We will use this conference to explore your topic and identify important background readings so you can get started on your project. The schedule of meetings is posted below. All meetings will take place in my office, CAS 324.
Monday, Sept 23: 2:15 Courtney; 2:30 Sabrina; 3:00 Debra; 3:15 Liz
Tuesday, Sept 24: 10:00 Caitlin; 10:15 Mark Bergen
Wednesday, Sept 25: 2:30 Megan;
Thursday, Sept 26: 12:15 Filip; 3:30 Marc, 4:00 Emily; 4:15 Kristina; 4:30 Angelica
If you have not yet signed up for a time - send me an email and we will work something out.
Review of discourse, Discourse, discourse analysis, and discourse communities.
You made the following observations about what you learned,
ways to analyze writing
recognize features of discourse communities
can compare features to analyze questions
use discourse analysis to explore forms of writing/ genres
techniques for using discourse analysis
language : lexis, audience, context, floor, turn-taking
can use discourse analysis to pose theories
OK - so go back over earlier posts, and think about the "moves" you have learned to name. Good job,
Ethnography
We used Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes to frame our discussion. This reading defines ethnography (more or less) as: the inscription of participatory experiences of indigenous culture represented from the perspectives of the observed culture. This definition emphasizes the participatory nature of ethnography - and the fact that it involves writing. As you re-read this material (you always re-read the assignments after our class discussions, right?), pay particular attention to the 4 consequences of this definition for writing fieldnotes. They are listed at the bottom of the fifth page, under the heading Implications for writing fieldnotes.
In our talk about ethnography we noted that:
- ethnographers need to participate in the culture they are studying in order to understand how that culture works - even though they may never really be insiders;
- that writing (documenting) culture is central to ethnography;
- that ethnographers' presence/participation will necessarily change what it is possible to observe (just by the fact of their being there);
- and that ethnographers interpretations of what participants' culture "means" - will reflect the ethnographer's assumptions (which may not be shared by participants).
The point of reading 3 different versions of fieldnotes documenting more or less the same kind of interactions => was to show that experience can be described from MANY different perspectives. The three representations we read were identified as having a focus on: objective/spatial relationships; an interpersonal or interactive perspective centered on the experiences of the observer; and a relational documentation of interactions between the individuals on the scene. No one representation captures the "truth" => each kind of representation provides a different window on "what happened".
Your ethnographic happening
We spent the last part of class doing an interactive ethnographic exercise. Everyone was asked to get up out of their seats and come to the middle aisle, and talk to people - particularly people they did not know. And you were asked to take "jottings" = quick, shorthand notes to help you remember - in as much detail as possible - what happened.
The "event" lasted about 8 minutes. I then asked you to go to your seats and add your headnotes to your jottings. While you were writing - we made a list on the board of some of the kinds of "details" you might include in your notes:
- where people were standing, who was in which group, how people moved among groups, the overall configuration of the groups in the room
- who talked to whom, short quotes of what people said, the sequence of talk, the overall focus of conversation, silences, laughing, questions, talk inside and outside your group, people leaving and joining groups, language choices
- Chandler's role in the "event", what she said, where she stood, what she did, tone of voice, how comments were received, silences, interruptions
- what people were doing, how they were taking notes, composure, eye-contact, who took part
- the "feeling" of the room, the noise level, the way talk sounded overall
- what people were wearing, facial expressions, body language, distances between speakers
When we summed up, you pointed out that the talk was "awkward" at the beginning and got more comfortable. That is probably true - but the point of ethnographic observation is to IDENTIFY THE FEATURES of what happened that SHOW (PROVE) that that is an accurate interpretation of what happened.
For next class:
Read: (again) Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes up through the sections on jottings
Blog 6: Post your ethnographic notes. ALL of them - your jottings, your head notes - everything you wrote down and all that you can remember about the in-class exercise. Label your notes. There should be 4 categories: jottings, headnotes, things I remembered later, and observations about what happened.
In class next Tuesday we will analyze our notes on the in-class ethnographicevent. You will first define a question, or a problem, you want to use this data to explore. Then you will name and classify the different elements in the notes, notice patterns, and pose and test theories relevant to your question/problem. We will talk more about how to do this in class.
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