Re: Case Study

Subject: Re: Case Study
From: Jan Henning <henning -at- r-l -dot- de>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 14:51:42 +0200


Why is it that every time a new person ask a question that may seem obvious
to the most of us, the folks come out of the wood work berating the
question?

It does not seem to be the obviousness of the question that is the problem. If you look at Rayna's posting, it boils down to "I have to do this, please tell me everything that I need to know." (slightly exaggerated).

In particular, she doesn't indicate that she has already put in any kind of own effort into solving what is after all her study assignment. She may have done something, but if she doesn't say so (And her questions definitely sound like she hasn't), all we can assume is that she hasn't.

This annoys some list participants, because:

- She gives the impression of possibly not being able to handle projects on her own. If that impression is true, chances are that after completing her studies she may not enhance the reputation of tech writers as a group.

- She puts a very vague question that requires a lot of effort from us. (For example, she gives no indication of the parameters of her assignment - Is every kind of case study acceptable? Are there thematic restrictions? How big may the study be? etc. And: What kinds of topics is she comfortable with?) The more precise her questions are, the erasier they are to answer.

- Asking the list takes up the time of a few thousand people. This is different than asking your dorm mate for a few tips. It seems thoughtlesst, not to put in a little effort of one's own before doing so, and describing the effort and why it failed - for example "I tried to find case studies on Google, but found only references to case studies in marketing literature instead of the studies themselves. Can somebody direct me to some real studies?"

When a question such as this - where the problem is not the obviousness of the answer but the lack of any visible effort on the part of the questioner - I find it competely acceptable to react like John did*. This is list etiquette, and if people violate it, it is desirable to explain it to them.

Regards
Jan Henning


* Although it maybe could have been phrased differently.

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Follow-Ups:

References:
Re: Case Study: From: Angie . Watson

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