4 Community Informative Report

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Community Informative Report Assignment Description

Your Community Informative Report will be 5-8 double-spaced pages (approximately 1500-2400 words) and written in a professional report format. You will identify a community and blend together primary and secondary research to make this community interesting and relevant to a public or professional audience. You will need to explain what is culturally and socially significant about your research and why it should interest your readers. You should incorporate at least five primary and secondary sources. When you complete your report, you will write an abstract that will provide your readers with an overview of your report, including the community you have investigated, your major findings, and your points of significance. You will place the abstract before your introduction.

There are several purposes that you can explore for this report. For example, you may conduct a mini-ethnography on your community, meaning that you are interested in revealing how this community works for your readers: who are the members, and how do they interact with each other? What different roles do members have? How do new members learn to become “experts” in this community? What are the values that unite these members? Students have produced effective ethnographies on local daycare centers, athletic teams, musical groups, and civic organizations, among many other possibilities. Both face-to-face and online communities can be good candidates for a mini-ethnography. For example, students have explored how people have created online communities to learn and play the card game, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or to inspire their creative writing.

You can also research a community to respond to misconceptions that your audience might have. For example, what misconceptions could you address by researching such communities as the local chapter of the NRA, 4H, the Flinthills Pagans, or the KSU Star Wars Club? What are some interesting cultural or social points you could explore by addressing the misconceptions about these groups?

Another purpose angle could be to explore an issue in terms of a community. For example, you may be interested in researching how a local company trains its employees to address diversity- based controversies that national chains, such as Starbucks, have experienced. Or, you may be interested in researching the gender gap that exists in the College of Engineering or another academic unit on campus.

As you explore your purpose, you will more than likely discover that you need to be adaptable and open to new possibilities as you conduct additional primary and secondary research. Your community informative report asks you to consider your research before you focus on a main point of significance.

Who Will Read Your Report?

You will be writing to a public or professional audience of your choice. You’ll want to find a “stakeholder” who has a public or professional presence locally, regionally, or nationally, and who has an interest either in your community or in the larger questions or issues that you are exploring.

You could write to public or professional leaders at K-State, local officials, state officials, or officials back in your hometown. You could write to audiences at a national level who would be interested in what you have to say about this local group. For example, if you are exploring an issue in a local workplace community, you might want to address executives at the national headquarters or a professional organization that is relevant to this local workplace.

Similar to the openness and adaptability you’ll need to practice when you are identifying possible report purposes, you’ll first come up with a tentative audience as you get started, and you should expect to be flexible: as you learn more about your community and conduct additional research, your thinking about an appropriate audience may also change. Please keep in mind the informative goals of the community informative report. You are not attempting to persuade your audience about how to think about the community. Rather, you are providing them with information that is relevant and interesting for them.

What Will the Community Informative Report Look Like?

You will use a report format. First, you will include a title page that includes these four elements:

Title

Your name

Reader (Contact name, organization, address)

Date

Your abstract and introduction begin on the second page. You should use major headings, which separate your introduction, results, analysis, and Works Cited/References section. More than likely, you will use sub-headings to emphasize different points in your body section. When you use major headings, make sure to center them and/or bold or italicize them.

Look at the information below for some of the questions that you can respond to in the core three sections:

Introduction

  • What is your main purpose in this report?
  • What community have you chosen and whom have you interviewed?
  • How will this community be relevant and interesting for your readers?
  • What important background or context does your reader need to know?
  • What is your overall main point of significance?
  • What should your readers expect?

Results

  • What are the main patterns or “hotspots” from your research?
  • What research questions have you explored?
  • What research chunks are the most important and relevant for your readers?
  • What does your community insider say about the community that is important for your readers?
  • What do your secondary research sources say?
  • How can you synthesize your secondary research sources and your interview data?

Analysis

  • What are the main take-away points from the results section that readers should hang on to?
  • What is significant about this community in terms of culture and society?
  • How can the results be helpful for your readers in thinking about the community or making decisions?
  • What about your research will be surprising for your readers or may counter expectations or misconceptions?

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of the assignment, you should be able to do the following:

  • Define “community” and be able to discuss the social and cultural characteristics of communities
  •  Identify an audience for which the community is relevant and significant and be able to explain why this audience is interested in your findings
  • Conduct basic secondary ethnographic research strategies, including conducting an interview, observing, and collecting materials
  • Research your community using appropriate and relevant secondary sources
  • Evaluate the appropriateness and credibility of your research sources
  • Synthesize, paraphrase, and blend primary and secondary research sources
  • Integrate primary and secondary research sources in your writing
  • Follow the professional expectations of the report genre
  • Create an abstract of your study
  • Apply basic principles of MLA/APA citation style (in-text citations and MLA Works Cited or APA References sections) to avoid plagiarism

Rationale

This assignment relates directly to several of the K-State Undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes, including knowledge, diversity, communication, and academic and professional integrity. The Community Informative Report asks you to gain experience with primary and secondary research strategies that you may need to use in projects and writing assignments in your classes at K-State. Most importantly, this assignment asks you to pay attention to your audience to figure out how your community is significant for them. In many of your classes in ENGL 200 and beyond, you’ll be asked to consider your audiences, evaluate the credibility of your sources, and find effective ways to organize and integrate these sources.

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What is a Community?

Early in the semester, we read about social construction, which refers to how meanings, attitudes, norms, and expectations reflect a social basis; expectations about gender identity, for example, come from how communities of people discuss, negotiate, and impose particular ideas about masculinity and femininity.

In short, communities help construct social identities and meanings and they, in turn, are socially constructed. In our classroom community, we’ll need to arrive at a way of talking about, defining, and demarcating communities. Indeed, even the term “community” is debated, and anthropologists and others have considered alternatives such as “community of practice,” “social-learning environment,” and “knowledge-building community.”

One important way of choosing a community may be by looking at the goals and purposes of groups of people. If people assemble together and share a consistent goal or purpose over a period of time, we might start to consider this group to be a community. In any case, you and your classmates need to make decisions on how to distinguish a community from a random assemblage of people who happen to be close to each other or interacting with each other. Not every collection of people is a community. There needs to be some unifying purpose or way to distinguish one community from another, or one community from a disorganized and disunited mass of people. People that you observe walking down the street are not communities—unless, of course, they are participating together in a formal or informal walking club.

As a researcher, you’ll need to focus your community to make it meaningful for your readers and manageable for you to research. Large, amorphous groups, such as “members of the K-State community” or “inhabitants of Manhattan, KS” (or, even “Americans”) may technically be considered communities; yet, they are far too huge, diverse, and unwieldly for you to research. At the same time, you might be able to find extremely small and informal groups of people— such as friends who share educational and social goals—yet the behaviors or practices of this group may be so inconsistent and informal that you will again struggle to make much sense of it. Here is one example. The members in the audience of a live performance of the Korean boy band, BTS, do not constitute a community. Yet, BTS “A.R.M.Y.” global fan club members probably do constitute an audience.

One researcher of “communities of practice,” J. H. Erik Andriessen, organizes communities according to two keyterms, connectivity and institutionalization.[1] Connectivity refers to how closely connected the people in the community are; for example, members of a reading group who meet on a biweekly basis and know each other a great deal, may be thought of as having a high degree of connectivity; members of groups who rarely interact or communicate with each other may have less connectivity. Institutionalization refers to the community itself: How formal is this group? Is it recognized by other legal bodies? Are there clear and explicit goals and rules? A state professional organization such as the Kansas Associate of Teachers of English, for example, is highly institutionalized. It has a published constitution, officers and committees, as well as a yearly conference. Another community, such as a K-State intramural women’s rugby team, may have little in the way of codified rules and practices.

Other variables that can help you categorize and make sense of communities are the following:

Size: What is the scope or size of the community; if you are exploring a homeschooling community, are you really interested in looking at a close-knit group of a local homeschooling organization? Or, are you interested in looking at the much larger national movement of homeschooling?

Scale: Scale refers to a geographic conception of the community. From the researcher’s perspective, communities that are quite close to them can be considered as “personal” or “local” communities; researchers next might look at communities at the neighborhood, university, or city level; larger scales may then be at the state level, region, or nation; the largest scale for a community would be at the international or global level.

Gatekeeper: This is a variable that you may be interested in exploring. It describes how open (inclusive) versus how closed (exclusive) the community is in terms of allowing in new members. Who is allowed to join, and what are the requirements? What social or cultural restrictions do outsiders face?

Medium: This variable asks the researcher to explore how members of the community communicate and interact with each other. Do members do this through face-to-face interactions; or, do they primarily meet online? Is there a combination of these interaction methods?

Purpose: What are the stated (explicit) goals of this group. What are the implicit (secret or unstated) goals of this group?

Longevity: How long has this group been around? Would you call it a well-established community or a relatively new one?

As you begin to think about possible communities, this assignment asks you to consider communities that you do not already belong to. This restriction allows you to learn something new and to be able to observe this community more objectively as an outsider. Importantly, this restriction protects you if your research uncovers community-based attitudes, values, or practices that you find troubling.

You should consider a range of communities, yet make sure that you can identify an “insider,” “informant,” or “spokesperson” for this group who is willing to talk with you. This interview participant should be accessible to you; in fact, as you begin this unit, you should be able to interview your insider within the first week; if you are working on a virtual community, then you may want to pursue some alternatives to a face-to-face interview, such as an instant- messenger/text question-and-answer session or use of Zoom, Skype, or other digital ways of connecting. You should also be able to ask your insider some additional questions if you need to develop your report.

Here are some general types of communities that you might want to consider:

  • Workplaces
  • Student groups and organizations
  • Community/civic groups and organizations
  • Academic programs or classes
  • Sports/athletic leagues or clubs
  • Gaming or fan-based groups
  • Online communities

As you make your decision about what community to explore, do remember that you’ll need to be able to explore the cultural and social significance of the group for your readers. If you feel that you are going to struggle coming up with something interesting to say about this group, then keep on considering other options. That being said, you might be surprised by what you’ll be able to come up with that is socially and culturally significant about this group.

To give you some ideas about the rich diversity of official communities at the university, local, and regional level, please consider the groups in this following list:

Here are some additional local groups:

  • Wounded Warrior United
  • Aggieville Business Association
  • Flint Hills Wisdom Keepers
  • Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE)
  • Civitas Group – Green Apple Bikes
  • T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter
  • Food and Farm Council of Riley County and City of Manhattan
  • North Central Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging
  • Manhattan Riley County Preservation Alliance
  • Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice
  • Flint Hills Renewable Energy & Efficiency Cooperative, Inc.
  • Wonder Workshop Children’s Museum

Community Inventory

Create a list of all of the communities that you belong to. You can start with larger communities, in which people are brought together loosely, such as “citizens of the United States” or “Kansas State undergraduate.” Then, consider smaller, more local and personal communities. Focusing on one of these communities, ask yourself:

  • What makes this group a community? What is the shared goal?
  • How official or unofficial is this group?
  • How interconnected are the members of this group?
  • What is significant about it? What makes it interesting?

Share your community inventories with your classmates. Is there someone thinking about communities in the way that you hadn’t thought about before? Are there any communities that you find intriguing? Perhaps you can find your “community insider” in your own class.

Choose one of your communities and, with a partner, begin to examine it with several of the following community variables:

  • Connectivity
  • Institutionalization
  • Size
  • Scale
  • Gatekeeper
  • Medium
  • Purpose
  • Longevity

Considering an Online/Virtual Community

If you are looking for a community to analyze and research, an online or virtual community may be an excellent option. During the last decade, online communities have become some of the most important sites in sustaining individuals, providing them with friendship, interaction, and access to information. Of course, you are probably aware of some of the concerns about online communities as places in which like-minded people congregate, pushing these online community members towards extremes and further polarizing the ideological landscape of the United States. They have also been blamed for, among other things, destabilizing the economy, purveying false information and conspiracy theories, and encouraging eating disorders and other risky behaviors.

As you search your apps, social platforms, or the Internet for online groups, you’ll want to find a group that will interest you and your audience and allow you to come up with a significant thesis. You’ll also want to make sure the group is dynamic and interactive, as you’ll want to collect evidence and take notes. Finally, you’ll want to feel comfortable serving as an observer. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Clubhouse, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit are the types of virtual spaces where you may find communities to observe and analyze.

Once you have found an online community, you can pursue many of the same questions and processes that you would for a physical community. A research methodology of anthropology, netnography, serves as one way to collect information about an online community. Here are some of the questions that a “netnographer” might ask:

  • What languages are used by members of the online community when they are interacting with each other?
  • How formal or informal are these language choices?
  • What are the terms or phrases that make up the “insider” language of the community?
  • What are the icons, visuals, or symbols that members share?
  • What are the modes for interaction? (print, aural/oral, visual, etc.)
  • How do members name and represent themselves?
  • What are the rules for how people become members and how they interact with each other? Are these rules official or unofficial?
  • What are the demographics of the community in terms of gender/sex, age, ability, race, ethnicity, etc.?

For example, if you explore the talk-based social application, Clubhouse, you might come across an international community such as this group of Mongolians (situated in Mongolia, the United States, and throughout the world), who meet regularly to discuss the social and political development of Mongolia and, as in this image, the 2021 presidential election:

Image shows the "Hallway" app with the images of 12 different people on it. Text is not in English.

You’ll also find that Clubhouse has explicit values and rules that it expects all of the Clubhouse groups to respect. Here are the official “principles” of Clubhouse:

Principles

Clubhouse was designed to be a space for authentic conversation and expression—where people can have fun, learn, make meaningful connections, and share rich experiences with others around the world. Below are a few guiding principles that we believe are important.

Be yourself. The authenticity of Clubhouse begins with the people.

Be respectful. This applies to every person, at all times.

Be inclusive. Tolerate, welcome, and consider diverse people and perspectives.

Build empathy and understanding. Engage in debates that are in good faith.

Foster meaningful and genuine connections. This is what Clubhouse is all about.

You may not find it necessary to interview a member of this online, as you may discover you have a lot of data to analyze. However, you’ll want to keep on investigating the community, take notes, freewrite, and look for something interesting and significant for your audience about this group. How does this online community function? How does it satisfy its members more than a traditional, face-to-face group? What misconceptions about this community might your readers have, and how can you inform them?

Testing Community Appropriateness

To what extent can you consider these following communities as being appropriate ones for the informative report? What might be some drawbacks? What are some criteria or “rules” that you can use to decide upon your community? What might be some ways to focus these groups to find more suitable communities?

  • Your particular ENGL 100 class
  • The class of students from your high school with whom you graduated
  • All people who play Minecraft
  • People who love animals
  • Harry Potter fans

Identifying Your Audience

Consider who will be interested in learning more about this community you are exploring. If you are exploring a workplace community, then perhaps a professional audience may be interested, either at the local level (the managers or owners of the company or organization) or the regional/national level (the regional headquarters). If you are exploring a student organization, you might consider a K-State audience or even a professional organization at the national level. If you are exploring a community that might have interesting moments of significance for such cultural and social conversations as gender, race/ethnicity, or national identity, you might consider an organization that is invested in these conversations.

Here is a brief list of some possible audiences:

  • A public audience?
  • An executive or officer for a national company?
  • A head of a professional organization, NGO, or non-profit organization?
  • A local, state, or national politician?
  • The head of a department or division at Kansas State?
  • Search online for a contact person and try to find something about them.

Get their name, title, and contact information. If possible, find a mission statement for the organization (check the “About Us” if this audience has a website). What points or values from the mission statement will be important for you to consider?

Your audience becomes extremely important in this report, as you will be showing them how the research about the community relates to their needs, interests, and expectations. As you write and revise the report, you may discover that you need to change audiences to one that is more relevant for you and your research.

With your classmates, brainstorm some possible audience ideas. Here is one example:

Community: An online LinkedIn “community” devoted to graduates from a particular Kansas high school.

Who might be interested in this community, and why?

LinkedIn Executive Team: They may be interested in how communities are forming and building around interests or identities that may not have been in the initial vision of this online company.

High School Principal or District Superintendent: They may be interested in this community for several reasons, such as figuring out the demographics of committed alumni or trying to identify the overall values of this group.

Faculty in the Education Department: They may be interested in how relationships endure long after graduation from high school.

Local or Regional Politician: Similar to some of the other audiences, they may be interested in examining the ways in which the members of this alumni group represent themselves and how they identify themselves with their hometowns or high school, especially if they have moved far away.

Identifying and Contacting Your Community Insider

As you settle on the community you want to explore, you’ll want to contact at least one “community insider” whom you can interview and learn from. You should be able to interview this insider within the next week, and you can conduct the interview face-to-face, by telephone, and by various digital platforms (Zoom, Skype, Facetime, etc.). At times, especially if your insider is a member of an online community, you may be able to use a texting platform.

Inquire whether your community insider will be willing to meet and talk with you. A thorough interview will take 30-45 minutes, and you may have to follow up with some additional questions as you draft your report. Tell your community insider the types of questions that you will be asking.

Make sure that you also discuss these points with your community insider as you prepare for the interview:

  • What format will your interview take? (e.g., face-to-face or online; will you be able to provide your questions ahead of time?)
  • Can you find a time to observe and/or participate with the community?
  • Will your community insider allow you to use his or her name, or will you have to provide a pseudonym?
  • Creating Interview Questions

Though the types of questions that you will explore depend upon your overall research questions, the following list includes questions that typically connect communities to cultural and social issues:

  • Typically, what type of people make up the members of this community?
  • What are particularly important terms or concepts for this community? (i.e., what is the “lexis”—the
  • How do members become members of this community?
  • How do members learn how to become “good” members of this community?
  • How can “newcomers” draw negative attention to themselves?
  • What do “old-timers” consider to be important?
  • How are the rules of this community made known to members?
  • To what extent are the rules “written” or “unwritten” (official or unofficial)?
  • What do members do?
  • How do people learn in this community?
  • What are the “obvious” things that they learn? What are the more “secret” things that they learn?
  • What are the ways that members of this community communicate with each other?
  • What do members of this group typically write or read about?
  • What different types of members are there in this community? How do members differentiate themselves from each other? How do they label each other?
  • How do members stop being members?
  • What other communities does this community closely associated itself with?
  • What other communities does this community clearly separate itself from?

Look at the questions in the list above, and then consider ways to adapt them or make them more specific for the community you are going to be exploring.

Create a range of different types of questions, moving from closed-form ones, in which you are only expecting yes/no or brief responses to more open-ended questions. You should consider questions that will generate more of a response from your participant:

  • What’s your favorite thing about being a member of this community?
  • What story can you tell about something that happened to you (either good or bad) as a member of this community?
  • What are the concerns that you have, if any, about this community?

In addition to closed (convergent) questions and open-ended questions (divergent), you can consider hypothetical and mirror/spontaneous questions. Hypothetical questions are a form of open-ended question in which you are asking your interview participant to react to a hypothetical situation. For example, if you were interviewing a member of a male athletic team at K-State and you were interested in broader issues of diversity, you could consider a hypothetical question such as the following: “How would you and your teammates respond to an official meeting in which issues of sexual orientation were the main focus?” Unlike the other types of questions, mirror or spontaneous questions cannot be scripted beforehand. Rather, as you listen to your interview participant’s responses, you might pose a question to follow up on something that was just said.

As you revise your questions, consider their sequence. For example, which questions to you want to ask first, to make your interviewee feel more comfortable? Do you want to ask the closed questions first, as you have specific informational goals that you want to meet? Or, do you want to begin with more open-ended questions?

Practice your questions with a classmate and make sure that you have the sequencing down.

Writing Your Interview Script & Informed Consent

Before you conduct your interview, your interview participant should have a good idea as to why you are meeting with them and what you are going to do with their information. You should go over your interview purpose and notify them about how you plan on using the interview results. You should also give them informed consent, allowing your interview participant to declare whether they want their identity to remain confidential and enabling them to withdraw from participation from the research at any time (please access the informed consent form in your Canvas course).

Draft a paragraph that will provide you with a script to present to your interview participant:

  • What is the purpose of the interview? (You will have an academic purpose—you are conducting the interview to meet the obligations of ENGL 100—and a research purpose; that is, your particular interest in researching a community of which the participant is a member.)
  • In general, what information are you interested in receiving from the interview participant?
  • What will you do with this interview research? (you will include it in an ENGL 100 informative report that will be read by the course instructor and classmates)
  • How long will the interview take?
  • What format will the interview take?
  • How will you record the interview notes?
  • What will you do with the notes, either digitally recorded or written, after you have completed your research?
  • How will you protect the interviewee’s privacy and confidentiality, if desired?

After you have completed your interview, make sure to email or text a follow-up “thank you” message.

Research Questions

Your interview questions enable you to explore your community and find out more about it. Your research questions, on the other hand, help you to find a main point of focus and to develop your community informative reports. These questions will help you to find secondary sources and/or help you generate interview questions to begin with. Your research questions may also allow you to reveal that point of significance.

Here are some examples of possible research questions:

  • What are the typical demographics for this type of a group in other places in the United States?
  • What role, if any, do such larger factors as gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity (as well as age, disability, etc.) play in this community and in how members interact with each other?
  • What are some positive or negative consequences for what goes on in this community?
  • What have been some major changes in this community? Why were these changes made?
  • How “official” or “unofficial” is this community?
  • What contradictions, if any, do you see between the goals and the practices of this community?
  • What is something particularly interesting about the ways that members interact with each other?
  • How do members go about learning in this community? How do they learn to be good “community members”?

You may find it difficult to come up with questions at the beginning, especially if you haven’t conducted any secondary research or your interview. That being said, once you start coming up with some rough research questions, you will be able to identify keywords that will help you out finding additional secondary sources.

A white paper sign encased in a clear plastic sleeve is taped on a door. The sign reads "First Congregational UCC will be worshipping online-only for at least the next two weeks (3/15 and 3/22) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please join us at facebook.com/uccmanhattanks at 10:45 am for worship via Facebook Live."

Conducting Secondary Research

More than likely, you will have chosen a community to explore that is going to be specific and local. Therefore, you will rarely find any secondary research on the particular club, workplace, or organization that you are interested in.

What you need to do instead is to consider your research questions and the general type of community that you are interested in. You can then conduct a preliminary Google search to experiment with keywords (search terms) and to test what types of research exist.

For example, if you are interested in exploring your friend’s Fantasy Football League, you can conduct research on the more general phenomenon of Fantasy Football in the United States. Given your interview results or your own gut reactions regarding Fantasy Football, you may want to make your search more specific by exploring some of the cultural and social aspects of Fantasy Football, including

  • Gender
  • The use of language or the ways in which Fantasy Football Owners interact with each other
  • Age
  • Culture

A Google search for “Fantasy Football Culture” results in some less formal blog posts and sports- related editorials, including

  • “A Gentleman’s Guide to Fantasy Football Trash Talk” (from an online site, The Manual)
  • “Do We Take Fantasy Too Seriously? Highs and Lows of ‘Pretend’ Football” (from Sports Illustrated online)

These sources may be helpful in providing you more examples about cultural and social aspects of Fantasy Football, but they are probably too informal and fan-based to be useful for your report readers. These types of sources, though, may be useful to get you started, as you’ll get a feel for some of the conversations or issues that make up your community and you may learn more about the demographics of Fantasy Football Leagues (e.g., how many people play in them), information about when Fantasy Football became popular, and how much money is at stake in this industry.

K-State Library Catalogue (Search It)

After you’ve experimented with search terms on Google or Google Scholar, then do a preliminary search on Search It (lib.k-state.edu). You’ll find these sources, when searching for “Fantasy Football Culture,” that are easily accessible:

  • Monstrosities, Money, & Machines: A Metaphoric Analysis of Fantasy Football as a Social World (a Ph.D. dissertation)
  • Fantasy Football: Analyzing Fantasy Themes in America’s Rhetorical Pastime (a Ph.D. dissertation)
  • “Social Networks, Football Fans, Fantasy and Reality” (article from Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society)

These are all academic sources that will give you a much better sense of how researchers are looking at Fantasy Football as a cultural phenomenon.

K-State Library Database: ProQuest

Go to the K-State Library databases, which you can access by using a link under the catalogue search window. Go to the ProQuest Research Library. This time, if you change your search terms to “Fantasy Football Gender,” you start finding sources that might be interested in social identity and consumer behavior (click on “Peer reviewed” and “Full text” to make these research sources more credible and accessible):

  • “Fantasy vs. Reality: Exploring the BIRGing and CORFing Behavior of Fantasy Football Participants” (Sports Marketing Quarterly)
  • “Fantasy Sport Consumer Segmentation: An Investigation into the Differing Consumption Modes of Fantasy Football Participants” (Sports Marketing Quarterly)
  • “The Effects of Fantasy Football Participation on Team Identification, Team Loyalty and NFL Fandom” (Journal of Sports Media)

As you begin to explore these sources, you start to come up with new ways to consider your local example of a Fantasy Football league and how it can reveal something interesting and relevant for your readers. For example, if you’ve never heard about “BIRG” and “CORF” before, you could start there.

You will also become aware of the recursive nature of secondary research. You may discover that after an initial research phase you then need to return to researching as you continue drafting. You may do some initial research, even before you have conducted your interview. You may find that, even after you have completed the results section, you will need to do more research to make more significant connections to your audience in the analysis section.

Among other possibilities, here are some purposes for research:

  • Stimulate interest in your community and point of social significance
  • Provide background for your reader about the community and the main point
  • Explain why the community should interest them
  • Point to a misconception that the reader and others may hold about the community
  • Show points of agreement and/or disagreement with your primary research interview
  • Provide additional or new information on points that were not answered or covered in the interview
  • Define an important social or cultural concept that is related to your main point
  • Support or complicate the main point you are trying to make about the community
  • Provide data, details, and demographic information about the community
  • Show examples of similar communities

Depending upon these purposes, you will find that research can occur in all three of the report sections:

Introduction Results Analysis
•Stimulate interest in your community and point of social significance

•Provide background for your reader about the community and the main point

•Explain why the community should interest them

•Point to a
misconception that the reader and others may hold about the community

•Show points of agreement and/or disagreement with your primary research interview

•Provide additional or new information on points that were not answered or covered in the interview

•Provide data, details, and demographic information about the community

•Show examples of similar communities

•Define an important social or cultural concept that is related to your main point

•Support or complicate the main point you are trying to make about the community

Organizing Primary and Secondary Research Results

Eventually, you should end up with several pages of primary (interview) data and secondary source research notes. What do you do with all of this material?

You should reread your notes carefully and start looking for patterns and themes. The bulk of your report will be the middle results section, which reflects the results of your primary and secondary research. Your main goal in this section is to organize according to several main meaningful “chunks,” themes, or points.

Researchers have many ways of doing this important step in sifting through their notes and finding patterns, including the following:

  • Searching for “hotspots,” which are especially interesting moments that show up in your interview and secondary research notes; take down notes on these hotspots and consider how they will be interesting and relevant for your readers
  • Brainstorming and clustering, activities in which you read your notes and start writing down thoughts and keywords and finding links between them
  • Freewriting, in which you return to your research questions and begin to respond to them with your data and notes in mind (in this case, you are writing quickly to yourself)
  • Outlining, in which you envision what the main categories are or the sections that you will use to guide your readers through this section
  • Identifying “gaps,” places in your research about which you and your readers will want to know more

When writing up your results section, these are some questions that you can respond to:

  • What are the main patterns, “hotspots,” or points from your research?
  • What research questions have you explored?
  • What meaningful chunks are the most important and relevant for your readers?
  • What does your community insider say about the community that is important for your readers?
  • What do your secondary research sources say?
  • How can you synthesize your secondary research sources and your interview data?

When you are organizing your primary/secondary research notes, consider different ways of organizing your results section into two or more meaningful chunks; we can call these sub- sections, as they are smaller sections within the larger results section.

Here are several examples of what these sub-section headings will look like:

Example #1

Results

Interaction

Language

Learning

Roles

In this example, the writer is using the results section to explore the community and will be basing their results off of their observations and interview notes. They include four sub-sections, which will respond to these following research questions: How do people in the community interact with each other? What are the special terms that people use to communicate with each other? How do new community members learn to become “good” members? What are the different roles that make up this community?

Example #2

Results

Interview Results Secondary Research Results

 Here, the writer is organizing the results according to the two different types of sources that were used.

Example #3

Results

Roles of Religion

Roles of Socializing & Alcohol Roles of Academics

Roles of Sports & Athletics

In this fraternity community example, the writer is focusing on four different “hot spots” that were coming out of the interview and secondary research.

Example #4

Results

Local Community

National Community

This simple organizational strategy allows the writer to focus first on the local community and then make connections to the same community but at a higher level or scale.

As you are working on your sub-headings, make sure you find a way to use typeface effects (ALL CAPS, bolding, centering, italics, etc.) to distinguish the major results heading from the sub- section headings.

Clarifying the Purpose of the Community Informative Report

Recall the overall purpose of the community informative report: you are exploring several research questions related to a particular community using primary and secondary research in order to inform a public or professional reader who should find the research significant. Yet, be careful about trying to address the purposes of “typical” research papers or arguments.

Take the example of a group, the local chapter of the National Rifle Association. The community informative report about this local group will differ a great deal from a typical research paper or argument because of differences in purpose, audience, and research focus.

Typical Informative or Argumentative Paper Community Informative Report
Purpose: To take a side on gun control and find research positions that support this position. Purpose: To explore the members of a local NRA chapter, examining perhaps how they interact with each other, with others outside
of the group, and with other NRA groups.
Audience: The teacher and a vague audience of people who think a lot like the writer. Audience: An audience that will find this research on a local NRA group interesting and important; for example, the faculty
advisor for a campus anti-gun group.
Research Focus: The writer will search for sources that support a particular position on gun rights and the 2nd Amendment. A possible research question might be the following: “Why should we protect the gun rights of citizens in the United States?” Research Focus: The writer will use information from an interview and secondary research on the NRA. A possible research question could be the following: “What are the demographics of the local NRA group? How do these demographics correlate with the political beliefs of the
members?”

With a partner, talk through your own purpose, audience, and research focus.

Writing Your Introduction

In your introduction, you will be announcing your purpose (i.e., you intend to inform your audience about a community) and the community you have selected. You should also explain why this community is relevant and interesting for your audience. Finally, you will explain any background information or context that is important for your audience. You should explicitly tell your readers what your overall main point of your research is going to be. You may also want to tell them what to expect.

Below, you will see some examples for three of the core features of introductions: purpose, thesis (the main point of significance), and blueprint statement.

Purpose

The purpose focuses your readers immediately on your community and why you are researching this community.

Some Examples:

  • In this ethnography, I want to show how I’ve delved into the background and practices of Jenna Moreci’s YouTube channel.
  • The purpose of this paper is to interview one member of the Clovia House at K- State and analyze the ways in which this community suggests how young women should act.
  • This community informative report analyzes the British Radio Five Live podcast, The Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s Film Review, to figure out whether the listeners of this podcast can be considered as members of a community even though they may never interact with each other.

Thesis

The thesis tells the readers the overall main point of significance, which you will develop more fully in your analysis section. If your purpose statement tells the reader your overall goal for writing this report and the reason for why your audience is being asked to read it, your thesis provides the most important take-away point with which you want your readers to leave the report.

Some Examples:

  • My findings indicate that this discourse community as an ideal informal learning space thanks to Moreci’s use of language to engage and shock viewers along with her concise presentation of information.
  • Readers might assume that women’s cooperative organized living is like a “Build-a-Housewife Workshop”; however, my community report will show that Clovia’s environment establishes professional skills for the workplace such as language, problem management, writing, and negotiation.
  • As I explore more fully in the final section, in response to doubts from communication researchers, global online communities can exist even though they rely a great deal on passive readers or listeners.

As the last two examples showed, you can frame your thesis in terms of a misconception or an information need that your audience has:

  • Many people in my audience know a little about X, but I can help them learn more
  • Many people in my audience have a misconception about X, but I can help to change their misconception.
  • Many people in my audience don’t see that X relates to them, but I can show how it does relate to their needs.

Blueprint Statements

Blueprint statements serve as “tables of content”; they forecast what is going to happen, and they can occur towards the end of introductions and at the beginning of the other two major sections. Below are four examples that format the blueprint statement differently.

Example A

 In this community informative report, I first explore the interaction of the Child Center assistants, training rituals, and evaluation policies. I then explore, in the concluding section, the ways in which these three areas may influence employee turnover among these assistants.

Example B

This community informative report answers the following questions:

    • What are the interaction styles, training rituals, and evaluation policies at the Child Center?
    • How do these components affect the turnover of assistants?

Example C

 In this analysis of the Child Center, I will do the following:

    • Describe the interaction styles among assistants
    • Identify the training rituals for new assistants
    • Explore the evaluation policies

Afterwards, in the concluding section, I will show how these three elements increase the turnover of assistants.

Example D

This community informative report (a) explores the interaction of the Child Center assistants, (b) describes the training rituals of new assistants, and (c) identifies the significant evaluation policies. Finally, this report shows how those three elements impact assistant turnover.

Freewrite your responses to several of the questions below to help you build the introduction:

  • What is your main purpose in this report?
  • What community are you exploring?
  • Whom are you interviewing and why have you chosen this person?
  • How will this community be relevant and interesting for your readers?
  • What important background or context does your reader need to know?
  • What is your overall main point of significance?
  • What should your readers expect?

As you work on your introduction, two strategies that you might want to consider are (a) locating a “mission statement” for the organization that is linked to your primary reader in order to highlight the values of your reader as a way to show how your community research is relevant and (b) finding a compelling statistic or fact about your community that shows how the community you are researching has recently changed (for example, if you are writing about a local 4H organization, you might want to point out how participation in this organization has decreased over the past decade).

Here is an example of an introduction from Katie Gehrt’s “Fantasy Football: A Discourse Community That Reinforces Male Privilege.” While reading Gehrt’s introduction, identify the ways that she

  • Interests her audience
  • Provides relevant background information
  • Provides a misconception that readers might hold
  • Guides readers through her major points
  • Uses secondary sources
  • Tells readers her overall purpose

With over one dozen phone apps available, social media accounts, sports analyst blogs, an entire DirecTV Fantasy Zone Network, and 74.7 million registered members in 2015, one may have a hard time believing that Fantasy Football, an electronic network for National Football League (NFL) football fans, has been around since 1962. The first Fantasy Football League, called the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPPL), had its first draft in 1963, marking the first official season that Fantasy Football took place (Brown). This interesting discourse community serves as an opportunity for individuals to build, manage, and coach their own “dream” team, all while competing against other teams coached by friends, coworkers, or even strangers. Each league member has the same goal: to have the winningest record over the course of the season, and therefore win the League. Depending on the league one is participating in, success could be measured in monetary winnings, or for a sense of personal satisfaction and bragging rights.

When many people think of Fantasy Football, often times they do not consider it a community that exchanges much literacy; however, without it, this community would not be able to function or expand as it has in the past decade. Although the level of communication between members varies in every league, the rules and regulations designed by each League Commissioner are significant in determining scoring, what an acceptable trade is composed of, and the style of draft used prior to the start of the NFL season. One of the most important qualifying components of a discourse community is the lexis used within the community and within the genres used by the members of the specific community. These are arguably two of the most significant aspects of Fantasy Football; to participate, one must have an understanding of the terms and systems in place to operate a team. Furthermore, if one were to be successful in a League, this terminology becomes even more crucial. While the specialized lexis used is one of the most compelling reasons to study Fantasy Football leagues as a discourse community, it also serves as a deterrent in encouraging outside parties and new members to participate, especially women. Women only make up 20% of Fantasy Football League owners, and the discrepancy between men and women only continues to grow when evaluating the types of leagues that each participate in. Many women choose not to join a league at all, or opt for a less traditional approach and play weekly Fantasy challenges through programs like FanDuel (Rubin). These non-traditional leagues require less of a time commitment and overall knowledge about football because it takes place over the course of one week as opposed to thirteen weeks in a traditional league. A few studies have been done to examine the role of male privilege in Fantasy Leagues and how sports knowledge operates as way to perpetuate male privilege. Through this mini-ethnography, I will explain the substantial characteristics of Fantasy Football within the league that I participate in by focusing on how these characteristics qualify it as a discourse community and examine the role that male privilege has on the participation of women in traditional leagues.

Coming Up With Significance

The research that you develop and organize in the results section should be building up to an important point about how the community reveals something interesting and important about society and culture for your readers.

In the results section, you have described the community for your readers and you have provided some interesting insights about this group. Now, examine these main points that you have identified and come up with an overarching theme that is relevant for your audience: this point of significance may interest them and, conversely, may trouble them.

Your earlier class discussions about gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic class/status may be useful at this stage to shape a larger point about significance. Your research questions may also be leading you to this point of significance.

For example, while Julian E. Orr was conducting an ethnographic study on a community of photocopy machine repair specialists, he came across a significant point about how these specialists actually learn. In a 1990 article, ‘Sharing Knowledge, Celebrating Identity: Community Memory in a Service Culture,” Orr concluded that these specialists do not learn from textbooks or classroom lectures, but from a social community of their photocopy machine specialist peers who tell each other stories. In this case, the point of significance was one about learning.

Similarly, other ethnographers have been interested in finding out what is significant about the ways in which certain communities “apprentice” newcomers—that is, what are the mechanisms in place to train these new members? In a classroom setting, for example, researchers have looked at how policies, such as those that allowed new students to get comfortable for several weeks before they were asked to speak and participate, ended up enhancing the participation for women and other groups of students.

A few stock questions that may lead to a point about social and cultural significance:

  • Is this community in a conflict with other communities? If so, is there a cultural or social cause for this conflict?
  • Is there anything striking about the demographics of this community?
  • Is there a particular political orientation that members of this community hold?
  • In the past, has there been a change in this community that is important when it comes to social and cultural issues?
  • Is there an issue or conversation that divides members of the community (or that separates them from members of other communities)?
  • Is there a way that members interact with each other in this community that they would not in other communities or settings?
  • Are there any internal contradictions in this community?

You should also keep on considering your audience and how they will respond to the information you are presenting them about this community. What will surprise them? What is a misconception about the group that you are perhaps clearing up?

Writing Your Analysis

After you have explored the Coming Up with Significance section above, you can then work on your analysis, in which you develop the significance of your primary and secondary research. In the results section, you provided your readers with a lot of information and points about the community. In the analysis, you now have a final opportunity to explain how they should think about this research and what they can do with it. Note: There are several options for naming this final section. You might also consider using “Discussion,” which is typical of social science reports, or “Significance” as your major section heading.

You should not introduce new research and material in this section, yet you can pose questions and get your audience thinking about future research questions. You should continue to think about your audience and what they might find surprising in your research from the results section. If you use secondary research in the analysis section, you should do so as a way to develop and extend the significance of your findings.

As your analysis explores the “main point” of your informative report, you’ll want to make sure that you tie it back to your introduction and results section.

Here are a few questions that you can freewrite on. You should also use the significance questions above.

  • What is the most important point that is coming out of your results section?
  • What point is going to surprise your readers the most? Why?
  • What’s a misconception about your community that your readers may have held before? How should their position now change?
  • What is significant about this community in terms of culture and society?
  • How can the results be helpful for your readers in thinking about the community or making decisions?

Consider this template as one strategy for developing your analysis section:

  • First paragraph: Summarize your main findings from the results section, perhaps by using a bulleted list. Include a take-away point for each of your sub-sections from the results.
  • Following paragraphs: Develop one overall point that helps connect the points that you clarified in the previous paragraph. Or, develop at least one of these major findings and point out why it’s interesting, important, and/or significant for your readers. In short, why should your readers care about this main point?
  • Concluding paragraph: Emphasize your overall main point, and leave your reader with a good overall impression of yourself as a researcher and writer. You can also offer a gentle recommendation. Given the findings from your results section, how should your readers reconsider their thinking about this community or what changes in their own organizations should they consider making?

Here is an example of an analysis from Katie Gehrt’s “Fantasy Football” report. While you are reading it, focus on the ways that Katie is extending and developing points that she already divulged in her Results section.

Analysis: How Fantasy Football Reinforces Male Privilege

Although the intercommunication, genres, and lexis are important in qualifying Fantasy Football as a discourse community, research has shown that they can also be a huge deterrent in encouraging outside party participation, particularly women. One of the most fundamental ways that Fantasy leagues do this is through the sport itself; there are no current Fantasy leagues for any female sports. In addition, the competitive aspect of Fantasy and the genres used reinforce male privilege and fortify masculinity through communication between members and the names that are frequently used for female teams.

According to Davis and Duncan in “Sports Knowledge is Power: Reinforcing Masculine Privilege through Fantasy Sport League Participation,” fantasy leagues reinforce hegemonic heterosexual gender roles through the competition of league members and utilizing sports knowledge as a power mechanism over others. My own research supported this idea, especially when evaluating the lexis that is needed in this community and how it bars women from obtaining the same knowledge and participation. Statistics reveal that if women participate in Fantasy leagues, they are more likely to opt for non-traditional leagues that typically span one week because they require less knowledge of statistics and sports news. This research supports the theory that sports knowledge provides individuals, particularly men, with a sense of power because they can use this as a way of leveraging their control over others. In turn, this knowledge gained by males creates a large barrier that prohibits women from feeling as if they would know enough to participate and creates a fear that if they were to join, they would be ridiculed for not participating “well enough.”

One of the other ways that Fantasy Football discourages female participation is through the message board and communication between members; like through the use of lexis, it is interesting that one of the major genres and qualifying factors of this discourse community also serves as a way of making the league participation more exclusive. Through their study, Davis and Duncan concluded that:

 

Competition arises as another important mode of fortifying masculinity through sport participation. Analysis of fantasy football league message boards as well as focus group responses indicated competition as an important component of the masculinization of fantasy sport participation. Competition fosters an ideology of male supremacy by allowing men to celebrate their masculinity through verbal acts of aggression, emphasizing power and strength.

The language within message boards and intercommunication between male members have also contributed to the male privilege within fantasy leagues by promoting competitive language that reinforces the gender roles of males being more dominant and aggressive through competition, whereas women are not; one of the interesting pieces of research that I found was when I searched the names available and suggested for female Fantasy owners. Oftentimes, names that Fantasy owners choose reflect members of their team and serve as another outlet for intercommunication, as members will often suggest ideas of clever names for the upcoming season. Some of the popular suggestions for female teams were things such as, “Hair, Makeup, and Wins, Brees between my knees, Back that pass up, and Cleats and Cleavage.” These names themselves suggest that women are incapable of contributing to the competitive nature of Fantasy leagues without subjecting themselves to names that are offensive and degrading; furthermore, each name is sexualized and reinforces gender roles. In the study conducted by Davis and Duncan, they found that males reported feeling uneasy and felt that their masculinity was challenged by women that took Fantasy sports seriously. In other words, women who did not conform to the sexualized heterosexual gender roles and perhaps choose a hyper-sexualized name were considered a challenge and were not regarded positively by the men in the study.

Fortunately, the leagues I have participated in have not outwardly demonstrated oppression to me in this way, but for other women that attempt to compete in male-dominant leagues experience this discrimination and oppression often through genres such as the Message Board and the resources available for individuals searching for a team name.

Another unique aspect of the research that I came across was the analysis of women that participate in traditional leagues and why women make up such a low percentage of all owners. One researcher suggested that women participants act as a placeholder when there are not enough male participants (Christ). This fact was especially interesting to me because in one of the leagues I compete in, I was asked last minute to join because there were not enough participants to form a complete league. In the same evening that I was asked to play, I was expected to draft without conducting any personal research on players that I was interested in drafting, therefore causing me to be at a disadvantage from the start. This idea of “placeholder” participation is especially damaging because the males that do not serve as a placeholder have an advantage within the league and can exercise that advantage in a way that exacerbates privilege. Furthermore, the research suggests that low female participation is not due to lack of resources or accessibility to the important literacy genres; it is mostly due to the reinforcement of gender roles that bar women from being capable of being knowledgeable about sports.

In conclusion, the research I conducted through this ethnography suggests that there are many important literacy devices that qualify Fantasy Football as a discourse community, but these devices oftentimes suppress female participation and perpetuate the male privilege that already exists within professional sports. The specific terminology necessary to be successful is often used as a power mechanism by male participants and in turn causes females to hesitate participating in traditional leagues for fear that their knowledge of statistics is not adequate enough. In addition, research suggests that females do not fail to participate because of accessibility problems, but that often times females who choose to participate in leagues act as placeholders when men cannot compete. Furthermore, the genres used between members, such as the message board within the ESPN Fantasy App creates an environment of extreme competition which fortifies the masculinity that Fantasy sports emphasize and value; in many studies, men reported feeling as if their masculinity was challenged by women that took Fantasy sports seriously. Finally, the research conducted through this ethnography suggests that although Fantasy Football qualifies as a unique discourse community with many forms of literacy, the specific genres and resources available are designed to benefit, attract, and retain male participants rather than women, which is one major way why women only make up 20% of all Fantasy owners.

Writing Your Abstract

Your abstract provides a synopsis of your community informative report; readers should be able to scan your abstract quickly to determine whether it will be useful for them. Your abstract should be approximately 100-200 words long, and it should focus on the important keywords that make up your study and that were used in your research process.

Your abstract should include a one-sentence summary of each of the sections of your report, including the following:

  • Your overall social issue, research question, context, or community
  • Your intervention—your research purpose, participant, and methodology
  • Your most important findings
  • Your most important points of significance and, if applicable, recommendations

Here is an example of an abstract from Benjamin DeZube’s “The Misconceptions Behind Being a Division I Football Player”:

Abstract

This community informative report explores the misconceptions that the audience and general public may hold about the life of college-level football players. Through secondary research and an interview with a first-year Division I college football player, this report focuses on the intense training schedule, the isolation that some players may feel, and the emotional struggles that some players may experience. This report then expands upon the interconnection between masculinity and the inability of many college-level football players to express their emotional concerns to their teammates and coaches. Finally, this report emphasizes the importance of providing psychological services for football players.

Decorative

Examining Student Examples

Read the following student examples to provide you with ideas about how to respond to the assignment. As you read, take notes on the following:

  • Something that you find to be effective that you would want to emphasize to the writer
  • Something that helps you understand the assignment better
  • Something that you might try to emulate yourself in your report

Before sharing your responses with classmates, figure out the following core elements of the community informative report:

  • What was the community that was researched?
  • Who were the interview participants, and what role did they play in the report?
  • Who was the intended audience, and why would they be interested in this community and this research?
  • What were some research questions that the writer responded to?

What was the point of significance?

Student Examples

Men, Women, and Cars: A Mini Ethnography of the Topeka Car Meet Community

Lauren Ailslieger

Note: The intended audience for this informative report is the Head of the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Department at Kansas State University.

To a passerby, it is just another night in downtown Topeka. There is a little extra traffic, but for 8 pm, it is relatively quiet. During the weekday, downtown is normally full of the hustle and bustle of government workers and other white-collar jobs. But on Saturday night, 8th Street becomes the stomping ground for one of the largest car meets in the area.

The Ronin Garage is just another one of the many parking garages in downtown. It has a beautiful view of the capital building and the locally famous Jayhawk Tower, while still being quietly tucked away between a bank and a bar. By 8:30p.m., there is a consistent flow of traffic into the garage. A young man stands at the entrance with a clipboard and pen to track every car and owner that comes into the garage. Parking is free on Saturday nights, but with the magnitude of the event, it is necessary to have a system to control the chaos.

There are six levels to the garage, and by 9:15p.m., all six levels are filled with cars. A haze of smoke settles over the middle levels from exhaust, coupled with cigarette smoke and vape. For the next several hours, hundreds of people in dark hoodies trek up and down the dimly lit garage looking at the cars.

For a new-comer, this event can be intimidating, with anywhere from 200-800 people at any given meet, all with vast amounts of knowledge. But to the seasoned veteran, it is a family gathering. Moms push baby strollers beside their husbands, small children run from car to car, and even family dogs are included.

This has not always been how car enthusiasts of the greater Topeka community came together. In fact, a variety of car meets happen in parking lots across Topeka every Friday and Saturday night. The locations are constantly changing but members of the car community always know where to go. These specific meets at the Ronin Garage started as a branch of the more typical meets. Two teen-aged friends, Tyler Russell and Ellis Donaldson, decided that going to a parking garage would be more fun than just sitting in a parking lot on the main road. So Russell and Donaldson, along with five or six of their friends, started going to the parking garage on Saturday nights instead of the usual “Vintage Stock” parking lot. After a few weeks, they made a Facebook event. By the third formal meet, over 800 people indicated on Facebook that they would attend. Now, these specific garage meets occur about once a month.

The purpose of this ethnography is to examine the interaction of the enthusiasts that come to these meets. It is, by far, the largest informal meeting of car enthusiasts in Topeka, and a look at the specific set of people that attend the Ronin Garage meets may give greater insight into the larger car scene as a whole. These events are a rare time when “outsiders,” like myself, can pull back the curtain to a community that is mostly underground.

This report will explore the linguistic patterns and lexicon unique to this community and how gender plays into the interaction among members. My research will show that while these meets maintain a level of exclusivity, there are underlying values that maintain the legitimacy and value of the car community as a whole, specifically in relation to hard work and gender.

Results

The people who typically come to these meets are primarily white males in their late teens and early twenties. There is a smaller population of Hispanic individuals in that same age bracket, and finally about 6% of the group identifies with some other racial category. Only about 15% of the individuals are female. This gender disparity will be expanded on in a subsection of this results section, as well as in the final section.

The Language

While anyone can attend one of these meets, there is a specific lexicon used by members of the “car scene.” Some of these words are fairly self-explanatory, while others make no sense to one not well-versed in the car vocabulary. Some of the most common terms are in regard to the speed of a car. Generally, the faster the car, the better. For instance, a “ricer” is a person who builds his or her car to look cool or fast, when in reality, it is slow. A “sleeper” is a car that looks slow or average but is in fact fast. The last common term is “stock,” which refers to a car that has had no alterations from its original composition.

The more familiar one is with the slang, the more he or she will understand when speaking with car owners and other enthusiasts. Most of the people at this particular meet are concerned with speed. Conversations between members usually involve speaking about alterations one can make to the car to increase the speed. Terms related to enhancing speed include “turbo” and “supercharger” as well as words that specifically refer to the engine size, e.g. cylinders (“V6,” for example). The turbo and supercharger are both modifications that will increase speed, while the engine size stays more or less the same.

The final aspect of language that is particularly important to members of the car scene, at least when it comes to speed, is it is better for the car owner to have built or modified the car to be fast, than to have paid for a car that is already fast. Since the idea of building one’s own car is so important, the terminology is that much more important. So, the more an individual has modified his car, the more familiar he will be with the vocabulary, the more he will be included in conversation, and the “better” the member will be (Buchanan 2018). One of the fastest ways a new-comer can draw attention to themselves is by not understanding the terminology used.

Gender, Cars, and the Working Class

There is no argument that one gender tends to dominate these meets. Just walking around, observers will clearly see that men outnumber women both in sheer numbers but also when it comes to knowledge and involvement in the community. But in a world that seems to be equalizing the playing fields of gender roles, why is it that the car scene has such disparity in the representation?

Boys Only

Building and modifying cars has always been a primarily male activity. When one thinks of “hot- rod” cars, the image of the teen-aged boys of the 60’s and 70’s often comes to mind. Working on cars and racing has never been one of the typical roles for females. Whether this divide is intentional or not is less important than the fact that now the role women are playing in car culture is growing. However, as Karen Lumsden points out in “Gendered Performances in Male- dominated Subculture,” the involvement of women in subcultures such as the car and racing scene is highly undocumented.

There has been much research done about cars and masculinity but what about the women? I asked a member of this car meet community about the gender divide: “Guys outnumber girls because a lot of people connect with others that already know about cars [generally men] instead of taking time to teach others. So, it’s difficult for girls to learn or come in without another source to share their knowledge” (Buchanan, 2018). This particular car meet allows for learning on all fronts, but, as mentioned in the language section, if one does not understand the terminology, it can be hard to engage in conversation with the seasoned enthusiasts. And since women are few and far between, they tend to not understand as much of the terminology or be as overall involved in the community, which, whether intentionally or not, increases the gender disparity.

Women and Cars

Aside from stereotypically having less car knowledge, women are often portrayed in mainstream media as sexual objects, especially in relation to cars. “In the movies, there’s the guy with the cool car and a hot chick” (Buchanan, 2018). To a man, both the car and the woman have a sexual appeal, but even when the woman is not being portrayed as an object, she still is often seen only as a passenger (Lumsden, 2010).

This is not to say that women cannot be the drivers or owners of the cars that appear at the garage meets, but it is a predominately male hobby. In all likelihood, a big factor is that tinkering with cars involves “dirty” and physical work. And while a woman could certainly be involved in, and enjoy, dirty and physical work, it is culturally less likely.

One significant issue with women getting involved in racing is the potential threat to masculinity. Since the car scene is mostly male, having a woman involved can cause some intimidation. This relates to how modifying cars offers up the “space in which to construct a form of hegemonic masculinity” (Lumsden, 2010). Cars have historically been an area that allowed men to express their masculinity. Females, typically, do not show the same masculine characteristics even when involved in the car scene. They are generally stereotyped as ignorant about cars and therefore, one could argue, will need to prove themselves. However, once they have proven themselves, the males tend to show overwhelming support for them: “Guys want girls to like cars and work on them […] If a woman shows up to these meets, most guys are already impressed. And it’s a huge bonus if she knows anything about cars and double points if she drives something cool” (Russell, 2018). That being said, in order to prove themselves, women generally have to take on more masculine characteristics like “toughness, bravado, competitiveness, and aggression” in order to conform to the community (Lumsden, 2010). This in turn, ends up protecting the masculinity while diminishing the femininity of the community.

Working Class Men and Their Cars

As mentioned previously, there is a prejudice against cars that were bought fast versus cars that were modified to be fast. Additionally, car modification is seen as dirty manual labor. It is a common stereotype or misconception that the members of this car community are lower or working-class individuals. While some individuals do identify in those class ranges, many of the individuals at these meets are actually members of the middle and upper-middle-class.

The reason that car culture is so closely associated to the working class goes back to age-old values of “honest work” and the quest for masculinity (Walker, 1998). Specifically, what seems to be the most important to the Ronin Garage meet community is manufactured speed. This idea of hard work and speed helps identify some key male characteristics: the adrenaline rush of going fast, the risk of illegal racing, and the competition—both within racing and in the appearances and modifications of the cars. These masculine working-class traits add to the gender divide at these meets.

Discussion

At the core of these meets that take place at the Ronin Parking Garage on 8th Street in Topeka is a set of values. These values determine how the members even become members as well as

their interaction. The first obvious value is that of hard work. This idea of hard and honest work is typically a working-class value. That is not to say, however, that these meets are exclusively about socioeconomic class. In fact, most of the participants are probably completely unaware of the social classification of one another. It is not about the social standing of any one individual, it is about “respect for the people around you” (Donaldson, 2018). Respect is the greatest underlying value of this community. I conducted three separate interviews while conducting my research and each individual emphasized the importance of respect. Since the entire car scene is mostly underground, there are no written rules or code of conduct. However, the rules are common knowledge among members and they focus around that one value: respect.

To achieve this ideal value of respect, the community follows an egalitarian school of thought. According to my interviewees, everyone is welcomed at these meets, and everyone deserves to be respected. This plays into a lot of the bigger rules such as no excessive noise or “trash talking” others’ cars.

Of course, competition also plays a huge role in the car culture. Linley Walker from the department of sociology at the University of West Sydney discusses these aspects in her research, “Under the Bonnet: Car Culture, Technological Dominance and Young Men of the Working Class.” The individual inequalities begin to represent superiority of the “natural over artificial, that is, the social” (Walker, 1998). The car scene allows individuals to combine “the physical (bodily power and fitness), intellectual (mental agility in seeing and predicting the combination of road, car and danger, i.e. other drivers or police whilst driving at very high speeds), and psychological (the courage to take risks and the determination to win)” (Walker, 1998). These traits are typically considered to be lacking in women, which would explain why a woman would feel out of place at one of these car meets. And lacking these traits, according to Walker’s explanation, links them to the artificial and therefore inferior. Nevertheless, as already mentioned and stated by each of the interviewees, women are wanted in the car scene.

While clearly male-dominated, the car culture changes with the greater culture around it. Although historically women were seen as inferior, that perception has changed in society at large and as society progresses, so does the car scene, even if at a slower rate. That being said, women still must take on the traits of the members of this car subculture. That means wearing a similar style of clothes, maintaining a similar lexicon, and continuing to express the desire for car improvement and competition. But even if a woman achieves all of those, if she disrespects the venue, the members, or the cars in any way, she will be asked to leave just as a man would. This is one aspect of the rules that is universal. One must show respect and be respected or he or she will not fit in with this community.

Finally, this community and its values of hard work and respect are helping prolong the existence of the historical car community. Contrary to recent research conducted by National Public Radio, which revealed the decline of the importance of car culture and involvement in Southern California, the garage meets that occur in Topeka are living proof that the car scene, while underground, is here to stay (Glinton, 2013). What will be interesting to watch is the level of involvement of women in the community. Will more women be joining the men? Will women begin modifying their own cars? Or will they continue to remain primarily a passenger in a man’s world?

References

Buchanan, S. (2018). Personal Communication. Donaldson, E. (2018). Personal Communication.

Glinton, S. (2013). The changing story of teens and cars. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2013/08/09/210253451/the-changing-story-of-teens-and-cars.

Lumsden, K. (2010). Gendered performances in a male-dominated subculture: ‘Girl racers’, car modification and the quest for masculinity. Sociological Research Online,

15(3). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.5153/sro.2123.

Russell, T. (2018). Personal Communication.

Walker, L. M. (1998). Under the bonnet: Car culture, technological dominance and young men of the working class. Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies: JIGS, 3(2), 23-43. https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=200001317;res=IELAPA;type=pdf.

The Misconceptions Behind Being a Division 1 Football Player

Benjamin DeZube

Benjamin DeZube wrote this community informative report in Jacque Boucher’s Expos 1 class. The intended audience are psychologists in the Sport Science Institute of the NCAA.

The dream of countless high school football players is to play at the next level at a top Division 1 school. The light, the cameras, and all the attention: it seems too good to be true. The community of this informative report, a Midwestern university football team, has been a powerhouse in the NCAA for the last 50 years, has produced countless big names in the NFL, and has been a consistent competitor in bowl games.

While a lot of people believe this opportunity to be a dream come true, I felt skeptical about how fulfilling it really is. People often assume that these players have it all and would have no reason to be discontent with the opportunity they have received. College football is essentially an iceberg; people see the players on the field, but they really have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. People don’t know how rigorous the life of college football player is. Balancing the workload of football, school, and social life at this level can be nearly impossible at this level and can take a toll on the mental health of an individual.

In this ethnography, I will show you what the life of a Division 1 football player really looks like. Many readers might assume that the life of a football player at such a high-level seems desirable; however, my community report will show that the men who play for football team are faced with a rigorous life that can take a toll on their body and mental health and are faced with an unrealistic gender norms that often stop them from reaching out when they need help. In this report, I will first explore the interaction and lifestyle of football players at a large university, then I will analyze how this can take a toll on their well-being. Finally, I will evaluate how the culmination of being a man and a football player may create a pressure to compress any mental health issues that they might be feeling.

Schedules of the Players

Spectators only see the success of the players on the field, but the life of a college football player can seem more like a job than any hobby. I had the opportunity to talk with Aaron Williams, a freshman football player. He explained the daily schedule of one of his weekdays. Football players usually get up around 5:30 and workout from 6:00-7:00. After this they had to class until 2:00. They then have practice until 6:30 and must meet with a tutor afterwards until 10:00. By this time, they must go to bed because they’ll be waking up at the same time the next day. On Fridays, the trainers have the freshman go through their day of “hell.” They are pushed physically to the point of exhaustion, and the trainers try to break them with excessive amounts of conditioning. Aaron explained that this is a day to see who really belongs in this program, and who does not. The time for any social life is miniscule, if nonexistent. On top of this, Aaron is on a meal plan where he is eating six meals a day. He has already put on twenty pounds since arriving at the university a mere three months ago. He explained that playing football here is not for the faint of heart and you must be fully committed to the sport. If you don’t love every aspect of it, you will struggle. This point is reinforced by the Tight End Coach at the University of South Carolina, Zak Willis, who claims, “‘Understand that it’s a lot of work and most of it will be away from the spotlights and stadiums. You must go in with the attitude that your sport is paying for your education and it’s a job—at the end of the day, it’s even more than a full-time job! You can’t just love the idea of playing, because you aren’t going to make it on that alone’” (Mantick).

According to Aaron, four freshmen have already quit; three were on full scholarship. The lack of any social life and the constant movement can create a constant feeling of fatigue within these players, and for many, they begin to question whether they have made the correct decision.

However, these guys are football players; they are supposed to be the manliest of men; they would never share this with anyone. When I asked Aaron about whether he would reach out to anyone if he was ever struggling or feeling overwhelmed by this strenuous schedule, he immediately explained that he couldn’t afford to look soft, and usually they’re told to tough it out; after all, they are Division 1 football players.

Communication Between Players and Staff

Understanding the rigor of the packed schedule is just one obstacle that these players face. The communication and camaraderie between these players and coaches was something that I was especially interested about because that is something that is never publicized in any form of mainstream media. I played high school football, and the one part that will always stick out to me was the close bonds and friendships I formed over the course of the four years.

When asking Aaron about whether his experience in college was similar to this, he first talked about his experience from high school. His seemed very similar to mine; he grew up playing with the same kids and they were always so close. He said he always looked forward to practice because it would always be fun taking the field with his brothers. He then began talking to about his college experience. He explained that college football is nothing like high school in the sense of the brotherhoods and friendships you make. Aaron stated that, coming in as a walk-on, he felt overwhelmed by all the highly recruited athletes that were coming in from all parts of the country. Some of these highly recruited athletes arrive with huge egos, and Aaron noted that it was hard to really get close with any of them. We must also take into account that there are so many players currently rostered that Aaron still does not know everyone five months into being in the program.

“Once we step on the field, it’s all business,” Aaron says. “When you’re playing with all these players, some of the best in the United States, it feels like it’s every man for himself.” Aaron explained that while coaches in high school would strive to get close to all their players, on the university team only one thing matters: winning. Aaron fortunately has become closer with some of his teammates throughout these last five months, but he says he still reaches out to his high school friends and teammates if he ever wants to talk.

Reaching Out for Help

In January, Washington State Quarterback Tyler Hilinski committed suicide in his apartment; he was going to be the starting quarterback the following fall. His teammate and friend, Luke Fault, spoke about the incident very soon after. “It should be talked about, and we should do something about it, I feel like at times we feel like we can’t express our emotions because we’re in a masculine sport and him being a quarterback, people look up to you as a leader. He felt like he really probably couldn’t talk to anybody. We’ve got to change some of that stuff. We have to have resources and not have a stigma of people going to that” (Masisak). This quotation aligned closely to what Aaron said about reaching out for help. The idea of being seen as weak or vulnerable scares a lot of these players.

David Mischoulon, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, offers his input: “‘There are certain societal expectations on men that they have to be strong and effective. It is a lot harder for man to deal with any illness, because they can’t play the role society expects of them… There is still a belief that they are signs of personal weakness. Men can more easily deal with high blood pressure, which won’t have the same degree of sympathy as with a mental illness’” (Levine). Men do not talk about their emotions and resist going to therapy, as these attempts at seeking help do not measure up with their masculine codes (Levine).

Aaron explained that sometimes he struggles with fatigue, but he always attempts to push through it. In his mind, the making of a champion is being able to push through that adversity; seeking help would be seen as soft or an easy way out. It’s not just the athletes’ inability to reach out, the lack of resources also plays a key role in this process. Chris Carr points this out when he notes that big NCAA schools are maximizing the number of physical trainers, physicians, and dieticians, but they seem to lack any psychologists for their athletes. This could make them much more accessible to athletes and not force them to hassle with counseling services through the university (Carr). Aaron confirmed that he had no access to a psychologist dedicated to the football team, but that he doesn’t see that as a problem, as he most likely would never use these services.

Analysis

David Levine of the U.S. News & World Report says it best, “There’s an old truism that men take better care of their cars than their own health.” It’s true that men are most prone to holding their feelings within, and this can often put themselves at the highest risk of suicide. Combining this with the rigors of being a Division 1 football player, one can only imagine the stigma they face.

Kelly Mantick explains the non-stop schedule for these athletes and demonstrates how college football is a full-time job. The student athletes have hardly any time to rest or maintain a social life, two very important factors in having healthy mental health. Combining this strenuous schedule with having the stigma of being a male Division 1 football player at a NCAA powerhouse can make it exceptionally tough. Masisak’s article about Tyler Hilinski showed how deadly it can be. It’s not like Hilinski was some player lost in the background who was never going to make any impact; he was going to start for a Washington State team that is currently eighth in the country. Levine’s argument in his article aligns with this point as he explains that men tend to push down these feelings and refuse to seek any help because they want to maintain “mental toughness.” This seems to be what Tyler Hilinski struggled with. When players feel depressed and they are stuck in these roles as male Division 1 football players, they can feel trapped, and evidently and unfortunately, the only escape Hilinski saw was suicide.

If Hilinksi had someone that just would’ve kept tabs on his mental health, he still might be alive today. Carr points this out in his article about mental health in college athletes. He notes that a team psychologist could give athletes a much easier resource than seeking campus services. This resource could also take away the shame of sharing their struggles with someone else and getting help. However, it has gotten a lot better. Huge masculine icons such as Dwayne Johnson and NBA player Demar DeRozan have been coming out publicly about their bouts of depression, and this is a huge step in the right direction. These public revelations could help show these athletes that they are not alone and that it really is okay to get help. Who knows how many athletes at big schools are struggling with mental illness and how much help they could receive if only we could, as a society, continue to diminish this stigma of both males and college athletes being “mentally tough” and not needing help while also providing more resources for athletes to reach out?

Conclusion

Being a football player for a Division 1 program is daunting; it is a true commitment, and these athletes should now how much they are sacrificing before they commit. This full-time job along with school can put a huge amount of strain on these players that may require help. While they are provided countless tutors, physical trainers, and dieticians, mental health should be prioritized in the same boat as these other necessities for athletes. If these athletes are given the

proper resources that help diminish the stigma of being seen as weak, they will be much safer, and their mental health will be much more stable. This connection to psychological services will allow them to focus more on what happens on the field rather than hiding what they’re feeling off the field.

Works Cited

 Carr, Chris. “Mind, Body and Sport: The Psychologist Perspective.” NCAA.org – The Official Site of the NCAA, 18 July 2017, www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/mind-body-and-sport- psychologist-perspective.

Levine, David. “How Can Men Fight the Stigma of Dealing With Mental Health Problems?” U.S. News & World Report, 9 Feb. 2018, health.usnews.com/health-care/patient- advice/articles/2018-02-09/how-can-men-fight-the-stigma-of-dealing-with-mental- health-problems.

Mantick, Kelly. “A Day in the Life of a Division I Football Player.” NCSA Athletic Recruiting Blog, 16 Nov. 2017, www.ncsasports.org/blog/2017/10/03/day-life-division-football-player/.

Masisak, Corey. “College QB after Teammate’s Suicide: Football Culture Needs to Change.” New York Post, 25 Jan. 2018, nypost.com/2018/01/24/college-qb-after-teammates-suicide- football-culture-needs-to-change/.

 

Strength and Impact of Community Factors on Graduate Students in the Kansas State University Master of Accountancy Program

Hannah Schneider

Hannah Schneider wrote this community informative report in Mawi Sonna’s Expos 1 class. Her intended audience is Megan Miller, the Student Success Coordinator for the Kansas State University Graduate School.

Abstract

This Community Informative Report will review the factors of community in the Kansas State University Master of Accountancy program and how they influence the overall success and happiness of the students. Interviews with Dr. Terry Mason, the director of the Master of Accountancy program and Anna Beyer, a graduate student in the program and Graduate Teaching Assistant will provide insight on the program as well as the K-State College of Business website. In addition, Monica Moore of Johns Hopkins University and Derek Attig of the College of Illinois explain the importance of community in graduate school. Throughout this article, it will be shown that the classes and environment of the Master of Accountancy program promote community and bonding among students, which ultimately increases the happiness of the students and allows them to feel well-prepared to begin their careers. Additionally, an increase in orientation and bonding events for graduate students at the start of the program would allow for connections to be made earlier and further improve the community effects.

Introduction

While no two college adventures are the same, community is a beneficial and important part of any college experience. This report will explore the Master of Accountancy program at Kansas State University and evaluate its community qualities and how they affect students in the program. Interviews with Dr. Terry Mason, the director of the Master of Accountancy program, and Anna Beyer, a graduate student in the program, as well as information from the College of Business website will provide insight into the community and its properties. This information is beneficial to anyone connected to the Master of Accountancy program and anyone considering a Master of Accountancy degree. This information could also potentially benefit employers, allowing them to further understand the program. As a complement to these interviews, Derek Attig of the College of Illinois and Monica Moore of Johns Hopkins University, explain why a feeling of community among graduate students is important, which is relevant information to any graduate student as well as anyone that is responsible for bolstering community for a graduate college. Throughout this paper, it will be shown that the Master of Accountancy program encourages students to connect and teaches them to work collaboratively, which allows for students to help each other grow and increases their happiness. It is also recommended that more opportunities at the beginning of the program should be implemented to allow for connections among the students to be sooner, which is supported by both Anna Beyer and Monica Moore.

Results

Common Interests and Goals

It is no surprise that students and faculty within the Master of Accountancy program at K-State, which is most commonly referred to as the MAcc, all share an interest in accounting. What makes the MAcc special as opposed to a bachelor’s degree, however, is the deeper accounting knowledge, ability to take the CPA exam (which stands for Certified Public Accountants), and the sense of community among the students. In an interview with Dr. Terry Mason, the director of the MAcc program, he describes the completion of 150 credit hours and the ability to sit for the CPA exam as unifying goals among students, also stating that students often reach out to each other to study, which allows the students to bond. Dr. Mason even claimed that “you’ll definitely make life-long friends within the MAcc” and have opportunities for “career-changing networking.” In another interview with Anna Beyer, a student in the MAcc program and Graduate Teaching Assistant, she elaborates on the environment the MAcc program creates, stating that the more targeted classes allow for you to get to know a lot of your classmates better since many have similar schedules. In the interview, Anna also says: “I have better relationships with my peers,” and that “we are all so close.” Anna later explains the program’s unifying properties, elaborating that “in the MAcc, you’re all striving for the same thing with the same goal” and are “all striving to help each other achieve that goal” where the goal is obtaining a master’s degree and passing the CPA exam.

Monica Moore, the Assistant Dean of the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the benefits that a community creates for graduate students in her article, “Creating Community for Graduate Students (Part 1).” Moore encourages universities to not “consider graduate students as outliers and to intentionally program events and efforts to bolster their sense of community” due to its connection to student satisfaction. Moore also acknowledges the assumption of many colleges that graduate students are too busy to attend orientation- related activities and challenges this stating that this assumption is false and that “graduate students want to network and build social and professional communities” (Moore). This realization aligns with the interview of Anna Beyer, in which she stated that more social events, especially at the beginning of the MAcc program, would improve the sense of community among the MAcc students and also be helpful in integrating the students who obtained their undergraduate degrees at other colleges. As mentioned by Dr. Mason, students can also give back to the program by joining another group called Advocats, which includes many students that already have jobs lined up that work to improve the department. Throughout these interviews, the MAcc program is shown to have unifying properties that are formed around common accounting interests and the goal of passing the CPA exam.

Curriculum

Part of what allows the MAcc to have a strong sense of community is the curriculum for a variety of reasons. Derek Attig, the Director for Career Development for the Graduate College of Illinois, lists two main reasons why community is important for graduate students in the article, “Grad School 101: Building Community in Graduate School.” First, Attig explains that building a strong community allows for many people to support students academically, professionally, and personally as they grow throughout graduate school as well as advocate for their success. Secondly, Attig suggests that having a wide variety of “friendly, healthy, supportive relationships within and outside the university” allows for students to have fulfilling lives as graduate students. In relation to building connections, Dr. Mason explains that while the classes are fairly rigorous, they are “more focused on teamwork and discussions” and that “students learn by discussing with each other” in “team-based exercises.” Both Dr. Mason and Anna Beyer acknowledge the strong focus on specialization as a benefit to the program. Dr. Mason recalls in his interview that “about five years ago, the curriculum was redone” and that there are now six tracks rather than one. This specialization allows even further for students to be grouped through similar interests, which is a unifying property of any group. In response to a question about the ability of the program to improve career-readiness, Anna states that she definitely feels an improvement “because [the MAcc] is so specialized” and also states: “I truly understand why we’re doing things.” It is clear through these descriptions that the MAcc program bolsters confidence within its students and allows students to feel prepared upon graduation. When asked about the values of the community, Dr. Mason listed “ethics, integrity,” and “professionalism” which are similar to the values given by Anna, which included “hard work, academic success, truly understanding accounting, and community.” All of these values suggest the future success of the student as well as some focus on the treatment of and interactions between people, which are all important in the foundation of an academic community. Anna also explains that being a GTA “is really fun” and that she is “constantly in communication with people,” which promotes community building and also cuts down on the isolation that many graduate students feel (as discussed later.)

Analysis

Creating a sense of community is an important element of any graduate school for a variety of reasons including an increased ability of students to network and advocate for each other, a sense of teamwork created, and the bonds formed between students and faculty that lead to increased happiness of the students. Monica Moore argues that people should create programs that focus on community building among graduate students, which agrees with the interview of Anna Beyer, in which she stated that more social events at the start of the MAcc would help make connections early on and also help to include students with undergraduate degrees from different colleges. Moore also challenges the idea that graduate students are not willing to give up time for orientation activities, but Anna’s suggestion of an increase in social events at the start of the program supplements this claim, demonstrating that graduate students do care about bonding with their peers. Finally, Moore addresses the isolation that many graduate students can feel while striving to keep up with the demanding requirements of being a graduate student and states that “a sense of community can be particularly important to the overall experience.” Moore’s call to universities to make community a priority amongst graduate students includes an emphasis on the value of community to graduate students and a necessary increase in activities promoting connections.

Community can be important to build within graduate school, as previously shown by Moore, for a variety of reasons. Derek Attig provides two main arguments as to why community is important to graduate school. First, Attig claims that a strong community is crucial in providing a support system for students where they can advocate for each other and provide academic, professional, and personal support and encourage growth. This statement is similar to what Dr. Terry Mason, the director of the MAcc program, expressed in his interview, stating that the program provides many opportunities for career-changing networking and allows for strong bonds to be formed amongst the students. Secondly, Attig suggests having a wide variety of healthy relationships both within and outside of class. The design of the MAcc program, as described by Dr. Mason, connects students within the classroom and encourages the development of both professional and personal relationships, stating that the curriculum has a strong focus around teamwork and working collaboratively. According to the K-State College of Business Administration, the college features “small classes where interactions with professors and colleagues are encouraged.” This description includes half of the recommended relationships, and it is up to students to form relationships off campus to maintain a balanced lifestyle.

Conclusion

The purpose of this report is to dive into the K-State Master of Accountancy program and examine its qualities of community and how they impact the overall happiness and success of the students in the program. Through interviews with Dr. Terry Mason and Anna Beyer, it is shown that the community aspect of the MAcc program is impactful on its students, allows for long-lasting connections and support between peers, and contributes overall to the happiness of the students. To supplement these interviews, claims from Monica Moore, Derek Attig, and the College of Business are also included. Improvements could be made to connect the students earlier on in the program by increasing the amount of orientation activities at the start of the program, but overall, the MAcc program is a well-established community that is worth considering if students are entering the accounting field.

Works Cited

Attig, Derek. “Grad School 101: Building Community in Graduate School.” Graduate College at Illinois, The Graduate College, 18 Oct. 2018, blogs.illinois.edu/view/6397/707170.

Beyer, Anna. Personal Interview. 19 Nov. 2019. Mason, Terry. Personal Interview. 13 Nov. 2019.

“Master of Accountancy.” MAcc | College of Business Administration | Kansas State University, Kansas State University College of Business Administration, 12 Aug. 2019, cba.k- state.edu/academics/graduate/macc.html.

Moore, Monica. “Creating Community for Graduate Students (Part 1).” The EvoLLLution: A Destiny Solutions Illumination, The EvoLLLution, 25 Nov. 2013, evolllution.com/opinions/creating-community-graduate-students-part-1/.

Activity: Peer-Review Workshop

Use this form as you share your rough draft with your workshop partners. For the numerical responses, 1= “not sure”; 2 = “yes, but could improve with revisions”; 3 = “excellent.”

Writer’s Community & Intended Audience: Writer’s Question or Concern:

Introduction
Clear purpose statement? 1 2 3
Clear thesis statement? 1 2 3
Clear blueprint statement? 1 2 3
Connection to audience? 1 2 3
Suggest at least one revision suggestion.
Body/Results Section
Broken down into meaningful and manageable chunks? 1 2 3
Enough research for audience? 1 2 3
Responds to research questions? 1 2 3
Research adequately cited, integrated, and introduced? 1 2 3

Suggest at least one revision suggestion.

Analysis
Summarizes the main findings? 1 2 3
Develops one main point? 1 2 3
Shows significance for reader? 1 2 3

Suggest at least one revision suggestion.

Editing Strategies

As you edit and proofread your community informative report, consider these following three strategies:

1. Specify your nouns and make your verbs more active

 Search for vague nouns and weak verbs that might end up confusing your readers. Here is one example:

Having conducted research on homeschooled students, it was discovered that there are many motivations for homeschooled families for homeschooling their children. This is important when making policy recommendations for the government.

In this example, the main grammatical noun of the first sentence is “it, and “this” is the noun of the second sentence. You’ll want to make sure that you are emphasizing your points and guiding your readers with far more concrete nouns. The main verbs are “was discovered” (a passive form), “are,” and “is.” Again, whenever possible, look for more active verbs that connect back to the nouns. One quick revision of the paragraph above could be the following:

Having conducted research on homeschooled students, researchers have identified several main reasons for why families homeschool their children. This finding can guide government policy recommendations.

The revision now focuses on “researchers” and “finding” as the main nouns of these two sentences, which are then connected to the active verbal forms of “have identified” and “can guide.” An added benefit is that there is no longer a dangling participle, which was one of the problems of having “it” serve as the main noun in the first example.

Search your document for these verb forms and determine whether you can find a more concrete and active verb:

  • There is (There was, There were, etc.)
  • This/That is (This/That was)
  • These/Those are (These/Those were)
  • It is (It was)

2.  Consider your level of formality

An informative report has a fairly high level of formality. Look for these following informal uses in your own reports:

You: In an informative report, you can certainly use “you” if you are referring directly to the intended reader: “As the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you obviously are aware that…” However, when you are using “you” in a colloquial sense, when you are really referring to people in general, you can affect the formality of your writing. Here is one example of the informal use of “you”: “Employees at the company have many tasks; for example, on any given day, you might find yourself having to conduct data analyses, interact with customers on the telephone, and inspect social media settings. You might feel that you are actually working for several different divisions of the company all at once.” It would be more formal for the writer to substitute “employees” or “they” for these instances of “you.”

Word choice and clichés: There are certain words and phrases that signal more of an informal stance by the writer, including “I feel that,” “ok,” and “kinda.” You may also want to be mindful of the clichés that you use, which can also reduce the specificity of your points. For example, consider this sports metaphor: “Homeschooled parents can knock their children’s education out of the park if they consider online packages.”

Contractions: In more formal writing situations, many readers will prefer fewer contractions. So, look for instances of contractions in your report and consider writing out the full forms.

3.  Avoid dropped quotations

Dropped quotations are those that appear without any introduction or background. They may startle or confuse your readers, as they are attempting to figure out what to do with the quotation.

Here is an example of a paragraph that includes two dropped quotations:

Home-schooling proponents downplay such responsibilities to community and values of inclusiveness, emphasizing instead the benefits of economic, legal, and political independence. “Home schoolers do not excessively depend on their villages, their communities and the state” for the educational needs of their children (Ray 88). “Parents are children’s foremost authority and first and best teachers. They, not Washington bureaucrats, should decide how and where their children are to be educated” (“Education—Home Schooling”).

Although the writer cites these sources, the readers will require more guidance about why these quotations are being used and how they connect back to the topic sentence.

In this revision, you’ll find the introductory frames to these quotations:

Home-schooling proponents downplay such responsibilities to community and values of inclusiveness, emphasizing instead the benefits of economic, legal, and political independence. Brian Ray, proud of these families’ desires to remain independent of the government, states that home schoolers “do not excessively depend on their villages, their communities and the state” for the educational needs of their children (88). Ray privileges the autonomy of individual families, which provide children with a “coherent worldview” (90-94) and do not present financial burdens to the government (100-101). Gary Bauer’s American Values website underscores this conservative message of family independence: “Parents are children’s foremost authority and first and best teachers.

They, not Washington bureaucrats, should decide how and where their children are to be educated” (“Education—Home Schooling”).

Look for the places in which you include quotations and ascertain the degree to which you introduce, explain, and contextualize them for your readers.

  1. Andriessen, J. H. Erik. “Archetypes of Knowledge Communities.” Communities and Technologies, edited by P. van den Besselaar, G. De Michelis, J. Preece, and C. Simone, Springer, 2005. ↵

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(Re)Writing Communities and Identities Copyright © by Phillip Marzluf, Cindy Debes, Anna Goins, Stacia Gray, A. Abby Knoblauch, Cameron Leader-Picone is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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