Mitski Avalōx - ENGL 6401-50 Research Methods

For my research proposal revisions, I plan to clarify the scope and strengthen the connection between my research questions, methods, and broader social justice framework. I’m going to refine my methods section by explicitly linking the use of autoethnography, literature review, and iterative thematic grouping to my research goal of understanding how HB 261 impacts student belonging at Utah Tech. I also want to expand on the ethical considerations of conducting research under restrictive laws, making my rationale for anonymity and data protection more transparent. Finally, I’ll revise my introduction and significance sections to emphasize how this project not only contributes to scholarship in Technical and Professional Communication but also serves as an act of resistance within higher education systems constrained by anti-DEI legislation.

Chang (2009) builds the foundation for autoethnography as a method that honors lived experience, and scholars like Jones (2014) and Jones, Moore, and Walton (2016) extend that work into collective reflection and social justice. Tham et al. (2020) and Stambler et al. (2024) show what collaboration can look like when autoethnography becomes a shared space for learning and transformation. But what none of these scholars really address is what happens when those same identities are placed under surveillance or restriction when DEI language is legislated out of existence and writing about lived experience carries real risk. A research gap in this is how researchers can still conduct ethical, identity-centered work when the systems around them are actively silencing it. Using autoethnography as both method and resistance, I want to show that reflexivity doesn’t stop when laws restrict expression, but it adapts (presenting in Texas about this). Autoethnography becomes a form of resistance whe...

H ow does a researcher under Utah HB 261's restrictions conduct a study that researches DEI topics? This question will allow me to build a replicable framework that can assist and guide other researchers looking to conduct studies that possibly violate their state anti-DEI bill.  Topic Goal Questions Type Methods Research as Resistance: A process of conducting ethical social justice studies under restrictive laws Understand trends from my experience conducting a study How does a researcher under Utah HB 261's restrictions conduct a study that researches DEI topics? This question will allow me to build a replicable framework that can assist and guide other researchers looking to conduct studies that possibly violate their state anti-DEI bill.  Post-Modern Evaluative  Developmental  -Qualitative -Literature Review -Autoethnography 7 Tentative Sources: Bennett, K. C. (2023). How "Well" are We DEI-ing? Applying Technical and Prof...

     In my Master's program, my instructor is requesting that we show an interest in a topic concerning Technical Writing and Digital Rhetoric (TWDR). Thankfully, I am looking to publish an autoethnography concerning my experience performing IRB research with legal restrictions that limit DEI initiatives. In the state of Utah, lawmakers passed H.B. 261, Equal Opportunities Initiatives. Under this bill, lawmakers scrapped DEI initiatives under the guise that it would open opportunities to those justly qualified. However, as proponents of DEI initiatives have reiterated, DEI initiatives do not encourage workplaces to hire unqualified applicants because of their identity markers, but rather, DEI initiatives encourage workplaces to horizontally open their roles to consider diverse applicants who are equally qualified.      In addition to stripping those DEI initiatives, lawmakers have discontinued multicultural support offices such as the Women's Resource Cente...