Sara described a brief as a straightforward document that is accessible to policymakers in a way that relays the information concisely, clearly, and supports their ability to make decisions. A main theme that was central to our discussion about briefs is the advice that Professor Anderson provided about writing a brief - keep it short.
Sara began with tips on when to use a brief:
- asked directly by a policymaker or organization that knows your research will contribute to their position or can help them make a decision about their position.
- foster clarity among interdisciplinary groups. A brief can be a quick way to let others know what your research is about and how it applies to the working group.
Next Sara discussed the various purposes of writing a brief:
- a brief can be used to summarize a complex science issue for policymakers - they want to get the expert's advice on an issue or learn about the latest results.
- use a brief to advocate for a policy option or political action that should be taken.
- summarize complex policy issues for scientists (not always the other way around!)
- don't forget - valuable purpose to a brief is to inform
We spent some time discussing audience, a central theme to our class. A brief may be written for the policymaker and his/her aids/staff, and their main goal is to keep their constituents happy. A different audience is managers who are charged with meeting targets/mandates and may use a brief as a support for a resource management decision or as a press release. It is important to remember that one brief may not fit all audiences, but it may be as simple as rearranging the order of the brief depending on the audience's needs.
Next we discussed the main elements of a brief and focused on the key findings. It is important to put these upfront to let the audience know what is the point of the brief, and then follow with the implications of these key findings. Then if action is warranted or other there is now a problem as a result, then setting the stage for policy change or new actions to be taken can be a solid way to finish the brief. It is also valuable to point out that everything is in working order.
The application of the brief, such as the mechanims to be used to address this issue or to call out who can use this information are also valuable elements of the brief.
It is always a good idea to consider interest groups and how they are likely to respond to this brief. How will each group be affected and how can I help my audience strategize to handling the counterargument are very helpful questions to try to answer while composing the brief.
Sara's valuable tips:
- make the goal of the brief explicit and early
- provide a summary of major points in a box, bullets, set aside in some fashion
- use graphics as much as possible to illustrate points
- be specific and direct, not academic, be cognizant of language - don't use language to try to cover up lack of knowledge - does NOT work
- stay true to needs and interests of your audience
- **strike a balance between professional, effective and informed to conclude brief - need to have a strong finishing statement that ends with something definitive
We also spent some time critiquing and example brief, which is posted to our class gauchospace. The use of cliches in a brief created some varying discussion between whether or not it is a good idea to use them - easy to understand by wide audience/not perceived well by writing professionals.
Thanks Sara for your time and valuable information!
-Kelli
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