Research Methods in Composition Studies

Illinois State University Course Number: English 497, Section 1
Semester: Fall 2005
Instructor: Bob Broad, Associate Professor of English
Course meeting times: Tuesdays 5:30 to 8:20 p.m.
Course meeting places: Stevenson 221-A and/or Stevenson 216

Course Overview

English 497 prepares participants to conduct professional-quality research in the field of composition.  ("Professional quality" means research that will help them finish their degrees, find jobs, and get published.) 

When we produce and consume “research,” what are we doing, and why?  What dynamic relations can we trace through the processes we call “research” among the phenomena of:  curiosity, questions, problems, inquiry, data, method, rhetoric, theory, knowledge, power, money, history, values, ideals, reputation, ambition, desire, fear, desperation, persuasion, and teaching practices?  

To help us answer such questions, I have designed this course as an inductive inquiry into the meaning, character, and role of “research” in contemporary U.S. society and specifically in the field of composition and rhetoric.  We will study closely those books and articles that participants in the class (and others) identify as particularly powerful examples as well as analyses of research in rhetoric and composition, and we will derive from that collaborative study a useful, productive understanding of what research is and ways we might conduct it.  Participants will channel their newly enhanced understandings of research in our field into research designs and pilot studies that they will carry out during the course. 

Kinds of research we will study will likely include:  historical/textual, experimentalist, qualitative/ethnographic, theoretical, feminist, classroom, and teacher-research.  (Please notice that this list of terms is purposefully and pleasantly confused in that the terms don't all refer to the same qualities or characteristics of research.)

Course Format

We will read books and articles of and about comp/rhet research.  We will write informally and formally, and share our readings, writings, resources, and ideas during class meetings.  In addition to establishing a solid basis of knowledge regarding a range of composition research methods and methodologies, participants will design and pilot research studies of their own.  These research studies should be closely linked to their plans for internships, theses, dissertations, articles, books, and other professional responsibilities. 

Check the links below for more information.

This web page is authored by Bob Broad. It was last updated on
August 26, 2005, and has enjoyed visits. 

The URL for this page is
http://lilt.ilstu.edu/rlbroad/teaching/497/497.htm

Copyright © 2005 Bob Broad