Analyzes as to style 200 samples of electronic mail memorandums gathered from 4 organizations. Counts systematically textual features such as sentence and paragraph length, grammatical sentence types, sentence openers, and diction to examine patterns of rhetorical choice common to electronic mail. Finds that writers combined elements of…

Draws on theories of situated learning in a study that compared novices learning written genres in two different institutional settings within similar disciplines: university students in public administration, and graduate student interns in government agencies. Concludes when students move from the university to the workplace, they have to learn…

Uses a systems approach to organizational theory to argue that technical communicators function as "boundary spanners," who make sense of and disseminate information required for coordination between organizational groups, and for effective responses to the environment. (JAD)

Discusses the way in which letters sent to Thomas Edison following the report that he had solved the problem of incandescent lighting reveal the many discursive worlds that Edison's work touched. Claims these letters indicate how a technological accomplishment is also a multiple, complex social, and communicative accomplishment, creating place and…

Finds that case assignments used in a college business composition course generally produced more effective writing products than did traditional model assignments. Suggests that the writing processes and attitudes involved in the case assignments were highly sensitive to audience and context, whereas those involved in the traditional assignments…

Analyzes the recognition, development, and use of the power of persuasion in American sales letters from 1905-20, as well as two other business-writing traditions that developed during this period: the "you" viewpoint and the "five C's." (KEH)

Investigates how job recruiters seeking to fill positions in mechanical engineering or marketing are influenced by the quality of writing in student resumes. Finds that teachers must assess how accurately they and their students understand the community's discourse practices to help students enter a professional discourse community. (PRA)

Describes, in a study of an insurance company's communication department, how three written products served as parts of larger messages in multiple media campaigns; an attempt to combine composing processes for print and video failed; and conflicting generic and stylistic properties of other media caused an intermedial graft to fail. (SR)

Analyzes how culture influences the rhetorical strategies writers employ to represent expert knowledge in the workplace. Examines the problems of risk communication in a cross-cultural context at three levels. Analyzes the problems writers face in applying generalized models of communication practice to solve technical problems in a culturally and…

Describes the experiences of a master of arts student in professional writing and editing who undertook ethnographic research to explore ghostwriting in a military headquarters. Investigates the ways in which the military's review process influences writer psychology and the final written product. Discusses changes in local writing and reviewing…

Uses a computerized style checker to analyze 14 direct-mail letters used to market books to a middle-class female audience. Outlines methods for correlating stylistic traits with sales success. Finds that letter effectiveness is enhanced by lowering readability levels, as well as by limiting the use of negative words and modifiers. (PRA)

Examines the roles of convention, conflict, and conversation in the formation of audience constructs. Finds that writers' textual choices to address or invoke audiences are based more on institutional conventions than on either disciplinary conventions or on situational conditions and constraints. (SR)

Argues that managers write within a unique context, and, thus, much of what is known about writing in general or professional writing may not apply. Reviews the literature on managerial writing, finding a paucity of research and a heavy emphasis on survey methodology. Offers six general research questions for future research. (SR)

Presents generalizations about the editing process in a governmental agency. Suggests that editing is a complex, meaning-making process. Notes that the three vary greatly in their readiness to use their personal authority in interpreting the audience's needs. Suggests that editors gain authority by assuming the role of language specialists and by…

Analyzes collaborations between software manual writers and graphic designers to discover how their processes of collaboration directly affect the form of a finished manual. Identifies three models of collaboration: assembly line (linear drafting), swap meet (iterative drafting and joint problem solving), and symphony (codevelopment in every…