#TEXTUAL EVIDENCE EXAMPLE HOW TO#
#TEXTUAL EVIDENCE EXAMPLE PROFESSIONAL#

Textual Research Methods are informed by hermeneutics, a philosophy of interpretation and understanding, and the concept of a hermeneutic circle-i.e., the idea that interpretation is an integrative, reiterative process informed by develop knowledge and knowledge claims by composing in response to other texts.to understand what a text and past interpretations of a text say about humanity and culture.use theory (e.g., marxism, gender studies, critical race theory).engage in intertextual analysis-e.g., analyze how thinking about a particular topic and knowledge claim evolves over time.explore how interpretations of texts are historically and culturally situated and how those interpretations change over time, place, and cultures.share our subjective readings of others’ texts (reader response).speculate and engage in reasoned debate with others about texts and textual interpretations.read/analyze a text to learn and think about existing knowledge, knowledge claims, research questions, hypotheses, theses, information.To help develop our competencies as textual researchers, teachers in school settings ask students to

#TEXTUAL EVIDENCE EXAMPLE HOW TO#

As an example, consider legal training in the U.S.: following undergraduate studies, law students enroll in three additional years of training that focus on how to interpret texts from a legal perspective and engage in legal reasoning. Masters and doctoral programs provide discipline-specific training in research methods.

At a minimum, teachers in school settings-from middle schools, high schools, to colleges-train students to write with sources (e.g., how to summarize, paraphrase, and quote).

#TEXTUAL EVIDENCE EXAMPLE PROFESSIONAL#

Thus, it’s helpful to think of textual research is really a suite of practices, a range of options, that are deployed based on the rhetorical situation.įormal textual research methods are taught in high school, college, and professional workplace settings. In contrast, a clinical psychologist might read peer-reviewed research on personality constructs. For instance, lawyers may engage in textual research by surveying applicable laws, policies, and precedents. Academic disciplines and professions have unique approaches to engaging in textual research. There are many different ways to conduct textual research.

read nonverbal language and back channel discourse.Įven simple literacy tasks like looking up how to pay a parking ticket or investigate travel options requires some mastery of textual methods.

Texts are so ubiquitous in our modern lives that we often engage in textual research informally without thinking consciously about our actions as a form of textual research. When we have a research question about something, our first move may to be engage in information literacy practices to ascertain what others have said about the topic.Īny time you are interpreting, learning from, describing, and discussing texts, you are engaging in textual research. Mastery of textual research is a life skill.Īs humans, we embody our thoughts, our knowledge and knowledge claims, in texts (see Semiotics: Sign, Signifier, Signified). For students and knowledge workers, competency with textual research is the coin of the realm. Your ability to flourish in life in school and work settings is largely determined by your competences as a textual researcher. Examples of secondary texts are journal articles, reports, or proposals. (2) A secondary text is a text that summarizes, paraphrases and cites other texts. Some researchers, particularly archivists, make a distinction between primary and secondary texts: (1) A primary text is an original text by an author, such as a memoir, autobiography, or journal. Textual Analysis Scholarship Scholarly Research Academic Research Library Research Desk Research Secondary Research ]Ĭlarification: Primary Texts vs. Related Concepts: Dialectic Hermeneutics Semiotics Text & Intertextuality Synonymns For example, theologians and members of religious communities have been discussing the Holy Bible, the Koran, and other religions’ holy texts for centuries. Broadly speaking, that community is called the scholars.Ĭommunities tend to coalesce around texts and scholarly conversations about texts. writers, lawyers.Īs a group, people use textual methods to vet and develop knowledge may be thought of as a methodological community. Authors who use textual methods may be called students, knowledge workers, scholars, critics, symbol analysts researchers. in academic and professional writing contexts. Textual research methods inform the discourse practices of writers, speakers, knowledge workers.

methods investigators use to interpret texts, to assess knowledge claims, and to develop new knowledge.

Men engaged in textual hermeneutics in the public square Men engaged in textual hermeneutics in the public square

Textual evidence example