Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2002

Cultural Influences on Technical Manuals

Thomas L. Warren Oklahoma State University

Abstract

Budget and time constraints often force technical communicators to produce manuals that are less than affective. One reason is the time they take to analyze their document's users. Normally, user analysis involves demographic, or organizational, or psychological approaches or combinations. Rarely will they evaluate the culture of the user and determine what that means for developing the document. Typically, localization will edit the document for cultural elements, but that is an expensive and time-consuming process. This article discusses the cultural elements in developing a document and shows, through a comparison of two mythical cultures, how the document will differ when organized for those two cultures.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2002-04-01
DOI
10.2190/t79f-v84a-nara-nfly
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (8)

  1. Rahman (2022)
    Wikis as "Third Space": Diversifying "Access" for Technical Communication
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  2. Edenfield et al. (2019)
    Always Already Geopolitical: Trans Health Care and Global Tactical Technical Co…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Agboka (2013)
    Participatory Localization: A Social Justice Approach to Navigating Unenfranchi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Hendriks et al. (2012)
    Style Congruency and Persuasion: A Cross-cultural Study Into the Influence of D…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. Yu (2011)
    Integrating Intercultural Communication into an Engineering Communication Servi…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 8 →
  1. Warren (2004)
    Increasing User Acceptance of Technical Information in Cross-Cultural Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Warren (2004)
    Increasing User Acceptance of Technical Information in Cross-Cultural Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Warren (2004)
    Increasing User Acceptance of Technical Information in Cross-Cultural Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
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CrossRef global citation count: 9 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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