The Construction of Value in Science Research Articles: A Quantitative Study of Topoi Used in Introductions

IF 1.9 1区文学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Written Communication Pub Date : 2021-04-01 DOI:10.1177/0741088320983364

Michael Carter

{"title":"The Construction of Value in Science Research Articles: A Quantitative Study of Topoi Used in Introductions","authors":"Michael Carter","doi":"10.1177/0741088320983364","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Scholars in the field of writing and rhetorical studies have long been interested in professional writing and the ways in which experts frame their research for disciplinary audiences. Three decades ago, rhetoricians incorporated stasis theory into their work as a way to explore the nature of argument and persuasion in scientific discourse. However, what is missing in these general arguments based on stasis are the particular arguments in science texts aimed at persuasion. Specifically, this article analyzes arguments from the stasis of value in introductions of science research articles. This work is grounded in the Classical topoi, or topics, cataloging types of arguments and identifying seven topoi. I analyzed 60 introductions from articles in three different science journals, totaling the number of value arguments and arguments comprising the topoi. Findings yielded different proportions in types of arguments, sharp disparities among the journals, and widespread use of value arguments. The broader issue at work in this article is how scientists make a case for the importance of their research and how these findings might inform writing and argumentation in the sciences.","PeriodicalId":47351,"journal":{"name":"Written Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2021-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0741088320983364","citationCount":"4","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Written Communication","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088320983364","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 4

Abstract

Scholars in the field of writing and rhetorical studies have long been interested in professional writing and the ways in which experts frame their research for disciplinary audiences. Three decades ago, rhetoricians incorporated stasis theory into their work as a way to explore the nature of argument and persuasion in scientific discourse. However, what is missing in these general arguments based on stasis are the particular arguments in science texts aimed at persuasion. Specifically, this article analyzes arguments from the stasis of value in introductions of science research articles. This work is grounded in the Classical topoi, or topics, cataloging types of arguments and identifying seven topoi. I analyzed 60 introductions from articles in three different science journals, totaling the number of value arguments and arguments comprising the topoi. Findings yielded different proportions in types of arguments, sharp disparities among the journals, and widespread use of value arguments. The broader issue at work in this article is how scientists make a case for the importance of their research and how these findings might inform writing and argumentation in the sciences.

查看原文本刊更多论文

科研论文的价值建构——引论中Topoi的定量研究

长期以来，写作和修辞研究领域的学者一直对专业写作和专家为学科受众构建研究框架的方式感兴趣。三十年前，修辞学家将停滞理论纳入他们的工作中，作为探索科学话语中争论和说服本质的一种方式。然而，在这些基于停滞的一般论证中，缺少的是科学文本中旨在说服的特定论证。具体来说，本文从科研文章导言的价值停滞角度分析了这一论点。这项工作是基于经典的主题，或主题，编目类型的论点和确定七个主题。我分析了来自三种不同科学期刊的60篇文章的介绍，计算了价值论证和构成主题的论证的总数。研究结果显示，论点类型的比例不同，期刊之间的差异很大，价值论点的使用也很广泛。在这篇文章中，更广泛的问题是科学家如何证明他们研究的重要性，以及这些发现如何为科学写作和论证提供信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Written Communication COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

3.90

自引率

15.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Written Communication is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes theory and research in writing from fields including anthropology, English, education, history, journalism, linguistics, psychology, and rhetoric. Among topics of interest are the nature of writing ability; the assessment of writing; the impact of technology on writing (and the impact of writing on technology); the social and political consequences of writing and writing instruction; nonacademic writing; literacy (including workplace and emergent literacy and the effects of classroom processes on literacy development); the social construction of knowledge; the nature of writing in disciplinary and professional domains.