Understanding written comments on mail questionnaires: A rhetorical analysis

Informed by social constructionist philosophies and discourse theories, this paper presents a rhetorical analysis of comments written by respondents on mail questionnaires obtained in a survey of Vermont permanent and seasonal residents. A notable feature of the comments was their assertiveness, and so rhetorical analysis – the study of persuasive communication – was used to study the structural forms, nature of arguments and claims, and stylistic features of the texts. The inductive analysis revealed six types of text organization that varied in levels of rhetorical discourse. Different kinds of argumentation strategies and claims were associated with each form, and distinct linguistic styles were used to embellish the arguments. This study advances interpretive discourse analysis in outdoor recreation research, illustrating how people use language strategically in an effort to achieve effects in readers, and informs managers who draw insight from survey research.Management implicationsHow should researchers and managers interpret the comments written by respondents on mail questionnaires? This paper describes a process of discourse analysis that theorizes survey research as a rhetorical situation in which respondents and researchers are separated in time and space. This research will sensitize researchers and managers to the discursive qualities of survey research, showing how written comments provided by survey respondents can take various structural forms, and use identifiable claims and styles. Analyses of these discourses can help strengthen survey research by offering new ways to analyze remote communications in recreation resource management and tourism, and offer nuanced appreciation of how people interact with resource places.