Moving beyond the Moment: Reception Studies in the Rhetoric of Science

Danette Paul Brigham Young University ; Davida Charney ; Aimee Kendall

Abstract

Studies in the rhetoric of science have tended to focus on classic scientific texts and on the history of drafts and the interaction surrounding them up until the moment when the drafts are accepted for publication by a journal. Similarly, research on disasters resulting from failed communication has tended to focus on the history of drafts and the interaction surrounding them up until the moment of the disaster. The authors argue that overattention to the moment skews understanding of what makes scientific discourse successful and neglects other valuable sources of evidence. After reviewing the promises and limitations of studies from historical, observational, and text-analytic approaches, the authors call for studies of responses to research articles from disciplinary readers and argue for studies using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies that will explore the real-time responses of readers to scientific texts, test the effects of rhetorical strategies on readers, and track the course of acceptance or rejection over time.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2001-07-01
DOI
10.1177/105065190101500305
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (21)

  1. Rhetoric Review
  2. Rhetoric Review
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 21 →
  1. Written Communication
  2. Written Communication
  3. Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Technical Communication Quarterly
  6. Technical Communication Quarterly
  7. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  8. Technical Communication Quarterly
  9. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  10. Technical Communication Quarterly
  11. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  12. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  13. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  14. Written Communication
  15. Written Communication
  16. Written Communication

References (51) · 5 in this index

  1. ADE Bulletin
  2. Scientific Discourse in Sociohistorical Context: The Philosophical Transactions of the Ro…
  3. 10.1084/jem.79.2.137
  4. Shaping Written Knowledge: The Genre and Activity of the Experimental Article in Science
  5. Genre Knowledge in Disciplinary Communication
Show all 51 →
  1. “Inventing Scientific Discourse: Dimensions of Rhetorical Knowledge in Physics.”
  2. Rhetoric of the Human Sciences
  3. 10.2307/358602
  4. Understanding Scientific Prose
  5. Written Communication
  6. 10.2307/j.ctvjf9xp5
  7. Humanistic Aspects of Technical Communication
  8. World and I
  9. 10.1080/03637758109376063
  10. 10.1038/171740a0
  11. 10.1080/10417949309372912
  12. 10.1080/10417949309372909
  13. 10.1098/rspb.1979.0086
  14. Central States Speech Journal
  15. Understanding Scientific Prose
  16. 10.1093/alh/7.1.169
    American Literary History  
  17. 10.1080/00335638809383825
  18. Rhetorical Hermeneutics: Invention and Interpretation in the Age of Science
  19. Rhetoric Review
  20. Landmark Essays on Rhetoric of Science: Case Studies
  21. 10.1177/016555159602200103
  22. Visible Language
  23. Text in the Professions
  24. Institute for Scientific Information. Home page. http://www.isinet.com/isi/hot/research.
  25. Communication at a Distance: The Influence of Print on Sociocultural Organization and Change
  26. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
  27. 10.1177/030631282012004003
  28. 10.1001/jama.1993.03500150093034
  29. 10.1177/030631286016001008
  30. 10.1080/00335638409383699
  31. A Rhetoric of Doing: Essay on Written Discourse in Honor of James L. Kinneavy
  32. Writing Biology: Texts in the Social Construction of Scientific Knowledge
  33. Opticks, or a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections, & Colours of Light
  34. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  35. JBTC
  36. Written Communication
  37. A Rhetoric of Science: Inventing Scientific Discourse
  38. Advances in Writing Research
  39. Understanding Scientific Prose
  40. National Geographic
  41. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings
  42. 10.2307/378336
  43. 10.1038/171737a0
  44. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  45. Understanding Scientific Prose
  46. JBTC