Blog Post 8.2, 2nd Production Report

For this Production Report, I want to focus on my first body section dealing with Scientific Posters:

Outline Item:

• Body Section 1: Posters

Briefly describe Scientific Posters. Point out main parts of the poster (Introduction, conclusion, etc.). Explain how posters are different from other genres.

Main idea: Posters are used to communicate a great deal of scientific data and conclusions through mostly visual effects (graphs, data sheets, etc.). Shortest of the genres and uses the least technical language.

Evidence 1: Take a picture of a scientific poster in Gould-Simpson building. Point out that much space is used for visual effects.

This piece of evidence is important because it backs up the main idea statement that posters are mostly visual based.

Evidence 2: Take a picture of the actual writing used on the poster.

This evidence is important because it will prove that writing on posters is typically short and doesn't used a great deal of technical language.

Adaption of Outline Item:

Scientific Posters:

The first genre that will be examined is the Scientific Poster. Posters are typically made to communicate research from a scientific project. The setting for this research can vary. It may have been gathered in the field, in a lab, or through observations made over time.

Regardless of where the data came from, most scientific posters have more or less the same structure: An introduction section to explain where the research was conducted, the context for doing the project and introduce the hypothesis for the research, a background section discussing the kinds of materials, tools and work that was needed to complete the project, a large section open in the middle of the poster to display graphs, charts and other visual data, a conclusions section to describe what happened during experimentation and whether the hypothesis was supported by evidence, and, finally, a references and acknowledgements section.

Scientific Posters are also unique in scientific writing in that more emphasis is placed on the visual effects (graphs, charts, etc.), rather than what has been written. Most research communication is done through analyzing the visual data on the poster and reading the conclusions, rather than pages or even chapters of text being used to describe what happened. Because of this, scientists making Posters will attempt to make their graphs and data charts stand out against the words written. An excellent example of this is the poster pictured above (1). Much of the poster space is dedicated to graphical and numerical data visuals.

As well, Posters are usually the shortest form of scientific writing. The writing pictured on the right came from the same poster that was discussed in the last paragraph (1). Writing on Posters is typically formatted in this way; with numbered or bulleted lists, short paragraphs or sentences, and somewhat limited use of technical language compared to the other genres.

Overall, Posters are used for sharing data quickly and without a huge amount of technical jargon. The audience for Posters is broader than other scientific writing genres because a Poster can be read and understood quickly. Finally, Posters rely heavily on visual aids to disseminate important data points and research.