EDUC 681 "Advanced Research Methodologies"

Winter 2010 (January 7-April 8)

From the UVic Calendar: "The purpose of the research component is to have students become familiar with and learn to distinguish among multiple research methodologies appropriate to specific research problems, questions, and contexts."

As taught in the 2010-Winter session, this course this course is for students to (a) familiarize students with the various forms of analysis of communication (because all data involve communication) and (b) produce a (near) publishable analysis of a given dataset to be presented in a format suitable as a book chapter.


 

Resources

UVic library to go to journals and download readings [here].

FQS: Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum Qualitative Social Research is a tri-lingual (English, German, Spanish) online journal for issues related to qualitative research.

The Qualitative Report is an online journal dedicated to qualitative research and critical inquiry since 1990. It has lots of links to resources for qualitative research on the Internet.

PRAAT is a program that allows you to prepare very detailed transcripts and do a variety of analyses, including that of prosody.

A sample assignment that received an A+ can be found [here]. The articles by N.I. McRae (2009), L.J. Starr (2009), and V.M. Collyer (2009) also are the results of a course assignment (EDCI 600).
- Collyer, V.M. (2009). Influence of interlocutor/reader on utterance in reflective writing and interview. Cultural Studies of Science Education. DOI:10.1007/s11422-009-9234-1
- McRae, N.I. (2009). Linking experiences with emotions and the development of interpretive repertoires. Cultural Studies of Science Education. DOI:10.1007/s11422-009-9226-1
- Starr, L.J. (2009). Does anyone really know anything? An exploration of constructivist meaning and identity in the tension between scientific and relious knowledge. Cultural Studies of Science Education. DOI: 10.1007/s11422-009-9227-0
(To find those articles, click here)

Thompson ISI Web of Science [click here]

Main Reading: Wolff-Michael Roth and Pei-Ling Hsu, Analyzing Communication (Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2010).

The course description can be found at this link: [course description]

 

Detailed Lesson Plan

The outline is a "living" one, continuously growing and changing to meet students' and instructors' needs, though the overall framework [reading, assignments] will stay.

[JAN 07] [JAN 14] [JAN 21 [JAN 28] [FEB 04] [FEB 11] [FEB 18] [FEB 25] [MAR 04] [MAR 11] [MAR 18] [MAR 25] [ APR 1] [ APR08]

JAN 07

Lesson topics

  1. Presentations
  2. Introduction of the course
    1. course, course objectives,
    2. Readings, structure of the textbook
    3. final assignment
    4. Introduction of the dataset (content of developmental writing and final assignment) and a first data analysis (Pei-Ling HSU)
  3. Readings: see Main Reading. (Students are expected to do additional readings to situate and ground their analyses for their course paper.)
    1. Accessing readings (UVic library online);
    2. Thompson ISI Web of Science online
  4. BREAK--------------
  5. Analyzing some data
    1. Transcript [Available here]
    2. A relevant paper is: Hsu, P.-L., Roth, W.-M., Marshall, A., & Guenette, F.  (2009). To be or not to be? Discursive resources for (dis)identifying with science-related careers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46, 1114–1136
    3. A relevant chapter is: Roth, W.-M., & Hsu, P-L. (2008). Interest and motivation: A cultural historical and discursive psychological approach. In J. E. Larson (Ed.), Educational psychology: Cognition and learning, individual differences and motivation (pp. 81–105). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science. [download here].

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JAN 14

Lesson Concepts

Social Structure • Communication • Identity • Auto/Biography • Narrative • Character | Plot

Assignments

  1. Chapters 1 ("The Structures of the Social") and 2 ("Identity") of Analyzing Communication
  2. Roth, W.-M., & Hsu, P-L. (2008). Interest and motivation: A cultural historical and discursive psychological approach. In J. E. Larson (Ed.), Educational psychology: Cognition and learning, individual differences and motivation (pp. 81–105). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science. [download here].
  3. Begin to read the datasources provided; think about a possible topic for orienting your analysis

Lesson topics

  1. Addressing any concerns, questions,
  2. Discussion of readings
    1. Chapters 1 and 2
    2. Interest and motivation (Reading 2)
  3. BREAK--------
  4. Student project (as if writing for a book chapter)
    1. Discussing first impressions of the data
    2. Possible approaches to analysis (Frameworks?)
    3. TITLE: Talk about Science Careers: <<subtitle>>
    4. Repertoires: To Be or not to Be (Pei-Ling)---about converting this into a chapter (Manuscript download here). Ultimate paper published: Hsu, P.-L., Roth, W.-M., Marshall, A., & Guenette, F.  (2009). To be or not to be? Discursive resources for (dis)identifying with science-related careers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46, 1114–1136.
  5. DEMONSTRATION: Write Here in Plain Sight (not covered)
    1. Writing to produce a chapter
      1. Mechanics (Download SENSE Publisher template here): Styles, images, formatting, etc.
      2. Style of writing a chapter vs. style of writing a research article
    2. Purpose of the chapter
    3. Doing the transcription
      1. Purpose of analysis and transcription format
      2. Mechanics of transcribing (mov, aif [PRAAT])
    4. WHIPS
  6. Analyzing data: Transcript [Available here] (not covered)

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JAN 21

Lesson Concepts

Discursive Psychology • Ethnomethodology (EM) • Conversation Analysis • Context • Con/Texting • Formal Analysis vs. EM • Interpreting vs. Reading

Assignments

  1. Read Chapters 9 ("Discursive Psychology") and 10 ("How Experts Analyze Data") of Analyzing Communication

Lesson topics

  1. DEMONSTRATION: Write Here in Plain Sight
    1. Writing to produce a chapter
      1. Mechanics (Download SENSE Publisher template here): Styles, images, formatting, etc.
      2. Style of writing a chapter vs. style of writing a research article
      3. [Michael's chapter version 103] [Pei-Ling's chapter version 100]
    2. Purpose of the chapter
    3. Doing the transcription
      1. Purpose of analysis and transcription format
      2. Mechanics of transcribing (mov, aif [PRAAT])
    4. WHIPS
  2. Analyzing data: Transcript [Available here]
  3. BREAK--------
  4. Discussion of chapter 9, "Discursive Psychology" and
    1. Discursive psychology
    2. Ethnomethodology ("What more?" Formal analysis [FM])
    3. Analyst and members
    4. Lifeworld, societal structure, critique
  5. chapter 10, "How Experts Analyze Data"
  6. Student project (as if writing for a book chapter)
    1. Discussing first impressions of the data
    2. Possible approaches to analysis (Frameworks?)
    3. TITLE: Talk about Science Careers: <<subtitle>>
    4. Repertoires: To Be or not to Be (Pei-Ling)---about converting this into a chapter (Manuscript download here). Ultimate paper published: Hsu, P.-L., Roth, W.-M., Marshall, A., & Guenette, F.  (2009). To be or not to be? Discursive resources for (dis)identifying with science-related careers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46, 1114–1136.

 

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JAN 28

Lesson Concepts

Discourse • Interpretive Repertoire • Discursive Device • Grounded Theory

Assignments

  1. Read Chapters 9 ("Discursive Psychology") and 10 ("How Experts Analyze Data") of Analyzing Communication

Lesson topics

  1. WHIPS Demonstrations
    1. [Organization of writing1][Organization of writing career]
    2. Pei-Ling's chapter
    3. Michael's chapter
  2. Discussion of readings: Chapters 9 and 10
    1. Vygotsky, Leont'ev on personality [Chat triangle]
    2. Looking at turns [contrasting example] (CA)
    3. Culturing (mis-) conceptions, identity, interests, motivations, . . .
    4. Ethnomedodology (contrast with formal analysis) (Harold Garfinkel, Harvey Sacks)
      1. [Lebenswelt pair] ((Garfinkel, H., & Sacks, H. (1986). On formal structures of practical action. In H. Garfinkel (Ed.), Ethnomethodological studies of work (pp. 160–193). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.))
      2. Formulating the work
    5. Analyzing transcript [Sample 2]
  3. BREAK
  4. Discussing students' choices for topics of assignment/analysis

 

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FEB 04

Lesson Concepts

Power/knowledge • Agency • Passivity • Structure • Ethnomethodology • Formulating the Social

Assignments

  1. Read Chapter 3 ("Beliefs, Attitudes, Interests, Motivations") of Analyzing Communication

Resource

Here several articles that might be relevant, even as a contrast to what you want to write [link]

Lesson topics

  1. Addressing concerns
    1. On "Doing my own thing"
  2. WHIPS Demonstrations
    1. [Organization of writing1][Organization of writing career][Organization of writing career3]
    2. Pei-Ling's chapter, 2 previous versions [JAN28][FEB02]
    3. Michael's chapter
  3. Discussion chapter 3
    1. Discursive psychology: categories as matters of talk
    2. Preference talk versus preference as psychological construct [Example]
  4. PRACTICE: Analyzing a transcript
    1. transcript [Sample 2]
  5. Discussing students' choices for topics of assignment/analysis
    1. David, poem . . .
    2. Natalia (writing the orienting paragraph)

 

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FEB 11

Lesson Concepts

Ethnomethodology • Intersubjectivity • Prosody • Situated Cognition • Lifeworld Analysis • Multi-Modality of Communication

Assignments

  1. Chapter 7 ("Institutional Relations") of Analyzing Communication

Lesson topics

  1. Questions about process, special needs, possible changes to be made
  2. Discussion of "Institutiuonal Relations", Chapter 7 of Textbook
    1. Durkheim's aphorism
    2. Power/knowledge
    3. Agency/structure
    4. The insider's view: Ethnomethodology, conversation analysis
    5. The researcher's view: formal analysis
    6. Interactional resources (Prosody, gesticulation, body orientation, body position)
    7. Event, dance, improvisation
    8. Prosody analysis [PRAAT] (some features from the analysis with Jennifer)
    9. Progressive subjectivity (pp.231-8, final analysis)
    10. Institutional analysis, the outsider's view
  3. -----BREAK-----
  4. Discussion of writing project (in form of book chapter)
    1. Pei-Ling's chapter [version 105] (possibly the one until we have all the materials together so that we can then adapt the chapters to each other)
    2. Michael's chapter [version 106] (I am going to try to get a complete first draft during the reading break)
    3. Student work, ideas

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FEB 18

!!! READING BREAK. NO CLASSES !!!

Rough draft of Michael's chapter is here [Version 110].

Rough draft of another chapter is here [Version 100]. In it, I want to make an argument for auto/biography (monologue) as a means of researching and writing. I ground it in Bakhtin and Dostoyevsky.
[Feb 17, 2010] This morning I worked 1 1/2 hours prior to going for meetings. Here a next iteration, involving analysis and a figure [version 101]
[Feb 17, 2010] This evening I added a few more pieces [version 102]
[Feb 18, 2010] This morning before going to uni for a long meeting, I added a few more things [version 103]. This is going to be my temporary end point, to be continued and adjusted only after I have a better grasp of where the project as a whole goes.

 

 

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FEB 25

Lesson Concepts

Intertextuality • Inscriptions • Transformations • Boundary Objects • Semiotics • Reading • Phenomenology • Anthropology • Ethnomethodology

Assignments

  1. Chapter 6 ("Participating and Interacting") of Analyzing Communication

Lesson topics (Dr. Hsu is going to be in the lead)

  1. Which is a proper method and why? Rationale of using discourse analysis and conversation analysis
  2. Discourse analysis:
    1. Interpretative repertoire
    2. Discursive device
    3. Exercise: [DA-Analysis]
    4. Group discussion
  3. BREAK---
  4. Conversation analysis
    1. Transactional structure
    2. Preference
    3. Formulating
    4. Exercise (Video): [CA-Analysis]
    5. Group discussion
  5. Discussion: Comparison and experience of using discourse analysis and conversation analysis

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MAR 04

Lesson Concepts

Knowledge • Participation • Knowledgeability • Knowing

Assignments

  1. Chapter 4 ("Knowledge, Knowing, Situated Cognition") of Analyzing Communication

Lesson topics

  1. Organizational questions about March 25, April 01, April 08
    1. (Informal) presentation of work on MAR 25 (1/2 of group), APR 01 (other half of group), Discussion about and comparing the different form APR 08
  2. Discussion of issues arising from chapter 4
    1. Background to the data used ((transcripts, ethnographic notes, curriculum, video))
    2. Student questions to the chapter
    3. TOPICS: Knowledge, participation, knowledgeability, knowing, change, activity–action–operation, situated cognition, distributed cognition, situated communication
  3. Talk(ing) about Careers in Science
    1. Participants talk about the direction their analyses are talking
    2. Issues arising from participants' work

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MAR 11

Lesson Concepts

Intertextuality • Inscriptions • Transformations • Boundary Objects • Semiotics • Reading • Phenomenology • Anthropology • Ethnomethodology

Assignments

  1. Chapter 5 ("Toward an Anthropology of Inscriptions") of Analyzing Communication

Lesson topics

  1. Structuring a paper/article/chapter (Analyzing a research article)
    1. Text of pedagogy
    2. for reading
    3. Topical paragraphs, topical sentence
    4. Genres [Examples]
  2. Discussion of issues arising from chapter 5, "Toward an Anthropology of Inscriptions
    1. Doing an analysis: Reading practices through auto/ethnography [handout]
    2. Online science text from BBC [Ancient chimps used stone tools] [analysis1] [analysis2] [Project files] [structure]
    3. Analyzing inscriptions in use [Transcript]
    4. Inscription vs. representation vs. presentation (presence, presence of present . . .
      1. inscription, conscription, boundary object
      2. Latour, transformations
    5. Why anthropology? (Vygotksy)
    6. intertextuality (Ricœur, texts and the world of literature); Bakhtin, the development of literature
    7. Interpretation vs. anthropology (practices)
  3. Reflection on "anthropology of inscriptions"; aesthetics, art, poetry (Anthropology of Reading [Livingston, 1995])

 

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MAR 18

Lesson Concepts

Technology • Mediation • Computer-Mediated Collaboration • Body as Expression • Orientation

Assignments

  1. Chapter 8 ("Interacting with Technology") of Analyzing Communication

Lesson topics

  1. Questions? Review of goals of course (--» (a) #2, (b) #3)
  2. Presentation and Discussion of Chapter 8 (Lucy Suchman, Plans and Situated Actions, 1987)
    1. Context--reason for study; video
    2. Discourse Analysis vs Conversation Analysis; telephone conversations vs. face-to-face conversations
    3. Looking at a piece of transcript
    4. Unit of analysis ((p.260, 264)) STUDENTS (mind <-> talk, actions) <--> COMPUTER (input, math) (slide)
    5. Model of 2 people talking: ((mind1 <-)(-> TALK, GESTURE... <-)(-> mind2))
    6. Layering, zoomin ((p.264): background <-- talk . . . . --> society (slide) (Activity theory, interdependence of levels, ethnomethodology, structural analysis)
    7. Time scales (slide)
    8. The role of trouble in turning out the methods of the people (ethno) --> ethnomethods, ethnomethodology (method vs. methodology)
    9. The inside perspective--the dynamic of the situation rather than scientific rationality
    10. Being and Time (Heidegger), normal everday rationality, Heideggerian AI and cognitive science
  3. Writing Strategies
    1. Narrative coherence: INTRODUCTION (Purpose) «--» BACKGROUND (Theory) «--» ANALYSES (Claims) «--» DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS
    2. Michael: "Auto/biographical narratives and life-history accounts of career choice"
    3. Pei-Ling: "Chronotope analysis"

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MAR 25

Assignments

  1. Students prepare an informal presentation of their final assignment

Lesson topics

  1. Students & instructors informally speak about their assignment, what they have found, etc. (Natalia, Sheila, Norah, Alena, David, Pei-Ling, Michael)
    1. Giving an example: Michael. (a) Talking Careers, Career Talk; (b) "I wouldn't want to be a pilot . . .: Auo/biographical narratives" (overhead)
    2. Analysis of sample chapter: Michael (marked up chapter)
    3. Analysis of sample chapter: Pei-Ling (marked up chapter)
  2. Questions and critique. ((Students may build all feedback into their assignment; the point is to learn, not to jump hoops))))

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APR 01

Assignments

  1. Students prepare an informal presentation of their final assignment

Lesson topics

  1. Students informally speak about their assignment, what they have found, etc. (Norah, Alena, Scott, Vivian, Ching, Katie, Kathy, Alfredo)
  2. Questions and critique. ((Students may build all feedback into their assignment; the point is to learn, not to jump hoops))))

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APR 08

Assignments

  1. Final assignment is due 1 week from today: April 15.

Lesson topics

  1. Organizational matters
    1. Assignment is mock chapter. Formal invitation to contribuet will follow after grades are submitted so that students may decline
    2. Recording of discussion (for record purposes; for possible construction of chapter---each person would be asked if wanted to be contributor)
    3. Course evaluation
  2. Alena to give short presentation of her analysis
  3. Discussion of similarities and differences between the different papers produced on the same database (data sources).

     Questions to orient discussion across each of the topics below

    1. What can we learn from the similarities and differences?
    2. What do the similarities and differences tell us about language?
    3. How are the language forms at the two levels (interview, our writing) related?
    Concerning the content of the individual analyses
    1. What are the objectives of the analysis, what are the new insights?
    2. How do the contributions allow us to understand the role of making decisions about possible selves and careers?
    3. What are the practical implications for teachers, students, counselors. . . ?

    Understanding the Discourse of Talking Careers

    Alena: "Childhood Memories mediate career plans"
    Pei-Ling1: Repertoires of talking careers
    Pei-Ling2: Chronotopes in talking careers
    Natalia: Tossing the coin as metaphor for thinking about future selves
    Ching: Career metaphors we live by
    Kathy: Psychological rewards of career path choices---helping careers
    Norah: "I want to be a doctor" Discourses of medicine as a career
    Vivian: Career talk as folk tale
    Katie: Talking learning in career talk
    Alfredo: "I don't know"---Functions of uncertainty in talk about career possibilities
    Scott: Conflicting voices in career talk--A Bakhtinian analysis

    Concerning methods/theories

    1. What are the tools (theories, methods) we have used ?
    2. Which aspects of the database were selected? How were they selected? Are there particular individuals who were more frequently selected than others? Why?
    3. How can the results be generalized? What is being generalized?

    Methodological Issues

    Michael1: Auto/biography as method for representing career talk
    Michael2: The collaborative constitution of career talk
    David: Poetry as a form of representing career talk
    Sheila: Talking careers, talking poetry

    Concerning the nature of language in interviews & in written text

    1. Given that interviewer/interviewee talk and understand each other, what can we say about the nature of language?
    2. What can we say about the nature of the experiences that they do/can communicate? What does this mean for the relation between individual and collective subjectivity?
    3. How are the languages of the interview and the languages of the texts related?
    4. How has language mediated the original research? The analyses? Our talk about the analyses?

     

    Ethics of representation

    1. What ethical issues are there in the representations chosen?
    2. How (if so) do ethical issues differ across the different texts?

      Student generated topics, concerns, issues

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