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last.updated 6.14.06

 

Critical Qualitative Research


Purpose

To introduce you to research methods that focus on issues of location and power, as well as a critique of these methods.


Discussion & Lecture

  • Using one of the articles that we have already studied, address the following questions: What do you think about the author's research design? In what ways did (or didn't) it generate useful and credible data? What changes would make to the design? What information would you want the researcher to report? why?
  • We will examine what the four articles from Monday contribute to our understanding of research.
  • What authorities should the researcher have during the research process? What other bodies or stakeholders have (or should have) authority?


Porter & Sullivan

  • I am confused by the whole quadrant thing. Does the relevant of a quadrant correspond to how we situate ourselves?
  • I'm not sure I'm buying the mapping thing. Just looking at their maps does not tell me much in an of itself. They seem more cryptic than illuminating, like a memory tool invented by the authors that is of no use to the reader unless the entire article is also understood. This seems, ultimately, like a poor use of a visual aid. Tufte would not approve, I think, of visual aids that are not understandable in and of themselves in some way.
  • I understand how the maps are helpful in understanding the relationships of the different participants in a research study but I am not clear on how this actually is a research method in and of itself
  • Why do rhetoric theorists/historians/composition
    researchers discount the workplace as a subject for the study of technology use?
  • On pg. 317, in the conclusions section, I need some clarification on
    what is meant by feminist researchers wanting to, "draw participants
    into researcher roles and to draw research into emancipatory frames," and how this relates to their argument about situating foci of the studies.

Thatcher

  • How does researching locally invoke Westernized individualism? Is
    it not possible to study a culture in a local context, if an understanding
    of different cultures is applied?
  • p. 285, discussion of differences between US and Ecudorian resumes, Thatcher points out that Ecuadorian resumes often include personal information, including gender, age, personal and family relations, etc., that would be illegal to include on a U.S. resume. He suggests that this is "ok" in the Ecuadorian context becuase of that culture's relative importance of "collective and interpersonal values." But I have to ask, is is viable to relativise this issue? US resume's don't include that information, not because the reader of those resumes is not interested in seeing it. In fact, if you included age, gender, and a photo, most hiring managers would find it much "easier" to make a decision. But we exclude that information in order to remove those biases from the hiring process and focus on qualifications. It is a reformatory decision to exclude them, and one which would benefit any culture, I argue.
  • Is there a method(s) that is commonly accpeted across the discipline that establishes some general parameters for cross cultural research? Especially since this article appeared? Is there a scholar(s) who is particularly good/respected in this type of research that we could use as a model if we wanted to try to do a cross-cultural research project?
  • What might Hawisher & Selfe's response to Thatcher be? Did they
    intend their focus to be broad enough to include a global view, or
    were they first looking locally and extrapolating (possibly too much)
    to a global view?
  • How would Thatcher's argument apply to smaller sub-cultures, (i.e., African-American, Latin-American, etc.) rather than a larger cultural groups discussed (Latin America, etc.)

Takayoshi

  • In light of our previous class discussion about the IRB, I wonder
    about the ethical implication of Ella's teacher's actions? I
    understand the importance of empowering students, but in my opinion,
    that should not allow for mob mentality ala "The Scarlet Letter."
  • Doesn't the person-based narrative form of the basis for
    research in some cases? It's almost a case of which came first, the
    narrative or the thesis.
  • Is it considdered acceptable for a woman scholar to reflect on her own experiences online and reflect and analyze those experiences? The incorporation of Ferrell into the Kaplan and Farrell research seems to be a move in this direction…
  • Takayoshi's points seem pretty straightforward--don't depend on teacher-told narratives alone; don't assume that computers are all good or all bad. Does her article really move the methodology of composition studies forward by making such simple points?
  • Is it possible to separate computer technology from the culture that has generated it?

Research Activity

You will have an opportunity to use the Research Organizational Tool to start thinking about your Research Proposal. At the end of class submit your tool to the instructor for feedback.