Dr. Harvey Lillywhite
✪ I S S U E ✪
an area of shared interest between reader and writer
7 Aspects of Any Text that Affect
Usefulness and Readability
The HOCs—Higher Order Concerns
• Content (questions, answers, support)
• Organization (answer first, middle, last?)
• Document Design
The LOCs—Lower Order Concerns
• Paragraphs (Topic first, middle, last?)
• Sentences (logical sentence core)
• Word Choice (accuracy, tone)
• Mechanics (punctuation, spelling, etc.)
Writing is 90% about the CONTENT
10% about the PRESENTATION…
the way a cargo ship is 90% about the cargo
and 10% about the ship
(unless the ship sinks)
CONTENT COMES
FROM YOUR READER’S QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE ISSUE IN QUESTION.
Potential Gaps
in a Report
 between reader-questions & answers
 between the objective and the finding
 between criteria and condition
 between a recommendation and the cause
a smart pig
What’s the difference between
MESSAGE SOUNDNESS and MESSAGE PRESETATION?
MESSAGE SOUNDNESS =
• a clear ISSUE
• OBJECTIVES that assess the issue appropriately
• FINDINGS that directly address the objectives
• a robust METHODOLOGY
• sufficient/appropriate EVIDENCE
• the 4 ELEMENTS OF A FINDING
• RECOMMENDATIONS that track back to CAUSE
The 4 Elements as a
3-Part Critical-Thinking Process
1. Is there a GAP?
2. Is the GAP a PROBLEM?
3. Why did the problem
occur?
Criteria: What “must” be?
Condition: What is?
Effect: Where’s the HURT?
Cause: Why did this happen?
Generic Template for
Writing Up a Finding
1. Begin with the finding, which should
directly answer the objective.
2. Introduce criteria and condition.
3. Explain the cause of the problem.
4. State the effect.
5. Provide a recommendation that refers
to the root cause.
Administration Did Not Always Concurrently Notify Parents
as Required
The Administration did not concurrently notify parents in three
of the seven cases in which enforcement actions were taken during
calendar year 2015 as required by Maryland law. In two of these cases,
actions were taken to revoke the centers’ licenses in December 2015;
however, the Administration did not issue written notification to the
parents until February 2016 in one case and until March 2016 in the
other, after we had brought these instances to their attention. For the
third case, parents were notified one month after the center had
been notified of the revocation. This happened because management
did not follow its own procedures for covering these responsibilities
when the employee responsible for notification took extended leave.
As a result, the parents of the children attending these three centers
were not afforded an opportunity to evaluate their childcare situations
in a timely manner, and children were potentially left in unsafe
situations.