A Basic Unit on Ethics for Technical Communicators

Technical Writing for the Health and Fitness Professional

“…An effective piece of technical writing contains six major characteristics (4). These six elements of technical writing are mapped out using the diagram in the Figure.…”

“…Every piece of writing begins with a prompt, whether stated or implied. Recall that in technical writing, the writer’s primary purpose is to solve problems (4). Perhaps a patient requires education on how to perform certain physical therapy exercises.…”

“…For example, it is critical for health and fitness professionals to exhibit “honesty” by communicating scientifically grounded health and fitness information to their audiences, and providing “accurate” information is paramount to establishing and maintaining a credible reputation as a professional. Table 2 lists measures of excellence for technical writing (4).…”

Introduction to Special Issue on 21st-Century Ethics in Technical Communication: Ethics and the Social Justice Movement in Technical and Professional Communication

“…Yet other ethical frameworks of honesty and care help us to realize the limits of these kinds of means–end calculi. As Kant put it in his prohibition on lying, no society built on distrust could accomplish anything because we would never know if anything anyone said were true (Markel, 2001). In a non-Western context, a Confucian virtue ethics perspective helps us to see that by endorsing a lie (even for socially just goals), we could be cultivating habits of dishonesty in our families and communities.…”

Legally Minded Technical Communicators: A Case Study of a Legal Writing Course

“…Discussions about the law and its implications for the practice of technical communication have been widespread in technical and professional communication (TPC) scholarship for more than two decades (Andrus, 2011; Bailey, 2007; English, 1995; Hannah, 2011; Helyar, 1992; Helyar & Doudnikoff, 2003; Herrington, 2003, 2011; Lipus, 2006; Markel, 2001, 2011; Porter, 1987,1997; Ross, 1981; Smith, 1990; Smith & Shirk, 1996). This scholarship has often emphasized the need for technical communicators to be mindful of how their work might trigger litigation in organizational contexts (see Bailey, 2007; Smith & Shirk, 1996; Walter & Marsteller, 1987) or liability issues for those who compose documents (Helyar, 1992).…”