"Generating & Refining Research Ideas", Part One

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Non-Member Cost $25 (Upon payment, click "Return to Text and Academic Authors Association" and you will be able to download teleconference)

Presented by Dr. Sonja Foss, Professor of Communication, University of Colorado, and Dr. William Waters, an assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown

"This was very helpful. I have read Destination Dissertation before so I already knew the concepts coming into the teleconference. So during the Teleconference, I was able to listen to the discussion while simultaneously typing my thoughts about my current research project. So the teleconference allows for a different kind of experience of Foss and Water's text, one where I can combine reviewing what I've already read with a brainstorming session on my end. They are great and I'm so glad you have them posted on the web. I know that if I can in a rut, I can listen to them to help me review what I have so far and guide me through the process of refining/improving my research question."

"I appreciate all of the support offered by TAA. I benefit from the webinars and newsletters."

This two-part teleconference, each one hour, will present a practical and concrete process for generating and refining original research ideas.

Part One will focus on how to find a possible research idea from the texts and data that surround you. This teleconference will cover these four steps:

• Finding a curious text or data that warrants a new disciplinary explanation
• Coding the data broadly to discover the principal pieces needed to develop a new disciplinary explanation
• Searching for an explanation that holds the pieces together and makes a contribution to your discipline
• Developing and testing the explanatory schema.

Sonja K. Foss is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research and teaching interests are in contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, feminist perspectives on communication, the incorporation of marginalized voices into rhetorical theory and practice, and visual rhetoric. She is the author or coauthor of the books Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation, Rhetorical Criticism, Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric, Inviting Transformation, Feminist Rhetorical Theories, and Women Speak. Her essays in communication journals have dealt with topics such as invitational rhetoric, agency in the film Run Lola Run, feminine spectatorship in Garrison Keillor's monologues, visual argumentation, and body art. Dr. Foss earned her Ph.D. in communication studies from Northwestern University and previously taught at Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Denver, Virginia Tech, and Norfolk State University.

William Waters is an assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown. His research and teaching interests are in writing theory and practice, the history of the English language, linguistics, and modern grammar. He is the coauthor of Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation and was the managing editor of La Puerta: A Doorway into the Academy. He also has published several poems in national journals. Dr. Waters earned his Ph.D. in language and linguistics from the University of New Mexico and previously taught at the University of Maine; University College in Galway, Ireland; and Cheongbuk National University in Korea.

Bring Sonja and William's TAA-sponsored workshops to your campus:
Learn more here

Please note: Recordings may not be copied, shared, or distributed.

Teleconference Handouts:
Five Methods for Developing a New Topic Handout (PDF)
Research Program Formula Handout (PDF)

Contact information for Sonja Foss and William Waters:
Contact Sonja Foss at Sonja.Foss@ucdenver.edu and William Waters at watersw@uhd.edu

TAA-sponsored Workshop:
Destination Dissertation: Practical Strategies for Writing the Thesis or Dissertation; Sharing Results: Crafting an Article; Individual Coaching to Facilitate Writing Progress
presented by Dr. Sonja Foss and Dr. William Waters

Sonja and William's book is Destination Dissertation: Practical Strategies for Writing the Thesis or Dissertation. Order at amazon.com: Click here

Sonja's book, Rhetorical Criticism, can be purchased at http://www.waveland.com/Titles/Foss.htm