Abstract
This study analyzed the scholarly discussions surrounding the topic of animal testing for vaccine potency and safety in humans. The primary stakeholders in this discussion are the scientists, medical professionals, and researchers who are involved in animal models and alternative testing methods, specifically related to vaccine development. The debate among these professionals regarding alternative methods, which encompasses any testing approach that does not involve animals, has been analyzed. This project looks at the argument from a historical perspective, which provides background context for the current debate and an understanding of how the current arguments originated. The changing mindset over time of using animals has been explored, as well as conversations and arguments about alternative methods. Research questions and prior questions consider the conversation's historical influences on this present day debate and are answered in this analysis. Persuasive language has been looked at, with a consideration of how it is used both within and outside the research community, as well as the influences the various stakeholders have on one another. The burgeoning field of the rhetoric of health and medicine provides a forum and a community of scholars for a rhetorical analysis such as this one to be discussed and the findings considered for other rhetorical studies. This research design project provides a comprehensive rhetorical analysis that uses the topoi theory and a textual-intertextual analysis as a framework, along with detailed coding of the texts. This project shows the advantages of a combined rhetorical approach that leads to understanding a debate through identifying multiple layers of argument. The findings and its implications for those within rhetoric, the scholarly community, as well as the scientific field are discussed in the final chapter.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2017
Semester
Spring
Advisor
Scott, Blake
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
College
College of Arts and Humanities
Department
Writing and Rhetoric
Degree Program
English; Rhetoric and Composition
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0006609
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0006609
Language
English
Release Date
May 2020
Length of Campus-only Access
3 years
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
STARS Citation
Johnson, Natalie, "Analysis of Dialog Surrounding Animal Testing in Vaccine Research" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5465.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5465