Today, I want you to think about whether and how doing some primary research could help you get some valuable perspective on your research question. Primary research is research that you conduct yourself (as opposed to secondary research, which is when you read about research other people did). This might include conducting surveys and/or interviews or perhaps doing some first-hand document analysis. Not everyone in class will choose to do primary research for your project, and that's ok. For some, you won't have time or access to the people or documents you might need; for others, primary research might not give you anything significant enough to spend your time doing it. But, for others, it might make perfect sense; it might provide some local perspective on a larger problem, a way to ground your project for a real purpose and audience you have in mind for your final project. So, I'd like you to spend a few minutes today thinking about how primary research might add to your project. Read the handout on empirical research in writing (in the 1302 folder in Google Docs) and respond to the following questions by replying to this post:
--If you were to do primary research for your question, what type(s) do you think would be most appropriate?
--What specific questions would you like the primary research to help you answer?
For instance, if I was doing this version of Robert's question, "What effects does standardized writing assessment have on students' attitudes towards writing?", I might do several types of primary research (in addition to my secondary research which would give me a larger picture of the overall context of the discussion about how standardized writing assessment affects kids). I could survey high school kids in the 11th grade with the goal of finding out how those kids' ideas about writing have been affected by taking the TAKS test. What do they think the purpose of writing is? How does the school's emphasis on these tests make them feel? I could interview local high school English teachers, trying to find out what they think the effects are of spending so much time teaching to these tests. I could actually analyze a sample writing test from the TAKS 11th grade test, and I could do the same for the new end-of-course STAAR writing exam for 11th grade, trying to figure out what the differences might be and how that might affect students' ideas about writing.
The point here is to identify the possibilities that exist for doing primary research for your project, but I realize that, in summer, we have such a short time frame and your access to the people you need to talk to might be limited, so you'll have to make choices about what kind of primary research you can actually do (this week) and what might not be doable. If you do decide to do primary research, I'll talk with you individually because it'll be important to make sure you have a good plan for doing it (good interview questions, for instance) so you use your time optimally.
I feel that primary research would be very helpful with my topic.
ReplyDeleteSome questions I would ask would be something like:
1. Did you have any English teachers in school that you felt had a passion for the subject they were teaching? What made them stand out from the rest?
2. Did you have an English teacher that you felt had showed you the most about writing? Why?
If I was given to do primary research I believe that it will help be an important argument in my essay that I can use to support my ideas.
ReplyDeleteSpecific questions that I’d incorporate with the primary research are...
“What have your English teachers taught you?”
“How did English in high school differ than in college?”
I’ve decided not to do any primary research for my project; I feel it would take too much time and there’s no school going on right now. If I would have gone that route I would have interviewed high school teachers and high school students.
ReplyDeleteI would have asked high school teachers about different methods that they use to enforce “critical reading” if they even enforce it. I would have also interviewed a random selection of students and ask them which method of reading best suits their needs, and why they use that one.
From these questions that I would ask teachers I would want to learn the outcomes of these methods that they choose to teach their students, and what goal they’re trying to aim at.
As for the students, I would want to know if these methods that they use help them read critically, or if the methods that they use are just to understand their reading. I would also want to find out if these students stick with their methods because they feel comfortable with them, or it they're afraid to use others.
Doing primary research would have probably helped with my reseach, but i dont mind doing secondary research. :)
If i were to use the primary research for my project I think it would be very helpful because I would find out how much students know about doing a research paper.
ReplyDeleteFor example i would ask "How much does the students know about a research paper?"
"Would it be easier if the teacher gave you a sheet were it showed the steps instead of only explaining them?"
I'm going to have to do the same thing Brenda is doing and skip the primary research. I would have loved to take a survey of college students in writing class.
ReplyDeleteI'd ask "What do they feel causes writers block?" and "Do you feel that brainstorming, and multiple drafts benefit your writing and ability to talk about your idea?"
However given the time and circumstances I am going to have to pass on primary research and settle for secondary.
If I would have decided to do primary research i would have had taken survey from college students and high school students.
ReplyDeleteI would ask both, open-ended questions and closed questions. My first question would be "Do you believe that you suffer from resistance when writing?" That would be a yes or no question, then I would ask a couple of open-ended questions like, "Why do you think you suffer from resistance when writing a paper?"
Given the time, like Brenda and Alex, I will have to settle for secondary research which I found plenty of while searching for my articles.
Like others have explained, due to the lack of time I will also settle with a secondary research. If I would have decided to do a primary research I would have had taken the survey from college professors and high school teachers.
ReplyDeleteSurvey Questions:
1) What type of research paper do you find more interesting, a research paper with arguments and supporting evidence or a research paper composed of a collection of facts?
2) As per your own experience, what tends to get a higher grade, a research paper that contains arguments with corresponding backup documentation or a research paper that is composed of facts?
3) If the aim of academic writing is for students to bring up arguments, express their point of view, and support the claim with evidences, do you think these expectations are being explained and encouraged enough for the students to understand what’s expected of them?
I would like to try primary research, but not with the lack of time that we have. I would most likely find it helpful if I could. The type of questions I would do are surveying kids and seeing if they understand how to cite sources in their papers, and also how much do they know about plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteI don't really feel that primary research would add too much to my project. It would definitely contribute, but it would not be anything substantial, and I feel my time and effort would be better spent elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteQuestions would be directed into any possible area, were I to do it, like students of all levels, professors, but most importantly; writing critics. I'd ask what it is that makes sme writing so much "better" than others, and try to figure out just what exactly the gap consists of. Then I'd see if this could be exploited, taken apart, and reassembled.
I feel that primary research would help in my project, but unfortunately with time constraints I will use secondary research.
ReplyDeleteInterview Questions:
Do you find yourself wondering when your reading?
Why is that?
Does that happen with any readings?
Is it less common with readings that interest you?
What do you do that helps you stay focused in your reading?
This sorts of questions would give me a better analysis on the commonality of the subject and possibly learn what others do to avoid this problem.
-If you were to do primary research for your question, what type(s) do you think would be most appropriate?
ReplyDelete• I think the most appropriate would be to ask high school students as well as college students what the hardest part of writing a research paper would be.
-What specific questions would you like the primary research to help you answer
• What is the hardest thing to you about writing a paper?
• What kind of feedback have you received from your teachers about previous papers?
• Do you consider yourself a good writer?