primary source research

Unpacking Abstracts: Conventions of Empirical Abstracts in Social Science Papers

Faqryza Ab Latif Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description The goal of the activity is for learners to be able to describe the components that make up the abstract of an empirical social science paper and apply them to other abstracts in the field. This goal is connected to introducing students to the conventions of […]

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Object Ethnography for the Real-World: Using Objects and Documents for Disciplinary Development

Meng-Hsien (Neal) Liu Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description As Writing Studies has sought to address multimodal and embodied composition, one area has focused on how objects mediate writing processes and identity formations (Shipka). This assignment represents a final term project for an advanced composition class with the overall objective of complicating students’ thinking regarding

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Emotionally Aware Ethnography

Sarah Bramblett Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description I’ve encountered several jarring writing submissions: an essay describing a student’s family member’s tragic death, an essay detailing a student’s battle with an eating disorder, an essay telling of a student’s loneliness in their first semester of college, and an essay recounting a student’s suicidal thoughts. These

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Engaging Podcasts as a Dynamic Genre for Invention

Charles Woods & Devon Ralston Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description Instructors who maintain a robust definition of text “connect our students so much more with the real world of writing. We prepare them for the world […] so that they can participate in that conversation” (Marchetti & O’Dell). Podcasts represent a digital genre that

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At Work in the Archives: Place-Based Research and Writing

Lynée Lewis Gaillet & Jessica Rose Volume 4 Chapter Description This chapter outlines a plan for incorporating primary and archival research into first year writing course designs. Correlating directly with recent college initiatives and composition best practices, archival research asks students to see themselves as experts, engage in rhetorical activism, and take on college-to-career projects.

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How to Analyze Data in a Primary Research Study

Melody Denny & Lindsay Clark Volume 4 Chapter Description This chapter introduces students to the idea of working with primary research data grounded in qualitative inquiry, closed-and open-ended methods, and research ethics (Driscoll; Mackey and Gass; Morse; Scott and Garner). We know this can seem intimidating to students, so we will walk them through the

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Putting Ethnographic Writing in Context

Seth Kahn Volume 2 Chapter Description The goal of this chapter is to flesh out some of the theoretical underpinnings of enthographic writing–writing that tries to understand what makes people or a culture unique or interesting, how they understand themselves–in order to help students put participation/observation research into a context beyond simply following directions. The

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Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews

Dana Lynn Driscoll Volume 2 Chapter Description Research projects where students are asked to gather first-hand data are a common occurrence in first year writing courses (FYC). However, FYC students may struggle with the ethical and practical issues of collecting, analyzing, and writing about survey results, interviews, and observations. This chapter introduces definitions of research

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