Journal Analysis: Human Factors

I have been reading articles in an Industrial Engineering related journal called Human Factors. 

The articles are written basically like a scientific lab report.  There is a very specific structure to the articles including the abstract, background, method, results, conclusion, and application. Because of this specific structure I believe the journal fits well in Linton's convention of structure.  The articles are broken into sections which Linton would refer to as "sign-posting".  The articles I have read so far have mostly been building on existing work or investigating previous topics.  There is also a scientific approach to the choice of words in the articles displaying the convention of language.

According to Swales's genre model, there are three "moves" within a particular piece of academic writing.  The first move is establishing a territory, which I feel like the journal does my reviewing items of previous research.  They establish a niche by raising questions about topics of previous research and taking a different approach to the topic.  Finally, they occupy that niche by announcing principle findings and indicating research article structure. 

So far I have found this journal quite interesting and the writing structure suites my learning style by breaking the text up into pieces.

Burger Queens

Grill marks around the edges...liars.

Pictorial Assembly Instructions for Kids

I realize that we are finished with our instructions assignment but still thought this article was interesting and relevant to this course.

This article examined the usability of instructions for assembling toys for young children.  The study was performed with 24 participants ages 6 and 9 of mixed gender and analyzed speed and accuracy of assembly as well as time spent looking at the instructions.  The children had difficulty with all but the simplest form of instructions and the older age group had more success with assembly, which makes sense.  Girls in the 6 year old group had the most difficulty with assembly and girls in the 9 year old group reported having the least amount of fun.  It was determined that product age recommendations often do not accurately reflect usability and many picture instructions are poorly formatted or displayed. 

This article really shows the importance of writing (or drawing) for your audience and the effect the instructions can have on the satisfaction of the intended users.

Texting While Driving

This week I read an article on the effects of texting while driving, and since Clemson has recently outlawed texting while driving I figured this would be pretty applicable to us as students.

The objective of the study was to determine the impact of text messaging on simulated driving performance.  40 participants engaged in both driving-only and driving-while-texting scenarios in a driving simulator.  Results showed that texting drivers responded more slowly to brake lights and showed impairments in forward and side-ways control of the vehicle. Text messaging drivers were also involved in more crashes than drivers that were not texting.  The article concludes that texting while driving has a negative effect on driving; even more so than talking on a cell phone while driving.

I think we can all agree that text messaging while driving is more dangerous than paying full attention to the road.  Even though it has been outlawed in the area, how many people still sneak a quick text in their car every once in a while? 

Motorcycle Conspicuity

This week I read an article in an Industrial Engineering related journal called Human Factors.

The article investigated the use of daytime running lights on motorcycles and its effect on visibility, or in other words, how "conspicuous" the motorcycle is.  I ride a motorcycle so I found this article very interesting.

The article argues that motorcycles are inconspicuous; therefore the ability of other drivers to detect them and respond effectively is reduced.  A study was conducted with 75 volunteers that watched video clips of different roadways and scenarios.  The participants were asked to indicate when they saw a potentially hazardous situation such as pedestrians, motorcycles, or traffic cones.  Their reaction times were collected and analyzed.  The results show that there is significant correlation between motorcycles with daytime running lights and the driver of the other vehicle's ability to respond to them effectively.  The study also shows that driver's ability to react properly decreases with age (that one's probably obvious).

The lights on my motorcycle are on if it's running, so hopefully I am more visible.  Has anyone ever had any close calls with a motorcycle or moped while driving due to them being hard to see?

Self-Organized Mobs

I think we had a pretty interesting talk about the "smart mob" topic on Tuesday, in particular the idea of the self-organized group.  At first I was having trouble grasping the idea that a group could organize with no central "leader" or prominent figure.  If you get very specific, there has to be some catalyst to initiate the formation of a group.  Although there may be a single person behind the initial reason for coming together, the self-organized group differs from a traditional group in that there is not a single person or body committed to leading the group.  The group is formed more by an idea than a person and maintains itself without direction from a central leader.

Groups

It's nice to be done with the instructions project.  I think it was a good first "project" and allowed us to get an introduction to real technical writing, and also got us away from talking about rhetoric.  I think the class interaction and feedback was beneficial and it definitely allowed me to write to a more appropriate audience.

For our newest assignment, it will be interesting to see how the groups come together.  I have never really had a terrible group experience in the past like some of the other people who spoke up in class.  I think the majority of people come into the group with the attitude that they don't want to be the one that gets on everyone's nerves.  If everyone is willing to put forth effort the group will work out fine.  Even if the group has that over achiever that doesn't really do all the work correctly, the group is still capable of making a good grade because most professors, at least in the English classes I've taken, grade based on effort.  I am actually looking forward to this group project.   

Throw me a quick RESPONSE!

Ok everyone, I'm going to use this post as a feeler.  I need to "research my audience" and this blog will work just fine.

I am writing instruction on how to change a flat tire so I need some feedback.

How many of you have successfully changed a car tire, by yourself, and could do it again?  If you have never changed a tire just let me know what level of knowledge you have on the subject. Thanks!

Timing and Rhetorical Situation

If I had to define rhetorical situation in one word --- TIMING

In the reading about rhetorical situation one thing really stood out to me.

             'Clement Attlee once said that Winston Churchill went around
              looking for "finest hours."  The point to observe is that he found
              them - the crisis situations - and spoke in response to them.'

These "finest hours" are where rhetoric and timing come together to create a rhetorical situation.  In order for a speech to really mean something, it must be delivered with impeccable timing and to an appropriate audience.  I would argue that timing and audience go hand in hand.  As with any great speech in history these two attributes must be present for the address to be relevant and moving.

I want to know what everyone thinks.  When talking about rhetorical situation, can good timing and an appropriate audience be separated, and if so, which is more important?

1st Blog

 Let's keep this short and sweet.

Not that I could have defined "rhetoric" before starting this course, but now I am even more confused.  After reading Herrick's "An Overview of Rhetoric" I realized that there is no easy way to define the word.  It seems like everyone has their own opinion on the word's meaning.  I like to think of rhetoric as a powerful debate tool and, although this may have a negative connotation, it allows a person to win the audience over. We saw a perfect example of this in the short clips we watched in class.

It would be interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on whether rhetoric as a debate tool has a positive or negative connotation.