TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
snip
> It seems to me that an enterprising journalism student
> or anthropologist could find material for an article or
> a series or a dissertation, if s/he were to follow a
> writer or a writing project around for a while, and
> record what actually happens.
snip
On the serious side, this has been done many times by academics. A friend
of mine is a tech writer and consultant. She wrote her PhD dissertation on a
three year anthropological study of an Iowa software company. The company
agreed to hire her for the length of the study. The study was useful to the
company in terms of its own understanding of process as well being
academically useful as a fine dissertation.
