No tea cozies without irony

SAMPLE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

English 1001

Due: Wednesday, October 14th

Research Proposal Guidelines:

Provide a one page, typed, double-spaced (Times New Roman 12 pt.) proposal explaining what discourse community you have chosen to research and why. Discuss what you already know about this community and its members and indicate whether you are currently a member.

Make sure your proposal answers the following questions:

· What discourse community are you interested in studying?

· Why are you interested in studying it?

· What are your biases and assumptions surrounding the discourse community (i.e. what opinions do you have about them)? Do you see them in a positive or negative way and why?

· How do you plan on gaining access to the discourse community and their written texts?

The proposal can be written in first person point of view, but should take a formal, professional tone.

ENG 1001-000

Ethnographic Research Proposal

23 October 2013

For my ethnographic research essay, I have chosen to focus on the online crafting and DIY (Do-It-Yourself) community, Craftster.org. This group interests me as a discourse community because I am a longtime embroidery enthusiast and crafter who has recently joined the Craftster community, and I am currently in the process of figuring out how to navigate the site, not only in terms of technical issues about how and where to post what information, but also what etiquette is expected and required when interacting with other members of the community. I think it will be interesting to explore how the values of this community are expressed through their preferred methods of written expression and communication.

I already know that Craftser.org is geared more towards the younger generation of crafters who maybe have learned skills from their parents and grandparents, but desire to use these traditional, handed-down skills to express themselves in a more modern style. Just a glance at the home website for the community hints at this approach. The Craftster logo features two young women having tea, and the slogan reads “No Tea Cozies Without Irony.”

Since I am a current member of the community with a username and password, I should have no trouble accessing written communications. Most of those communications are in the genre of message board posts and replies, tutorials, or articles similar in style to blog posts. As a member, I can view any of these posts, download, and /or print out hard copies if need be.