Assignments: Ethnography

Assignment Learning Goals

This assignment has three options. Please choose one.

The purpose of this assignment is for you to investigate, to analyze and to consider the ways in which the unique, often unarticulated, communications and research practices of scientists — in both the natural and social sciences — affect, and are affected by, disciplinary assumptions and frameworks, varied audiences, and public concerns.

The assignment's learning goals:

• Investigate and identify the communications practices of a selected area of scientific inquiry;
• Analyze the research findings and develop a cogent set of descriptive and critical claims;
• Evaluate the set of claims and draw well-reasoned conclusions.

Ethnography: Option One

Overview

I want you to perform an ethnography focusing on the communications and research practices of a field within the natural or social sciences.

The ethnography's purpose is to have you investigate, analyze and consider the ways in which idiosyncratic, often unarticulated, communicative and research practices of natural and social scientists affect, and are affected by, audiences of peers, employees and non-specialists.

Defined generally, an ethnography:

    ... refers to the genre of writing that presents varying degrees of qualitative and quantitative descriptions of human social phenomena, based on fieldwork. Ethnography presents the results of a holistic research method founded on the idea that a system's properties cannot necessarily be accurately understood independently of each other. The genre has both formal and historical connections to travel writing and colonial office reports. Several academic traditions, in particular the constructivist and relativist paradigms, claim ethnographic research as a valid research method. — from Wikipedia

In adopting the stance of participant-observer in the professional culture you will investigate, your aim is to identify, describe, and analyze the distinct (and often shared) reading, writing, speaking, and visual communications practices of a selected field.

Methods

With any, or all, of the aspects of ethnographic research, there are many techniques (none of which are mutually exclusive) you can employ. From Wikipedia, then, here is a list of methodological techniques we can discuss. I will emphasize four of these techniques. But, to start (quoting directly from the Wikipedia article):

    • Direct, first-hand observation of daily behavior. This can include participant observation.
    • Conversation with different levels of formality. This can involve small talk to long interviews.
    • The genealogical method. This is a set of procedures by which ethnographers discover and record connections of kinship, descent and marriage using diagrams and symbols.
    • Detailed work with key consultants about particular areas of community life.
    • In-depth interviewing.
    • Discovery of local beliefs and perceptions.
    • Problem-oriented research.
    • Longitudinal research. This is continuous long-term study of an area or site.
    • Team research.
    • Case studies. These studies involve an in-depth, longitudinal examination of a single instance or event: a case.

    Not all of these techniques are used by ethnographers, but interviews and participant observation are the most widely used.

Please know that any of these techniques can be used by you and the group. Keep in mind the time constraints and requirements of the assignment. Let me emphasize four ways (these methods are not mutually exclusive) to go about your ethnography:

    • Library and Internet Research: In order to find out more about a field you can research it. In beginning your research, I suggest that you consult with the librarian responsible for the field (subject area) that you choose.

    • Interviews: One way to find out about the practices of professionals is to ask them. I want you to interview at least one practitioner in the field. Of course, you may interview more people to get more complete results. You may interview appropriate instructors, who, for the most part, are practicing. In addition, you may want to interview corporate and industrial scientists.

    • Participant-Observation: In order to find out more about a field you can participate in it. Perhaps you are working, or have worked, in the field in which you wish to become a professional. Consider your communications practices on the job. You may be initiates in the field that you are investigating and can analyze communications practices in the broad university setting. Still others of you may be "outsiders" to the field. You can observe the communications practices of a field by participating in workplaces, classrooms, lecture series (sponsored by your department), and professional meetings.

    • Personal Observation: How do the communicative skills you have learned and adopted compare to those of the field which you are investigating? Consider, for example, how you read, write, speak, and use visual images as compared to students in other fields. What are your reasoned impressions of communication in the field?

Analytical Framework

Please consider at least three of the following categories in developing your ethnography. The field or discipline you choose to investigate will emphasize these elements to a greater of lesser extent. As a result, the development of these sections in your memo will be idiosyncratic.

    Facilities

    In your research consider the kinds of artifacts necessary to perform and communicate as a practitioner in a field. Some thought questions follow:

      • What kinds of facilities and artifacts (consider, for example, texts as well as laboratories, computers, offices, classrooms, galleries, and libraries), are used to support work in the discipline or field? What tools are absolutely necessary for one to be a student or a practitioner within a given field? Is it necessary for practitioners in the discipline or field to become well-versed in using many, or few, artifacts and technologies?

      • How is the physical space of a given facility (classrooms, lecture halls, offices, laboratories, libraries, galleries and the like) arranged? What, if anything, does the layout of the facility say to different audiences (e.g., professional practitioners, students, administrators, the curious lay public) about the work done in the field? How accessible do you think the facility is to "outsiders"? To "insiders"? What, if anything, does relative accessibility say about the nature of the profession or field being studied? About the value of the subject being studied?

    Research Practices

    In your research consider the kinds of research performed and communicate by practitioners in the field. Some thought questions follow:

      • What kind of research do you perform? How is the research funded? in what ways do you communicate to funding agencies? What role do proposals play in getting funding?

      • Does your research require you to keep a lab notebook? What is the purpose of lab notebooks? Have you ever been involved in a priority dispute or controversy regarding intellectual property? If so, did your lab notebook play a role in findings regarding the dispute or controversy?

      • How, and to whom, are the results of research communicated? Who is the primary audience for your research? The secondary audience? Do you seek lay audiences to which to convey your research? Why or why not? In what outlets do you publish work intended for lay audiences?

      • In what academic journals do you publish? Are your articles cited frequently? What are the key elements in publishing research papers?

    Classroom Communication

    In your research consider the kinds of communication that take place in the classroom and in the workplace. Some thought questions follow:

      • How is information presented in the classroom? Lectures? Presentations? Visual media? Readings? Equations? Notes? Web site (or other electronic means)? How does electronic media (use of computers, the web, e-mail, specific software) shape classroom communication?

      • What are the demographics of the classroom, the lab, and the discipline or field (consider the Virginia Tech, or university, population generally then take into consideration the total number of people in the class, gender, age, race - inasmuch as such categories are significant or can be determined)?

      • What is the value given to certain forms of communication (is, say, note taking, a valued or necessary skill)? Do instructors ask questions of the students? Do students ask questions of the instructor? How is jargon used in the classroom or the laboratory? Are you being exposed to a "disciplinary dialect"? If so, what are its components (please provide examples)? Do students adopt and use this dialect?

      • Are lectures regimented or more "free-flowing" (discussion based and conversational)? What are the instructor's goals - imparting information to be repeated on an objective test? Shepherding a discussion that will provide ideas to be reproduced as papers, essays, and/or visual and electronic media?How do the does the instructor dress? How do the students dress? Is there a "look" which identifies members of an academic field? What are the elements of that look?

      • Does the culture of the classroom suggest an initiation into the professional field the discipline represents? What kind of person is the discipline trying to attract?

      • What does the classroom culture say about the way in which people think, or problem-solve, in the field? Do you think in the same way?

    Reading

    In your research consider disciplinary reading practices. Some thought questions follow:

      • What do professional practitioners in the field read?

      • How do they know what to choose to read?

      • How do disciplinary practitioners read professional writing in their field and/or in other professional fields? For example, what kind of writing do these practitioners read? Do they read a report, for example, from start to finish? Certain sections? Do they skip the prose and consult visual or symbolic representations?

      • What reading strategies have practitioners developed over time to deal with the increasing amount of information that is produced? What is the goal of "professional" reading?

      • Is reading a skill that has a special place in the field or is the nature of its conduct assumed? How, if at all, has the advent of new technologies shifted reading practices in the field? How have other communicative practices influenced, or been influenced by, reading practices?

    Writing

    In your research consider disciplinary writing practices. Some thought questions follow:

      • What are the conventions of writing in the discipline or field? How did they develop historically?

      • What types writing are performed most frequently? In what forums (journals, corporate annual reports, textbooks, monographs, the Internet) does published writing appear?

      • What kinds of unpublished writing (e.g., proposals, grants) are performed? How have the kinds of writing in the field changed historically? What does this shift suggest about the nature of the field? How is writing valued in the field (as compared to other forms of communication)?

      • Is there a writing process commonly adopted by practitioners? How does the peer review process come to play in professional publication? What value does the discipline or field place on publication?

      • What kinds of technical discourse, or jargon, are used in writing? What is the purpose of this type of discourse in the discipline or field?

    Oral Communication

    In your research consider oral communications practices. Some thought questions follow:

      • What are the conventions of oral communication in the discipline or field? How did they develop?

      • In what forums does formal, and informal, oral communication take place? What is the "style" of formal oral communication - reading a paper, an extemporaneous presentation supplemented by visual aids, telling a story, lectures, Socratic method? What are the goals of oral communication?

      • What kinds of technical discourse, or jargon, are used in oral communication? What is the purpose of this type of technical discourse?

      • In what forums does "informal" oral communication take place within the field?

    Visual Communication and Symbolic Representation

    In your research consider the place of visual and symbolic representations in the discipline or field. Some thought questions follow:

      • What are the conventions and forms of visual and symbolic representation in the discipline or field? How did they develop?

      • What place does visual and symbolic representation have in the field? For example, is visual or symbolic representation seen as more accurate, or less ambiguous, than linguistic representation?

      • Is formal instruction given in the design and interpretation of visual and symbolic representations? Could a lay person (absent instruction) understand what these visual representations mean? Do visual representations count as evidence in the field? How?

      • In what settings do visual and symbolic representations appear? What purposes do they serve?

    Public Perception of the Field

    In your research consider how the lay public views the field of profession. Some thought questions follow.

      • What is the public perception of the discipline or field - that it is rigorous, "soft", taking off, stable, leads directly to professional work or graduate school?

      • In what current public debates is the discipline or field involved? How is the discipline or field portrayed in the media - in films, novels, music? How is the discipline or field portrayed in the press?

      • How does the lay public (outside the field) understand the discipline or field? What is the impression of your family and friends regarding the discipline or field?

Requirements

    • Due: 10 February;
    • Length: 750-1250 words;
    • Format: Memorandum (single-spaced text; double-spaced between headings and paragraphs);
    Additional Documentation
    • A cover memo (document file) must be included;
    • Peer Review (document file) must be included;
    • Please send the required documents as e-mail attachments to jim.collier@vt.edu.
    Grading Rubric
    • I will use this grading rubric (document file) to assess the ethnography assignment.

    • The following three sections must be included in the ethnography:

      Introduction;
      Reflection on Findings;
      Conclusion.

    • At least three of the following sections must be included in the ethnography. However, you can include as many sections as you desire:

      Facilities;
      Research Practices;
      Classroom and/or Laboratory Communication;
      Reading Practices;
      Writing Practices;
      Oral Communications Practices;
      Visual Communication and Symbolic Representation;
      Public Perception of the Field.

    • Please interview at least one person, instructors or practitioners (while interviews with students may help round out your research I want you to speak with professionals) in the field, in performing your research;
    • Please document your sources using MLA (Modern Language Association) format.

Ethnography: Option Two

Overview

    "In major companies such as IBM or Ford, laboratory notebooks may be issued by the site security in numbered sequence. All the pages are numbered, each page must be dated, and there is a line on each page for witnesses to sign if necessary. If there is a dispute about patent rights, laboratory books may provide legal evidence about when a scientific discovery was made ... There have also been cases where lab books have been used as evidence in accusation of scientific fraud. In 1996 the names of Dr. Thereza Imanishi-Kari and Dr. David Baltimore (the latter, a Nobel Prize winner) were finally cleared by an appeals board of the Department of Health and Human Services after a decade of accusations of scientific fraud. During the investigations, Dr. Imanishi-Kari's lab book was subject to investigation by the Secret Service to determine when the data that was being questioned was actually written!!"
    — http://www.engin.umich.edu/class/me395/adminfiles/labnotebooks.pdf

Laboratory notebooks, whether in science or industry, make fascinating sites for research on scientific and technical communication practices. In this assignment, you will describe the standards (or norms) governing the keeping of laboratory notebooks, investigate how practitioners in science or industry keep and use notebooks, and analyze how lab notebooks play a role in priority disputes.

Methods

This assignment has four parts (you may perform the research in any way you see fit).

    • First, you need to perform research on what laboratory notebooks are, their purpose, and how they are to be kept. To complete this part of the report, you need to perform research (on-line, in the library, and through interviews) regarding the norms of properly keeping a laboratory notebooks. Please keep in mind that these norms make differ somewhat from discipline to discipline. Describe the norms and procedures for keeping a laboratory notebook, why these norms and procedures must be followed, and how electronic and digital media is challenging established practices.

    • Second, you will interview (use whatever method suits best) at least one practitioner in science or industry that keeps a lab notebook. The goal of the interview is to determine the practitioners view of the role of notebooks in the process of generating knowledge in their field. Here are some possible questions to consider:

      Who funds your research?
      Why are laboratory notebooks important?
      What do you consider the most important rules that govern the keeping of notebooks?
      What do you keep in your notebook (e.g., sketches, incomplete thoughts, comments on other work)?
      Are your notebooks available at any time for inspection by proper corporate or government officials? Have you had corporate or government officials inspect your notebooks? Why?
      Do you know of any disputes (over, say, intellectual property) in which lab notebooks played an important role?

    • Third, you will look briefly at a chosen historical disputes or controversy, whether over credit for a discovery or charges of scientific fraud, and recount it. Examples of such controversies include the cases of Gregor Mendel, Robert Millikan, and David Baltimore (William Broad's Betrayers of the Truth, 1983, deals a bit more directly with questions of fraud) In looking at these cases, please concentrate on the role played by laboratory notebooks.

    • Fourth, given your analysis of the norms, practices and uses of laboratory notebooks, I would like you to provide your analysis and conclusions. Specifically, I would like you to answer: What does your analysis of laboratory notebooks, as artifacts of the practice of science, reveal about the processes of scientific communication?

Requirements

    • Due: 10 February;
    • Length: 750-1250 words;
    • Format: Memorandum (single-spaced text; double-spaced between headings and paragraphs);
    Additional Documentation
    • A cover memo (document file) must be included;
    • Peer Review (document file) must be included;
    • Please send the required documents as e-mail attachments to jim.collier@vt.edu.
    Grading Rubric
    • I will use this grading rubric (document file) to assess the ethnography assignment.

Ethnography: Option Three

Overview

You may extend Option 1 of this assignment. Please note the changes in the assignment requirements (below) regarding the due date of the assignment, the length of the assignment, and the number of additional sections (five from the list) to be included.

If you decide to pursue this option, the assignment will count 20% of your final grade. As a result, you are not required to perform the proposal assignment (although you may still choose to do so).

Requirements

    • Due: 24 February
    • Length: 1500-2500 words;
    • Format: Memorandum (single-spaced text; double-spaced between headings and paragraphs);
    Additional Documentation
    • A cover memo (document file) must be included;
    • Peer Review (document file) must be included;
    • Please send the required documents as e-mail attachments to jim.collier@vt.edu.
    Grading Rubric
    • I will use this grading rubric (document file) to assess the ethnography assignment.

    • The following three sections must be included in the ethnography:

      Introduction;
      Reflection on Findings;
      Conclusion.

    • At least five of the following sections must be included in the ethnography. However, you can include as many sections as you desire:

      Facilities;
      Research Practices;
      Classroom and/or Laboratory Communication;
      Reading Practices;
      Writing Practices;
      Oral Communications Practices;
      Visual Communication and Symbolic Representation;
      Public Perception of the Field.

    • Please interview at least one person, instructors or practitioners (while interviews with students may help round out your research I want you to speak with professionals) in the field, in performing your research;
    • Please document your sources using MLA (Modern Language Association) format.

Science Writing