Matching Items (14)
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- All Subjects: technical communication
- Creators: D'Angelo, Barbara
- Creators: D'Angelo, Barbara J.
Description
This paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of deceptive data visualizations paired with explanatory text. Data visualizations are used to communicate information about important social issues to large audiences and are found in the news, social media, and the Internet (Kirk, 2012). Modern technology and software allow people and organizations to easily produce and publish data visualizations, contributing to data visualizations becoming more prevalent as a means of communicating important information (Sue & Griffin, 2016). Ethical transgressions in data visualizations are the intentional or unintentional use of deceptive techniques with the potential of altering the audience’s understanding of the information being presented (Pandey et al., 2015). While many have discussed the importance of ethics in data visualization, scientists have only recently started to look at how deceptive data visualizations affect the reader. This study was administered as an on-line user survey and was designed to test the deceptive potential of data visualizations when they are accompanied by a paragraph of text. The study consisted of a demographic questionnaire, chart familiarity assessment, and data visualization survey. A total of 256 participants completed the survey and were evenly distributed between a control (non-deceptive) survey or a test (deceptive) survey in which participant were asked to observe a paragraph of text and data visualization paired together. Participants then answered a question relevant to the observed information to measure how they perceived the information to be. The individual differences between demographic groups and their responses were analyzed to understand how these groups reacted to deceptive data visualizations compared to the control group. The results of the study confirmed that deceptive techniques in data visualizations caused participants to misinterpret the information in the deceptive data visualizations even when they were accompanied by a paragraph of explanatory text. Furthermore, certain demographics and comfort levels with chart types were more susceptible to certain types of deceptive techniques. These results highlight the importance of education and practice in the area of data visualizations to ensure deceptive practices are not utilized and to avoid potential misinformation, especially when information can be called into question.
ContributorsO'Brien, Shaun (Author) / Laure, Claire (Thesis advisor) / Brumberger, Eva (Committee member) / D'Angelo, Barbara J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
There is a gap between today's scientific advances and their application--between what is known and what is actually being done. This gap occurs because of the process of knowledge translation required to digest research findings for policymakers and practitioners. Studies have repeatedly shown that because of this "know-do" gap, approximately one-half of patients in the United States and Europe are not receiving care according to the most recent scientific evidence. Children are a medically unique and underserved population that stands to be most affected by this gap. Therefore, in this study, the research-practice gap in the pediatric field was calculated and discussed in the context of knowledge brokers, who facilitate opportunities for knowledge translation. Article mentions from the journal Pediatrics were identified in policy documents and analyzed for the years 2010, 2013, and 2016 with the use of the Altmetric platform as a quantitative means of identifying patterns and drawing conclusions about the knowledge translation gap in pediatrics. Altmetric is a bibliometric tool that offers viable insights into the types of impact not covered with traditional methods of citation analysis. The expert policymaking bodies that cited the Pediatrics articles in their policy documents were coded, categorized, and subcategorized to clarify how and where Pediatrics research is ultimately being used to create health policy and to discover whether the gap is similar or different between the various types of policymaking organizations. This allowed the quantitative findings to be nested within a qualitative context. It took a mean of 7.1 years for research to reach the point of policy uptake for practitioners, with a range of 0-32.8 years. There were more international policy mentions than U.S. mentions, but information made its way through the knowledge translation process more quickly in the United States than it did elsewhere. In fact, nearly 40% of articles were cited in policy fewer than five years after original publication. The gap in pediatrics is thus significantly shorter than the 17-year average reported in the literature. However, knowledge brokerage activities performed by technical communicators are continually needed to build links between research, policy applications, and practice.
ContributorsBabiar, Heather (Author) / D'Angelo, Barbara (Thesis advisor) / Brumberger, Eva (Committee member) / Maid, Barry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Contemporary cities are physical and virtual. This thesis describes the findings of a mixed-methods study concerning visual images of the city in the urban Northeast of the United States. I ground these approaches in existing literature concerning digital media, visual narrative, genre ecology, urban planning, and virtual places. The first part of the study analyzes the results of a survey in which 150 people responded to questions about social media use and the relationships between image type and the functions of social media in urban contexts. The second part of the study analyzes the results of coding one year of visual images tweeted by @CambMA, the municipal Twitter feed for the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts. These approaches required the development of new tools for analyzing visual communication and genre moves in specific media contexts. My research suggests that specific image types are suited for specific media functions in the context of visual communication in virtual urban environments and that some image types are especially effective in capturing and expressing the city. These findings provide potential strategies for municipal social media channels to consider in terms of how they communicate with their audiences.
ContributorsDel Nero, Zachary (Author) / Maid, Barry (Thesis advisor) / D'Angelo, Barbara (Committee member) / Mara, Andrew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This project presents a mixed methods analysis of proposal editing in sponsored research administration at U.S.-based universities. As sponsored research funding has become increasingly competitive, universities have sought to support their faculty and research infrastructure by offering proposal editing services as a component of the proposal development process. However, the relative newness of proposal and research development as fields, combined with prior studies that show a general lack of research into proposal editing and faculty perceptions of proposal development resources, mean that these areas can benefit from additional focused research. This study aimed to answer two primary research questions: How do universities approach and offer proposal editing as a component of the proposal development process, and what are faculty reactions to editing services as a resource during that same process? The study consisted of two components: a survey of 32 faculty members' perceptions of editing services as an element of their proposal development, and interviews with ten research administrators and editors to discuss how editing services function within the proposal preparation process. Despite a small sample size and disciplinary homogeneity, the survey results showed that demand for institutionally provided editing services varies by research field and activity level, but that faculty showed noticeable interest in at least having the option of an editor reviewing their proposals prior to submission. Interview participants agreed that faculty who are new or early in their careers, along with faculty who speak English as a second language, are especially interested in receiving editing services. Editors themselves provide various levels of edit, dependent on their own backgrounds, editing timelines, and faculty receptiveness to the edits. When provided, edits focus on compliance and grammar, but deeper edits help academic styles of writing transition into more persuasive grant writing styles to strategically position the proposal. As proposal editing services become more widespread as a way of supporting faculty and increasingly proposal quality and success, universities should implement editing services according to faculty demand and needs. Careful implementation can ensure that editing services fully support faculty while making a meaningful impact on a university's research development strategies and goals.
ContributorsTrompeter, Colleen (Author) / Brumberger, Eva (Thesis advisor) / D'Angelo, Barbara (Committee member) / Lauer, Claire (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
My study examined Automated Writing Evaluation tools (AWE) and their role within writing instruction. This examination was framed as a comparison of 4 AWE tools and the different outcomes in the Writing Program Administrators “Outcomes Statement for First Year Composition” (the OS). I also reviewed studies that identify feedback as an effective tool within composition instruction as well as literature related to the growth of AWE and the 2 different ways that these programs are being utilized: to provide scoring and to generate feedback. My research focused on the feedback generating component of AWE and their relationship with helping students to meet the outcomes outlined in the OS. To complete this analysis, I coded the OS, using its outcomes as a reliable indicator of the perspectives of the academic community regarding First Year Composition (FYC). This coding was applied to text associated with two different kinds of feedback related AWEs. Two of the AWE used in this study facilitated human feedback using analytical properties: Writerkey and Eli Review. While the other 2 generated automated feedback: WriteLab and PEG Writing Scholar. I also reviewed instructional documents associated with each AWE and used the coding to compare the features described in each text with the different outcomes in the OS. The most frequently occurring coding from the feedback was related to Rhetorical Knowledge and other outcomes associated with revision, while the most common codes from the instructional documents were associated with feedback and collaboration. My research also revealed none of these AWE were capable of addressing certain outcomes, these were mostly related to activities outside of the actual process of composing, like the act of reading and the various writing mediums.
ContributorsSterling, Chadwick Le Roi (Author) / D'Angelo, Barbara (Thesis advisor) / Maid, Barry (Committee member) / Brumberger, Eva (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
As an outlet of communication between internet users, digital social media has created opinionated engagement between people that have similar and often contrasting views, just like those in face-to-face communication (Mckenna & Bargh, 2014). The problem is that these digital conversations occur in a synthetic environment, causing users to develop alternative psychological patterns of engagement (Lauren & Hsieh, 2014), that could potentially push them to inadvertently or unknowingly create and participate in negative social interaction with others. The purpose of this study was to determine and assess the needs of a writing heuristic for social media participants to use in engagement with others to increase coherency, civility, and engagement response in content. Research explored existing literature on engagement behavior in digital social media and computer-mediated communication (CMC) and was then used in qualitative sentiment analysis of business-to-consumer social media environments, aiming to recognize the needs in developing a social media writing heuristic. This research found that such heuristic should prompt and advise users to remove ambiguity within engagement practices, encouraging the implementation of salient social markers and nonverbal cues in text. Social media users should also be prompted to create familiarity with others through the posing of messages in an emotional frame that is aligned with their audience’s emotional attitudes, increasing persuasive argumentation and discussion. As well, users should be prompted to thoroughly understand the issues in discussion and follow dynamics to create productive engagement, while avoiding engagement with negative commentary.
ContributorsParkerson, Logan (Author) / Maid, Barry (Thesis advisor) / D'Angelo, Barbara (Committee member) / Lauer, Claire (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Grubhub's user reviews from the Apple IOS store were analyzed to provide alternate user experience (UX) solutions through answering the following:
1. How is Grubhub's mobile app meeting user expectations?
2. How can Grubhub improve the mobile app experience?
ContributorsDiaz, Samantha (Author) / Harris, LaVerne Abe (Degree committee member) / D'Angelo, Barbara J. (Degree committee member) / Mara, Andrew (Degree committee member)
Created2019-12-13
Description
For more than 50 years, my aunt was a professional chef and baker who catered hundreds of events and owned a bakery before retiring. Her recipes have never been formally documented and are rarely shared because only she knows them. The purpose of the cooking website content strategy was to document five decades’ worth of my family’s recipes and write a cooking website content strategy report that will be used in the future to create the cooking website. Creating the website preserves the recipes and provides a resource that can be cited and referred to by future generations of my family. The cooking website applied project consists of a website content strategy report, including a social media strategy and website designs, documented recipes and oral histories, content audit, and content analysis.
ContributorsKlemp, Jamie (Author) / Maid, Barry M. (Degree committee member) / Carradini, Stephen (Degree committee member) / D'Angelo, Barbara J. (Degree committee member)
Created2019-04-26
Description
Washington State University Everett could benefit from a Blackboard® online orientation course prior to their first credited online course. Research included results from student satisfaction surveys and focus groups. It was determined through both quantitative and qualitative data that students who opt into an online orientation course have the potential for increased satisfaction and success with online coursework throughout their degree-completion experience. Once this determination was made, a fully-functioning Blackboard® orientation course was designed and developed. The course has been tested by faculty and is ready for Fall 2017 deployment as a voluntary online orientation for any student already admitted to WSU Everett.
ContributorsWilder, Corrie (Author) / Brumberger, Eva (Degree committee member) / D'Angelo, Barbara J. (Degree committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017-03-20
Description
The field of radio broadcast requires the cohesion of several different skill sets in order to be a success. KHEA Radio has used a traditional form of teaching, which means taking a one-on-one approach. Taking this approach has worked for years in the past and has been the only option for teaching. The down side to this method of teaching is that it requires one seasoned employee to stop their work and take the time to train a new employee. Because of the significant void in the area of instructional content for radio sound engineering, my co-worker and I had to troubleshoot this console and basically teach ourselves its functions. I saw the need for better instructional content on the Internet and in print based on my own experiences. The skills used to create the following instructional content were gained from course work at Arizona State University. The graduate department of Technical Communication makes every effort to equip students with varied skills that can be applied to different fields within the overall scheme of technical communication. This guide serves as a tool for radio broadcast novices to learn the basics of sound board operation.
ContributorsGarcia, Gerardo (Author) / D'Angelo, Barbara J. (Degree committee member) / Maid, Barry M. (Degree committee member) / Lauer, Claire (Degree committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017-02-16