Report on my Interviews

Interviewing was such an incredibly useful way to learn about genres in my field! Both of my interview subjects even claimed that they themselves learned a bit about writing by having to answer questions that they never had considered.

1. Three intriguing and important genres in the field are scientific papers (as an overarching genre), review papers, and oral presentations.
2. In a scientific paper, the purpose is to explain research to a wide audience ranging from colleagues to uneducated students. In a review paper, the purpose is to provide feedback on a scientific paper for the specific few people who authored the scientific paper. An oral presentation unlike the former two genres is done verbally and with slideshows and graphic images in hopes to teach the audience.
3. One of the most difficult things cited by both interviewees is being clear and detailed enough in explanation. Because audiences can range significantly in education or knowledge of background information, scientists have to explain themselves with enough depth and clarity that any audience member will gain something from reading the paper or watching the presentation. It's a matter of battling something arbitrary and non-specific, and this is something that is helped by peer review.
4. Both interviewers also cited being able to talk to other professionals as the most exciting form of communication in their field. While it's enriching and rewarding to teach and explain, it's a whole other form of excitement to learn about someone else's work and to take a break from treading on ice when trying to explain things. Other professionals often understand the work with ease, so it takes away a chunk of the difficulty.
5. Examples of a scientific paper can be found in literally any scientific journal at a library or in online databases such as Wiley. Journal reviews are a little tougher, as they don't have their own journals and all names are kept confidential. However, some journal articles and papers have the review papers published in addition to the paper itself. Educational presentations are, in essence, school lectures so these can be found daily at the University of Arizona. Otherwise, recordings exist on YouTube, and massively intriguing ones exist in the form of Ted Talks.