Written Communication Apr 2000

Research as Social Practice

CARL G. HERNDL ; CYNTHIA A. NAHRWOLD

Abstract

Most discussions of qualitative research organize research methodologies according to their place in a set of research paradigms identified by epistemological and ontological commitments. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu, the authors argue for a theory of research as social practice in which researchers' purposes are determined not by philosophical paradigms but by their commitments to specific forms of social action. The authors offer a model of research practices organized according to their relationship to social power rather than abstract paradigms. From this perspective, the dilemmas presented by recent postmodern critiques of representation, the inclusion and co-optation of participants' voices, and validity become a question of ethics. The authors explore the problems of postmodern ethics and qualitative research through the work of Bauman.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2000-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088300017002004
Open Access
Closed
Topics
qualitative research multimodality voice and style

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (13)

  1. Phelps (2022)
    Concomitant Ethics: Institutional Review Boards and Technical and Professional …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Phelps (2021)
    The Transformative Paradigm: Equipping Technical Communication Researchers for …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Edenfield (2019)
    Research in Cooperatives: Developing a Politically Conscious Research Methodology
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. St.Amant et al. (2016)
    Addressing the Incommensurable
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Rawlins et al. (2014)
    Agency and Interactive Data Displays: Internet Graphics as Co-Created Rhetorica…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 13 →
  1. Read (2011)
    The Mundane, Power, and Symmetry: A Reading of the Field with Dorothy Winsor an…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Mirel et al. (2008)
    Researching Telemedicine: Capturing Complex Clinical Interactions with a Simple…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Koerber (2005)
    “You Just Don’t See Enough Normal”
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Cross (2004)
    Protecting the Voices of Our Research
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Geisler (2004)
    How ought we to understand the concept of rhetorical agency? Report from the ARS
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  6. Barton (2004)
    Discourse Methods and Critical Practice in Professional Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Faber (2003)
    Creating Rhetorical Stability in Corporate University Discourse
    Written Communication
  8. Dubinsky (2002)
    More than a Knack: Techne & Teaching Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (10)

  1. WINSOR (1999)
    Genre and Activity Systems
    Written Communication
  2. SAUER (1998)
    Embodied Knowledge
    Written Communication
  3. SULLIVAN (1997)
    Dysfunctional Workers, Functional Texts
    Written Communication
  4. Dorazio et al. (1997)
    Research in Context: Ethnographic Usability
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Blakeslee et al. (1996)
    Evaluating Qualitative Inquiry in Technical and Scientific Communication: Towar…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 10 →
  1. Blyler (1995)
    Research as ideology in professional communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. McCARTHY et al. (1994)
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    Written Communication
  3. CINTRON (1993)
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    Written Communication
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    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
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    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Also cites 22 works outside this index ↓
  1. Anderson, P. V.
    New essays in technical and scientific communication: Research, theory, practice
     ↗
  2. Bauman, Z.
    Intimations of postmodernity
     ↗
  3. Bauman, Z.
    Postmodern ethics
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/377477
     ↗
  5. Bourdieu, P.
    Homo academicus
     ↗
  6. 10.5840/ajs199181/229
     ↗
  7. Foucault, M.
    The archaeology of knowledge
     ↗
  8. Goffman, E.
    Relations in public: Microstudies of the public order
     ↗
  9. 10.2307/1354155
     ↗
  10. Harvey, D.
    The condition of postmodernity
     ↗
  11. 10.2307/378107
     ↗
  12. 10.2307/358988
     ↗
  13. Laclau, E.
    Hegemony and socialist strategy: Towards a radical democratic politics
     ↗
  14. Lather, P.
    Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the postmodern
     ↗
  15. 10.1109/47.387772
     ↗
  16. Lyotard, J.
    The postmodern condition
     ↗
  17. Schratz, M.
    Research as social change: New opportunities for qualitative research
     ↗
  18. 10.2307/358354
     ↗
  19. Van Maanen, J.
    Tales of the field: On writing ethnography
     ↗
  20. 10.2307/358292
     ↗
  21. Williams, R.
    The long revolution
     ↗
  22. 10.1109/47.238054
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 37 View in citation network →

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