During a year-long ethnography in a workplace setting (a non-profit job and literacy training agency), a study examined how managers learned new genres required in their jobs. There were 2 research questions: (1) what are the specific aspects of a genre to be mastered for effective written communication? and (2) what is the developmental process…

A discussion of approaches to comparative rhetoric looks at diverse approaches and proposes that analysis can be enriched by incorporating the perspective of ethnography of communication. Contributions to the field of comparative rhetoric from second language learning and teaching mainstream rhetoric, and text linguistics are discussed, focusing…

This book is about mathematics, teaching and learning and how these are affected by a constructivist philosophy. Chapter 1 presents background to the study of an investigative approach to mathematics teaching. Chapter 2 provides an account of constructivism as a philosophy of knowledge and learning and includes a rationale for both radical and…

The participatory method of image production holds enormous potential for communication and journalism scholars operating out of a critical/cultural framework. The methodological potentials of mechanical reproduction were evident in the 1930s, when Walter Benjamin contributed three enduring concepts: questioning the art/document dichotomy; placing…

This study explores the linguistic abilities and political insights of African Americans in the inner city, focusing on the women and children of one particular neighborhood. Many of the research conversations were conducted with 12 members of 2 families. Based on more than 3 years of fieldwork, the book presents the oral, literate, and analytical…

After a review of the theoretical context to current research on literacy, consideration is given to aspects of the literacy practices of the Moroccan community in the Ladbroke Grover area of West London. Findings from a study of literacy in its social context in Morocco are cited in the discussion of the West London practices. Emphasis is on the…

Novice researchers often face more peril than pleasures in the researching process, which can become even more perilous as bicultural backgrounds locate them in ambiguous and fluid positions in relation to the "native" and the research community. Such ambiguity problematizes the techniques of participant observation, revealing it as a…

Ethnographic research projects have surged in recent years and are well represented in Research in the Teaching of English (RTE) bibliographies. However, methods texts were written for social scientists and anthropologists, not for writing researchers. Methods texts and rhetoric programs' general grounding in positivistic research imply that…

Additive conjoint measurement models for educational research are construed as practical applications of the hermeneutic theory of scientific instrumentation. It is argued that the model of the text is no less paradigmatic for quantitative method in the natural and social sciences than it is for qualitative, ethnographic methods. It is also…

Noting that intercultural understanding is a prime construct in the study of intercultural communication, this paper examines two questions that confront all intercultural communication researchers: (1) What are the underlying characteristics of intercultural understanding? and (2) What constitutes an interpretative perspective to intercultural…

In anticipation of providing a baseline of competencies on which teachers and school researchers could build, an ethnographic study was conducted of the communicative competencies of kindergarten children as revealed in spontaneous speech occurring across entire school days. Nonparticipant and, occasionally, participant observation methods were…

This article presents an empirical example of what a process of mobilisation and disciplination could mean in practice. The example is taken from a "validation" initiative (recognition of prior learning) among a small group of unemployed people in Sweden. An ethnographic approach means that data were collected, mainly through…

This paper explores the variety of qualitative methods available, in the context of a larger quantitative-qualitative debate in the field of educational evaluation. Each approach is reviewed in terms of the work of its major proponents. The dominant forms of qualitative evaluation include: (1) ethnography; (2) naturalistic inquiry; (3) generic…

Nine authors contributed to a three part bulletin inviting research in social education. Part 1, Research Perspectives, contains chapters one and two: (1) "The Invitation" (Catherine Cornbleth) and (2)"Paradigm and Purpose" (Thomas S. Popkewitz). Part 2, "Research Alternatives, has chapters three through eight: (3) "Survey Research" (Dennie L.…

This report shares insights on varied experiences in action research at the university level and describes methods for involving subjects in research. Examples used include case histories of two projects: the Projet de recherche et d'intervention a la maison (PRIM), a research project on home intervention; and the Ford Teaching Project. Based on…