Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons^™

Patient And Physician Perceptions Of Dimensions Of Necessity Of Medical Utilization, Peggy J. Wagner, Peter R. Warren, Ginger Mosely

The Qualitative Report

The goal of this research was to understand better the perspectives held by physicians and patients regarding what factors determine the appropriateness of medical visits. We also wished to create a convenient measure of those perspectives. In our first study, we conducted focus groups separately composed of 22 physicians and 16 patients to determine their respective views. In our second study, a 40-item measure derived from Study 1 themes was administered to a sample of 202 patients. Study 1 identified 20 themes, collapsing into 6 dimensions. Physicians held views that some patients were manipulative when seeking medical care. Study 2 …

Criminal Careers And Cognitive Scripts: An Investigation Into Criminal Versatility, Helen Gavin, David Hockey

The Qualitative Report

"Criminal careers" denotes ways in which offenders develop specialisms and versatility, but studies linking delinquency to social skills deficits have not attempted to explore cognitive, internalised processes by which such "careers" might be chosen. This study investigated criminal minds via script theory: "internal" scripts are used to guide behaviour, "situational" scripts are knowledge of everyday events, and "personal" scripts are a sequence of actions towards a desired goal. This research investigated whether criminal career offenders develop situational scripts for offending and whether such situational scripts express an internalised identity, which manifests as a personal script. Thematic analysis of data derived …

Accommodation Strategies Of College Students With Disabilities, Lucy Barnar-Brak, Deann Lectenberger, William Y. Lan

The Qualitative Report

College students with disabilities develop and utilize strategies to facilitate their learning experiences due to their unique academic needs. Using a semi-structured interview technique to collect data and a technique based in grounded theory to analyze this data, the purpose of this study was to discern the meaning of disclosure for college students with disabilities in relation to the strategies they invoke while seeking accommodations. The study revealed three underlying themes common to the accommodation-seeking strategies of the participants who were academically successful college students with disabilities. These themes include: scripting disclosure of one's disability; negotiating accommodations with faculty; and …

On Doctoral Student Development: Exploring Faculty Mentoring In The Shaping Of African American Doctoral Student Success, Pamela Felder

The Qualitative Report

This study examines the influence of faculty mentorship in the shaping of African American doctoral student success. A case analysis framework is used to investigate the belief systems that doctoral students held about their doctoral experience. Data collection involved a one-phase semi-structured interview protocol used to gather information about these experiences from a post-degree perspective. African American doctoral degree completion is addressed as a critical function of student success within an elite educational context. Results of the study demonstrate that the African American doctoral degree completion is complicated by students' perceptions of faculty advising, faculty behavior and the lack of …

Software Internationalization: A Framework Validated Against Industry Requirements For Computer Science And Software Engineering Programs, John Huân Vũ

Master's Theses

View John Huân Vũ's thesis presentation at http://youtu.be/y3bzNmkTr-c.

In 2001, the ACM and IEEE Computing Curriculum stated that it was necessary to address "the need to develop implementation models that are international in scope and could be practiced in universities around the world." With increasing connectivity through the internet, the move towards a global economy and growing use of technology places software internationalization as a more important concern for developers. However, there has been a "clear shortage in terms of numbers of trained persons applying for entry-level positions" in this area. Eric Brechner, Director of Microsoft Development Training, suggested …

Voices Of Native Resiliency: Educational Experiences From The 1950s And 1960s, Jennifer Penland

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived educational experiences of American Indians who grew up during the 1950s and 1960s, known as the termination period in American history. The research for this phenomenological study consisted of interviews with eight participants who were willing to share their personal experiences from this selected time. Ten reoccurring themes were uncovered: chaos brings balance, challenge to become bi-cultural, the importance of teachers, external support systems, spirituality, tribal influences, influences of economic resources, cultural awareness and value, relevant curriculum, and recruitment of Native teachers. By uncovering these stories, it is hopeful that …

Don't Tease Me, I'M Working: Examining Humor In A Midwestern Organization Using Ethnography Of Communication, Ajay K. Ojha, Taimmy L. Holmes

The Qualitative Report

Within organizations, the communicative phenomenon of humor is commonplace. Humorous talk is just as important and frequent to regular discourse that takes place between organizational members. In this inquiry we examine humor as a particular way of communicating between members of a small Midwestern United States organization. Specifically, we examine how three functions of humor (i.e., joking, sarcasm, and teasing) are used amongst members during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.). Using ethnography of communication, we conduct both fieldwork and interviews discovering that this organization exemplifies humor as a socially constructed phenomenon to complete the typical workday.

Recommendations For Using The Case Study Method In International Business Research, Tiia Vissak

The Qualitative Report

The case study method has not been as frequently used in international business (IB) research as quantitative methods. Moreover, it has been sometimes misused and quite often criticized. Still, it can be very useful for understanding such complex phenomena as the internationalization process or the management of multinational enterprises. Based on case study methodology literature and the author's personal experience from conducting case studies and reviewing case study articles, this paper proposes some ways for overcoming some of the critiques of the case study method and increasing its contribution to IB research.

Sailing Stormy Seas: The Illness Experience Of Persons With Parkinson's Disease, Melinda Stanley-Hermanns, Joan Engebretson

The Qualitative Report

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive disorder with no known cause or promising cure. While substantial information is known about the pathophysiology, little is known about the illness experience of living with the disease. A qualitative study using an ethnographic approach was conducted to provide a rich understanding of the illness experience. The illness experience was apprehended through field work in two support groups and the personal accounts of 14 participants with Parkinson's disease. The metaphor, "Sailing the Sea in The Eye of the Storm," is the overarching theme and was chosen to conceptualize the voyage of persons living with …

Master's Students' Challenges, Achievements, And Professional Development, Janet C. Richards

The Qualitative Report

Few inquiries have investigated master's students in education as they mentor preservice teachers. In this embedded case study I explored the professional development of 15 master's students as they mentored 35 preservice teachers for eight weeks in a summer literacy camp. Data sources were e-mail exchanges, written reports, and transcriptions from focus groups and in-class conversations. I analyzed the data through constant comparison methods and discovered that the mentors were initially frustrated with their mentoring responsibilities and had little empathy for the preservice teachers. By the end of the camp, they recognized the benefits of mentoring and gained confidence as …

Killings Of Police In U.S. Cities Since 1980: An Examination Of Environmental And Political Explanations, Stephanie L. Kent

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

Most research on killings of police in urban areas attempted to link lethal violence against officers to the violence and disorder in the communities they work.Yet support for this relationship is inconsistent. Fewer studies considered whether local political arrangements affect killings of police. This study attempts to remedy this gap by using recent data to investigate the relationship between the political conditions of large U.S. cities and the number of homicides of police officers in the line of duty in the years 1980, 1990, and 2000. Negative binomial regression analyses suggest that racial income inequality and the size of the …

Causal Effects Of Single-Sex Schools On College Entrance Exams And College Attendance: Random Assignment In Seoul High Schools, Hyunjoon Park, Jere R. Behrman, Jaesung Choi

Hyunjoon Park

Despite the voluminous literature on the potentials of single-sex schools, there is no consensus on the effects of single-sex schools because of student selection of school types. We exploit a unique feature of schooling in Seoul, the random assignment of students into single-sex versus coeducational high schools, to assess causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exam scores and college attendance. Our validation of the random assignment shows comparable socioeconomic backgrounds and prior academic achievement of students attending single-sex schools and coeducational schools, which increases the credibility of our causal estimates of single-sex school effects. Attending all-boys schools or …

O Tratamento Historiográfico De Registros De Óbitos, Heitor Moura Filho

Heitor Moura Filho

This text discusses problems found in the analysis of death statistics, specially in the calculation of gross or specific mortality rates, based on incomplete demographic records, such as common in 19th- and early 20th-century Brazil.

León De Greiff: Cultura Y Política En Colombia (1895-1976), Alexander Montoya Prada

Alexander Montoya Prada

En este artículo hacemos un análisis de la vida pública del poeta León de Greiff en el contexto de la historia colombiana del siglo XX. Nos interesa la relación entre cultura y política, vista desde la trayectoria de vida del poeta, con énfasis en los personajes públicos que lo rodearon y el vínculo que estableció con ellos. Pensamos a León de Greiff frente al medio que lo produce como autor, evitando exaltar su genialidad y su aura extraña para el entorno colombiano como ya se ha hecho en múltiples textos, prefiriendo un análisis que privilegie su inclusión dentro de los …

Getting To The Good Stuff: A Look At Compelling Outcomes From The Afa/Ebi Assessment, Tanner Marcantel, Diana Fulkerson, Larry D. Long

Larry D. Long

A presentation on the outcomes of the fraternity/sorority experience.

'Mapping Unions In The 'New Member States'' In Myant, M., Trade Unions In The Czech Republic. Brussels, Etui, Pp.5-10., Kurt Vandaele

Kurt Vandaele

No abstract provided.

Following The ‘Organising Model’ Of British Unions? Organising Non-Standard Workers In Germany And The Netherlands, Kurt Vandaele, Janine Leschke

Kurt Vandaele

Over the last three decades trade unions in almost all European countries have been losing members. In particular non-standard workers (part-time employed, temporary employed and own-account self-employed) are currently less likely than those on standard contracts to be organised in unions. The paper, which is based on a literature review, has a twofold purpose. A first objective is to provide a survey of the initiatives developed by trade unions in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK for organising non-standard workers. A second objective is to assess whether, and to what extent, the Dutch and German unions are influenced by British …

Leisure And Hobby Information And Its User, Jenna K. Hartel

Jenna Hartel

This article examines leisure in North America and western Europe with a focus on its information activities. To start, leisure is located as a research topic in different information science specialties. Then, a theoretical framework of leisure, the serious leisure perspective, is introduced as a means to systematically discuss three different forms of leisure and some of the information activities they harbor, drawing upon illustrations from the literature of information science. To conclude, future directions for research into leisure and the implications for the information sciences are discussed.

Metatheoretical Snowmen, Jenna Hartel, Jonathan Furner, Steve Fuller, Birger Hjorland, Ross Todd, Siobhan Stevenson, Jens-Erik Mai

Jenna Hartel

Metatheory is the highest level conceptual device used in research and determines a way of thinking and speaking about reality and its information phenomena. Today, numerous metatheories exist in information science and create a dynamic climate, yet also some confusion. This panel aims to demystify methatheory by addressing the matter in a playful, comparative, competitive spirit. Articulate champions of five major metatheories will be given an opportunity to cast their metatheory onto the life and information experience of an ordinary and affable persona: a snowman. The vivid renderings of the snowman and its information world will bring the features of …

Managing Documents At Home For Serious Leisure: A Case Study Of The Hobby Of Gourmet Cooking, Jenna K. Hartel

Jenna Hartel

Purpose – This paper describes the way participants in the hobby of gourmet cooking in the United States manage culinary information in their homes. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilizes domain analysis and serious leisure as a conceptual framework and employs an ethnographic approach. Twenty gourmet cooks in the United States were interviewed at home and then their culinary information collections were documented through a guided tour and photographic inventory. The resulting ethnographic record was analyzed using grounded theory and NVivo software. Findings – The findings introduce the personal culinary library (or PCL): a constellation of cooking-related information resources and information …