We’ve discussed the importance of objectivity in technical writing in a previous blog. It’s fresh in my mind now, as I’m finishing up another semester of the senior design course at the University of St. Thomas. As always, I’ve been steering the students away from subjective judgments in favor of objective, factual statements. Sadly, they’re too young to have seen the 1960s TV show Dragnet. The episodes were all based on real cases from Los Angeles Police Department files, with the names “changed to protect the innocent”. Jack Webb played the main character, Sgt. Friday, in a deadpan style. Although he never actually said it, he was famous for the line, “Just the facts, ma’am.”
Sticking to the bare facts is, of course, the essence of objective writing. Instead of telling the reader how to feel about something, you lay out the facts and let the reader make the judgments. Naturally anything we do as human beings will be somewhat subjective. Which facts you select will lead the reader to certain conclusions. But ethical technical writing avoids “cherry picking” just the facts that support your point of view.
Engineers shall be objective and truthful in professional reports, statements, or testimony. They shall include all relevant and pertinent information in such reports, statements, or testimony, which should bear the date indicating when it was current.—NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers
Organizing the information
In addition to which facts you present, how you organize them will emphasize certain things and obscure others. For example, if you provide a chronological narrative, you’re implying that time order is important. That’s true of laboratory procedures. And it’s a good way of organizing a review of previous work. But if you’re examining the damage from an earthquake, time matters much less than distance from the epicenter.
Tables invite the reader to make comparisons. Both tables and graphs imply a relationship between the variables you included. But of course you could plot any two variables in a graph, whether they’re related or not.
In a list of discussion items, conclusions, or recommendations, the reader will naturally infer that whatever you mention first is the most important. It’s good to keep that in mind, as it will help you avoid burying the lede.
The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. “Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?” he asked. “Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”—Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Lastly, once you’ve made your most compelling points, stop. Four or five significant conclusions are more meaningful than 10 that are less so. Also, you weaken your argument if you keep going after you’ve made your case. The same goes for recommendations: provide the few that will give the most “bang for the buck” and then stop. Don’t waste the reader’s time with incremental improvements. If you give in to the temptation to provide every last point, you’ll leave your reader wondering whether you know what matters most.