Writing at the Agency for International Development : a method for analyzing the institutional writing culture

The development and application of theories in writing and rhetoric have been hampered by inattention to the dynamics of the document development process in non-academic settings. The inattention has in part been caused by the difficulties of conducting research in nonacademic organizations. This study developed a method for analyzing the writing culture of an institution that can be applied in a variety of settings and that can be useful both to managers at host organizations and academic researchers. The method was applied to the writing system of the Agency for International Development (AID), the agency that administers the foreign assistance program of the United States Department of State.

The method that was developed was based on an analysis of the "inputs" into an organization's writing culture and the degree to which each input was either "fixed" or "variable." Inputs were divided into three broad classes: systems inputs, physical and human resources, and cultural inputs. Each class of inputs was characterized by the way in which change could be effected, as well as by its fixed or variable nature.

Data was collected through structured interviews and questionnaires administered during eight days of on-site observation at AID offices in Washington, D.C., and was used to develop recommendations for improvements in agency writing practices and procedures. In addition, implications were drawn from the data that have relevance to writing research. For instance, results showed that AID writers recognize that certain invention-stage characteristics, such as technical correctness and discovering new ideas and insights, are relatively unimportant to the successful use of AID documents. Nevertheless, these writers are reluctant to dispense with invention-stage characteristics in their own writing.