Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 1998

From logocentrism to ethocentrism: Historicizing critiques of writing research

Davida Charney The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

Since the 1960s, attitudes toward empirical research on writing, including research on technical/professional writing, have shifted from encouragement to resistance. This essay traces these shifts in light of changes in writing research, psychology, and the rhetoric of science. In composition studies, an initial mild uneasiness about “scientism”; intensified with the rise of process models, suggesting a Romanticist defense of the mystique of creativity. More recent post‐modernist denunciations of scientific methods as immoral have other Romanticist overtones. In technical communication, a long‐standing interest in workplace writing practices allowed a smoother integration of empirical analysis with descriptive studies of writing contexts. However, as in composition, recent critiques in technical communication suggest that empirical methods should not be employed. These critiques too tightly circumscribe the values that may be considered humanist and cut off important avenues of inquiry and critique that historically have advanced both the sciences and humanities.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
1998-01-01
DOI
10.1080/10572259809364615
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism technical communication professional writing empirical research
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (12)

  1. Raucci (2021)
    A Replication Agenda for Composition Studies
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Carliner (2012)
    Different Approaches to Similar Challenges: An Analysis of the Occupational Cul…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Carliner et al. (2011)
    What Does the Transactions Publish? What do Transactions' Readers Want to Read?
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. Moran et al. (2011)
    A Bibliography of Works Published in the History of Professional Communication …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Rife (2010)
    Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Kairos: Using a Rhetorical Heuristic to Mediate Digital-S…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 12 →
  1. Malone (2007)
    Historical Studies of Technical Communication in the United States and England:…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Haswell (2005)
    NCTE/CCCC’s Recent War on Scholarship
    Written Communication
  3. Faber (2002)
    Professional Identities: What Is Professional about Professional Communication?
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Dombrowski (2002)
    Language and Empiricism
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Thatcher (2001)
    Issues of Validity in Intercultural Professional Communication Research
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Thatcher (2000)
    Writing policies and procedures in a U.S./South American context
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  7. Grabill (2000)
    Shaping local HIV/AIDS services policy through activist research: The problem o…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (61) · 15 in this index

  1. Anderson John (1996)
    10.3102/0013189X025004005
    Educational Researcher  ↗
  2. Anderson (1980)
    The Need for Better Research in Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Barton, Ellen. 1996. “Evocative Gestures in CCCC Chairs’ Addresses”. Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Compos…
  4. Beach Richard (1984)
    New Directions in Composition Research
  5. Bereiter Carl (1987)
    The Psychology of Written Composition
Show all 61 →
  1. Berkenkotter Carol (1989)
    Journal of Advanced Composition
  2. 10.2307/377477
     ↗
  3. Bizzell Patricia (1982)
    Pre/Text
  4. Bizzell (1979)
    Thomas Kuhn, Scientism, and English Studies
    College English
  5. Blyler (1995)
    Research as ideology in professional communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  6. Braddock Richard (1963)
    Research in Written Composition
  7. Burton (1973)
    Research in the Teaching of English: The Troubled Dream
    Research in the Teaching of English
  8. 10.2307/358602
     ↗
  9. Charney (1997)
    Paradigm and Punish
    College Composition and Communication
  10. _____ (1993)
    Understanding Scientific Prose
  11. 10.2307/376913
     ↗
  12. 10.2307/357695
     ↗
  13. Cooper Charles (1978)
    Research on Composing: Points of Departure
  14. Doheny‐Farina Stephen (1988)
    Effective Documentation: What We Have learned from Research
  15. Dombrowski (1995)
    Post‐modernism as the resurgence of humanism in technical communication studies
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  16. Duffy Thomas (1985)
    Designing Usable Texts
  17. Duin Ann Hill (1996)
    Nonacademic Writing: Social Theory and Technology
  18. Emig Janet (1971)
    The Composing Process of Twelfth Graders
  19. 10.2307/357845
     ↗
  20. FAHNESTOCK et al. (1988)
    The Stases in Scientific and Literary Argument
    Written Communication
  21. 10.2307/376707
     ↗
  22. _____ (1985)
    Writing in Nonacademic Settings
  23. Felker Daniel (1980)
    Document Design: A Review of the Relevant Research
  24. 10.2307/356600
     ↗
  25. 10.2307/358710
     ↗
  26. Foster David (1990)
    Journal of Advanced Composition
  27. Freedman (1993)
    Show and Tell? The Role of Explicit Teaching in the Learning of New Genres
    Research in the Teaching of English
  28. Gardner Howard (1987)
    The Mind's New Science: A History of the Cognitive Revolution
  29. Gregg Lee (1980)
    Cognitive Processes in Writing
  30. Halloran (1984)
    The birth of molecular biology: An essay in the rhetorical criticism of scienti…
    Rhetoric Review
  31. 10.2307/358988
     ↗
  32. Herrington (1989)
    The First Twenty Years of Research in the Teaching of English and the Growth of…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  33. Hillocks George (1986)
    Research on Written Composition
  34. Kuhn Thomas (1970)
    Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge
     ↗
  35. LAY (1991)
    Feminist Theory and the Redefinition of Technical Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  36. 10.2307/375964
     ↗
  37. Nakamura (1990)
    An Annotated Bibliography of The Journal of Technical Writing and Communicaton:…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  38. North Stephen (1987)
    The Making of Knowledge in Composition: Portrait of an Emerging Field
  39. _____ (1988)
    ADE Bulletin
  40. Odell et al. (1982)
    Writing in a Non- Academic Setting
    Research in the Teaching of English
  41. Sarbin (1969)
    Notes on Extending the Talk-Write Metaphor
    College English
  42. 10.1177/030631277100100202
     ↗
  43. Perelman Chaïm (1969)
    The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation
  44. Perl (1979)
    The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers
    Research in the Teaching of English
  45. Popper Karl (1971)
    The Open Society and Its Enemies
  46. Porter Theodore (1995)
    Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life
  47. Robinson Daniel (1995)
    An Intellectual History of Psychology.
  48. Rymer Jone (1988)
    Advances in Writing Research
  49. Shumway David (1994)
    Writing Theory and Critical Theory
  50. 10.2307/356588
     ↗
  51. 10.1037/0003-066X.48.8.878
     ↗
  52. Voss Ralph (1983)
    Journal of Advanced Composition
  53. 10.2307/281245
     ↗
  54. Young Richard (1980)
    Visible Language
  55. _____ (1978)
    Research on Composing: Points of Departure
  56. 10.2307/374179
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 15 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication May 2026
    The User Experience of Virtual Reality for Longitudinal Writing: A Diary Study of Immersive Graduate Dissertation Composing Experience ↗
    Jason Tham; Rich Shivener; Niveditha Pookkottuvariam; Sarah Riddick
    rhetorical criticism graduate education technical communication archival research empirical research qualitative research
  2. Communication Design Quarterly Dec 2025
    Review of "Document Design: From Process to Product in Professional Communication By Derek G. Ross and Miles A. Kimball," Ross, D. G., & Kimball, M. A. (2025). Document design: From process to product in professional communication (2nd ed.). SUNY Press. ↗
    Amber Lancaster
    rhetorical criticism technical communication professional writing multimodality book reviews
  3. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  4. Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2025
    Review of "Queer Techné: Bodies, Rhetoric, and Desire in the History of Computing by Patricia Fancher," Fancher P. (2024). Queer techné: Bodies, rhetoric, and desire in the history of computing. National Council of Teachers of English. ↗
    Thomas Gurinskas
    rhetorical criticism technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric gender and writing book reviews
  5. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Jun 2025
    Presenting and Making Relevant: Analyzing Teaching Assistant Perceptions of Writing in Statistics Using Semantic Frames ↗
    Ben Markey
    rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis graduate education teacher development assessment technical communication professional writing