Written Communication Oct 1992

A Method for Analyzing Sentence-Level Differences in Disciplinary Knowledge Making

SUSAN PECK MacDONALD

Abstract

This article proposes a method for examining how disciplinary differences in knowledge making are created or reflected at the sentence level. The method focuses on the grammatical subjects of sentences as key indicators of disciplinary knowledge making. Grammatical subjects of all sentences in sample academic journal articles were classified by a system identifying (a) the kind of abstraction or particularism involved and (b) the ways in which the researcher may or may not have foregrounded research methods and warrants. Findings from the sample articles in subfields of psychology, history, and literature indicated that psychology articles were more likely to foreground research methods and warrants and least likely to be particularistic. History articles tended to be intermediate. Literature articles were most likely to be particularistic and least likely to focus on research methods and warrants.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
1992-10-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088392009004004
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
voice and style
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (9)

  1. Harwood (2006)
    (In)appropriate Personal Pronoun Use in Political Science: A Qualitative Study …
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  2. Warren (2006)
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  1. Wilder (2002)
    “Get Comfortable With Uncertainty”: A Study of the Conventional Values of Liter…
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  2. KOPPLE (1994)
    Some Characteristics and Functions of Grammatical Subjects in Scientific Discourse
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  3. Rodman (1994)
    The Active Voice in Scientific Articles: Frequency and Discourse Functions
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. BERKENKOTTER et al. (1993)
    Rethinking Genre from a Sociocognitive Perspective
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CrossRef global citation count: 39 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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