Technical Communication Essay Example for Free

Technical Communication Essay Chapter 1. Introduction to Technical Communication. Communication is the exchange of thoughts, message or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. Derived from the Latin word â€Å"communis†, meaning to share. Communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender’s intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast distance in time and space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender. Technical Communication would mean a communication specific to the sender and the recipient and both would be from the same field of knowledge. This communication may not be understood by any others in the sense that the messages passed across are in a language that can be understood by persons from once field of knowledge. Here the importance subset of such a communication. Technical Communication is the flow or exchange of information within people or group of people sharing a common platform of similar knowledge or people from the same field with or without the technical knowledge. Means of Communication 1. Verbal Communication: Spoken and pictorial languages can be described as a system of symbols (sometimes as known lexemes) and the grammars (rules) by which the symbols are manipulated. The word â€Å"language† also refers to common properties of languages. Language learning normally occurs most intensively during human childhood. Most of the thousands of human languages use patterns of sound or gestures for symbols which enable communication with others around them. Languages seem to share certain properties although many of these include exceptions. There is no defined line between a language and a dialect. Constructed languages such as Esperanto, programming languages and various mathematical formalisms are not necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human languages. Communication should also include the display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print, accessible multimedia, as well as written and plain language, human –reader, augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology. Manipulative Communications are intentional and unintentional ways of manipulating words, gestures, etc. to â€Å"get what we want â€Å", by demeaning, discounting, attacking or ignoring instead of respectful interaction. Sarcasm, criticism, rudeness and swearing are examples. 2. Non Verbal Communication: A variety of verbal and non-verbal means of communicating exists such as body language, eye contact, sign language. Nonverbal communication describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non – word messages. Research shows that the majority of our communication includes chronemics (use of time) , haptics (using the sense of touch),gesture, body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact, object communication such as clothing , hairstyles, architecture, symbols infographics, and tone of voice as well as through an aggregate of the above. Speech also contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage. These include voice lesson quality, emotion and speaking style as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress. Likewise, written texts include nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words and the use of emoticons to convey emotional expression in pictorial form. 3Oral communication: Oral communication, while primarily referring to spoken verbal communication, can also employ visual aids and non verbal elements to support the discussion, and aspects of interpersonal communication. As a type of face-to face communication, body language and choice tonality play a significant role, and may have communication also garners immediate feedback. Historic Stages in Written Communication: 1. Pictograms in the form of stone graphics hence immobile. 2. Written form on papyrus, paper, clay tablets. Introduction of common alphabets and also the invention of printing in the 15th century made the written form a very strong means. 3. Transfer of information through controlled waves and electronic signals. Effective Communication All communication, intentional or unintentional, has some effect. This effect may not be always in communicator’s favor or as desired by him or her. Communication that produces the desired effect or result is effective communication. It results in what the communicator wants. Effective communication generates the desired effect, maintain effect increase effect. Effective communication serves its purpose for which it was planned or designed. The purpose could be to generate action, inform, create understanding or communicate a certain idea/point etc. Effective communication also ensures that message distortion does not take place during the communication process.

Psychological Assessment 1 Midterm Multiple Choice :: essays research papers

Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. __D__ 1. Psychological tests a. pertain only to overt behavior. b. always have right or wrong answers. c. do not attempt to measure traits. d. measure characteristics of human behavior. __C__ 2. One's general potential, independent of prior learning, can best be described as a. achievement. b. aptitude. c. intelligence. d. ability. __D__ 3. Achievement, aptitude and intelligence can be encompassed by the term a. human potential. b. human traits. c. human personality. d. human ability. __B__ 4. The work of Weber and Fechner represent which foundation of psychological testing? a. individual differences b. psychophysical measurement c. survival of the fittest d. Darwinian evolution __B__ 5. A child's mental age a. cannot be determined independently of the child's chronological age. b. provides a measurement of a child's performance relative to other children of a particular age group. c. cannot be determined from a child's test score. d. can only be determined from large representative samples. __A__ 6. A major problem with the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet was that a. it assumed the answers were acceptable at face value. b. the normative sample was too small. c. it was difficult to administer. d. there were too few questions. __D__ 7. Factor analytic techniques were employed in the development of the a. MMPI. b. CPI. c. TAT. d. 16PF. __C__ 8. Which of the following scales would be used when the information is qualitative rather than quantitative? a. ordinal b. interval c. nominal d. ratio __C__ 9. In the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Section 106, a. within group norming was made legal. b. employers were prohibited from using test scores in hiring decisions. c. within group norming was made illegal. d. employers were prohibited from transforming test scores. __D__ 10. Each point on a scatter diagram represents a. the variance of a set of scores. b. the standard deviation of a set of scores. c. where an individual scored compared to the mean. d. where an individual scored on both x and y. __D__ 11. In a negative correlation, a. individuals tend to maintain the same or a similar relative performance. b. scores on one variable tell us nothing about scores on a second. c. individuals who score low on one variable tend to score low on a second. d. high scores on the x variable are associated with low scores on the y variable. __A?__ 12. Which of the following correlations represents the strongest relationship between two variables? a. .01 b. .85 c. .80 d. .50 __C__ 13. If the scores on X give us no information about the scores on Y, this indicates a. a positive correlation. b. a negative correlation. c. no correlation. d. a perfect correlation.

Kennewick Man

The highly controversial treatment and care of the human skeletal remains that have come to be referred to as the â€Å"Kennewick Man† or the â€Å"Ancient One†, disinterred; July, 28, 1996, poses a multiplex of conflict. The remains were removed from a location below the surface of Lake Wallula, a section of the Columbia River pooled behind McNary Dam in Kennewick, Washington State, during a water sports event, July 29th. Being informed of the discovery of the remains, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers preceded to x-ray and CAT-scan the remains. On July 30th a local newspaper in Eastern Washington publishes a story of the discovery. The first public news leads representatives of local Native American communities to contact officials about the discovery. One bone fragment was sent to the University of California, Riverside, to be dated by a destructive test on August 5th. Early analysis reports upon the now irreparably damaged bone fragment dated the skeletal remains to b e approximately 8,400 years old. The U. S.Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for the land where the remains were recovered took official possession On September 2nd. A group of five Native American tribes claim the human remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers agrees to the tribal claim(s) and publishes an official â€Å"Notice of Intent to Repatriate† statement as required by Federal NAGPRA law. This degree of cooperation is unprecedented and very much embraced amongst the Native peoples perusing the reburial and respectful treatment of the remains.On October the 16th eight anthropologists file suit for the possession of the remains in the U. S. Magistrate Court of Portland, Oregon, to prevent the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers from repatriating the remains to the tribes. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers defers possession of â€Å"Kennewick Man† to the U. S. department of the int erior. On September 3rd a federal judge orders â€Å"Kennewick Man† moved to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. The remains thereby transferred to the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, at theUniversity of Washington in Seattle, where they would be cared for until a final decision of possession or repatriation would be reached. A team of federally selected anthropologists present their preliminary findings based on non-destructive examinations of the remains, carried out at the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, February 27th, 1999. A federal report links Kennewick Man to Asian peoples and not to any of the tribes claiming an ancestral link to the human being whose remains lay in question.Radiocarbon dating identifies the â€Å"Kennewick Man† remains as being approximately 9,300 years old. The Department of the Interior rules that the bones should be repatriated to the tribes who claimed them as belonging to an ancestor. The remai ns are perhaps the oldest exhumed Native of North America, providing scientifically valued information that may aid in the evolutionary sciences. The repertoire of evolutionary sciences concludes that the remains are particularly important for the research of North American migration from northern Europe and Asia, commonly known as the Barring land bridge theory. U. S.Magistrate, John Jelderks in the state of Portland rules on August 30th, 2002 that the skeletal remains should be turned over to a team of scientists for study, blocking the return to a coalition of Native American tribes advocating the reburial of the remains. Four Northwest Native bands that claim â€Å"Kennewick man† as their ancestor file notice that they will appeal in suit; the ruling rejecting their request to bury the remains. The federal Judge presiding over the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the ruling passed by Judge John Jelderks. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denies the request for a rehearing.While awaiting instructions from the legal possessor, the Army Corps of Engineers, the museum will provide a â€Å"secure† and â€Å"respectful† repository for the human remains for as long as required. The Burke Museum presently maintains possession of the remains, as there is the hypothetical necessity for further study which must entail rigorous testing and analysis to preside over a decade. The legal possessor of the remains has thereby vacated the matter leaving the Museum to sustain unlawful possession of the remains as well as the legal and social coup that coincides.The University of Washington, Seattle is a renowned institution with an extensive research facility placed at the disposal in conjunction with the Burke memorial museum. The imperative scientific â€Å"necessity† for further research of the remains has placed the museum as an institution in the wake of a highly controversial set of issues. The university has the initiative to perpet uate the sciences conducive to the study of anthropology, providing educational biases.The requests made on the behalf of the Native communities has a true claim to the respectful treatment of said human remains that is directly conflicting with the claims the scientific community has proclaimed. The definitions of respectful treatment are disputant amongst the two groups and continue to place the Burke Museum in the middle ground of a severe conflict. The university and the museum have taken the situation as an opportunity to educate the public to a degree, launching a section on the museum’s web cite that chronicles the displacement of â€Å"Kennewick Man†.Ideological separations between Native American belief structures and scientific initiatives are intrinsic within both sides of the debate. The respectful treatment of human remains is defined through the sciences at this time with little account for the native community and their wishes. The Museum is primarily th e caretaker of the remains adherent to the courts’ ruling, placing the institution in a precarious scenario pitting Native American human rights up against the sciences of anthropology. Some commentators and reporters have described the legal controversy swirling around the Kennewick remains in rather super-heated rhetoric pitting the interests of â€Å"science† against those of traditional Native Americans. This characterization ignores the detailed, intensive, and wide-ranging scientific investigation of the Kennewick remains undertaken to determine the facts relevant to the questions in the case and report them. † -National Parks Service: U. S. Dept. of the Interior 10/13/2008

The HPV Vaccine Tyranny, or a Valid Approach in Need of a...

Taking away a person’s right to choose can leave them feeling violated and disempowered. Taking away a parent’s right to choose what is best for their child can be even more disempowering and frustrating. A number of people are experiencing such frustration as a result of Governor Rick Perry’s mandate that all young Texas girls must be vaccinated for the HPV virus. In both, â€Å"HPV Vaccine Texas Tyranny† by Mike Adams, and â€Å"The HPV Debate Needs an Injection of Reality† by Arthur Allen, the authors disapprove of the vaccination mandate; while both articles differentiate in tone, justification of the mandate, and reliability of sources. Throughout the articles, Allen’s tone and approach express doubts about the effectiveness of the†¦show more content†¦Adams says that the vaccine â€Å"is absolutely worthless† (445), but doesn’t give supporting evidence for that statement. Allen is even-handed in his approach, citi ng studies that show the drug seems to be effective, although he expresses doubt about the rush to put it into use. Adams says that it is an â€Å"illusion† (447) that the drug is safe, though he doesn’t give examples of it having harmed anyone. Allen only states that there is â€Å"no guarantee it won’t provoke a rare side effect† (450). Adams said this mandate was the result of drug companies bribing and influencing the DEA, politicians, and the medical school (447). Allen simply states that the government and parents need to be won over by the drug companies before the mandate is put into effect (450). Each article makes statements about the inadvisability of the mandate. Allen supports his statements more convincingly through references to established medical authorities, studies performed by reputable organizations, and citing the statements of medical experts. In contrast, Adams provides little support for his statements. Although Adams cites the n eed for more â€Å"evidence based medicine† (446), he has no references to support his claims other than the opinion of â€Å"top docs† (445) in the â€Å"alternative health field† (445). Allen supports his claims with references to such organizations as The American Academy for Pediatrics and the Center for