Digital Commons Network^™

Netnography: A Method Specifically Designed To Study Cultures And Communities Online, Gary M. Bowler Jr.

The Qualitative Report

With many people now using online communities such as newsgroups, blogs, forums, social networking sites, podcasting, videocasting, photosharing communities, and virtual worlds, the internet is now an important site for research. Kozinets' (2010) new text explores netnography, or the conduct of ethnography over the internet - a method specifically designed to study cultures and communities online. Guidelines for the accurate and ethical conduct of ethnographic research online are set out, with detailed, step-by-step guidance to thoroughly introduce, explain, and illustrate the method to students and researchers. Kozinets surveys the latest research on online cultures and communities, focusing on the methods …

Comprehensive And Clear: A Review Of H. Russell Bernard And G.W. Ryan's Analyzing Qualitative Data: Systematic Approaches, Shelley Victor

The Qualitative Report

In their book Analyzing Qualitative Data: Systematic Approaches, Bernard and Ryan (2010) present a thorough review of qualitative data analysis. Main topic areas include data collection, coding, development of themes, qualitative analysis of words and detailed descriptions of grounded theory, content analysis, and schema analysis. This book is applicable and appropriate for a variety of professionals in the social sciences.

Playbuilding As Qualitative Research: The Play, Ronald J. Chenail

The Qualitative Report

Joe Norris's book on playbuilding can cause readers to think quite differently about qualitative research and plays. His evocative text encourages researchers to engage their inner playwrights and to consider how we perform knowledge and how we mediate data in order to engender novel reactions from our research participants, readers, and ourselves.

Ethnography Essentials: A Review, Robin Cooper

The Qualitative Report

Julian M. Murchison has written a thorough and thoroughly practical resource for the newcomer to ethnography. In his new book, Ethnography Essentials: Designing, Conducting, and Presenting Your Research, he guides the novice ethnographer through the research process from conceptualization through presentation of findings. The text also includes discussion of some of the developments and debates within the field of ethnography.

Handling Qualitative Data: A Review, Diana Riviera

The Qualitative Report

In Handling Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide, Richards (2009) presents the reader with beginner-to-intermediate knowledge of qualitative research and the requirements to develop a successful project. Throughout the text there are boxes of information that capture essential steps or informative pieces that the reader should make note of or make it a point to remember. Richards also reminds the readers that one of the most important parts of research is to start. Procrastination can be the researcher's greatest enemy.

A View From The Inside: An In-Depth Look At A Female University Student's Experience With A Feel-Based Intervention To Enhance Self-Confidence And Self-Talk, Eva Guérin, Isabelle Arcand, Natalie Durand-Bush

The Qualitative Report

The primary goal of this investigation was to document, using the participatory paradigm, a female university student's experience with a feel-based intervention intended to enhance the quality of her academic experiences including her self-confidence and self-talk. In this unique qualitative case study, the student participated in a 15-week intervention that included multiple in-depth interviews and regular journaling, both of which prompted regular self-monitoring and self-reflection. A narrative account illustrates how the student learned to regulate the way she felt through the intervention, leading to increased self-awareness and self-control, as well as enhanced self-talk and self-confidence.

The Analysis Of An Unsuccessful Novice Teacher's Induction Experiences: A Case Study Presented Through Layered Account, Sara Winstead Fry

The Qualitative Report

Although induction support is heralded as an effective way to reduce high attrition among beginning teachers, nationwide increases in induction participation have not been accompanied by a comparable reduction in attrition rates. This inconsistency suggests some induction programs may not provide adequate support. This article presents the results of a case study that explored the experiences of a beginning teacher who left the profession despite participation in an induction program. The research question was: "Why was Stella unsuccessful in her second year of teaching?" The results are presented through the postmodern ethnographic method of layered account (Ronai, 1997). In addition …

Coming In From The Margin: Research Practices, Representation And The Ordinary, Karen P. Greiner

The Qualitative Report

This essay explores issues of marginality and representation in research, which emerged during life history interviews with Tammi, an "ordinary" woman living in Appalachia. I examine how my research practices, namely my thirst for drama and marginality, nearly silenced the preferred stories of the woman who shared her life with me. I contrast Tammi's unique yet quotidian accounts with streams of literature reflecting a tendency to neglect the commonplace by representing residents of Appalachia through tragic or heroic extremes. This essay pairs Tammi's stories with a reflection on what may have become of them had I followed my first impulse …

Embodied Transcription: A Creative Method For Using Voice-Recognition Software, Christine Brooks

The Qualitative Report

Voice-recognition software is designed to be used by one user (voice) at a time, requiring a researcher to speak all of the words of a recorded interview to achieve transcription. Thus, the researcher becomes a conduit through which interview material is inscribed as written word. Embodied Transcription acknowledges performative and interpretative aspects of interview and transcription processes and explores the efficacy of utilizing the researcher's body as an epistemological tool. Influenced by performance art, feminism and postmodernism, the iterative cycles of Embodied Transcription include processes of vocalization and resonation which may foster "knowing in the body," and serve to enrich …

Developing The Art Of Becoming A Couple: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Positive Influence Of Married And Loving It! ®, Barbara D. Petty

The Qualitative Report

Couples can improve their marriages by implementing relationship building skills they learn while participating in a marriage education program. This study addresses how marriages improved as a result of participating in the marriage education program, Married and Loving It!® and what specific components of the learning experience facilitated the change. Using grounded theory methodology, the data collected from 12 participants, six married couples through in depth semi-structured interviews, revealed how participating in Married and Loving It! ® can assist couples in improving their relationships by guiding them through a developmental process. It is through skill development and a greater understanding …

A Synopsis Of Synthesis: A Review Of Major And Savin-Baden's An Introduction To Qualitative Research Synthesis, Christopher W. Smithmyer

The Qualitative Report

This review looks at the book An Introduction to Qualitative Research Synthesis: Managing the Information Explosion in Social Science Research, by Claire Howell Major and Maggi Savin-Baden. Following the format for reviewing a book presented by the University of Alberta (2010), this review analyzes the book by audience, point by point, and then gives a general overview of the reviewer's opinion of the book. The book has several strong features, such as the procedural explanations and the clear defense of criticisms of synthesis, few failings, and presents a strong introduction for several audiences. Overall, this is a book well worth …

"We're Locking The Door": Family Histories In A Sample Of Homeless Youth, Shahid Alvi, Hannah Scott, Wendy Stanyon

The Qualitative Report

It is well known that the pathways to homelessness for young people are embedded in often ongoing negative childhood experiences. Many of these experiences are rooted in multiple and intersecting problems including, but not limited to: family conflict, abuse, addictions, and mental health issues. The authors draw upon qualitative interviews conducted with 15 homeless male and female youth between the ages of 16 and 24 in a suburban area of Southern Ontario, Canada. We describe these young people's perceptions of family experiences and find support for Elliott Currie's (2004) proposition that a broader ethos of individualism and intolerant parenting underpins …

Unquestioned Answers: A Review Of Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods, Dan Wulff

The Qualitative Report

Indigenous research methods offer important considerations for qualitative researchers. The emphasis on relationships over knowledge, participation over expertism, and holism over specialized understandings draw striking distinctions for the researchers invested in honouring their participants. This highly readable and creative book presents research practices that respect the inseparability of research and other practices of living.

Research And Evaluation In Education And Psychology (3rd Ed.) By Donna M. Mertens- A Book Review, Candace H. Lacey

The Qualitative Report

While Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology (3rd ed.) by Donna M. Mertens (2010) is a beginning research text, in many ways it is advanced in its approach to research design. Like any revised edition, much of the material from the earlier editions is in the present edition. What makes this book different is the call to the reader to reflect on a personal understanding of research. This is accomplished through the use of "Expand Your Thinking" blocks within the text. These brief reflections allow researchers to explore their own assumptions and beliefs and consider the impact of self …

The Four Key Factors That Drive Successful Decisions, Joseph Yeager, Linda Sommer

The Qualitative Report

The mechanisms of language operate as the vehicles for motivation, thinking and deciding. Language is a replica, a model, a representational map of reality. In the same way that a flawed roadmap will misrepresent reality and mislead a traveler, a flawed linguistic rationale will mislead a decision maker in any situation. In high-stakes situations that occur in globalized organizations, such as the current economic meltdown, the importance and consequences of flawed linguistic rationales are obvious. Simple suggestions for self examination of linguistic rationales are offered.

Disciplined (Un)Knowing: The Pedagogical Possibilities Of Yogic Research As Praxis, Sarah K. Mackenzie

The Qualitative Report

Within this paper, I seek to engage with the possibilities that may exist when, through a yogic lens, we disrupt those unspoken, but accepted boundaries with/in research and pedagogy that separate art and science, reader and author, student and teacher, knowing and not knowing. Using multiple genres, I explore the practice of researching and the limitations of Truth seeking to create space for dialogue across the text, as reader and writer consider the pedagogical possibilities of letting go within research. In a culture that places a premium on knowing, this work can be uncomfortable, but in the discomfort one may …

Psychotherapeutic Treatment In Combination With Relaxation In A Flotation Tank: Effects On "Burn-Out Syndrome", Anette Kjellgren, Hanne Buhrkall, Torsten Norlander

The Qualitative Report

The focus of this study was to investigate experiences gained from treatment combining relaxation in flotation tank with psychotherapy for sufferers from "burn-out syndrome". Six people participated in a ten week program. They were all interviewed; the data were analyzed using the Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method. Five themes emerged: (a) direct experiences during flotation, (b) effects due to the treatment sessions, (c) psychological transformation, (d) reflections about the treatment program, and (e) demanding and rewarding psychological process over time. All participants went through psychological transformations and improvements in quality of life. At the end of the treatment program, all participants …

Review Of Carolyn Ellis' Book, Revision: Autoethnographic Reflections Of Life And Work, Camille Sutton-Brown

The Qualitative Report

In Revision: Autoethnographic Reflections of Life and Work (2008), Carolyn Ellis demonstrates a striking ability to tell stories while simultaneously interrogating their meanings. Ellis uses autoethnography and meta-autoethnography to write herself and others into stories which connect to issues that extend beyond the particular characters in the stories. This book demonstrates the value that autoethnography can offer to researcher, reader, academia, as well as to community practice. This review introduces the term experiential layering as a way to describe Ellis' revisioning of the stories that she presented in The Ethnographic I.

Focus On Research, Patrick Hardigan

FOCUS On Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Identifying Preconceptions Of Clinical Research In Swiss Allied Health And Nursing Researchers, Christophe Richoz, Jocelyne Depeyre

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: In the context of training health professionals in Switzerland in evidence-based practice, the preconceptions of active researchers might be playing a major role in the development of research methodologies within allied health and nursing professions (AHNP). The objective of this study was to identify the preconceptions (understanding of the meaning of clinical research) of researchers in AHNP at the Health Schools of the University of Applied Sciences, Western Switzerland (UASWS). Emerging theories were then discussed and challenged with available literature and participant profiles. Method: Anonymous semi-directed interviews of 20 researchers (internal and external to the university) arising from various …

Phd Students' Experiences Of Thesis Supervision In Malaysia: Managing Relationships In The Midst Of Institutional Change, Steven Eric Krauss, Ismi Arif Ismail

The Qualitative Report

Despite the plethora of studies that have been conducted on PhD supervision, little qualitative investigation has been conducted with a diverse, non-Western sample of doctoral students in an attempt to understand how the supervisory relationship is experienced. In response, eighteen students from diverse, non-Western backgrounds studying at one Malaysian research university were interviewed. Results illuminated the theme of "management" of the supervisory experience and included two streams:(a) acceptance of the situation, and (b) response to the situation so as to optimize their experience. The two major themes further included four sub-themes that included managing personal relations, time and accessibility constraints, …

A Sex-Based Examination Of Violence And Aggression Perceptions Among Adolescents: An Interactive Qualitative Analysis, Tammy Jordan Wyatt

The Qualitative Report

In this study I examine the critical factors and themes that are identified as salient influencers of overt and relational aggression among youth. Sex differences and similarities associated with such adolescent perceptions are assessed. Forty-eight ethnically diverse youth between the ages of 14 and 16 years participated in sex-specific focus groups and individual interviews. Sex-Specific Systems Influence Diagrams (SID), models of influences and outcomes, were created using the Interactive Qualitative Analysis methods (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004). Study findings suggest that the critical influences on violent and aggressive behavior, peer relationships, popularity, and emotions, are sex-specific. By examining and understanding such …

From Qualitative Dissertation To Quality Articles: Seven Lessons Learned, Glenn A. Bowen

The Qualitative Report

New scholars frequently face an immense challenge in writing papers for publication. Qualitative research novices, in particular, experience frustration in getting peer-reviewed papers published in top-tier journals. This article is a primer on converting a dissertation based on qualitative research into a journal article. It summarizes seven lessons, learned over a five-year period, about getting published. The lessons focus attention on manuscript content and style, the publication process, and working relationships.

Using Qualitative Data To Refine A Logic Model For The Cornell Family Development Credential Program, Betsy Crane

The Qualitative Report

Human service practitioners face challenges in communicating how their programs lead to desired outcomes. One framework for representation that is now widely used in the field of program evaluation is the program logic model. This article presents an example of how qualitative data were used to refine a logic model for the Cornell Family Development Training and Credentialing (FDC) Program. This interagency training program teaches a strengths-based, family support, empowerment-oriented approach to the helping relationship. Analysis of the qualitative data gathered from interviews and focus groups with stakeholders led to revisions and further development of the program's initial logic model. …

Making Meaning Together: An Exploratory Study Of Therapeutic Conversation Between Helping Professionals And Homeless Shelter Residents, Christine A. Walsh, Gayle E. Rutherford, Kristina N. (Ahosaari) Sarafincian, Sabine E. R. Sellmer

The Qualitative Report

This exploratory study examined the nature of therapeutic conversation between helping professionals and homeless persons as an intervention to optimize health. Meaningful conversation occurred in relationships where there was a sense of connection and the presence of rapport. Emergent facilitators of therapeutic conversation included respectful engagement, casual nature of conversation, alternative settings for therapeutic conversation, effective listening, and establishing trust. Barriers included prejudging homeless persons, fear of punishment and authority, and academic and professional intimidation. Central to the study findings was the acknowledgement of the client's personhood. Acknowledgement of personhood is a critical element in engagement between homeless persons and …

The Wiki As A Virtual Space For Qualitative Data Collection, Carolina Castaños, Fred P. Piercy

The Qualitative Report

The authors make a case for using wiki technology in qualitative research. A wiki is an online database that allows users to create, edit, and/or reflect on the content of a web page. Thus, wiki technology can support qualitative research that attempts to understand the shared thinking of participants. To illustrate the use of the wiki for this purpose, we describe how we used wiki technology in one phase of a recent Delphi study.

Picture This: A Review Of Doing Visual Ethnography: Images, Media, And Representation In Research By Sarah Pink, Diana Riviera

The Qualitative Report

In Doing Visual Ethnography: Images, Media, and Representation in Research, Pink (2001) provides the reader with an explanation of an innovative and interesting ethnographic method. She presents two of her research studies as examples. One, of women and bullfighting in Spain, and the other, related to economic inequalities in Guinea Bissau, show the reader the different ways that visual tools can be utilized and manipulated when paired with ethnographic research. She mentions the appropriateness of using photography, video, and hypermedia and why these serve as convenient tools; she also emphasizes the factors that produce the justifiable use for visual ethnography.

Using Qualitative Research To Identify And Address The Unique Needs Of Caregivers Of Persons With Alzheimer's Disease, Breanda K. Wheeler

The Qualitative Report

This paper reviews articles describing qualitative research that explores the unique needs of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Qualitative research methodologies used in these studies include hermeneutic phenomenology, descriptive studies with focus groups, and individual interviews. Researchers identified needs and concerns unique to caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease including the need for knowledge about the disease, care recipient and caregiver issues, resource needs, and coping post-nursing home placement. Suggestions for addressing the needs were given by study participants. Implications for nurses and other professionals working with caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease were addressed. The importance of qualitative …

Simulation In Nursing Education: A Review Of The Research, Pamela G. Sanford

The Qualitative Report

Simulation in education has been used at least since the time of World War II. Simulation in nursing education in the form of static manikins, role playing, CPR manikins, and other techniques has also been utilized as a teaching modality for quite some time. High-fidelity simulation is a relatively new area in nursing education and utilizes high technology simulation monitors and computers. This technology offers new avenues for teaching student nurses scenarios as well as critical thinking and reflection on lived experience and practice. However, the outcome research in the area of high-fidelity simulation in nursing education is limited at …

Restorative Writing: Connecting Adjudicated Students To Local And Global Communities, Cheryl Lynn Duckworth

CAHSS Faculty Presentations, Proceedings, Lectures, and Symposia

Poets and memoirists have known for millennia that the written word can clarify, beautify and heal, as the students of Room 5C often discover. Writing, of course, is also a key tool of peaceful social change. As such, the written word can be where personal and social change, structure and agency, meet in the classroom. Yet how often is this power leveraged in our juvenile detention home schools? How often do we ask juvenile offenders to be critical participants, even leaders, in their communities? Freire would remind us that the problems juvenile offender-students face are themselves the best curriculum.

This …