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
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.
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.
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).
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
Q: Could #ibuprofen worsen disease for people with #COVID19?
A: Based on currently available information, WHO does not recommend against the use of of ibuprofen. pic.twitter.com/n39DFt2amF
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 18, 2020
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?
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
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
Q: Could #ibuprofen worsen disease for people with #COVID19?
A: Based on currently available information, WHO does not recommend against the use of of ibuprofen. pic.twitter.com/n39DFt2amF
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 18, 2020
-
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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