My Interviewees As Professional Writers

Dr. E. Fiona Bailey

Dr. Bailey's primary form of writing is in the form of scientific journals and articles based on the research that she does here at the University of Arizona.

• Here is an article she wrote on respiratory function.
• Here is an article on electromyographic function in adults.

The Scientific Journal

Both of the above documents are in the genre of scientific journals. What makes the scientific journal it's own unique genre is the fact that it includes certain conventions that other pieces of writing doesn't include. The conventions are listed below:

• An abstract, or a summary of the journal
• The method for the experiment being written about
• Tables or charts, featuring data collected in the experiment
• Results for the experiment
• Discussion about what the results of the experiment mean
• Very scientific language

StFX "StFX Physical Sciences Lab" 03/28/2005 via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain Dedication license

Context

The context of the two journals is extremely important in understanding what they mean for the reader of them. Below is an assessment of the context surrounding the journals.

• Both of the above articles are recent, one published in 2014 and the other in 2015.
• The articles are given in the format of a scientific journal or article, which the conventions for are listed above. 
• Both of the articles are written from a very objective point of view, so I would say that it is possible that the author didn't have a specific view on the topic. It's not really something that someone would have a view on, as it is mostly just factual information.
• Both of the articles are related to human health, so I would say that both of the articles and the research that they are based on, are sort of a response to some of the health concerns that we have here in America. For one, it is the analysis of how hypertension can be cured, and for the other, it's about a certain bodily process that occurs in healthy adults.
• The primary audience for these pieces would be anyone who is interested in physiology, who is interested in the experience, who is maybe a physiologist themselves, or someone who the found information may affect. Obviously these people would have to have some sort of scientific background, as the articles are extremely complex. 
• This particular article was published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
• These particular texts stand alone, as they are both separate experiments that were done by the research group. They do not depend on any other texts or relate to any others.

Message

The overall message of the piece, I would say, is just to inform a particular audience about something that was discovered or researched in a laboratory setting. I decided this based on the information that was present in each of the articles, as well as based on the abstract included in each of the articles which clearly states the purpose of the experiment. Also, in each of the pieces, there is a discussion of results, and I feel as if the discussion in both of these really talks about what the information found in the experiment means.

Purpose

The purpose of each of these pieces is to discuss in detail the process of an experiment and what the experiment means as far as the results go. Based on the information that is present in each of the scientific journals, we can see this, as each has the experimental process and the results as well as a discussion of what the results means.

Dr. Margaret Wilkes

Dr. Wilkes's primary form of writing is in presentations, which she said she will link me to during our interview on Monday. However, until then I have found a scientific journal that she was a part of writing.

• The scientific journal can be viewed here.
• Once I receive the links for the presentations, I will link them here.

The Scientific Journal

The conventions for the scientific journal are listed above in the titled section under Dr. Bailey's name.

Presentations

The conventions of the presentation are a little different than those of the scientific journal, as the nature of the two genres are completely different. 

Unlike the journal, the presentation is something that happens live, and with less review. The journal must be reviewed to be published, but the presentation can be given without as strict of peer review. 

Often, the presentation would be given based on the results that were explained in a journal, so in that way, they are related. 

In a presentation, it is likely that the author would explain in more detail the results of the experiments and how they will affect things. 

Context

• The article was written in 2005.
• This article was published in a scientific journal.
• Because this article gives specific details as to how a particular medicine helps the treatment of an illness, the audience would probably have had an excited response to it. Because the experiment was successful, I would also imagine that the authors of the piece may have had more of a positive view on it.
• This article is about treatment of a particular lung disease, so historically, it is ground-breaking for the people who suffer from this particular disease. 
• The main audience of this piece would be someone who either has an interest in medicine or rheumatology, or has a scientific background and is interested in the particular topic being covered.
• This article was published in Arthritis Rheumatology, a journal dedicated to the practice of rheumatology.
• Any other journal or anything that is related to the topic of healing this particular lung disease would be related to this text. This journal however, stands alone. It is not a reaction to other papers, but rather a stand-alone study that someone else might have a reaction to.

Message/Purpose

The message and the purpose of this particular article are similar. This article was intended to inform an audience about how the treatment of a particular disease was done experimentally, and about how whether or not it worked. The reason that this is the purpose of the article is that the whole entire article is completely dedicated to stating the experiment itself and the results of it.