1. The research question drives the essay. It determines the focus and your categories of analysis. to present a research question, you do not need to write "my research question is. . ." - but you do need to make clear, in specific terms, the focus, categories of analysis, and the purpose of your study.
2. Writing into what you know and getting your best approximation of what you are thinking puts you in a position for feedback. Lots of you felt "fuzzy" about what you were expected to do - and writing this paper created an opportunity for you to receive feedback on what fit the assignment expectations, and what was not quite on the mark.
3. The essay needs to include lots of specific examples from the data to illustrate/"prove" the points you want to make regarding your research question.
The form for presenting examples is as follows.
- Set up a point relevant to your research question.
- Present a chunk of data from your transcript, observations, or other source. Use to format for block quotes (see Purdue OWL).
- Discuss the transcript/data excerpt by making specific references to language in the quote. Make statements about what the quote as a whole/and the particular language moves show with respect to your research question.
Discourse= identity
discourse= the way a group of people use language
Discourse Community= a group of people who share an identity which includes the way they talk, their belief systems, and their literate practices.
This includes creating the right stance toward your research participants, data, and readers. Writing studies tends to relate to participants from the ethnographic perspective, where the focus is on understanding their world view from their perspective (without judging it as correct/incorrect or as right/wrong).
You did a GREAT job on this project, and I am well aware that it was challenging to write an essay were you were unsure of the discourse, the focus, and the content! Good job turning in great essays, and I am hoping the feedback will allow you to continue to gather confidence and expertise which you can then apply to your research project.
GRADES FOR SHORT ANALYSIS PROJECTS: As stated in class, if you receive a higher grade on your research project essay, you will receive that score for your short analysis. My reasoning is that if you have learned more about writing research essays and are able to apply it in the research essay, I will give you credit for that learning.
Creating transcripts/analyzing data.
We spent the rest of class looking at some of the data you have collected (posted on your blogs), noting the forms in your transcripts, and talking through processes for coming up with categories for analysis or looking for features of the data.
As pointed out in this discussion, analyzing data I a cyclical process. Researchers often begin by looking at their data in light of their research question, but then, once they have spent some time with the data and noticed patterns, they often modify their research question => which sends them back to their data with new perspectives, which may again lead to modifying the research question.
After your presentations, I directed you to the Sample transcript and the Edited transcript, and we talked through a process for analyzing your "raw" data by looking for (and analyzing) "stories". We then noted how the form of the data's representation changes in terms of the researcher's interpretations for what the data "shows." Good participation in this discussion!
For next class:
Bring your permission forms if you have not turned them in already
In-class workshop on writing the literature review and
methods sections
Blog 21: Data (if you have not already posted it already); or any section of your essay you want feedback on.
No comments:
Post a Comment