This document discusses the role of persuasion and rhetoric in scientific communication. It notes that facts must be presented and argued to peers, and findings only take on the status of scientific knowledge when accepted by the scientific community. To be persuasive, scientists must make their claims believable within the context of previous research and current paradigms. Understanding the conventions of a scientific community distinguishes professional scientists from students, and scientists rely on collaboration and each other's work to advance their own research.

1. 1
Science as a Social
Enterprise (Part 2)
Lecture 2.2: Adapted from Penrose & Katz, Writing in the Sciences (2010)

2. Science as a Social
Enterprise (Part 2)
Adapted from Penrose & Katz, Writing in the Sciences (2010)
2
1) Facts do not speak for themselves. They must be presented and
argued to peers and colleagues.
2) But “persuasion” tends to be a dirty word in our culture,
particularly in science (16)
3) Findings take on the status of scientific knowledge as they
become accepted more and more by the scientific
community
4) Persuasion presented by logic, presentation, and style (ethos)
- Read paragraph about Marshall on page 17
The Role of Persuasion in Scientific Communication

3. Science as a Social
Enterprise (Part 2)
Adapted from Penrose & Katz, Writing in the Sciences (2010)
3
5) Levels of formality needs to shift to match the situation (Marshall
was too enthusiastic for a formal presentation)
6) To be persuasive, scientists must make claims of their research
believable in the context of previous research and current
paradigms
The Role of Persuasion in Scientific Communication

4. Science as a Social
Enterprise (Part 2)
Adapted from Penrose & Katz, Writing in the Sciences (2010)
4
Aristotle: “The ability, in each particular case, to see the available
means of persuasion.”
1) Ethos—character, credibility, ethics
2) Pathos—behavior, emotion, sensitivity
3) Logos—logic, fact, convention
The Role of Rhetoric (***Not in Book***)

5. Science as a Social
Enterprise (Part 2)
Adapted from Penrose & Katz, Writing in the Sciences (2010)
5
1) Understanding the conventions of a particular
community and how to demonstrate research and
findings to that community distinguishes a
professional scientist from a student scientist
2) As a student scientist, you learn content knowledge
(principles, concepts, terminology) and procedural
knowledge (how to conduct research, test
hypotheses, use basic methods, how to communicate
concerns….)
Scientific Communication and Convention

6. 6
Science as a Social
Enterprise (Part 2)
Adapted from Penrose & Katz, Writing in the Sciences (2010)
66
3) The more familiar you become with content and procedural
knowledge, the easier it becomes to understand texts,
problems, and concepts
4) In learning what and how to say things, you also learn what
not to say. What do you leave out of the research
paper? (emotions, beliefs, intuition, mistakes, missteps,
accidents, serendipity, other “non-scientific” factors)
Scientific Communication and Convention

7. 77
Science as a Social
Enterprise (Part 2)
Adapted from Penrose & Katz, Writing in the Sciences (2010)
7
1) “et al.” indicates several scientists working on the same
project
2) Scientists use other scientists’ work to move their own work
forward—social histories are constructed and relied
upon
3) History, politics, economics, and culture all influence the
shape of science, just as scienceinfluences each of
them (22)
The Role of Collaboration in Scientific Communication