Empirical research articles in applied mathematics and economics: Two under-researched discıplines

Abstract

This study reports on a genre analysis investigating the rhetorical structures, specifically the Results, Discussion and Conclusion sections of empirical research articles from two under-researched disciplines, Applied Mathematics and Economics. Twenty articles were compiled for each discipline, making 40 research articles in all. Interview data were collected from authors of the articles and also specialists within each discipline (n=32). In this study, discourse analytical and ethnographically-oriented approaches were integrated for the validity of the findings. A two-level rhetorical structure (Moves and Steps) was proposed in light of specialists’ contributions as actual authors of the articles in the corpus. The principal finding was the different role of Discussion in the target disciplines, which was difficult to analyse in Applied Mathematics in contrast to Economics. The findings showed the significant need for consulting specialist informants in genre analysis, which differs from the claim made by Askehave and Swales (2001) who argue that having specialist informants check the genre analysis may complicate the process.