Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jul 2008

Distortion and the Politics of Pain Relief: A Habermasian Analysis of Medicine in the Media

Amy Koerber Texas Tech University ; E. Jonathan Arnett Texas Tech University ; Tamra Cumbie Texas Tech University

Abstract

This article invokes Habermas's ideal speech situation to analyze the controversy surrounding a recent study of pain relief for women in labor. Using Habermas's concepts, the authors argue that distortion of scientific and medical information originated in the New England Journal of Medicine article that first reported the study's results. Thus, their analysis aims to complicate the assumption that such distortion starts only with public reporting and to expose the ways that scientific or medical research from the beginning can be reported to either facilitate or preclude public debate and understanding of complex issues.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2008-07-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651908315985
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Topics
argument gender and writing public rhetoric
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Deptula (2025)
    One Size Does Not Fit All: How Clinical Pain Assessment Scales and Tools Mask C…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Leake (2012)
    Science as Sound Bites: The Lancet Iraq Casualty Reports and Prefigured Accommodation
    Technical Communication Quarterly

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CrossRef global citation count: 5 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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