Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2019

Empirical Research in Technical and Professional Communication: A 5-Year Examination of Research Methods and a Call for Research Sustainability

Lisa Meloncon ; Kirk St.Amant

Abstract

This article presents an examination of research methods used in empirical research over a 5-year period in technical and professional communication. This examination reveals that the most common methods used are surveys, interviews, usability tests, observations, and focus groups. In addition, the field does incorporate research categories of case studies, experiments, and ethnographers. This examination, however, reveals serious shortcomings that need to be addressed for the field to have a sustainable research profile.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2019-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0047281618764611
Open Access
Closed
Topics
empirical research technical communication professional writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (24)

  1. Agbozo et al. (2025)
    A Black Fetus? Examining Social Justice in Medical Illustrations in Technical a…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Acharya (2025)
    Decolonizing mHealth Technology for User Empowerment and Persuasion in the Glob…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Veeramoothoo et al. (2024)
    Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in Introductory Technical and …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Gallagher et al. (2024)
    Comparing Student and Writing Instructor Perceptions of Academic Dishonesty Whe…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Hunter (2024)
    Toward TPC-UX: UX Topics in TPC Journals 2013–2022
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 24 →
  1. Tham (2024)
    The CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication, 2004–2022: …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Marsen et al. (2024)
    Introduction to Special Issue: Educating Global Communicators: How Communicatio…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Lam et al. (2023)
    An Introduction to Quasi-Experimental Research for Technical and Professional C…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Gallagher et al. (2023)
    Required Templates: An Assemblage Theory Analysis of How Template Character Lim…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Phelps (2022)
    Concomitant Ethics: Institutional Review Boards and Technical and Professional …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Gallagher et al. (2022)
    Project-Oriented Web Scraping in Technical Communication Research
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Cameron et al. (2022)
    Twitter Users’ Displays of Affect in the Global Warming Debate
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  8. Rieger (2022)
    Intercultural Communication: Providing a Working Definition of Culture and Reex…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  9. Agboka et al. (2022)
    Curricular Efforts in Technical Communication After the Social Justice Turn
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  10. Friess et al. (2021)
    Identifying Commonalities and Divergences Between Technical Communication Schol…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  11. Houf (2021)
    Boundary Work and Boundary Objects: Synthesizing Two Concepts for Moments of Co…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  12. LaFrance et al. (2021)
    Fingerprinting Feminist Methodologies/Methods: An Analysis of Empirical Researc…
    College Composition and Communication
  13. Pihlaja et al. (2020)
    Navigating Messy Research Methods and Mentoring Practices at a Bilingual Resear…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  14. Gallagher et al. (2020)
    A Collaborative Longitudinal Design for Supporting Writing Pedagogies of STEM Faculty
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  15. Gold et al. (2020)
    Who’s Afraid of Facebook? A Survey of Students’ Online Writing Practices
    College Composition and Communication
  16. Gubala et al. (2020)
    Do Writing Errors Bother Professionals? An Analysis of the Most Bothersome Erro…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  17. Gallagher et al. (2020)
    Peering into the Internet Abyss: Using Big Data Audience Analysis to Understand…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  18. Melonçon et al. (2020)
    A Field-Wide Metasynthesis of Pedagogical Research in Technical and Professiona…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  19. Molloy (2019)
    Durable, Portable Research through Partnerships with Interdisciplinary Advocacy…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (33)

  1. Melonçon et al. (2018)
    Advocating for Sustainability: A Report on and Critique of the Undergraduate Ca…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. St.Amant et al. (2016)
    Addressing the Incommensurable
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Rude (2015)
    Building Identity and Community Through Research
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Westerman et al. (2015)
    Opening a Performance Dialogue With Employees
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Stephens et al. (2015)
    Evaluating the Utility and Communicative Effectiveness of an Interactive Sea-Le…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 33 →
  1. Cushman (2015)
    “Write Me a Better Story”: Writing Stories as a Diagnostic and Repair Practice …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Charney (2015)
    Getting to “How Do You Know?” Rather Than “So What?” From “What's New?”
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. McNely et al. (2015)
    Contemporary Research Methodologies in Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Jones (2014)
    Unwriting Food Labels
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Suchan (2014)
    Gauging Openness to Written Communication Change
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Burleson (2014)
    Communication Challenges in the Hospital Setting
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Friess (2013)
    “Bring the Newbie Into the Fold”: Politeness Strategies of Newcomers and Existi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  8. Ruppel et al. (2013)
    Using Communication Choices as a Boundary-Management Strategy
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  9. Kimball (2013)
    Visual Design Principles: An Empirical Study of Design Lore
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  10. Wright (2013)
    Communication and Cultural Change in University Technology Transfer
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  11. Bellwoar (2012)
    Everyday Matters: Reception and Use as Productive Design of Health-Related Texts
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  12. Spinuzzi (2012)
    Working Alone Together
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  13. Simmons et al. (2012)
    Productive Usability: Fostering Civic Engagement and Creating More Useful Onlin…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  14. Elling et al. (2012)
    Users’ Abilities to Review Web Site Pages
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  15. McCarthy et al. (2011)
    Content Management in the Workplace
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  16. Willerton et al. (2011)
    Evaluating Applications for an Informal Approach to Information Design: Readers…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  17. Blakeslee (2009)
    The Technical Communication Research Landscape
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  18. Rude (2009)
    Mapping the Research Questions in Technical Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  19. Spilka (2009)
    Practitioner Research Instruction
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  20. Koerber et al. (2008)
    Qualitative Sampling Methods
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  21. Smagorinsky (2008)
    The Method Section as Conceptual Epicenter in Constructing Social Science Resea…
    Written Communication
  22. Spoel (2008)
    Communicating Values, Valuing Community through Health-Care Websites: Midwifery…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  23. Killingsworth (2005)
    From Environmental Rhetoric to Ecocomposition and Ecopoetics: Finding a Place f…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  24. Haswell (2005)
    NCTE/CCCC’s Recent War on Scholarship
    Written Communication
  25. Selber (2004)
    The CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication: A Retrospec…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  26. Blakeslee et al. (2004)
    The State of Research in Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  27. Smith (2000)
    Points of reference in technical communication scholarship
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  28. MacNealy (1999)
    Strategies for Empirical Research in Writing
    College Composition and Communication
Also cites 10 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1109/TPC.2013.2287570
     ↗
  2. 10.1109/TPC.2011.2173228
     ↗
  3. 10.2307/358602
     ↗
  4. Conklin, J. & Hayhoe, G. F. (Eds.). (2011). Qualitative research in technical communication. New York, NY: Ro…
     ↗
  5. 10.1080/00335630903296234
     ↗
  6. 10.4324/9781315538174
     ↗
  7. 10.1109/TPC.2015.2420331
     ↗
  8. 10.4324/9781315303758-1
     ↗
  9. Serres, M. (with Latour, B.). (1995). Conversations on science, culture, and time (R. Lapidus, Trans.). Ann A…
     ↗
  10. 10.1109/TPC.2013.2257213
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 43 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Written Communication Apr 2012
    Pairing Courses Across the Disciplines ↗
    Julie Watts; Rebecca E. Burnett
    writing across the curriculum empirical research technical communication professional writing
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 1997
    Assessing the Value of Client-Based Group Projects in an Introductory Technical Communication Course ↗
    GREGORY A. WICKLIFF
    empirical research technical communication professional writing
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    qualitative research multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  4. Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 2026
    Evolving Information Design: Insights from Senior Experts in Technical and Professional Communication ↗
    Jason Tham
    multimodality technical communication professional writing
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2025
    How Do Nonprofit Proposal Writers Learn Their Jobs? Results of a Nationwide Survey and Interviews ↗
    Sarah K. Gunning
    writing across the curriculum empirical research technical communication