TY - JOUR
T1 - A Comparison of Research Topics Associated with Technical Communication, Business Communication, and Professional Communication, 1963-2017
AU - Carradini, Stephen
N1 - Funding Information:
Even though pedagogy is a shared topic with the other two terms, pedagogical concerns loom large in BC research and thus in the discipline. This fact was evidenced by collocated terms, such as curriculum, instruction, assignments, class, classes, principles, textbooks, pedagogical, group, and level. Scholars have researched how different departments teach BC classes [61], what concepts to use to best teach writing [62], which techniques help specific types of student learn [63], and how group work can be developed in online classroom settings [64]. The work of pedagogy is well supported by scholarship in BC.
Publisher Copyright:
© 1988-2012 IEEE.
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - Background: Technical communication, business communication, and professional communication are potentially overlapping disciplines with open disciplinary questions. A comparative topical analysis of research topics can identify similarities and differences between them, addressing intellectual and physical concerns for each. Literature review: Recent topical analyses have been done for technical communication. Historical topical analyses have been done for business communication. Few professional communication topical analyses exist. Some studies were done 15 or more years ago, and one related comparative study exists. Research questions: 1. What research topics are unique to each of the disciplines of technical communication, business communication, and professional communication in a corpus of research abstracts spanning 1963-2017? 2. What topics are shared among the disciplines of technical communication, business communication, and professional communication in a corpus of research abstracts spanning 1963-2017? Research methodology: I used collocation analysis on the target phrases technical communication, business communication, and professional communication from a 4822-abstract corpus. I compared words collocated with target phrases to find words unique to a single term, those shared with two terms, or those shared with all three terms. Results/discussion: Findings identified science communication as a technical communication topic; other findings corroborated previous research. Business communication findings corroborated previous research and identified an emphasis on global communication. Findings show professional communication as a rhetorically flexible term that creates a space for emerging concepts and expands disciplinary boundaries. The three shared communication, pedagogy, international, and disciplinary concerns. Conclusions: The disciplines feature some overlap but maintain distinct research foci. Professional communication is a distinctive discipline that assists technical communication and business communication by incubation of emerging concepts.
AB - Background: Technical communication, business communication, and professional communication are potentially overlapping disciplines with open disciplinary questions. A comparative topical analysis of research topics can identify similarities and differences between them, addressing intellectual and physical concerns for each. Literature review: Recent topical analyses have been done for technical communication. Historical topical analyses have been done for business communication. Few professional communication topical analyses exist. Some studies were done 15 or more years ago, and one related comparative study exists. Research questions: 1. What research topics are unique to each of the disciplines of technical communication, business communication, and professional communication in a corpus of research abstracts spanning 1963-2017? 2. What topics are shared among the disciplines of technical communication, business communication, and professional communication in a corpus of research abstracts spanning 1963-2017? Research methodology: I used collocation analysis on the target phrases technical communication, business communication, and professional communication from a 4822-abstract corpus. I compared words collocated with target phrases to find words unique to a single term, those shared with two terms, or those shared with all three terms. Results/discussion: Findings identified science communication as a technical communication topic; other findings corroborated previous research. Business communication findings corroborated previous research and identified an emphasis on global communication. Findings show professional communication as a rhetorically flexible term that creates a space for emerging concepts and expands disciplinary boundaries. The three shared communication, pedagogy, international, and disciplinary concerns. Conclusions: The disciplines feature some overlap but maintain distinct research foci. Professional communication is a distinctive discipline that assists technical communication and business communication by incubation of emerging concepts.
KW - Business communication
KW - corpus analysis
KW - disciplinarity
KW - metaresearch
KW - professional communication
KW - technical communication
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U2 - 10.1109/TPC.2020.2988757
DO - 10.1109/TPC.2020.2988757
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085664223
SN - 0361-1434
VL - 63
SP - 118
EP - 138
JO - IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
JF - IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
IS - 2
M1 - 9099940
ER -