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“Researcher-As-Instrument” In Qualitative Research: The Complexities Of The Educational Researcher’S Identities, Bogum Yoon Dr., Christine Uliassi

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to reexamine the principle of researcher-as-instrument to provide insights on methodological ways of engaging critically and reflexively. There are few published pieces that have given attention to the complexities of the educational researcher’s identities through the method of critical self-analysis. The researcher’s nine published case studies were critically reanalyzed by using the criteria of excellent qualitative research such as rich rigor to examine the relationship between the researcher’s identities and the quality of qualitative research. The findings suggest that the researcher’s published studies lack sincerity most among other criteria. The layered identities of the …

Improvising: A Grounded Theory Investigation Of Psychology Students' Level Of Anxiety, Coping, Communicative Skills, Imagination, And Spontaneity, Olga Temezhnikova

The Qualitative Report

The aim of this study was to gain insight into the phenomenon of improvisation, how it is manifested in communication, and to conceptualize the process of improvisation in general. I aimed to construct a model for use in teaching and further analysis of training programs that target and develop improvisation skills in communication. The ability to communicate is part and parcel of psychologists’ work. I develop and supervise interactive classes and training programs to promote improvisation and communication skills, using the grounded theory of improvisation in communication under conditions of high uncertainty. The improvisation sessions were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed. …

The Lively Science: A Book Review, Ashley N. Schmidt, Megan K. Mitchell

The Qualitative Report

A book review on The Lively Science by Michael Agar, published in 2021. In this review, we examine the three underlying points around which Agar structures the book, then appraise the book from our lens as novice female researchers. We end the review by sharing a reading guide novice researchers could use to document their reading and understandings.

Storying Ways To Reflect On Power, Contestation, And Yarning Research Method Application, Cammi Murrup-Stewart Dr, Petah Atkinson, Karen Adams Professor

The Qualitative Report

Internationally within academia settler-colonial processes occur in various ways alongside a growth in the use of research methods conceived with Indigenous knowledges. However, most research environments and practices are built upon and privilege dominant non-Indigenous settler-colonial knowledge systems. It is within this power imbalance and contested space that Yarning research method is being applied and interpreted. Underpinned by an Indigenous Research Paradigm, we employed storying ways to examine researcher experiences of settler-colonialism and the Yarning research method. The story outlines challenges and pitfalls that researchers can fall into and critically examines how researchers can fail to recognise the depth of …

Exploring Ghanaian Adolescent Sexual And Reproductive Health (Srh) Information Source(S): A Qualitative Approach, Daniel Edem Adzovie, Rita Holm Adzovie

The Qualitative Report

Adolescents require information on several issues including sexual and reproductive health (SRH), which most of them receive from numerous sources. The study explored the kinds of SRH information sources adolescents in Ghana are exposed to and the source(s) which serve as their trusted one(s) vis-à-vis reasons given for trusting their sources. Using the Qualitative method of inquiry, the authors employed purposive and snowball sampling techniques to sample and interview twenty-one (n=21) adolescents (female and male) of the university of Cape Coast, Ghana. Results revealed that parents, especially mothers, are the most trusted sources of SRH information to adolescents in Ghana. …

Developing A Sexual Health Consent Strategy For Refugees: A Qualitative Approach, Amita Tuteja, Elisha Riggs, Lena Sanci, Lester Mascarenhas, Anna Power, Di Vanvliet, Katrina Sangster, Kimberley Mcguinness, Meredith Temple-Smith

The Qualitative Report

We report the development of a strategy for obtaining a truly voluntary and informed consent for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) research with Burma-born refugees settled in Australia. Using a qualitative descriptive research design, we interviewed 29 providers of refugee services (PRS) including health care professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives), bilingual supporting staff (interpreters, social workers, settlement workers, community liaison officers) and administrative staff (practice managers, reception staff) who provide primary care services to refugees. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and subjected to thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: (a) unique values of Burma-born people, (b) unfamiliarity with Western concepts of research, …

“If I Were To Suffer A Stroke Right Now, The First Place That I Should Be Taken To Is The Traditional Healer”: Community Beliefs And Health-Seeking Practices For Noncommunicable Diseases In Rural Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Herbert Chikafu, Innocent Tinashe Mutero Dr., Moses John Chimbari Prof.

The Qualitative Report

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The burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases in rural South Africa is exacerbated by delayed health-seeking. This study explored awareness, beliefs and health-seeking behaviour relating to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases in Ingwavuma, a poor rural community in the uMkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Eight gender and age-stratified Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were conducted in isiZulu using a pre-tested FGD guide with seventy-six participants. Thematic analysis was done to discern views on access to care for noncommunicable diseases. Findings revealed limited awareness of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular-related disease burden. The community practices medical plurality, and consultation with traditional healers …

I’M Interested In Autoethnography, But How Do I Do It?, Robin Cooper, Bruce V. Lilyea

The Qualitative Report

Autoethnography is one of the qualitative research methodologies that remains somewhat mysterious to many scholars. While the use of autoethnography has expanded across numerous fields, it can be difficult to find much guidance about the procedures involved in conducting an autoethnography. Recognizing both the flexibility and creativity inherent in autoethnography, as well as the need for rigor in achieving meaningful research results, we offer in this article some suggestions and reflections regarding the process of conducting an autoethnography – from developing the research question to reporting the findings. These recommendations draw from both narrative and ethnographic research methodologies, as well …

Political-Pedagogical Character Of The Collective Actions Of The Popular Bars, Magda Victoria Díaz Alzate Sra, Juan Pablo Menjura Acosta Sr, Maria Clara Fonseca Echeverri Sra

The Qualitative Report

Barrismo is a complex phenomenon and cannot be defined universally. Social representation is based on deficient conceptions that relate it to the use of psychoactive substances and violence. This article presents qualitative research evidence based on the epistemological assumptions of social constructionism, a hermeneutical phenomenological design and the use of qualitative interview and documentary and audiovisual review, to understand the political-pedagogical character of the collective actions of the popular bars of the city of Medellín, Colombia, as practices that contribute to the transformation of the territories. Categories found: i. Bars as popular movements: transition from the brave bar to the …

Identification Of Needs Of Community Schools Of Kavre, Nepal For Educational Improvement, Roshani Rajbanshi, Parbati Dhungana, Bal Luitel

The Qualitative Report

Needs assessment is a method to find out the current needs of the school that can be considered for providing quality education to the students. This paper presents the needs of five community schools intending to bring changes in the school community. Thus, this paper aims to identify the needs of the five community schools of Kavre, Nepal, and recommend possible interventions. In-depth interviews, observations, and focus group discussions with different stakeholders provided rich data for this study. School-specific needs were identified from the data based on which recommendations are made for intervention, which are: Teacher professional development, contextualized curriculum, …

Qualitative Insider Research In A Government Institution: Reflections On A Study Of Policy Capacity, Bobby Cameron

The Qualitative Report

Embarking on a qualitative Ph.D. research project in public administration is often daunting for novice researchers. For those students who consider adopting an emic or insider approach for their research, the ethical, methodological, and analytical challenges that lay ahead may seem insurmountable at times. In this article, I reflect on my experience as a Ph.D. student completing qualitative research with my colleagues to study policy capacity in a provincial government in Canada. I review how I constructed an ethical framework by integrating policy from Research Ethics Boards and government. Throughout the article, I deal primarily with ethical considerations and the …

Work Environment And The Teacher: A Qualitative Case Study Of Public Secondary Schools In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Edomgenet Hiba Issa

The Qualitative Report

This study examined the nexus between the public secondary school teacher and his/her work environment. To capture the nature and substance of this nexus, the study was mainly directed towards answering the following two research questions: Which attributes of work environment matter most to the public secondary school teacher? And why do they matter? The study was conducted on teachers in public secondary schools of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It adopted a qualitative case study design where data were collected through semi-structured interviews and then analyzed using a thematic analysis technique. The results show that basic school facilities, teacher-principal and teacher-student …

English Language Learning Through Non-Technology Games: A Case Study Of International Students At A Lithuanian University, Nagaletchimee Annamalai, Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan, Radzuwan Ab Rashid, Giedre Valunaite Oleskevicience, Vilhelmina Vaičiūnienė

The Qualitative Report

Research on gamified language learning often involves the use of digital games. Little is known about the use of non-technology games in promoting language learning despite their accessibility. This paper aims to fill in this lacuna by providing insights into international students’ engagement in non-technology gamified English language learning in the context of a Lithuanian university. The research, which used a case study approach as its methodology, involved a total of 30 international students at a Lithuanian university together with their two instructors. They were observed for two weeks, and then interviewed by the researchers. An inductive thematic analysis approach …

The Meaning Of Rebo Buntung For Pringgabaya Villager, East Lombok During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Dharmika Ida Bagus, Gede Yoga Kharisma Pradana Dr.

The Qualitative Report

Rebo Buntung is a Sasak cultural tradition performed on the island of Lombok in Indonesia, primarily aimed at preventing disasters. Although the government warned people in Lombok to engage in social distancing and to reduce activities outside to reduce the risk of infection associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Rebo Buntung was carried out by Sasak people amid the pandemic. This purpose of this paper is to describe results from qualitative research, framed within religious theory and structural-functional theory, that explore the meaning of Rebo Bunting in the village of Pringgabaya, East Lombok and its role during the COVID-19 Pandemic. For …

Poetic Voice In The Research: A Social Sciences Exploration In Verse, Jason D. Dehart

The Qualitative Report

This article doubles down on the notion of poetry as a vehicle for expression in qualitative research. Following from the work of Cahnmann (2003), Stenhouse (2014), and Lahman et al. (2010), and drawing from additional inspiration including Clandinin and Connelly (2000) and Kuhn (2012), the author constructs the argument for poetic voice in research in the form of a series of poetic interplay with research concepts. The article makes the case that rich sources of data may be found in alternative representations of findings, and research questions and the people who are invited to research projects should influence researchers' choices …

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 …

What Is In It For Me? Challenges Associated With Recruiting Participants For A Study Focusing On Informal Workers: A Reflection From Fieldwork Conducted In Nigeria, Funmilayo Juliana Afolabi

The Qualitative Report

This article presents the challenges a social scientist can encounter in studying workers in an informal sector. It is written from a doctoral researcher's perspective and draws on her fieldwork experience among informal automobile artisans in Osun State, Nigeria. The paper intends to share insights into navigating the challenges in conducting social inquiry among workers in the informal sector for fruitful outcomes. Particular attention is paid to some of the more common challenges researchers may encounter when conducting research in the informal sector. These challenges include project entry, participant recruitment, and retention. This article concludes with suggestions which researchers can …

The Importance Of Explicit And Timely Knowledge Exchange Practices Stemming From Research With Indigenous Families, Elizabeth J. Cooper, S Michelle Driedger

The Qualitative Report

Ethical research practice within community-based research involves many dimensions, including a commitment to return results to participants in a timely and accessible fashion. Often, current Indigenous community-based research is driven by a partnership model; however, dissemination of findings may not always follow this approach. As a result, products may not be as useful to participants who were motivated to be involved in the research process. We conducted a seven-week workshop on three occasions with different First Nations and Metis women and girls (age 8-12) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The workshop explored participants’ perspectives around health, safety, and family wellbeing using a …

Conducting Field Work With Microfinance Programs’ Participants In A Non-Western Setting: A Reflexive Account, Mohammad Shahjahan Chowdhury

The Qualitative Report

While volumes of procedural guidelines are available on how to conduct fieldwork, in practice a researcher encounters various challenges and dilemmas in the field. This paper presents a holistic view of the puzzles this researcher encountered in gaining access, negotiating positionality, application of the pre-determined methodology, and ensuring ethics during his fieldwork with microfinance program participants in a non-Western setting. This paper contributes to the fieldwork literature by enhancing a researcher’s understanding of the unanticipated challenges.

A Crack In The Looking-Glass Self: Hearing And Socialization, Grace Keyes

The Qualitative Report

A significant problem of classic theories of socialization, such as Cooley’s looking-glass self, is that such theories fail to consider biological factors such as hearing in the process of socialization. To address this problem, I raised a two-pronged question: how does deafness affect social interactions upon which much of socialization is dependent and can the experiences of one person’s lifelong socialization help uncover limitations of a classic theory of socialization? The key study participant in this instrumental case study is an individual with moderately severe hearing loss and whose lifelong experiences were collected primarily through ethnographic field techniques. Findings from …

“The Lunchroom Is Dirty And The Food Is Nasty”: Ethical Dilemmas In Conducting Qualitative Food Studies Research In Detroit And New York City Public Schools, Sophia Rodriguez, John Lupinacci, Kristen Goessling

The Qualitative Report

In this article, reflecting critically on past school food studies and considering the landscape of qualitative methods, notably youth participatory action research methodologies, the authors share methodological suggestions for centering social justice and sustainability with the lived experience of youth by drawing on their critical qualitative research in Detroit and New York City public schools. We advance an analytic framework that aims to center youth voices and solutions to social problems such as food justice and equity. To this end we call for attention to human rights, youth participatory research, and relational ethics as part of our intention to center …

Investigating The Memorization Of The Quran Using The Grounded Theory Methodology, Nikhat Parveen

The Qualitative Report

Grounded theory methodology was utilized to investigate the process of memorization of the Quran in India from a psychological perspective as it occurs in the absence of semantic comprehension of the Arabic language. Data collection methods included participant observation in a seminary, semi-structured interviews with students and teachers of memorization, study of documents employed during the learning process, and practical demonstrations. Sample comprised of thirteen individuals including students and teachers. Data coding and analyses resulted in a large number of open codes, and eleven axial code categories besides a selective code that gave a comprehensive summation of the research study …

Identity Transformation Through Substance Use Disorder Recovery: Introducing The Six Stage Model, Naomi Watkins, Austin Mcneill Brown, Kayce Courson

The Qualitative Report

Narratives of substance use disorder recovery experience can provide useful qualitative conceptual categories and novel theories about the way in which recovery is experienced by individuals. This information can better inform definitions, concepts, and supports for recovery processes. The current study reviewed 30 written personal recovery biographies which were contained within student applications to the collegiate recovery program housed in the Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery at Kennesaw State University. Using grounded theory methodology, common benchmarks, or topographic recovery features were revealed involving the evolution of identity as an inter-negotiated process throughout the addiction and recovery biographies (Charmaz, …

Puhi In The Tree And Other Stories: Unlocking The Metaphor In Native And Indigenous Hawaiian Storytelling, Renuka M. De Silva, Joshua E. Hunter

The Qualitative Report

Human beings live and tell stories for many reasons, and it is a way to not only understand one another but to give a time and place to events and experiences. Therefore, a narrational approach within the context of this research offers a frame of reference and a way to reflect during the entire process of gathering data and writing. This study examines the importance of storytelling among Native (Kānaka ‘Ōiwi) and Indigenous (Kānaka Maoli) women of Hawai ̒ i and their interconnectedness to land and spirituality through accessing [k]new knowledge. The main focus of this article is to illustrate …

Questioning Standards Of Evaluation In Educational Research: Do Educational Researchers Ventriloquize Learners’ Voices In L2 Education?, Anastasia A. Boldireff

The Qualitative Report

Learners are not stakeholders in their own education. Adhering to the quantitative gold standard in English as a Second Language (ESL) deprives the learner from having a voice in their learning process. This paper addresses voicelessness and ventriloquism in ESL, ventriloquism referring to the act of voicing the thoughts of another person, in this case the system overriding the learners’ experiences. This article addresses this problem, aligning itself with the Platinum standard while challenging the quantitative gold standard in ESL research. This paper offers resonance and semantic reliability as evaluative measures in educational research taken from literary criticism. The notion …

Systematic Visuo-Textual Analysis: A Framework For Analysing Visual And Textual Data, Nicole Brown, Jo Collins

The Qualitative Report

As qualitative research has evolved, researchers now often combine interviews with the production of photographs, artefacts, collages, maps or drawings and the like. However, in practice, the artefacts produced are used to eliciting experiences and stimulating conversations rather than as data, per se, which is often due to the lack of guidelines for how to deal with the artefacts as data in a systematic analytical process. In this article, we present the Systematic Visuo-Textual Analysis, a framework developed to provide much-needed support for qualitative researchers in analysing artefacts in combination with interviews. Drawing on existing frameworks for visual and textual …

Exploring Authentic Leadership Through Leadership Journey Of Gandhi, Beena Prakash Nair Ms., Prasad T Dr., Shreekumar K. Nair Dr.

The Qualitative Report

Leadership research will benefit from bringing in the subjective realities of becoming a leader by considering the leadership journey. Generating an understanding of how leaders turn episodes in time into meaningful subjective narratives helps shed light on the meaning-making process. We seek in this inquiry to understand self-awareness with a narrative meaning-making process. In this study, we adopt a narrative research approach for analyzing the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, who is widely acknowledged as an authentic leader. The study explores individual experiences of becoming a leader and factors leading to the manifestation of authentic leadership behaviour as well as followers’ …

Encounters At Manuscript Preparation: Inquiry In Conflict’S Aftermath, Stephen T. Sadlier

The Qualitative Report

This exercise of the researcher self explores relationships materializing in manuscript preparation, suggests that conflict-site research is more of a social and affective experience, from proposal to manuscript preparation, than most researchers realize. Outside of clinical and ameliorative approaches, little educational research focuses on ongoing, unresolved conflict. Even less sheds light on the experience of the conflict-site researcher. Here, I show how texts of other conflict-site writers accompanied my process of manuscript preparation, just as activist teachers I observed during the field work phase stood among peers when protesting and facing police repression. Correspondingly, I discuss an intertextual approach of …

An Autoethnographic Self-Study Navigating The Transition To Becoming A Stem Teacher Educator, Miriam Hamilton Dr

The Qualitative Report

This paper reports on a self-study where I take an autoethnographic stance in narrating my cultural origins, trajectory and identities as a teacher turned teacher educator working in the field of education in Ireland. Using self-study, I explore how my habitus has influenced my experiences of being a biology teacher at second level to teaching STEM education on initial teacher education programmes. Autoethnographic self-study is the hybrid approach used to describe and systematically analyse my experiences and learning as I struggle with a transitioning identity. The integrated use of both self-study and autoethnographic approaches enabled a deepened understanding of my …

Navigating The Drinking Self: A Qualitative Study Of Beer Consumption Among The Working-Poor In Botswana, Tebogo B. Sebeelo, Linda L. Belgrave

The Qualitative Report

Alcohol consumption studies in sub-Saharan Africa have largely focused on social control and regulatory mechanisms in specific settings without particular reference to how drinkers negotiate and navigate their drinking selves. Existing studies do not give enough attention to how consumers enact, make sense and experience drinking in light of state regulatory efforts. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach among twenty (20) beer drinkers, this study identifies how beer drinkers in Botswana experienced alcohol. Our findings demonstrate a theoretical category of Negotiating the Drinking Self where beer drinkers constructed and enacted a drinking self throughout the life-course, from the point of …