Interacting With Audiences: Social Influences on the Production of Scientific Writing

Blakeslee, Ann M.

Routledge

Interacting With Audiences: Social Influences on the Production of Scientific Writing (Rhetoric, Knowledge, and Society Series)

This distinctive monograph examines the dynamic rhetorical processes by which scientists shape, negotiate, and position their work within an interdisciplinary community. Author Ann M. Blakeslee studies the everyday rhetorical practices of a group of condensed matter theoretical physicists, and presents here the first substantial qualitative study of the planning and implementation of discursive practices by a group of scientists. This volume also represents one of the first studies to use situated cognition and learning theory to study how knowledge of a domain's discursive practices is acquired by newcomers. Unlike previous studies of scientists' rhetorical practices, which have focused primarily on the finished or published texts, Blakeslee's involvement with the physicists as they engaged in the composing processes--from jotting down planning notes through publishing a scientific paper--suggests an alternative view of audience based on cooperative interaction between authors and their interlocutors. From this innovative perspective, functional knowledge of audiences comes only by entering into some community of practice, in which readers also become self-defining interlocutors and even participants in joint projects. Blakeslee's research follows the physicists' work into communal, interactive dynamics, looking at their overt attempts to get feedback from members of their audiences, what that feedback was, and how they responded to it. This work addresses and extends a model for audience analysis that consists of two primary operations: getting to know and understand one's interlocutors, and determining how to reach and influence them. In doing so, it offers important insights into the dissemination of scientific information, and thus will be of great interest to scholars and students in the areas of rhetoric of science and technology, composition, rhetorical theory, and scientific writing.

Interacting With Audiences (Rhetoric, Knowledge, and Society Series)

Literature & Fiction

Becoming a Writing Researcher

Becoming a Writing Researcher effectively guides students through the stages of conducting qualitative writing research, from the initial step of seeing themselves as researchers, to identifying research questions, selecting appropriate tools, conducting the research, and interpreting and reporting the findings. Authors Ann M. Blakeslee and Cathy Fleischer describe various qualitative methods and provide readers with examples of real-world applications. Exercises and activities, as well as anecdotes from both novice and seasoned researchers, serve to acquaint readers thoroughly with the practice of carrying out research for scholarly or professional purposes. The textbook introduces students to research methods in a gradual and contextualized manner. Each chapter opens with a discussion of general issues regarding a particular portion of the research process, followed by a consideration of the various physical, conceptual, and strategic tools that allow a beginning researcher to conduct that part of the process. Sections within each chapter also cover: <ul>
<li>personal and theoretical perspectives and biases that influence specific stages of the research process</li> <li>ethical issues associated with phases of the research process</li> <li>the identity, ethos, and experiences of the researcher.</li>
</ul>
Becoming a Writing Researcher is an essential text for all novice researchers, and is well suited for use in graduate-level research methods courses in composition and technical communication. It is also ideal for use in other disciplines with strong qualitative methodology research programs, including education.

Politics & Social Sciences

Blakeslee, Ann

Fleischer, Cathy

Social Sciences

Interacting with Audiences: Social Influences on the Production of Scientific Writing

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