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Enhancing The Value Of Qualitative Field Notes Through Purposeful Reflection, David Deggs, Frank Hernandez Oct 2018

Enhancing The Value Of Qualitative Field Notes Through Purposeful Reflection, David Deggs, Frank Hernandez

The Qualitative Report

This commentary outlines the efforts taken to provide doctoral students with purposeful reflection questions to help them enhance the value and utility of qualitative data. It is based upon experiences teaching a doctoral level qualitative research methods course for students enrolled in an executive format doctoral program. Reflexivity of the researcher, reflection, and research design decisions are discussed. Suggestions for purposeful reflection questions are also discussed and listed in four categories. The categories of purposeful reflection questions include (1) Research Setting Access, (2) Examining Norms and Cultures, (3) Positionality of Research Subjects, and (4) Positionality as an Observer. These four …


Cultural Variations And Socio-Ecocultural Understanding On Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Awang Rozaimie Oct 2018

Cultural Variations And Socio-Ecocultural Understanding On Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Awang Rozaimie

The Qualitative Report

Cross-cultural adaptation is a challenging process while sojourning abroad. The inability to understand cultural variation triggers psychological, physical or behavioral difficulties and maladjustment or misunderstanding. Socio-ecocultural underestimation is the root of intercultural resistance, stereotyping, ethnocentrism and racist sentiments among sojourners. Most of the cross-cultural adjustment studies have quantitatively demonstrated factors and predictors of adaptation success. However, the specific forms of cultural variation that impacted sojourning adaptability is blindly explained. Hence, this phenomenological paper autoethnographically observed the socio-ecocultural environment while sojourning in New Zealand. The findings highlighted that cultural awareness and sensitivity assist sojourner’s cross-cultural adaptability due to the socio-ecocultural variation.


Exploring Intersecting Program Elements In Longer-Term Concurrent Disorder Services For Adults: A Qualitative Evaluation, Aaron Turpin, Micheal L. Shier Oct 2018

Exploring Intersecting Program Elements In Longer-Term Concurrent Disorder Services For Adults: A Qualitative Evaluation, Aaron Turpin, Micheal L. Shier

The Qualitative Report

Previous research highlights multiple factors that impact the attainment of client-identified recovery goals in substance misuse treatment programs. However, fewer studies examine how programs meet the broad range of needs expressed by clients through their intersecting elements of service delivery. This study seeks to develop an understanding of intersecting program and recovery elements in relation to an overall framework for programming, focusing on how overlapping elements of treatment ventured to support clients in multiple areas of their recovery. Qualitative interviews were conducted with clients (n=41) in three longer term substance use treatment programs, and data from interviews were analysed using …


“My Determination Is To Live”: Narratives Of African-American Women Who Have Lived With Hiv For 10 Or More Years, Sabrina Cherry, Kathleen Demarrais, Cheryl Keita, Marsha Davis, Joel Lee Oct 2018

“My Determination Is To Live”: Narratives Of African-American Women Who Have Lived With Hiv For 10 Or More Years, Sabrina Cherry, Kathleen Demarrais, Cheryl Keita, Marsha Davis, Joel Lee

The Qualitative Report

Exploring the experiences of African-American women who have lived with HIV for many years can inform public health practice on how to better serve high-risk populations along the care continuum. To understand the experiences of African-American women who are HIV positive, the researchers used a narrative approach to guide repeat interviews. Under a theoretical framework of Womanism, we interviewed six African-American women ages 48-66 (M=57) who have lived with HIV for 10 years or longer and conducted analyses of narrative to identify key themes. The primary themes were: recollecting early hardships, HIV infection, and diagnosis; embracing social support; surviving and …


Tasman Connections Through Song: Engaging In Classrooms And In Community, Dawn Joseph Dr, Robyn Trinick Mrs Oct 2018

Tasman Connections Through Song: Engaging In Classrooms And In Community, Dawn Joseph Dr, Robyn Trinick Mrs

The Qualitative Report

Community is an overarching word that encompasses people in formal and informal settings covering a broad range of activities. Engaging through sound “in community” and “as community” provides the opportunity for participants to come together making and sharing music through song. This paper focuses on voice (singing) across the Tasman within formal and informal locations. Author One draws on interview data within an “informal” space with three community choirs in regional Victoria (Australia) from her wider study Spirituality and Wellbeing: Music in the Community. The data shows that choir members use voice to connect with their local community around issues …


Through Army-Colored Glasses: A Layered Account Of One Veteran’S Experiences In Higher Education, Phillip A. Olt Oct 2018

Through Army-Colored Glasses: A Layered Account Of One Veteran’S Experiences In Higher Education, Phillip A. Olt

The Qualitative Report

There is a lack of research on military veterans in higher education that captures the issues from an insider’s perspective. To that end, I sought to reflect upon my own experiences with higher education as military veteran—from a budding recruit all the way through to now being an administrator and faculty member. I utilized a layered-account autoethnographic approach (Ronai, 1995) to interrogate my multiple perspectives that developed over time on veterans’ issues in higher education. I found that the GI Bill—the modern iteration of the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944—was a powerful motivator both in starting my military career and …


Community-Level Csr Implementation Through The Lens Of Institutional Theory: An Empirical Study, Aruna Jha Associate Professor, Vijita S. Aggrawal Prof. Oct 2018

Community-Level Csr Implementation Through The Lens Of Institutional Theory: An Empirical Study, Aruna Jha Associate Professor, Vijita S. Aggrawal Prof.

The Qualitative Report

Researchers world over are increasingly realising that use of a theoretical framework is necessary for designing and conducting research on corporate-community relations. There are no empirical studies in India, to the best of our knowledge, which look at Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of a corporate in local community through theoretical lens. The research questions we examine through this study are – firstly, how institutional pressure at the level of local community drives CSR practices of a company and secondly, to assess how community has perceived these CSR initiatives. To answer the same, the researchers studied CSR practices of Cairn …


Un-Naming Collaboration: An Unexpected Catalyst For Understanding Participation In Critical Ethnography, Allison Anders, Joshua Diem Oct 2018

Un-Naming Collaboration: An Unexpected Catalyst For Understanding Participation In Critical Ethnography, Allison Anders, Joshua Diem

The Qualitative Report

In this article, we trace interactions with participants in two different research projects. Although the research settings were different, we focus on what the projects had in common: a commitment to collaboration, methodological training from the same faculty, and our respective decisions to turn away from labeling our work collaborative deep into each project’s development. In a narrative as chronicle, we represent ways each project unfolded and then why each of us abandoned claims of collaboration. Specifically, we share the critical positions we staked early in our research designs and the communication with participants that taught us to un-name what …


The Ayes Have It!, Zali O'Dea Oct 2018

The Ayes Have It!, Zali O'Dea

The Qualitative Report

This is my autoethnography about living with Facial Eye Disfigurement (FED). The purpose of this autoethnography is to answer the question, “What are the lived experiences of people living with FED?” There are wide and varying issues faced by people living with facial disfigurement (FD), for example, dealing with psychosocial and psychological aspects, the lived experiences and voices of persons with FED are nowhere in the research literature. The themes presented here are not unique to FED but illustrate how far and wide the phenomenon occurs, themes such as, social isolation, bullying, gatekeepers, discrimination, and hope. The themes are woven …


Music Generated Narratives: Elaborating The Da Capo Interview Technique, Martin Cortazzi, Nick Pilcher, Lixian Jin Oct 2018

Music Generated Narratives: Elaborating The Da Capo Interview Technique, Martin Cortazzi, Nick Pilcher, Lixian Jin

The Qualitative Report

This paper shows how we played researcher-selected extracts of music to participants in “the Da Capo technique,” to elicit narratives of their learning experiences. Previously, we used music alongside other techniques in an interview about learning; here we explore the Da Capo technique as a standalone technique to study its potential for narrative recall. To do this, we played 10 one-minute long extracts of classical music (five “Western” and five “Chinese”) to 20 participants (10 “Western” and 10 “Chinese”). After hearing each piece, participants were asked if the music recalled for them any experiences of learning. When it did so, …


Using Skype As A Qualitative Interview Medium Within The Context Of Saudi Arabia, Maryam Alkhateeb Oct 2018

Using Skype As A Qualitative Interview Medium Within The Context Of Saudi Arabia, Maryam Alkhateeb

The Qualitative Report

This research note reports the results of using Skype as a medium to conduct semi-structured interviews in qualitative studies within the context of Saudi Arabia. Skype audio-only interviews were used to explore the concept of privacy from the perspective of female users in the context of the spatial design of contemporary Saudi houses. The use of Skype audio-only, although accidental, turned out to be fortuitous. The researcher’s study design called for all face-to-face interviews, but due to the location of the researcher and participants and study time frame, some of the interviews were conducted face-to-face and the others were audio …


Reflecting On The Book Of Alvesson And Skoldberg’ Reflexive Methodology: New Insights And Its Importance In Qualitative Studies, Jude L. Tayaben Oct 2018

Reflecting On The Book Of Alvesson And Skoldberg’ Reflexive Methodology: New Insights And Its Importance In Qualitative Studies, Jude L. Tayaben

The Qualitative Report

In this book review, I explicate the importance of reflexive methodology in any qualitative studies. Bearing the standards, process and expected outcomes in applying the levels and principles in your study. I was able to grasp the significant methods of doing this whatever the philosophical underpinnings in once qualitative journey. The authors introduced four elements in reflexive research in details: systematic and techniques in research procedures; clarification of the primacy of interpretation; awareness of the political- ideological character of research; reflection in relation to the problem of representation and authority. In so doing this method will surely lead us on …


Reflections On The Use Of A Smartphone To Facilitate Qualitative Research In South Africa, Sogo France Matlala, Makoko Neo Matlala Oct 2018

Reflections On The Use Of A Smartphone To Facilitate Qualitative Research In South Africa, Sogo France Matlala, Makoko Neo Matlala

The Qualitative Report

This paper describes conditions that led to the use of a smartphone to collect qualitative data instead of using a digital voice recorder as the standard device for recording of interviews. Through reviewing technical documents, the paper defines a smartphone and describes its applications that are useful in the research process. It further points out possible uses of other applications of a smartphone in the research process. The paper concludes that a smartphone is a valuable device to researchers.


Problematic And Damaged Image Of A University Among Iranian Students: The Lived Experience Of Iranian Students At Universities, Maghsoud Farasatkhah Dr., Nasrin Asgharzadeh Dr. Oct 2018

Problematic And Damaged Image Of A University Among Iranian Students: The Lived Experience Of Iranian Students At Universities, Maghsoud Farasatkhah Dr., Nasrin Asgharzadeh Dr.

The Qualitative Report

The current paper tried to explore the lived experience of Iranian students at universities in recent years after commercialization and commodification of higher education followed by limitations on the public and governmental resources of the universities. Thus, a university student is reduced to a customer position. The aim of this research is to study the lived experience of students in an old comprehensive university in the capital of Iran. Since the goal of the researchers was to go near the students themselves to reveal the lived and perceived experiences of them with the interpretive paradigm as a methodology. The hermeneutic …


Object Handling With Contemporary Craft Objects: An Observational Study Of An Embodied, Social And Cognitive Process, Bruce Davenport, Neill James Thompson Sep 2018

Object Handling With Contemporary Craft Objects: An Observational Study Of An Embodied, Social And Cognitive Process, Bruce Davenport, Neill James Thompson

The Qualitative Report

This study focuses on the ways that people interact around contemporary craft objects. The ambiguous quality of these objects holds people’s attention and inhibits autobiographical narratives. The study focused on the relationship between the perceptual language used by participants and the ways in which they interacted with the objects. The analytical approach taken here begins with close observation and careful description of single cases and working towards valid generalisations rather than imposing an interpretation from the outset by explicitly positing a hypothesis. Six pairs of women were invited to participate in object handling conversations in an art museum setting. The …


Thinking Qualitatively Methods Of Mind: A Review, Mary E. Hancock Sep 2018

Thinking Qualitatively Methods Of Mind: A Review, Mary E. Hancock

The Qualitative Report

The following is a review of the book: Thinking Qualitatively: Methods of Mind written by Johnny Saldaña and published in 2015. The book unfolds from the more traditional qualitative research ways of thinking and moves toward the abstract. Learning objectives begin each chapter and end with a summary of key points and exercises designed to stretch the mind by applying the concepts discussed. Throughout each chapter, reflection exercises titled “For Your Mental Rolodex” provide opportunities for additional concept application. Each chapter builds upon the previous chapter forming a solid foundation for how to think qualitatively. Students, instructors, novice, and seasoned …


Turkish-Speaking Service-User Experience Of Guided Self-Help In An Improving Access To Psychological Therapies Service: Using Discovery Interviews To Improve Services, Vasiliki Christodoulou, Lorna Fortune Dr, Gozde Arslan, Canan Koc Sep 2018

Turkish-Speaking Service-User Experience Of Guided Self-Help In An Improving Access To Psychological Therapies Service: Using Discovery Interviews To Improve Services, Vasiliki Christodoulou, Lorna Fortune Dr, Gozde Arslan, Canan Koc

The Qualitative Report

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) delivers guided self-help (GSH) interventions in the United Kingdom (UK). A minority service-user group for whom we know little of their engagement with GSH are Turkish-speaking users. The study aimed to better understand Turkish-speaking service-users experience of a GSH intervention in an IAPT service and identify possible service improvements. A discovery interview method facilitated service-users to describe their experience of GSH. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Excerpts of service-user narratives and thematic commonalities across interviews were disseminated in clinical teams and informed service improvements. Participant distress was expressed through somatic complaints, a high level of …


Early Childhood Leadership: A Photovoice Exploration, Kristi Cheyney-Collante, Melissa Cheyney Sep 2018

Early Childhood Leadership: A Photovoice Exploration, Kristi Cheyney-Collante, Melissa Cheyney

The Qualitative Report

The first five years of a child’s life represent critical windows in physiological, social-emotional, and cognitive development. Administrators of early childhood (EC) programs play a pivotal role in determining the quality of experiences that unfold for young children in center-based care. Using photovoice, semi-structured administrator interviews, and participant-observation, we aimed to identify the factors contributing to one center’s atypically excellent outcomes with diverse children and families. Our textual and photographic analyses revealed three findings. First, administrators saw themselves as embedded within a larger system of barriers characterized by low positionality within an educational caste system that is marked by pervasive …


Qualitative Methods And Respectful Praxis: Researching With Youth, Susan Tilley, Leanne Taylor Sep 2018

Qualitative Methods And Respectful Praxis: Researching With Youth, Susan Tilley, Leanne Taylor

The Qualitative Report

In this article, we report on findings from a critical literature review of qualitative methods in youth-focused research. The articles reviewed cover an array of methods including those used traditionally in qualitative research and others more recently established. We identify methods that involve youth in general and youth marginalized and/or criminalized within institutional structures, more specifically. We explore the ethical implications of researching with youth, institutional and in situ, a theme that emerged in the literature reviewed. We highlight the tensions, challenges, and power issues arising in the context of research with youth. We close with arguments for methods that …


Exploration Of Social Studies Teachers’ Experiences Of Reading Practices: A Phenomenological Study, İlhan İlter Sep 2018

Exploration Of Social Studies Teachers’ Experiences Of Reading Practices: A Phenomenological Study, İlhan İlter

The Qualitative Report

In this phenomenological study, I aimed to describe the perceptions of social studies teachers’ lived experiences about their reading practices that may have influence on the development of students’ reading comprehension. Data were collected from interviews and handwritten interview notes were analyzed by using qualitative data analysis. Sixteen middle school social studies teachers were recruited in different schools in a city in Turkey for this study. Three themes emerged from the data analysis in the study: reading comprehension skills and strategies, teaching practices and instructional practices. The results of this study yielded two findings: first, the majority of the teachers …


"Born Out Of Fear": A Grounded Theory Study Of The Stigma Of Bipolar Disorder For New Mothers, Walker Ladd Ph.D. Sep 2018

"Born Out Of Fear": A Grounded Theory Study Of The Stigma Of Bipolar Disorder For New Mothers, Walker Ladd Ph.D.

The Qualitative Report

Childbirth is an established trigger for the onset of bipolar disorders (BD) in the postpartum period, causing significant pathology and disability. Research has shown that the stigma of mental illness for new mothers is a powerful obstacle to care, preventing women from accessing critical treatment and social support. However, the majority of research has examined the relationship between the stigma and postpartum depression, leaving a gap in knowledge regarding stigma and postpartum bipolar disorder. The problem addressed in this grounded theory study was the lack of knowledge regarding the stigma of a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD) in the first …


Investigating Efl Classroom Management In Pesantren: A Case Study, Akhmad Habibi, Amirul Mukminin, Johni Najwan, Septu Haswindy, Lenny Marzulina, Muhammad Sirozi, Kasinyo Harto, Muhammad Sofwan Sep 2018

Investigating Efl Classroom Management In Pesantren: A Case Study, Akhmad Habibi, Amirul Mukminin, Johni Najwan, Septu Haswindy, Lenny Marzulina, Muhammad Sirozi, Kasinyo Harto, Muhammad Sofwan

The Qualitative Report

Classroom management (CM) is one of the most important issues in education and this research was aimed at understanding the classroom management problems and the coping strategies of Indonesian Islamic Boarding schools’ [hereinafter-termed pesantren] with the uniqueness of their system from the perspectives of the English teachers. Specifically, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom management (CM) problems and the coping strategies of Indonesian Islamic boarding schools’ teachers. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and observation with eight English teachers working in the three pesantren. …


Researcher, Analyze Thyself, Johnny Saldana Sep 2018

Researcher, Analyze Thyself, Johnny Saldana

The Qualitative Report

This article attempts to answer the phenomenological question, “What does it mean to be a qualitative researcher?” and an ancillary question, “What does ‘making meaning’ mean?” The author, in collaboration with selected participants at the 2018 The Qualitative Report and the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology’s Qualitative Research Methods conferences, proposes that research is devotion. Three major categories or components of devotion are purpose (personal and professional validation), belonging (communal grounding), and meaning (an enriched life). Ten subcategories or “elements of style” as qualitative researchers include: meticulous vigilance of details, unyielding resiliency, visionary reinvention, social savvy, humble vulnerability, representational responsibility, …


Homeless Individuals’ Social Construction Of A Park: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective, Reuben Addo Sep 2018

Homeless Individuals’ Social Construction Of A Park: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective, Reuben Addo

The Qualitative Report

Individuals experiencing homelessness and housed residents have increasingly been in conflict over the use of public spaces, which has led to efforts to regulate how individuals experiencing homelessness use public spaces. However, the discourses around the use of public parks seem to value housed residents over homeless individuals. How individuals experiencing homelessness construct meanings of public spaces has not been given adequate attention in the literature. Drawing on a symbolic interactionist theoretical framework and grounded theory methodology, the researcher conducted 10 semi-structured interviews on how individuals experiencing homelessness construct meanings of a public park. Participants ascribed instrumental and intangible meanings …


One Book; Five Views: A Collaborative Review Of Planning A Community Oral History Project (Volume 2 Of 5: Community Oral History Toolkit), Dundee Lackey, Justin Cook, Kathleen Irwin, Aida Mehanovic, Jacqui Haynes Sep 2018

One Book; Five Views: A Collaborative Review Of Planning A Community Oral History Project (Volume 2 Of 5: Community Oral History Toolkit), Dundee Lackey, Justin Cook, Kathleen Irwin, Aida Mehanovic, Jacqui Haynes

The Qualitative Report

In Planning a Community Oral History Project (Barbara W. Summer, Nancy MacKay, and Mary Kay Quinlan), the second volume in the Community Oral History Toolkit series, readers are presented with the ethical, methodological, and legal frameworks which guide successful and respectful community oral history projects. The authors of this review present this review as an oral history of our reading, composed by readers representing different viewpoints and positionalities. We do so in an attempt to explore the book’s potential audiences and consider the applicability of its advice to varied readers, as well as to embrace the ethical and methodological ideas …


The Micro-Politics Of A New Mental Condition: Legitimization In Maladaptive Daydreamers' Discourse, Orit Bershtling Ph.D., Eli Somer Ph.D. Aug 2018

The Micro-Politics Of A New Mental Condition: Legitimization In Maladaptive Daydreamers' Discourse, Orit Bershtling Ph.D., Eli Somer Ph.D.

The Qualitative Report

This study illuminates legitimization efforts in the discourse of individuals who suffer from excessive, uncontrolled daydreaming: a contested mental condition that has not yet been recognized by the medical establishment. It aims to explore the rhetorical maneuvers employed by these “Maladaptive Daydreamers” in 35 email exchanges with the second author and two petitions, submitted to the American Psychiatric Association and to the UK Parliament, with a demand for recognition. Our analysis, anchored theoretically and methodologically in Critical Discourse Analysis, identified several verbal strategies employed by the participants to persuade their interlocutors about the realness of their suffering. The main strategies …


What Open-Ended Comments Reveal: An Analysis Of A Clinical Translational Science Institute’S Annual Surveys, Linda S. Behar-Horenstein, Xiaoying Feng Aug 2018

What Open-Ended Comments Reveal: An Analysis Of A Clinical Translational Science Institute’S Annual Surveys, Linda S. Behar-Horenstein, Xiaoying Feng

The Qualitative Report

Analyzing open-ended responses can provide insight regarding participants’ experiences or illuminate organizational issues. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively analyze 1096 open-ended responses to a longitudinal survey and report patterns observed across participants. Word frequency, text search and matrix coding were used to analyze the data. Thematic differences were noted by the college group denoting the participant’s primary appointment. Although perceived gaps between expectations and service delivery were expected, participants’ statements pointed out informational inaccuracies or an absence of awareness. The inherent richness and insight of the analysis yielded complexities, otherwise not discernable using quantitative analyses. The …


Opinions As Colors: A Visual Analysis Technique For Modest Focus Group Transcripts, Oladokun -. Omojola -, Oscar Odiboh, Lanre Amodu Aug 2018

Opinions As Colors: A Visual Analysis Technique For Modest Focus Group Transcripts, Oladokun -. Omojola -, Oscar Odiboh, Lanre Amodu

The Qualitative Report

A major concern in focus group research is how transcripts are analyzed. One way of resolving the issues involved is the use of images, in the place of words or numbers, to capture discussion outcomes. This work upgrades the visual perspective and uses colors to represent discussants’ opinions about leadership while the strength of those opinions is illustrated by some levels of transparency of those same colors. This model simplifies the expertise needed by enabling speedy determination of discussants’ submissions even as the transparencies, in the form of shades or tints, reveal the gravity of those submissions.


Different Choices: A Public School Community’S Responses To School Choice Reforms, Amanda U. Potterton Aug 2018

Different Choices: A Public School Community’S Responses To School Choice Reforms, Amanda U. Potterton

The Qualitative Report

In the United States, state and federal reforms increasingly encourage the expansion of school choice policies. Debates about school choice contrast various concepts of freedom and equality with concerns about equity, justice, achievement, democratic accountability, profiting management organizations, and racial and class segregation. Arizona’s “market”-based school choice programs include over 600 charter schools, and the state’s open enrollment practices, public and private school tax credit allowances, and Empowerment Scholarships, (closely related to vouchers), flourish. This qualitative analysis explores one district-run public school and its surrounding community, and I discuss socio-political and cultural tensions related to school choice reforms that exist …


Black Virgin Islands Male High School Dropouts: A Qualitative Study, Edward L. Browne Aug 2018

Black Virgin Islands Male High School Dropouts: A Qualitative Study, Edward L. Browne

The Qualitative Report

The dropout phenomenon involving Black Virgin Islands male high school students residing in the United States Virgin Islands has become a major area of concern for parents, educators, policy makers, and other community stakeholders. However, little is known about the direct or indirect factors that lead many Black Virgin Islands male students to drop out of high school. For the actual study, the researcher used a qualitative phenomenological approach to examine the experiences of seven Black Virgin Islands males who dropped out of high school. The study results revealed seven important themes (a) grade retention, (b) disengagement with school officials, …