Ethnographic Inquiry Research Proposal printable pdf download

Writing and Rhetoric II -

Ethnographic Inquiry Research Proposal

The assignment:

For this assignment, you will write an essay that develops your proposed

ethnographic inquiry into a research project proposal. The goal is to explore

possibilities and generate questions, reflecting on why you want to research this

particular community, what you already know about it, what line of questioning you

might pursue, what you hope to discover, and why it is important to for the rest of us

to pay attention to what you discover in your research. You also want to convince your

classmates and me (your teacher) that your ethnographic inquiry project:

• Is interesting,

• Is substantive and worth pursuing,

• Has complexity,

• Has a path for your primary and secondary research

As you know from our class discussions and syllabus, your ethnographic

inquiry research must involve a community that you are connected to in some way.

As with all inquiry research, we are not going to start with a hypothesis about what

you think you will find. Instead we are going to start with an exploration of the

assumptions you have (an understanding of where you are coming from) and the

kinds of QUESTIONS you think you can explore about people, society, and culture in

relation to your primary research in this community.

Writing the Essay:

We’re going to work on crafting your discussion of these questions into a coherent

proposal essay that does six things. In this assignment, those six things are broken

down into six distinct areas as an approach to organizing your ideas. In your essay

you should weave them together as a coherent whole, connecting each part and not

simply pasting six separate answers together. There will most likely be some overlap

in your responses, so you can integrate what you need to say where you think it is

appropriate.

Plan to write 3-6 word-processed pages, 12-point font, for your Exploration Essay.

1. In a first section, introduce the community/site you plan to research.

Where/what/who are they? What attracted your interest this

community as a site for ethnographic research - a personal

experience, a personal question, a personal connection? Really

help your readers understand why you have a driving interest in

researching this site/community.

2. In a second section, explore your assumptions about this community

and/or commonly held assumptions (by others) about this community?

Are there value judgments you think people make about this

community? What do YOU instinctively think about when you

think about this community or site? You can build on what you

know or what you think you know about how this community is widely

Ethnographic Inquiry Research Proposal