Chapter 8 basically deals with the drafting of your final ethnographic research paper, or “the draft” as it is known. It has us re-evaluating our data as to help us figure out what our data is saying and what direction the paper should go. I believe that I have pretty much done that…since my WA 4 was the beginning of my project. I am also doing a video project, so the information about WRITING the paper wasn’t as helpful to me as I am sure it was for others, but it did offer insight on how to strengthen my project. One thing this chapter emphasizes is that the first draft will most likely NOT be like the final draft, as you will begin to see holes in your paper that additional analysis of the data collected. Anne Lamott describes these drafts as Shitty First Drafts, which she says are only for getting your thoughts on paper for further organization. It is also recommended that you question yourself as you are working so that you are sure you cover all the areas that need to be covered. The chapter provides an array of different questions that could prove helpful in this process. Stephen King offers a bit about how we need to write in a basic form so that we can communicate to the reader in a clear and concise manner. King also stresses the importance of grammar and mechanics – something that I have always been told is essential. I did not find much new information to that respect because of the “Grammar and Mechanics Boot camp” I was forced to endure in the middle of my senior year. Overall, I believe this chapter was more about looking at your data more closely so that you can begin writing your project and/or add more length to it. I did draw a few bits of information from this chapter, but because I had already started my project and analysis of my data, I found a good bit of the information to be repetitive for me. The example of the Annotated Table of Contents did serve a purpose for me, though, because I had to do one for WA 5 and for my research portfolio. I am not 100% sure if I did it correctly, but the example helped to give me an idea of what Dr. Carter was expecting from me. It also helped to give me an idea of how I wanted to organize my portfolio, because I already knew that the previous examples I saw did not suite what I wanted to do with my portfolio. Alas, this concluded the Field working book…I am kind of stoked because it was not often in High school that we actually finished out a book. Though this book took a lot of brain power to complete, I found a great amount of the information helpful in creating my ethnographic research project. Thanks, Field Working!!!!
Analysis of my research thus far
Overall, I am pretty excited about my research. I had expected to find out that other honors students had felt discriminated against, but I did not expect to find out so much about the subject. I found that each student had a similar, yet unique, experience growing up when it came to school and how their peers perceived them based on their academic performances. One thing I found interesting was that not all students experienced this phenomenon at the same time…meaning that some bore the brunt of discrimination at elementary school while others felt mistreated in junior high or even high school. I had problems with people treating me unequally because of my grades for pretty much all of my life, so it was kind of refreshing to hear that everyone didn’t go through it for quite as long as I did. Another thing I noticed that I could not quite figure out was that the mucis majors who took my survey noted that they did not have problems with discrimination within the music department. They noted that everyone “was on the same playing field” in the music department and that there were little to no problems with the honors vs non-honors thing like on other parts of the campus. I also expected to mostly hear about discrimination from the students…I was surprised at how many students complained about feeling unequal in the eyes of their teachers. I always liked having more expected of me by my teachers because it helped to motivate me to give my all, but a great amount of the responses I received stated that they hated that their teachers treated them differently because they felt like they weren’t any different from the other students and should not be treated differently. They also complained that the teachers sometimes harbor unrealistic expectations and assume that they are too smart to make mistakes, which they feel is unintelligent because even though they have shown excellent performance in the classroom, they are still teenagers and are still prone to making mistakes. I also liked to hear about the different reactions people have to the unequal treatment by their teachers and classmates. Some were bothered, but did not let it affect them too much. Others tried to conceal the fact that they were honors students just so that they could get away from the constant questions about homework assignments or the desperate attempts of others to cheat of their papers. One thing that I thing everyone would be surprised to know is that the dean of honors college stated that intelligence and test scores are not the most important factors when selecting a class of honors students – leadership and community involvement are. They only consult the gpa and test scores when they are stuck between two people and need another deciding factor to help in the selection process.
Code Book (revised)
Majors
AM = Art Major
BCM = Biology/Chemistry Double Major
EdM = Education Major
EgM = English Major
EnM = Engineering Major
MM = Music Major
PM = Psychology Major
PRM = Public Relations Major
RTM = Radio/Television Major
Experienced Discrimination From…
DT = Teachers
DS = Students
Environment/Performance Relationship
EB = Body Position
ED = Distractions (tv, music, etc.)
EE = Eye Contact
EF = Friends
ES = Seating
Level of Education Experienced
L1 = Elementary (k-6)
L2 = Junior High (7-8)
L3 = High School (9-12)
L4 = Post-Secondary Education
Reactions
R1 = Isolated Self
R2 = Concealed Honors Status
R3 = Did Not Socialize with Non-Honors
Why Did You Make Honors?
A1 = Mentioned GPA
A2 = Mentioned Class Rank
A3 = Mentioned SAT or ACT Scores
A4 = Mentioned None of The Above
For my Table of Contents, please consult my WA 5
