- What questions about writing in the workplace or people who write for a living came up for you while engaging with the readings in the last few weeks? (Think back to Mc Millan Cottom’s take on how the new economy is shaping education, Gregg’s argument about the emotional constraints of white-collar work in conditions of flexibility or Brandt’s discussion of writers as the new mediational tools of the information economy. Or you might consider Bourdieu or Lanham’s ideas and how they might say something about what it means to write for a living). Take a few moments to brainstorm a few ideas of potential interesting strands of thinking of questions.
- Try to turn one of these ideas into a research question. Remember the parameters of a good primary research question: specific, narrow, and discoverable through primary methods (but not too narrow to be Google-able).
- Consider each of the data collection methods (interviews, observations, and text analysis) and describe how each method would allow you to find out the answer to the question in a particularly way. What would each method allow you to see? What would be the limitations of each? Which methods would be best for answering your research question?
- I keep thinking about how people get paid as writers–I know some people get paid per word, but others get paid per article or submission. I’m thinking about how people would negotiate how much they make with a boss, or even how they get paid if they are a self-employed writer.
- How do you negotiate when having writing-per-world-based paid? / Does the amount of money you have every year change based on the amount you write?
- Interviews let you get to have personal time and develop a relationship with the person you are interviewing. It feels more intimate, and I feel like it lets you get more information out of someone. You are limited in that they can only tell you what they know–you could observe someone’s job, and see something they might not. With observation, you could not have a conversation but you could look and see things the person themselves might not be able to tell you about their relationship with interacting with other people. Text analysis does not let you speak with someone or have a relationship with them. But I feel it does give the most amount of information.
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