White Papers
After last semester’s research work, we are going to work toward writing either White Papers or Peer Reviewed Articles. To start off, we will be researching the basics of what exactly white papers are, why we would bother writing them, and what the differences are between them and peer reviewed papers. This blog post is intended to document my research and understanding of White Papers.
What is a White Paper?
Investopedia has a very business minded view of white papers, defining them as: “An informational document, usually issued by a company or not-for-profit organization, to promote or highlight the features of a solution, product, or service. They say that they are written as sales or marketing documents that are meant to entice the potential customer into further investigating the product or service in question.”
This definition may have some overlap in that we are trying to inform the audience with what we are doing but we will not be looking to sell a product so there will be subtle differences in how we approach the paper.
Instructional Solutions has a definition that better matches what we are going for. They define a white paper as: “An authoritative document intended to fully inform the reader on a particular topic. It combines expert knowledge and research into a document that argues for a specific solution or recommendation.”
It says that they are frequently used as a tool to “highlight your company’s expertise and a valuable tool in marketing.” We would be using the UAS Program here at Purdue as our “company” and the purpose of “marketing” would be to extol the virtues of the program to industry professionals as well as members of the Purdue community.
Instructional Solutions also has a guide on how to write white papers here.
Differences between White Papers and Peer Reviewed Articles
Since we will be creating a white paper in lieu of a peer reviewed academic article I’m going to note the differences that I have found between the two types of writing. While a peer reviewed academic articles will be more focused on presenting new findings based on the findings of one or more studies, a white paper is written in an effort to persuade the reader to make a specific decision, usually concerning the purchase of a product or service. Whitepapers also lack the requirement of being reviewed by others that are versed in the subject. In summary: the peer reviewed article aims to inform while a white paper aims to persuade. These distinctions were provided by both Digital World Biology and EOScu.
Journalist's Resource also provides a helpful distinction between Peer reviewed articles and white papers. The definition of a peer reviewed article remains fairly consistent, it frames white papers more as a way of quickly explaining an otherwise complex subject and often providing possible solutions to a given problem. Although white papers can be useful for someone new to a subject, they are often sponsored to favor a certain position and may rely on incomplete research.
So, although white papers are often not as reliable as peer reviewed articles, they are similar in their goal of trying to convey research to the reader.
Analysis of finished white papers
The white papers examples that I took a look at were from Infrared Cameras where they provided several white papers on relevant topics.
The first one that I looked at was using a thermal camera to find problematic areas in a structure when using a “wet microblasting cleaning intervention.” It bases the experiment on the knowledge that infrared thermography is capable of detecting moisture withholding in porous media, as well as identification of surface and subsurface defects. Using histograms to easily view the range of temperatures after the cleaning intervention shows that the temperatures are more homogeneous and therefore less susceptible to weathering. Overall, I found this whitepaper to be quite informative on the topic. I assume that I have around the same knowledge as their target audience (somewhat knowledgeable but not quite an expert) so that I was able to keep up with the information without getting completely lost. I came away from this white paper feeling like I know more about the topic but also wondering what they could have kept out since there did not seem to be a mention of an opposing viewpoint.
Another white paper from the Infrared Cameras website is the comparison between qualitative and quantitative infrared. Unlike what I believed when I first read the title, qualitative and quantitative don’t really refer to the amount of images being captured. It instead refers to whether the data captured has temperature values in each pixel as opposed to having merely a visual representation. I won’t get too far into it here but I will say it was quite an interesting read. I had known that there were two different types of infrared data but I didn’t know most of the specific differences. This whitepaper is clearly promoting the use of remote aerial thermography, and more specifically their new product the “ICI Sensor Control Module”, presenting it as this sweeping solution to the problem that the paper had presented earlier on. It seems as though the product is a sort of central controlling point for thermal aerial systems. This paper combines the legitimate information with the shameless marketing that seems to be pretty prevalent in white papers. The kind of person that would find the information presented in this white paper to be new is the same kind of person that would be unlikely to design their own “Sensor Control Module” so that was a pretty good lock-on of target audience.
This final white paper example is about the detection of leaks in a roof through the use of infrared thermal sensors. It basically boils down to “it’s pretty easy to use thermal sensors to detect leaks” with pictures to prove it. It, of course, ends with a description of the specific product that they are promoting, which I’m sure is a quality product.
From reading these white papers, it seems that the primary point of white papers is to prove yourself to be knowledgeable in the field before promoting a product. It makes sense since the person reading will be just getting into the field and the product is often a good starting point. It’s like selling car accessories at the auto-repair shop, people there are assumed to have some sort of vehicle so it stands to reason that they might consider a steering wheel cover or a bumper sticker. Not only are these papers informative, they are relatively quick reads which is nice in comparison to peer reviewed articles that can stretch on for much longer.
Conclusion
It seems that the more reasonable course of action when considering white papers and peer reviewed articles, would be for us to produce a white paper. We would have the intended audience be anyone considering the UAS program here and the topic would (tentatively) be the use of aerial thermography in detecting diurnal heat patterns. While some smaller details may change over the course of the semester, that is the general plan for the writing part of our research project.
What is a White Paper?
Investopedia has a very business minded view of white papers, defining them as: “An informational document, usually issued by a company or not-for-profit organization, to promote or highlight the features of a solution, product, or service. They say that they are written as sales or marketing documents that are meant to entice the potential customer into further investigating the product or service in question.”
This definition may have some overlap in that we are trying to inform the audience with what we are doing but we will not be looking to sell a product so there will be subtle differences in how we approach the paper.
Instructional Solutions has a definition that better matches what we are going for. They define a white paper as: “An authoritative document intended to fully inform the reader on a particular topic. It combines expert knowledge and research into a document that argues for a specific solution or recommendation.”
It says that they are frequently used as a tool to “highlight your company’s expertise and a valuable tool in marketing.” We would be using the UAS Program here at Purdue as our “company” and the purpose of “marketing” would be to extol the virtues of the program to industry professionals as well as members of the Purdue community.
Instructional Solutions also has a guide on how to write white papers here.
Differences between White Papers and Peer Reviewed Articles
Since we will be creating a white paper in lieu of a peer reviewed academic article I’m going to note the differences that I have found between the two types of writing. While a peer reviewed academic articles will be more focused on presenting new findings based on the findings of one or more studies, a white paper is written in an effort to persuade the reader to make a specific decision, usually concerning the purchase of a product or service. Whitepapers also lack the requirement of being reviewed by others that are versed in the subject. In summary: the peer reviewed article aims to inform while a white paper aims to persuade. These distinctions were provided by both Digital World Biology and EOScu.
Journalist's Resource also provides a helpful distinction between Peer reviewed articles and white papers. The definition of a peer reviewed article remains fairly consistent, it frames white papers more as a way of quickly explaining an otherwise complex subject and often providing possible solutions to a given problem. Although white papers can be useful for someone new to a subject, they are often sponsored to favor a certain position and may rely on incomplete research.
So, although white papers are often not as reliable as peer reviewed articles, they are similar in their goal of trying to convey research to the reader.
Analysis of finished white papers
The white papers examples that I took a look at were from Infrared Cameras where they provided several white papers on relevant topics.
The first one that I looked at was using a thermal camera to find problematic areas in a structure when using a “wet microblasting cleaning intervention.” It bases the experiment on the knowledge that infrared thermography is capable of detecting moisture withholding in porous media, as well as identification of surface and subsurface defects. Using histograms to easily view the range of temperatures after the cleaning intervention shows that the temperatures are more homogeneous and therefore less susceptible to weathering. Overall, I found this whitepaper to be quite informative on the topic. I assume that I have around the same knowledge as their target audience (somewhat knowledgeable but not quite an expert) so that I was able to keep up with the information without getting completely lost. I came away from this white paper feeling like I know more about the topic but also wondering what they could have kept out since there did not seem to be a mention of an opposing viewpoint.
Another white paper from the Infrared Cameras website is the comparison between qualitative and quantitative infrared. Unlike what I believed when I first read the title, qualitative and quantitative don’t really refer to the amount of images being captured. It instead refers to whether the data captured has temperature values in each pixel as opposed to having merely a visual representation. I won’t get too far into it here but I will say it was quite an interesting read. I had known that there were two different types of infrared data but I didn’t know most of the specific differences. This whitepaper is clearly promoting the use of remote aerial thermography, and more specifically their new product the “ICI Sensor Control Module”, presenting it as this sweeping solution to the problem that the paper had presented earlier on. It seems as though the product is a sort of central controlling point for thermal aerial systems. This paper combines the legitimate information with the shameless marketing that seems to be pretty prevalent in white papers. The kind of person that would find the information presented in this white paper to be new is the same kind of person that would be unlikely to design their own “Sensor Control Module” so that was a pretty good lock-on of target audience.
This final white paper example is about the detection of leaks in a roof through the use of infrared thermal sensors. It basically boils down to “it’s pretty easy to use thermal sensors to detect leaks” with pictures to prove it. It, of course, ends with a description of the specific product that they are promoting, which I’m sure is a quality product.
From reading these white papers, it seems that the primary point of white papers is to prove yourself to be knowledgeable in the field before promoting a product. It makes sense since the person reading will be just getting into the field and the product is often a good starting point. It’s like selling car accessories at the auto-repair shop, people there are assumed to have some sort of vehicle so it stands to reason that they might consider a steering wheel cover or a bumper sticker. Not only are these papers informative, they are relatively quick reads which is nice in comparison to peer reviewed articles that can stretch on for much longer.
Conclusion
It seems that the more reasonable course of action when considering white papers and peer reviewed articles, would be for us to produce a white paper. We would have the intended audience be anyone considering the UAS program here and the topic would (tentatively) be the use of aerial thermography in detecting diurnal heat patterns. While some smaller details may change over the course of the semester, that is the general plan for the writing part of our research project.
