As part of your research, you'll be using discourse and textual analysis. According to MacNealy, what is discourse and textual analysis and why do researchers use them? From these definitions extend your thinking to your own research: how will you use these methods? Be specific--out of the 7 types of discourse analysis, which ones do you believe you might use and why? What texts have you already found to analyze? How else will you use these methods?
250-400 words. Engage with others.
Due: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 by class time.
ReplyDeleteMacNealy defines discourse and textual analysis as words, pictures and diagrams produced naturally for a specific audience and purpose. The author uses the examples of memos, class speeches and reports. The definition is then furthered to include entertainment including novels and magazine articles. Researchers use this to get a plethora of different viewpoints and ideas surrounding a certain topic.
If I were to use some of these ideas in my paper I would try to incorporate reports and articles referring to the prescription of ADD and ADHD pills. I would include these to include two possibly three different views on the subject from both a doctors point of view and also a pro or con view based on the magazine or newspaper article. While writing, I would like to avoid focusing on stylistic analysis because it mostly deals with word count and sentence structures. I don’t necessarily think that this would be helpful with a inquiry essay so long as the final product is readable and coherent. I suppose the structural analysis could be helpful with an inquiry essay because focusing on this would allow for more organization and logic within the final product.
I haven’t gotten too far in my research as of yet. I believe that the library should be a good beginning of the research process. I want to hopefully get many different sources covering a handful of different genres. As I said before I would like to include a report conducted by doctors, news articles, videos, interviews basically anything that gives individual’s feedback on the issue.
I agree with your ideas on stylistic analysis. It seems like counting words and syllables is overly-finicky for our research. I think the name is kinda misleading though. It seems like what I'd consider "style" is more important to what MacNealy calls rhetorical analysis. Did anyone else find that too?
DeleteI also agree with how you described MacNealy theory, and believe that you worded it very well considering your audience (us). I found your piece very easy to read an made me understand the article much better then I did after reading it. I also like how for your research you are planning on using many different sources, however i notice you did not mention observations. How are you going to apply MacNealy's methods to your observations?
DeleteI like your conversational style
DeleteAccording to MacNealy, discourse and textual analysis is the critical study of written, oral, and graphic materials in order examine the ways these forms of communication are used to convey ideas. I found a big connection here to our crazy discussion of rhetorical situation-- sorry for bringing that up again! But studying the rhetorical situations in which textual works were formed (audience, rhetoric, salience... all that good stuff from our jumble of a definition) really seems to be the underlying goal of this type of analysis. By considering the social, political, economic, and historical contexts of a textual work, researchers can significantly add to, or change, bodies of knowledge in their fields.
ReplyDeleteBefore jumping into how I’ll use discourse/textual analysis, here’s my research inquiry: How have Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments formed in America?
I have several sources laid out which will help me with its historical roots (colonialism, orientalism, etc.), but the big ones that I think require this sort of analysis are speeches. George W. Bush’s speeches following the 9/11 attacks were seen and heard by huge numbers of Americans, and I believe they had a huge impact on today’s view of Middle Easterners.
Stylistic and rhetorical analyses are the types which will fit best for this:
Stylistic analysis will help me understand the ways in which Bush and his writers used elements like metaphors, anecdotes, hyperbole, oversimplification, and other tools to capture the public’s attention.
Rhetorical analysis will play off of this and explore the ways Bush’s rhetoric and claims persuaded the American people into an “us vs. them” view on the conflict.
Depending on how much analysis my essay can hold, I might jump into some of his later speeches on Operation: Iraqi Freedom as well.
Emily- what a great topic to pick, and Bush's speeches act as the perfect type of discourse to analyze. I can see why you would choose to use Bush's post 9/11 speech(es) due to the amount of people Bush's words reached. I am curious though, what other types of discourse do you plan on analyzing? Also, are you researching how Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments formed in America during a specific time period? Or just in general?
DeleteJust wondering :)
Also, I really like your picture. When'd you go skydiving?!?!?
DeleteEmily- This is a wonderful topic for your research essay. Because there are so many perspectives surrounding 9/11, your paper will be engrossing to any audience you choose to relate to. The 9/11 speeches by Bush will provide phenomenal resources to create a starting point to conduct your research. My professor for WRIT 1122, Megan Kelly, had our class read an article entitled, Engame, by Derrick Jensen. Part of his article relays the response to 9/11 told through 5 different perspectives. I am not sure if this will be helpful in your research, but if you are interested in the topic, I would definitely read it. I found it very interesting that different countries, organizations, and cultural groups could have such different responses to the same tragedy. I will post the link at the bottom if you'd like to read it! Other than that, I agree that structural and rhetorical analysis will be of the best use for you as you continue in the research process.
Deletehttps://blackboard.du.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1973174-dt-content-rid-2377599_1/courses/4568.201310/Jensen%281%29.pdf
Hopefully this link will work.
Only read the part about "Five Stories"
Thanks, ladies!
DeleteHannah- I'm not sure if I'll analyze anything else in textual terms. Most of my other sources (so far) are more info-based, so they don't seem to require it. As for the time period, it's pretty general. I'll start with 1800s colonialism and work from there. It's obviously not going to be super in depth until more recent times, but I think the background is important.
And I went skydiving on my 18th birthday, so a year ago-ish? It was amazing!
Jackie- Thanks a bunch for the source! I definitely want to check it out, but the link doesn't work. If you have time, could you download it as a PDF and email it to me?
In order to accurately define what discourse and textual analysis means, we must look at the individual meanings of the words. According to MacNealy, discourse or texts are written, oral, or graphical material made fro a particular audience. Essentially, discourse can include any collection of related words, whether it is only a sentence or a textbook. Analysis refers to the study, using any number of methods, in order to interpret different types of information. When put together, discourse analysis is a type of research that focuses on a procedural type of investigation. Researchers use textual analysis in order to make inferences about a piece of discourse that provide better insight on the information. This allows a researcher go deeper into the text and add their own insight based on inferences they make about the author, audience, and the context it may have been written in.
ReplyDeleteIn my own research, I think using discourse analysis will help me look beyond a text. Since the audience and context of a text is influential on the author while writing, it is important to understand these things in order to fully understand the message the author is sending. I will also be able to get a better idea of the intention of the author and get a better idea of the purpose of the text. The method that I plan to use the most in my research is structural analysis. A main focus of this type of analysis is to see how the different elements of the discourse connect to each other. Depending on how the author chooses to arrange a piece, the information may be perceived differently by the audience. With my topic, social media, it will give me a better insight on audience and the bias of the author on the subject.
Many of the texts that I will be using in my research are not going to be found on the shelves of the library. I plan on looking at different studies and analysis' of the nature of social media due to my topic being a relatively new subject.
I like how you are willing to look just outside the library for your information, especially because a majority of it won't be found there. I agree with you when you think structural analysis will be important for your research because think the same information can be perceived different ways depending on how the information is organized.
DeleteI agree that you probably won't find many useful books or pieces in the library for your topic which is social media, that's probably why it's a good idea to look outside. You said that this type of discourse analysis will help you look beyond the text but for a research piece, i don't think you need to do that, you may need to understand the intention of the writer but from what to include in your research, you'll just be stating facts and information you gathered from different places organized in a way that makes sense, don't you agree?
DeleteBefore he highlights the importance of discourse and textual analysis in regards to research, MacNealy first defines the terms as he views them. MacNealy calls discourse any sort of written literature, oral dialogue, or image produced under natural circumstances. Under this definition discourse can refer to newspaper articles, poems, speeches, conversations, lengthy novels, or even letters. All discourse has a specific purpose and an audience. MacNealy considers all lengths of related “word chunks,” such as three-word commands or three-page essays, as discourse. Analysis is a comprehensive and systematic method of gathering and interpreting data. Together, discourse or textual analysis can be taken to mean the act of credible, specific, and comprehensive research. Researchers of all academic disciplines choose to study discourse analysis because it allows them to make reliable and tangible inferences about somewhat ambiguous topics. Using the solid research methods discourse analysis provides eliminates much, but not all, bias from researchers. Researchers also decide to use discourse analysis in order to make inferences about people, events, and objects that cannot be directly observed.
ReplyDeleteI plan on using discourse analysis throughout my research process. Specifically I plan on using structural analysis to collect and make inferences of data. I will identify and sort both pre and post-abortion discourse of women. I may find this discourse in personal memoirs, letters, newspaper articles, or testimonies from women. I could easily analyze the discourse of abortion doctors, relatives of abortive women, and counselors as well. I hope to see a pattern as I analyze discourse. For example, if I notice that most women who have abortions express feelings of guilt (or relief, or sadness, or loneliness) when they discuss their procedure, I can infer the type of psychological effects exist for post-abortive women.
To be honest, I haven’t started analyzing any texts for this research paper. (Sorry Professor KT). But don’t worry…I am aware of several resources I can use. There are many brochures advertising either for or against abortion clinics, and I have read many interviews of post-abortive women in magazine articles. The fancy new Anderson Academic Commons has tons of books, and I bet there is at least one informational book about abortion.
I will also use discourse analysis techniques to organize my research procedure. MacNealy’s article taught me just how nit-picky I must be when conducting research. Every little detail counts.
According to MacNealy, discourse and textual analysis as “oral, written and graphic materials that have been produced in natural situations for a particular audience and purpose, as well as communicative materials produced for other reasons such as entertainment.” MacNealy goes on to say discourse and text can range anywhere from simple one word statements to much longer pieces such as the textbooks we read in school. The analysis piece refers to studying, using one of the seven types of discourse analysis discussed later by MacNealy, the material and interpreting all kinds of various information and statistics. Textual analysis is used by researchers to make inferences on people, objects or events that cannot be directly observed. This process allows researchers to discover more than just what is apparent on the surface.
ReplyDeleteIn my own research, I would like to try to include reports, statistics and articles about how gun control and violent crime rates affect each other. Certainly there will be an enormous amount of these due to recent events throughout the country. I think textual analysis will be important in my research because it will help me get a better understanding of the work I am referencing as well as making my own inferences based on those writings or statistics. The two textual analysis’ I believe I will use the most will be Rhetorical Analysis and Structural Analysis. I think these two will play a major role because with Structural Analysis it is important how the author organizes his/her thoughts because the audience may perceive the information in many different ways. Rhetorical Analysis is also important because within my topic, how does gun control affect violent crimes, there are many statistics which are all technically using the same fact but the way the rhetor decides to create the rhetorical situation can be very different. For example the NRA may have a statistic on gun deaths in this country, while many of the anti-gun groups have the same statistic on gun deaths, but these two groups will portray them completely differently depending on what they believe and the message they want to give their audience.
I have not found too many texts so far, but tomorrow will be an important work day for me in the library. I have been looking to schedule interviews with a few different people such as an NRA member, a police officer, a doctor or any average citizens in the Denver area. I would also like to find video clips and articles with factual statistics in order to see what actually happens when gun control laws strengthen in an area. I will hopefully be finding a good starting point in the library tomorrow.
MecNealy defines discourse and textual analysis as portraying a specific idea or purpose upon their audience through words, pictures, diagrams, tables, charts, and any other way to lead the reader to understanding the purpose of the piece. The analysis section referrers to how the rehtor chose to portray and understand the information, through different means of sorting and deciphering the information. The idea of discourse and textual analysis when bought together is the idea of diving deep into the information and analyzing the influences behind the writing and looking at it with an unbias mind.
ReplyDeleteMy topic of research is analyzing the use of the current rock climbing wall in the Coors Fitness Center, and how to improve its value for both students and the school. My question is:
Is transitioning the rock-climbing wall in the Coors fitness center to more student oriented both valuable for DU and the students?
In my research the two main discourse analysis types that apply to my topic is, communication and marketing researchers, and writing researchers. First off Communications and marketing researchers, because there is a focus on the marketing and the effects that certain things have on people. This is exactly what I hope to do in my research, I hope to figure out and observe the different community, or lack there of that is surrounded by the climbing wall at DU. Then after, I would be able to compare the atmosphere and contributing factors of having a more student oriented climbing wall to other schools to prove that it will in fact increase the value for both students and the school. Secondly, writing researchers dives into the language used, which I will also be researching through both surveys and interviews. I will be able to talk to both students and employees at the gym to see what type of language they use to describe the climbing wall, and if they wish that would change. With these personal opinions, of hopefully wanting to change the climbing wall, it will illustrate the inherit need for the transformation.
As of now I have not started my research, therefore I cannot reveal much about how to currently apply these methods, but just explain how I plan to in the future. I see myself mainly using these methods for the use of gathering data that is not writing, but from interviews, observations, and surveys.
I think its interesting that you say you hope to use your research to prove that it will in fact increase the value for both students and the school. It sounds like you already have some strong opinions on where your research will lead which might make it seem bias. I think we have to really try to not think about where the research will take you because you have to let it show you... I will definitely have a hard time with this too!
DeleteMacNealy defined discourse as any sort of communicative material, whether that is written words, spoken sentences, or graphic materials. He clarifies that discourse can be almost anything; including a casual conversation you have with a friend, an article in a scientific journal, to this post right here talking about discourse. This makes sense, and seems to me to be a sort of synonym of “media,” but with more context. He defines analysis as the systematic study of something. This definition reminds me a teacher I once had taught that described the process of analysis as breaking it apart and looking at each piece individually.
ReplyDeleteMacNealy lists seven different ways of doing discourse analysis. Some of these forms of analysis seem kind of weak for this type of research. The stylistic measurements seem to produce insubstantial figures for the discourse. Sure, some sort of readability test or computer style analyzer may be helpful when trying to teach stronger reading abilities, but these sorts of measurements do not adequately represent the information represented. There may be times where knowing word density will help you with a piece of writing, but these sorts of things don’t usually come up during research. I think rhetorical analysis is the most important form of analysis that he brings up. It really is the rhetoric in a piece of discourse that makes it what it is; analyzing the rhetoric helps you to be aware of what the purpose of the discourse is. Structural analysis is a close second in my opinion, having to deal with the genre and the genre conventions it uses.
I agree with you about the stylistic approach to analysis seemed weak. I couldn't find any way to use this form in my research so maybe we can talk about this as a class today? I also agree with your 1st and 2nd most important forms. Hopefully we are just missing something with the other forms.
DeleteMacNealy defines “discourse” and “textual analysis” as, “oral, written, and graphic materials that have been produces in natural situatuions for a particular audience and purpose” (MacNealy 128). Based on those definitions I would say our class was on point in describing the elements of rhetoric. I would say that counts as a productive discussion after reading this definition. Researchers use these two elements in order to better infer about the people and objects they are observing. All scholars have a different reason for using discourse analysis. Reasons ranging from better understanding one’s religious beliefs, to settling questions of authorship and date of composition demonstrate scholars’ need for discourse analysis. Discourse and textual analysis allow a rhetor to infer about a situation because they may not be able to converse with those they are observing.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, my research question is as follows, “Does the amount of sleep a college student gets affect his/her lifestyle negatively?”
I will use discourse analysis in the form of structural and rhetorical analysis most prevalently. Structural analysis will be useful when I look through sources about college students sleep habits, and how it affects them. The organization could help me in deciding how I want to format my essay, as it will focus on many aspects of a students life that are affected. One of the articles that I have found specifically references affects on the immune system, social life, and academic success of the student. I will use my observations and surveys that I conduct in order to back up the resources that I have found. I will utilize rhetorical analysis in my research inquiry by interpreting the meaning behind the sources I find. I can determine what the rhetor’s goal was in their writing, and use that in order to reveal what perspective I should use when writing to my audience.
Although I have not found many related texts yet, I have made several observations. Because my topic has to do with college students, I have spent the last two quarters examining the effects small amounts of sleep can have on students. I am excited to create a survey to better understand if there is truly a relation between negative impacts and little sleep.
Your topic is really interesting as I may be one of those that will benefit from your conclusion. If you have two quarters of examination already that's a great start. I think rhetorical strategy will be helpful for you for sure and I will be interested in how the structure translates into your essay.
DeleteFirst off, I thought this article was actually pretty helpful. I never really thought of the different ways to approach a text and analyze it, so this will help when I go to do my own research. We have to understand Macnealy’s definitions of discourse and textual analysis first. Macnealy describes discourse as “use of language”. Together, discourse and text means “oral, written and graphic materials” that have been created for a grade, entertainment, or a particular audience and purpose. The analysis part involves very specific techniques that use clearly defined procedures and hand-picked samples in order to collect and interpret data. I completely agree with Emily K here about the connections to our rhetorical situation talks. Everything that we defined definitely seems to be a base for Macnealy’s definitions. By studying what Macnealy is saying, we can learn to gather data for making inferences about things that we can’t actually observe. This will be important for everyone, but especially all of you that have research questions where an observation will be difficult and probably not your strongest piece of data.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I might fall into this category. My research question is “what psychological effects does exercise, specifically running, have on the mind?” It might be hard to observe any kind of psychological effects happening within a 30-45 min period so I might not be able to rely on my observation that much. I am definitely going to use rhetorical analysis in my research the most. There are plenty of papers and case-studies already out there arguing whether or not running is an effective replacement or prevention of drug addiction. I will need to analyze these persuasive arguments with rhetorical analysis.
Sorry guys, I haven’t started looking and analyzing texts yet either because that is what I am using today for. I do know that I want to interview a family friend/trainer that went from a heroin addicts to iron man and has written plenty of texts on the subject. I also want an interview with one of the rehab centers that I’ve been looking at so see how they view the importance of exercise with recovery. My goal today will be to find texts arguing one way or another so I can use the rhetorical method to analyze them.
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ReplyDeleteMacNealy defines "discourse" and "textual analysis" as "oral, written, and graphic materials that have been produce in natural situations for a particular audience and purpose, as well as communicative materials produced for other reasons such as entertainment." Researchers use them in a variety of ways to get something out a text that can't be observed without analysis such as a communications and marketing researchers trying to figure out a TV shows amount of violence and the effect it was on children's behavior. That is only one specific of example of how these strategies can be used.
ReplyDeleteI will be using these analyses to help evaluate my inquiry question: How does Greek life here on campus compare to other universities? My research will rely heavily on different opinions of people as I interview them so one strategy of analysis I will look to a good amount is rhetorical analysis. I will be looking into not just what people say but how they say it in order to get a grasp of what people think about Greek life. The way people say things will be crucial in my research.
Unfortunately, I'm like some of the others in here and I have not started my research, my goal today is to find history about Greek life at universities and specifically history here at DU. Like Spencer, most of my research may be found outside of your typical academic setting so hopefully I will be able to find some scholarly help in the library today.
Interesting topic, that was on my list of topics I was considering as well. You are right, I think rhetorical analysis will be a big part of your research. I am interested to see how this turns out. I'd be happy to participate, btw
DeleteMacNealy describes discourse and textual analysis as “oral, written and graphic materials” that produce situations for a particular audience and specific purpose. Discourse and Textual analysis is being able to take some message and then elaborate on it in many different manners. For those of researching today, relying heavily on research for their project, textual analysis will be extremely useful for them. Because my topic can be observed to some degree I will not need to rely on outside discourse that much because it extends more upon the personal life of a typical college student. In other words, my two biggest mediums or tools to use will be surveys and interviews. Not to say I won’t require research of discourse, because I will most likely need it for specific key areas of my research, but it will not be as important and getting interviews and surveys taken care of. My research question is to see what effect video games have on transitioning college students? In other words, when a high school goes to college, do they bring their entertainment with them, and if so does it have a profound impact on their academics? Unfortunately I have yet to find any research on this topic, and I am worried I may not be able to find that much because it is specifically looking at gaming in college rather than gaming in younger ages, which is what most other video gaming research focuses on. Because of this, I will be looking more for features of a gamer that remain stable throughout their lives and may even progress to their college lives. Because I am currently a gamer, I will be able to offer some personal experience, as well as sort through and categorize the research found as important or not.
ReplyDeleteAccording to MacNealy, Discourse and text are defined as the use of oral, written or visual material that have been created in a specific situation for a specific audience and purpose. MacNealy also gives another definition specific to “discourse analysis” which can be interpreted as a descriptive type of research. These terms are very important for researchers and it’s clear that researchers need to use them in their research, especially “textual analysis” because it helps researchers analyze a specific text that they need to use in their research and it would help them figure out the purpose, the audience of that text and the context surrounding the text. The main reason that researchers use discourse analysis in their research is to help them acquire the data they need.
ReplyDeleteIn this course, I’ll try to be a researcher myself and therefore, I’ll definitely need to try and understand and finally use these methods to do my research on a specific topic. The topic I have in mind is researching Mythology and its roots and therefore, I’ll probably have to analyze many books and figure out all the information I need for my research and that information includes the data, the audience it was written for, the context which will help me figure out if it’s true or not and the purpose of the book, whether it’s just a storytelling or actual facts from history.
The two main types of discourse analysis that I think I will be using in my research are Structural Analysis and Rhetorical Analysis. As I said before, I might not be able to find my published articles on my topic of Mythology so I’ll end up reading many books from the library. Therefore, I believe that Structural Analysis will help me analyze the organization of the text and how every piece of information is connected. Rhetorical Analysis will help me define the purpose of the book and it could help me analyze what the writer wants through his use of persuasive techniques, if he uses too much persuasiveness, then the information is probably just fiction and he just wants readers to enjoy the book.
According to MacNealy, discourse is "oral, written, and graphic materials that have been produced in natural situations for a particular audience and purpose... as well as communicative materials produced for other reasons such as entertainment... and even pieces of text produced by students for a grade." Meanwhile, textual analysis is "the use of systematic methods of study, including empirical techniques such as carefully defined populations of interest... carefully selected representative samples, and clearly defined procedures for collection and interpretation of data." In other words, discourse is the material that we seek to study, while textual analysis is the means though which we examine these materials. Something I want to accomplish with this research assignment is to redefine the way I do research. In past research assignments, I would simply do a Google search and head to the library for my one required in-text source. And as for the sources I chose to use – pretty much all of them. I used little discretion when choosing the sources I would ultimately use, because I never truly knew what I was looking for. I plan to use the science of discourse analysis to accomplish this, knowing what to look for and using the best sources I can find.
ReplyDeleteI believe that I would use language as a social or professional marker in my research to determine how researchers present their findings. With a topic about marketing and the different ways to go about marketing a product, how words are presented are likely a crucial aspect to the research and possibly the presentation of these findings as well. Stylistic analysis may serve me a similar purpose in my research. I plan to look both at the actual marketing campaigns of Apple and PC companies, as well as published research about these campaigns. I hope to be able to see a noticeable difference in how Apple and other companies present their products and how researchers present their findings.
I have not done any research yet, other than postulating where I want to go and what I hope to find. I hope that I can use these techniques, however, once I do start my research so that I may find the best sources out there and use them appropriately.
Macnealy defines discourse as oral, written, and graphic materials that have been produced in natural situations for a particular audience and purpose. When using the term discourse, Macnealy is referring to chunks of related words, ranging from one-word commands to three or four word fragmentary sentences. Macnealy defines analysis as the systematic methods of study. Researchers use discourse and textual analysis for a variety of reasons. By using textual analysis, researchers can learn a lot about specific authors, and genres as a whole. As an example, different rhetorical styles imply different internal motives, and by revealing those rhetorical styles a researcher can gain valuable insight into the authors internal motives.
ReplyDeleteIn my research process I will use rhetorical analysis to gain insight as to the biases of my sources. The way the author presents evidence will reveal his biases. This is important because it will change how I use the information. I don’t want to use information that has been twisted by bias in my research paper. Through rhetorical analysis of my sources, I can improve the accuracy of my own paper.
By using a mixture of various analysis methods, I plan to improve my understanding of my writing genre. I want my paper to fit in with the rest of my genre. By analyzing the works of others from the same genre, I can get a feel for the stylistic rules and formalities of the genre.
In the past I have used rhetorical analysis to find biases in articles that I read. I think it’s something that most people do unconsciously. I also analyze my own writing. Doing so helps me to send a clear message in my writing.