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Real Projects, Virtual Worlds: Coworkers, Their Avatars, And The Trust Conundrum, Michael F. Lohle, Steven R. Terrell Feb 2014

Real Projects, Virtual Worlds: Coworkers, Their Avatars, And The Trust Conundrum, Michael F. Lohle, Steven R. Terrell

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study informs project managers of the impact that the authentic projection of coworker identity via avatars has on trust and potential project management success when teams use virtual worlds to collaborate. By exploring the common experiences and reactions of potential virtual team participants to a demonstration that showed how to customize avatars and use them to communicate with others, it facilitated the development of a grounded theory that confirms whether the projection of authenticity via avatars is an antecedent of team trust and real project management success. Real management success was the main objective, since it is vital …


Anchoring Identity In Faith: Narrative Of An Anglo-Asian Muslimah In Britain, Imran Mogra Jan 2014

Anchoring Identity In Faith: Narrative Of An Anglo-Asian Muslimah In Britain, Imran Mogra

The Qualitative Report

This article is based on a narrative of an Anglo-Asian Muslimah, studying in a prominent university in the city of Birmingham, England. The trainee teacher was a suitable candidate for my research for the additional characteristics, which she had. She was born as a Muslimah in England, she was neither totally Asian nor English in reality; she was the daughter of a Pakistani mother and an English father. Using narrative analysis, several key themes, such as family, friendship, and cultural practices, emerged. These themes shed light about her life experiences. Significantly, she reveals the important influence of Islam and faith …


Deciphering Babel: Dis/Locations Of The Professional Self And The Second Language Curriculum, Sandra R. Barros Dec 2013

Deciphering Babel: Dis/Locations Of The Professional Self And The Second Language Curriculum, Sandra R. Barros

The Qualitative Report

In the following (auto) ethnographic study, I draw from Burdick’s (2012) analogy of qualitative research as “auto - archeology” and from parrhesia (Foucault, 1988) as a rhetorical device of self - definition and preservation to explore the interplay of power and identity within the context of second language education discourses. Specifically, I focus on the ways in which, through the creation of particular performative strategies, two educators working within the context of Liberal Arts institutions negotiate, construct and resist the everyday pressures and implied prejudices often associated with the curriculum and instruction of second languages in the United States. I …


Empowering Indigenous Community Through Community Radio: A Case Study From Nepal, Sudhamshu Dahal, I. Arul Aram Oct 2013

Empowering Indigenous Community Through Community Radio: A Case Study From Nepal, Sudhamshu Dahal, I. Arul Aram

The Qualitative Report

The recently won People’s Democracy ( Loktantra ) in Nepal has transpired a contested yet ever demanding platform furthering rights and identity movements. The availability of alternative voices through community radios is a space to emancipate the identity movement towards indigenous empowerment and asserting their respectful and equitable entry in to “ New Nepal .” Within the theoretical framework of identity and democracy this research is based on the study of community radios as “ case study organizations .” We have used media ethnography and media text analysis including the observation to both corroborate and contradict with the participants’ understandings …


(Un)Stable Space(S): An Ethnography Of A (Sometimes) Gay Bar, Andrea M. Davis Aug 2013

(Un)Stable Space(S): An Ethnography Of A (Sometimes) Gay Bar, Andrea M. Davis

The Qualitative Report

Using ethnography, I studied the ways in which space was created at a nightclub with a once a week Drag Night. The history of the space (each night building on the night before for years and years) created stability for the nightclub that remained regardless of the individuals within it. Drag Night, however, did not reap the benefits of that stability. Despite site - specific (read theme - night specific) normative performances in the space, the social space was altered through individual performances as well as rules associated with the club.


An Exploration Of Positive Identity Development In Women Living With Chronic Pain, Hillary Sharpe, Sandra Collins Apr 2013

An Exploration Of Positive Identity Development In Women Living With Chronic Pain, Hillary Sharpe, Sandra Collins

The Qualitative Report

We explored the concept of living positively with chronic pain using a mixed - methods design that relied primarily on hermeneutic phenomenology. Ten women described their experiences of developing a positive identity while contending with chronic pain. Throughout their journeys, the women interviewed experienced a number of key themes including: the sense of being separate from their bodies, the failure of the biomedical system, and the creation of support networks. Three major categories emerged from the data: (a) Before Diagnosis , (b) Redefinition of Self, and (c) Moving Forward. The implications for healthcare providers and the limitations of this study …


Hand - I Coordination: Interpreting Student Writings And Drawings As Expressions Of Identity, Inda Schaenen Mar 2013

Hand - I Coordination: Interpreting Student Writings And Drawings As Expressions Of Identity, Inda Schaenen

The Qualitative Report

In schools where curricular constraints and testing pressures narrow the ways in which students can take up identities as writers, longterm enrichment programs offer opportunities for the meaningful design of compositions. This paper, which presents the work of four elementary student participants in a writing workshop, shows how qualitative inquiry -- in particular critical multimodal analysis -- can enable a teacher researcher to see, interpret, and explain what might be going on in the writings and drawings of students, and how these illuminations help establish and expand the identities of students as writers. I focus especially on the work of …


Influences Of Training And Personal Experiences On Counselor Trainees' Glbt Ally Development: A Case Stud, Shannon L. Lynch, Rick A. Bruhn, Richard C. Henrikson Jan 2013

Influences Of Training And Personal Experiences On Counselor Trainees' Glbt Ally Development: A Case Stud, Shannon L. Lynch, Rick A. Bruhn, Richard C. Henrikson

The Qualitative Report

The goal of this multiple case study was to investigate straight counseling students’ perceptions of their preparation to work with GLBT clients. For this study, semi - structured interviews were conducted with six straight counselor education students from two universities. Pattern matching analysis revealed that students with significant exposure to GLBT individuals, as well as those who believed their training provided adequate preparation for GLBT counseling, were more likely to adopt a GLBT - affirmative identity and to experience greater self - efficacy about counseling with GLBT individuals. In addition, thematic analysis revealed seven themes of participants’ experiences that fell …


The Influence Of Informal Music Education In Teacher Formation: An Autoethnography, Rohan Nethsinghe Dec 2012

The Influence Of Informal Music Education In Teacher Formation: An Autoethnography, Rohan Nethsinghe

The Qualitative Report

In this paper I explore how my musical background, teaching skills, understanding and knowledge as well as music-making abilities and skills, have formed my current self as musician, teacher and researcher. An autoethnographical method is used to investigate my background, including the different modes of music education I received. From this qualitative study, it was possible to find that my interests along with the methods of interpretations I practice in the field of multicultural music are influenced by and formulated through my appreciation and understandings of and beliefs gained from education. Most importantly, they are shaped by the social context, …


Practicing The Four Seasons Of Ethnography Methodology While Searching For Identity In Mexico, Margaret Jane Pitts Oct 2012

Practicing The Four Seasons Of Ethnography Methodology While Searching For Identity In Mexico, Margaret Jane Pitts

The Qualitative Report

This narrative is an account of my field experiences and challenges practicing González’s (2000) Four Seasons of Ethnography methodology in Mexico City. I describe the complexities and tensions inherent in managing two scientific paradigms: Western scientific logic vs. a more organic ontology. The experiential knowledge produced in this text is useful to ethnographers who face questions of identity and ethics in the field. To evoke a sense of experience, I represent the ethnography for the reader in the way it unfolded for me—sometimes painful, other times insightful, oftentimes both. This dual text exposes my struggles as emergent ethnographer grappling with …


The Unfolding Of Methodological Identity: An Autobiographical Study Using Humor, Competing Voices, And Twists, James A. Bernauer Aug 2012

The Unfolding Of Methodological Identity: An Autobiographical Study Using Humor, Competing Voices, And Twists, James A. Bernauer

The Qualitative Report

This article explores my journey from quantitative to qualitative researcher, including the effects this journey has had on my identity as well as on those whom I previously referred to as “subjects”. “Identity” is examined from both an historical as well as from a self-dialogical, autobiographical perspective. Eleven “twists” that mark turning points and detours describe this journey, and this paper employs “voices” that offer contextual background and contradictory advice on the road towards methodological identity. These twists describe experiences as both teacher and student and readers are invited to join in this retrospective reflection in order to experience insights …


From “Bitch” To “Mentor”: A Doctoral Student’S Story Of Self-Change And Mentoring, Brian T. Gearity, Norma Mertz Jul 2012

From “Bitch” To “Mentor”: A Doctoral Student’S Story Of Self-Change And Mentoring, Brian T. Gearity, Norma Mertz

The Qualitative Report

For several reasons, the process of writing and completing the doctoral dissertation has been identified as the most frequent road block for many promising scholars. The goal of this study is to help improve doctoral student dissertation completion by focusing on the crucial, central concerns of effective student writing, faculty mentoring, and the student-advisor relationship. Using an experimental, evocative autoethnographic approach, the following study shows the struggles and successes of a doctoral student managing himself, the university, “life”, and most importantly, his doctoral dissertation chair. The findings weave together strategies from storytelling (e.g., plot, characters, and scene) with the personal …


Insurrectionary Womanliness: Gender And The (Boxing) Ring, Melanie Joy Mcnaughton Apr 2012

Insurrectionary Womanliness: Gender And The (Boxing) Ring, Melanie Joy Mcnaughton

The Qualitative Report

Integrating sociological theory on sport with Judith Butler’s concept of insurrectionary speech, the author explores why and how womanliness is produced and problematized. In particular, this article investigates how participating in combat sport violates conventional womanliness by foregrounding physical capability and aggression. Using her identity as a female fighter as a starting point to engage the cultural construction of womanliness, the author connects a critical/cultural look at gender and sport with autoethnography.


Intersectionality Of Ethno-Cultural Identities And Construal Of Distant Suffering Outgroups, Marek Palasinski, Jackie Abell, Mark Levine Feb 2012

Intersectionality Of Ethno-Cultural Identities And Construal Of Distant Suffering Outgroups, Marek Palasinski, Jackie Abell, Mark Levine

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we explore how white Catholic men talk about the indirect dilemma of non-intervention for black ethnic outgroups. We illustrate how they mobilise global categorisation (all humanity) and use various forms of denial to deal with their non-involvement. Having analyzed representative fragments of their prejudice avoidance talk, we conclude with some observation about the strategic deployment of categories and denial forms as part of identity management talk. In contrast to quantitative research that oversimplifies the ingroup-outgroup distinction, we show how the status and outgroupness levels of the needy appear to be both flexible and intricate, which depends on …


Themes Of Identity: An Auto-Ethnographical Exploration, Peruvemba S. Jaya May 2011

Themes Of Identity: An Auto-Ethnographical Exploration, Peruvemba S. Jaya

The Qualitative Report

The study is focused on understanding identity construction through combining my own experience with the theoretical underpinnings of postcolonial theory, social identity theory and through the examination of two films. The central question that I am interested in is understanding the identity construction and formation process especially as it relates to individuals who have crossed borders and immigrated or moved to countries other than their home countries. The methodology I am employing is auto-ethnography; I am integrating this by using two films as sites of inquiry. Through this introspective, reflection combined with the theoretical framework of identity I uncover themes …


Autoethnography As A Never-Ending Story: A Review Of Guyana Diaries: Women’S Lives Across Difference, Laurie L. Charles Nov 2008

Autoethnography As A Never-Ending Story: A Review Of Guyana Diaries: Women’S Lives Across Difference, Laurie L. Charles

The Qualitative Report

The proliferation of autoethnographies offers scholars and writers multiple opportunities to consider the various methods of authorial positioning in qualitative research inquiry. In this article, I review Guyana Diaries: Women's Lives across Difference, by Kimberly D. Nettles, while reflecting my own choices as an autoethnographic author. Autoethnographic writing is presented as a 'never-ending story,' which may have lasting, transformative effects on those who produce it