Professional and technical writers may work in a range of workplaces, from scientific labs employing scientific, positivist methods; to startups employing qualitative methods (e.g., customer discovery); to government agencies or think tanks employing textual methods. To prepare for these diverse workplaces, writers need a broad understanding of methods and methodologies used within and beyond the discipline.

Introduction

This first creative challenge for Research Methods in Professional and Technical Communication, an undergraduate writing course, calls for you to read some brief articles that define major research methodologies and then to write a 500 word note that quotes, paraphrases, and summarizes those methodologies.

Writing Prompt

Writing for an audience of your peers, using a professional writing style, in your own language (as opposed to using a GAI tool), write a 500-word summary of the three major research methods: (1) Textual; (2) Empirical, and (3) Mixed Research Methodologies. Explain how these methodologies are informed by different epistemological assumptions about what constitutes knowledge — and the valid methods for developing or refuting knowledge claims.

Citation: If you quote from any readings, be sure to cite the sources in APA 7. If you summarize or paraphrase from the readings at Writing Commons, you do not need to cite those for this creative challenge.

Format: Use a professional writing style — especially headings. Use single space. Place the word count in the first line of the text, above the title.

Summary of Research Methodologies

Different research communities — such as technical communicators, entrepreneurs, scientists — tend to have different interests and research questions. Additionally, they often operate under varying ideologies and epistemological assumptions about what constitutes knowledge (e.g., rhetorical knowledge, embodied knowledge, textual knowledge or empirical knowledge) and how knowledge claims should be defined and vetted. As a result, it’s commonplace for research communities to adopt different methodologies based on their epistemological stances. For instance, qualitative methodologies focus on understanding human experiences and social phenomena through detailed, narratives, while quantitative methodologies emphasize numerical data and statistical analysis to identify patterns and test hypotheses. Despite these differences, research communities may share common methods, such as surveys or interviews, applied within their respective methodological frameworks.

Scholarship – Textual Research Methods

Scholarship refers to the processes of engaging in sustained dialog on seeking, exploring, and discovering information and insights about a particular topic or field of study.

• a research method — a method for developing new knowledge and for testing the knowledge claims of others by engaging in dialog, critique, and hermeneutics.
  • content analysis
  • rhetorical analysis
  • genre analysis
  • document analysis

Empirical Methods

• interviews
• customer discovery
• focus groups
• surveys
• field observations
• experiments

Critical-theoretical approaches

• critical theory
• rhetorical theory

Design-Based Methods

• accessibility issues in documentation
• prototyping
• iterative testing
• user-centered design
• venture design

Mixed-methods

Required Readings

Read through the following brief articles to get an overview of common research terms:

1. Epistemology
   • Anecdotal Knowledge
   • Empirical Knowledge
   • Hermeneutics – Textual Knowledge
   • Rhetorical Knowledge
2. Research Communities – Methodological Communities
   • The Entrepreneurs
   • The Scholars – aka Scholarship or Textual Researchers
     • Literary Critics
     • The Corpus Linguists
   • The Scientists – aka Positivism
   • The Surveyors
   • The Formalists
   • The Ethnographers
   • The Post-Positivists – aka Post-Positivism
   • The Interviewers
     • The Clinicians
3. Research Methodology
   • Empirical Research Methods
     • Qualitative Research Methods
     • Quantitative Research Methods
   • Mixed Research Methods
   • Textual Research Methods