Chapter 7/8 Quiz

Molly Smith
April 8, 2010
Chapters 7 & 8 quiz

After carefully reading chapters 7 and 8 in Everything’s an Argument, I would classify the research I am using concerning blogging motives, argument of fact. This is opposed to Selber’s article on computer literacy and Wysocki and Johnson- Eilola’s article, that are arguments of definition. What these authors are aiming to do is argue what defines digital literacy. The Selber article focuses on digital literacy in the instructional setting. Selber states that Neil Postman argues that a worthwhile education focuses on contexts of technology. He follows this statement with the question “But just what would such an education entail?” (1). To answer this question an appropriate definition must be constructed. Authors Wysocki and Johnson-Eilola’s also focus on the definition of digital literacy. At the end of the article, a definition is formed, taking into consideration all the ideas touched on in the text. “Literacy- if we describe it as some set of skills that allows us to work with the information structures of our time…”(363).
The research I am using to back up my argument in core 4 is argument of fact. My research question is “What role do interpersonal motives play in the adoption and use of blogs?” The sources I used for support are studies already done by researchers. According to Lunsford, a hypothesis is presented. In every study I analyzed a clear hypothesis and method of execution was presented. The book also stated that researching your hypothesis can be done by surveying participants, which was the main source of gathering data for my researchers. Lunsford states that presenting evidence in a visual design such as a table or chart can solidify your argument. Here is an example of my data.

Extraversion
4.58 (1.10)
(0.86)
0.27**
0.08
0.24**
0.11

Self-disclosure
3.15 (1.56)
(0.76)
0.14
0.25**
0.14

Identifiability
4.46 (1.50)
(0.81)
0.16
0.28**
Strong Tie Network
7.56 (7.10)
—
0.23**
Maintenance
3.43 (2.06)

(0.86)
Table 1. Item descriptives, reliabilities, and zero-order correlation coefficients Notes: Numbers on diagonals in parentheses represent reliability coefficients; ** p≤.01.

According to Lunsford, one way to characterize factual arguments is “notice a pattern that leads you to look more closely at behavior” (182). In my case, blogging became the newest fad that had people wondering what the fuss was all about. “The BBC News website suggests, on average, every second a new blog is created” (Smith 4). This forced researchers to conduct studies, surveys, and interviews to answer the question, why? Because I am creating a hypothesis and furthering research as opposed to defining constraints, my research would be labeled as definition of fact.