LETTER OF INQUIRY

Cecily Greene
8180 Engineering Drive
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

February 17, 2017

Professor Erica Glasper-Andrews

Department of Psychology
4094 Campus Drive
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

RE: Research Project

Dear Professor Glasper:

Thank you again for allowing me to observe your lab last week. As I have mentioned, I
am a student in Intro to Professional Writing here on campus. For our class, my three
team members and I are assigned to write an ethnography on the styles, habits, and
responsibilities related to professional writing by an expert in a field we are interested in.
Some of their majors include psychology and neurobiology. Since I know that you are
accomplished in writing publications, I was hoping I could write my ethnography on you.

In writing this ethnography, I hope to learn about adult social, cognitive, and emotional
behavior research and professional writing you have done alongside it. My team
members are aspiring professional writers as well, so this will be truly beneficial to our
learning experience.I also have noticed how important it is to you that students are
introduced to all aspects of science, this includes writing scientific publications.

We are studying your professional writing achievements to identify how writing plays
into the career of a researcher in the social sciences. To do so, I would like to schedule
an interview with you, as well as gain access to some of your research publication and
other written products of your studies. The first draft of this ethnographic report is due
April 17th, so I would like to conduct my research as well as any necessary meetings
before then, but would still like to follow up with you afterwards regarding the final copy.

I want you to be aware that I will not use your real name in any of my materials, from
notes to the final ethnographic report. I want to be receptive to your input and analysis
and I would not portray you or your work in any way that you are uncomfortable with. I
will respect your workspace and make sure that I am cautious as to not disturb your
work or make anything difficult for you. I will work around your schedule for when we
meet in person. I will not write on any topics that you deem confidential. You will, of
course, receive access to my writings every step of the process.
We would be grateful for any and all information that you would be willing to share with
us.

If you would get back to me with your response to my request, I would very much
appreciate it. If you are willing to participate, I will be getting in touch with you about
when we can meet. I am excited to perhaps be working with you in the near future!
Thank you,

Cecily Greene
In association with
Erin Hill, Janae Thompson, and Aileen Wood