The Order in MethodHow the Messy World of Writers Becomes Tidy

From Eso to Exo

Cycle of Abstraction

Methods and their importance Methods bridge the theory with the

analysis Operationalize theory, articulate assumptions Set rules for analysis

Methods provide Clarity: Process of mixed methods used Trust: Rigorous process with honest

limitations Confidence: Suitability of technique for

questions

Methods: Data Collection Sources

Appropriate choices Understanding

context Techniques

Clarify process Argue consistency Argue suitability Acknowledge

limitations

Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411.

Methods: Data Reduction Representation

Segmentation Numerical

abstraction Analysis Prep

Transcription Representativeness▪ Overall shape▪ Typical case

Outliers

Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411.

Methods: Data Coding

Code Origins From literature Analytic

assumptions Code Development

1st cycle to 2nd cycle Code schema &

examples Refinement Testing and

reliabilitySmagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411.

Barton and Eggly (2009)

Barton, E., & Eggly, S. (2009). Ethical or Unethical Persuasion?: The Rhetoric of Offers to Participate in Clinical Trials. Written Communication, 26(3), 295–319.

Schryer et al (2009)

Schryer, C., Afros, E., Mian, M., Spafford, M., & Lingard, L. (2009). The trial of the expert witness: Negotiating credibility in court documents in child abuse cases. Writ. Commun, 26, 215–246.

Spinuzzi (2012)

Spinuzzi, C. (2012). Working Alone Together Coworking as Emergent Collaborative Activity. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 26(4), 399–441.

Data Collection and Validity Assure representativeness of data

"[A] total of 11 encounters with White american patients were also selected, creating a sample of 22 encounters balanced by other factors in the following order: type of cancer, education, income, gender, and age" (Barton and Eggly, 2009, p.5)

"I interviewed proprietors at nine Austin-area coworking sites and toured their facilities. [...] I also interviewed 17 coworkers at the three most populated coworking sites" (Spinuzzi, 2012, p.405).

Data Reduction and Reliability Assure consistency

"Following grounded theory principles, data collection and analysis proceeded in an iterative fashion" (Schryer, et al., 2009, p.226).

"For the discourse analysis of valence, each element of consent under consideration here—purpose, benefits, risks—was coded by consen- sus between the two authors for a positive valence, a neutral valence, or a negative valence, with valenced defined, as noted above" (Barton and Eggly, 2009, p.7).

Data Analysis and Validity Assure meaningfulness

"To compare the distribution of evaluative lexis […] the frequency of each lexeme was calculated in each category. To ensure that a high frequency […] was not caused by the different number of letters[…], the percentage of letters containing each key word was also calculated" (Schryer, et al., 2009, p.227).

"I wrote blog profiles of each site [...] [s]ite proprietors reviewed and gave feedback on these profiles before posting them. [T]his method […] allowed me to check the profiles’ accuracy and build trust with proprietors" (Spinuzzi, 2012, p.407).

Limitations

Admit constraints "I collected data for the study from July

2008 to February 2011. Given the number of sites and the difficulty of setting up interviews with people who have busy and fluid schedules, I collected data snapshots rather than longitudinal data: The data represent points early in the life of the coworking spaces, not necessarily the current state of these spaces" (Spinuzzi, 2012, pp.405-406).

References

Barton, E., & Eggly, S. (2009). Ethical or Unethical Persuasion?: The Rhetoric of Offers to Participate in Clinical Trials. Written Communication, 26(3), 295–319.

Fleck, L., & Kuhn, T. S. (1981). Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact. University of Chicago Press.

Latour, B. (1999). Circulating Reference: Sampling the Soil in the Amazon Forest (pp. 24–79). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Schryer, C., Afros, E., Mian, M., Spafford, M., & Lingard, L. (2009). The trial of the expert witness: Negotiating credibility in court documents in child abuse cases. Writ. Commun, 26, 215–246.

Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411.

Spinuzzi, C. (2012). Working Alone Together Coworking as Emergent Collaborative Activity. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 26(4), 399–441.

QuestionsJason Swarts – North Carolina State University jswarts@ncsu.edu