Even more common is an ethics violation resulting from the person who is designing the information seeing it as evidence for whatever s/he understands as true and honestly not recognizing the bias in how s/he has presented that information. Key takeaways: Business ethics are policies that guide the behavior of corporate entities, especially regarding controversial subjects. These five examples of effective technical writing can help inspire and inform your work as a technical writer. Bullying is a schoolyard tactic and learned behavior that encompasses a range of other unethical behaviors such as name-calling, gossiping, threatening, and exclusion of people based on a popularity contest. This chapter was written by Annemarie Hamlin, Chris Rubio, and Michele DeSilva, Central Oregon Community College, and is licensed CC-BY 4.0. Is it your responsibility to tell the truth (and potentially save childrens lives) or to cherry pick information that supports the parent groups initial intentions? If you would go to prison, lose your friends, lose your job, or even just feel really embarrassed, the action is probably unethical. A writer has to be aware and It is easy to get caught up in the facts and forget all the people involved. WebAll of the following are examples of unethical technical writing except Manipulating or misrepresenting data Producing documents and materials within the agreed upon For example, you might not tell a stranger that they were trailing toilet paper but you would tell a friend. To avoid safety recalls, companies need to make sure they consider every possible danger involved with a product. They provide data in a concentrated form, often illustrating key facts, statistics or information from the text of the report. Directly lying is unlikely to be accidental, but even in that case, the writer could believe that the lie achieved some greater good and was therefore necessary. In almost every field, there are legal and professional consequences for committing unethical behavior, and often remaining silent about corrupt conductwhether the action are yours or a colleaguescan implicate you as well. However, a closer look at the numbers shows that the graph shows only a narrow range of numbers in a limited perspective (9100 to 9800). It can be written or oral. Licenses vary from specific, limited-use to free and open use everywhere in the world. You collect a handful of sources that support the groups goal, but then you discover medical evidence that indicates vaccines do more good than potential harm in society. (OpenOregon) . In practice, though, most folks are primarily looking for support. If you blend source material together with your ideas (by including as your ideas your analysis or application of borrowed materials), you will indeed find that showing exactly what is borrowed versus what is yours is impossible. Keep in mind the importance of providing appropriate context and perspective as you prepare your graphics. Therefore, the company or organization is responsible for giving adequate instructions and warning users about the risks associated with the product. If you were writing a report on the real estate market in Central Oregon, you would not collect data from only one brokers office even if this office might have access to broader data on the real estate market because utilizing only one source may create the assumption that you are biased. Is the author identifiable and do they have appropriate credentials? In a technical report that contains research, a writer might discover conflicting data that does not support the projects goal. Business ethics protect companies from legal liability and ensure that they treat their customers and team members with respect. Similarly, take a look at the bar graphs in Figure 2 below. Develop good habits now and maintain them through practice. Also, although not required by law, it is a good idea to cite sources from inside your own company as well. WebAn example of this is social media. It would also be unethical to falsify the nature of the source, such as omitting the number of pages in the works cited entry to make a brief note seem to be a full article. Good question. An individual promotes a product on social media even though they know the product does not do what they advertised and is harmful. If the bar graph above were to represent sales figures for a company, the representation on the left would look like good news: dramatically increased sales over a five-year period. What is the nature of the ethical dilemma? Creative Commons is an organization that has developed guidelines to allow people to share their knowledge and creativity. They provide free, easy-to-use copyright licenses to make a simple and standardized way to give the public permission to share and use creative work (What we Do https://creativecommons.org/about/). (c) downplaying information *(d) a, b, and c.*, *Which of the following statements is least accurate? Therefore, the original owner of the material is denied a profit due to your actions. Giving credit where credit is due will build your credibility and enhance your document. This, in turn, affects the companys public profit, and essentially its standing. For example, hiding some crucial bit of information in the middle of a long paragraph deep in a long document seriously de-emphasizes the information. . However, nothing is ever easy when it comes to ethical dilemmas. 1). Be cautious when using figures, charts and tables, making sure they visually represent quantities with accuracy and honesty. You would not want someone else taking credit for your ideas. Unlike personal or academic writing, technical and professional writing can be used to evaluate your job performance and can have implications that a writer may or may not have considered.

That is why it is important that when you find an element you would like to incorporate in your document, in the same moment as you copy and paste or make a note of it in your research file you need to note the source in a complete enough form to find it again. In addition, and most importantly, cite sources accurately so as to give credit to another persons ideas if you are able to use them. When crafting your communication, think about who will be affected by what you say and how you say it. Like other professionals, technical writers come up against ethical issues regularly and must make decisions about how to move forward with a project in the face of ethical dilemmas. The memo was about airport security and was unethical because opinion was presented as fact. In a technical report that contains research, a writer might discover conflicting data which does not support the projects goal. Liability Law helps companies and organizations act responsibly. On the other hand, putting a minor point in a prominent spot (say the first item in a bulleted list in a reports executive summary) implies that the item is important. It is easiest to first start asking questions. A company uses a to show something is trademarked or an for something registered with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office. 308 qualified specialists online. A brief mention (Research conducted at major research universities over the last ten years (see literature review, Smith and Tang, 2010) establishes that. For example, you might tell your best friend his new haircut looks attractive when in fact you believe that it does not. Is quarterly growth and expanding jobs more serious than the risk of future health problems and a degraded environment?

When you use concepts, ideas, or findings that have been established by others, you only need to briefly summarize your source and provide accurate references. The audience may find out too late that what you wrote only benefited you and actually hurt them. Such calculations may make it easier for you to look away and let someone else deal with it, but with a friend, you would be willing to risk some short-term awkwardness to do the right thing. There are a few issues that may come up when researching a topic for the business or technical world that a writer must consider. Ethical issues can appear in both the research and writing phases of producing formal reports. 13. Cite this lesson. Imagine, further, that the company cannot afford to dispose of this waste more safely and that, if you turn them in, the company will close down, most of the town will be unemployed, and the towns entire economy will collapse. Some of the stuff posted on social media can be unethical but this doesnt mean it is not legal. Can email communications be used without permission? What this allows you to do is base a solution around many different sides instead of just your own. Internalizing your ethics in such a manner will certainly make you a more ethical writer. While this office might have access to broader data on the real estate market, as a writer you run the risk of looking biased if you only chose materials from this one source. Discover how these practices upset the order in business dealings and relations. As a guideline, ask yourself what would happen if your action (or non-action) became public. Even more common is an ethics violation resulting from individuals who are honestly unaware of their own biased viewpoints and therefore unable to recognize the bias in how they have presented information. For example, you might not tell a stranger that he was trailing toilet paper from his left heel, but you would tell a friend. .) accurately reflects the status of the principle; then you would go on to apply that principle to your specific task or proposal. If you were writing a report on the real estate market in Central Oregon, you would not collect data from only one brokers office. You should ask yourself the following questions: Be cautious about using sources that are not reviewed by peers or editor, or in which the information cannot be verified, or seems misleading, biased, or even false. Our experts can deliver a Technical Writing Ethics essay. If you were writing a report on the real estate market in Stillwater, Oklahoma, you would not collect data from only one brokers office. Overall, there are a few basic points to adhere to whenever you are writing a professional document: a) do not mislead, b) do not manipulate, and c) do not stereotype. WebAs a writer, you may have to make the decision, or your client may indicate what type of document and when they want to use it. You discover, however, that to bring in such an expert is cost prohibitive. Webnancy spies haberman kushner. The data in each is identical but the pie chart on the left presents information in a misleading way (see Fig. The money spent on lawyers and the time spent in court takes away resources a company could use for improving business and products. Thus, a simple change in perspective can change the impact of an image. Just because some action enjoys the adulation of the masses, does not necessarily means it is ethical. Most stereotyping takes place subconsciously now since workplaces are careful to not openly discriminate. Most ethics violations in technical writing are (probably) unintentional, BUT they are still ethics violations. Now I just need some evidence to prove I am right!. Was the information simply copied and pasted as a whole or changed? When writing persuasively, do not write something that can cause the reader to believe something that is not true. Often in technical writing, the underlying principle is already well-documented (maybe even common knowledge for your audience) and the point SHOULD be to use that underlying principle to propose a specific application. Collecting information from multiple brokers would demonstrate thorough and unbiased research. They provide data in a concentrated form, often illustrating key facts, statistics or information from the text of the report. WebAll of the following are examples of unethical technical writing 2. Remember, you must clearly distinguish between your ideas and borrowed material; and you must use borrowed material primarily as evidence for your own, directly stated ideas. If you fail to take careful notes, or the sentence is present in your writing but later fails to get accurate attribution, it can have a negative impact on you and your organization. The copyright symbol is shown with a . Here are several examples of unethical communication. As always, consult a lawyer for specific information on how to construct warnings. They should also be easy to understand.

When a company is involved in a lawsuit or a recall, the company has to consider the consequences that these issues will have on their business and needs to consider the costs of repairing the companys reputation. Writers may encounter situations in which they must ask the following kinds of questions: What kinds of support material and sources are ethical to use? Directly lying is unlikely to be accidental, but even in that case, the writer could persuade himself that the lie achieved some greater good and was therefore necessary. If you are a technical writer and you join a professional associations such as the Society of Technical Communicators you will need to be aware their codes of ethics, published online (e.g., http://www.stc.org/about-stc/ethical-principles). * *(e) I should use jargon and euphemisms when stating my Similarly, take a look at the bar graphs in figure 2 below. These are important aspects of technical writing, to be sure, but they only represent the surface of what you need to know. Students often argue that they cannot separate their ideas from borrowed ideas because they would then have to document the whole paperif that is true, the paper is most certainly not making fair use of the sources. Third, if possible, ask permission to use another persons work. There are a number of options (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-types-examples/) that a creator has in regards to how they want to set up permissions, but the idea is that these works are free for anyone to use; they are open source. While this may seem easy to read about, when the pressure is on and there are deadlines to meet, taking shortcuts and stretching the truth become ever more tempting. With the ease of acquiring graphics on the internet, it has become ever more tempting to simply copy and paste images from a search engine. 1 Misleading and regular pie charts.

Learn about unethical business practices with an overview, behaviors, and examples. These sources should demonstrate that the writer has examined the topic from as many angles as possible. Are the methods and arguments based on solid reasoning and sound evidence? . Choose words with a neutral tone. More information regarding specific Creative Commons licenses can be accessed on the Creative Commons website. 086 079 7114 [email protected]. Research shows bringing in an outside expert, someone who is unfamiliar with the company and the stakeholders, has the potential to impact the greatest change. It is difficult to deal with unethical practices when they surface in the workplace. Sometimes, the copyright holder allows it if credit is given. Similarly, take a look at the bar graphs in Figure 2 below. This helps the recipient understand the essence of the message. None of these things can be used without proper recognition of or approval from the appropriate company or individual involved. WebQuestion:In the textbook chapter: Ethics in Technical Writing, authors Hamlin, Rubio, and DeSilva discuss a memo they refer to as "a classic example of unethical writing." If you were writing a report on the real estate market in the Hudson Valley region of New York, you would not collect data from only one brokers office. Why should you treat others any differently? Either you are saying it is a source when in fact you did not really use anything from it, or you have simply failed to clarify in the text what are your ideas and what comes from other sources. In fact, if we look at the same data in a differently oriented chart, we can see that Item C represents less than half of the donations than those for Item A. Some may be simple and straightforward, some may be difficult and involve questionable objectives. The candidate represented by the green slice labeled Item C, might think that she had received more donations than the candidate represented in the blue Item A slice. Thorough research requires that a writer integrates information from a variety of reliable sources. On the other hand, putting a minor point in a prominent spot (say the first item in a bulleted list in a reports executive summary) tells your reader that it is crucial. A classic example of unethical technical writing is the memo report NASA engineers wrote about the problem with O ring seals on the space shuttle Challenger. What do you notice, however, about how that information is conveyed to the reader? The unethical feature was that the crucial information about the O-rings was buried in a middle paragraph, while information approving the launch was in prominent beginning and ending spots. Only by learning who these stakeholders are can you assure that you are treating them in accordance with your own ethical values. Ethical behavior, including ethical technical communication, involves not just telling the truth and providing accurate information, but telling the truth and providing information so that a reasonable audience can understand it. In a technical report that contains research, a writer might discover conflicting data which does not support the projects goal. Hey, I have this great new idea that will solve world hunger, cure cancer, and make mascara really waterproof. We observe the laws and regulations governing our profession. Unlike personal or academic writing, technical and professional writing can be used to evaluate your job performance and can have implications that a writer may or may not have considered. Some might consider the context before determining how to act. Second, do not use large amounts of another persons information. examples of unethical technical writing The unethical feature was that the crucial information about the O rings (O rings provide a seal) was buried in a middle paragraph, while information approving the launch was in prominent beginning and ending spots. Copyright is different from plagiarism in that it is a legal issue. Here are a few common ways that manuals or instructionsfall short: The key commonality is that everything listed could result in bodily harm or death.

Hey, I have this great new idea that will solve world hunger, cure cancer, and make mascara really waterproof. It is much easier to define what is not adequate. 2 Misleading and regular bar graphs. On the other hand, if you can easily find 94 high-quality sources that confirm you are correct, you might want to consider whether your idea is worth developing. WebThis handout will cover some of the major issues with appropriate language use: levels of language formality, deceitful language and euphemisms, slang and idiomatic expressions; using group-specific jargon; and biased/stereotypical language.

When writers present information visually, however, they have to be careful not to misrepresent or misreport the complete picture. Close with a signature. If you take the ethical route, and sales plummet, few people will recognize the ethical issue, but most will clearly understand that you caused the sales decline. What will you do when you are asked, implicitly or explicitly, to compromise your ethics? Their feelings and livelihood must be considered with every appropriate document you create. In practice, though, most folks are primarily looking for support. Be a wise information consumer in your own reading and research in order to build your reputation as an honest, ethical writer. Even more common is an ethics violation where a technical designer sees information as true and does not recognize the bias in the informations presentation. WebFigure 1.3. Some content can be remixed, revised, reworked, or built-upon. Adequacy is almost impossible to define. It also means that you act to prevent actual harm, with set criteria for what kinds and degrees of harm are more serious than others. On a smaller scale, if one way of presenting evidence requires some manipulation of data but seems to be the only way of keeping sales strong enough for your company to survive, what should you do? The legal consequences are most notable when one considers writing in the professional world.

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