Speaking about Writing : Reflections on Research Methodology

by Peter Smagorinsky

• ISBN13: 9780803952324
• ISBN10: 0803952325
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-04-29
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc

Summary

This volume makes a powerful case for the analysis of the spoken word as a source of data to study writing. The contributors focus on issues involved in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Their approaches go beyond simple quantitative//qualitative differences, examining the very underpinnings of the various assumptions of distinct methodologies. Divided into four major areas of inquiry, the book looks at different aspects of conducting think-aloud protocol analysis, retrospective accounts, discourse analysis and interviews in the field.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Potential Problems and Problematic Potentials of Using Talk About Writing as Data About Writing Process

PART ONE: THINK-ALOUD PROTOCOL ANALYSIS - Peter Smagorinsky

Think-Aloud Protocol Analysis

Beyond the Black Box - Stephen P Witte and Roger D Cherry

Think-Aloud Protocols, Protocol Analysis, and Research Design

An Exploration of the Influence of Writing Tasks on Writing Processes - Robert J Bracewell and Alain Breuleux

Substance and Romance in Analyzing Think-Aloud Protocols - James F Stratman and Liz Hamp-Lyons

Reactivity in Concurrent Think-Aloud Protocols

Issues for Research

PART TWO: RETROSPECTIVE ACCOUNTS OF WRITING PROCESS - Stuart Greene and Lorraine Higgins

`Once Upon a Time'

The Use of Retrospective Accounts in Building Theory in Composition - Deborah Swanson-Owens and George E Newell

Using Intervention Protocols to Study the Effects of Instructional Scaffolding on Writing and Learning - Anne DiPardo

Stimulated Recall in Research on Writing

An Antidote to `I Don't Know, It Was Fine'

PART THREE: ANALYSIS OF COLLABORATIVE DISCOURSE - George Hillocks Jr

Interpreting and Counting

Objectivity in Discourse Analysis - Melanie Sperling

Discourse Analysis of Teacher-Student Writing Conferences

Finding the Message in the Medium - Elizabeth Hodges

What's All This Talk I Hear? Using Sociolinguistic Analysis to Locate and Map Themes in Teacher//Student Talk About Writing

PART FOUR: INTERVIEWS IN THE FIELD - Elaine Chin

Ethnographic Interviews and Writing Research

A Critical Examination of the Methodology

PART FIVE: COUNTERPOINT - David N Dobrin

Whither Wisdom? - Robert J Bracewell

Withered Wisdom

A Reply to Dobrin