Tuesday, November 22, 2011

11.21 Quantitative methods + research papers

Note:  I will be getting back to you about blogs 14-16, probably by Sunday.  Have a great Thanksgiving and see you on Monday..

Quantitative methods in English Studies.  Nicci and Jazmyne talked about "Is Oral History Good for You?"   They discussed how the author gathered data to discover quantitative data on whether "telling one's life story is a beneficial experience an that participation (in the PSA failure study) makes one feel better".  The data indicated that participants valued their participation - but it is not clear that it was the oral history component of the study - or simply the opportunity to tell one's story to someone who listened attantively.

Our focus in reading this essay was to explore how (and why) quantitative data can become important in wiriting studies.  One of our first observations was that in the contemporary U.S.  there is a "bias" toward quantitative data as more "real" and "important" than qualitative data. In a discussion where we noted differences between qualitative and quantitative (f2f interviews and surveys) we noted that:

  • Some questions may be more difficult to ask F2F than in a survey
  • Surveys "bias" subjects to particular answers by presenting fixed language/questions
  • Writing allows time to think (surveys might get more thoughtful answers)
  • F2F allows for interactive formulations of questions and answers
Add this these observations the fact that the categories in sureveys and "numbers" erase the fuzzy edges of those categories - and the differences within them.  I gave the example that for "B" essays in a given class - each essay would get a B for different reasons and would have different writing issues.

We talked briefly about advantages + disadvantages of each approach (you might want to think more about this), and then used an "assessment rubric" to evaluate student progress in writing research papers.  We didn't have quite enough time to finish talking about this - but the idea was to demonstrate ways to assign meaningflu numbers to patterns in writing.  It is not perfect - but it is usable.

Research papers
I met with many of you to talk over your research topics and set you up so you can get started on your papers over the break.  The post that has your research question, your resources, maps out your essay (on the blog for my feedback) is due  December 1: => discussion of research question, description of methods, relevant research.


For class Monday
We will set up your portfolio, the google.site where you will turn in your work.  A list of what to include in the portfolio will be posted on the course blog.  You will also have some time to work on the post for December 1


Have a great Thanksgiving and see you next week!.



No comments:

Post a Comment