Define and describe the organization you have chosen and explain why you have chosen it for your research project

“Going Deeper”: Researching How Organizations Use Stories Introduction & Assignment Overview: Throughout this class, we have discussed a number of salient facts about stories. They can be summarized as follows:
1. Stories are incredibly important to human beings – we naturally gravitate towards them.
2. Stories have a profound effect on human emotion and behavior.
3. Stories can be deployed to “get results” – to make change in the world.
For the final research assignment, you are going to choose an organization of some kind (a charity, a church, an athletic team, a corporation – anything you want), and analyze how it uses storytelling. Requirements: 8-10 pages, double-spaced (2000 – 2,500 words) APA style, including appropriate works cited page and in-text citations 5-7 secondary sources (not produced by the organization itself.) 3-5 primary sources (produced by the organization itself – can include interviews with organization personnel/clients/customers, in-person observations of the organization, or products such as web pages, videos, marketing materials, etc.)Parts of the Paper Your research paper should include the following sections. Use headings to divide these parts in your paper. Part 1: Organization Overview & The Personal Connection What this section should include: Define and describe the organization you have chosen and explain why you have chosen it for your research project. Feel free to use first person (“I”, “me,” “my,” in this description). In fact, the more personally relevant the organization is to you – the more you care about it –the better! Tips for researching/writing this section: I will leave the details of the description up to you, but you might consider discussing: The organization’s mission and goals It’s size and location A little bit about who or what the organization impacts (what does it sell or do or create or facilitate? Who benefits or profits or purchases?) A little bit about its history A little bit about the employees (or volunteers or whoever it is that makes up this organization) A little bit about how the organization runs (Who’s in charge? Who makes decisions? What’s the management structure?) Anything else that seems relevant. NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list, nor is it a checklist you have to go down. If one of the items doesn’t make sense, omit it. If there are other things that DO make sense, add them. Part 2: Storytelling in the Industry What this section should include: Describe (in detail) the different ways that other organizations in this industry or field have used storytelling. Tips for researching/writing this section: Your research for this section is likely to begin very broadly and then narrow. Industries and fields use storytelling for all kinds of things. For example, nursing, counseling, and other therapeutic fields might use them in education. Non-profits often use them to generate interest or awareness in their cause. Corporations almost definitely use them in advertising, but a security company’s advertising stories are likely to be very different from Verizon’s. Below is a description of the steps you might take for conducting this research. You can also watch the video walk-through, posted to our course page, for additional tips on how to complete this process.1. You might start with a simple Google search. Here are some terms to get you started: Storytelling and [industry/field]. Examples: Storytelling AND Nursing, Storytelling AND youth organizations, storytelling and churches Narrative and [industry/field] Stories in [industry/field]2. Once you have a general idea of how stories are used, go to Trine’s library website and use the Research Hub to seek books, articles, and peer-reviewed sources on some of the specific ways storytelling is used in the industry. For example: When I searched “storytelling” and “youth organizations” I found:

i. Organizations that helped you tell stories in order to empower them and/or improve their mental health

ii. Storytelling guides for nonprofit organizations to help them make better connections with their communities, fundraise etc.

iii. Lots of websites talking about “ethical” storytelling – that is, how to raise money and make connections through stories, but to do it honestly. This provides me with some starting terms for my Research Hub search

i. Youth story telling

ii. “ethical storytelling” and non profits iii. Youth nonprofits and fundraising, etc.3. Depending on how that search goes, I may need to revise my search terms, and I may find that some things, like “ethical storytelling” have more information available on the “regular internet” than in library databases. That’s OK! My goal is simply to summarize/describe what I’ve learned about storytelling in this industry.4. Once I have all the sources I think are useful, I can begin to write. For the example I’m using here, I might have two sub-sections: “How Youth Organizations Use Stories to Raise Money,” and “Storytelling to Improve Adolescents’ Mental Health.” Part 3: Storytelling within Your Organization What this section should include: Provide a detailed description of the various ways that your chosen organization is using storytelling. This should include not only a description of the types of stories that are being told, the media that is being used (text, video, etc.), but also the intended audience for and purpose of those stories (as best as you can determine).Tips for researching/writing this section Review your organization’s online and (if possible) physical presence. Depending on the organization you choose, one of these options will yield more information than the other. For example, if you choose your local church, it might make sense to tour the building and talk to the pastor; if you’re doing CVS, you might go to your local CVS, but also explore their website, Facebook page, Twitter feed, and so on. Note: calling, emailing, or otherwise contacting are presentative from the organization is strongly encouraged. Part 4: Evaluation, Analysis, and Recommendations What this section should include:1. An evaluation/analysis of how effectively this organization is using stories. This analysis can be based on what you’ve learned makes an effective story, and second, what you’ve learned from your research about storytelling in the industry/field.2. Specific recommendations about how the organization can improve its storytelling practices. Tips for writing this section: This is where you pull together everything you’ve learned about an effective story from The Storytelling Animal and our discussions in class AND everything you’ve learned about how storytelling is being used in this particular field.