ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the theoretical aspects of assemblage mapping. Assemblage theory and mapping offer a way to account for the power dynamics involved in hierarchical structures, like those of institutionalized medicine, by offering a dynamic visualization system that accounts for the unique contexts in which rhetorics of health and medicine (RHM) research projects are situated. Assemblage mapping complements current research methodologies and methods that RHM researchers employ, like focus groups, ethnography, and case studies, by turning the focus to external components, values, and power relationships that impact a research project and its methods. The chapter describes author's research project to demonstrate how and uses assemblage mapping to identify, analyze, and address research challenges and to build relationships with stakeholders. To avoid a universalizing approach to RHM research sites, assemblage mapping offers questions for RHM researchers to consider as they think about the particular features and dynamics of a research site.
