TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
"Kieffer, Barry" wrote:
> There is one problem with polls - who answers them.
>
> When I was working at Tektronix, there were some 40 writers all using
> Interleaf 5. If all 40 of them were to answer this poll, it would look like
> Interleaf 5 was the predominate authoring tool.
>
> How can a poll be done better and what is my great suggestion; I do not have
> a reply, sorry.
And, of course, nobody is claiming that the results are representative
of anything other than the responses of the people who choose to
complete the poll. Generalize these results to any other
population (particularly concerning any matters of significance)
at your own peril.
In other words, take the TECHWR-L poll results with a grain of
salt or 10, just as you would the results of any other
instrument measuring a self-selected population.
That said, they are kinda fun, huh? (Frame's at 40 and Word's at 38
right now...).
