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The Challenges Of Conducting Qualitative Research In Quantitative Culture: Saudi Arabia As A Case Study, ِAbdulrahman Awdah Albeladi Apr 2024

The Challenges Of Conducting Qualitative Research In Quantitative Culture: Saudi Arabia As A Case Study, ِAbdulrahman Awdah Albeladi

The Qualitative Report

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), qualitative research methods are infrequently employed, as researchers in the region are more accustomed to quantitative approaches, with a certain hesitancy to embrace qualitative methodology. This research endeavor focuses on exploring the impediments faced by individuals engaged in qualitative research within the Saudi context. To do so, I conducted semi-structured interviews with eight doctoral students and employed a qualitative case study design for this paper. Utilizing the MAXQDA software, I also applied thematic analysis to the data gathered from the interviews. The primary findings highlight three significant themes: (a) challenges related to organizational …


Transformative Visions Of Qualitative Inquiry: Performative, Philosophical, And Artistic Transformations, Niroj Dahal Jan 2024

Transformative Visions Of Qualitative Inquiry: Performative, Philosophical, And Artistic Transformations, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

I am writing this review, Transformative Visions for Qualitative Inquiry, considering performative, philosophical, and artistic transformations as an essential reading for faculty and students—novice and veteran. It inspires readers, writers, and novice and veteran researchers in various social sciences disciplines and educational landscapes to envision innovative approaches to healing from crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and/or earthquakes. These processes encourage resisting, recovering, connecting, finding joy, and embracing life. Likewise, Transformative Visions for Qualitative Inquiry centers on the concept of transformation and its potential for the future of qualitative research amidst a world grappling with the multifaceted implications of COVID-19, …


Associating Academic Identity With Language Socialization In Virtual Community: A Case Study Of A Chinese Graduate Student’S Learning Experiences In Religion Studies, Xiaolong Lu Jan 2024

Associating Academic Identity With Language Socialization In Virtual Community: A Case Study Of A Chinese Graduate Student’S Learning Experiences In Religion Studies, Xiaolong Lu

The Qualitative Report

This longitudinal case study explored the academic identity and language socialization of a Chinese graduate student enrolled in an online religion course at a U.S. university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected via online classroom observations, oral interviews, and artifacts. The theoretical framework was taken from language socialization and identity, together with positioning theory. The study differs from previous research, arguing that instead of language competence, the constructed academic identity is occasionally crucial for the successful academic discourse socialization of international students in bilingual and virtual settings. Moreover, the inclination toward interactive positioning between students and instructors can arise …


Disruption, Transformation, Resilience, And Hope: The Experience Of A Belizean Community During Covid-19 Lockdown, Jean D. Kirshner Dr. Apr 2023

Disruption, Transformation, Resilience, And Hope: The Experience Of A Belizean Community During Covid-19 Lockdown, Jean D. Kirshner Dr.

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative research explored the lived experience of teachers, school administrators, parents, and children in Belize, Central America during the COVID-19 lockdown. Through field notes, correspondence, and interviews, a narrative approach was leveraged to convey the impact of two years away from classrooms and from each other. Both the trauma and loss of this disruption on global literacy, along with three forces that nourished the capacity for resilience, were examined.


Racism And Resilience: Counter-Narratives Of Asian International College Students In The Age Of Covid-19, Katrina Liu, Richard Miller, Sharolyn D. Pollard-Durodola, Lei Ping Dec 2022

Racism And Resilience: Counter-Narratives Of Asian International College Students In The Age Of Covid-19, Katrina Liu, Richard Miller, Sharolyn D. Pollard-Durodola, Lei Ping

The Qualitative Report

Using Asian Critical Race Theory and Resilience Theory, this qualitative study explores how Asian international college students experienced racism before and after the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they developed and used resilience to counteract that racism. Eleven Asian participants shared their counter-narratives through semi-structured interviews. Results reveal that, before the pandemic, participants were regularly subjected to racist acts and attitudes grounded in a deficit view of Asians that treated them as inscrutable foreigners, blamed them as individuals for perceived shortcomings in their home countries, dismissed their expertise outside of technical STEM fields, and failed to recognize their …


International Teaching Internship: Development Of Pre-Service Teachers’ Competences, Luthfi Auni, Teuku Zulfikar, Saiful Akmal, Alfiatunnur Alfiatunnur, Farah Dina Dec 2022

International Teaching Internship: Development Of Pre-Service Teachers’ Competences, Luthfi Auni, Teuku Zulfikar, Saiful Akmal, Alfiatunnur Alfiatunnur, Farah Dina

The Qualitative Report

Teachers’ competences should be shaped from a very early stage of their training (Mâţă, Cmeciu, & Ghiaţău, 2013). For that reason, pre-service teachers are required to get involved in teaching internships and gain professional experience from training programs and workshops. These experiences are assets for these pre-service teachers when they resume teaching positions upon graduation. The present narrative study, therefore, aims to investigate the benefits of international teaching internship, known as South-East Asian Teacher (henceforth SEA-Teacher Program) on Indonesian pre-service English teachers’ identity and competence development. There were four male and four female participants of SEA-Teacher program participated in the …


Graduate Student Mothers And Issues Of Justice: Steps, Challenges, And Benefits Of A Systematic Review For Examining Master’S Theses And Doctoral Dissertations, Anna Cohenmiller, Zhanna Izekenova, Almira Tabaeva Oct 2022

Graduate Student Mothers And Issues Of Justice: Steps, Challenges, And Benefits Of A Systematic Review For Examining Master’S Theses And Doctoral Dissertations, Anna Cohenmiller, Zhanna Izekenova, Almira Tabaeva

The Qualitative Report

mothers in academia, literature review, PRISMA, coding, gender equity and inclusion, social justice


Academics’ Understandings Of The Literacy Needs Of International Graduate Students, Edwin Creely, Raqib Chowdhury, Jane Southcott Dec 2021

Academics’ Understandings Of The Literacy Needs Of International Graduate Students, Edwin Creely, Raqib Chowdhury, Jane Southcott

The Qualitative Report

This article critically explores the understandings about the English academic literacy needs of international graduate students from the perspective of academic teaching staff in a Faculty of Education at a large Australian university. Research suggests that international graduate students for whom English is another language, on coming to English speaking countries, acquire English academic literacies as part of a complex set of academic competencies needed for successful graduate study. In this study, 16 academic teaching staff participated in focus groups and revealed their understandings and practices about academic literacies in the context of their experiences of working with international graduate …


Iranian Students’ Experience Of K-12 And Higher Education: Use Of Drawings To Convey The Difference Between Ideals And Reality, Iman Tohidian, Abbas Abbaspour, Ali Khorsandi Taskoh Nov 2021

Iranian Students’ Experience Of K-12 And Higher Education: Use Of Drawings To Convey The Difference Between Ideals And Reality, Iman Tohidian, Abbas Abbaspour, Ali Khorsandi Taskoh

The Qualitative Report

The focus of education during K-12 and Higher Education (HE) in Iran is on theoretical empowerment of students; therefore, our students get an illusion of knowing. In fact, what happens is not learning and understanding; rather, it is verbatim transfer of available information in the textbooks into the students’ minds. It might be because the students and teachers (as the main stakeholders of the education) are the least powerful parties within the pyramid of power amongst educational practitioners and policymakers. It means their voice, feedback, needs, and ideologies have no place in the educational decisions and policies. In alignment with …


Conducting Virtual Qualitative Interviews With International Key Informants: Insights From A Research Project, Nytasia Hicks, Roberto J. Millar, Laura M. Girling, Phyllis A. Cummins, Takashi Yamashita Sep 2021

Conducting Virtual Qualitative Interviews With International Key Informants: Insights From A Research Project, Nytasia Hicks, Roberto J. Millar, Laura M. Girling, Phyllis A. Cummins, Takashi Yamashita

The Qualitative Report

There is an increasing need for cross-cultural qualitative studies in an era of globalization. A focus group of five researchers, who were involved in a large international research project, identified effective strategies and challenges associated with five key domains of qualitative research with key informants: identification, recruitment, preparation, conducting the interview, and follow-up. Content analysis revealed nuanced tactics related to effective strategies and challenges associated with each domain. Examples of effective strategies include interview preparation to understand the specific expertise of the interviewee and allowing the informant to offer additional information beyond the questions asked. Challenges included technical difficulties with …


Teacher Professionalism In Light Of Biometric Controls On Teacher Mobility And Autonomy, David L. Knott Jul 2021

Teacher Professionalism In Light Of Biometric Controls On Teacher Mobility And Autonomy, David L. Knott

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, I investigate the introduction of biometric technology, specifically fingerprint scanners, for the purposes of managing faculty members’ working hours at a higher education institution (HEI) located in the Middle Eastern Gulf States. Utilizing semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data, three expatriate teachers of English discussed their experiences before and after management installed the fingerprint scanners, discussing the influence such a change has on their professional identities and the additional impacts on their teaching, their identification with the institution, and the overall culture of the HEI. The results show that the existence of the fingerprint scanners adversely affects …


“Life Is Splendid Here In The U.S.”: Intercultural Learning In Contemporary Chinese Students’ Academic Adjustment, Karolina Achirri Apr 2021

“Life Is Splendid Here In The U.S.”: Intercultural Learning In Contemporary Chinese Students’ Academic Adjustment, Karolina Achirri

The Qualitative Report

The increasing numbers of Chinese learners studying at American universities and the high mobility across borders have recently challenged prevailing stereotypes of Asians in education. While studies of Chinese students are abundant, there has been scant research on how intercultural learning unfolds in these students’ adjustment to both academic and social settings. To address this research gap, I center my case study around six of my former students from China and examine their progress at different U.S. institutions. Data from their journals were coded and analyzed qualitatively. In tracing my participants’ first semester trajectory and their strategies to adapt to …


Investigating Indonesian Master's Students’ Perception Of Critical Thinking In Academic Writing In A British University, Millatul Islamiyah, Muchamad Sholakhuddin Al Fajri Dec 2020

Investigating Indonesian Master's Students’ Perception Of Critical Thinking In Academic Writing In A British University, Millatul Islamiyah, Muchamad Sholakhuddin Al Fajri

The Qualitative Report

Critical thinking is generally valued as expected outcomes of university graduates although the concept of it is controversial. Students are required to display it in academic writing which is the default of university assessment. However, international students from “non-Western” backgrounds in particular, frequently experience difficulty in demonstrating critical expression in their written texts. The current study, in the light of interviews with four Indonesian master’s students, therefore, aims at investigating their perception of critical thinking, exposing some factors perceived to be influencing the application of critical thinking in academic writing, and exploring their development of critical thinking. The results of …


Collecting Cultural Feedback On Ethiopian Views On Girls, Sport, And Voice, Kathleen Ralls Dr. Dec 2020

Collecting Cultural Feedback On Ethiopian Views On Girls, Sport, And Voice, Kathleen Ralls Dr.

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study used data collected from five interviews conducted to gather cultural and linguistic feedback on a 21-question instrument created for a future study focused on Ethiopian girl athletes. Participants met the following criteria: (a) native to Ethiopia (b) at least 15 years old and (c) proficient English reading and speaking skills. Participants did not complete the questionnaire, rather, they read it and provided cultural and linguistic feedback on its content. Participants provided feedback via interviews both in person and over the phone during a two-week period. The instrument was designed to collect data from members of Girls Gotta …


Insights From Academics Teaching International Students In Australia, Dawn Joseph Dr, Kay Hartwig Dr Nov 2020

Insights From Academics Teaching International Students In Australia, Dawn Joseph Dr, Kay Hartwig Dr

The Qualitative Report

Australia continues to be an attractive destination in the world for international students. For higher education institutions to remain globally competitive there is a need to deliver high quality teaching and learning programs and adequate support structures. This paper forms part of a wider study on improving work placement for international students, their mentors and other stakeholders at Deakin University (Australia) and adds to the body of knowledge on international students as seen through the eyes of academic staff. It explores the lived experiences of seven academics as they navigate what is required of them when teaching international students in …


A Phenomenological Study Of International Students In Us Graduate Programs Through The Lens Of Personal Growth Initiative Construct, Hannah E. Acquaye Phd, Cari Welch, Leah N. Jacobs, Arielle Ross Oct 2020

A Phenomenological Study Of International Students In Us Graduate Programs Through The Lens Of Personal Growth Initiative Construct, Hannah E. Acquaye Phd, Cari Welch, Leah N. Jacobs, Arielle Ross

The Qualitative Report

Humans, unlike other creatures, have an inherent desire to develop and grow. This desire to grow, Personal Growth Initiative, is an intentional way that humans cognitively and behaviorally navigate their environment and resources to effect change. While many researchers argue that this construct works only in individualistic cultures, others contend that the construct is applicable to collectivist cultures as well. We therefore undertook an exploration of the lived experiences of eight international students from predominantly collectivist cultures, through the lens of the Personal Growth Initiative theory. Using a phenomenological qualitative methodology, we interviewed these doctoral students via semi-structured interview …


A Narrative Study Of Factors Influencing Students’ Academic Achievement: Views Of Parents, Teachers And Union Leaders, Mehmet Karakas Sep 2020

A Narrative Study Of Factors Influencing Students’ Academic Achievement: Views Of Parents, Teachers And Union Leaders, Mehmet Karakas

The Qualitative Report

This paper reports on private school teachers, parents, and teacher union leaders’ experiences with middle and high schools in a small city in northeastern Turkey to identify the problems in education and study them to develop some solutions for them. This narrative study was carried out in the Spring semester of 2012 by conducting face-to-face individual in-depth interviews with 47 participants. Personal narratives were analyzed by developing themes. Findings reveal that the success and lack of it in education arises from the upper level management style, from uninterested parents, and the geographical conditions and location of the city create big …


Perceptions Of International Students In Indian Higher Education Campuses, Sanjay Krishnapratap Pawar, Swati Vispute, Hassan Wasswa Sep 2020

Perceptions Of International Students In Indian Higher Education Campuses, Sanjay Krishnapratap Pawar, Swati Vispute, Hassan Wasswa

The Qualitative Report

The global competition for international students has fuelled the need for education providers to become more consumer oriented in their planning. Our purpose with this study was to understand international student perceptions and discuss corresponding approaches. In this qualitative study we interviewed twenty international students enrolled in two Indian universities to examine: one, their feelings about being an international student in India and two, what attracted them to India as a higher education destination. Our findings suggest that, the people on campus and in the host city are vital to delivering experiences. We identified “quality of education,” “cultural diversity” and …


Intercultural Sensitivity Orientations Prior To Short-Term Study Abroad: A Qualitative Study On Prospective English Language Teachers, Emrullah Yasin Çiftçi, Nurdan Gürbüz Jun 2019

Intercultural Sensitivity Orientations Prior To Short-Term Study Abroad: A Qualitative Study On Prospective English Language Teachers, Emrullah Yasin Çiftçi, Nurdan Gürbüz

The Qualitative Report

Short-term study abroad programs can contribute to the multidimensional development of prospective language teachers. However, participants’ intercultural sensitivity orientations prior to the mobility period can significantly influence the quality and quantity of the outcomes gained from such programs. Therefore,in this qualitative case study, we explored the intercultural sensitivity orientations of a cohort of prospective language teachers from Turkey who prepared to study at three different universities in Italy. We also explored the participants’ perspectives regarding the potential contributions of short-term study abroad to their ongoing language teacher education processes. Following an interpretive analysis of qualitative data, our findings revealed that …


Academic Discourse Socialization, Scaler Politics Of English, And Racialization In Study Abroad: A Critical Autoethnography, Pramod K. Sah Jan 2019

Academic Discourse Socialization, Scaler Politics Of English, And Racialization In Study Abroad: A Critical Autoethnography, Pramod K. Sah

The Qualitative Report

In this age of rising animosity to newcomers in host societies, study abroad students are often reported to receive maltreatment and discrimination. To this end, I conducted a critical autoethnographic study that responds to the trajectory of my English language learning in the UK and explores my adjustment difficulties and factors such as racialized linguistic discrimination. It also reveals the types of agency that I employed in the process of academic discourse socialization and unpacks causes and processes of renegotiating and reconstructing my identity as a learner and user of the English language. The data for this study was gathered …


Unspoken Barriers: An Autoethnographic Study Of Frustration, Resistance And Resilience, Rose M. Wake Dec 2018

Unspoken Barriers: An Autoethnographic Study Of Frustration, Resistance And Resilience, Rose M. Wake

The Qualitative Report

Immigration, cultural capital, cultural hybridity are the contributing players within my autoethnographic research as a second-generation daughter of southern Italian migrants from the post war era. This autobiography of my lived experience identifies contributing influences of arrested development within my educational and life trajectory and explores theoretical frameworks as key comparative indicators for my thwarted stages of psychosocial development. My identity and role as a female is further explored within the construct of a determined and culturally hybrid adolescence in an effort to answer research questions of identity and role confusion. My narratives situate my life as a daughter, student, …


Critical Reflections In International Contexts: Polyethnographic Accounts Of An International Doctoral Research Seminar, Lisa Fedoruk, Jon Woodend, Janet Groen, Avis Beek, Sylvie Roy, Xueqin Wu, Xiang Li May 2018

Critical Reflections In International Contexts: Polyethnographic Accounts Of An International Doctoral Research Seminar, Lisa Fedoruk, Jon Woodend, Janet Groen, Avis Beek, Sylvie Roy, Xueqin Wu, Xiang Li

The Qualitative Report

As the world becomes more globally interconnected, international partnerships, including those within higher education, have increased. In an exemplar of these international partnerships from an academic standpoint, selected doctoral students and faculty from Australian, Chinese, and Canadian universities participated in an International Doctoral Research Seminar held in China in December 2015. The objective of this seminar was to have academic debate regarding educational reform. A critical by-product of this seminar was the meaning made by the participants from this experience. This paper reviews the critical polyethnographic reflections of the Canadian participants for three salient and influential topics including the role …


“If Our English Isn’T A Language, What Is It?” Indonesian Efl Student Teachers’ Challenges Speaking English, Mukhlash Abrar, Amirul Mukminin, Akhmad Habibi, Fadhil Asyrafi, Makmur Makmur, Lenny Marzulina Jan 2018

“If Our English Isn’T A Language, What Is It?” Indonesian Efl Student Teachers’ Challenges Speaking English, Mukhlash Abrar, Amirul Mukminin, Akhmad Habibi, Fadhil Asyrafi, Makmur Makmur, Lenny Marzulina

The Qualitative Report

Research on students’ skill speaking English in a non-English speaking country such as Indonesia is limited. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to document Indonesian EFL student teachers’ experiences in speaking English at one public university in Jambi, Indonesia. Data came from demographic questionnaires and semi-structured interviews obtained from eight participants. We organized our analysis and discussion around Indonesian EFL student teachers’ perspectives and the contexts in which experiences they encountered emerge. Our analysis of the text revealed overarching themes and sub-themes including (1) language barriers (vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and fluency); (2) psychological factors (anxiety, attitude, and lack of …


Teaching Moral Literacy Through Critical Pedagogical Bricolage: A Co-Constructed Auto-Ethnography Of An Educational Leadership Program, Chetanath Gautam, Charles L. Lowery Jan 2017

Teaching Moral Literacy Through Critical Pedagogical Bricolage: A Co-Constructed Auto-Ethnography Of An Educational Leadership Program, Chetanath Gautam, Charles L. Lowery

The Qualitative Report

In this collaborative auto-ethnographical inquiry, two developing scholar–practitioner educational leaders explore the notion of moral literacy through a lens of critical pedagogical bricolage. This study aims to reveal certain experiences of two doctoral candidates engaged in an educational doctorate, contemplating their identities as emergent leaders from diverse backgrounds. By approaching this inquiry from a qualitative and strictly post-positivist understanding of research, we aim to present critical components of our program and the literature presented in that program that led to our understanding of moral literacy’s role in theoretical and pragmatic provinces of educational leadership. Our analysis is presented in three …


Effective Teaching In The Eye Of Teacher Educators: A Case Study In A Higher Education, Melek Çakmak, Ülker Akkutay Dec 2016

Effective Teaching In The Eye Of Teacher Educators: A Case Study In A Higher Education, Melek Çakmak, Ülker Akkutay

The Qualitative Report

Attempts to explore teacher educators’ thoughts seem to be meaningful at educational sciences since the number of studies discussing effective teaching and effective teacher at teacher education in the eye of teacher educators are quite limited. Therefore, this study mainly aims to identify the viewpoints of teacher educators in order to discover how they contextualize the concept of effective teaching. For this aim, a case study design, increasingly used in education (Tellis, 1997), is utilized in the study. This method is suitable when the research addresses an explanatory question such as how or why? (Yin, 2004). A questionnaire including open-ended …


Whose Reality? A Meta-Analysis Of Qualitative Research In International And Comparative Education, Romina B. Da Costa, Stephanie M. Hall, Anne Spear Apr 2016

Whose Reality? A Meta-Analysis Of Qualitative Research In International And Comparative Education, Romina B. Da Costa, Stephanie M. Hall, Anne Spear

The Qualitative Report

This meta-analysis seeks to critically examine the qualitative research being published in influential journals in the field of international and comparative education in order to determine whether qualitative research has remained true to the constructivist paradigm and its theoretical and philosophical underpinnings. Decades after the heated paradigmatic debates within the field of education in the 1980’s, we seek to examine whether predictions that the constructivist paradigm would be pushed out by the call for post-positivist, quantifiable, data-driven research have come to fruition. Based on a review of all qualitative research published in the past three volumes of five influential journals …