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Magilsen, Ingrid; Maes, Alfons A. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1996
Discusses the adequacy of two modes of presenting information on a computer screen, the "alternating" (screen by screen) presentation and the "simultaneous" screen presentation (different information on one screen at the same time). Tests subjects performing writing tasks using one online document or two documents, using either…
Descriptors: Communication Research, Comparative Analysis, Computers, Higher Education
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Rubens, Philip – Technical Communication, 1991
Compares the time required to perform four tasks on the basis of information gleaned from a traditional manual and from a hypertext version of the same manual. Finds that searches in the paper document were significantly faster than those in hypertext. Suggests that direct importation of existing word-processing files into hypertext format is not…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Higher Education, Hypermedia, Reading Comprehension
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de Jong, Menno D. T.; Lentz, Leo R. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1996
Asks if technical writers can predict results of a reader-focused text evaluation. Asks 15 technical writers to point out reader problems in a public information brochure, which was also evaluated by 30 readers from the target audience. Finds little overlap and little agreement among writers as to their problem detections. (PA)
Descriptors: Audience Awareness, Audience Response, Comparative Analysis, Evaluation Methods
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Vande Kopple, William J. – Written Communication, 1998
Examines the number of relative clauses and percentages of subordinate clauses in two sets of research reports from "Physical Review." Finds a slight decrease in percentages of relative clauses from the first set (1893-1901) to the second (1980). Finds striking differences in patterns of what relative clauses modify. Suggests a stylistic…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Grammar, Language Usage, Physics
Napierkowski, Harriet – 2003
A study examined the assessment of instructional documents written by undergraduate engineering students in a 300-level technical writing course. The six documents were independently ranked by nine readers--three writing faculty, three engineering faculty, and three technical writing professionals. Besides ranking the documents, the nine readers…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Discourse Communities, Engineering Education, Instructional Materials
Vande Kopple, William J. – 2000
A researcher examined the numbers of relative clauses and the percentages of subordinate clauses that relative clauses comprise in two sets of research reports (one set from the period 1893-1901 and the other from 1980) about spectroscopy from the "Physical Review." He analyzed some striking differences between the sets in patterns of…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Content Area Writing, Higher Education, Language Styles
Rosner, Mary – 1982
A content analysis was conducted of 17 technical writing textbooks published between 1911 and 1938 and of 3 texts published recently to determine if the early texts differ from the more recent ones in the way they define the purposes of technical writing and in their treatment of style and audience. Results showed that both sets of texts define…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Content Analysis, Educational Objectives, Higher Education
Odell, Lee; Goswami, Dixie – 1981
A study examining the writing of adults who do not consider themselves professional writers but who must master a variety of types of writing in order to meet the day-to-day obligations of their jobs is described in this report. The introduction of the report offers an overview of the work and findings of the study, which was conducted at various…
Descriptors: Adults, Business Correspondence, Comparative Analysis, Job Skills
Foster, Gretchen – 1984
In order to help science students communicate more effectively with people outside their field, a two-semester technical writing course was developed with an emphasis on thinking rather than on blind adherence to the rules and forms of technical writing. The initial test group was composed of freshman science majors with exceptional writing…
Descriptors: Assignments, Comparative Analysis, Content Area Writing, Course Objectives
Metzgar, Judith – 1992
A study identified and compared writing needs of graduates of Criminal Justice and Drafting and Design programs at Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Community College (WCCC). Subjects, 115 graduates of the programs from 1972 through 1990, completed surveys. A total of 310 questionnaires were sent, for a return rate of 37%. Results indicated that:…
Descriptors: College Graduates, Community Colleges, Comparative Analysis, Criminal Law
Zappen, James P. – Technical Writing Teacher, 1987
Notes that early studies in the rhetoric of science and technology emphasized how it differs from classical rhetoric, while more recent studies emphasize the similarities and thus the political/ethical and probabilistic character of contemporary science and technology and of the contemporary discipline of technical communication. (SKC)
Descriptors: Communication Research, Comparative Analysis, Ethics, Intellectual History
Ulijn, Jan M.; Strother, Judith B. – ESP Journal, 1987
Forty-eight American (L1) and 48 Dutch students (L2), half of whom had computer science backgrounds and half of whom did not, were tested for their use of either scientific text (ST) syntactic structures or the less difficult common syntax when writing technical discourse (in Appendix). Results indicate that both L1 and L2 technical writers wrote…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Computer Science Education, Dutch, English (Second Language)
Chadwick, Stephen; Bruce, Nigel – Hong Kong Papers in Lingustics and Language Teaching, 1989
A study at Hong Kong University explored the use of the word processor as a writing tool in enhancing a process approach to writing instruction and the effect it has on writing performance, student attitudes to writing and revising, and the process by which students revise their scripts. A comparative analysis was done on a control group of 13…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Computer Assisted Instruction, Foreign Countries, Higher Education