Odds and ends from about citation

This week Mary G. asked me a couple of things about citation…Here are some thoughts. Let me know what you all think…

We use the Harvard system. The idea of a citation is that you are letting the Reader know where you got an idea or quote from. It is making sure you recognise the places things come from. It also allows the Reader to go and find out more about that idea or the rest of the quote because they know where it came from. This is how they know you write the name of the person who said it and the date of the publication they said it in just after you mention it (for example (Smith 2012)). If it is a quote you also write the page number (for example Smith, 2012 p.65). Now the Reader has what they need to be a detective.

First they go to the end of your writing to the bibliography. There you will have written the longer version. The name of the person is first (Smith) so they can find the name you had in the text and then they check the date (2012). Smith might have written a number of things that you have quoted at different times so there maybe a (Smith, 2007) as well. Then the rest of the long citation in the bibliography tells us the name of the book and who published. The whole point of all of this is that the Reader can go to the library and get the same book you were looking at. Then they can turn to the page (p.65) and read what you read that led you to write about the idea in your paper. It is all about giving the write information so we can have the same (reading) experience as you.

For example:

James Smith writes about cows in his book ‘I love milk’. Here he is point out that grass is really important.

‘It was green and beautiful and fed the cows very well’ (Smith, 2012 p.65)

More about citation

If you quote someone – even if you have just said something about that person you still have to use a citation at the end of the quote, anyway you need to put the page number as well.

A quote should be on a separate line, in italics and indented. The quote also needs a ‘lead in’ and ‘lead out’ in your text. You cannot just put it there to make a point by itself.

Example:

Dewey’s Pragmatist perspective further develops the research’s understanding of dance as language. Whereas above phenomenological hermeneutics implies dance could be thought of as dealing with the leftovers of verbal language Dewey reverses this idea:

‘language, signs and significance, come into existence not by intent and mind but by over-flow, by-product, in gestures and sounds. The story of language is the story of the use made of these occurrences; a use that is eventual as well as eventful.’  (Dewey 1958, p.175)

Dewey sees verbal language as an adornment to the act of communicating. He sees communication as the drive to share and collaborate meaning. Effort of doing this can lead to verbal language but communication is not brought into existence by verbal language and the effort of communication could just as well lead to a movement language .  – Akinleye, unpublished thesis

The citation (Dewey, 1958, p.175) is linked to the following in the bibliography, which should not be separate, but a part of the same document. That means that when you read the above quote you can turn to the back pages and see which book it is. The citation tells us this: to find the book you go to the bibliography and look for the name Dewey. I may have a number of books by Dewey I have quoted from so then you look for the one published in 1958. Now you can locate the full detail example below. 

If there were two books by Dewey published in 1958 in my bibliography then I would put

(Dewey, 1958a p.175). Then the bibliography I would put 1958a again so you know which one of the two books by him published in 1958 I was talking about. So the bibliography entry will look like this:

Dewey, J. (1958) Experience and nature, New York: Dover Publications.

This citation format is Harvard:

Surname, initcal of first name. (Year the book you are looking at was published), where it was published: who published it

Note the punctuation as well as the content of the text. Using this method means your work is in line with standard citation formats, which means that anyone who is used to doing research can read your work and find the very text you have copied the quote from. Every book published in UK is in the British Library. That means that someone can find the book you are talking about. That is what citation is for. It is not to prove you know the quote was in a book by X.

Also note that the date is the date of the book you are holding in your hand when you look at the quote. So for instance Dewey did not first publish‘Experience and Nature’ in 1958, but that is the date of the book I have, so when I put the page number (…, p.175) you can find the page with the quote on it. In a book published earlier or later the print size maybe different or the size of the book pages etc… this means that that quote is not on page 175 of those books. This is why it is important the date is of the publication you have looked at, otherwise the page number is meaningless.

Citation and quotes from research participants

The idea of a citation for a book etc... is so that when we read your work we can then go and find the book (journal etc...) you had in your hand that you cited from. But the interviews are data you collected and we cannot go and find them somewhere. You are using quotes form interviewees as examples of something you are writing about, so it is a bit different from a citation for book (etc...) which is pointing us towards further reading or bringing to mind a theorised idea by someone else. So assuming you have given an outline of what you research looked like. [ie you interviewed six professional dancers. Billy works in UK, Jamie in Mexico etc... and any other relevant information we need to know about them while respecting their anonymity.] Then when you write about something they said you can write

'it's a long way to go to go to an audition' - Billy

So now a notes about quoting people in terms of the above:

First: the decision to give them names – many people say participant (1) or participant B. This is ok but think about the topic of your research. If it about people's experiences or feelings etc… then it is ok to present them as real people. Not labelled like test-tubes. If it’s a test-tube based data collection process then naming them A, B or C makes more sense. If you use names think about the implication of gender and cultural background a name can give.

Second, as I mention above take a moment  in the overview of the research project in your account to let us know who and where and how you collected the data so we can see any comments in the context of the inquiry. For instance some of my interviewee might be college students and other professional dancers and other teachers.

Third,  DO NOT use the quote to make your point. Make the point and then use the quote to give an example of what you are talking about.

'Most dancers I spoke to talked about the importance of auditions in terms of keeping current with what was going on, but also pointed out that there needed to a balance between the keeping current and the expense of preparing and traveling to an audition. 

'I live in Gistone (small village in the North of England) and most auditions I am interested in are in the South. its a long way to go to travel to an audition.' Billy (professional dancer)

Billy's comment underlined Smiths (2009) theory that dancers in the outside of major cities are disadvantaged when it comes to audition experience. However, Sam the other professional dancer I interviewed from the North of England saw a trip down South for an audition as part of a larger goal. Sam used the time to also meet up with friends and visit museums.

'I try to make going to auditions only part of what i do in a day. That way I feel less pressure in the audition. Otherwise I'm like thinking if I don't get this I've wasted the fare down here and what-not.' - Sam (professional dancer). 

Smith (2009) has said that professional dancers start to see auditions as away of socialisation. It seemed that the professional dancers who lived outside of major cities..... 

Smith quote....'

The quotes from Participants should be indented but I can't see how to do that on the blog post page and my computer keeps crashing, so I'M trying to get this posted before it dies again - but enough of my problems!!!!

Back to the quotes-- as we read more and more quotes we also start to get a sense of the personalities of the participants - that is also why its nice to give them names; it is easier to remember who said what.

As you start to write what you are handing in for assessment in any of the modules start to let go of the drive to make a point (tell the truth) - and think of the actual document you are making as also a work of art. how you write, structure and form the essay is an art too. It is not just about what you are saying because how we understand what you are saying is more subtle then just the idea, it is how the words are put together. I am very aware of this as a dyslexic - and it often seems like a magic trick to even get words together in the first place but every now and then you might read something or see something and think that was really well done. Think about what you think is well written and why. Alan did a post about truth, that was interesting to read. I guess I am saying the same thing. Let's suppose there is more than one 'truth'. What you are thinking about when you write should not be presenting the 'truth' of what you found but capturing the nature of what you found or experienced.   

(Sensitivity to the whole process not just an account of past.)

Group meet post

Today’s group SKYPE went well. We had a conversation between 8 people!

We talked about time management: the tension between MDX work and ‘work’ work. There were thoughts about how the MA can feed ones teaching and also how it can be emotionally exhausting leaving you feeling it is detracting from the teaching. Janet talked about how she shares her learning journey with her students, which has worked really well for her. We also talked about if you are an ‘am’ or ‘pm’ person – getting up a bit earlier than everyone else to work or waiting until the evening when everyone is a sleep to get some work done.  A key seems to be the reflective journal (and the blogs) as a way to keep the momentum of thinking going even when you don’t have time to sit down and tackle things for a long period.

We talked about peoples projects (from module two and three) and it was really nice to hear what people are interested in researching. We made a few connections with each other discovering that  people had similar issues, ideas and had even worked together in the distant past!

We talked about the AOL’s and how they are claims for MA level credits. So even if you did something remarkable when you were at a very early age you need to look it in terms of a kind of MA level analysis. So past experiences can be recalled to show the signposts that lead you to the MA level student you are today BUT the experience in itself as an anecdote is not enough to make your claim.  We also talked about how ‘evidence’ or illustrate items can be used to support and give context an AOL. We spoke about a simple colour coding reference system to link items such as programmes or DVD’s to the body of the text of the AOL paper they are supporting.

We also talked about the concept of the artefact (for module three) and how it is another form of communication, other than the academic form of the written report.

We confirmed the next meeting December 15^th at 11am. If have not joined in a group meeting and would like to in December you just need to contact me with your SKYPE address before the day of the meeting. You can do this by sending a SKYPE request to me. If you have problems feel free to email me too.

I felt the meeting went well. I worried about the dynamic of having 8 people talking to each other, but it seemed that everyone spoke and shared interesting ideas. I wonder how you all felt? It is a different platform for communication and while it is not the only one we use, it is amazing to be talking to people all over the UK and at times all over the world.

Well I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts.

Adesola

Remember, Remember 17th of November: Our Group SKYPE meeting

Hi
Don't forget our group SKYPE meeting is November 17th at 11am. (That is next Sunday.)
The meetings are a great way to talk through ideas with peers on the course in real time and also see links across the modules. The link made by people talking together from different modules are great because it helps to see themes that run across the course through the module and the teaching experience.
If I have your SKYPE already just be on-line ready. If I have not SKYPEd you before please send me a request, or an email with your SKYPE address so I can send a request to you!

Please comment to encourage others to join who have not done it before.
Say what you think...
Adesola

Order & Trust

This week seems to have rushed by.  

I have been thinking about order. There is a certain amount of trust that is required to follow the steps (tasks) in the modules. To some extent one needs to trust that they will add to your learning experience and not just be extra work or hoops or boxes to check. It is one thing to do them and another to open up – undo your thinking - enough for them to affect your plan or research or process.

This is the trust it takes to not look for the certainty of having ‘done that’ and allow instead for on-going development, on-going inquiry. This trust is not just some kind of courage to find within yourself it is also about how the ‘teachers’ / ‘advisors’ / writers-of-the-module present as trust worthy. I think learning is a two-way street the experience of learning is the situation of the material, space, teacher, student and those roles are interchangeable.

What do you think?

Adesola