Observing Inscriptions at Work: Visualization and Text Production in Experimental Physics Research
Chad Wickman · Technical Communication Quarterly · 2012
This article presents a case study that examined how practices of visualization and text production converge in an experimental physics research setting. Findings suggest that visuals communicate meaning and become persuasive through their ability to index in different ways the technical dimensions of laboratory work. The author argues that examining the coproduction of visuals and texts in the scientific workplace contributes insights into the technical objectives and rhetorical motives they are designed to serve.