Plain language is defined in a variety of ways, but is generally understood to refer to language and design strategies that make texts easier for target audiences to understand and use. Research has helped demonstrate that plain language strategies work, not only to improve reader comprehension, but also to save individuals and organizations time and money. Most plain language research focuses on the outcomes of plain language texts; however, there are a variety of complex processes that happen behind the scenes as these texts are produced. To better understand the complexity of plain language work and the challenges of producing these texts, this dissertation studies plain language using rhetorical and sociolinguistic theories. This framework allows us to see how plain language produces meaning within complex social and cultural contexts. Using the rhetorical triangle as an organizing framework, this dissertation proposes three models of research for studying plain language, each emphasizing a different part of the triangle: readers, writers, and texts.

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This thesis explores technical communication and seeks to establish that females outnumber males in the field while also holder more high-level positions. It further seeks to show why a field does not benefit from having one sex outnumber the other. The benefits of having an equal number of females and males contributing to the growth and expansion of the field are discussed. Finally, this thesis discusses potential pedagogical strategies which could be employed at the college level as a means of attracting more young men to the field and allowing for maximum growth of technical communication as a field of study and work. The thesis begins by exploring the history of technical communication as a means of understanding how it came to be a field where women outnumber men. It then briefly explores the differences between the learning styles of females and males as a means of demonstrating the importance of including both sexes equally. Lastly, using research from other, related fields pedagogical strategies are suggested for drawing more young males into the study and practice of technical communication. The conclusions drawn in this thesis are as follows: 1.) Women currently outnumber men in both the study and practice of technical communication. 2.) Research indicates that any field will benefit the most from including the skills and experiences of both sexes. 3.) Pedagogy may be effectively used as a means to help attract more young males into the field, thus increasing the growth and development of technical communication.

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are viewed by many people with interests in health care as valuable tools for reducing practice variations that undermine patient outcomes and increase medical costs. However, guidelines themselves vary in quality. Assessment tools generally base quality measures on strength of guidelines' evidence base, but particularly for newly emerging applications of ultrasound, standards for measuring guideline quality are controversial. The validity of a guideline is considered likely when strong research-based evidence supports its recommendations, but for newer medical procedures such as emerging ultrasound applications, available evidence is sparse. Existing assessment tools must be modified if they are effectively to measure the validity of these guidelines built on immature evidence. Focusing on ways document drafting affects CPG validity, this study rated six guidelines using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE) tool which was customized according to categories of guideline purposes and their differing features of validity. Fine-tuning AGREE in this way may create a more consistent, informative method of evaluating guidelines for emerging applications, and standards established in such an instrument may be useful as a template during the guideline development process. Results from my analyses illuminate several common omissions that weakened documents. Most guidelines did not describe an updating procedure or identify areas for future research, but results also highlighted some highly effective techniques for building validity. Notable examples include providing full credentials for expert drafters, and embedding statement references directly in the text. From the results of the analysis, I conclude that, although the adapted assessment tool I used needs additional adjustment, it may refine analysis of guidelines for emerging ultrasound guidelines and conversely serve as a useful tool during their development process.

Technical writing teachers have always struggled with understanding how to best deal with pedagogical issues including rapidly changing technology, audience construction, and transposing an academic ethos into a professional one. The expanding online world complicates these issues by increasing the pace of digital change, making the potential audience both more diffuse and more remote, and creating a more complex online rhetorical situation. E-portfolios provide a vivid way to examine this complex technological situation, and in this study, the author examines four cases of students creating online portfolios in a technical communication classroom. The author looks at both their e-portfolio process as well as their product, interviewing them to get a sense of how they used rhetoric, identity, and technology in an attempt to form a coherent professional presentation through a technological medium. In addition, the author looks at some issues inherent in e-portfolios themselves that may be applicable to a technical communication classroom, as this medium becomes ever more popular as a way of assessing both programs and the students themselves.

This study investigates how women are affected by gender bias in the workplace. Despite the increasing numbers of women in the workforce, women are still under-represented and under-valued in workplaces, which, in part, is due to their gender stereotype. This study demonstrates how gender bias in the workplace has been proven to limit women in their careers and potential in their occupational roles. The media’s negative depiction of women in their gender stereotype reinforces and perpetuates this image as a cultural norm in society. Women both conform and are judged and evaluated according to their weak and submissive gender stereotype. Women face challenges and problems in the workplace when they are evaluated and appraised by their female gender stereotype. Women have been prevented from acquiring jobs and positions, have been denied promotions and advancements, failed to be perceived as desiring of and capable of leadership or management positions, as well as typically receive lower paid than their male counterparts. Furthermore, women’s unique, indirect, and congenial conversational methods are perceived as unconfident, incompetent, and thus, incapable in the masculine organizational culture of most workplaces. Through the investigation of gender bias in the workplace, professionals and employers will gain an awareness of how gender bias and socially-prescribed gender roles can affect the workplace and interfere with women’s success in their career. Technical communicators and other educators will have a better understanding of how to overcome gender stereotyping and be encouraged to teach students on how to be gender-neutral in their communications in the workplace, perhaps striving for a more egalitarian society.

Financially literate consumers are empowered with the knowledge and skills necessary to make sound financial decisions that ensure their long-term economic well-being. Within the context of the range of cognitive, psychological, and social factors that influence consumer behavior, simulations enhance financial literacy by developing consumers’ mental models for decision-making. Technical communicators leverage plain language and visual language techniques to communicate complex financial concepts in ways that consumers can relate to and understand. Simulations for financial education and decision support illustrate abstract financial concepts, provide a means of safe experimentation, and allow consumers to make informed choices based on a longitudinal comparison of decision outcomes. Technical communicators develop content based on best practices and conduct evaluations to ensure that simulations present information that is accessible, usable, and focused on the end-user. Potential simulation formats range from low- to high-fidelity. Low-fidelity simulations present static data in print or digital formats. Mid-fidelity simulations provide digital interactive decision support tools with dynamic user inputs. More complex high-fidelity simulations use narrative and dramatic elements to situate learning in applied contexts

In my thesis I discuss the cost effectiveness of usability testing of technical documents and how any size company with any size budget can implement usability testing. Usability is achieved when the people who use products or technical documents can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks. Usability testing is best defined as the process of studying users to determine a documentation project's effectiveness for its intended audience. Users are tired of dealing with confusing and unintuitive technical documentation that forces them to either call customer service for help on simple issues or throw out the product in favor of one that is more usable or provides better technical documentation. That is why all technical communicators should include usability testing as part of the technical documentation production cycle. To help technical communicators understand the importance of usability testing, I discuss the cost effectiveness of usability testing and share ways that companies with large budgets and companies with small budgets can begin incorporating usability testing. Then I provide information on all the steps that are necessary for technical communicators to implement usability testing of technical documentation at their company. Options are presented for everything from bare minimum usability testing with a shoe-string budget with pencils, note pads, and only a handful of users to full scale usability testing in large laboratories with the latest equipment and a wide variety of users. The research provides examples from real companies, advice from experienced technical communicators and usability experts, and research demonstrating how many resources are truly required to benefit from usability testing. By showing technical communicators that usability testing is cost effective and that there are many options for implementing usability testing no matter how large or small their budget is, I hope to empower technical communicators to start including usability testing as part of the documentation production cycle at their companies.