UWRT1101

Grant
11/3/2014

DiscourseCommunityEthnographyAssignment:
FromWritingAboutWriting,byElizabethWardleandDougDowns.

RoughDraftDue:November17th
FinalDraftDue:November24th

Anethnographyisaresearchmethodologythatrequiresthewritertocarefullyobserve,
analyze,anddescribecommunitiesofpeopleparticipatingingroupactivities.Attheirbroadest,
ethnographiescanbewrittenaboutanentireculture,butethnographiescanalsobewrittenabout
smallgroupsofpeople.Forexample:studentsinacertainclass,asportsteam,astudygroup,or
asocialclub.
FortheDiscourseCommunityEthnography,yourtaskistoidentifyadiscourse
communityontheUNCCharlottecampus.Thismightbeacommunitythatyouareinthe
processofjoining,oracommunitythatyouarenotapartofatall.Itmightbeanacademicgroup
orasocialgroup.Tocompletetheethnography,youwillstudythisgroupusingthefollowing
threemethods(besuretogetpermissionfromthegroupmembersbeforebeginningthis
research):
1. Observememberswhiletheyareengagedinacommunityactivity.Takedetailednotes.
a. Whataretheydoing?
b. Whatkindsofthingsdotheysay?
c. Whatdotheywrite(oremail,tweet,post,draw,etc)
d. Howcanyoutellwhoisin?Whobelongstothatgroup?Canyoutellif
anyoneismushfaking?

2. Interviewatleastonememberofthediscoursecommunity.Recordandtranscribethe
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interview.Afewpotentialquestionsfortheinterviewee:
a. Howlonghaveyoubeenamemberofthisgroup?
b. Whydidyougetinvolved?
c. Whatdothewords_________,__________,and___________mean?Wheredo
theycomefrom?Whydoyouusethem?
d. Whataresomeofthemethodsyouusetocommunicatewiththeothermembersof
yourteam/organization/group/department?

3. Collectwrittenmaterialsthatpeopleinthecommunityreadorwrite(samplesoftheir
genresofcommunication).Evenmaterialsthatseeminsignificant,likeofficialforms,
sketches,notes,textmessages,posts,ortweets,caninformyourwork.

Whenyouhavecollectedyourdataintheformofobservationnotes,interviews,and
artifacts(writtenmaterials),thenitistimetoanalyzethatdata.
First,analyzethedatayoucollectusingSwalessixcharacteristicsofdiscourse
community.Belowarequestionstohelpyouwiththeanalysis.Bynowthesequestionsare
probablyveryfamiliartoyou:
Whatarethegoalsofthecommunity?Whydoesthisgroupexistandwhatdoesitdo?
Identifythemostcommonmechanismsofintercommunication.Whatarethepurposesof
ofthesecommunicationtools?Howdotheyhelpthecommunitymeettheirgoals?(For
example:dotheyspreadvitalinformation,helporganizemembers,helpavoidconfusion,
orbuildcamaraderie.)
Whataresomeofthegenresofcommunication?Forexample:newsletters,textmessages,
onlineposts,emails,handsignals,etc.
Whataresomeexamplesofspecializedlexis(vocabulary)thegroupusesinconversation
andintheirgenresofcommunication?
Whoaretheoldtimerswithexpertise?Whoarethenewcomerswithlessknowledge?
Whataretheirrespectivetitles,eitherofficialorunofficial?Howdothenewcomerslearn
theappropriatelanguage,genres,andgeneralknowledgeofthegroup?

AfteryouanalyzeyourdatausingSwalescriteria,considertheideaspresentedinAnn
M.JohnsarticleDiscourseCommunitiesandCommunitiesofPractice:Membership,Conflict,
andDiversity.Belowareafewquestionstohelpyouinyouranalysis:

Arethereconflictswithinthecommunity?Aretheserelatedtodiversity,authority,or
conventionsofthecommunity?
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Dosomeparticipantsinthecommunityhavedifficultywiththeworkorwithother
communitymembers?Why?
Whohasauthorityinthecommunity?Wheredoesthatauthoritycomefrom?
Whataretheelementsofbelongingthatnewcomersmustlearn?
Whatsortsofmultiliteraciesdothemembersofthecommunitypossess?
Aremembersofthecommunitystereotypedinanyway?Ifso,why?Dothese
stereotypeshaveanythingtodowiththeircommunitypractices?

Setadateforcompletingyourdatacollectionandanalysis.Youwilllikelyhavemore
informationthanyouneedforthelengthofthepaper.Decide:whatkeyelementsdoyouwantto
focuson?Whatarethemostinterestingfactsaboutthecommunity?
Considerorganizingyourpaperinthefollowingmanner:
Introduction:Beginbybrieflyreviewingthegeneralpublicsknowledgeofyourchosen
community.Decideonanicheforyourpaper.Forexample:Noonehasconsidered
ThereislittleknowledgeaboutTheassumptionsaboutthiscommunityare
incorrectbecauseExplainhowyouwilloccupytheniche.Forexample:This
ethnographywillclarifythesemisconceptionsinthefollowingwaysThe
observationsinthispapershowthat
Bodyofthepaper:describeyourresearchmethodsandyourfindingsindetail.
Conclusion:makeapointaboutthiscommunity.Whatdotheyrepresent?Whatgood(or
bad)resultscomefromtheirwork?Whentheymeettheirgoals,isitbeneficialtothe
largersocietyaroundthem?Whatcanwelearnfromthem?

Formattingrequirementsonthenextpage

FormattingRequirements:
35pages.
MLAStyle: Title
Pagenumbers(rightside)
TimesorArialFont
Heading(onthe1stPageonly,leftside):YourName,ProfessorsName,
CourseName,DueDate

WorksCitedPage:Youshouldciteanysourcesthatyouquote,paraphrase,or
summarize.Thisincludesinterviews,emails,tweets,andotherartifacts.Wewillreview
howtocreateaWorksCitedandcitesourcesinclass.