Student "surveys"
James M. Wallace (TIM@SERVER.SASW.NCSU.EDU)
Mon, 19 Jun 1995 15:00:06 EDT
Folks,
I just wanted to write and apologize to you for any problems my students might have caused
you. Yes, I am the "bad" teacher that asked students to use the Interet to interview
anthropologists. But, I also wanted to clarify exactly what I asked the students to do.
First the assignment was to use the Internet to contact anthropologists to interview about
anthropology and their experience as anthropologists. I gave the
students six questions as starter ideas. I also gave them instructions on how to join a listserv and used Anthro-L as the
example. Anthro-L generally is user friendly, and most of the list
members enjoy providing help, when they can, to people who need it.
All of the students are taking their first or second course in
anthropology. I hope that some of them continue in anthropology.
Second, I gave them the addresses of other listserv's (the list from Anita Cohen-Williams that
appeared in print) as well as a list of about 100 anthropologists and their email addresses
that I have collected. The students could have contacted anyone. Many chose to see what
would happen with a general post. Obviously, that did not work well
for most of them. They quickly learned that a general message would
not work well and changed their method. Many also received very
nice, private replies from anthropologists on this list.
This was definitley not a survey. Its purpose was not ethnographic per se, hence I disagree
with Danny Yee's response. Its purpose was to get the students to dialogue with
anthropologists about the discipline, and in the process learn about
how to use the Internet. I am not collecting any data. I believe it is important for students to move beyond the classroom dialogue and talk with
anthropologists directly. The Internet is one way for this to
happen. The reports they have written are very interesting and I
have been impressed with the kindness of many people (on this
listserv and elsewhere to respond.
Again, sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused for some of
you. I, too, have learned a lesson. In the future my assignment will be structured
differently.
Thanks for your patience.
Tim
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James M. (Tim) Wallace Tel: 919-515-2491
Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology Fax: 919-515-2610
N. Carolina State University Email: Tim_Wallace@ncsu.edu
Box 8107, Raleigh, NC 27695-8107
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***************************************************************
James M. (Tim) Wallace Tel: 919-515-2491
Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology Fax: 919-515-2610
N. Carolina State University Email: Tim_Wallace@ncsu.edu
Box 8107, Raleigh, NC 27695-8107
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