[Due 11/3, 8P] - Reading Response + Return to Archives / Survey Draft Feedback
PART 1: LAB ACTIVITY - Archives Visit + Survey Draft Feedback
- [1a] - Use the Library Worksheet handed out in class on Monday, 10/28 to help you search for primary source material in the library archives. Choose the box you want, and send an email to request a librarian pull the box at least 48 hours before you decide to go. Find at least one box that interests you, go through it and select at least 3 primary source documents that relate to your chosen topic for the survey. Copy or take a photo of these documents and start thinking about how you can incorporate them into your final paper. There are multiple locations for archive material, so double check the location before you go : ]
- [1b] - Write one-to-two paragraphs about the documents you selected, connecting them to your topic for the survey. You have now begun your final paper! You likely will not be able to simply cut & paste these paragraphs into your final paper, but they will be helpful when you go to write.
- [2] - Take a look at the Survey Draft now posted online at: https://surveys.illinois.edu/sec/4224136. Take the survey yourself - and think about 3 design tweaks or adjustments that could improve the experience. This can include: changing a word or phrase in a question, feedback on the scaling, and even the order of questions in a section. Feel free to give feedback on a section that's not your own. Write up your feedback in 1 pargraph.
----
PART 2: READING RESPONSE
- Read and review the below assigned readings on U.S Agriculture & Jobs this week:
- "National Research Council. “U.S. Agriculture Yesterday and Today: The Colleges’ Changed Environment.” InColleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: A Profile, 18–33. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 1995.https://doi.org/10.17226/4980
- Yang, Andrew. The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs. Hachette Books: 2018. Selections. Read Chapters 3 - 7.
- Consider how both readings "use" data and statistics. How robust is the evidence? How is it presented? What sort of mathematical or rhetorical "manipulations" lead you to read and interpret the information in a particular way? Using both readings, Select/list at least 5 different examples of data as "evidence." What sort of arguments are being made, and how do you think the same evidence could be "put to work" in other ways?
- Now think of your survey and the different ways that you will collect data. How do you think the data for these readings was collected? If you think there were surveys, what sort of questions do you think were asked, in what format, by whom to whom? What might be missing? Think about what data is intentionally left out, either for argumentative, research-ethical or social-structural issues. Free write your response to these questions, and feel free to address other issues you think pertinent. Aim to address at least 2 or 3 distinct key points/questions. [Your writing here will also be a helpful resource when you write your final paper. If you decide to include paragraphs on research design/considerations/reflections, you've already done a brainstorm!]