the source’s purpose?”

” Record research: Do research notes identify where to find sources later? For example, James keeps an active list of sources so he doesn’t have to compile it the night before the assignment is due.

” Select research: Is the report objective and focused? For example, James uses only the material that is relevant to his topic and avoids relying on students’ opinions about parking fees. Instead, James focuses on data that shows the increase in parking fees over the past seven years.

Discussion

” Does James’s research process look like how you go about research? What’s different? What’s the same?

” Why do you think James looks for alternate solutions to the parking situation other than the one he is proposing?

” What would you recommend James do next as he begins drafting his formal report?

Checklist for Research

Research Planning

Did you make observations about this problem to formulate a research question?

Can you explain the problem in a single sentence?

Have you made an educated guess (hypothesis) about possible solutions to the problem?

Research Development

Have you tested your hypothesis by comparing it with the research you found?

What other credible secondary sources did you find?

What type of primary research, such as a survey or interview, is needed?

Research Implementation

What is the credibility of your sources?

Have you summarized or paraphrased research material as needed and cited your sources?

Did you confirm that you used only relevant material to your research topic?

Is there research material that challenges your hypothesis?