Introduction to Research Methodologies in Writing Studies
Required
Mullaney, Thomas & Christopher Rea. Where Research Begins. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2022
Research methodologies. A comparison of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods
Purdy, James and Joyce Walker. Liminal Spaces and Research Identity: The Construction of Introductory Composition Students as Researchers. Pedagogy. 13.1 (2012), 9-41.
Optional
Unrau, Norman J., and Donna E. Alverman. Literacies and Their Investigations Through Theories and Models.
Prior, Paul, and Steven L. Thorne. Research Paradigms: Product, Process, and Social Activity.
In Farris, Christine, and Chris M. Anson (Eds). Under Construction: Working at the Intersection of Composition Theory, Research, and Practice. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 1998. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=usupress_pubs
Chapter 1 “Theory, Research, Practice, Work”. Page 11-18, Christopher Ferry
Chapter 2 “Composing Composition Studies: Scholarly Publication and the Practice of Discipline”. Page 19-29, Peter Vandenberg
Case Study Research
A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context.
Required
Zucker, Donna M. How to Do Case Study Research. Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences. 2, 2009.
Guo, Y.-H. Understanding the genre features of qualitative research: A case study
Optional
Gallagher, John R. A Framework for Internet Case Study Methodology in Writing Studies A Tale of Five Case Studies: Reflections on Piloting a Case-Based, Problem-Based Learning Curriculum in English Composition
Autoethnography
Autoethnography is a form of ethnographic research in which a researcher connects personal experiences to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings.
Required
Grant & Zeeman. “Whose story is it? An autoethnography concerning narrative identity.”
Wall. An Autoethnography on Learning about Autoethnography.
Optional
“Autoethnography: An Overview”
Self+Culture+Writing: Autoethnography for/as Writing Studies
Academic Autoethnographies : Inside Teaching in Higher Education (in Kean’s databases)
Resources for Biographical and Documentary Research (AERA)
“Creative Transcendence: Memoir Writing for Transformation and Empowerment”
Auto/Biography and Auto/Ethnography: Praxis of Research Method
Phenomenology
Phenomenology is a form of qualitative research that focuses on the study of an individual’s lived experiences within the world.
Required
Hudson. A research-based approach to game writing pedagogy
Thomas Groenewald. A Phenomenological Research Design Illustrated
Optional
Phenomenology Research Overview
Qualitative Research Question Examples
Russell, David R. Perception and recognition of textual genres: A phenomenological approach
Dryer, Dylan B., and David R. Russell. Attending to phenomenology: Cognition and reflection in North American writing studies
Hudson, Whithaus, & Lunsford. Toward wayfinding: A metaphor for understanding writing experiences
Peter Elbow. Toward a Phenomenology of Freewriting.
Discourse Analysis
Discourse analysis is a qualitative research method for studying “language in context.” The process goes beyond analyzing words and sentences, establishing a deeper context about how language is used to engage in actions and form social identity.
Required
James Paul Gee. Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction.
Discourse Analysis: Making Complex Methodology Simple
Optional
Bazerman. What Writing Does and How It Does It: An Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual Practices. (In Kean library)
The Essential James Gee: An Introduction to Discourse Analysis
James Paul Gee. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method
James Paul Gee. How to do discourse analysis: A Toolkit (in Google drive Readings)
James Paul Gee. Discourse Analysis Matters: Bridging Frameworks (available in Kean’s library EBSCOhost database).
John M. Swales. The Concept of Discourse Community: Some Recent Personal History.
Mixed Methods
Mixed Methods includes the use of more than one method of data collection or research in a research study or set of related studies. Mixed methods research includes the mixing of qualitative and quantitative data, methods, methodologies, and/or paradigms in a research study or set of related studies.
Hayes, Hogan et al. Chapter 7. Dynamic Transfer in First-Year Writing and “Writing in the Disciplines” Settings. (2016).
Ferenz, Orna (2005). EFL writers’ social networks: Impact on advanced academic literacy development. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 4(4), 339-351. (In ScienceDirect database in Kean’s databases)
Yu et al. (May 2016) When students want to stand out: Discourse moves in online classroom discussion that reflect students’ needs for distinctiveness. Computers in Human Behavior 58:1-11 DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.024
Actor Network Theory
Actor network theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach to social theory where everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationships.
Leander & Lovvorn. (August 2006) Literacy Networks: Following the Circulation of Texts, Bodies, and Objects in the Schooling and Online Gaming of One Youth Cognition and Instruction 24(3):291-340 DOI: 10.1207/s1532690xci2403_1
Grounded Theory
Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and analysis of data. Grounded theory involves the application of inductive reasoning.
Cho, J. Y., & Lee, E. (2014). Reducing Confusion about Grounded Theory and Qualitative Content Analysis: Similarities and Differences. The Qualitative Report, 19(32), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2014.1028
Other optional readings
Johanek, Cindy, Composing Research: A Contextualist Paradigm for Rhetoric and Composition: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1125&context=usupress_pubs Utah State University Press, ISBN#: 978-0874212921
Farris, Christine, and Chris M. Anson (Eds). Under Construction: Working at the Intersection of Composition Theory, Research, and Practice. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 1998. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=usupress_pubs
Davida Charney: Empiricism is Not A Four Letter Word
Sheila Clawson, Marion S. MacLean, Marian M. Mohr, Mary Ann Nocerino, Courtney Rogers, Betsy Sanford
Publication: The Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 4: Out of Our Experience, Useful Theory
Joanne Addison and Sharon James McGee, “Writing in High School/Writing in College: Research Trends and Future Directions.” College Composition & Communication 62:1 (2010)
Amicucci, Ann N. “How They Really Talk”: Two Students’ Perspectives On Digital Literacies In The Writing Classroom.” Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 57.6 (2014): 483-491. ERIC. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. (*This article will be sent directly to you via Richonda on email.)
“Grounded Theory: A Critical Research Methodology” by Joyce Magnotto Neff in Under Construction: Working at the Intersection of Composition Theory, Research, and Practice
“Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” by Henry Jenkins
Developing Students’ Critical Literacy: Exploring Identify Construction in Young Adult Fiction by Thomas W. Bean and Karen Moni
Online Fan Fiction, Global Identities, and Imagination by Rebecca Black
Colorado State University. Open-Access Textbooks
Colorado State University. WAC Clearinghouse
Contemporary Perspectives on Cognition and Writing
CROW: Corpus & Repository of Writing
