Research on the Greek system

[clara06]

Hello everyone !

My name is Clara, I live in France. For my Master degree, I will write a memo on fraternities and sororities in the American colleges. I have a series of questions that I want to ask to people who actually are in a fraternity. It would be really nice if you help me !! If you are interested, please send me an email and I will send you the questions. The answers will be anonymous and I won't tell the name of your fraternity in my memo.

Thank you very much !

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by clara06

Hello everyone !

My name is Clara, I live in France. For my Master degree, I will write a memo on fraternities and sororities in the American colleges. I have a series of questions that I want to ask to people who actually are in a fraternity. It would be really nice if you help me !! If you are interested, please send me an email and I will send you the questions. The answers will be anonymous and I won't tell the name of your fraternity in my memo.

Thank you very much !

Perhaps it's lost in translation, but what is a "Memo" in relation to a Master's degree in France? And why would you be writing about something that you like would never be able to witness in person?

[agzg]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

And why would you be writing about something that you like would never be able to witness in person?

I'm actually wondering how this will be graded - one can't expect professors in France to have any sort of knowledge base (beyond movies) about the Fraternity and Sorority system in North America. Plus, the likelihood that those professors would be graduates of an American college and members of a Greek Letter Organization is very slim.

My only guess is that the OP wants to avoid any "this is bullshit" type of questions on her thesis defense (or equivalent).

OP - what's your major or concentration for your Master's?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by clara06

Hello everyone !

My name is Clara, I live in France. For my Master degree, I will write a memo on fraternities and sororities in the American colleges. I have a series of questions that I want to ask to people who actually are in a fraternity. It would be really nice if you help me !! If you are interested, please send me an email and I will send you the questions. The answers will be anonymous and I won't tell the name of your fraternity in my memo.

Thank you very much !

Has this been ran by your Internal Review Board for interviewing human subjects? What will the research be used for? Will individuals get to see/correct their comments before you complete the work?

What does the Informed Consent consist of?

[clara06]

Maybe a memo is not the right word, I'm sorry for that. I have to do some research work about the subject I want actually and then Ihave to write a one hundread pages paper.. I am studying English language, literature and civilizations. I chose this subject, as an American civilization subject, because it interests me. As you said, it doesn't exist in France. I could travel to the US to interview members of fraternities or sororities but I don't have the money for that, that is why I chose to do it on the Internet.
I will not be graded on the questions I will not be graded on the question I will ask you, it is my own initiative to have the point of view of people who actually are in a fraternity or sorority. I am reading books and articles in order to have the other point of view. I cannot already tell if I will use what you will say but it could be helpful.
Even if my teachers have a restricted knowledge about fraternities ans sororities (which is true), I will be graded on my research work, what I wrote and how I present it the day of the exam.

I hope I am clear enough...

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by clara06

Maybe a memo is not the right word, I'm sorry for that. I have to do some research work about the subject I want actually and then Ihave to write a one hundread pages paper.. I am studying English language, literature and civilizations. I chose this subject, as an American civilization subject, because it interests me. As you said, it doesn't exist in France. I could travel to the US to interview members of fraternities or sororities but I don't have the money for that, that is why I chose to do it on the Internet.
I will not be graded on the questions I will not be graded on the question I will ask you, it is my own initiative to have the point of view of people who actually are in a fraternity or sorority. I am reading books and articles in order to have the other point of view. I cannot already tell if I will use what you will say but it could be helpful.
Even if my teachers have a restricted knowledge about fraternities ans sororities (which is true), I will be graded on my research work, what I wrote and how I present it the day of the exam.

I hope I am clear enough...

This would generally be called a "Thesis" here. However interviewing subjects for a thesis is supposed to require an informed consent process and an internal review process to protect the rights of your participants. An informed consent is necessary to inform your participants of how their contributions will be used and their rights to refuse to continue at any time.

At least it is here.

If you're interviewing people on your own initiative, run it by your professors first.

[AlphaFrog]

How will you prove that those people answering you questions are actually Greek and not fakes/trained monkeys/people who live in a closet with too much time on their hands, and therefore, valid research subjects?

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by clara06

Maybe a memo is not the right word, I'm sorry for that. I have to do some research work about the subject I want actually and then Ihave to write a one hundread pages paper.. I am studying English language, literature and civilizations. I chose this subject, as an American civilization subject, because it interests me. As you said, it doesn't exist in France. I could travel to the US to interview members of fraternities or sororities but I don't have the money for that, that is why I chose to do it on the Internet.
I will not be graded on the questions I will not be graded on the question I will ask you, it is my own initiative to have the point of view of people who actually are in a fraternity or sorority. I am reading books and articles in order to have the other point of view. I cannot already tell if I will use what you will say but it could be helpful.
Even if my teachers have a restricted knowledge about fraternities ans sororities (which is true), I will be graded on my research work, what I wrote and how I present it the day of the exam.

I hope I am clear enough...

Therefore, your masters thesis is a combination of surveys and literature reviews, correct?

That makes sense except you say you will not be "graded" (is your masters thesis graded in that sense?) on the questions. However, your advisor/committee should work on interview questions and survey design with you (if you have not already taken a course in survey design). Someone has to review the questions for your survey and these questions are a key component of your masters thesis.

My response is also based on the fact that I don't advocate students using message boards unless the advisors approve their use (unfortunately, that sometimes happens).

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by clara06

Maybe a memo is not the right word, I'm sorry for that. I have to do some research work about the subject I want actually and then Ihave to write a one hundread pages paper.. I am studying English language, literature and civilizations. I chose this subject, as an American civilization subject, because it interests me. As you said, it doesn't exist in France. I could travel to the US to interview members of fraternities or sororities but I don't have the money for that, that is why I chose to do it on the Internet.
I will not be graded on the questions I will not be graded on the question I will ask you, it is my own initiative to have the point of view of people who actually are in a fraternity or sorority. I am reading books and articles in order to have the other point of view. I cannot already tell if I will use what you will say but it could be helpful.
Even if my teachers have a restricted knowledge about fraternities ans sororities (which is true), I will be graded on my research work, what I wrote and how I present it the day of the exam.

I hope I am clear enough...

May I ask how you came about using the topic of fraternities and sororities?

You said that you are studying "English language, literature and civilizations". Are you talking about literature written in the English language by English/British/Irish/American authors, much like what the a degree in "English" would be in the United States? For a lower-level Bachelor's degree in the US, we study literature from the middle ages to modern society in both Great Britain and the United States, which also includes talking about different class/caste systems, how peoples' lifestyles affected their writing, the religious and political climates of each era, often looking at art and music as part of the "artistic experience", etc. We also spend time learning about the language from a linguistics and etymological standpoint (the development of the English language).

Is what I wrote above, the equivalent of your study program, only on a higher ("Masters") level ?

If so, I am confused by the term "English civilizations" as part of a "Degree in English". Do you mean English-speaking societies? Are you purposefully excluding Great Britain, Ireland, Canada (mostly English speakers), and only focusing on a very small subsection of the collegiate experience in the United States?

What you are proposing is more of a sociological study on a single facet of a very small population segment of young adults in the United States. It is in not typical of the average American's experience. It's a very small number compared to the rest of "American society". Add to that the relatively secret nature of these organizations, the fact that what IS known to most of the outside world is grossly exaggerated in the media and entertainment, and that you probably aren't going to get any statistically relevant group to give you any information that you can really use.

Questions for you to answer:

1. Is this a literature study or a sociological study?

2. What is your argument/opinion/thesis statement that you hope to prove in your paper?

I am not trying to steer you away from your interest, but perhaps a comparison between something that exists in both France and the US might be a better topic for your paper.

[agzg]

American fraternities and sororities is certainly a challenging subject in the sense that not only are you not a part of it or could never be a part of it, there's a huge part of it that is closed off to public information, and many of the things you will find are part of the superficial aspects of greek life, not the meat and potatoes, if you will.

[Tulip86]

Originally Posted by agzg

American fraternities and sororities is certainly a challenging subject in the sense that not only are you not a part of it or could never be a part of it, there's a huge part of it that is closed off to public information, and many of the things you will find are part of the superficial aspects of greek life, not the meat and potatoes, if you will.

Maybe a more interesting research subject would be the comparison of the American Greek system vs. the European equivalent, but that would be a study of culture and more about the superficial qualities.

There is no general way to research the American Greek system without knowing more about the core of it, the rituals, the traditions. And as an outsider, you have no way of knowing those. Also, it's hard to research something that cannot be generalized, no fraternity or sorority is the same, similar, but never the same. Even different chapters of the same (inter)national can differ greatly. How can you propose your thesis on such a subject, that cannot be measured or generalized?
As a psychology major writing my Master thesis as we speak, I think you need to define the direction of your reseach more before asking for participans.

[clara06]

I will talk about the informed consent process with my advisor. And I will send emails directly to people I find on the official fraternities or sororities website, so that I'm sure they are not trained monkeys.

Thanks anyway

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by clara06

I will talk about the informed consent process with my advisor. And I will send emails directly to people I find on the official fraternities or sororities website, so that I'm sure they are not trained monkeys.

Thanks anyway

If you find the subject interesting, continue with your preliminary research by all means. But do know that at the core of Greek life is ritual, and that is something you will not be able to collect much information on. I would suggest that you start looking at fraternities with "open ritual" which means that their ceremonies and ritual are open to any member of the public. I would also suggest contacting college NPC or IFC groups via email or phone and asking that they send a message to all members. This way you might be able to get first hand information from active members.

[clara06]

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

If you find the subject interesting, continue with your preliminary research by all means. But do know that at the core of Greek life is ritual, and that is something you will not be able to collect much information on. I would suggest that you start looking at fraternities with "open ritual" which means that their ceremonies and ritual are open to any member of the public. I would also suggest contacting college NPC or IFC groups via email or phone and asking that they send a message to all members. This way you might be able to get first hand information from active members.

I will do that, thank you !

[knight_shadow]

I think I have a new signature.