This digest discusses the common sections of a research report and highlights frequently made mistakes. At every stage of the research activities, the researchers should think about the eventual research report. The report should be planned to focus on a single important finding or a highly related group of findings. Suggestions are made for the…

This digest presents details of some of the efforts to improve the clarity of written communication in business and the professions. The digest discusses the Plain English movement; writing in professional schools (particularly law and engineering); writing and the medical profesisons; and the public and professional writing. (18 references) (RS)

This digest describes some of the problems researchers face in communicating educational research data to general, nonresearcher audiences. Accessibility is one problem. Most research on effective educational practices does not filter down to the people who contribute or control funding. Another problem is that of readability. In the rare event…

In the present decade, many management and organizational communication scholars have explored a guiding metaphor--organizational culture. Japanese industry has developed a corporate model that may have provided the concepts involved in organizational culture: ideology, beliefs, rituals, myths, and symbols. Organizational culture is inextricably…

In colleges and universities business students learn about organizational communication in order to function well in the business environment of which they will become a part. Although the organizational environment or culture is inextricably interwoven with the academic discipline of speech communication, the field of organizational communication…

This Digest provides a rationale for developing grading guides to use with business writing students. It describes the methods business communications teachers can use to construct and employ guides to provide students with quality writing instruction. The Digest maintains that teachers can construct either skills analysis grading guides and/or…

Often colleges and universities that are just beginning to include technical communication in their curricula do so using faculty trained in traditional English doctorate programs. This digest examines several areas of concern for such institutions and discusses: (1) characteristics of technical communication; (2) issues in teaching technical…

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is the formal document used by an agency to solicit services from the outside sources that education agencies often use for the design, administration, or scoring of assessment measures. The guidelines presented are intended to help in writing an RFP. A few fundamental aspects of assessment significantly influence the…