Indicators, Roots, and Cultivation Methods of Imaginative Capacity of Professional Writers in the Communication Industry
Date Issued
2016
Date
2016
Author(s)
Liao, Kai-Hung
Abstract
Imagination is the mental capacity for experiencing, constructing, or manipulating mental imagery, and can be considered the basis for recognizing upcoming ideas that could potentially produce innovative thoughts to confront uncertainty. However, extent researches that focus on the assessment of imaginative capacity are sparse. The purpose of this research was to explore the indicators, roots, and cultivation of the imaginative capacities of professional writers in the communication industry. For this purpose, the researcher studied 18 renowned professional writers (i.e., 6 technology writers, 6 journalists, and 6 copywriters) in Taiwan by conducting in-depth interviews. Followed the methodology of social constructionism, the research was designed to incept a detailed exploration of the imagination of professional writers through semistructured in-depth interviews. After 18 semistructured in-depth interviews, the researcher utilized 3 rounds of focus groups interviews to collect feedback from volunteer educational experts and senior managers to examine and confirm the research results from these semistructured in-depth interviews. New data has been obtained to enrich the implication of this research. By conducting the thematic analysis, the results identified 10 indicators of imaginative capacity in the professional writers. After that, the researcher revealed totally 10 roots of imaginative capacity in professional writers. These roots can be divided into both internal roots (i.e., personality traits, empathy, and interests) and external roots (i.e., news sense, academic background, nonwork experiences, work experiences, professional conduct, stress, and social responsibility). In addition, 14 cultivation methods for imaginative capacity of professional writers were also identified (i.e., reading and learning, observing and listening, nurturing broad interests, acquiring aesthetic experiences, recording thoughts, searching online, consulting experts, applying visual thinking, self-reflection, developing market insights, monitoring process, evaluating outcomes, comparing and benchmarking, and creating a welcoming environment). These results indicated that the professional writer imagination could be assessed by the set of indicators, and they also revealed that these three different types of professional writers actually possessed their own distinct imaginative capacity (i.e., uniqueness, diversity, immersion, emotion, immediate association, goal attainment, rational debate, probe of curiosity, concreteness, and analogy between things), those roots of which can also be derived and cultivated. Furthermore, the results from focus groups interviews identified six themes (i.e., provide students with fundamental curriculum; encourage students to participate in diverse activities; supply students with advanced and integrated curriculum; encourage subordinates to practice new ideas deliberately; encourage subordinates to keep pace with trends by reading and learning critically; and urge subordinates to familiarize with new media and grasp new ideas) from two types of organizational professionals, namely educational experts and senior managers. These themes indicate that each cultivation strategy should be executed deliberately within higher education or the workplace. However, regardless of whether professionals possessing a certain imaginative capacity are educated or mentored according to such organizational cultivation strategies, they still practice their own methods for self-disciplined engagement, inspiration, and internalization, and still exert personal effort throughout their life to further refine their existing capacities. In conclusion, all of the results have been synthesized to yield the “Green Lungs Model” for the development of imaginative capacities, depicting insights into the complexities that various roots endowed upon diverse imaginative capacities when distinct cultivation methods were used by professional writers. Accordingly, several implications for theory and practice were presented, which will hopefully exert their anticipated impact on communication studies as well as professional writing in higher education and in the communication industry. Finally, the researcher described the limitations of this research, and make recommendations for future studies.
Subjects
imaginative capacity
indicators
roots
cultivation
professional writers
Type
thesis
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