How the Messy World of Writers Becomes Tidy

 Methods bridge the theory with the analysis  Operationalize theory, articulate assumptions  Set rules for analysis  Methods provide  Clarity: Process of mixed methods used  Trust: Rigorous process with honest limitations  Confidence: Suitability of technique for questions

 Sources  Appropriate choices  Understanding context  Techniques  Clarify process  Argue consistency  Argue suitability  Acknowledge limitations Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411.

 Representation  Segmentation  Numerical abstraction  Analysis Prep  Transcription  Representativeness ▪ Overall shape ▪ Typical case  Outliers Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411.

 Code Origins  From literature  Analytic assumptions  Code Development  1 st cycle to 2 nd cycle  Code schema & examples  Refinement  Testing and reliability Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411.

Barton, E., & Eggly, S. (2009). Ethical or Unethical Persuasion?: The Rhetoric of Offers to Participate in Clinical Trials. Written Communication, 26(3), 295–319.

Schryer, C., Afros, E., Mian, M., Spafford, M., & Lingard, L. (2009). The trial of the expert witness: Negotiating credibility in court documents in child abuse cases. Writ. Commun, 26, 215–246.

Spinuzzi, C. (2012). Working Alone Together Coworking as Emergent Collaborative Activity. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 26(4), 399–441.

 Assure representativeness of data  "[A] total of 11 encounters with White american patients were also selected, creating a sample of 22 encounters balanced by other factors in the following order: type of cancer, education, income, gender, and age" (Barton and Eggly, 2009, p.5)  "I interviewed proprietors at nine Austin-area coworking sites and toured their facilities. [...] I also interviewed 17 coworkers at the three most populated coworking sites" (Spinuzzi, 2012, p.405).

 Assure consistency  "Following grounded theory principles, data collection and analysis proceeded in an iterative fashion" (Schryer, et al., 2009, p.226).  "For the discourse analysis of valence, each element of consent under consideration here— purpose, benefits, risks—was coded by consen- sus between the two authors for a positive valence, a neutral valence, or a negative valence, with valenced defined, as noted above" (Barton and Eggly, 2009, p.7).

 Assure meaningfulness  "To compare the distribution of evaluative lexis […] the frequency of each lexeme was calculated in each category. To ensure that a high frequency […] was not caused by the different number of letters[…], the percentage of letters containing each key word was also calculated" (Schryer, et al., 2009, p.227).  "I wrote blog profiles of each site [...] [s]ite proprietors reviewed and gave feedback on these profiles before posting them. [T]his method […] allowed me to check the profiles’ accuracy and build trust with proprietors" (Spinuzzi, 2012, p.407).

 Admit constraints  "I collected data for the study from July 2008 to February Given the number of sites and the difficulty of setting up interviews with people who have busy and fluid schedules, I collected data snapshots rather than longitudinal data: The data represent points early in the life of the coworking spaces, not necessarily the current state of these spaces" (Spinuzzi, 2012, pp ).

Barton, E., & Eggly, S. (2009). Ethical or Unethical Persuasion?: The Rhetoric of Offers to Participate in Clinical Trials. Written Communication, 26(3), 295–319. Fleck, L., & Kuhn, T. S. (1981). Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact. University of Chicago Press. Latour, B. (1999). Circulating Reference: Sampling the Soil in the Amazon Forest (pp. 24–79). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Schryer, C., Afros, E., Mian, M., Spafford, M., & Lingard, L. (2009). The trial of the expert witness: Negotiating credibility in court documents in child abuse cases. Writ. Commun, 26, 215–246. Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication, 25(3), 389–411. Spinuzzi, C. (2012). Working Alone Together Coworking as Emergent Collaborative Activity. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 26(4), 399–441.

Jason Swarts – North Carolina State University