Abstract

Identifying problems in recent technical communication studies of historical medical text, this article suggests ways for researchers to overcome them. Its approach uses five steps for conducting sound historical research: establishing originality for historical textual analysis; adopting an authoritative text for analysis; understanding the genre or form of a historical text; understanding the intellectual or social context for a historical text; and understanding the publishing and readership context of a historical text. These steps are discussed within the context of related fields of inquiry, namely history of medicine, history of the book, literary criticism and historical linguistics, and analytical bibliography. The article concludes by exploring new directions for research in technical communication and history of medicine.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1993-07-01
DOI
10.2190/0p4q-07x0-r2ev-wrd2
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (10)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Show all 10 →
  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Written Communication
  3. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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