Examines two leading journals from both physics and educational psychology to see whether the research article introductions typically include statements of principal findings. Indicates (1) a mismatch between descriptive practice and prescriptive advice and (2) a diversity in this rhetorical feature between the two fields. (JD)

Examines production processes of five publication houses to determine how or if requirements for expertise in the subject area, writing, and design skills are being met. Interprets the production process for technical manuals in terms of a process model of writing and strategies for improving the quality of documentation. (SKC)

Constructs frameworks for understanding how organizations may function as rhetorical contexts. Compares traditional and modern approaches to rhetorical context and discusses where organizations, as a form of context, may fit within each approach. Describes two approaches to organizational theory that have implications for the study and practice of…

Outlines two hypotheses about the reasons for obscurity in expository writing and notes that neither accounts for the general results of an exploratory study of the writing of postgraduates nor for the individual cases presented. Argues that a crucial factor is a person's implicit model of expository writing. (FL)

Reports on a study in which college students wrote compositions that elicited their technical knowledge of three topics, then completed a questionnaire that assessed which of four information sources had contributed to their knowledge of the topics--formal education, mass media, social interaction, and direct experience. (FL)

Compares successive versions of research proposals prepared by two different biologists to show how, in revisions of their texts, they altered their personae and their relations to the literature of their fields. (FL)

Describes a study that explored the collaborative writing processes of a group of business executives over the course of a year as they prepared a vital company document. Shows how context affected the writers' conceptions of their rhetorical situations and their writing behavior and how the rhetorical activities influenced the structure of the…

Describes the structural and content characteristics of actual employment rejection letters (sent following job screening interviews) and analyzes their impact on applicants' feelings about themselves and about the letters. Concludes that few of the letter characteristics affected applicants' feelings about themselves, but that a number were…

A survey of 190 academic departments in 34 universities indicates that considerable variability exists across fields in the kinds of writing required and in preferred assessment topics. (FL)

Focuses on writers' strategies in establishing and explaining the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) for the benefit of practitioners and researchers who would later treat and investigate the problem. Uses an analysis of the introductions, patient histories, and discussions in these reports to argue that establishing and explaining AIDS…

Presents a case study of several environmental impact statements (EISs) produced by the Bureau of Land Management. Reveals that to determine a document's effectiveness, its social and cultural context must be considered, along with characteristics of the text's organization and style. Recommends a genre theory approach. (MM)

Examines the processes an engineer goes through as he/she writes a routine and a non-routine document--processes that are strongly affected by the degree to which his/her company has previously accepted the claims he/she makes as given or as knowledge. Discusses the collaborative nature of work in an organization. (MS)

Demonstrates how auditors use negative politeness strategies to meet the complex demands of potentially threatening interactional situations. Substantiates the claim that politeness is a linguistic universal by showing that the same politeness strategies found in speech also occur in written communication. (MS)

Relates problems of law text comprehensibility to the legislative writing process. Describes the drafting of three pieces of Swedish consumer legislation at different stages. Summarizes and analyzes the results in relation to rhetorical and sociolinguistic theories of writing. (SR)

Examines technical books for women of the English renaissance as a microcosm for studying connections among the emergence of technical writing as a genre, the rise of literacy, expansion of knowledge and technology, and replacement of orality by textuality as a result of increasing knowledge. (SR)