Class Agenda for January 8th:

As of this morning, we have 7 students in this course, so we should be able to get to know each other fairly well. Luckily, among those 7 students are 6 different fields, so we can also learn something from each other about our respective fields: psychology, anthropology, sociology, education, communication, and marketing.

Take this opportunity to describe your own background to the rest of the class. Explain who you are, what field you are in, why you signed up for this class, what experiences you have had with research and writing in the past, what experiences with research and writing you anticipate engaging in your career, and how you want  this class to help prepare you for that. Post a description to the discussion link marked "Introductions" on Webct. Responses

Consider the following questions and complete the research assignment. Be prepared to write your response to the subsequent prompt in class on Thursday.

Research Assignment: What is ethnography? Why would one want to do it? What are its advantages and disadvantages as a research methodology? What should one look for? What precautions might one take?

Look back over notes from previous classes, look through anthropology and qualitative research texts, browse through the articles on the course home page (http://www.oakland.edu/~kitchens/334). Perform your own google search or library search for information. Be sure to consider more than one source.

For today, you were asked to do a bit of thinking and researching about ethnography in general. What I'd like for you to do in class today is to respond to that discussion board prompt by writing notes (as if  you were writing fieldnotes) about your research process. Include dates, times, locations, sources, self-reflections, and discoveries. Take about half an hour to do this. Feel free to use descriptions, thoughts, feelings, reflections, and anything else that at the moment might seem irrelevant. At the end, try to articulate in 200 words or so a multi-perspectived definition of ethnography based on your research. I would suggest that you write your notes in Microsoft word and then cut and paste into webct. Feel free to print this out for reference. Responses

Read the Introduction to Field Ethnography (handout), "How to Do Ethnographic Research: A Simplified Guide", and "Writing Ethnography: The Poetics and Politics of Culture" (handout). By Monday night, complete a reading journal entry for each by going to webct and clicking on the discussion link marked reading journal followed by your initials.. What kinds of things struck you? What about each reading overlapped with the other readings? What about each reading was unique? What resources and other ethnographies did they mention?

Discuss homework assignments. Brainstorm potential research sites/communities. Discuss Introduction to Field Ethnography and Writing Ethnography: The Poetics and Politics of Culture.

1) This American Life is a radio program on NPR that examines American culture. On November 17, 2000, they aired a one hour episode entitled "24 Hours at the Golden Apple," a radio-documentary on a diner in Chicago in which interviewers spent 24 hours in the diner interviewing patrons and employees. They recorded at least 100 hours or so of tape and then narrowed those interviews down to a one hour documentary. Still, the show is mainly the voices of the natives rather than interpretive voice. Listen to the program, looking for themes and issues that arise, and the ways in which the interpretive voice comes in that judges or makes connections, as well as the narrative voice that simply provides more information. What can we learn about ethnography from this segment? I would suggest that you take headphones  with you to a computer on campus to listen to the segment. Post a response in your Reading Notebook.

2) Print out Chapter 1-2 of Dan Rose's Black American Street Life (pages 1-44). In order to do this, go to http://www.oakland.edu/~kitchens/334/Rose/ and click on each document and print. The illustrations/photos are listed by page number as p8.jpg, p32.jpg etc.

Read Chapters 1-2 of Dan Rose's Black American Street Life. Post a response in your Reading Notebook.

Discuss 24 Hours at the Golden Apple. Also bring printed copy of Black American Street Life chapters 1-2  and a printed copy of "How to Do Ethnographic Research: A Simplified Guide" to class for discussion.

Look back over  Black American Street Life chapter 2  and "How to Do Ethnographic Research: A Simplified Guide."

Discuss Rose and Hall. Watch Oprah and discuss.

Read John Van Maanen's Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography -- Chapter 3 (Realist Tales) and Chapter 4 (Confessional Tales). Post a response in your reading notebook. Consider these question: What are some of the primary differences between Confessional and Realist ethnographies? What might be the advantages and disadvantages of each? What passages do you find especially provocative? Is Rose's Black American Street Life Realist or Confessional? What might he have changed to make it the other? Is there anything about 24 Hours at the Golden Apple that is either confessional or realist? How might it be altered to fit either of the categories?

Look at these passages from phenomenology and sociology. They are taken from the following site: http://hss.fullerton.edu/sociology/orleans/phenomenology.htm
Look at these passages from Rose
Discuss Van Maanen

Read Margaret Mead (handout) and Van Maanen's Impressionist Tales (handout)
Take Field Notes on one of your classes. Map out social space, interaction, and gender/ethnicity/age/(dis)ability/etc.

Class cancelled due to ice and snow. As a virtual class for today, catch up on your Reading Notebook -- you could critique Mead by situating her within the Van Maanen categories and explaining how she might have done things differently to slide into different categories and which you think would produce the most effective ethnography. You should have an entry for each reading assignment. You also might look back through all of your readings and think about what might be good
midterm exam questions for a take-home essay exam.When you look back over the readings, look for places where different authors hint toward a definition of culture or of ethnography.

Discuss Maps. Discuss Mead and impressionist ethnographies.

Read James Clifford's introduction to Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography.
Read handouts of John Van Mannen's Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography, Chapter 1 - 2 & second half of Chapter 5.
Begin thinking about midterm exam and possible designs for take-home and in-class portions of exam. Consider these questions for the take-home portion: What is ethnography according to the various theorists we've read? What are its goals and aims? In what ways is it complicated? What are the debates about ethnography? How has ethnography changed over the years? What is the value of ethnography? What are the strengths and weaknesses of ethnography?

Discuss Readings. Begin preparing for exam.

Complete discussion board assignment labeled "midterm exam."

Review for Midterm exam.

Virtual exam Do not come to class. Instead, download the midterm exam and complete your project by midnight, Sunday. Send the result to me as an email attachment.

In class exam.

Preparing for Fieldwork: Today I will hand out the Reference pages from Van Maanen's Tales of the Field. On these pages, you will find books/articles about ethnography as well as books/articles that ARE ethnographies. Separate the wheat from the chaff -- go through and see which ones seem to be theoretical and which ones seem to be ethnographic accounts. If you see any that look interesting or related to your planned project, try title searches in Voyager (OU) or Mirlyn (UM) to see if the book is available and to get a stronger sense of the subject by looking at the subtitle, the subject categories, and any explanatory information. Try some of your own keyword searches to see if there are other ethnographies. You might also try amazon.com or half.com for recent publications or hard-to-find books.  I would suggest that you use either ethnography or case study as keywords plus something specific to your planned topic. I will talk individually to each of you about your ideas.  As you find ethnographies that seem interesting or applicable, cut and paste the title, author, and call number into a word document. By 11:15, compile 15 that you want to seek out and consult over the break. We will spend the last 30 minutes of class comparing lists to make sure that you don't overlap with other class members. See class handout.

During this time, find a few hours to go to the library and seek out your books (this will become a part of your "book review" project, as well as potentially being part of the literature review portion of your ethnography). Skim through each book paying particular attention to style. How much of the book seems to be narrative? How much seems to be analysis? How much seems to be theoretical? How much seems to be self-reflective or confessional? To what degree is the ethnography realistic or impressionistic? I would suggest that you spend about a half hour locating the books, and 15 minutes per book skimming through each of them and taking notes. Then before class on Tuesday, post an annotated bibliography on the webct discussion link marked "bibliography." This is worth 25% of your "Book Review" grade.

Also, read 85-102 in Kutsche's Field Ethnography and decide on your site(s) for field work. If you can't decide, contact me on Thursday or Friday of next week to talk through the issues. Email: Kitchens@oakland.edu | AIM: OUKitchens | Home Phone: 734-477-9017

Discuss Bibliographies and research questions.
Handout: Agenda for 2nd half of semester.

Homework for 3/7: Reread pages 85-92 in Kutsche (Choosing a Scene and Working with Informants) and decide on your own site. Also read the "Methods" section of the Simplified Guide to Ethnography (Read "What is Ethnography," "Objectivity," "Guiding Questions," and "Fieldsites."

Discuss Fieldsites and Research Proposals.

Potential Audiences:

Meeting of the Minds
Festival of Student Writing
Writing Excellence Award

Previous Student Ethnographies from Rhetoric 150:

Ethnographies

Amy Hyatt: The Family Place: Class and Family Dynamics at the Local Gym
Matt Kosek: The Comforts of Culture: Race Relations at Oakland University
Nick Scavone: What Makes a Gamer? A Study of Arcade Culture
Rebeca San Martin: Why Wait for College? Multicultural Approach in Early Education
Delesa Crump: The Misunderstood: Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Detroit
Mike Pulliam: A Day in a Trade Life: Blue Collar Labor
Sarah Remley: Dorm Life at Oakland University
Pawel Bialecki: Computer lab in Hamtramck Public Library

Auto-ethnographies

Rebecca San Martin: International Operations Personnel Wives
Eddie Mojica: Culture Clash: Filipino and American Culture
Kate Dolder: High School Culture: St. Louis vs. Michigan
Alex Gjerovski: A Clash of Cultures: Macedonian American
Clem Chargo: What is an American?
Jennifer Banasiak: My Family: A Subculture
Nicole Kaput: A Normal Way of Life
Ilya Elkin: Living With Different Customs, Practices, and Values

Research Proposal Due
Post this to the WebCT discussion link marked "Research Proposal" and bring 8 hard copies to class.

Discuss Midterm Exams
Discuss Informed Consent

A person's voluntary agreement, based upon adequate knowledge and understanding of relevant information, to participate in research or to undergo a diagnostic, therapeutic, or preventive procedure. In giving informed consent, subjects may not waive or appear to waive any of their legal rights, or release or appear to release the investigator, the sponsor, the institution or agents thereof from liability for negligence.

Discuss minimal risk

A risk is minimal where the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the proposed research are not greater, in and of themselves, than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests. For example, the risk of drawing a small amount of blood from a healthy individual for research purposes is no greater than the risk of doing so as part of routine physical examination.

Site Study due Tuesday, 3/19 - 8 hard copies and 1 copy posted to WebCT.

Discuss Site Studies: bring 8 hard copies to class and post 1 copy to discussion link marked "Site Study"
Informed Consent:

Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association (see part III, section A, headings 1-6).
Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research
Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Protection from Research Risks, Part 46: Protection of Human Subjects

46.116 - General Requirements for Informed Consent
46.117 - Documentation of Informed Consent
Tips on Informed Consent
Informed Consent Checklist - Basic and Additional Elements

Oakland University Guidelines on Human Participants  (see Consent Form Checklist)
OU Research Tutorial

Florida State University Human Subjects Committee Sample Letter of Consent (minimal risk)
Florida State University Human Subjects Committee Sample Letter of Consent (studies exceeding minimal risk)

Virtual Class: Post Interview Guide and Fieldwork Guide to WebCT by midnight.

Consent Form Template
IRB Application Manager
IRB Members: Christine Hansen & Judette Hadadd

In order to be marked present for Thursday, write a short paragraph that documents your field work and interviews and post it in your reading notebook under a subject heading titled Fieldwork 1 by midnight Sunday. This should be a paragraph length description of exactly what you did, when, and with whom, and questions that arose or provocative discoveries that you made. Do not post your fieldnotes or interview transcripts.

Also, post a response titled Title/Description in your reading notebook in which you tentatively decide on a title and project description for your work. See the samples.

Finally, complete the IRB Application process. In order to get signatures from me, fax a copy of the form to me by 11:00 at 248-370-4208 or put it in my mailbox in 316 WH or slide it under my office door. I will be in a meeting in the morning and then in my office until noon.  If you have questions about the IRB process, please drop by, or call me in my office (2075) , or call me at home (734-477-9017).

Book Review Due: This is a summary/critique of a book-length ethnographic project that relates it to some of our course readings and includes an annotated bibliography of at least 10 items that relate to your project, including ethnographies, other studies, newpaper articles, movies/tv shows, works of fiction.

Discuss homework: read "Staged Authenticity" (handout) and the Student Illustrative Ethnographies in Kutsche's Field Ethnography (pages 103-206)

Discuss fieldwork.

Finalize IRB applications.

Introduction to Web Building.

Agenda for Tuesday 4/4: Fieldwork (virtual class)

     In order to be marked present for this class, complete the following projects by midnight Sunday:

1) Write a short paragraph that documents your field work and interviews and post it in your reading notebook under a subject heading titled Fieldwork 2.

2) Read read "Staged Authenticity" (handout) and the Student Illustrative Ethnographies in Kutsche's Field Ethnography (pages 103-206. Post a response in your reading notebook titled Kutsche/MacCannell in which you A) discuss "Staged Authenticity" in relation to your own setting, and B) discuss which student ethnography in Kutsche serves best as a model for what you are intending to do. If you were absent, the handout will be on my office door.

3) If possible, scan the images of your site and upload them to the discussion folder marked "Images." If not possible, bring printed images to class on Tuesday.

4) If you haven't done so all ready, complete the IRB application and submit it and print out a copy of me. I will be in my office to help on Thursday if anyone has trouble.
 

Agenda for Thursday 4/11: Discussion and Web Building

Agenda for Tuesday 4/16: Discussion of process to product and web building
Agenda for Thursday 4/18: Write Draft and post any questions to WebCT by midnight.

Portfolio Instructions
APA Guidelines: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/hacker/resdoc/social_sciences/manuscript.htm
MLA Guidelines: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/hacker/resdoc/humanities/manuscript.htm
 

 Grade Scale for Presentations:

No Show: 0.0
Less than 7 minutes/no handout: 2.0
7+ minutes/no handout: 3.0
7+ minutes/weak handout: 3.6
7+ minutes/strong handout: 4.0

Handout should be one page single-spaced with your name and title, an abstract, a summary of your methodology, and a summary of your results. Please bring 10 copies and email a copy to me as an attachment. Your presentation can be either a traditional discussion of your methods and results with a few minutes for questions and answers or it can be something creative -- a performance, video, slide show, movie clips, poster board, music/video sampling, shock theater, etc.