This article uses rhetorical genre theory to discuss methods for writing studies research in light of increasing participation of Indigenous scholars and students in disciplines throughout the academy. Like genres, research methods are embedded in systems of interaction that create subject positions and social relations. Using rhetorical genre…

This essay argues for the value of an ecological metaphor in conceptualizing, designing, and enacting research in writing studies. Such a metaphor conceives of activities, actors, situations, and phenomena as interdependent, diverse, and fused through feedback. This ecological orientation invites composition scholars to research rhetorically: to…

In this article we provide a "portrait" of an exemplary writing teacher and the social construction of authority he established with students in two courses. The portrait demonstrates that teacher authority is most essentially a form of professional authority granted by students who affirm the teacher's expertise, self-confidence, and…

Offers the responses of the subject of a case study of composing processes. (FL)

Discusses ethical issues involved with person-based research. Discusses the ethical discourse embodied in the "Nuremberg Code," federal regulations, and the "Belmont Report." Discusses several specific issues in research ethics to illustrate how this discourse provides new ways of thinking about what must be done to treat…

Responds to an article by Ellen Barton against negative argumentation in a prior issue of this journal. Examines how the debate on empirical versus non-empirical research is a product of different, but not mutually exclusive, historical narratives of research in and around composition. Includes a reply from Barton. (SR)

Argues against the use of negative arguments about methodological approaches in the field of composition. Suggests negative argumentation exacerbates the tension concerning the place and value of empirical studies in research; it potentially limits the field's ability to ask certain kinds of research questions; and it risks impoverishing the…

Describes a taxonomy for analyzing written revision. Reports two studies that used this taxonomy and discusses the implications of these investigations. (RL)

Reviews Emig's methodology, highlighting both the timeliness of her study, and the flaws in her generalizations about writing teachers' expertise. Cautions against depending upon her results and those of similar studies, as the final word on the writing process. (HTH)

Argues that an integrated vision of the composition process is needed to explain how context cues cognition, which in turn mediates and interprets the particular world that context provides. Explores some ways that observational research might be used to create a well-supported, theoretical understanding of the composition process. (RS)

Linda Flower and John Hayes respond to Marilyn Cooper and Michael Holzman's "Talking About Protocols," pointing out errors in their understanding of protocol analysis and a study in which the data appear to contradict what Cooper and Holzman assume the researchers should see. Includes reply by Cooper and Holzman. (HTH)

Discusses problems in designing and interpreting research on the effects of topics used in essay exams, particularly minimum competency exams. Reviews current research on the effects of topics and their presentation. (HTH)

Argues that the very qualities that critics most object to in scientific work are those that afford the most productive communal discussion. Suggests that by disparaging objective methods and advocating increasingly subjectivist methods, compositionists may be impairing their ability to improve their own work and use it to promote social justice.…

Identifies some of the assumptions and implications of the current research about writing and shows why they are open to question. (RL)

Analyzes the writing processes of a businessman-engineer and discovers that not all of the generalizations about composing are borne out in the way the subject writes. (FL)