Observation and Value Analysis
This project asks students to analyze the language and posting conventions of a specific, focused digital or community space. Working in small groups, students will study a contained, active environment—like a local Facebook group or online forum—to explore how its users shape communication practices.
Observation and Value Analysis focuses on discourse communities, writing with a purpose, for an audience, and making claims. For more, see:
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In this assignment, students will conduct a close observation of a chosen space, with particular attention to its language use and genre conventions. Drawing on their observations, students will then analyze the rhetorical content and interactional patterns within the space to construct an evidence-based argument about what constitutes a “successful” or valued post, comment, image, or other form of engagement. Importantly, students are not expected to generalize across all types of interactions within the space; rather, they should formulate focused, defensible claims that are grounded in specific, observable patterns. Strong arguments will identify meaningful trends without attempting to account for every instance, thereby demonstrating analytical precision and rhetorical awareness.
Requirements
- Appropriate Space
- Instructors are encouraged to provide a curated list of appropriately scoped potential digital or community spaces for analysis such as specific subreddits, Facebook groups, or dedicated message boards. While students are welcome to select from this list, they may also propose alternative spaces for consideration. In such cases, students should consult with their instructor to ensure that the chosen space meets the assignment’s criteria for focus, accessibility, and rhetorical coherence.
- Completion Draft
- This draft serves as evidence of students’ foundational understanding of the assignment criteria, including the selection of an appropriate space for analysis, the articulation of a focused claim regarding community values or norms, and the strategic selection and curation of supporting evidence. Following instructor feedback, students will have the opportunity to revise and refine their work to strengthen their rhetorical analysis and argumentation.
- Reflection Piece
- This piece should articulate students' reasoning behind their selection of the central value or norm emphasized in their project and explain how their evidence supports this claim. Additionally, students should provide a rationale for the inclusion of any multimodal elements such as images, audio, video, or hyperlinks while demonstrating how these choices contribute to the rhetorical effectiveness and coherence of their argument.
Rubric
- Analysis
| Grading Criteria | Exceptional | Met | Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claim | You have a focused claim about what your community values in content, and the claim is unique to your space and not obvious. | You have a focused claim about what your community values in content. | No single claim is made or several unrelated claims are made. |
| Analysis | Your analysis focuses on demonstrating your claim is true though reasonable examples and other data. | Your analysis focuses on your claim and uses reasonable examples. | The analysis does not focus on the claim or does not provide adequate examples. |
| Supporting Evidence | You have selected several examples of your claim in action and clearly explained how those examples support your claim. | You have selected a minimum of three examples of your claim in action from your observations. | No examples of the claim are given, or examples do not match the claim. |
| Evidence Integration | You have integrated evidence into your document effectively. Quotes, images, links, and so on are used at appropriate times so that readers can follow easily. | You have integrated evidence into your document appropriately. It is possible to understand quotes, images, links, and so on. | Evidence is included at inappropriate times, and/or it is difficult for readers to understand the significance of the evidence. |
| Responding to Feedback | You have revised your analysis substantially and/or thoughtfully based on both your peers’ and your instructor’s feedback. | You have revised your analysis based on both your peers’ and your instructor’s feedback. | No revisions to the analysis have been made or only minor changes have been made that do not adequately respond to feedback. |
| Meeting Requirements | You have met or exceeded all of the requirements for the analysis. | You have met all of the requirements for the analysis. | One or more of the requirements for the analysis has not been met. |
- For a copy of the Value Analysis rubric, click to download.
- Reflection
| Grading Criteria | Exceptional | Met | Unmet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reflecting on Your Claim | You have clearly explained why you have chosen your central claim and given reasons for why this was your best option. | You explain why you have chosen the central claim you make. | How the claim was chosen is not included or unclear. |
| Reflecting on Your Supporting Evidence | You have clearly explained why you have chosen the evidence to support your claim and given reasons for why this evidence is better than other parts of your observations. | You explain why you have chosen the evidence to support your claim. | How the evidence was chosen is not included or unclear. |
| Reflecting on Evidence Integration | You have clearly explained why you have placed evidence in certain places and how you’ve explained that evidence to your readers. | You explain how evidence could be understood by your readers. | How evidence was placed and/or explained is unclear. |
| Reflecting on Your Rhetorical Purpose | You have clearly explained the goal of Wthe writing project and how you have met that goal. | You explain the goal of the writing project. | The project goal is not mentioned or unclear. |
| Responding to Feedback | You have revised your reflection substantially and/or thoughtfully based on both your peers’ and your instructor’s feedback. | You have revised your reflection based on both your peers’ and your instructor’s feedback. | style="text-align:center;"| No revisions to the reflection have been made or only minor changes have been made that do not adequately respond to feedback. |
| Meeting Requirements | You have met or exceeded all of the requirements for the reflection. | You have met all of the requirements for the reflection. | One or more of the requirements for the reflection has not been met. |
- For a copy of the Value Analysis Reflection rubric, click to download.
Assignment Focus
In this assignment, students will explore a digital community to identify what users value in communication by analyzing patterns in language, genre, and interaction.
- Assignment Sequence Overview
- Selecting a space – Students choose an online community to study (e.g., subreddit, Facebook group, forum). It must be small and active enough to analyze meaningfully.
- Observing the space – Students spend at least 5 hours across days watching how users interact, focusing on patterns of genre, language, and response.
- Identifying values – Based on their notes, they’ll formulate a claim about what users value in communication within that space.
- Curating evidence – Students choose strong, relevant examples that support their claim and help explain how value is expressed (posts, images, titles, tone, etc.).
- Analyzing and drafting – Students write a short analysis supported by their curated evidence.
- Reflecting – Students reflect on how they selected their space, made their claim, chose their evidence, and adapted their writing for their audience.
Resources
Week 1
Introduction to Value Analysis
Week 2
Overview: Discussion of Discourse Communities; Choosing a Discourse Community; Class Discourse Community; Good Collaboration Groups; Making Arguments
- Key Source
- Read: Discourse Communities
This article introduces discourse communities as groups with shared goals, conventions, and communication practices — a useful concept for assignments that ask students to analyze how writing works in real-world settings.
- Alternative Sources
Here are some materials that you can use as an alternative to the main article.
Week 3
Overview: Finding Evidence; Incorporating Evidence; Curating Data; Responding to Different Audiences
- Key Source
- Watch
- Alternative Sources: Here are alternative sources that can be used as an alternative or as complementary parts to the key source.
- Key Source
- Alternative Source
Week 4
Overview: Observation Swap and Discussion; Checking claims & evidence; Reflection Practice; Putting All Together, Peer review Workshops