Over the past semester, and in accordance to the TNDY401O syllabus, we have been introduced to a variety of literature, ranging from research articles to works of nonfiction with the primary goal of understanding the notion of inductive knowledge and where and how people develop insights. As a final project our class looks to create a set of Wiki documents exploring insight at CGU.

The project looks to explore inductive knowledge through qualitative research methods grounded in historical, biographical and phenomenological research traditions. The project also makes use of a variety of technologies, in the form of Wikis, Blogs and Pod Casts, to disseminate these findings.
 
At the center of our study is a group interview with CGU faculty that looks to explore phenomena surrounding individual creativity, insight and inductive knowledge. (Read more about the research methodology under 4 Methodology). However, although the study can largely be considered phenomenological research, other areas of qualitative research have been incorporated to substantiate our work. This section, titled [People], will use a biographical research approach to generate ‘living profiles’ of individuals selected for the focus group. Profiles were created through preliminary data collection prior to the interviews.

The primary goal of the ‘living profile’ will be to generate Wiki documents for each individual participating in the group interview. Our responsibility as profilers is to provide the reader with a brief introduction to each individual mentioned above. Painting a vivid picture and creating a sense of familiarity for each individual is the desired outcome.

We use the term ‘living profile’ because of the nature of the Wiki medium. As a Wiki document, each profile has the ability to expand at the discretion of the community (which can be internal or external to CGU). We have done our best to provide a general background of the individuals but each profile remains freely editable. Profiles are also living in the sense that they link with other documents within ClaremontConversation as well as with external web pages so the reader is not limited only to information on the page itself.

For the scope of this project, profiles will be included for the following CGU Professors: 

· Teresa Shaw is Vice Provost of CGU and Associate Professor in the School of Religion,
· Dale Berger is Professor of Advanced Statistics and Psychology,
· Arthur Denzau is Professor and Associate Dean, School of Politics and Economics,
· David Drew is a Professor in the School of Educational Studies,
· Robert Zappulla is Associate Professor in the Department of Music,
· Janet Brodie is a Professor in the Department of History,
· Lorne Olfman is Dean and Professor in the School of Information Systems and Technology,
· Nancy van Deusen is Associate Professor in the Department of Music,
· Terry Ryan is Associate Professor in the School of Information Systems and Technology,
· Dean McHenry is Professor and Chair of the Program in politics and Policy,
· Joseph Maciariello is Horton Professor of Management and Economics in the Drucker School,
· Lourdes Argüelles is Professor and Researcher of Cultural Studies and Education,
· Wendy Martin is Chair and Professor of American Literature and American Studies.

In creating the above profiles we relied on John Creswell’s conception of bibliographical research. In Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions, Creswell identifies bibliographical research as looking at an individual’s experiences through the eyes of the researcher or through existing documents and/or archival material.

Most of our approach to biographical research was drawn from Creswell’s book including, inter alia:
· Storytelling about the individual,
· Conversations and participant observations,
· Individual reflection on a special event of his life,
· Detailed information about context or setting,
· Author’s interpretation of individual’s experiences and interpretations.

We used several methods to gain information for our profiles.  One of the common approaches was to simply look at the professors' websites at www.cgu.edu .  Another common approach was to google the professors' names.  Some group members also looked up summaries and reviews of books the professors' had written on www.amazon.com in order to gain insight on the professors research interest and focus.  Some professors, like Robert Zappulla and Nancy Van Duesen, have short biographies posted on bulletin boards within their department, some of which contain information not found on CGU's website.  Some of us know the professors personally.  They have taught classes we have taken, they are our program advisors, we do research under them, etc.  This allowed us to record information that cannot easily be found elsewhere, such as teaching style, hobbies, personality traits, research methods, etc.  When all else failed, we simply asked them.  Where and when did they grow up, what are their hobbies and interests, what do they feel are their most important publications and accomplishments, etc.

Although the profiles do not mirror each other's formats (due to the different styles adopted by the different writers in our group as well as the different information that was available for each individual); the profiles will attempt to be consistent as to their focus on the following biographical information:
· Date of birth, origin, cultural background. (Profiles will not be limited to academic work. Professional and life experiences will also play a significant part.)
· Current research projects/area.
· Career path.
· Life/Research choices they’ve made, i.e. why they’re doing what they’re doing.
· Why this individual chose their specific field. Why they are interested in what they are researching
· People who have influenced them, i.e. who are their mentors?
· Their school(s) of thought.
· Schools the individual has attended, i.e. academic background.
· Any outside activities or hobbies
· Historical significance.

Finally, in order to minimize the chance of having included inaccurate information, we have attempted to contact the professors in question in order to verify the information in their profiles.