Written Communication Apr 2007

Knowledge Consolidation Analysis: Toward a Methodology for Studying the Role of Argument in Technology Development

Jeremiah Dyehouse University of Rhode Island

Abstract

Researchers studying technology development often examine how rhetorical activity contributes to technologies' design, implementation, and stabilization. This article offers a possible methodology for studying one role of rhetorical activity in technology development: knowledge consolidation analysis. Applying this method to an exemplar case, the author describes how explanations of Project Essay Grade (PEG), the first initiative to computerize student essay assessment, made knowledge available about this technology project. More specifically, technologist Ellis Page and his coauthors reworked a key explanatory argument, a justification of PEG's functioning, during the course of several decades, refining and clarifying its key contrasts and strengthening its presentation for generalist educators in particular. Analysis suggests that late presentations of the argument reveal that knowledge was successfully consolidated about a technical procedure Page and his coauthors called “rating simulation.” The conclusion discusses the key advantages and limitations of the method.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2007-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088306298736
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism assessment
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Russell (2022)
    From Methodology to Method in Genre-Based Ethnographies
    Written Communication
  2. Dyehouse (2009)
    The CyberspaceIncrementum: Technology Development for Communicative Abundance
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly

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CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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