Post-Primary Research Write-up - Week 14

Who did you interview/observe/survey? When and where did this activity take place?
The people whom i interviewed were ten random students at the Purdue University Calumet cafeteria area. This activity took place during the day time in between classes. I chose this approach because by doing random selection it eliminated some bias that the survey may have conducted.


Why did you choose this method of research? If you had the opportunity to re-do this field research, would you undertake the same research methods/interviewee/survey/observation?
I felt that this was the most efficient way to go about my method of research. I feel this way because it relates directly to the opinions of those surrounding us, which have shown me how a small average feels about the problem. If i had the opportunity to re-do anything within this survey it would be to appeal to a larger audience and with a larger amount of diversity.



How did you conduct this interview, survey, or observation?Within this interview I made i conducted a survey which I gave out to 10 random people to fill out the three questions in which I provided. The survey was a simple survey in which the people who conducted in the survey were asked to circle whichever one applied most to them based on their own opinions.

What did you learn from this research? How has this (re)shaped the way you think about your topic?
After receiving the information back about the survey conducted, it did give me more information about how people think about the the topic of direct and indirect discrimination. I was not surprised that race was one of the most dominant attributes to workplace discrimination, however I was surprised that when conducting my survey that it went half and half when I asked about if the governments laws and regulations are making a difference.

Reflection
After conducting a brief field research given out to ten people, I found interesting results to my survey that was conducted. The survey asked three basic questions: Do you find workplace discrimination to be a problem? What is the most problematic type of discrimination at the workplace? Do you think laws are regularly enforced by the government for workplace discrimination? Within the results, eight of the ten people found workplace discrimination to be a problem. For the most problematic type of discrimination, racial discrimination led with six votes, age discrimination with three votes and religious discrimination with one vote. Interestingly enough, the final question was answered half and half with five people saying laws were regulated, while the other five saying they were not. If i had the opportunity to re-do anything within this survey it would be to appeal to a larger audience and with a larger amount of diversity. I felt this approach was one of the easiest and best ways to approach the situation and receive more information for field research over direct and indirect discrimination because it was the easiest way to interact with others about the topic. Another problem however that may be presented is the bias that could have been present in the surveyors answers, with that being whether or not the responses were chosen truthfully or not. While there was only a small amount of questions asked, this information help put together the opinions of what society is most aware of with the major types of discrimination and how they are incorporated within a workplace.

Slideshows and Rhetorical Appeals - Week 13

Within my slideshow, I will try to incorporate all of the rhetorical appeals as well as I possibly can. Pathos will be used within my slideshow by relating it back to how it affects peoples life. For example, due to being discriminated for a reason like race or gender, which is a born trait, a job that may be necessary for living standards will not be achievable. Ethos will be incorporated by showing how it is illogical to discriminate against someone based off of basic attributes about themselves and that it should be based on how well of a worker they are and how well they can get the job done. Logos will be used by having educational and statistical information about the current situation over workplace discrimination and how it is affecting people currently, which I feel will give the viewer a more direct feel towards my slideshow video. While I do plan on using all three types, I feel that ethos and pathos will dominate the slideshow because of the information that is presented within my slideshow and how it relates right back to the illustrations of the slideshow.

Collaborative Webzine - Week 12

Within my class, I feel that now that many things have been clarified, we have a better approach of how we are going to finish this webzine in the most successful way possible. At the moment I have not had any worries about using the survivor clause, but know that I can e-mail Mrs. P about any problems or concerns about members of the group. The main concern about my part in the collaborative webzine is making sure to have a second source to market to other than Facebook. Hopefully our current plans will go through smoothly and this will no longer be an issue.

After reviewing the information that Mrs. P posted in my Google Docs, I continued to work on the slideshow. As she was evaluating my slideshow script, I was still in the process of adding the additional information. I was told to make sure to have topic sentences, an appropriate length between 3 and 4 minutes, and to add my APA citations for my references and images. After properly reviewing these directions, I added the information that was necessary to meet these requirements. I thoroughly went through websites to make sure I had appropriate and accurate information for both my references and images, both in which are also in there proper APA format.

Strategies for Expansion and Development - Week 11

For each segment, ask yourself,

• Do I need more of these to support my idea? I think that by adding more examples may help out my overall direction of where I want the reader to get a full understanding on the position of my stance, as I already provide a good amount of facts and statistics about my topic of workplace discrimination.
• Would another example help me make my point more clear?Yes, a few more examples about how it targets different races and ethnicities , as well as other attributes can help bring emphasis on how this social problem can relate to people of all different types all over the nation.
  
• Have I identified or introduced all the experts to my readers?Yes, I feel that i have appropriately addressed where I received my information and have the correct APA citations to follow accordingly.
  
  
• Have I effectively used statistics in comparison with other statistics?When looking at my web-text, I maybe be able to go out on a source and see if I can find more statistics about my information to give the audience a better overview of the different types of people this social problem is affecting. This may give a better appeal by utilizing the logos approach better than I currently am.
  
• Do any of my terms need to be defined for my readers?I feel that my writing is at a point where the reader should be able to read the web-text and be able to clearly understand and interpret what I am saying to the audience of my web-text.
  

Other questions to ask yourself are,

• Does each section of my Webtext have a topic sentence or have I only listed the information? After previously revising my information, my paragraphs now have topic sentences that lead into cited information instead of starting my paragraphs with an outside source.
  
• Have I explained the significance of any lists I do offer? Within my podcast there are three bullet points describing things that can be done to stop workplace discrimination.
  

For your visuals in your Webtext, ask

• Have I created a caption for each of the visuals in my written text and does that caption suggest a relationship between its content and my topic?So far, for my web-text, each of my pictures follow the criteria appropriately.
  
  
• Have I explained all the charts/graphs/images I use to my audience? Yes, the images correspond to the information that is being given within the web-text to give the reader a visual to relate too while reading the information.
  
• Have I discussed their significance to my main point or the point of the section?Yes, my main point revolves around the emphasis of working together and stopping the acts of direct and indirect discrimination that is targeted towards those within a company.
  

Examine the overall structure of your Webtext and ask

• Do I need a more effective introduction that leads my reader into my main point?For revision, I feel that when addressing my audience I may need to shorten my introduction by including extra information and appropriately placing it in the body of my web-text.
  
• Have I effectively broken up my text with appropriate headings reflecting the content of each?Yes, all of my sections are broken apart with the appropriate headings that correspond tot he information that is given.
  
• Are my anchor texts leading the reader to additional, meaningful information? Yes, the anchor texts are provided in the appropriate places to give the reader more information that they may be wondering or do not currently know about that particular subtopic, which relates back to the main topic of workplace discrimination.
  
• Have I created anchor texts for any definitions I think are necessary? Yes, all anchor texts are provided for any terms that may be confusing to the reader.
  
• Have I written a conclusion that does more than summarize my webtext by offering my readers some reflection on the topic and a call to action? Yes, my conclusion summarizes my entire web-text and also has my personal standpoint on the situation, and stresses everyone coming together to solve this social problem once and for all.
  
• Have I given my readers enough secondary sources, recommended readings and such, to help them find additional information on my topic? Yes. The additional resources provided will allow the readers to get a basic understanding of the information that provided as well as possibly expanding and learning even more about the topic.
  

Beginning Phase Three - Week 10

Discrimination, Harassment & Bullying. (n.d.). Swinburne. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/hr/equity/key-terms.htm

This website looks into a more detailed approach of discrimination. The discrimination aspect relates back to the workplace, but instead of focusing specifically on just the direct and indirect approaches from attribues, it looks at how those attributes can turn into direct and indirect discrimination based off of harrasing other workers. It provides examples and definitions that help the reader evaluate and get a very good understanding of how harassment plays a role within discrimination. While there is not author, the website in my opinion gives of good facts and definitions and comes from a Educational website. The page looks professional and is not in the format of a blog, but for the mere fact of providing examples and expanding on what is the connection between discrimination and harassment.

Dominguez, C. (2006, April 26). Compliance Manual Section 15: Race and Color Discrimination. US EEOC Policies. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/race-color.html

This source gives a very in depth detail of the different types of direct and indirect discrimination that takes place. Coming off from the EEOC website, it lists all its policies, rules, and regulations that are fighting against this type of horrid discrimination in companies towards employment each and everyday. This is a credible website which can be seen on the .gov part of the website URL. It provides accurate information from Cari Dominguez and it comes from a credible, government ran corporation. It has been maintained with the laws and it is not older than ten years which shows that it has a pretty good time span for currency as well.

Possible Images:

http://www.therecruiterslounge.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/workplace_bullying.jpg 

http://www.roselawgroup.com/blog/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/workplace-discrimination.jpg 

http://www.psychometrics.co.uk/images/vuono_10276_20091127.jpg 

http://wiki.injuryboard.com/uploadedImages/InjuryBoardcom_Content/Help_Centers/Workplace_Discrimination/discrimination-chart.jpg

http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/uploads/discrimination1.jpg 

http://www.freewaysurfacing.co.uk/images/eq_opp_logo.jpg

Research Protocal - Week 9 (Spring Break)

For my field research for my web-zine, I am interested in finding out the feelings of opinions by others as it relates directly to those who have a working job and whether or not they have witnessed or have been a part of any type of workplace discrimination from a manager, supervisor, or employee. The best approach to this is creating a survey that will allow those who wish to participate in it to answer questions regarding this social problem. I plan on being able to give my survey out to a variety of different people to view different opinions and solutions implemented by those of different age groups, genders, and races, as discrimination may be more or less severe for specific attributes.  I am going to conduct this survey to get a better opinion on what others feel workplace discrimination applies to, if it has ever affected their life directly or indirectly, and possible solutions that others come up with as well. By looking at these aspects will help provide more emphasis on how to solve the social problem when looking at the survey as a group.  I will conduct my survey by typing up a survey sheet and pass it out to those randomly to eliminate the possibility of a bias based survey. After receiving feedback from those within different areas, such as getting results back from those on the Purdue University Calumet campus and other common populated areas that are willing to give me an accurate feedback to my survey. I am hoping to further know what people feel about this social problem, their own personal ideas to overcome this social problem, and if their responses relates to my ideas that I have suggested as well  within my podcast.

Podcast Evaluation - Week 8

Part 1: When analyzing the comments of my peer reviewers, Cesia and Ashley, I have found that I have made small mistakes that I personally have caught myself making as well. Cesia's comments focused on our positives and how I had a strong voice in terms of sound. She suggested that I need to add sincerity to my podcast and by doing so will help make my podcast sound less like it is being read directly from a script. Ashley posted similar comments regarding a positive tone of voice, but emphasized that I started to speed read which affected the overall delivery of my podcast, causing me to freeze up and loose my tone of voice from spot to spot. These mistakes should not be too difficult to polish and make better by adding confidence within my tone of voice, speaking at a consistent speed instead of speed reading, and by reading over my podcast script a few times before actually recording will allow me to get rid of stuttering and pauses within my final podcast. By practicing and hearing my voice, I am allowing myself to hear my flaws in my voice, which allows me to do the proper revisions that are needed for my final podcast.

Part 2: When looking at the text of a podcast versus a essay written paper, i feel that a podcast text sends off a more direct feeling to it. The way it is written is made to directly affect the reader. I feel that it creates more emotion because it also sends off more of a personal feel to it, as a essay written paper provides a lot more factual information revolving around the paper. While this type of writing is important too, I feel that of ethos, pathos and logos, pathos is more directly used within a podcast text more so than within an essay written paper.