Process Analysis

If you look at how something can or should be done, or how something occurs, you are examining the step-by-step breakdown of that thing. This examination is called Process Analysis (PA).

There are three reasons why a writer may use process analysis: to give directions, to inform, or to evaluate.

If you choose to give directions, you will construct a Directional Process Analysis (DPA). This type of PA will offer your audience all of the steps necessary to complete a task or process. The goal of creating a DPA is to offer the steps necessary to obtain the same repeatable results every time.  Think of a DPA as a “how to.”  A classic example of a DPA is a recipe. 

Take for example this recipe for Washington Corn Muffin Mix:

At first glance, there appear to be only three steps in this recipe, but there are more. 

The first step in the actual recipe is the pictograph section entitled “You Will Need.”  The picture implies the actual first step: “Gather the ingredients—‘1/2 Cup MILK’ and ‘1 EGG.’”

The second through fourth steps are Prep (preheat and grease or line), Mix (stir and spoon), and Bake (bake and remove).

The tips are actually step five - Recipe variations (and their implications regarding the flexibility of the product): no cholesterol (for those with health concerns), sweeter (for those with sugar concerns), stir-ins (for those with flavor concerns), and corn bread (for those with shape concerns).

There are two “floating” steps near the top of the box:  Contains NO Preservatives—which implies that we should buy this mix because having no preservatives is supposed to be better for us and Makes 6 Muffins—which implies that this is a good mix based on volume.

There is also another floating step at the bottom of the box—the Internet address for Washington Quality Foods—which tells us that we can find out more about the company, and, presumably, its products, if we visit the website.

The real directions, implied and stated, are actually:

Step 1 - Gather

Step 2 - Prep

Step 3 - Mix

Step 4 - Bake

Step 5 - Variations

Step 6 - Nutrition

Step 7 - Volume

Step 8 - Knowledge

Bear in mind that your interpretation of the necessary order of some of these steps may differ from mine.

If you write a DPA, it must be written factually, leaving none of the necessary steps out, but this can turn out to be a dull paper.  It must contain "life"—energy created through the use of narrative, description, examples, all powered by your own voice as a writer.  If you were to write out the recipe for baking a cake, for example, the physical recipe would not be enough.  You must incorporate the entire story surrounding baking the cake: a birthday, not ordering a store-bought cake in time, the cake being just one part of a larger birthday party, the party itself, the birthday boy or girl’s reaction, and so on.  This is the spark that will make a DPA succeed.

If you choose to inform, you will construct an Informational Process Analysis (IPA). This type of PA will provide your audience with all of the steps necessary to understand a task or process.  Think of an IPA as a “how.”  It too will be written factually, leaving none of the necessary information out, and it will also contain "life" (energy created through the use of narrative, description, examples, all powered by your own voice as a writer).

Examples of IPAs could be how a volcano erupts, how a nuclear reactor operates, or how salmon return to their native habitat to spawn.  These are clear cut examples of the IPA format, not the directional, because there is no way we could cause a volcano to erupt, create a nuclear reaction, or return to a river to spawn simply by having this information.

If you choose to evaluate, you will construct an Evaluative Process Analysis (EPA). This type of PA will provide your audience with all of the steps necessary to complete or understand a process (the “how to” or “how”), but it will also pass some type of judgment on the process (the “what” or “why”) intended to shape or change the reader's action within the process or reaction to the process.

An EPA often draws in other writing styles, specifically Comparison & Contrast.  An example of an EPA of this sort could be two IPAs, placed side by side, and then evaluated.  This would then become the overall EPA.  Imagine you want to discuss the validity of the presidential election process in America .  In this case, you would want to discuss the Electoral College in an IPA.  You would then consider another option for presidential election—the popular vote—in another IPA.  After both processes are clearly explained, judgment is passed on which method, in your opinion, would be best for America .  The order of the presentation of the two processes is important—place the “winning” process last to build upon what some think is good to what you think is best.

The same topic can also fall into all three styles.  An example of this type of topic is changing the oil in your car.  Imagine you have always taken your car to Jiffy Lube to have the oil changed, but you wonder if you should do it yourself the next time.  If you read a PA about how to change the oil in your car, follow the instructions, and do change your own oil, it is a DPA.  If you read the PA, value having the knowledge, but still choose to take your car to Jiffy Lube, it is an IPA.  If you read the PA and compare the pros and cons of doing it yourself vs. paying Jiffy Lube to do it, then choose which process “wins,” it is an EPA.

Student examples of Process Analysis—“Invite Them Over,” “Baking Kolach with Grandma,” “The Road to College,” “The Winner Survival Guide or The Headless Horseman and Other Family Oddities,” “How to Maintain the Darkness in a Color-Challenged Wardrobe,” “Reaching the Destination,” “The Perfect Escape,” and “Fighting the Bears”—can be found here.

“Baking Kolach with Grandma” is the multifaceted story of baking this bread.  The essay even contains the actual recipe at the end.  However, without the hints, tips, and tricks revealed in the essay about how to really follow the recipe, the final product might very easily end up a batch of “hockey pucks.”  This essay is a wonderful example of bringing life to a Directional Process Analysis.