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*Now unavailable to access under Elon Institution login in 2025; was available to view spring 2024 

Reading Guide:

  1. What are the three principles upon which invitational rhetoric stands upon? 

  2. Weigh the affordances and constraints of a focus group compared to other qualitative forms of research 

  3. How do you conduct an invitational focus group (something to that effect – make it more elaborate – how do authors encourage us to use invitational rhetoric in focus groups, both in question design and conducting the focus group itself?)

  4. How do the principles of invitational rhetoric relate to the concepts we’ve learned about the ethics of research? Explain. 

  5. There is discussion regarding the importance of research in terms of if it is “made” or “found.” What are the merits of “made” and “found” research? How do focus groups relate to this notion and does it minimize its value or not? Explain. 

  6. What type of research project in your major would benefit from a focus group? How would you implement the principles of value, safety and freedom, in your focus group?

    1. Using the research project example above, what are some example questions you would use throughout your focus group to implement values of invitational rhetoric? 

Context

Rhetorical Strategies

Reflection

This reading guide created for the Rhetorical Toolbox OER source teaches students about invitational rhetoric and its role within a focus group during research. The chapter emphasized the value of a focus group in showcasing the values of invitational rhetoric, as it is inherently inviting of other perspectives in order to learn about a specific topic (which a focus group does perfectly). The reading guide questions for this chapter were created again, with the Blooms Taxonomy technique.

As I was reading this chapter prior to creating questions, I noticed some overlap between the ethics of primary research and invitational rhetoric (ie: creating a positive environment for participants), and made a question for students to make the connection between the two topics. This felt good to recognize, as I’ve been trying to make cross-chapter connections for these questions so students learning can feel more cohesive. Finally, I incorporated chances for students to make personal connections to the chapter by asking them to curate focus group questions related to their major. I’ve found in my own personal experience that making anecdotes to the topic helps me comprehend the concepts better, which is why I chose to use this rhetorical strategy throughout many of my reading guides (including this chapter).

This was one of the last reading guides I created, so going over it with Dr. Maynard in our weekly meeting felt refreshing, as few of my questions were changed/shifted around in the editing process. We used a similar tactic for the last “evaluative” type of question as we did for the previous reading guide, where we instructed the student to come up with their own questions in accordance with invitational rhetoric. Additionally, asking students to weigh the “affordances” and “constraints” of a topic will help them rhetorically analyze the pros and cons of a subject and how this may relate/help with their research. Overall, I was proud of the final product of questions as it took a really long research paper and summarized it to its most essential parts for students to learn about invitational rhetoric and its benefits. As a proponent of invitational rhetoric, it was one of my favorite chapters to read, so it felt natural to create questions for it.

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