Certification Survey Results

[Chris Hamilton <chamilton -at- GR -dot- COM>]

Good day, everyone. I'm only posting this because I said I would. I
don't wish to re-ignite the certification bonfire, but here are the
results of the survey I posted the other day.

SURVEY QUESTION

Let's say the following certification program were put in place this
year (THIS IS ENTIRELY HYPOTHETICAL.):

-- run by STC
-- based on passing an exam. You pass, you're a CTC.
-- STC sells study aids
-- the test costs $400 and can be taken one Saturday every other month
someplace near you (let's say within an hour's drive)
-- you must be recertified every 5 years
-- STC is studying whether it should make membership conditional on
passing the certification test within a year of joining

Would you get certified?

RESULTS
             Votes     Percent
No             20         66.7
Probably not    4         13.3
Maybe           4         13.3
Yes             2          6.7

ANALYSIS

First, I want to restate that other than membership, I HAVE NO
ASSOCIATION WITH STC ON THIS ISSUE. I HAVE NO INSIDE INFORMATION AND DO
NOT SPEAK FOR STC IN ANY WAY. THE QUESTION IS BASED ON A HYPOTHETICAL
SITUATION OF MY OWN MAKING.

I don't represent this as a scientific or completely valid survey. The
sample size is too small (about 1% of this list) and the survey method
is unreliable.

As for interpretation, I question very seriously whether any
certification process would be ignored by its intended audience. Even
given the survey size and limitations, 80% of respondents voted against
certification.

Possible Biases

Although I fall into the anti-certification crowd, I don't think the
question reflected that bias. With one exception, the respondents did
not mention a perceived bias in the question. The one person who did
think there was a bias, thought the bias was pro-certification.

The $400 figure for the test came from Bill DuBay's original post in
which he gave a range of $400 to $1000. I really don't know what a
certification test costs, so I relied on Bill's figure. Given Bill's
stance, I suspected he had little motive to state a figure that was too
high. While the money amount may have been prejudicial, the respondents
mentioning money fell like this (No - 1, Probably not - 1, Maybe - 2).
If you add up No and probably not for the anti-certification side and
maybe and yes for the pro-certification side, the money factor is a
wash.

I also added the threat of STC requiring certification because it made
sense to me that you'd have to hace something to compel people become
certified. Only one person (a No vote) cited this factor as being part
of his reason for his vote. Finally, I added a recertification
requirement because the requirements for technical communication are
changing rapidly. There was very little mention of the recertification
issue in the responses.

Other people mentioned the need for study aids and a doubt that STC
would be able to given the test monthly within an hour of their
residence. I added these points to the survey question to eliminate an
anti-certification bias based on difficulty of getting to the test.
--
Chris Hamilton, Technical Writer
Greenbrier & Russel
847.330.4146
chamilton -at- gr -dot- com

"Please do not try to confuse the issues with facts!"
                          -- George Banks, "Mary Poppins"

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html