This seminar is designed particularly for PhD students in Rhetoric; others may take it only with the instructors permission. It deals with questions that have to be considered in designing, conducting, and publishing research of any kind in rhetoric and discourse studies. Among the preliminary questions we will ask are these: What is research? What does empirical mean? What is qualitative research and what is quantitative research? What makes a good research question? We will discuss some of the legal and ethical issues that arise in research about human activity. We will also consider the question of standards of evidence, discussing a variety of research paradigms and exploring how researchers in various paradigms design, carry out, and evaluate their work. In addition, will work on academic genres involved in writing about research (abstracts, prospectuses, research papers, etc.) and discuss the conference-presentation and publication process. Much of the course will consist of a series of presentations by rhetoric faculty members and advanced PhD students about their research questions and methods. Students will work on research projects of their own, which will vary depending on where they are in the PhD program. Possibilities include developing a proposal for independent study, revising a course paper for presentation/publication, or preparing an exam proposal.
