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Applying A Mindfulness Practice To Qualitative Data Collection, Laura Lemon

The Qualitative Report

Mindfulness, or paying attention on purpose in the present moment, can serve as a tool for qualitative researchers as they navigate the research setting and data collection. In this article, I provide an overview of mindfulness and suggest ways to incorporate mindfulness as a data collection tool. To demonstrate how to apply mindfulness to qualitative research, I share my personal experience in incorporating a mindfulness practice into data collection as part of a phenomenological study and what I learned in the process. In doing so, I offer an actual practice that researchers can incorporate into the research process as a …

Reaction To Safety Equipment Technology In The Workplace And Implications: A Study Of The Firefighter’S Hood, Brian W. Ward

The Qualitative Report

In the 1990s the firefighter’s hood became a standard article of safety equipment worn by municipal firefighters, eliciting a negative reaction among many of these firefighters. I used data from interviews with 42 firefighters to explain why this reaction occurred. Data analysis revealed that negative reactions ultimately stemmed from the hood’s disruption of autonomy, repudiation of the complex mental and physical skill needed to perform tasks required of firefighters, and hindrance in negotiating the life-threatening environment created by a fire. These findings indicate that when introducing new safety equipment technology to emergency response workers, their reaction to this equipment, and …

Recovery From Borderline Personality Disorder Through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Carla D. Chugani, Ashley R. Seiler, Tina R. Goldstein

The Qualitative Report

This article presents a qualitative investigation of the perspectives and experiences of recovery from borderline personality disorder from six individuals who were treated with comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, transcribed, and coded using a six-step analysis process. Six primary themes emerged: (1) belief about recovery, (2) current experience of self, (3) facets of recovery, (4) motivating factors, (5) external supports to recovery, and (6) characteristics required for recovery. Overall, the findings took a dialectical form in which participants often described conflicting experiences (e.g., feeling recovered while also continuing to experience heightened emotional sensitivity). We conclude …

Why People Play Table-Top Role-Playing Games: A Grounded Theory Of Becoming As Motivation, Darrin F. Coe

The Qualitative Report

There is a paucity of research related to the motivation of people who play table-top role-playing games (TRPGs). Two questions drove this research: (1) What motivates people to play TRPGs and (2) Can a single supra-motivator be developed which envelopes a larger theory of why people participate in TRPGs? Grounded Theory methodology was used to investigate why people initiate and continue to participate in table-top role-playing games. Fourteen people who attended a 4-year college who played TRPGs and two people who did not play were interviewed regarding their participation in role-playing games. Open codes, emergent categories, conceptual categories, and a …

Attrition In School Rowing In New Zealand: A Qualitative Descriptive Study, Simon R. Walters, Rebecca Beattie, Anthony R. H. Oldham, Sarah-Kate Millar

The Qualitative Report

It is widely acknowledged that involvement in sport has positive physical and psychosocial benefits for adolescents. However, concerns have been expressed, both in New Zealand and internationally, about the relatively high attrition rates in youth sport. This qualitative study captured the experiences of eight (five male, three female) adolescents who were no longer participating in high school rowing programs in New Zealand. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, and we conducted an inductive thematic analysis. A secondary analysis was then conducted using a self-determination and basic psychological needs framework that placed specific emphasis on need satisfaction and need thwarting. Key …

Anger Without Agency: Exploring The Experiences Of Stress In Adolescent Girls, Elin A. Björling, Narayan B. Singh

The Qualitative Report

Although a great deal of research has measured stressful life events and stress-related symptoms in adolescents, little research has qualitatively examined the experience of stress in teens. The purpose of this study was to utilize thematic analysis to explore how teen girls described their experiences of stress. Thirty-one girls, ages 14–18, were recruited for a study examining stress and stress-related symptoms. As part of this study, they participated in an open-ended, qualitative interview about their personal experiences of stress. Themes included the mind of stress, emotionally shutting out others, and “growing out of it.” The overarching finding was that all …

Toward A Buddhist Theory Of Conflict Transformation: From Simple Actor-Oriented Conflict To Complex Structural Conflict, Tatsushi Arai

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper presents a working theory of conflict transformation informed by Buddhist teachings. It argues that a Buddhist approach to conflict transformation consists of an integrated process of self-reflection on the roots and transformation of suffering (dukkha), on the one hand, and active relationship-building between parties, on the other. To overcome a deeply structural conflict in which parties are unaware of the very existence of the conflict-generating system in which they are embedded, however, Buddhist-inspired practice of conflict transformation requires building structural awareness, which is defined as educated consciousness capable of perceiving a complex web of cause and effect relationships …

Flint’S Children: Narratives On Hope, Christin L. Carotta, Amy E. Bonomi, Karleigh Knox, Morgan C. Blain, Brianna F. Dines, Jaquan Cotton

The Qualitative Report

Hope plays an important role in resiliency, well-being, and buffering against adversity. To explore children’s experiences with hope while developing in low-income communities, we conducted interviews with twenty-one children residing in Flint, Michigan, ages 9-12 years. Research questions focused on the specific hopes children have, the importance they ascribe to different hopes, and their experiences of feeling hopeful or less hopeful about desired outcomes. Children expressed interrelated hopes across multiple social-ecological domains, including hopes for themselves, hopes for their interpersonal relationships, and hopes for the community. Children placed particular importance on their hopes of helping others, which included providing for …

“It Helps If You Are A Loud Person”: Listening To The Voice Of A School Student With A Vision Impairment, Jill Opie, Jane Southcott, Joanne Deppeler

The Qualitative Report

Students with vision impairment who attend mainstream secondary schools in Australia may not experience education as an inclusive and positive experience. This study of one senior secondary student with vision impairment provides a rare opportunity to give voice and provide understandings of the experience from the perspective of the student. The research question that drove this study was: What is the experience of mainstream schooling for a student with a vision impairment? The participant in this Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study was Edward (pseudonym), a student in his final year of secondary schooling. Edward encountered significant barriers to inclusion, specifically teaching, …

The Construction Of “Discomfort Psychological”: An Exploration Of Italians Teachers' Reports, Antonio Iudici, Matteo Fabbri

The Qualitative Report

Although there are several studies on youth problems in school, there are few studies on how teachers report psychological discomfort of the students and on what criteria does their procedure. Considering that schools increasingly make such reports to social or neuropsychiatry services, we wanted to find out whether it is flawless (bias, etc.) and how it can affect a student's career. This research presents an investigation on how the practice of signaling "psychological discomfort" at school is set up. Objects of the survey are the procedures used by the teachers to submit the psychological problems. The research subjects were Secondary …

Reflections On Teaching Qualitative Methods Using Team-Based Learning: An Exemplification By Photovoice, Nadia Rania, Laura Migliorini, Stefania Rebora

The Qualitative Report

This research article as a part of larger study intends to explore the role of teaching qualitative methods is not easy and often represents a great challenge. In this work, we describe our experience of teaching a qualitative methods course for undergraduate psychology students. In this course, we used a Team-Based Learning (TBL) approach in which we had students cluster into small groups to enhance their education by having them become more active in their learning. To teach qualitative methods, we used TBL and in this paper, we present the exemplification of this method by choosing Photovoice. The Team-Based methods …

Perceptions Of Athletes In Disabled And Non-Disabled Sport Contexts: A Descriptive Qualitative Research Study, Sheryl L. Chatfield, Michael Cottingham Ii

The Qualitative Report

The term supercrip suggests extraordinary feats but is sometimes applied to any proficiency demonstrated by an athlete with a disability. This use of the term potentially undermines spectator appreciation for achievements of the upper echelon of disability sports participants. Prior disability sport researchers have suggested that a comparison of individuals’ perceptions of athletic heroes with and without disabilities has potential to help disability sport marketers counter the supercrip stereotype. The purpose of this research was to explore differences in perceptions by comparing participant descriptions of role models with and without disabilities. Research participants, who consisted of undergraduate students at a …

Loneliness And Family Burden: An Exploratory Investigation On The Emotional Experiences Of Caregivers Of Patients With Severe Mental Illness, Francesca Dicé, Felice Zoena

The Qualitative Report

We present here an exploratory descriptive investigation about the needs of the caregivers of patients with severe mental illness (SMI) referring to a mental health service of a Southern Italian city. Twelve caregivers were queried, as experienced contacts, about their own emotional involvement and their relationship with the patient by means of a semi-structured interview. Interviews were subjected to a qualitative thematic-categorical analysis. The results reveal painful experiences of anguish and feelings of inadequacy stemming from care-giving, which gravely impact the caregivers' personal well-being and family relations.

Temporality In Phenomenology: Utilizing The Principles In Practice For Significance Of A Sex Research, Ka Wing Kevin Kwan

The Qualitative Report

This article aims to demonstrate how the researcher can utilize the principle of temporality in phenomenology as a method to explore and to reveal the human experience through its application in sex research. Although phenomenological studies have been increasingly adopted for qualitative inquiry in the field of social science, the idea of the horizon of temporality and its practical utilization is rarely demonstrated explicitly. In this study, the researcher has investigated the interpretation of marital experience of Chinese spouses in Hong Kong who have been assessed with sexual dysfunctions with attention to the couples’ perspectives. Having adopted a synthetic qualitative …

Nurturing Self: Psychotherapeutic Implications Of Women's Reflections On The Meaning Of Their Cherished Possessions, Stephanie L. Martin

The Qualitative Report

Experiencing the importance of one’s personal treasures is ubiquitous to the human experience, but what is the depth and meaning of this lived phenomenon? An interpretive phenomenological method was used to explore the meaning and significance of women’s experience of their cherished personal possessions. Nine women participated in three individual semi-structured phenomenological interviews each. Interpretive analysis revealed that women’s experience of their cherished personal possessions is one of nurturing self. Through their cherished personal possessions, women nurture their sense of self by connecting with others, affirming personal experience, supporting self through change, and cultivating a sense of self. Implications for …

Mediators’ Self-Perception Of Their Work And Practice: Content And Lexical Analysis, Anne Pignault, Raymond Meyers, Claude Houssemand

The Qualitative Report

Mediation is increasingly used in various areas of society. Yet few studies have shed light on the unique work of mediators and their perception of the “mediator effect” on the process. The purpose of this qualitative study is to gather and compare mediators’ views about their work through feedback on their practices and to understand what they perceive as the bases for reaching a favorable outcome. This article presents the results of a content analysis of interviews with 13 mediators from different countries and cultures. The analysis grouped professional discourses into four areas: the process of the mediation meeting, mediation …

Impacting Audiences: Responses To Oral Histories Of Persons With Schizophrenia, Tracy Mcdonough, Lynda Crane, Kory Phelps, Sara Vice

The Qualitative Report

The current article focuses on the impact for listeners of oral histories of persons with schizophrenia, presented to 241 audience members. Post-presentation feedback was obtained. Findings from a mixed-methods design combining chi-square analyses with qualitative presentation of emerging themes present evidence to support new learning, emotional impact, and motivational inspiration in listeners.

Community Living Integration Club For Women In Recovery From Sex Trafficking, Toni Thompson

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Sex trafficking is one form of human trafficking, a heinous human rights violation that transcends international borders. People who have been trafficked often present with complex neurobehavioral, psychological, emotional, physiological, sensory, and developmental difficulties. The United Nations developed the international 3 p protocol to guide governmental agencies, non-governmental groups, and individuals in developing programs and legal actions of trafficking prevention, protection, and prosecution. Protection encompasses the recovery of trafficking survivors and community integration has been identified as an essential foundation for successful recovery. Measurable components of community integration include safe housing, stable employment, and vocation-focused education. This Capstone describes the …

Employing Polyethnography To Navigate Researcher Positionality On Weight Bias, Nancy Arthur, Darren E. Lund, Shelly Russell-Mayhew, Sarah Nutter, Emily Williams, Monica Sesma Vazquez, Anusha Kassan

The Qualitative Report

Researchers often focus on the content of their research interests but, depending on the research approach, may pay less attention to the process of locating themselves in relation to the research topic. This paper outlines the dialogue between an interdisciplinary team of researchers who were at the initial stages of forming a research agenda related to weight bias and social justice. Using a polyethnographic approach to guide our discussion, we sought to explore the diverse and common life experiences that influenced our professional interests for pursuing research on weight bias. As a dialogic method, polyethnography is ideally suited for the …

Levels Of Emotion Valence And Arousal In American Sign Language, Sheila Bruce, Tina Sutton, Poorna Kushalnagar

JADARA

The Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW; Bradley & Lang, 1999) scale is a widely used instrument for valence and arousal response in English. A person whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL) might process the English emotion words differently. We hypothesized that ASL users might provide different valence and arousal ratings for emotion words in ASL, and a separate normative database might be necessary for this population. Forty-two Deaf adult signers completed ratings for the English and ASL conditions. Results showed that the rating for the arousal were similar for both conditions. However, the valence ratings were different, …

Translation And Validation Of An Online Suite Of Assessments In American Sign Language, Deb Guthmann, Janet Titus, Jared Embree, Josephine Wilson

JADARA

Abstract

This article reports on a National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP; Federal Grant # 90DP0067). The project is being conducted by investigators in the Substance Abuse Resources and Disability Issues (SARDI) Program in the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University (WSU), in collaboration with nationally recognized experts on Deaf culture and substance abuse/mental health. The goal of this DRRP is to develop and test an online suite of instruments in American Sign Language (ASL), validated for deaf consumers, assessing substance use, mental health, and occupational interests. The …

Telemental Health Services As A Targeted Intervention For Individuals Who Are Deaf And Hard Of Hearing, Teresa Crowe

JADARA

Deaf and hard of hearing individuals who have chronic mental illness are a population that is underserved. Like their hearing counterparts with mental illness, individuals who are Deaf and hard of hearing often face medical and treatment disparities. The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of telemental health (TMH) services, or services provided via videoconferencing technology, as a targeted intervention that may provide relief to Deaf and hard of hearing individuals with mental health problems. This paper addresses several areas that are important when considering service provision to Deaf and hard of hearing individuals, including a working …

Appraising Positive Aspects Of Shared History Through Contact- A Preliminary Model Of Reconciliation Among Hindus And Muslims Of The Kashmir Valley, Sramana Majumdar Dr

Peace and Conflict Studies

The long-standing political conflict in the Kashmir Valley has resulted in identity based polarization and subsequent displacement of communities. Reconciliation between Hindus (also known as Pandits) and Muslims is viewed as an important step in any sustainable effort towards conflict resolution and peacebuilding in the Valley. This paper begins by examining the much debated territorial and cultural concept of ‘Kashmiriyat’ and instead proposes an alternative lens that emphasizes on shared history as opposed to common identity. We approach reconciliation through a socio-psychological lens by examining the role of a shared cultural past and historical coexistence- or simply put as shared …

Exploring Family Change Processes: A Dynamic Qualitative Analysis Of Family Trajectories, Change And Coordination In Child Protection Cases, Ana Teixeira De Melo, Madalena Alarcão

The Qualitative Report

This paper reports an exploratory discovery-oriented study aimed at inspecting change processes and dynamics in families referred by the Courts and Child Protection Services for family assessment in the Integrated Family Assessment and Intervention Model (IFAIM; Melo & Alarcão, 2011, 2013) due to child neglect. The families received support for change during an assessment aimed at facilitating and exploring their potential for change. The parents reported, in quantitative diaries, their family’s experiences and changes inside and outside the sessions. We coded the data with a qualitative coding-scheme emergent from a preliminary qualitative exploration based on grounded theory methods and sensitizing …

Leaving Home For African Americans In The Emerging Adulthood Era: A Phenomenological Study, Natosha N. Wilson, Joanni L. Sailor, Shaun I. Calix, William Carney

The Qualitative Report

There has been limited research regarding how minority culture youth experience leaving home. Eight African American individuals who had “launched” from their families-of-origin were interviewed. By using Moustakas’ Transcendental Phenomenological method, several themes emerged to describe the lived experience of leaving home. The themes included need for independence, a comparison of privilege for others and oppression for self, obligation to family, and pride in self-sufficiency. According to the findings in this study, leaving home for young African Americans is a culturally distinct experience which aligns more closely with traditional patterns of leaving home. Although the emerging adulthood era functions as …

A Street Child’S Perspective: A Grounded Theory Study Of How Street Children Experience And Cope With Grief, Somidha Ray

The Qualitative Report

The research project entitled – “A Street Child’s Perspective: A Grounded Theory Study of How Street Child Experience and Cope with Grief,” seeks to understand and explain how street children experience and cope with grief. Grief is multi-faceted and highly subjective. However, most street children, sharing the same contexts and backgrounds show some commonality in their experiences and coping styles. The paper attempts to understand grief as it is subjectively experienced by street children. The research employed qualitative techniques – In-Depth Interviewing, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and field notes. The researcher contacted an NGO and through them, gained access to …

Religious/Spiritual Coping In Older African American Women, Danice B. Greer, Willie M. Abel

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to identify religious/spiritual coping behaviors of African American women with hypertension (HTN) and explore how religious/spiritual coping influences adherence to high blood pressure (HBP) therapy in older African American women. A mixed-method research design guided this study. Twenty African American women with primary HTN were enrolled in this study using a mixed methods concurrent triangulation design. Data collection included physiologic, descriptive, and sociodemographic data. Adherence was measured using the Hill-Bone Compliance to High Blood Pressure Therapy scale (Kim, Hill, Bone, & Levine, 2000), and religious/spiritual coping was evaluated with the Brief Religious/Spiritual Coping scale. …

The Assessment Of Burnout And Resilience In Correctional Officers, Vera A. Klinoff

Theses and Dissertations

Correctional Officers are responsible for responding to emergency/crisis situations in correctional settings. Research shows that their work is characterized by numerous psychological stressors that vary by degree and intensity, which can lead to compromised job performance and, ultimately, job burnout. Despite the increased attention directed to the problem of occupational stress in first responders among other professions over the past several years, virtually no investigations have focused on correctional officer resilience. The purpose of this study was to: (a) identify whether select positive personal variables (i.e., hope, optimism, social support) are associated with increased resilience, (b) determine the extent to …

The Relationship Between Ideology And Disgust Sensitivity, Shaina C. Fieldstone

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the current paper is to examine the association between ideology and disgust sensitivity. Studying disgust offers an to assess how judgments have evolved over time due to a “gut” sense of danger. This emotion also plays a role in moral judgment: individuals label moral wrongdoings as disgusting which elicits a specific facial expression. For this reason, disgust has recently been found to be a plausible emotion involved in political decision-making. Studies indicate that liberals and conservatives rely on respective moral foundations that influence their choices. Haidt et al. (2009) argue that liberals’ views on morality are based …

"Youn Ede Lòt”: Help-Seeking Among Haitians, Josie A. Augustin

Theses and Dissertations

Migration is on the rise as Haitians seek economic and educational opportunities for their progeny in the U.S. Though migration to a new country often introduces a new set of immigration and acculturation-related stressors that can lead to mental health problems, Haitians remain underrepresented in clinical mental health settings. Previous studies with ethnic minority populations have enumerated several barriers to seeking mental health services. However, research on barriers to help-seeking is sorely lacking for specific migrant groups, including Haitians. Thus, this study examined barriers to seeking help for mental health problems among Haitians. Participants were recruited using purposive and snowball …