Chapters 1 - 3

Question 1

Technical communication rarely focuses on the author’s personal thoughts or feelings.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Few technical documents have a persuasive purpose.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Phone calls, conversations, and meetings have largely replaced the need for written documents.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Most technical writing is done in teams.

Answer 4

True

Question 5

All documents have some persuasive aspect, even if the persuasion is implicit.

Answer 5

True

Question 6

Technical writers cannot be held responsible for faulty information, but the companies they work for can.

Answer 6

False

Question 7

A technical communicator might be called an information architect, technical editor, or content developer.

Answer 7

True

Question 8

Digital communication is the universal global standard for technical communication.

Answer 8

False

Question 9

blank - centered documents focus on what people need to learn, do, or decide.

Answer 9

Reader

Question 10

Communication and critical thinking are examples of blank
skills.

Answer 10

Portable

Question 11

Most technical documents are intended to persuade, inform or blank

Answer 11

instruct

Question 12

Which document provides an example of technical writing primarily intended to persuade?

Answer 12

a.
instructions for assembling a desk

b.
a training manual for coffee shop employees for making different drinks

c.
a handout from a doctor explaining how to prepare for surgery

*d.
a grant proposal to obtain funding from a community agency

Question 13

When trying to make sense of information, people should __________.

Answer 13

• a.
  (a) consider how others might interpret the information

b.
) assume that information found by them should also be shared

c.
rely on Internet search technology to judge the credibility of a source

d.
let the data speak for themselves

Question 14

Effective technical documents __________.

Answer 14

a.
stay away from integrating links

• b.
  use visuals as a substitute for words when possible

c.
include tangential information as a bonus to readers

d.
avoid white space

Question 15

Compared to the others, which statement is most accurate?

Answer 15

a.
Instructions and procedures are two types of persuasive documents.

b.
Technical documents focus on the writer’s needs.

c.
As long as a document is persuasive, it need not be clear and efficient.

• d.
  At some point, every job involves being a technical communicator.

Question 16

Technical communication__________.

Answer 16

• a.
  may include blog posts

b.
emphasizes writing long technical passages

c.
generally focuses on highly trained technical audiences

d.
avoids using chat sessions

Question 17

When communicating globally, it is important to __________.

Answer 17

• a.
  adjust the form of communication to the specific cultural context

b.
make sure to include hard-copy formats

c.
consistently deliver documents using informal language

d.
emphasize face-to-face communication to ensure everyone gets to know each other

Question 18

A document may have both a primary and secondary purpose.

Answer 18

True

Question 19

Highly technical audiences need facts and figures explained in the simplest terms.

Answer 19

False

Question 20

A social media post may be an appropriate format for technical communication.

Answer 20

True

Question 21

Technical writers should provide readers with more than they want or need.

Answer 21

False

Question 22

Determining all the needs of a large and diverse audience is easy to do.

Answer 22

False

Question 23

(Read more about this) Calculating the final costs of a document is not a technical communicator’s concern.

Answer 23

False

Question 24

When writing a memo for audiences with varying backgrounds and responsibilities, the author should consider the tone used and its appropriateness for those audiences.

Answer 24

True

Question 25

A short document can be rewritten at different levels for different audiences

Answer 25

True

Question 26

An audience with no specialized training is called a *blank* audience.

Answer 26

technical, *nontechnical, educated or uneducated

Question 27

The image of a writer that readers see “between the lines” is called the writer’s *blank* and is created by the tone the writer adopts.

Answer 27

*persona, personality, or perceptions

Question 28

The *blank* Profile anticipates your readers and their needs.

Answer 28

Audience, *Audience and Use, or Use

Question 29

When considering informative abstracts, note that they__________ .

Answer 29

*a. can help nonexperts understand highly technical reports b. are only appropriate for experts c. are essential to any length document d. are confusing to nonexperts

Question 30

Compared to the others, which reader provides an example of a semitechnical audience for a manual on beekeeping?

Answer 30

a. a beekeeper with 15 years of experience b. someone who has knowledge about beekeeping from images in the media c. a doctoral student specializing in hive construction and bee waggle dances *d. a person with some background from attending a few beekeeping workshops

Question 31

Workplace readers expect that the tone of a communication __________.

Answer 31

a. is consistently informal b. is consistently formal c. is consistently semiformal *d. reflects the relationship between the writer and reader

Question 32

Primary readers of a document are those who __________.

Answer 32

a. are generally outside an organization b. advise decision makers c. indirectly need the information *d. are the main users of the document

Question 33

When a writer faces an audience with different technical levels, a preferred approach would be to develop __________.

Answer 33

a. a one-page document with the lowest level of information *b. a Web resource with links to different levels of information c. a comprehensive manual with the highest level of information d. a social media feed focused on the needs of one set of readers

Question 34

Stereotypes can be helpful to understand a cultural frame of reference.

Answer 34

False

Question 35

After their minds are made up, people are easily swayed to change their position.

Answer 35

False

Question 36

Scarcity is an example of a subjective criterion that can move people to accept a persuasive appeal.

Answer 36

True

Question 37

Unbiased expert opinion can lend credibility to any claim.

Answer 37

True

Question 38

A claim is a statement of the point a communicator is trying to make.

Answer 38

True

Question 39

A blunt approach works best with audiences from other cultural backgrounds.

Answer 39

False

Question 40

Communicators within organizations often face unstated constraints when making an argument.

Answer 40

True

Question 41

The most persuasive argument is the one that presents the strongest case from the writer’s personal perspective.

Answer 41

False

Question 42

The three levels of response to persuasion are

Answer 42

internalization, identification, compliance

Question 43

*blank* are limits or restrictions imposed by a situation.

Answer 43

Curtailments, Detterants, or *Constraints

Question 44

A(n) *blank* involves careful reasoning that supports a claim.

Answer 44

concurrence, *argument, explanation

Question 45

When someone “goes over a supervisor’s head,” they are violating which type of constraint when making their case?

Answer 45

a. psychological constraint *b. organizational constraint c. legal constraint d. ethical constraint

Question 46

Compared to the others, which outcome is the most ideal response to persuasion?

Answer 46

a. rationalization b. identification c. compliance *d. internalization

Question 47

When preparing an argument, communicators should __________.

Answer 47

*a. identify goals they share with the audience b. avoid conceding any points c. focus on points of disagreement between themselves and the audience d. be as indirect as possible about what they want

Question 48

Strategies for effectively connecting with an audience include __________.

Answer 48

a. relationship connection and audience connection strategies ?b. power connection and driven connection strategies ?c. rational connection and relationship connection strategies ?d. rational connection and evidence connection strategies

Question 49

Which strategy can help avoid potential negative effects of the Internet on persuasion, such as the confirmation bias?

Answer 49

a. Seek out like-minded social media posts that make the same claims. b. Quickly scan social media posts for the main idea. *c. Critique the author’s point of view and check the source of the information. d. Allow commercial search algorithms to weigh the truth of Internet claims.

Question 50

Which type of persuasive skill is being used in this company statement: “Some individual training budgets will be reduced so that everyone will be able to have equal access to training.”

Answer 50

a. providing expert testimony *b. appealing to common goals or values c. considering cultural context d. offering evidence

Question 51

Compared to the others, which example illustrates an explicit persuasive goal?

Answer 51

a. to convince the reader that the writer is competent b. to assure readers that the data presented is accurate *c. to convince readers to fund a project d. to convince readers that the facts in a report are correct