ethical consideration

Be sure to read Chapter 4

Ethics

Strategies for Technical communication in workplace , 4th edition (book name)

Laura j gurak
in the Workplace, 4th Edition

Post One

“In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy.  And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” – Warren Buffett

For this discussion board, consider ethical and legal considerations in your field and reflect on the importance of workplace integrity. In your first post:

· Identify potential ethical and legal concerns you could expect to encounter in your career

· Reflect on the quote above, and explain why integrity might be considered one of the most essential qualities employers want

Ethics

Lesson 4 Notes
Why Discuss Ethics?

Discussing ethics is important because we make many decisions, big and small, in the workplace daily. Ethics are rarely clear-cut, and decisions are not always simple. Explaining our reasoning and decisions is important. If we clearly understand our actions, we can clearly communicate our motives to others. If we don’t clearly understand our actions, we may not be able to clearly communicate to others or persuade them to support our decisions or consider our reasoning (Dombrowski).

Understanding ethics helps us to justify our reasoning, consider right action, consider implications, consider different options, and to demonstrate awareness of real-world constraints.

What Should I Consider?

When you make a decision, you should consider your professional code of ethics, your company code of ethics, and your personal ethics (Anderson).

Professional codes of ethics can be found on the website of professional organizations like the National Nurse’s Association, the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, and the National Society of Professional Engineers. Each of these codes offers guidelines for practice in a professional field.

Company codes of ethics can sometimes be found on the company’s website. Other times, these codes are within company intranets or are provided via print or electronic document. These codes offer guidelines for practice within the organization.

Your personal ethics also factor in. Each individual comes to a company or a field with their own ethical code. Being able to articulate what it is can help you determine if your ethics are in alignment with that of a profession or an organization.

In addition to these codes, you should consider all stakeholders who are directly and indirectly impacted by your actions.

How Can I Ensure I’m Ethical in My Communications?

As you craft communications, make sure that you include only accurate, credible, and complete information. In addition, do not claim ownership of someone else’s work. It is also important to recognize your own (conscious and subconscious) perspectives as well as those of others, to consider how those perspectives are informed, and to refrain from stereotyping. Ensure accessibility, and always remember the human.

Ensure Integrity

To ensure integrity, you should first make sure that all information you include is true and complete. Also make sure you claim ownership only for what is yours, remaining aware of:

· Patents – Items whose credit for creation is protected

· Trademarks -Company names (WalMart), logos (the Target bulls-eye), or slogans (I’m lovin’ it)

· Copyright law -Items whose distribution is protected by law (books, movies, or software) (Anderson)

Ensure Accessibility

Build accessibility into everything you create. Use elements that assist all audiences in accessing, finding, and using information like visual and typographic cues and including alt-text, captions, and preset Styles.

In addition to ensuring accessible design, use accessible language. Use words with only one meaning; for example, although “awesome” generally has a positive connotation, “amazing” may have a positive or negative connotation. Use standard nomenclature, or naming; for example, using “essay” in some areas of a lesson and “paper” in others may confuse a student who is unsure the words refer to the same document. Another important language consideration is to use metaphors. People relate new ideas to things that they already know. The use of idioms should be minimized unless all potential users understand the idioms. For example, if we use the American idiom, “It was raining cats and dogs,” we need to be sure that all potential users understand that idiom means that it was raining heavily.

Ensure Cultural Competence

Creating ethical communications in ethical ways requires you to
first be aware of your own perspective, what informs it, and how that impacts how you interact with others. Understanding Gert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions can help you to understand both your own perspective as well as what your audiences may think, feel, and believe. Those dimensions are:

· Power Distance (how power is shared/relationships between individuals in a power structure)

· Individualism (whether focus is on the individual or the collective/community)

· Masculinity (what values are considered masculine or feminine and how much either matters)

· Uncertainty Avoidance (comfort level with ambiguity)

· Long-term Orientation (balance of traditions and progress) Indulgence (what delay in reward may be acceptable/comfortable)

While these dimensions can be helpful, it is always of paramount importance
to refrain from stereotyping.

Remember the Human

Your audience are humans who think, feel, and believe. All of your writing and design impacts other humans and should be HUMANIZED.

Visuals

Visual displays can be humanized by using pictographs or by using photographs or drawings of humans in conjunction with bar or line graphs (Dragga and Voss).

For example, Figure 1 below humanizes the healthcare worker by representing the largest portion of the pie chart as a photo of a healthcare worker in a healthcare setting. This helps to ensure the focus is on the people rather than the data alone.

Figure 1:Exposure settings for health care personnel with COVID-19; MWMR, 2020 April 14;69(early release): 1-5

It is also important to place warnings appropriately. Review Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Warning Statement Placement

The document shown on the left includes a warning statement in small print at the bottom of the document. The document on the right, however, includes its warning statement in large red print surrounded by a red box and placed prominently in the document. Because warning statements let users know something will happen if certain actions are or are not taken, users’ awareness of these statements is important. Emphasizing them on a document helps draw the users’ attention to them.

Writing

DEHUMANIZING language or language that FACILITATES DEHUMANIZATION should not be used. This excerpt from a Geheime Reichssache (Secret Reich Business) memo written by a Nazi beauracrat for his boss describes lighting recommendations for vehicles used to transport people to concentration camps like Auschwitz:

“The lighting must be better protected than now. The lamps must be enclosed in a steel grid to prevent their being damaged. Lights could be eliminated, since they apparently are never used. However, it has been observed that when the doors are shut, the
load always presses hard against them as soon as darkness sets in.”

The “load” referred to is the humans who were being transported to the concentration camps. The memo uses objective language that makes dehumanizing decisions possible (Katz).

What Do I Do if I Think Something May Be Unethical?

If you think something might be unethical, ask questions that help to reveal unethical practices. Gather facts and rationale, and remain open to others’ ideas. Let’s review a couple of examples.

Case Example 1: Computer Crush

A programmer is asked to write a program that will raise and lower a large X-ray device. He writes and tests his program. It successfully and accurately moves the device from the top of the support pole to the top of the table. The program is installed. Later, an X-ray technician tells a patient to get off the table after an X-ray is taken. The technician then sets the height of the device to “table-top height.” The patient, however, does not hear the technician and is crushed under the weight of the machine (Harris, Pritchard, and Rabins).

Your specific perspective on the case may inform your decision. Think about what you would do if you were the patient’s loved one, the technician, the technician’s employer, the programmer, and the person who designed the documentation. If you were the programmer or the person designing the documentation, what might you do to ensure all stakeholders are considered (and considered as humans)?

Case Example 2: World Health Organization Graphic

You are in charge of posting the graphic from the World Health Organization (Figure 3) to its Twitter.

Figure 3: WHO Graphic;

WHO. (2020, March 18). [Tweet]. Retrieved from

This Twitter feed

You know that the information is important to share quickly, but you are not sure that the graphic will reach its target audience because of the language level used. How do you work within these real-world constraints?

Ethics Decision Checklist

When you are faced with ethical dilemmas like these, consider the following:

·
What is the ethical dilemma?

·
What specifically is making you uncomfortable?

·
What are your competing obligations in this dilemma?

·
What advice does a trusted supervisor or mentor offer?

·
Does your company’s code of conduct address this issue?

·
Does your professional association’s code of conduct address this issue?

·
What are you unwilling to do? What are you willing to do?

·
How will you explain or justify your decision?

What is Most Important to Remember?

The biggest takeaways are to:

· Rely on ethical guidelines from your profession and organization as well as your own ethics

· Consider all stakeholders

· Ensure integrity, accessibility, and cultural competence

· Consider your own and other’s perspectives and biases

· Use resources thoughtfully

· Design intentionally

· HUMANIZE

· Use the ethics decision checklist

· Ask questions, use facts/reason, and remain open

References

Anderson, P. (2017). Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach. Boston, MA: Cengage.

Dombrowski, P. (2000). Ethics in Technical Communication. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Dragga, Sam & Voss, Dan. (2001). Cruel Pies: The Inhumanity of Technical Illustrations. Technical Communication. 48. 265-274.

Ethics and Technical Communication From WikiBooks. Located at:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professional_and_Technical_Writing/Ethics#Legal_Issues_and_Communication

. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

Harris, C. E. Jr., Pritchard, M. S., & Rabins, M. J. (2004). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases. Wadsworth.

Hofstede, G. (2020). Cultural Dimensions Tools. Retrieved from

this website

Katz, S. B. (1992). The ethic of expediency: Classical rhetoric, technology, and the Holocaust. College English , 54(3), 255-275

WHO. (2020, March 18). [Tweet]. Retrieved from

this Twitter feed

image2.PNG

image3

image1

Ethics
Lesson 4 Notes

  • Why Discuss Ethics?
  • Discussing ethics is important because we make many decisions, big and small, in the workplace daily.
    Ethics are rarely clear-cut, and decisions are not always simple. Explaining our reasoning and decisions is
    important. If we clearly understand our actions, we can clearly communicate our motives to others. If
    we don’t clearly understand our actions, we may not be able to clearly communicate to others or
    persuade them to support our decisions or consider our reasoning (Dombrowski).

    Understanding ethics helps us to justify our reasoning, consider right action, consider implications,
    consider different options, and to demonstrate awareness of real-world constraints.

  • What Should I Consider?
  • When you make a decision, you should consider your professional code of ethics, your company code of
    ethics, and your personal ethics (Anderson).

    Professional codes of ethics can be found on the website of professional organizations like the National
    Nurse’s Association, the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, and the National Society of
    Professional Engineers. Each of these codes offers guidelines for practice in a professional field.

    Company codes of ethics can sometimes be found on the company’s website. Other times, these codes
    are within company intranets or are provided via print or electronic document. These codes offer
    guidelines for practice within the organization.

    Your personal ethics also factor in. Each individual comes to a company or a field with their own ethical
    code. Being able to articulate what it is can help you determine if your ethics are in alignment with that
    of a profession or an organization.

    In addition to these codes, you should consider all stakeholders who are directly and indirectly impacted
    by your actions.

  • How Can I Ensure I’m Ethical in My Communications?
  • As you craft communications, make sure that you include only accurate, credible, and complete
    information. In addition, do not claim ownership of someone else’s work. It is also important to
    recognize your own (conscious and subconscious) perspectives as well as those of others, to consider
    how those perspectives are informed, and to refrain from stereotyping. Ensure accessibility, and always
    remember the human.

    Ensure Integrity
    To ensure integrity, you should first make sure that all information you include is true and complete.
    Also make sure you claim ownership only for what is yours, remaining aware of:

    • Patents – Items whose credit for creation is protected
    • Trademarks -Company names (WalMart), logos (the Target bulls-eye), or slogans (I’m lovin’ it)
    • Copyright law -Items whose distribution is protected by law (books, movies, or software)

    (Anderson)

    Ensure Accessibility
    Build accessibility into everything you create. Use elements that assist all audiences in accessing, finding,
    and using information like visual and typographic cues and including alt-text, captions, and preset Styles.

    In addition to ensuring accessible design, use accessible language. Use words with only one meaning;
    for example, although “awesome” generally has a positive connotation, “amazing” may have a positive
    or negative connotation. Use standard nomenclature, or naming; for example, using “essay” in some
    areas of a lesson and “paper” in others may confuse a student who is unsure the words refer to the
    same document. Another important language consideration is to use metaphors. People relate new
    ideas to things that they already know. The use of idioms should be minimized unless all potential users
    understand the idioms. For example, if we use the American idiom, “It was raining cats and dogs,” we
    need to be sure that all potential users understand that idiom means that it was raining heavily.

    Ensure Cultural Competence
    Creating ethical communications in ethical ways requires you to first be aware of your own perspective,
    what informs it, and how that impacts how you interact with others. Understanding Gert Hofstede’s
    Cultural Dimensions can help you to understand both your own perspective as well as what your
    audiences may think, feel, and believe. Those dimensions are:

    • Power Distance (how power is shared/relationships between individuals in a power structure)
    • Individualism (whether focus is on the individual or the collective/community)
    • Masculinity (what values are considered masculine or feminine and how much either matters)
    • Uncertainty Avoidance (comfort level with ambiguity)
    • Long-term Orientation (balance of traditions and progress) Indulgence (what delay in reward

    may be acceptable/comfortable)

    While these dimensions can be helpful, it is always of paramount importance to refrain from
    stereotyping.

    Remember the Human
    Your audience are humans who think, feel, and believe. All of your writing and design impacts other
    humans and should be HUMANIZED.

    Visuals
    Visual displays can be humanized by using pictographs or by using photographs or drawings of humans
    in conjunction with bar or line graphs (Dragga and Voss).

    For example, Figure 1 below humanizes the healthcare worker by representing the largest portion of the
    pie chart as a photo of a healthcare worker in a healthcare setting. This helps to ensure the focus is on
    the people rather than the data alone.

    Figure 1:Exposure settings for health care personnel with COVID-19; MWMR, 2020 April 14;69(early release): 1-5

    It is also important to place warnings appropriately. Review Figure 2 below.

    Figure 2: Warning Statement Placement

    The document shown on the left includes a warning statement in small print at the bottom of the
    document. The document on the right, however, includes its warning statement in large red print
    surrounded by a red box and placed prominently in the document. Because warning statements let
    users know something will happen if certain actions are or are not taken, users’ awareness of these
    statements is important. Emphasizing them on a document helps draw the users’ attention to them.

    Writing
    DEHUMANIZING language or language that FACILITATES DEHUMANIZATION should not be used. This
    excerpt from a Geheime Reichssache (Secret Reich Business) memo written by a Nazi beauracrat for his
    boss describes lighting recommendations for vehicles used to transport people to concentration camps
    like Auschwitz:

    “The lighting must be better protected than now. The lamps must be enclosed in a steel grid to
    prevent their being damaged. Lights could be eliminated, since they apparently are never used.
    However, it has been observed that when the doors are shut, the load always presses hard
    against them as soon as darkness sets in.”

    The “load” referred to is the humans who were being transported to the concentration camps. The
    memo uses objective language that makes dehumanizing decisions possible (Katz).

  • What Do I Do if I Think Something May Be Unethical?
  • If you think something might be unethical, ask questions that help to reveal unethical practices. Gather
    facts and rationale, and remain open to others’ ideas. Let’s review a couple of examples.

    Case Example 1: Computer Crush
    A programmer is asked to write a program that will raise and lower a large X-ray device. He writes and
    tests his program. It successfully and accurately moves the device from the top of the support pole to
    the top of the table. The program is installed. Later, an X-ray technician tells a patient to get off the
    table after an X-ray is taken. The technician then sets the height of the device to “table-top height.” The
    patient, however, does not hear the technician and is crushed under the weight of the machine (Harris,
    Pritchard, and Rabins).

    Your specific perspective on the case may inform your decision. Think about what you would do if you
    were the patient’s loved one, the technician, the technician’s employer, the programmer, and the
    person who designed the documentation. If you were the programmer or the person designing the
    documentation, what might you do to ensure all stakeholders are considered (and considered as
    humans)?

    Case Example 2: World Health Organization Graphic
    You are in charge of posting the graphic from the World Health Organization (Figure 3) to its Twitter.

    Figure 3: WHO Graphic; WHO. (2020, March 18). [Tweet]. Retrieved from This Twitter feed

    You know that the information is important to share quickly, but you are not sure that the graphic will
    reach its target audience because of the language level used. How do you work within these real-world
    constraints?

    Ethics Decision Checklist
    When you are faced with ethical dilemmas like these, consider the following:

    • What is the ethical dilemma?
    • What specifically is making you uncomfortable?
    • What are your competing obligations in this dilemma?
    • What advice does a trusted supervisor or mentor offer?
    • Does your company’s code of conduct address this issue?
    • Does your professional association’s code of conduct address this issue?
    • What are you unwilling to do? What are you willing to do?
    • How will you explain or justify your decision?

  • What is Most Important to Remember?
  • The biggest takeaways are to:

    • Rely on ethical guidelines from your profession and organization as well as your own ethics
    • Consider all stakeholders
    • Ensure integrity, accessibility, and cultural competence
    • Consider your own and other’s perspectives and biases
    • Use resources thoughtfully
    • Design intentionally
    • HUMANIZE
    • Use the ethics decision checklist
    • Ask questions, use facts/reason, and remain open

  • References
  • Anderson, P. (2017). Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach. Boston, MA: Cengage.

    Dombrowski, P. (2000). Ethics in Technical Communication. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

    Dragga, Sam & Voss, Dan. (2001). Cruel Pies: The Inhumanity of Technical Illustrations. Technical
    Communication. 48. 265-274.

    Ethics and Technical Communication From WikiBooks. Located at:
    http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professional_and_Technical_Writing/Ethics#Legal_Issues_and_Co
    mmunication. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

    Harris, C. E. Jr., Pritchard, M. S., & Rabins, M. J. (2004). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases.
    Wadsworth.

    Hofstede, G. (2020). Cultural Dimensions Tools. Retrieved from this website

    Katz, S. B. (1992). The ethic of expediency: Classical rhetoric, technology, and the Holocaust. College
    English , 54(3), 255-275

    WHO. (2020, March 18). [Tweet]. Retrieved from this Twitter feed

    http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professional_and_Technical_Writing/Ethics

    http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professional_and_Technical_Writing/Ethics

    http://geert-hofstede.com/cultural-tools.html

      Why Discuss Ethics?

      What Should I Consider?

      How Can I Ensure I’m Ethical in My Communications?

      Ensure Integrity

      Ensure Accessibility

      Ensure Cultural Competence

      Remember the Human

      Visuals

      Writing

      What Do I Do if I Think Something May Be Unethical?

      Case Example 1: Computer Crush

      Case Example 2: World Health Organization Graphic

      Ethics Decision Checklist

      What is Most Important to Remember?

      References

    Ethical Technical & Professional Communication
    ENGL 2311

    Ethics

    WHY DISCUSS ETHICS?
    If we clearly understand our actions, we can clearly communicate our motives to others
    If we don’t clearly understand our actions, we may not be able to clearly communicate to others or persuade them to support our decisions or consider our reasoning

    Dombrowski, P. (2000). Ethics in Technical Communication. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

    Ethics

    Focus Point
    Ethics are rarely clear cut, and decisions are not always simple.

    Ethics

    Understanding Ethics Helps Us To
    Justify reasoning
    Consider right action
    Consider implications
    Consider different options
    Demonstrate awareness of real-world constraints

    Ethics

    To Make Ethical Choices, Consider
    Professional Code of Ethics
    National Nurse’s Association
    Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
    National Society of Professional Engineers
    Company Code of Ethics
    Texas Health Resources
    Tarrant County College
    Lockheed Martin
    Personal Ethics

    Anderson, P. (2017). Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach. Boston, MA: Cengage.

    Ethics

    To Make Ethical Choices, Consider (cont.)
    Who is directly impacted by the choice?
    Who is indirectly impacted by the choice?
    Who may eventually be impacted by the choice?

    Ethics

    HOW CAN I ENSURE I’M ETHICAL IN MY WRITING?
    Include only accurate, credible, and complete information
    Do not claim ownership of someone else’s work
    Recognize your own (conscious and subconscious) perspectives as well as those of others
    Consider how those perspectives are informed
    Refrain from stereotyping
    Ensure accessibility
    Remember the human

    Ethics

    Focus Point 2
    “Clear is Kind”
    -Brene Brown

    Ethics

    Ensure Integrity
    Make sure that all information you include is true and complete
    Claim ownership only for what is yours. Be aware of:
    Patents – Items whose credit for creation is protected
    Trademarks – Company names (WalMart), logos (the Target bulls-eye), or slogans (I’m lovin’ it)
    Copyright law – Items whose distribution is protected by law (books, movies, or software)

    Ethics

    Ensure Accessibility
    Be intentional.
    Use elements that assist all audiences in accessing, finding, and using information
    Visual and typographic cues
    Alt-text, captions, preset styles
    Use words with only one meaning (including connotation)
    “awesome” generally has a positive connotation
    “amazing” may have a positive or negative connotation
    Use standard nomenclature/naming
    “essay” for essays rather than “essay” in some areas and “paper” in others
    Use shared metaphors
    Use idioms only if you are sure all audiences understand them

    Ethics

    Ensure Cultural Competence
    First, be aware of your own perspective, what informs it, and how that impacts how you interact with others.

    Ethics

    Ensure Cultural Competence (cont.)
    Understanding Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions can help you to understand both your own perspective as well as what your audiences may think, feel, and believe.
    Power Distance (how power is shared/relationships between individuals in a power structure)
    Individualism (whether focus is on the individual or the collective/community)
    Masculinity (what values are considered masculine or feminine and how much either matters)
    Uncertainty Avoidance (comfort level with ambiguity)
    Long-term Orientation (balance of traditions and progress)
    Indulgence (what delay in reward may be acceptable/comfortable)
    While these dimensions can be helpful, make sure not to stereotype.

    Click here for Hofstede source

    Ethics

    Remember the Human
    Your audience are humans who think, feel, and believe
    All of your writing and design impacts other humans and should be HUMANIZED.
    Ways to humanize visual displays:
    Use pictographs
    Use photographs or drawings of humans in conjunction with bar or line graphs

    Dragga, Sam & Voss, Dan. (2001). Cruel Pies: The Inhumanity of Technical Illustrations. Technical Communication. 48. 265-274.

    MWMR, 2020 April 14;69(early release): 1-5

    Ethics

    Remember the Human (cont.)
    DEHUMANIZING language or language that FACILITATES DEHUMANIZATION should not be used
    This excerpt from a Geheime Reichssache (Secret Reich Business) memo written by a Nazi beauracrat for his boss describes lighting recommendations for vehicles used to transport people to concentration camps like Auschwitz:
    “The lighting must be better protected than now. The lamps must be enclosed in a steel grid to prevent their being damaged. Lights could be eliminated, since they apparently are never used. However, it has been observed that when the doors are shut, the load always presses hard against them as soon as darkness sets in.”
    The “load” referred to is the humans who were being transported to the concentration camps. The memo uses objective language that makes dehumanizing decisions possible.
    Excerpt from: Katz, S. B. (1992). The ethic of expediency: Classical rhetoric, technology, and the Holocaust. College English , 54(3), 255-275

    Ethics

    Use Accessible Language
    Be intentional.
    Use words with only one meaning (including connotation)
    “awesome” generally has a positive connotation
    “amazing” may have a positive or negative connotation
    Use standard nomenclature/naming
    “essay” for essays rather than “essay” in some areas and “paper” in others
    Use shared metaphors
    Use idioms only if you are sure all audiences understand them

    Ethics

    Place warnings appropriately

    Ethics

    WHAT DO I DO IF I THINK SOMETHING IS UNETHICAL?
    Ask questions
    Be helpful in revealing ethical practices (facts and reason)
    Remain open to others’ ideas

    Ethics

    Case Example – Computer Crush
    Harris, C. E. Jr., Pritchard, M. S., & Rabins, M. J. (2004). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases. Wadsworth.
    A programmer is asked to write a program that will raise and lower a large X-ray device. He writes and tests his program. It successfully and accurately moves the device from the top of the support pole to the top of the table. The program is installed. Later, an X-ray technician tells a patient to get off the table after an X-ray is taken. The technician then sets the height of the device to “table-top height.” The patient, however, does not hear the technician and is crushed under the weight of the machine.
    What would you do if you were the technician? The technician’s employer? The programmer? The person who designed the documentation?
    If you were in any of those roles attempting to prevent this from happening, what could you do to ensure that the human on the table was considered? How would you do that?

    Ethics

    Case Example – WHO Graphic

    Say you are in charge of posting this graphic from the World Health Organization to its Twitter. You know that the information is important to share quickly, but you are not sure that the graphic will reach its target audience because of the language level used.
    WHO. (2020, March 18). [Tweet]. Retrieved from
    This twitter feed

    Ethics

    Ethics Decision Checklist
    Consider:
    What is the ethical dilemma?
    What specifically is making you uncomfortable?
    What are your competing obligations in this dilemma?
    What advice does a trusted supervisor or mentor offer?
    Does your company’s code of conduct address this issue?
    Does your professional association’s code of conduct address this issue?
    What are you unwilling to do? What are you willing to do?
    How will you explain or justify your decision?
    Ethics and Technical Communication From WikiBooks. Located at:
    this link..

    License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

    Ethics

    TAKEAWAYS
    Rely on ethical guidelines from your profession and organization as well as your own ethics
    Consider stakeholders
    Ensure integrity, accessibility, and cultural competence
    Consider your own and other’s perspectives and biases
    Use resources thoughtfully
    Design intentionally
    HUMANIZE
    Ask questions, use facts/reason, and remain open
    Others?

    Ethics

    Questions?
    Contact your instructor.

    Ethics

    image1

    image2

    image3.PNG

    image4

    Ethical Technical &
    Professional
    Communication
    ENGL 2311

    Ethics

    Ethics

    WHY DISCUSS ETHICS?
    • If we clearly understand our actions, we can clearly communicate our
    motives to others
    • If we don’t clearly understand our actions, we may not be able to
    clearly communicate to others or persuade them to support our
    decisions or consider our reasoning

    Dombrowski, P. (2000). Ethics in Technical Communication. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

    Ethics

    Focus Point

    Ethics are rarely clear cut,
    and decisions are not always

    simple.

    Ethics

    Understanding Ethics Helps Us To
    • Justify reasoning
    • Consider right action
    • Consider implications
    • Consider different options
    • Demonstrate awareness of real-world constraints

    Ethics

    To Make Ethical Choices, Consider
    • Professional Code of Ethics

    • National Nurse’s Association
    • Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
    • National Society of Professional Engineers

    • Company Code of Ethics
    • Texas Health Resources
    • Tarrant County College
    • Lockheed Martin

    • Personal Ethics

    Anderson, P. (2017). Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach. Boston, MA: Cengage.

    Ethics

    To Make Ethical Choices, Consider
    (cont.)
    • Who is directly impacted by the choice?
    • Who is indirectly impacted by the choice?
    • Who may eventually be impacted by the choice?

    Ethics

    HOW CAN I ENSURE I’M
    ETHICAL IN MY WRITING?

    • Include only accurate, credible, and complete information
    • Do not claim ownership of someone else’s work
    • Recognize your own (conscious and subconscious)
    perspectives as well as those of others
    • Consider how those perspectives are informed
    • Refrain from stereotyping
    • Ensure accessibility
    • Remember the human

    Ethics

    Focus Point 2

    “Clear is Kind”
    -Brene Brown

    Ethics

    Ensure Integrity
    • Make sure that all information you include is true and complete
    • Claim ownership only for what is yours. Be aware of:

    • Patents – Items whose credit for creation is protected
    • Trademarks – Company names (WalMart), logos (the Target bulls-eye), or
    slogans (I’m lovin’ it)

    • Copyright law – Items whose distribution is protected by law (books, movies, or
    software)

    Ethics

    Ensure Accessibility
    Be intentional.
    • Use elements that assist all audiences in accessing, finding, and
    using information
    • Visual and typographic cues
    • Alt-text, captions, preset styles

    • Use words with only one meaning (including connotation)

    • “awesome” generally has a positive connotation
    • “amazing” may have a positive or negative connotation

    • Use standard nomenclature/naming
    • “essay” for essays rather than “essay” in some areas and “paper” in others

    • Use shared metaphors
    • Use idioms only if you are sure all audiences understand them

    Ethics

    Ensure Cultural Competence
    First, be aware of your own
    perspective, what informs it, and
    how that impacts how you interact
    with others.

    Ethics

    Ensure Cultural Competence (cont.)
    Understanding Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions can help you to
    understand both your own perspective as well as what your
    audiences may think, feel, and believe.
    • Power Distance (how power is shared/relationships between individuals in a
    power structure)

    • Individualism (whether focus is on the individual or the collective/community)

    • Masculinity (what values are considered masculine or feminine and how much
    either matters)

    • Uncertainty Avoidance (comfort level with ambiguity)

    • Long-term Orientation (balance of traditions and progress)

    • Indulgence (what delay in reward may be acceptable/comfortable)

    While these dimensions can be helpful, make sure not to
    stereotype.
    Click here for Hofstede source

    Ethics

    Remember the Human
    • Your audience are humans who think, feel,
    and believe

    • All of your writing and design impacts other
    humans and should be HUMANIZED.

    • Ways to humanize visual displays:
    • Use pictographs
    • Use photographs or drawings of
    humans in conjunction with bar or line
    graphs

    Dragga, Sam & Voss, Dan. (2001). Cruel Pies: The Inhumanity of
    Technical Illustrations. Technical Communication. 48. 265-274.

    MWMR, 2020 April 14;69(early release): 1-5

    Ethics

    Remember the Human (cont.)
    DEHUMANIZING language or language that FACILITATES
    DEHUMANIZATION should not be used
    This excerpt from a Geheime Reichssache (Secret Reich Business) memo written
    by a Nazi beauracrat for his boss describes lighting recommendations for vehicles
    used to transport people to concentration camps like Auschwitz:

    “The lighting must be better protected than now. The lamps must be
    enclosed in a steel grid to prevent their being damaged. Lights could be
    eliminated, since they apparently are never used. However, it has been
    observed that when the doors are shut, the load always presses hard
    against them as soon as darkness sets in.”

    The “load” referred to is the humans who were being transported to the
    concentration camps. The memo uses objective language that makes
    dehumanizing decisions possible.

    Excerpt from: Katz, S. B. (1992). The ethic of expediency: Classical rhetoric, technology, and the
    Holocaust. College English , 54(3), 255-275

    Ethics

    Use Accessible Language
    Be intentional.
    • Use words with only one meaning (including connotation)

    • “awesome” generally has a positive connotation
    • “amazing” may have a positive or negative connotation

    • Use standard nomenclature/naming
    • “essay” for essays rather than “essay” in some areas and “paper”
    in others

    • Use shared metaphors
    • Use idioms only if you are sure all audiences understand
    them

    Ethics

    Place warnings appropriately

    Ethics

    WHAT DO I DO IF I THINK
    SOMETHING IS UNETHICAL?

    • Ask questions
    • Be helpful in revealing ethical practices (facts and reason)
    • Remain open to others’ ideas

    Ethics

    Case Example – Computer Crush
    Harris, C. E. Jr., Pritchard, M. S., & Rabins, M. J. (2004). Engineering ethics: Concepts and
    cases. Wadsworth.

    A programmer is asked to write a program that will raise and lower a
    large X-ray device. He writes and tests his program. It successfully and
    accurately moves the device from the top of the support pole to the
    top of the table. The program is installed. Later, an X-ray technician
    tells a patient to get off the table after an X-ray is taken. The technician
    then sets the height of the device to “table-top height.” The patient,
    however, does not hear the technician and is crushed under the
    weight of the machine.

    • What would you do if you were the technician? The technician’s employer?
    The programmer? The person who designed the documentation?

    • If you were in any of those roles attempting to prevent this from happening,
    what could you do to ensure that the human on the table was considered?
    How would you do that?

    Ethics

    Case Example – WHO Graphic

    Say you are in charge of
    posting this graphic from the
    World Health Organization to
    its Twitter. You know that the
    information is important to
    share quickly, but you are
    not sure that the graphic will
    reach its target audience
    because of the language level
    used.

    WHO. (2020, March 18). [Tweet]. Retrieved from This twitter feed

    Ethics

    Ethics Decision Checklist
    Consider:
    • What is the ethical dilemma?
    • What specifically is making you uncomfortable?
    • What are your competing obligations in this dilemma?
    • What advice does a trusted supervisor or mentor offer?
    • Does your company’s code of conduct address this issue?
    • Does your professional association’s code of conduct
    address this issue?

    • What are you unwilling to do? What are you willing to do?
    • How will you explain or justify your decision?

    Ethics and Technical Communication From WikiBooks. Located at: this link..
    License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

    Ethics

    TAKEAWAYS
    • Rely on ethical guidelines from your profession and
    organization as well as your own ethics
    • Consider stakeholders
    • Ensure integrity, accessibility, and cultural competence
    • Consider your own and other’s perspectives and biases
    • Use resources thoughtfully
    • Design intentionally
    • HUMANIZE
    • Ask questions, use facts/reason, and remain open
    • Others?

    Questions?
    Contac t you r i n s t ruc to r.

    Ethics

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