IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Jan 2000

An evaluation of the social perspective in the development of technical requirements

T.R. Adler

Abstract

Uses a qualitative methodology to examine how discourse norms and socialization processes affect the development of technical requirements. Our exploratory investigation of how government personnel develop and review technical requirements indicates that discourse norms and academic technical writing socialization processes affect the technical writing process. Technical writers perceived that requirements in work statements became less precise as more requirements were coordinated in team-based designs. In essence, we found that, in team-based designs, interpretation conflict and technical diffusion were important dimensions when writing and coordinating technical requirements. Our findings suggest that collaborative technical writing is a complex and difficult process in team-based designs where integration and persuasion skills dominate.

Journal
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published
2000-01-01
DOI
10.1109/47.888813
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
discourse analysis argument collaborative writing assessment technical communication affect and writing
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