THE FIGHT
ALL THE PREPARATION LEADS TO THIS MOMENT. ALL THE WORK YOU'VE DONE IS IN THIS ONE WRITE-UP. THE ONLY THING IN THE SPOTLIGHT IS THE FINAL PRODUCT. NO ONE SEES THE PROCESS; EVERYTHING BOILS DOWN TO THE FINAL DISPLAY. IT'S TIME TO PUT ON A SHOW. WRITING FANS, ARE YOU READY?
IT'S... TIME!
ROUND 1: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Annotated Bibliography was our first final product of the course where we developed a complete synthesis of the authors’ ideas and summarized each of the sources’ findings. The annotated bibliography represents the first round of the actual fight because this was our first final product of the course. It represents the first instance of me applying everything I learned and built on each component to devise a finished product. This assignment was my first attempt at completing an introduction and presenting connections between each of the secondary sources and narrowing down my own research. Therefore, I was able to demonstrate information literacy as I was able to piece together the most relevant information while also considering author credibility.
The annotated bibliography specifically acts upon the evaluating secondary sources aspect of the information literacy outcome. I was able to analyze each of the author’s contributions in order to ensure the writings were relevant to my study. This can be seen in my fourth source summary of my analysis of an article by Fuller when I stated, “This article helps me to better understand tattoo policies in organizations and how they are enforced. Understanding the actual enforcement of tattoo policies allowed me to realize how much body art is a factor in hiring individuals as well as considering which jobs may or may not be accessible to individuals with visible tattoos”. With my research focusing on the place tattoos have in the workplace, I revealed that this article was relevant to my research since it was able to put into perspective the impact that tattoo policies have on what is allowed in workplace settings. Then, the consideration of the enforcement of the policies put into perspective how these regulations are the determining factor of whether or not an individual can be a part of the organization or limitations for existing employees. I later go on to state, “Her research brought new ideas in that the communication of these policies impacted the culture of the organization and the image attempting to be upheld”. In this I give clarification that despite her research specifically focusing on the handling of workplace policy, her research was relevant to me because it revealed important information on workplace culture and how enforcement of these policies was reflective of a desire to uphold an image within the company.
The annotated bibliography also reveals the satisfied information literacy course outcome through my focus on ensuring credibility and ethics when analyzing the secondary sources. This is revealed in the fourth column where I stated that “Fuller conducted surveys and interviews of HR representatives...”. This reveals that I had selected a true scholarly article as the author also conducted their own primary research to support their claims. She also conducted the study on actual HR representatives which reveals that her findings are reliable in the context of policy enforcement. Then in the actual synthesis where I used her findings I stated, “She reports conflict being a combination of unclear policy and HR representatives’ unwillingness to discipline violators (Fuller 40)”. This reveals ethics in the presentation of the author’s information in the way I gave credit to her ideas.
ROUND 2: RESEARCHED WRITE-UP
The researched write-up is the final paper we submitted for the course. This showcases everything from the entirety of the course coming together. Even though this was an accumulation of many different processes throughout the course, this assignment represents a finished product since all the elements were complete. This piece represents contributing knowledge and revision since I was able to draw conclusions and interpret the primary data findings while also incorporating necessary changes based on the feedback I received.
In our final research write up I was able to connect my research to that of secondary sources and draw conclusions based on the findings of the data, which collectively satisfy the contributing knowledge course outcome. This can be seen in the Results & Analysis and Discussion portions of my write-up where I was able to share analysis on the patterns I found within the dress code policies. I stated, “They go on to say ‘Our themed costumed Cast Members are a critical part of enhancing the experience of our Disney show, and our non-costumed Cast Members also play an important role as representatives of the Disney brand’. Their emphasis on representation clearly aligns with the findings of Ruetzler in their depiction of appearances playing an important factor in workplaces”. This statement reveals how I was able to connect an observation from the primary data to the information from my secondary sources. I then go on to state, “However, Disney appears to attempt to use these policies to also instill a sense of pride in their Cast Members, that they are not just employees, but part of a community”. This represents my interpretation of the data I found. Then, in the Discussion portion I was able to further draw conclusions based on these realizations. I began to say “The findings became evident that Disney not only used their dress code policies to create a set of employee rules, but to also recognize the environment they wished to create within their workplaces. They put emphasis on the significance of community within the Disney brand and how members are reflections of that”.
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Annotated Bibliography
Researched Write-Up
Professor Lambert's Feedback
This write-up also showcases the revision course outcome because I focused on the feedback and altered a lot of the introduction portion for the final write-up. In the annotated bibliography introduction, I was summarizing the sources instead of focusing on the most relevant information. Therefore, for the final write-up I was able to refine the synthesis by only pointing out information that was most relevant to my topic. This can be seen in the photos on the right-hand side. The left image depicts almost two paragraphs worth of information on only one source. In this case I was describing one of the author’s full research when I stated, “Bragg ended up taking a more bold approach as she utilized tattooing to study rhetoric and its broad implications. The research conducted by Bragg was extensive and further suggested the viewing of tattoos from an alternate lens”. Although this is true information, it wasn’t as concise, with some details being unnecessary to mention. I then go on to say, “Her research differs from all previous methods as she considers new avenues to analyze visuals as process writings instead of the finished product themselves (Bragg 165)”. Despite recognizing significant information, I failed to mention why this was significant to my study. However, as you can see in the right image I was able to condense the findings of the author and incorporate it in a meaningful way. I stated, “… the number of tattooed individuals continues to increase as statistics show we have become more susceptible to participation in body modifications (Broussard et al.; Drazewski; Williams et al.). In a dissertation by Rachel Bragg, she brought forth insights into a perspective that depicted tattoos as individual pieces of literature that exhibit invention and are co-authored through collaborative efforts in order to make meaning (1-2)”. I use this statement to further elaborate when I go on to say that tattoos can “contain narratives and deeper significance that is often overlooked” and “We can suggest that regardless of more popular views and negative associations, the meaning behind tattoos is often what motivates and accounts for this growing desire to get inked”. I was able to elaborate on the significance of the author’s findings by suggesting a connection between the increase in tattoo popularity with her ideas of tattoos exhibiting the same meaning as other texts.
Researched Write-Up
Annotated Bibliography
I also followed the feedback given regarding connecting similar ideas of authors. In the annotated bibliography I separated each of the author’s ideas instead of presenting the ideas as they appeared. This can be seen in the image on the left where I had a whole paragraph dedicated to the findings of author Phil Drazewski when I could have presented his ideas earlier. However, I was able to make adjustments which can be seen in the right image where I state, “Authors Jost, Banaji, and Nosek consider the impacts of these perceptions when stating, ‘a system-justification view posits that stereotypes can be used to rationalize social roles and serve to justify the derogation of certain groups’ (qtd. in Broussard 523)”. In this instance I bring up the ideas of one author and then I later state, “Author Phil Drazewski connects tattoos to workplace discrimination by indicating that with tattooed individuals being associated with deviant behavior, it must provide some stress to hiring processes (1). He further details that ‘tattoo discrimination in interviews may be the result of perceived stigma’ (1)”. This reveals I was able to connect these two authors’ ideas as they both discussed the impact of tattoo stigmatization. I did not separate these ideas but used them together to build on the things I wanted to discuss and to draw my own conclusions about the connection between tattoo perceptions and job hiring. This reveals that I was able to use professor Lambert’s feedback to understand the areas that can be improved and thoroughly revise my writing.
The skills gained from the researched-write up go far beyond the course. In this assignment I demonstrated all the course outcomes and I’m able to take every bit of this research process and apply it to all aspects of research in other fields. I was able to conduct a complete process while also considering integrity and ethics of the research. I’m ready for many other fights to come.