Alejandro Gonzalez Professor Vetter ENG 3840j 7 April 2013 Graduate School Woes?

Ethnographical writing is a style that tries to focus on communities. Seth Kahn really hits the nail on the head when he makes the statement that, The term most synonymous with ethnography is participant-observation research (2011). In other words, ethnographers dont just write about a specific group of people. Instead their aim is to observe, question, and research a specific group in order to truly get a better understanding of the norms, values, and ideologies of the people in that group. Kahn explains the importance of the people in ethnographic writing by stating, ethnography really highlights and emphasizes human relationships (2011) and, ethnographic writing can improve your understanding of people and their ways of thinking/talking (2011). These groups of people that Kahn is referring to are often called discourse communities. A discourse community as described by Anne Beaufort is, a social entity distinguished by a set of writing practices that result from the communitys shared values and goals, the physical conditions for getting writing done, and individual writers influence on that community (1999). One of the important points of this definition is that discourse communities often have distinct writing styles that stem from the beliefs of that community. Although this means that

there are many different possible styles and forms of writing, researching discourse communities in an ethnographical style is still a very important practice. This is especially true if an individual has the desire to become of part of a certain community such as a graduate student in the field of psychology. As a psychology student, graduate school comes packed with some heavy decisions. There is the question of whether or not to go, where to go, as well as what to study. This should not discourage someone from researching this community. In fact, anybody who is seeking a higher education should do some research into the kind of writing that is done in that community. Some good questions to ask for any person seeking to enter a new discourse community are What should a new member of this specific discourse community do to become an effective writer in that community?, Is it possible for an individual to subvert or challenge the conventional textual/oral forms of a profession or is his/her writing always determined by a social code or convention?, and How does someone newly joining the professional discourse community become a full participating member of that discourse community? Asking questions such as these will allow a possible new member to get an idea of the kinds of writing that will be required of him/her in that community. Doing so will also render a greater understanding of the discourse community as a whole. I set out to find answers to these questions and ultimately discover what it takes to become an effective graduate student writer.

Methodology

Originally to find the answers to these questions in a true ethnographical fashion, I wanted to sit in on graduate level classes or read some articles written by graduate students. Unfortunately, I was denied access to both these routes of research and decided to do the next best thing which was an in person interview with a member of the graduate school community. By e-mail I was able to set up a discussion with Professor Avery who is currently a teacher at Ohio University. He has been a graduate student for five years, been to two universities, and recently defended his second masters thesis (MBA and Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational Science) thus making him the perfect candidate to have a discussion with. I started off by asking some ice-breaker questions such as, How long have you been a graduate student? and Why did you chose the institutions that you attended? Then I moved on to some questions that lead up to the big questions I wanted to ask as well as some other questions which I asked just out of my own interest. I finished up the interview by asking the research questions outlined earlier all while recording Professor Averys responses. I also changed some of the research question wording in order to make sure Professor Avery knew what I was asking as well as in case he did not understand some of the jargon I was using such as discourse community.

Results

There was a lot of very useful information which was gained by having this discussion. The first question I asked was What should a new graduate student d o to be an effective writer? Professor Averys initial response was one word, Read. By this he meant that there is no better way to learn the subtle ins and outs of writing by examining what others have done. Similar to many other tasks like cooking an omelet or driving a car, the best way to learn an activity is watch others perform it. At first it doesnt have to be anyone specific, like other professors or other graduate students. However, he continued with, You should gradually know who has published what. This is phenomenal advice in my opinion. It is important to know who the big dogs are in a selected field because there is a reason why they are being published. He also advised against Trying to change the world with your first few articles. Many of his colleagues become over-zealous in their writing and without a foundation for graduate school writing they ended up in failure. Reading others work will allow a new graduate student to get a feel for how members of that discourse community conduct their writing as well as some of the norms that come along with that writing. Professor Avery described the normal way of writing in graduate school for someone studying psychology in a simple fashion. Almost all of the writing is journal articles which follow the general format of abstract, introduction, methods, results, and then a segment on analysis/discussion. With such a strict sounding formula, my obvious next question was, Is there any way to challenge these norms? Professor Averys answer was both a heartening yes and also a disappointing no. There is room for individuality but no room for freedom.

Basically there is no way to change the format of the journal article. It is something that is set in stone and a staple of scientific writing in the psychological community. On the bright side, one is able to add personal flair to their work. As long as the author follows the journal article format, he/she is able to write in their own style. This helps break up the monotony of reading articles that are all composed in the same format. However he cautioned, Do not attempt to break off into your own style too quickly. Just stick with the basics until you get a feel for the way things work. It wont come easy but over time it will tighten up. This advice echoes Donald, a writer in a new discourse community whom Anne Beaufort studied, Probably not till about 3 or 4 years that I felt like I really knew what I was doing, other than just kind of thrashing about and writing stuff that sounded impressive (1999). While writing in a discourse community is crucial to understand, I wondered if there were other elements to being a graduate student which lead to my third research question, How would a new graduate student become a full and participating member? Professor Avery emphasized, Working together and cooperating with your colleagues. He claimed that a lot of his former colleagues were out for themselves and did not help each other out. A lot of writing in graduate school is a collaborative process. Such writing usually stems from working on research either with another graduate student or a professor employed at the university and so success can depend on how well people are able to get along. He described the attitude a graduate student should have as, confidence without arrogance. The confidence part allows you to be respected in the community but having arrogance will cause others to look down on you and ultimately not want to work with you which can lead to difficulty in being a member of the community.

Analysis and Discussion

The discussion with Professor Avery yielded high volumes of useful information. There are three major points that can be gleaned from this interview. First, a discourse community involves more than just the writing that takes place within that community. Second, the key to understanding and becoming a successful writer/member of the discourse community of psychology graduate student. Third, the lessons learned can be generalized to other discourse communities. Much like an ethnography, a discourse community is not just writing centered but should have at least some discussion on the people that make up the community. Psychology graduate students have to interact with others on a daily basis which has an impact on the writing that he/she produces. Although it is quite important, it seems like some readings often dont talk about the social interactions that occur within a discourse community even though Beaufort describes discourse community as a social entity (1999). According to my discussion with Professor Avery, the singular most important aspect of writing in the discourse community of psychology graduate student is to read. There is no better way to fully comprehend the nuances of writing in a field. It is also important to learn the basics first and build off of a solid foundation of skills before attempting to do anything that is profound. Like learning to ride a bicycle, one must first ride with the training wheels on unless they wish to fall. Emulating other successful writers is another good way to get the hang of writing in this discourse community as well as probably many other discourse communities.

It is a good idea for anyone about to enter a new discourse community to do research about that discourse community whether it is a student about to enter graduate school or someone about to enter the world of professional business writing. It would seem that the tips I have learned can apply to any new writer. Doing so might also allow a new writer to alleviate what Chris Anson and Lee Forsberg called The three stages of transition which include ExpectationDisorientationand Transition and Resolution (1990). Even though these stages were designed to explain the transition process from academic writing to non-academic writing, it is still possible to apply them to the graduate student community.

Works Cited Anson, Chris, Forsberg, Lee. Moving Beyond the Academic Community. Written Communication. 7.2 (1990): 200-231. Print.
Beaufort, Anne. Writing in the Real World Making the Transition from School to Work. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999. 30-61. Print. In Person Interview with Professor Avery. Interview. March 2013.

Kahn, Seth. Putting Ethnographic Writing in Context. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Volume 2 (2011): 175-191. Print.

Appendix What Should New Graduate Student Do to Be an Effective Writer? Read. This is the most important thing to do. Gradually you come to know who has published what and why they published it. Is it Possible to Challenge the Norms of Graduate School Writing? Yes and no. There is room for individuality. However, there is no room for freedom. How Would a New Graduate Student Really Become a Full Member? Id have to say the most important thing is to work together. Like it or not you have to work with other people as a graduate student whether on papers or while doing research. A lot of the time writing in graduate school is a collaborative process. Go in with an attitude of confidence without the arrogance and people will like you so much more and you will be able to get along with your colleagues much, much better.

Reflective Essay In my opinion there were no really difficult readings in for this project (unlike project 2 in which we had to read Millers article). Id say I benefited most from the Kahn piece because it had to do with ethnographies and gave me a lot of ground to start writing my essay and a greater understanding of how to compose an ethnography. The Beaufort article was also quite helpful as usual because it gave examples of what to look for when doing primary research. The Voss and Dragga article about the inhumanity of graphs seemed out of place. The information gained from reading that seemed rather unimportant given the assignment but it was an interesting read. The most important thing I have gained from this project is the (almost) necessity of primary research. Since I will be going to graduate school there was no better person to talk to than Professor Avery. His insight to the whole graduate process has inspired me to learn about it even more. In fact, I plan on talking with more of my professors in search of the knowledge I will need to become a member of that discourse community. It is crazy to even imagine though that I will soon be taking this next step in my life. Going to college and choosing a major was already a big decision in my life and I will have to make another huge decision on what to study in graduate school which has got me quite stressed. Although all this was important, I feel as though I did not learn enough from doing this project. I did gain some very valuable information but most of it seemed to echo the previous readings we did in class. I guess I shouldnt say I didnt learn enough its just that the information I gathered made it hard to write for the project since it wasnt as profound as I

thought it would be. Maybe its just me but I feel like this essay wasnt as strong as the second project essay but I feel as though I have learned a lot more pertinent information that will not only help me with graduate school but with anything I try to do later in life.