Statement of Purpose
I would like to research the topic of “awkwardness” in
conversations. Specifically, I would like to know what phrases and actions make
an intended religious conversation awkward. I define awkwardness in the sense
of what is dorky/corny or what is unnatural and strange. I hope to show that
people are willing to discuss “dicey” topics as long as they are approached in
a manner that is inoffensive, and (more importantly for this study) natural.
Detailed statement of Research Question
What phrases, words, and actions make a gospel conversation
awkward for the receiving person? Does that have an effect on their willingness
to have future conversations on similar topics, and/or what are the effects of
the conversation being awkward? How do people reflect on gospel conversations
they’ve had, what kind of conclusions do they draw?
Information I need to gather
·
I want to interview one or two people in depth
about a recent gospel conversation they’ve had and their thoughts on it.
Ideally one person would be the initiator of a conversation and the other
person would be the recipient of a conversation. These people will be students
from Kean University.
·
I also want to put out a survey to a larger
number of students to gather data and analyze it. The sampling of students will
hopefully come from students of a Christian group on campus, students that they
have recently had conversations with through one of their outreaches, and other
students (these will probably be students from my own English classes, and
students who visit and work in the Writing Center)
·
If possible, I may involve myself in initiating
gospel conversations, sharing my faith, and take ethnographic notes of the
experience
·
For background research, I would like to look
for the following sources:
o Anything
which might show that there is a social or cultural standard for how to have a
conversation on the topic of religion
o Resources
from Christian writers on how to approach gospel conversations
o Resources
from any writer on awkwardness in conversation
To get these resources, I will keep
searching through google, employ Kean’s research database, and ask other people
if they know of relevant articles.
Preliminary list of sources:
In this blog, the writer talks about how to make
conversations less awkward. It’s not specifically geared to Christians or
gospel conversations, but it does help to consider the topic.
This article is about how to start conversations with
nonbelievers. (ie, initiating gospel conversations). It focuses mainly on why
questions are a good way to propel the conversation, but I think there are
several points I can glean from it on how to not be awkward
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