{"title":"Researching Home-Based Technical and Professional Communication: Emerging Structures and Methods","authors":"J. Bay, P. Sullivan","doi":"10.1177/1050651920959185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920959185","url":null,"abstract":"With the massive shift to remote work, what does researching home-based workplace writing look like? We argue that the collapse of traditional work–life boundaries might allow for a renaissance of feminist research methods in technical and professional communication, specifically because the home is a domestic space largely associated with women. Inspired by methodologies like apparent feminism and examinations of positionality, privilege, and power, the authors suggest three research methods that help capture the intricacies of blurred personal and professional lives: time-use diaries, embodied sensemaking, and participatory data collection and coding. These methods seek to illuminate the invisible work of women, as well as the diversity and range of experiences of home-based workplace communicators.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"167 - 173"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920959185","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42323448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Misinformation Inoculation and Literacy Support Tweetorials on COVID-19","authors":"S. Graham","doi":"10.1177/1050651920958505","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920958505","url":null,"abstract":"Many expected federal public health agencies to provide timely and accurate information about the COVID-19 pandemic. That did not happen. In response, physicians and epidemiologists have explored new ways to educate the public about COVID-19 and protect against misinformation. One genre that has received significant uptake is the tweetorial, threaded tweets that educate followers on technical matters. This article builds on prior genre studies of the tweetorial to explore how #MedTwitter and #EpiTwitter communities have refashioned the emerging conventions of the tweetorial as part of efforts to protect the public from COVID-19 misinformation.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"7 - 14"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920958505","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47957436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adapting Uncertainty Reduction Theory for Crisis Communication: Guidelines for Technical Communicators","authors":"R. Grace, J. Tham","doi":"10.1177/1050651920959188","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920959188","url":null,"abstract":"The central components of an interpersonal communication framework such as uncertainty reduction theory can be adapted to design and evaluate crisis communication addressing uncertainty between citizens needing access to services and organizations attempting to manage risk and ensure continuity of operations. Through a content analysis of organizational crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, this article adapts uncertainty reduction theory as an applied, user-centered framework that can guide technical communicators in managing uncertainty during unprecedented crises.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"110 - 117"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920959188","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45151592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The WHO Health Alert: Communicating a Global Pandemic with WhatsApp","authors":"Josephine N. Walwema","doi":"10.1177/1050651920958507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920958507","url":null,"abstract":"Upon declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) orchestrated a global risk-communication outreach. The WHO’s objective was to persuade the public to upend and alter their lives so as to contain the disease and minimize its spread and infection. The WHO found a simple and efficient medium to communicate glocally through the social media application WhatsApp, through which individuals could access information without gatekeeping by governments and local agencies.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"35 - 40"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920958507","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47095713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lean Data Visualization: Considering Actionable Metrics for Technical Communication","authors":"Gustav Verhulsdonck, Vishal Shah","doi":"10.1177/1050651920958500","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920958500","url":null,"abstract":"Analyzing data gathered around COVID-19 can increase our understanding of its spread and the social and economic impacts. Data visualizations can help various stakeholders understand the outbreak. To this end, this article seeks to understand how COVID-19 data dashboards utilized actionable metrics to inform various stakeholders. Used in lean methodology, actionable metrics specifically tie data visualization to actions to improve a specific situation. The authors discuss how actionable metrics were used in COVID-19 data dashboards to inspire actions of various stakeholders by modeling different outcomes through future projections. In turn, the authors explore how actionable metrics in data dashboards can inform new business and technical communication practices for data visualization.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"57 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920958500","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41551783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Valuing Expertise During the Pandemic","authors":"Sweta Baniya, L. Potts","doi":"10.1177/1050651920958503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920958503","url":null,"abstract":"This article addresses how social media platforms can better highlight expert voices through design choices. Misinformation, after all, has exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic, and platforms have struggled to address the issue. The authors examine this critical gap in validation mechanisms in the current social media platforms and suggest possible solutions for this urgent problem with third-party partnerships.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"28 - 34"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920958503","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49243377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tracking the Differentiation of Risk: The Impact of Subject Framing in CDC Communication Regarding COVID-19","authors":"K. Lambrecht","doi":"10.1177/1050651920958394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920958394","url":null,"abstract":"Communicating risk amid moments of scientific ambiguity requires balance: Overdelivering certainty levels can cause undue alarm whereas underdelivering them can lead to increased public risk. Despite this complexity, risk assessment is an important decision-making tool. This article analyzes the circulation of the term “risk” in a corpus (74,804 words) of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention communications regarding COVID-19 from January 1 to April 30, 2020. Tracking collocations of the 147 instances of risk in this corpus reveals that experts initially framed risk away from individuals, complicating people’s differentiation between public and personal impacts. Recommendations are offered for how institutions can reframe subjectivity to promote vigilance during pandemics.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"94 - 100"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920958394","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49178194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Drafting Pandemic Policy: Writing and Sudden Institutional Change","authors":"Erin Workman, Peter Vandenberg, Madeline Crozier","doi":"10.1177/1050651920959194","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920959194","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports findings from an institutional ethnography of university stakeholders’ writing in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrating the affordances of this methodology for professional and technical communication. Drawing on interview transcripts with faculty and administrators from across the university, the authors contextualize the role of writing in the iterative, collaborative, distributed writing processes by which the university transitioned from a traditional A–F grading scheme to a pass or fail option in just a few business days. They analyze these stakeholders’ experiences, discussing some effects of this accelerated timeline on policy development, writing processes, and uses of writing technologies within this new context of remote teaching and learning.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"140 - 146"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920959194","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44511968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Timothy R. Amidon, Alex C. Nielsen, E. H. Pflugfelder, Daniel P. Richards, S. Stephens
{"title":"Visual Risk Literacy in “Flatten the Curve” COVID-19 Visualizations","authors":"Timothy R. Amidon, Alex C. Nielsen, E. H. Pflugfelder, Daniel P. Richards, S. Stephens","doi":"10.1177/1050651920963439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920963439","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores how “flatten the curve” (FTC) visualizations have served as a rhetorical anchor for communicating the risk of viral spread during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning from the premise that risk visualizations have eclipsed their original role as supplemental to public risk messaging and now function as an organizer of discourse, the authors highlight three rhetorical tensions (epideictic–deliberative, global–local, conceptual metaphors–data representations) with the goal of considering how the field of technical and professional communication might more strongly support visual risk literacy in future crises.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"101 - 109"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920963439","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44287801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Misrepresenting COVID-19: Lying With Charts During the Second Golden Age of Data Design","authors":"Sara Doan","doi":"10.1177/1050651920958392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651920958392","url":null,"abstract":"In this second golden age of data design, digital affordances enable the news media to share occasionally misleading charts about COVID-19. Examining data visualizations about COVID-19 highlights three ways that charts can mislead viewers: (a) by displaying inadequate data, (b) by manipulating scales and visual distance, and (c) by omitting contextual labels needed to fully understand a chart’s message. This article provides takeaways for technical communicators about including and displaying adequate data, representing numbers consistently, and humanizing COVID-19’s effects.","PeriodicalId":46414,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business and Technical Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"73 - 79"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1050651920958392","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47154669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}