Risk Communication and Miscommunication: Case Studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, Government, and Community Organizations

Boiarsky, Carolyn

ISBN 10: 1607324660 / ISBN 13: 9781607324669

Published by Univ Pr of Colorado, 2016

About this Item

1st edition. 160 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.50 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # 1607324660

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Risk Communication and Miscommunication: Case Studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, Government, and Community Organizations
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Colorado
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1607324660
• ISBN 13: 9781607324669
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.36 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

Effective communication can help prevent or minimize damage from environmental disasters. In Risk Communication and Miscommunication, Carolyn Boiarsky teaches students, technical writers, public affairs officers, engineers, scientists, and governmental officials the writing and communication skills necessary for dealing with environmental and technological problems that could lead to major crises.

Drawing from research in rhetoric, linguistics, technical communication, educational psychology, and web design, Boiarsky provides a new way to look at risk communication. She shows how failing to consider the readers’ needs and the rhetorical context in which a document is read can be catastrophic and how anticipating those needs can enhance effectiveness and prevent disaster. She examines the communications and miscommunications of original e-mails, memos, and presentations about various environmental disasters, including the Columbia space shuttle breakup and the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, and successes, such as the Enbridge pipeline expansion and the opening of the Mississippi Spillway, offering recommendations for effective communication.

Taking into account the growing need to communicate complex and often controversial issues across vast geographic and cultural spaces with an ever-expanding array of electronic media, Risk Communication and Miscommunication provides strategies for clear communication of data, ideas, and procedures to varied audiences to prevent or minimize damage from environmental incidents.

About the Author

Carolyn Boiarsky is professor of English at Purdue University Calumet and founder and director of the Northwest Indiana Writing Project. She is the author of four books, including Technical Communication: Contexts, Audiences, and Communities and Writings from the Workplace: Documents, Models, and Cases; has published in numerous business and technical communication journals; and has received the Society of Technical Communication’s Frank R. Smith Article of the Year Award.