Research Exercise #1

Purpose: This exercise helps to hone your corpus, consider complementary methods, and experiment with their application.

Assignment: Submit copies of three corpus texts and a  2-3 page single space written report. The assignment should be divided into the following sections:  

Reproductions
Include printed and labeled  copies of each text.

Annotations
Write a one paragraph annotation of each text that selectively incorporates elements from our methodological reading rubric.

Complementary  Methods
Reflect on how you might incorporate ethnographic and interview methods into a research project that involves the texts. For each method discuss: 1) where, when, with whom you might ideally conduct the research; 2) where, when, with whom you can immediately begin conducting the research. Be as specific as possible when describing locations and people. 

Methodological Practice
Select one of the complementary methods and practice one session of ethnographic research or one interview. Include a short section of ethnographic fieldnotes or interview transcripts. Reflect on one thing from the notes or transcript that inspires your curiosity, gives you ideas for building out your corpus, and/or suggests a research question.