by Brad Huber, Department of Sociology and
Anthropology, College of Charleston
DUE:__________________________
The main goal of this exercise is to develop and present
research posters based on the cross-cultural data you collected
during Project #2 (see Anthropological Research
Methods--Project #2: HRAF Data Recovery). The same pairs of
people who worked together on Project #2 should work on Project
#3.
What is a "poster"?
A poster is a form of conference presentation. Conferences
typically have paper and poster sessions. A poster is a static
display of research and findings, and is an alternative to
formal oral presentations of papers.
Each poster is given a designated area of wall space/pin board
(usually about 4 x 5 feet).
A poster can easily combine text, charts, maps, and photos. It
should be arranged to cater to both at-a-glance viewers (so
conspicuous headlines and clear diagrams are essential) and can
also integrate bodies of text--generally as discrete boxes
linked to, and describing, particular aspects of the project.
The best posters are clear and laid out to be attractive,
eye-catching, and informative. The worst posters are those where
the pages of a research paper have been tacked up to the wall in
sequence (eye strain is already a problem in academe). There are
a number of posters on prolonged display in the corridors of the
Science Building at the College.
The advantage of a poster is that it is typically "up"
for several hours and can be reviewed at leisure by people
interested in the topic. It is a good way to show work with many
photo details or charts--the sort of things that are often
simply flashed past one in a talk with slides. The presenter(s)
is usually on hand to answer questions and talk. This means that
the viewer and presenter can actually exchange ideas--rarely
possible in tightly timed formal conference presentations.
The Poster Presentation
Posters must present the results of testing TWO (2)
related cross-cultural hypotheses. They will be presented in
class with 5-10 minute explanations and the presentations will
occur during the last two (2) class periods. I recommend that
you pre-mount your poster on 1 or 2 large pieces of card or
poster board for ease of assembly, and so that I can carry them
off for final assessment. Bookstores and office supply stores
have poster boards.
As far as I know there is no place on campus at College of
Charleston to print things in color. However, if you cut and
paste your color SPSS charts and graphs to MS Word, and save
your files to disk, you could print in color at Kinkos and
Digitz (and perhaps other places such as Office Max). Your
posters need not have color graphs and charts because they can
be expensive.
Criteria for Evaluation
Poster Content:
_______ Presentation of Project Background and Your Research
Problem/Question
_______ Presentation of the Research Results
Poster Form:
________ Poster Layout
________ Clarity of Presentation