NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report Number 47. Survey of Reader Preferences Concerning the Format of NASA Langley-Authored Technical Reports - Results of the Phase 1 Mail Survey.

Abstract

The U.S. government technical report is a primary means by which the results of federally funded research and development (R&D) are transferred to the U.S. aerospace industry. However, little is known about this information product in terms of its actual use, importance, and value in the transfer of federally funded R&D. Little is also known about the intermediary- based system that is used to transfer the results of federally funded R&D to the U.S. aerospace industry. To help establish a body of knowledge, the U.S. government technical report is being investigated as part of the NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. In this report, we summarize the literature on technical reports, present a model that depicts the transfer of federally funded aerospace R&D via the U.S. government technical report, and present the results of research that investigated aerospace knowledge diffusion vis-awis the technical report. To learn more about the preferences of U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists concerning the format of NASA Langley Research Center-authored technical reports, we surveyed 133 report producers (i.e., authors) and 137 report users. Questions covered such topics as (a) the order in which report components are read, (b)components used to determine if a report would be read, (c) those components that could be deleted, (d) the placement of such components as the symbols list, (e) the desirability of a table of contents, (f) the format of reference citations, (g) column layout and right margin treatment, and (h) and person and voice. Mail (self-reported) surveys were used to collect the data. The response rates for report producers (i.e., authors) was 68% and for users was 62%.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1996
Accession Number
ADA314832

Entities

People

  • John M. Kennedy
  • Rebecca O. Barclay
  • Thomas E. Pinelli

Organizations

  • Langley Research Center

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Accuracy
  • Aeronautics
  • Bibliographies
  • Databases
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Governments
  • Human Behavior
  • Information Exchange
  • Information Science
  • Information Systems
  • Information Transfer
  • Personnel Management
  • Photography
  • Public Administration
  • United States

Readers

  • Business Analytics
  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.

Technology Areas

  • Space