Audience Archives - Writing Commons

Post-Positivism

Joe Moxley — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 17:55:26 +0000

Post-positivists assume that any attempt to ground knowledge outside human consciousness is futile. While post-positivists do not, of course, deny the existence of a physical world, they argue that all knowledge about that world is constructed by human consciousness through language. Related Concepts: Epistemology Why Does Post-Positivism Matter? Post-positivism is an important philosophical perspective that ... Read more

The post Post-Positivism appeared first on Writing Commons.

Methodological Community – Research Community

Joe Moxley — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 17:15:00 +0000

Definition A Methodological Community, which may also be referred to as a Research Community. Related Concepts Audience Awareness; Discourse Community; Epistemology; Research; Rhetorical Analysis Why are Research Communities Important? Just as people with similar religious beliefs, political loyalties, or cultural practices can be said to make up a community—even though they have never met—those who ... Read more

The post Methodological Community – Research Community appeared first on Writing Commons.

Positivism

Joe Moxley — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 16:07:57 +0000

What is Positivism? Positivism is a philosophical and scientific approach that emphasizes the use of empirical evidence and observable facts to develop and evaluate knowledge. Positivists assume Positivists conduct observational studies to uncover these regular, nonrandom patterns and the relationships among the patterns. Working collaboratively and inductively, positivists sort through a multitude of relationships, seeking ... Read more

The post Positivism appeared first on Writing Commons.

Discourse Community – Community of Practice

Joe Moxley — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 10:28:30 +0000

What is a Discourse Community? A discourse community refers to a group of people who are in conversation with one another. Members of a discourse community share interests, goals, or fields of study. They share language practices, employing jargon, genres, rhetorical appeals, rhetorical moves, and discourse conventions. For instance, the field of medicine serves as ... Read more

The post Discourse Community – Community of Practice appeared first on Writing Commons.

Audience Awareness – How To Boost Clarity in Communications

Joe Moxley — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 05:11:39 +0000

What is Audience Awareness? Audience Audience refers to What Does It Mean When Someone Says Your Communications Aren’t Audience Sensitive or Lack Audience Awareness? Audience Awareness refers to Synonyms Audience may refer to readers, listeners, users and other recipients of a message sent by a Sender (e.g., an author, writer, speaker, or knowledge worker) Audience ... Read more

The post Audience Awareness – How To Boost Clarity in Communications appeared first on Writing Commons.

Conducting a Spatial Analysis through the Lens of Universal Design

Joe Moxley — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 16:22:06 +0000

The sign in this image reads, “WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE ENTRANCE AVAILABLE, PLEASE ASK INSIDE FOR ASSISTANCE.” Obviously, this picture was taken and turned into a meme because someone thought it was funny, which it is. But is it just funny, or does it reveal a deeper message about the way our society thinks about people with ... Read more

The post Conducting a Spatial Analysis through the Lens of Universal Design appeared first on Writing Commons.

Researching Your Audience

Joe Moxley — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 18:16:39 +0000

It is important to consider your audience when writing a technical communication document. Categories like race, class, and gender, also known as demographics, can contribute to the way a person perceives a particular issue or document. Other important audience traits to consider are level of familiarity with the subject matter, knowledge of terminology, and educational background. These factors can help you determine what information your audience needs, what questions you should ask them, and how much jargon (field-specific language) you should use.

The post Researching Your Audience appeared first on Writing Commons.

Audience Analysis for Technical Documents

Joe Moxley — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 18:18:39 +0000

Learning Outcomes

Develop professional/technical documents with a clear awareness of ethics.
Recognize and discuss important elements of how culture affects communication in collaborative workplaces.
Illustrate and analyze audience while creating various professional/technical documents with a sophisticated awareness of audience as a reader and a writer.
Demonstrate audience and rhetorical awareness in visual design while creating professional/technical documents to visually appeal to appropriate audiences.

The post Audience Analysis for Technical Documents appeared first on Writing Commons.

What to Think about When Writing for a Particular Audience

Joe Moxley — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:37:17 +0000

Writers must have a clear sense of to whom they are writing (the audience) and what the audience’s values and/or opinions related to the topic are. Imagine a history professor who opens her lecture on the Victorian era by asking her undergraduate students, “Did you see the Victorian-era furniture on Antiques Roadshow last night?” Can ... Read more

The post What to Think about When Writing for a Particular Audience appeared first on Writing Commons.