Rhetorical Research Methods

This course is an introduction to research methods used in rhetoric, communication design, and writing studies. Emphasis is placed on research ethics, the fit of method to research design, the interdisciplinary scope of research methods, the emergence of new research methods, and the development of research proposals. Students will become familiar with a range of methods, including methods in technical and professional communication, mixed methods, and rhetorical field methods, among others. This course suggests method as a practice as well as an object of study, connecting well-known traditional methods in rhetoric, communication design, and writing studies to those that are emergent, new, and mixed. This course allows students to map a variety of methods while understanding the relationship between practices (methods) and theoretical frameworks (methodologies), allowing students to pair appropriate methods to their own research questions. Outcomes of this course are an understanding of how to design a research project and how to support it with methods that are appropriate, feasible, flexible, and ethical.