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Yesterday, I received an STC-commissioned survey about professional
certification from Professional Testing, Inc. I didn't know much about
the issue, so I read the questions hoping to learn more. I was struck
by how one-sided the questions were. Questions 1-6 establish
demographics. Questions 7 and 8 ask if you feel there should be
certification. Then, questions 9-37 ask if you think that certification
will provide a certain benefit.
Question 38, one question, focused on drawbacks by asking, "Do you think
that non-certified technical communicators will feel alienated from the
field?" The rest of the survey basically deals with how to implement
certification.
It sure seems like some folks in the STC have made up their minds about
certification. Not only have they made up their minds, for one question
they won't even take "No" for an answer. Question 56 asks how much
money should the STC spend to develop a certification program. Your
choices? Well, choice "A", the least amount, says "Up to $25,000."
What ever happened to "None"? This is the kind of question that belongs
in an IRS survey.
Does anyone know why the survey would appear so skewed?
--
Don Sargent
Template Software, Inc. "I might only get three strikes in
Dulles, Virginia life, but I can hit foul indefinitely."
sargent -at- template -dot- com -- me
