Soc 320 Research Opportunity, Spring 2021: Discourse Used in Federal Contraceptives Hearings

Term: Spring 2021
Status: Open
Working With: Kelsey Wright, kwright22@wisc.edu 
Topic: Discourse Used in Federal Contraceptives Hearings
This project investigates the discourse used in federal hearings related to federal provision of contraceptives. It pays particular attention to the use of classed and racial discourses about the provision of contraceptives/federal contraceptive programs in the U.S. since the 1970s, the role of actor’s identities in formulating these discourses, and how these discourses have changed over time. For the fall, the main role of Undergraduate Research Assistants for this project will be to qualitatively code federal hearings (for an example, see the attached doc) using pre-existing codes provided by the instructor.
Activities: The Undergraduate Research Assistants will be provided with a database of included federal hearings (which the instructor will also be working on coding) and provided with a set of codes to indicate several core areas of interest: the roles of the actors in the hearing, the governmental body and committees involved in the hearing, the co-occurrence of discussion about contraceptive programs with race and with poverty status, the relation of hearings to previous hearings, and a general code for statements about contraceptive programs. The instructor will co-code several documents with students first to ensure coding convergence, and is willing to train potential applicants in software and coding techniques.
To Apply: Please contact Kelsey Q. Wright at the email address above. Applicants should submit their resume or CV and a one-paragraph statement explaining the reasons why they want to participate in this research practicum. Applicants who have previously demonstrated accuracy and attention to detail in their work and who have previous experience with qualitative coding or with qualitative coding software will be given preference, as will those with an interest in studies of inequality, gender, or reproduction. Research assistants will need to attend weekly meetings with the instructor and maintain a work log. Applications are open until positions are filled.

Document: Planned Parenthoods Taxpayer Funding

Readings: