by Haley Smith, WRI 210, Fall 2019

How is ethnography defined within the discipline of cultural anthropology?

"Ethnography refers to two important practices within the cultural anthropology discipline. First, 'ethnography' is used to refer to the fieldwork and data collection completed by an anthropologist on a specific culture or society. Second, 'ethnography' is the actual text written about the culture and encompasses broader deductions made from the completed fieldwork."

"How to Write a Research Report Like a Psychologist"

by Sara Merrick, WRI 210, Fall 2019

"Research reports are one of the most common types of writing by psychologists. Since psychologists are always putting out more studies, it is necessary for them to also document their findings in a lab style report. What I have found about psychology research reports versus reports in other genres is that they are virtually the same. Research reports are very specific with their words and follow an established structure. With respect to psychology, even considering the genre specific terms, the reports are still written with a broad audience in mind, making them generally easy to follow. In this guide, I will discuss the specific steps for writing a research report like a psychologist while including extra useful tips. This beginners guide will be most useful for psychology majors who are doing field research, writing their first research report."

by Alice Bothwell, WRI 210, Fall 2019

"My website aimed to teach viewers about specific rhetorical moves in sociological writing. I reached this goal mostly in my post which outlined the most essential elements of sociological writing, instructing the reader to use the basic canons of scientific writing. As someone who is attempting to enter the sociology discourse community, it was important for me to learn about the rhetorical moves that sociologists value in order to boost my own credibility in sociological writing. In the future, I can focus on how certain genres shape research practices in the field of sociology...Even though the core tenants of a scholarly monograph apply across the field as a whole, there are other genres that I, as an undergrad student, would be more likely to encounter. However, my interview with Professor Bechtel did give me a lot of useful tips about the monograph that I still think are applicable to my undergraduate studies."

by Natalie Wamester, WRI 210, Fall 2019

"I came across this topic from the response I received on a poster I have in my room. The poster has a graphic of three fists of people of separates ethnicities, a pink background, and a caption at the bottom that reads “for all womankind.” Since putting it up on my wall, I have received one specific reaction from every guy friend of mine that has seen it. While my female friends have never mentioned it or pointed it out, almost every one of my guy friends has pointed it out—even when they have a positive reaction. None of them have expressed a dislike of it, but when they see it, I notice them stopping for a moment to take a second look. I kept wondering to myself, why is the poster so inconsequential to women, yet seems to stick out like a sore thumb to men? From there I began to think about how feminist texts are often seen as normal to fellow feminist readers but controversial to those who are not included in the argument. I realized that this concept is not limited to feminist writings, but rather applies to every sociological topic. Readers that are included in the group that the writer is discussing likely don’t recognize the writer’s bias. Conversely, readers that are not included in the studied group (regardless of whether or not they agree with the writer’s argument) get hung up on the bias and assumptions in the writing, just as almost all of my guy friends when they saw my poster."