Communication in 9.58

Atissa BanuaziziLecturer

Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communicationatissa@mit.edu

23 September 2019

National Academy of Sciences (1989):

“Communication is the engine that drives the social mechanism of science.”

Goals for the class

• Tohelpyouproduceasubstantive,well-writtenresearcharticlebasedonyourworkinthisclass

• Tohoneyouroralandvisualcommunicationskills• Toacquaintyouwithprinciplesofrhetoricthatwillallowyoutocommunicateindifferentgenres

• Todeepenyourunderstandingofthewritingprocess

• [yourgoalshere!]

Overview

• Genres you will explore in this class • Articulating the central question of your

research project • Partner exercise

Scientists communicate to specific audiences...

general public

research team members

peers in the discipline

supervisorsstudents

funding bodies

policymakers

investors

peers outside the discipline

cite my paperfund my work

invest in my product

grant me a degree

find a disease cure

follow in my research path

shift your paradigm

save the world

...for specific purposes

Throughout the semester, you will communicate your work via different genres

•Proposal

•Progress Report

•Research PaperEach of these does different work,

depending on audience/purpose

A research proposal has a distinct audience and purpose

Persuading evaluators to support your research project

• Assume that your audience comprises

• experts in your topic

• intelligent generalists with exposure to your field

• How can you make your proposal compelling?

• Convince audience that project is worth doing

• Convince audience that you are capable of carrying it out

The progress report performs different tasks

• Elicits useful feedback on your work in progress this semester

• From instructors • From peers

many heads are better than one!

The genre of the research paper also performs specific functions

• Builds a case; makes an argument for new knowledge in a field

• Convinces readers that conclusions rest solidly on evidence and are valid

• Audience is potentially larger and (perhaps) more heterogeneous

A common schema

• The IMRD formula • Introduction (and Background) • Methods (and Materials) • Results • Discussion

• The hourglass shape • General gspecific • Specific ggeneral

I

M

R

D

A different view on the schema

• Think of each part as a slot which depends on and has to “speak to” another slot.

• For example: Methods section makes the case that the practice used is consistent with accepted practices of community (as described in Introduction).

Lei Zhang, Rick Kopak, Luanne Freund, Edie Rasmussen, “Making functional units functional: The role of rhetorical structure in use of scholarly journal articles” International Journal of Information Management, Volume 31, Issue 1,

Aseamlessargument

We are making a claim for a unique/new contribution to the field (with significant future implications) based on our findings, which were the outcome of well-designed research efforts, appropriately situated in the context of previous incomplete efforts.

I

M

R

D

Previous literature strengthens entire research article

• Introduction: previous literature helps explain what you’re doing and why

•Methods: previous literature may inspire your procedures

•Discussion: comparison of results to previous literature helps explain your contribution to field

The Introduction has three rhetorical moves

Provides Context

Identifies Gap (justification)

States Aim (focus)

general

particular

The Introduction has three rhetorical moves

general

particular

• Context: scoping out the territory

• What is known about this topic?

• Why is it important?

• Justification: the motivation for your study

• Why is your specific study valuable?

• How does it fit into/extend previous work?

• Focus: defining your research space

• What central question are you addressing?

• What’s your hypothesis?

Exercise: interview your partner!

• Take turns eliciting answers to questions on worksheet • When you’re both done, report back:

• Context • Justification • Focus • Approach • Expected Results • Impact