XXXX and Omar Wyne

ENGL 297: Introduction to Professional Writing

Ethnographic Research Proposal
Introduction:
This research project will study XXXXXX, an associate professor University of Maryland. We
will analyze the technical writing skills that are involved in experimental reports, specifically in
the field of psychology. Our research will primarily focus on how experimental reports are
written after a case study.

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Research Questions:
The objective of this study is to develop a clear understanding of how empirical studies evolve
into experimental reports. Some of our questions will include:
How many researchers do you usually collaborate with?
How do you get approval to begin your studies?
If proposal writing is involved, is it usually a team of researchers writing, or an individual?
During a study, how do you record observations?
How do you utilize different techniques, in terms of video recordings and voice recordings?
When creating a report, how do you decide who writes what parts?
In terms of team writing and management, do you utilize charters and schedules?
Do you hold each other accountable for missed deadlines?
What editing techniques do you use?
Do you have a set editor (much like authors)?
What, if any, are the ethical codes that you use during your studies?
Our purpose is to gain a clear understanding of how to utilize technical writing and its tools in
empirical reports. Because we both are students who are interested in doing research within the
educational field, these questions will help expose us to the entire process.
Research Subject:
XXXXXX, in addition to being an associate professor, is also a researcher in XXXXXX, part of
UMDs XXXXXXXXXX department. Her research focuses on the influence that a childs social
interactions has on their cognitive development, specifically in mathematics and problem
solving. She also studies how parent-child interactions, parental beliefs, and home environment
can play a role in a childs development. We want to study XXXXXX because of our shared
interest in the role of psychology in education. We understand that XXXXX conducts many
studies with other researchers, and that will help us understand how different technical writing
and team writing skills work in the research world. XXXXX writes for and with other
researchers who share the same interests as well as future educators who are learning how to use
various psychological studies and applying it to the classroom setting.
Data Collection Method:

We plan on conducting several interviews while taking field notes, along with gathering and
studying different writing samples from XXXXXXX. While observing her writing samples, we
hope to analyze how experimental reports look after they are written and finalized for the target
audience. XXXXX has a large number of published work that includes chapters and journal
articles. Reading into her work will be helpful for our review on writing experimental reports and
her collaborative writing process. After analyzing her writing, we will come up with questions
regarding her work and conduct several interviews to help fill in any questions relating to her
publications.
During our interviews, after reviewing her written work, we will begin by trying to learn more
about her writing process. We will conduct multiple interviews, starting off with one that is a
little bit informal for questions regarding personal likes and dislikes with her kind of professional
writing and workplace culture. This informal method will help us get a personal feel of Dr.
XXXX relationship towards her work. After an informal, interview session, we will conduct
several formal sessions where we will ask about our primary research questions regarding
writing experimental reports. We will start all the way from the beginning by asking how a topic
for a study is created, all the way up to the final publication of a report. Throughout the
interview, we will be asking additional questions to learn more about the steps in-between the
beginning and end product.
While we are conducting our interviews in her office, we will be taking field notes and recording
our conversations. Field notes will help us keep the record of key observations we might
highlight or come back to in later interviews and or our final report. Recording our conversations
with XXXXX will help us be mindful, interactive listeners, and not rely on jotting everything
down.
Data Analysis:
By using multiple different data collection methods, we can understand the writing process that
goes into constructing experimental reports. XXXXX written work, such as her journals, will
help us come up with additional questions while we are preparing for our interview. The main
objective from reading her published work will be to see how experimental reports are supposed
to be written after a case study and the structure pertaining to them. Her journals are in
collaboration with other professionals in her field. While observing her writing, we can make
sense of how experimental reports are a collaborative effort and the step they take to have a
unified style of writing. In addition to her written work, we will also analyze any other notes
she's able to make available to us, for the purpose of understanding all the personal writing that
helps regulate her own work.
During the interview sessions, we plan on asking her about the writing process, following the
case studies that she conducts. The aim in our interviews is to help make sense of how XXXXX
manages her writing process, work culture, and ethical issues dealing with her studies. We will

learn more about her daily work, in and outside of teaching, and the specific steps she takes to
start a study and end it with a written report. After each interview session, we will compare notes
to come up with any additional questions we may have for our next session.

Schedule of Work:
10/31- Final draft of ethnographic project proposal.
11/1- Gather and observe XXXXX written work. Finalize questions for interviews.
11/2-11/9 - Conduct several interviews with XXXX over the course of a week.
11/10- Email XXXX of any follow up questions.

11/14- First Draft of Professional Writing Ethnography.

11/14- Annotated research portfolio due. Post URL to canvas.

11/21- Second Draft of Professional Writing Ethnography.

11/30- Ethnography of a Professional Writer.
12/5- First draft of Professional Writing E-Portfolio.
12/12- Final Annotated Research E-Portfolio, with Reflective Essay.