Mariam Abdullah

Andrew Chevez
Max Yarosh
Professor Bialas
ENGL297
April 26, 2017
An Exploration and Analysis of Economic Writing by Dr. Cindy Clement
INTRODUCTION
This project is an ethnography that examines Dr. Cindy Clement, the Director of
Undergraduate Studies in Economics at the University of Maryland, in order to identify the role
that technical writing plays in economics. Economics does not immediately come to mind when
one thinks of a job that involves writing, however Professional Writing is a field that
encompasses many different disciplines and areas of study. The misconception of economics and
writing not being related begins to rectify itself upon a deeper investigation of the subject.
Writing in economics requires the ability to succinctly summarize and explain complex and very
specific ideas and language found in the field. This can be done in both an academic context, such
as with the interaction between student and lecture slides, as well as a non-academic context
where one may have to explain these ideas to employers or clients.
This study observes the writing of an individual with experience in both academic and
nonacademic economic writing. We have observed the work environment and analyzed the type
of work this individual has done in the past and continues to do. In order to achieve a deeper
understanding of just how exactly our research subject accomplishes this, we will be using
Chapter 14, What Do Technical Communicators Need to Know about Genre from our textbook
Solving Problems in Technical Communication as our lens for analysis and discussion. We will
use this lens to examine how best to convey economic jargon, concepts, and ideas to other
students and individuals unfamiliar with the intricacies of economics. Since this topic is very
broad, we will refine our topic of interest by examining the genres through which Dr. Cindy
Clement has accomplished this in the past and how she currently does this. By conducting this
research, we hope to learn how to enable those unfamiliar with or uncertain about the world of
economics to understand and conceptualize these ideas that one usually undergoes years of
training and specialization to learn and understand. This will contribute to our groups overall
development as technical writers and economists by understanding how to effectively
communicate with others through our economic writing. We will also gain the advantage of
understanding how to convey these complex ideas to people not in the field which will help us
increase our value in the job market.

RESEARCH LOCATION & SUBJECT

In order for our group to be able to learn how writing translates into the field of
economics, we turned to our research subject, Dr. Cindy Clement. We chose Dr. Clement as our
research subject for two reasons. The first is because our group is comprised solely of
undergraduate students in the Department of Economics and we were all interested in learning
more about professional writing as it pertains to our collective major of choice. The second is that
one of our group members was already familiar with Dr. Clement as a teacher and adviser, thus
making her an advantageous and accesibile subject.
Dr. Clement has a great deal of experience acting as a translator of sorts, both in teaching
complex topics to unfamiliar students and in interacting with a variety of different individuals
while employed as a researcher. She currently manages the undergraduate economics program at
the University of Maryland by providing advising, designing the curriculum, hiring and
monitoring faculty performance, supporting and providing the current faculty with advice and
assistance with technology, and teaching undergraduate classes of her own. She earned her
Masters degree and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland and has been a part of
the institution for some time now, where she has excelled and was awarded the Kirwan
Undergraduate Award for her exceptional contributions to the quality of undergraduate education
at the university in the Fall of 2015. Dr. Clement has also worked as a faculty research associate
in the past with the IRIS center, where she managed a team of lawyers and economists in the
Caribbean analyzing the impact of the justice systems of various Caribbean countries on their
respective economies and how they can be reformed for a higher level of economic development.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

Over the course of the spring semester, we gathered information through an interview,
workplace observations, and document analysis. As an advisor and professor at the Department of
Economics on campus, some of the documents that Dr. Clement regularly writes are lecture
slides, syllabi, examinations, responses to public queries in faculty areas of specialization, and
meeting agenda memos. However, her most frequent forms of communication are conducted
through emails, PowerPoints, and faculty/student meetings. In addition, as a former researcher at
the IRIS center, Dr. Clement has also engaged in team writing to create and distribute research
reports. We have obtained a few samples of Dr. Clements email correspondence (limited due to
confidentiality), a project report spearheaded by her during her time at the IRIS, and PowerPoint
slides for one of her classes, ECON461: Economic Regulations of Antitrust. We also chose to
conduct a field investigation of her office and an informal interview. We were unfortunately
unable to gain access to her meetings or take more extensive field notes, as her meetings were
confidential.
We asked Dr. Clement a series of predetermined questions during our interview: what a
typical day looked like for her, how much she wrote in a week and how that writing played into
her job, what types of documents she wrote as a researcher and professor, what writing other
economists could expect in general, and how she explains complex economic concepts orally as
well as through text. Our findings are detailed in the section below.

Findings & Workplace Observations

Dr. Clementss office is located on the third floor of Tydings Hall in the Department of
Economics in the Advising Office, with her own office branching off of a central reception area.
Dr. Clements location demonstrates her importance since her office is situated in a location
where students frequently visit. Upon entering the room, one immediately notices her desk, as its
perpendicular to the doorway and very close to the entrance. Whereas most professors usually
have one chair available for visitors, Dr. Clements office features a round table accompanied by
three chairs positioned in front of her desk. There are two bookcases jammed with various
documents and texts on the sides of the room. Many of her books are on regulatory economics,
indicating a fondness for that issue. There are also a few basic economic textbooks on micro- and
macroeconomics. She has many potted plants situated around the room, mostly on her
windowsill, and has a few knickknacks on her desk. Her degree is pinned on the wall behind her
desk, amid scattered papers detailing deadlines for her classes and projects.
Dr. Clement was dressed in business casual attire when we met her: a green chiffon
blouse and black suit pants. This outfit was very non-descript, lacking distinguishing or
distracting features. A group mate who is familiar with Dr. Clement says that this is her usual
style; she usually wears very visually modest clothing that is not distracting, avoiding clothing
that is colorful or showy, which is a testament to her professional demeanor. Our group was
able to explain the project to her and ask her several questions about her experience with writing
as an economist and educator; for instance, we asked about her typical schedule. Dr. Clement
arrives between 7:30 and 8:00 A.M to begin preparing for her day. This initial preparation
involves a good deal of planning and agenda setting for what the rest of the day will entail. She
told us she spends a great deal of time communicating orally, writing emails addressed to
department insiders and department outsiders, as well as arranging meetings with the other
teachers she oversees. Some outsiders consist of individuals such as the Universitys Provost,
Dean, Senate, and others, in order to make negotiations for the Economics department and secure
resources and funding. Though she does not teach every day, she frequently interacts with
students outside of class through advising and office hours.
Dr. Clement constantly stressed the importance of proofreading and proper grammar in
her writing process. As a professor, her writing is judged with a higher level of expectation than
most other professional positions. Trivial mistakes can make her seem unprofessional, as they
affect the way she is perceived and can undermine her credibility. In one case, a non-tenured
lecturer in the department was not renewed for the following year due to the individuals poor
writing. Thus, her writing process involves a good deal more proofreading and editing prior to to
publishing than the average person, according to Dr. Clement. She extends these expectations to
her students as well; a group mate who has taken several of her courses before noted that merely
three or more grammatical mistakes could lower a papers grade by 10-20%, despite thorough
and well-thought out content. Though Dr. Clement teaches economics, error free and concise
writing is just as important as good economic analysis in her grading methodology.
As far as translation of complex terms to laymen audiences, Dr. Clement stresses that
knowledge is useless unless it can be understood and shared with others. She emphasizes that
researching ones audience is useful for understanding their initial level of familiarity by gauging
if they have a low, moderate, or greater understanding of the topic. This will then guide the way
one writes and communicates with the audience. For example, when writing to other economics
professors, Dr. Clement does not explain economic jargon, as her audience are familiar with the
terms. However, when explaining these concepts to unfamiliar audiences, Dr. Clement stresses
that thorough explanations are important. Personal anecdotes or stories can be very effective in
communicating these complex ideas. In one of her classes, Dr. Clement had to explain to students
of economics what the availability heuristic is. Though this concept is derived from psychology, it
is frequently referenced in behavioral economics. Dr. Clement recounts telling one of her classes
about a conversation she and her son had to as a way to explain the idea. Since her local news
station kept reporting on shark attacks, her son was scared of going to the beach and more
comfortable with the amusement park, despite the risk of death actually being higher at an
amusement park for that particular year. Such misconceptions arise because of increased exposure
to a particular topic via media or conversation, which then skews a persons perception of its
probability. Compare this anecdotal explanation to a more technical one, where the availability
heuristic is defined by psychologists Tversky and Kahneman as, ...a judgmental heuristic in
which a person evaluates the frequency of classes or the probability of events by availability, i.e.,
by the ease with which relevant instances come to mind (1). The anecdote that Dr. Clement
provides is a much simpler way of understanding the concept of the availability heuristic,
demonstrating how she is able to transform complex ideas into plain language.
In some types professional writing, where anecdotes may be unprofessional, or reference
of the self (I) is not appropriate, Dr. Clement suggests the use of short metaphors or analogies
to explain things. For example, when trying to explain economic distribution, instead of saying
Economic growth leads to increased GDP, and thus higher GDP per capita, Clement uses the
analogy of the pie. When economic growth occurs (more money is introduced in an economy),
the pie enlarges and everyone gets a bigger slice. This is an easier way of thinking that avoids
using the economic terminology of GDP which some people may be unfamiliar with. Dr.
Clement also stresses that you only need to explain what your audience truly needs to know and
avoid excessive details, saying they don't need to understand it as well as you, just enough for
their purposes. In addition, visual graphs can help illustrate points when text cannot. For
example, rather than listing the amount of money a company is worth, such as XXX was worth
thirteen million in 2010, a number which rose to 20 million in the subsequent year, then declined
by 20% in the following two years a graph would better display this information.
While conducting the interview, we were sure to take notes, detailing our discussions and
comparing observations at the end of the meeting. After the meeting, Dr. Clement sent us
examples of her PowerPoints, which we analyzed alongside the research report she had given us.
As we read her report, more questions arose and we contacted Dr. Clement for another interview.
Our schedules never aligned and she was not able to meet with us a second time, so this
ethnography reflects our best efforts to understand her works in spite of these limitations.

ARTIFACT ANALYSIS
In addition to interviewing Dr. Clement, we analyzed artifacts in order to assess how she
communicates with laymen audiences. The analytic lens we chose to use was Chapter 14, What
Do Technical Communicators Need to Know about Genre from our textbook Solving Problems
in Technical Communication. This chapter was of particular interest to us because it discussed the
ways in which genre plays a central role in technical communication. As we have discovered,
genres play an incredibly important part in economic writing. Dr. Clement has written in many
different genres for many different purposes throughout her career. Of importance to our research
are the genres of the project report, the email, and the lecture slide. The lecture slide represents
the way in which she communicates to her students in a purely academic environment, while the
project report reflects a non-academic professional environment. The email is a multi-disciplinary
communication method that appears to be indispensable in any kind of economic work. The genre
heuristic presented in Chapter 14 is what we used to analyze these three methods of technical
communication. The four main steps of the genre heuristic are to analyze the purpose behind a
genre, the relationships involved with the genre, the document characteristics involved with the
genre, and the ability to learn the genre (SPTC 352).

The Project Report

Dr. Clement provided us with a research report she worked on at her time at the IRIS
titled, Challenges of Capacity Development: Towards Sustainable Reform of Caribbean Justice
Sectors, which was published in May 2000 for the Inter-American Development Bank. The
project report was written with the purpose of conveying the findings of her group, which
consisted of lawyers and economists, to officials in the Caribbean justice sector on the impact of
justice systems on economies. Since the audience was largely unfamiliar with economic concepts,
Dr. Clements team had to keep their audience in mind and be sure to translate theories into
laymans terms.
Her relationship in this instance was largely one of a subordinate reporting to her
superiors and presenting information in an easily understandable format. Her audience was
obligated to participate in this genre system by reading this report and deciding how to move
forward with policy decisions in the justice sector. The report was handed to us in a paperback
format and has many tables and figures, prefaced by a lengthy table of contents, which indicates
its use as a tool for reference (SPTC 352). Finally, this type of report generally follows a trend in
the way that its presented, which lends credibility to the idea of some kind of template existing.
There is a Table of Contents and Executive Summary, followed by the body of the report which is
broken into two main chunks, the Introduction and Context section and Country Specific
Assessment parts, followed by their relevant sub-sections and finally a Recommendations
section. This format is one that is extremely similar to the one taught at University of Marylands
Business Writing course. The only differences are in the body of the report, specifically the
Introduction and Context and Country Specific Assessment sections, but this difference is
only due to tailoring the template to the client's specific needs.
The Executive Summary is critical and serves to introduce readers to and summarize
the reports assessments and key findings. Since individuals working within the justice sector are
typically busy, the summary not only serves for quick absorption of the main ideas of the report,
but also helps readers to gauge the quality of the report and determine whether to read or scan the
report or not. While most executive reports tend to be roughly one to two pages long, this reports
summary is five pages long, due to the reports over 120 page length and the detail of economic
analysis included. It seems as though there is little mention of economic concepts in the
executive summary, perhaps done so as not to scare off potential readers.
The first chapter of the report introduces it and explains the methodology used. This is
where economic jargon and concepts are discussed, such as ...an inefficient justice sector
contributes to higher economic and social costs. If property rights are not clearly defined and
protected, people must spend more resources on self-protection and thus have fewer resources
available to produce goods and services (19). The chapter also defines assessment criteria and
the reports organization.
The rest of the report details Dr. Clement and her teams findings. An interesting feature of this
report is that it incorporates bullet points to highlight the papers call to action:

Reforms for Judiciary System:

Court Administration Department
Well-documented Court Statistics
Extensive Training Programs for Judges & Staff (23)

This allows readers who are skimming the document to absorb the reports main ideas quickly.
The intention of this document is to quickly convey the ideas contained within to a busy
audience, as evidenced by its structure.
In regards to explaining and defining terms, theories, and models, economics provides a
unique challenge. Schmeidler et. al concluded that the use of models in economics is quite
different from its use in other sciences in that economic models are not concrete and can be used
to explain a variety of different scenarios; in other words, the models scopes can be quite broad
(3). Furthermore, economists Gibbard and Varian have likened economic models to paintings,
drawing, and caricatures; some models are intended to mimic reality (paintings), some are meant
to simplify reality (drawings), and others are meant to present a distorted, hyperbolized reality as
caricatures do (9). On the other hand, as Grune-Yanoff and Schweinzer put it, an analogy for
economic theory would be that of a fable or fairy tale; in fact, some economists have highlighted
the role of stories in explaining game theory (5). Another method for explaining both models and
theories would be analogies (Schmeidler et al. 2014).
What is curious, then, is the discrepancy between Dr. Clements use of analogies and
anecdotes to explain economic concepts in class and her method of defining terms in this report.
The report defines concepts without really defining terms: Trade liberalization would benefit
the country of Barbados by lowering trade barriers, thus increasing industry efficiency and
innovation through the introduction of foreign technologies and products (56). Rather than
explain what trade liberalization is, for example, Trade liberalization would benefit the country
of Barbados. It is the idea that or using an analogy, Dr. Clement and her team place context
clues that allows readers to figure out what trade liberalization is. Dr. Clement highlighted this
technique in our interview with her, saying that some readers, particularly those in prestigious
positions, may feel unknowledgable or overwhelmed if there are too many definitions included,
or it may seem as if the author is underestimating the readers intelligence. Students, on the other
hand, are more receptive to the direct method because they are enrolled in the university with the
intent to learn. Thus, Dr. Clement prefers the context clues method over a more direct
explanation when addressing an audiences like doctors, lawyers, or bankers. This seems to be
the main method employed in the paper, as seen here where the team writes 9.4.2 Resource
Allocations: The budget allocation of the judiciary and police falls under the Ministry of National
Security and Justice. Overall expenditure indicates allocation can be done more efficiently
through... (39). In economics, resource allocation is the distribution of various resources to
different uses; different allocations have different efficiencies. The header that Dr. Clement uses,
resource allocation, is an economics term, but she again explains it overtly.
Dr. Clements report highlights two things our group should consider as we embark on
our professional careers: concision is especially important in writing to a busy audience and
subtle explanations may be more effective than direct ones when addressing a professional
audience. As students, we are taught direct explanations (stories, supposed scenarios, etc.), are the
best way of explaining things; even professors and textbooks use these methods. This report
highlights the sensitive nature of interactions we may encounter in the professional world and
introduces an appropriate method of defining concepts, theories, and jargon. In addition, the
report uses bullet points, something students only typically see in PowerPoints, which allow
readers to better skim through the document. This is stylistic choice our team can employ when
we write research papers in the future.

Lecture Slides
Though she preferred the chalkboard, writing PowerPoints is something that Dr. Clement
had to learn as a professor in order to help teach her students who were more digitally-oriented.
Dr. Clementss lecture slides are written with the purpose of conveying economic information to
students who are familiar with some of the material, but are being introduced to new, different,
and more complex ideas that build upon their existing foundational knowledge.
Dr. Clement says that many of her students find PowerPoints to be ineffective if there is
too much written content included on one slide, templates with too many colors, or unusual and
decorative fonts. Thus, Dr. Clement uses simple PowerPoint templates, featuring grey and red
toned slides, light colors meant to diminish distraction and direct attention to the slides content
which is typed in Times New Roman. At the beginning of each slide is a brief summary and
objective of that days lesson, followed by that days particular content. Dr. Clement bullet points
her main ideas and elaborates on them orally, telling anecdotes and making analogies to explain
difficult concepts. To ensure students are paying attention, she has sometime asks students read
the slides content and after elaborating on some topics, asks pertinent questions.
Dr. Clements teaching methods demonstrate that she is not a traditional economics
professor. Speaking as economics students, many teachers within the department solely read off
slides and do not require participation. Dr. Clement, on the other hand, is known to record every
time someone participates in her course; for most of her courses she requires that each student
participates in the class at least fifteen times a semester, either by asking or answering questions
that she or their classmates present, thus giving them an incentive to do so.
 It is evident that orally explaining and defining economic concepts requires interactions
between the communicator and audience. Communication serves to not only deliver initial
definitions, but also pinpoint what the audience is having trouble understanding and further
address those issues. In addition, interacting with the audience, perhaps through asking questions,
is a useful in engaging in critical discussion around the subject and reinforcing ideas and
concepts. A group mate who took on of her classes recalls that Dr. Clement would often define a
concept based on her professional experience and ask students to read a short exert on the concept
from their textbook. She would then have student discuss which definition was appropriate and
that definition could be expanded and bettered. Thus when communicating orally, anecdotes,
analogies, and questions can also be combined with direct discussions around the definition of the
concept to explain economics.
Emails
Dr. Clementss emails make up the bulk of her written professional writing. She typically
sends out emails to communicate with students and fellow faculty, or to alert undergraduates of
job or research opportunities in the department. Her purpose for writing each individual email can
vary, from setting up an advisory meeting with a student to communicating with the University
Dean regarding funding for the undergraduate economics program. These varied interactions
display a complex system of relationships. The characteristics of the emails themselves are
typical emails written in a professional manner. They are not the kind sent between friends; these
are the kinds of emails one sends to a colleague or boss. Learning the genre is likely not a large
issue, as most everyone is required to use email for at least aspect of their professional careers.
We have had difficulty analyzing and pinpointing this genre due to its incredibly prolific nature. It
exists as both a highly generic genre and as a tool that can be used to carry out economic writing,
depending upon who is writing the email.

CONCLUSION
Through our ethnographic study of Dr. Cindy Clement, we have been able to answer our
questions about professional writing in the field of economics. We initially began this study not
knowing where it would lead us, but after completing our research we learned some very
important lessons as budding economists. The genre heuristic allowed us to learn a few key things
about professional writing in economics, principally that there are many ways to convey the
complex ideas found in economics to those who may not be fully able to understand them. The
subtle context clues method Dr. Cement employs in her research report is the best way of
defining and explaining economics to a professional audience, where as analogies and anecdotes
may work better for other less formal audiences, such as students and colleagues. We have
learned that ones audience will determine the nature of ones writing; it is not only important to
explain information as thoroughly as possible, but also to do so in a way that respects the
audiences expectations. In addition, we have used the genre heuristic to look at the ways in
which an economics professionals uses the genres of project report, lecture slides, and emails to
get across important ideas in economics to superiors, students, and a wide array of others. It is our
hope that others in the same field as us can benefit from the research we have undertaken and we
sincerely believe in the importance of understanding the role of professional writing as it pertains
to other academic disciplines.
 Group Contributions

Mariam:
Wrote the Team Charter & Schedule as well as Letter of Inquiry
Proposed ethnography subject and contacted Dr. Clement
Interviewed Dr. Clement with other group members, Max and I asking questions, Andrew note
taking
Fully wrote the Findings & Workplace Observations, Project & Lecture Slides sections, and
portions of the Introduction, Data Collection Procedures, & Conclusion
o Formatted ethnography
Edited, reworded, & organized the overall ethnography as well as group documents

Andrew:
Task Manager for the team
Conducted interview of the research subject with fellow group members; took notes on both the
environment and what the subject was saying
Created the entirety of the preliminary draft of the ethnography, including all major sections
Chose and applied analytic framework
Engaged in various editorial and revisionary work on the ethnography and other team documents

Max:
Wrote introduction, research question, and calendar for proposal.
Wrote data collection methods and analysis for proposal.
Analyzed and reviewed data collected and tried to understand the full meaning behind the data
collected.
Outlined the ethnography and summarized what needed to be added to each section and the way
the information is organized in the paper in order to flow.
Communicated effectively with all group members in order to turn in all assignments on time and
completed as we outlined in the team schedule.

Works Cited
Gibbard, A. and Varian, H. (1978). Economic models, Journal of Philosophy, vol. 75(11), pp.
66477.
 Gilboa , A. Postlewaite , L. Samuelson and D. Schmeidler (2014), Economic Models as
Analogies, The Economic Journal 124: F513F533.
Grune-Yanoff, T. and Schweinzer, P. (2008). The roles of stories in applying game
theory, Journal of Economic Methodology, vol. 15(2), pp. 13146.
Johnson-Eilola, Johndan, and Stuart A. Selber. Solving problems in technical
communication. Chicago, IL: U of Chicago Press, 2013. Print.
Personal Interview with Dr. Cindy Clement. Personal Interview. 3 Mar. 2017
Inter-American Development Bank and Caribbean Group for Cooperation in Economic
Development. 2000. Challenges of Capacity Development: Towards Sustainable Reforms of
Caribbean Justice Sectors. Washington, D.C.: IDB.
Tversky, Amos, and Daniel Kahneman. "Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and
probability." Cognitive psychology 5.2 (1973): 207-232.