Similar to McKee and DeVoss, I have noticed that there is a lack of methodological research content in the digital writing realm. Research polices, practices, and procedures are often not clearly outlined; thus, I have had issues with fully comprehending electronic writing provisions as a researcher and educator. My decision to review Digital Writing Research: Technologies, Methodologies, and Ethical Issues was based on my lack of understanding in the digital writing research realm. As a composition instructor who teaches research methods, I believe that it is important for me to understand the foundations of digital writing research (as digitization is increasingly consuming the academic atmosphere). Thankfully, this anthology has provided me with a concrete infrastructure for research and teaching purposes.
The articles in this compilation are methodologically and ethically diverse. However, the editors present a five section organizational format that helps the reader understand the different divisions of digital research. Although diversity is prevalent, there is one consistent aspect among the articles: reader connectivity. Each article challenges the reader to explore the derived concepts while using it as a foundation for potential further study. This critical-thinking concept inspires the reader to confront the current conventions (or lack thereof) of digital writing research. For example, in “Digital Spaces, Online Environments, and Participant Research: Interfacing with Institutional Review Boards,” William P. Banks and Michelle F. Eble pose unanswered IRB related questions which prompts the reader to seek answers for digital participant approval, blog comments usage (authorship and/or research participant labeling), and CMS related content.
Additionally, some articles present innovative digital research approaches. In “Messy Contexts: Research as a Rhetorical Situation,” Rebecca Rickly provides a rhetorical research integration rationale (in the technological realm) for graduate-level methodological purposes. To achieve a rhetorical research stance, Rickly suggests the teaching of disciplinary methodologies, analytical research practices, and real research studies for ethical, critical, and rhetorical gain. The outlined approach helps educators understand rhetoric’s affiliation with research, and thus, provides a rhetoric and research integration foundation for digitization purposes.
Digital Writing Research: Technologies, Methodologies, and Ethical Issues is certainly a resource guide for digital research purposes. The methodological and ethical implications provide researchers and educators of research with a solid infrastructure for digital research practices. Additionally, the anthology provides a call for action dimension for digital research standards.
McKee, Heidi A., and Dànielle Nicole. DeVoss. Digital Writing Research: Technologies, Methodologies, and Ethical Issues. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton, 2007. Print.
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