Uses for Journal Keeping: An Ethnography of Writing in a University Science Class

This title reports on an ethnographic study of journal-keeping in a university science class. The author spent a summer term attending a general education class in geology as a participant observer; took extensive notes; interviewed class members and the professor; and analyzed journal entries and other documents related to the class. She provides an example of ethnographic methods designed to be of use to other composition researchers, especially in its careful attention to reflexivity, that is, the effect of the researcher and the research on data. The book provides a detailed exploration from the perspective of students and the professor into journal entries as the outcome of a socio-political process.