Strategies for Writing Center Research

Abstract

Jackie Grutsch McKinney Lenses on Composition Studies Edited by Sheryl Fontaine and Steve Westbrook Information and Pricing 978-1-60235-719-8 (paperback, $30.00); 978-1-60235-720-4 (hardcover, $60.00); 978-1-60235-721-1 (PDF, $19.99). © 2016 by Parlor Press. 218 pages. Bookstores : Order by fax, mail, or phone. See our "Sales and Ordering Page" for details. About This Book Strategies for Writing Center Research is a guide to empirical research on writing center work. Though there are many other places where formal writing instruction, conversations about writing, conversations about teaching writing, writing, and revision happen, these activities are all always occurring in writing centers. All of the political, theoretical, social, spatial, technological, and practical debates about how a someone becomes a better writer play out hour after hour in the writing center; thus, the possibility of the writing center as a site for serious, interesting, groundbreaking writing research cannot be overstated. Strategies for Writing Center Research is divided into three parts that correspond, more or less, to the stages of a research project. Part 1 includes an overview of writing center research, an introduction to key terms for research, a discussion of how to conduct bibliographic research in writing center studies, and advice on shaping a research proposal. Part 2 helps readers select appropriate research methods for their research questions. Chapters are devoted to discourse analysis, interviewing, surveying, fieldwork, and action research, including a discussion of the limitations, ethical challenges, and pitfalls to expect, as well as a description of the sort of data collected. Part 3 includes a discussion of approaches for analyzing and reporting research. About the Author Jackie Grutsch McKinney is Director of the Writing Center and Associate Professor of English at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Her scholarship on writing center issues has appeared in key