Note: to complete this exercise successfully, you should read the application guidelines carefully. An important part of submitting proposals for funding is following the instructions precisely.

Evaluate the proposal and provide specific examples of its effectiveness (or ineffectiveness). You should identify changes and additions that would make the proposal more effective with specific examples and justifications for your changes. For example, do not simply state, "I would put more detail in the research question." Explain what additional details you think should be there and why. Instead of stating, "I think this should be more concise," explain how you would make it concise and why you think that is an improvement.

Professor Ann Pickett researches the history of tractor instruction manuals. She seeks to determine why many have not been successful in preventing tractor-related injuries. She was invited to submit a proposal to do research in the Nebraska State Historical Society Museum. Following is the RFP and Picketts proposal (minus the title page and rsum). How effective is Pickett in making a case for support of her research project? What changes or additions to the proposal would make it more persuasive?

Application Guidelines

Recipients of NSHS research grants in 2020 are not eligible to re-apply in the 2021 grant cycle, but will be welcome to apply again in 2022. NSHS employees and current board members are not eligible to apply.

Proposals for the 2021 research grant program must be postmarked by April 1, 2021. Grant recipients will be notified in May 2021. Applications must include the following:

1. Title page containing the following information

a. Name

b. Address

c. Telephone number and e-mail address

d. Project title or working title

2. Short narrative description of the proposed project (no more than 1,000 words) addressing the following points:

a. The topic to be investigated and questions to be explored

b. Thesis or argument

c. Proposed sources to be examined, their availability, and their relevance to the topic

d. Potential contribution of the research to existing historical literature

3. If the proposed research is part of a larger project, include a brief description of entire project, the work already completed, and the additional research to be supported by the grant.

4. A current rsum or vita

Submission

Mail completed applications to:

NSHS Research Grant Program

Nebraska State Historical Society

P.O. Box 82,554, 1500 R Street

Lincoln, NE 68501-2554

Or email to david.bristow@nebraska.gov. Applications must be received or postmarked by April 1, 2021. If you have questions, call (402) 471-4748 or inquire to the above email address.

Proposal: Assessing Cultural Aspects of Failed Communications: A Century of Tractor Operator Manuals

I propose to begin additional historical research articles that continue my research into the history of tractor safety through scrutiny of tractor operator manuals. This research saga began with the collection housed at University of Nebraskas Tractor Museum and the Love Library.

I began my research in summer 2018 and continued the work in the summer of 2019.

Thus far, I have published two articles, one outlining the history of tractor safety issues, and a second one discussing the readability problems that have persisted in tractor safety manuals for over a century.

Additional articles, the product of the research I propose here, will extend my research and focus on pinpointing additional reasons for the failure of tractor operator manuals to improve safety. Based on what I have learned thus far, I now ask the following:

Research Question

What is the cultural background of this failure? How did the culture of agriculture throughout the twentieth century shape this failure, particularly in the tractors tested and heavily used in Nebraska during the twentieth century?

From my research conducted thus far at the Tractor Testing Museum at UN-L, I theorize that the ongoing problem of tractor safety can be understood only in terms of agricultural history and the way agriculture shapes behavior of operators and even how the communication teams that develop the operator manuals in response to that culture. The manuals archived chronologically at the museum have allowed me to see changes in the culture of tractor safety. I also believe that the NSHS archives would now enable me to explore this question from another perspective, Nebraskas rich agricultural history, composed of people, families, and businesses.

Background of This Project

The State of Nebraska remains the only state to require that all tractors sold in Nebraska perform according to power claims stated in the advertising. This law was passed by the Nebraska legislature in 1917. Testing began at UN-L in 1919. All materials for every test are archived at both the Love Library on the West Campus or in the tractor museum, located on the East Campus. These documents, archived chronologically, have enabled me to read many of these files and see the changes in design as well as the intent of design.

The tractor museum has been the recipient of many tractors, the first one built in 1908. Having one set of materials in the museum area is particularly critical: these documents have allowed me to see several of the first machines tested and then study the operating instructions written to accompany the tractors.

However, I now need a grasp of the cultural history of mechanical agriculture in Nebraska.

Significance of This Research

My research led to a statement by Dr. David Hard, of NIH, that my article published in the Journal of Agriculture and Applied Health in July 2010 would be a landmark article on the issue of tractor safety. I am the first person to discuss the ongoing issue of tractor safety from a historical perspective. Because of the significance of tractors to the economy of agriculture, attempting to understand the sustained problems in safety adds to the importance of history as it impinges on manual design and even implement design.

As an English professor who specializes in the teaching of technical communication and teaches engineers, this research began as an effort to improve my knowledge of instructions in American mechanical products, a topic I cover in depth with advanced engineering students. However, I soon discovered that understanding the failures of operator manualsand these persist in many areasrequires a study of the cultural history of the manuals.

Thus, I propose to do a more in-depth study of the history of manual failurefailure to warn and then the failure of operators to read the manuals and follow the warnings. Despite changes and improvements in manual content and tractor design, tractors continue their status as one of the most dangerous of all agricultural implements.

My Historical Research Background

As you can tell from my rsum (see attached), I have completed extensive research in the history of technical or practical writing in the English Renaissance for two decades. I am one of the recognized experts in the field of the history of technical writing. As you can also see, I recently published an article on the history of English agriculture and estate management, a topic that provides some of the earliest background on English agricultural instructions.

Research Procedure

a. Use the NSHS archives to study Nebraska state agriculture history.

b. Reexamine many of the manuals I have already examined at the Tractor Museum and read others as these correlate with the tractor information mentioned in the NSHS collections.

c. At NSHS, study family histories, farm implement businesses, and publications on tractors, many of which discuss the safety issues.

d. Attempt to track the history of tractor usage and safety from Nebraska state histories and documents.

e. Use some of the grant money to make copies of materials and photos in relevant documents.

Publication Goals

Publish articles in Nebraska History and in the Journal of Agriculture and Applied Health.