Re: Rhetorical Analysis of 4 RHIT Biomedical Engineering Research Papers

Memorandum

To: Dr. Anneliese Watt

From: J. Choi (CM 631)

Re: Rhetorical Analysis of 4 RHIT Biomedical Engineering Research Papers

Assignment 24

Date: 29 October 2003

The purpose of this assignment is to review and analyze four research papers that have been written by the Rose-Hulman Biomedical Engineering Department. These papers were written for the annual Rocky Mountain Biomedical Engineering (RMBE) Symposium. The analysis will help me understand the format and content that typical research papers written by graduate students will entail. My future plans include graduate studies and research in the field of electrical engineering, thus I will also expect to write such research papers in a couple of years. Therefore, I will write about the following aspects in my rhetorical analysis:

1.  Audience

2.  Authors

3.  Context

4.  Exigence

5.  Conventions

6.  Use of Appeals

7.  Rhetorical Mode

1. Audience

The primary audience for the research papers is other biomedical engineering researchers, which typically consists of professors and graduate students. Thus the format and structure of the research papers is very methodical and all four of the papers look very similar in order to accommodate the audience. The intended primary audience will be an expert on the subject or at least be a member of the biomedical engineering discourse community, and the technical prose will effectively portray the information. All four papers assume that the audience has the necessary background to understand the research.

2. Authors

The authors of the four research papers were a combination of Rose-Hulman professors and graduate and undergraduate students. All four papers had one Rose-Hulman professor, and the rest of the authors were usually graduate students, although there was one undergraduate student. The author of a RMBE paper will be a college student along with a faculty advisor.

3. Context

The research papers were written for the annual Rocky Mountain Biomedical Engineering Symposium held in Colorado. These papers have to be written before the conference, and the research that has been documented in them is presented to the biomedical engineering discourse community. In these conferences, researchers will prepare a presentation on a poster, but they may choose to present on a podium with computer generated visual aid. The paper is kept as a record of the research, as well as being published in a RMBE journal and being submitted in a student paper competition.

4. Exigence

The first page of all of the research paper will always have a specific, descriptive title, an abstract, and keywords. The title will draw the attention of any potential readers.

An abstract always immediately follows the title. The purpose of the abstract is to briefly inform the reader of the topic, the objectives, and the results. The keywords serve to generalize the topic, this helps when researchers are searching for relevant resources. These three components combine to create exignence.

All research is current and serves a humanitarian purpose. The research is either intended to improve upon existing technologies or to pave new methods of solving problems.

5. Conventions

All four papers have the same format. They all begin with the title followed by the names of the authors, the school (all four were from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology), and the department conducting the research. An abstract quickly describes the objectives of the research and the results. The keywords come after the abstract and serve to categorize the research that was performed.

The body of the research paper begins with the introduction, which provides some history, such as previous research. The aims of the research are also addressed in the final paragraph of the introduction. After the introduction, a methods section provides all of the details on the processes used to obtain the data. This may be accompanied by a visual that allows the reader to easily compare and contrast between methods like in “A New Method of Tightening Halo Orthosis Pins that Reduces Initial Pin Force Variation,” where a visual compares the new method to the old method. The outcomes from the experiment are presented in the results section. This is followed up by a discussion section where the authors present their observations as well as the pros and cons that apparent during the experiments. The conclusion wraps up the paper by stating the views and opinions of the researchers. Finally this is followed by a references section that lists the sources that researchers used.

In the paper “Biodegradable Synthetic Polymer Scaffolds for Reinforcement of Albumin Protein Solders Used for Laser-Assisted Tissue Repair,” a set of acknowledgements was included before the references where the researchers personally thanked people who helped in the research process. This paper also had subsections within its Materials and Methods that helped better organize the content of that segment.

The authors must follow a template provided by the RMBE webpage.

6. Use of Appeals

Ethos / - The authors’ names are placed under the titles, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is clearly visible under the title.
- The authors’ papers discuss very complex biomedical engineering concepts, creating inherent credibility.
Pathos / - The title, abstract, and keywords draw the reader in and appeals to the reader if any of these sections are deemed interesting.
- The papers all write about new biomedical engineering technologies and processes that will be beneficial to society.
Logos / -All four research papers were filled with diagrams, charts, and pictures.
-Results were clearly presented.
-References were cited, and acknowledgements were stated.

Table 1: The use of appeals found in a typical RHIT Biomedical Engineering research paper

7. Rhetorical Mode

All four research papers had forensic modes of rhetoric. This rhetorical mode was only found in the introduction where the authors would discuss past approaches and methods of research. The primary mode of rhetoric is deliberative. All of the research papers presented new ways of solving problems. The authors presented their experiences in such a way that future readers could apply this knowledge to their research. The papers also used an epidectic rhetorical mode because they celebrated the research was completed.

Conclusion

The purpose of a research paper is to present a solution to a problem or improved method of solving an old problem. The way that this is presented is regimented so that the information is accessible to future researchers.

There are strict rules that researchers abide by when presenting the results from their research in a paper. The format and structure is very important, and it is absolutely critical when researchers are trying to read through results. The standardized format reduces the amount of time spent reading through the entire paper searching for valuable information. Writing a good quality research paper means that the paper will contain the following: heading, abstract, keywords, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, acknowledgements, and references.

The style of writing that is seen in all four of the research papers is very serious and uses a large number of high-level, specialized, technical diction. Some of the sections are supplemented with pictures or graphs that assist in understanding the concepts or ideas that are presented. The type of language that is used is very direct and to-the-point.

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