July
29th: Thinking Critically about
Statistics
Your
Proposals, Visuals, and Annotated Bibliographies are now due Wednesday (7/31).
No class tomorrow (7/30).
Backing
Up
Let's finish our research discussion and then move on to Ethics. We probably won't get around to Huff's “How to
Lie with Statistics” today (on Moodle), so make sure you have that read by Monday if you didn't already.
Analyzing
Ethics
We could study ethics
related to technical communication for an entire semester much
like many of our other topics. Unfortunately, we only have
time to scratch the surface. Ethics in technical communication
is often overlooked because many mistakenly see "technical
communication" as transmitting "truth" from the
expert ( engineering, scientist, or technician) end to the reader.
However, like all communication, we must make choices concerning
what to include and what not to include...hmm...that can get a
bit tricky.
-
If you include something,
why?
-
If you don't include
something, why not?
-
Do you have a naturally
bias-free disposition?
But before we get too
far ahead of ourselves, let's look at how ethics form. I
hope if you haven't had a class related to your major about ethics,
you soon will. I'd hate to be your only "ethical"
perspective in college. Let's jump on over to our ethical
analysis webpage.
Ethical
Dilemmas for You
Take
a look at these dilemmas for class. To whom are technical
communicators responsible in business settings? Are there
any non-business technical writing (or communicating) settings?
And what class assignment
would be complete without having a homework assignment to follow
up? Exactly--none. Here's your Ethical
Dilemmas Assignment--due
tomorrow 7/31.
Ch. 3 "Writing Ethically"
Let's breeze through Ch. 3 (a very short chapter) and then move on to think critically about statistical (mis)use. Show me you've read and tell us the important aspects of the following:
- Obligations
- Codes of Conduct
- Ethical Communication
Readings
for Analysis
Let's see if we can discuss these readings below:
I had a larger case study in mind, but that might have been a bit too ambitious. Instead, let's look at the links below on HIV/AIDS and, as a bonus, we'll check out a statistic from Al Gore's Earth in the Balance (1992)--on Moodle. Several of you are going to explain Global Warming or related science topics for your project, so this will be especially relevant to you. Of course, the overall point will be about our (social, perhaps) commitment to facts, figures, and statistics.
Let's look at voting statistics (time permitting).
Keep Up with the Syllabus
If we don't get to it today, we'll have a presentation discussion and workshop on Wednesday. Your presentations will be on Monday (8/05) and Tuesday (8/06) of next week.
Also, on Wednesday (7/31), I'm giving you time to work on your portfolios, so use that time wisely. Because of a Transfer SOAR session on Thursday (8/01), we won't be meeting as a class, but you'll turn your portfolios into my mailbox--use a folder and not a binder. I will be on campus, but I won't necessarily be in my office to meet during office hours 3:00-5:00. I'll be in and out of the office for the rest of the day.
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