LibGuides: EDU 502: Qualitative Methods in Education Settings: Other Resources

Websites for Book Review Writing

The following links each describe how to write book reviews at the post-secondary level, in some cases for specific disciplines. As with all the LibGuides created for the Educational Leadership program here at SUA, multiple resources are provided so that our graduate students can see the different ways various tasks can be completed (and how contexts can affect how tasks should be completed), and so they can make decisions about which resources best meet their own needs.

Book Reviews
This page from The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, offers a comprehensive overview of what a book review is and how to go about writing one. The advice at the end of the document on focusing on what was actually written (see the "In Review" section of the page) is important no matter what the writing task.
Writing a Book Review
This page from OWL Purdue offers suggestions for what to read when writing a book review. It is geared more toward writing book reviews for works of literature.
Writing Academic Reviews
This guide by the Academic Skills Centre at Trent University discusses how reviews contribute to the scholarship in a field, describes how to write them, and provides examples of reviews from 3 different fields. It's a thorough treatment that includes guiding questions for almost every stage of the writing process.
Writing a Critical Review
This page from the IOE Writing Centre at University College, London focuses on the linguistic elements that reinforce the summative and evaluative purposes of a critical review. It also offers an example of what a critical review might include.
Writing Book Reviews
This printable pamphlet by the Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University has guiding questions for thinking through a book review, step-by-step suggestions for writing it up, and an example book review originally published in the "Journal of Communication."
Book Reviews
This page from Queen's University's Stauffer Library is a guide to writing book reviews for the purpose of publication. There are links at the bottom with more resources and a bibliography as well.
Quick Tips for Graduate Student Life – Write a Book Review
This blog entry by Andrew David Thaler explains how a graduate student can get experience writing for scholarly journals by doing book reviews. While his field is science, his advice works for approaching most published journals.
Journal of International Students: Book Review Titles
This page, toward the bottom, solicits book reviewers for a publication on international students. EDU 502 students might be interested in putting their book reviewing skills to use and sharing their thoughts on new books with others in the field of education.
Book Review: How to Write a Thesis
This example of a book review by Vanessa Longden for Social Science Space shows how one can write about another's book and retain one's own voice. The book she reviews, "How to Write a Thesis" by Umberto Eco will be of interest to graduate students preparing to write their own theses.

Using Primary Materials from Field Research

There is more information on qualitative research and qualitative research techniques in the EDU 508 LibGuide (see the links on the Online Resources for EDU 502 tab in this LibGuide). The links to external websites provided here focus on ethnography and using primary materials from field research. These resources are meant to support students in the course tasks and discussions specific to EDU 502.

What Is Primary Research and How Do I Get Started?
This page from OWL Purdue is a simple overview of the types of primary research that are commonly done and some ideas for how to begin thinking through a project.
A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research
This paper by Dr. Michael Genzuk for the Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research at the University of Southern California explains the ethnographic research process, the gathering and use of primary materials, and briefly addresses other considerations such as ethics and the final report.

Resources for Memo Writing

Better Business Writing, Fifth Edition by Axzo Press AXZO Press; Axzo Press Axzo Press
Call Number: HF5718.3.B76 2009eb
ISBN: 9781426018497
Publication Date: 2009-12-16

Business Memos
This guide is maintained by the Writing Studio at the University of Colorado and explains how to format and write different types of memos.
Classic Format of a Briefing Note
This guide by Robert B. Parkinson offers a number of strategies for writing coherent, audience-specific briefing memos. This type of approach is especially appropriate for public policy but would work in other educational settings as well.
Effective Technical Writing in the Information Age: Memos
This page at the Penn State site has a link to an instructional memo and links to further resources. The resources listed in the Table of Contents on the right hand side of the page will be very helpful for writing in an administration context.