Olivia Pope Elizabeth Hinnant ENG 1102-030 28 January, 2014

EIP Proposal Draft 2 The group of people I would like to study is Students in Private Christian Schools in Indian Trail. This topic is interesting because there is a different way of doing school in a private, Christian setting. Different rules apply to this education setting, as opposed to a public school setting. The learning environment of a school affects a students cognitive skills. Being in a private Christian setting provides greater opportunities to exceed state standards for education. I would like to get the students point of view on how they think this choice has affected them. Some interview questions that could be explored to gather helpful information are: 1) have they been in this private Christian school setting their whole life or only part of it? 2) If they could, would they go back and make the decision to choose this school setting for themselves? 3) Would they want their kids to be enrolled in this type of school setting, based on their experience? 4) Did this school setting affect the college you got into? Opinion and background questions will be information that I could not get only from observation; therefore I would conduct a few interviews to ask questions of those sorts. Another perspective I would like to try to observe are students in a private Christian setting who are not Christian. With that, I will explore the amounts and types of pressure on these students. Another interesting perspective to observe is the students who have been raised Christian their whole life. Does attending a private Christian school affect how they feel about their faith? Does it reinforce it or cause rebellion?
Comment [B3]: This might be a good angle, though Im not sure how youre going to observe it. Comment [B2]: I dont think you need to include this information. Dont focus on telling your reader about the interview here. Rather pose your larger inquiry question, as well as your smaller inquiry questions, and how you think theyll lend themselves to observation. Comment [B1]: Im glad you introduce your group early on, but this might also be a good place to introduce your overarching question or angle.

Olivia Pope Elizabeth Hinnant ENG 1102-030 28 January, 2014 I plan to observe at least three different teachers classes, and two different classes that they each teach. All of the teachers teach different subjects. I seek to find how this type of education affects students relationships with their teachers and friends, whether the students like this environment or not, and how the amount of people they are surrounded by in that setting affects their social life. How does private, Christian school affect students lives?
Comment [B4]: This question is still too broad.

Olivia, While I think the group youve chosen to study is quite interesting, Im leaving this proposal feeling like Im missing several big pieces. First, the overarching question that youve posed as of now (how does Christian school affect students lives?) is still far too broad and vague. Remember that for this particular ethnography youre required to shed light on your group in a new and interesting way by focusing on a specific research question (and subsequent smaller questions). An example might be how do es bullying differ in a private school run by religion than a public school? or do religious practices in these schools seem to make students uncomfortable? Whatever route that you choose remember that your question should be specific and lend itself primarily to observation (which should make up at least 85% of your ethnography). If youre having trouble pinning this down as you move forward, I highly suggest visiting a tutor at the Writing Resources Center. Also, in revision I dont think you should post your interview questions in here, but rather talk about actual research strategies.