12.12 Final Exam

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Methods categories for question I.2:  1) auto/biography; creative writing, 2) discourse analysis, ethnography,  3) quantitative methods.

Classifications for methodologies:  scientific/objective; social constructivist; activist; pragmatic/practical

Features of methodologies (see first chapter in Griffin)

Understanding of the nature of "truth" or facts => how knowledge is created

How to represent "the way the world is"

What is/is not ethical

Who "subjects" are and their role in creating research data

EXAM

ANSWERS SHOULD BE WORD PROCESSED, AND WRITTEN IN ESSAY FORM.  THE ANSWER TO A SINGLE QUESTION SHOULD NEVER  BE LONGER THAN 2 PAGES, DOUBLE SPACED. 

I.  Fundamental knowledge of how research works:  Answer one of two (60 points)

See (partial) classification of methodologies listed above.

1.  Define differences among skills, methods and methodologies; then choose two of the sample methods essays (exclude Moreno & Fetterley if you choose III.3, and use no more than one essay from the sample Discourse essays) to develop in-depth illustrations how different skills, methods & methodologies are used.  This discussion should include observations about how particular methodologies, methods, and skills shape research findings.

2.   As we discussed each research method, we reflected on how both the methodologies and the methods influenced the kind of data researchers could collect - and the kind of "truths" they could discover.  For example, we discussed how active interviews produced "findings" that were very different from traditional interviews.  Using examples from one method in each of the three categories listed at the top of the page, develop a discussion of relationships between particular methodologies and the kinds of findings they can produce. 

II.  Discourse analysis:  Answer one of three (50 points)

1. Define discourse and discourse analysis (these definitions need to be in your own words + based on readings from the course; if you provide definitions from internet sites you will not get credit for your answer).  Develop a description of the frames for describing discourse analysis (p 16) and the different approaches (chapter 3) to discourse analysis as a part of your definition.  After you have developed your definition, discuss some of the ways  you might use discourse analysis in your personal/professional life; your discussion should include examples that identify specific  contexts and approaches.

2.  Bloome et al discusses discourse analysis in terms of four broad frames:

1.             the "linguistic turn" in the social sciences

2.             the foregrounding of local event and their relationships to broader cultural and social       processes (movement between micro and macro level approaches

3.             recognition of the importance of social and historical contexts

4.             recognition that discourse processes always involve power relationships

 How did understanding discourse analysis in terms of these four frames play out in the analysis you did for your DA paper?   Which frame was most important for you?  How could you have strengthened your essay through resort to one or more of the other frames?

3. Chapter 3 in Bloome et al presented 4 sample essays, each of which provided an example of a different approach to discourse analysis.  Define and explain each method.  What kind(s) of research questions is each method best suited to?  Which approach is the closest match for the approach you took in your DA essay?   Was that approach the "best" approach to solve the question you posed?  Why or why not?

III.  Knowledge of particular methods:  Answer 3 of 6 (90 points  = 30 points /question)

1.  Discuss differences between "regular" interviews and oral history interviews?  What differences in the researchers' objectives would indicate the choice of one approach over the other?  Are there significant differences in methods?

2.  What does McCarthy's essay imply as the strengths and drawbacks of quantitative research?  What are the characteristics of a research problem that would suggest quantitative research methods as the methods of choice?  What does Alsop's essay imply as  the strengths and drawbacks of qualitative (ethnographic) research?  What are the characteristics of a research problem that would suggest qualitative research methods as the methods of choice? 

3.  As you read the sample research essays, you were asked to think about each essay as an example of a research genre, and to take note of the "genre expectations" for that essay. What are genre expectations?  How are research genres associated with particular research methods?  Use a discussion of research genre and genre expectations for Moreno  and Fetterley's  essays to develop your answer.  

4.  Discuss the similarities and differences among textual analysis, visual analysis and discourse analysis.

5.  Define ethnographic research.  What does Alsop identify as the particular usefulness of ethnographic research for English studies?  What is your perspective on the usefulness of ethnographic research for English studies?

6.  How did Evans and Cook describe the uses of auto/biography and creative writing for English Studies research?  What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of their observations?