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The Qualitative Report

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Making A Case For New Directions In English Language Teaching Research At An Omani University: A Critical Qualitative Content Analysis Report, Ali S. M. Al-Issa May 2015

Making A Case For New Directions In English Language Teaching Research At An Omani University: A Critical Qualitative Content Analysis Report, Ali S. M. Al-Issa

The Qualitative Report

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has been the sole English Language Teaching (ELT) research enterprise in the Sultanate of Oman through the Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Curriculum and Methods of Teaching English degree program it launched in the early 1990s. Eighty-two theses have been completed so far about topics pertinent to ELT in the Sultanate of Oman. However, a review of those theses has shown that the discussion of these topics lacks a critical dimension that can advance Omani ELT at the micro and macro levels. This critical qualitative study, therefore, sets out to make a case for new directions …


Deciphering The Distance Between Distance Education And Working Professionals In Difficult Geographies, Jatin Pandey, Manjari Singh May 2015

Deciphering The Distance Between Distance Education And Working Professionals In Difficult Geographies, Jatin Pandey, Manjari Singh

The Qualitative Report

This study investigates the factors that draw working professionals towards distance education programs, and the factors that sustain their distance education experience. The study is conducted in difficult terrains of Uttarakhand, a hilly state in India which helps us investigate the phenomenon in difficult geographies. Through interviews of ten working professionals in this difficult geography these factors are deduced and a conceptual model is then developed. We also tried to find theoretical linkages to the factors identified. The findings are of value to distance educators and students alike.


Seeking A Research Method To Study Women Who Have Recovered From Trauma And Addiction That Combines Feminist Theory, Somatic Theory, Alternative Forms Of Representation, And Social Justice, Sharon N. Stopforth May 2015

Seeking A Research Method To Study Women Who Have Recovered From Trauma And Addiction That Combines Feminist Theory, Somatic Theory, Alternative Forms Of Representation, And Social Justice, Sharon N. Stopforth

The Qualitative Report

The following paper attempts to find an approach to research that will best suit women who have recovered from addictions and trauma and consider themselves resilient. This approach will need to combine contemporary feminist theory, somatic theory, and alternative forms of representation/interpretation. The paper will begin by exploring the connection between postmodern feminist theory and somatic theory and what they both have to say about how we embody social conditions of gender through non-verbal interactions. Research will then be examined that captures the non-verbal aspects of being in the world and how this intersects with the postmodern turn. Finally, in …


Life History Of Women With Fibromyalgia: Beyond The Illness, Barbara Gonzalez, Telmo M. Baptista, Jaime C. Branco May 2015

Life History Of Women With Fibromyalgia: Beyond The Illness, Barbara Gonzalez, Telmo M. Baptista, Jaime C. Branco

The Qualitative Report

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome, which mostly affects middle age women and whose etiological factors remain unclear. Psychosocial aspects may have a relevant role as predisposing, triggering, and/or perpetuating factors for this syndrome, raising the interest about life history of patients with fibromyalgia. In this study, we interviewed 10 women with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, who had identified a critical or very stressful life event before the onset of the syndrome. The interview about the life history comprises the whole life, before and after the onset of the syndrome, and the narratives were analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Nine …


Privilege In A Police Car: The Story Of My Unresolved Ride-Along, Anita L. Bright May 2015

Privilege In A Police Car: The Story Of My Unresolved Ride-Along, Anita L. Bright

The Qualitative Report

This paper focuses on the events of a Friday evening in the winter of 2012 wherein I went on a police “ride-along” and accompanied a police officer as he went through the normal duties of his shift in a medium-sized city in the Pacific Northwest. During our time together, the officer arrested a 16-year old boy, and had him admitted to the local juvenile detention center. The officer also arrested an adult male who, during the process of being arrested, injured the officer such that the officer required medical attention. Additionally, I witnessed another officer performing an analysis of a …


The Fifty-Year Ethnographer: A Review Of Harry Wolcott's Ethnography Lessons: A Primer, Denise Mifsud May 2015

The Fifty-Year Ethnographer: A Review Of Harry Wolcott's Ethnography Lessons: A Primer, Denise Mifsud

The Qualitative Report

“Harry Wolcott uses fifty years of experience to take the reader inside the process of constructing an ethnographic study, offering a wealth of lessons from one of the masters of the genre”. This is indeed a concise description by the publisher. The text is constructed around the author’s five major studies. Wolcott thus gives a unique contribution to the field of ethnography as he presents some critical components of ethnography in his desire to share with us readers the results of his career-long search for the essence of ethnography. The book is divided into eight chapters. I give a critical …


Through The Looking Glass Space To New Ways Of Knowing: A Personal Research Narrative, Gabrielle Brand Apr 2015

Through The Looking Glass Space To New Ways Of Knowing: A Personal Research Narrative, Gabrielle Brand

The Qualitative Report

This article describes how writing personal research narratives during my doctoral research journey challenged my role as a health professional and my personal beliefs and values in fundamental ways. In qualitative narrative inquiry, the reflexive account of the research experience is a key element in conducting ethical, rigorous, and meaningful forms of qualitative research. However, as a novice researcher, I was unprepared for the unlearning journey I experienced during the research process. This uncomfortable experience cut to the core of my identity by dismantling unexamined belief and value systems that lay dormant and hidden from my everyday consciousness as a …


Factors Affecting Employee Engagement In India: A Study On Offshoring Of Financial Services, Manish Gupta, Shirshendu Ganguli, Abhilash Ponnam Apr 2015

Factors Affecting Employee Engagement In India: A Study On Offshoring Of Financial Services, Manish Gupta, Shirshendu Ganguli, Abhilash Ponnam

The Qualitative Report

The objective of this study is to explore factors that affect employee engagement in financial offshore organizations in India. Sixty employees involved in offshoring financial services were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data collected in the study. Three main themes were identified: (1) implicit benefits, (2) organizational culture and (3) organizational policies. The findings of this study are important due to their practical implications. First, the factors will encourage employers to make more employee friendly policies, and second, by resolving the employee issues raised in this paper, it is anticipated that the employers will be able to enhance …


A Constructivist Study Of Graduate Assistants' Healthcare Experiences In A Research University, Uttam Gaulee, Brenda Lee, Douglas Whitaker, Natalie Khoury Ridgewell, Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, Dayna M. Watson, Colleen Butcher Apr 2015

A Constructivist Study Of Graduate Assistants' Healthcare Experiences In A Research University, Uttam Gaulee, Brenda Lee, Douglas Whitaker, Natalie Khoury Ridgewell, Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, Dayna M. Watson, Colleen Butcher

The Qualitative Report

This constructivist study explores 16 graduate assistants’ (GAs) healthcare experiences and uses grounded theory to create a model of graduate assistants’ experiences with university-provided healthcare in a large research university. The model is composed of four broad components: (a) systems; (b) access, care and coverage; (c) knowledge, quality and cost; and (d) self. Graduate assistants’ needs and expectations constantly negotiate various systems in the model. Expanding upon the limited research regarding graduate student healthcare, this study provides implications for higher education administrators and policy makers. Based on our study findings we argue that it is not sufficient for university administrations …


Metacognition And Self-Scaffolding In Mmorpgs: Case Study Of An Adolescent Male Gamer, Ruba Monem Apr 2015

Metacognition And Self-Scaffolding In Mmorpgs: Case Study Of An Adolescent Male Gamer, Ruba Monem

The Qualitative Report

The genre of massively multiplayer online role-playing games has become increasingly popular with adolescent males. While researchers have studied the social aspect of online role-playing games, there is little known about the metacognitive and self-scaffolding processes that players engage in as they navigate these digital immersive environments. This case study focuses on the experience of an adolescent male gamer as he develops his knowledge, selfawareness and virtual identity.


Inconvenient Women, Audra Skukauskaite Apr 2015

Inconvenient Women, Audra Skukauskaite

The Qualitative Report

The poem developed from collective stories of women who have shared their experiences, challenges, and actions of being scholars, professors, graduate students, business owners, and/or parents, among a multitude of other roles that often inconvenienced those who had particular views of what women are supposed to be and do.


A Pattern-Generating Tool For Use In Semi-Structured Interviews, Greg Paine Apr 2015

A Pattern-Generating Tool For Use In Semi-Structured Interviews, Greg Paine

The Qualitative Report

This paper, the first in a pair, describes the development and use of a research tool designed to not only derive the “usual” research patterns from analysis and synthesis of data, but also to extend that research outcome into useful lessons and instructions for others to act on in the non-research world. Research is essentially about finding and explaining patterns to help us understand phenomena and to measure similarities and differences. Pattern also has other useful attributes – as tools, templates, and instructive advices – that tend not to be given as much attention in research. The tool discussed in …


Contextual Factors Surrounding Extradyadic High-Risk Sexual Decision-Making In Men: A Case-Oriented Perspective, Katherine M. Hertlein, Claudia Villasante Apr 2015

Contextual Factors Surrounding Extradyadic High-Risk Sexual Decision-Making In Men: A Case-Oriented Perspective, Katherine M. Hertlein, Claudia Villasante

The Qualitative Report

Many models have been developed to explain the decision-making process of high-risk sexual behavior (HRSB). Juhasz and Sonnenshein-Schneider (1980) proposed a model for sexual decision-making with three distinct factors (socialization influences, factors germane to the situation, and cognitive factors). While this model makes sense from a theoretical standpoint, it has not been empirically validated and they have focused exclusively on adolescent sexual decision-making processes. The purpose of this study was to identify the key points in decision-making toward engagement in extradyadic high-risk sexual behavior. Using qualitative interviews in a case-oriented study, key components surrounding the context, decision-making, and management processes …


The Lived Experiences Of Mexican-Heritage Mothers Caring For Overweight Preschool Children, Susan Mcdonald Apr 2015

The Lived Experiences Of Mexican-Heritage Mothers Caring For Overweight Preschool Children, Susan Mcdonald

The Qualitative Report

Mexican-heritage children are at greater risk to become overweight or obese than children of other ethnic or racial groups. Despite this, there is limited information in the literature about how the mothers care for their preschoolers after they are classified as overweight or obese. The objective of this study was to gain insight into the lived experiences of Mexican-heritage mothers caring for overweight or obese preschool children to enhance nurses’ ability to effectively care for these children. A qualitative, hermeneutic design was selected for this study guided by the phenomenological approach of Max van Manen. Saturation was achieved after interviewing …


Research, When You Know What You’Re Doing: A Review Of Essentials Of Qualitative Inquiry, Daniel C. Allen Apr 2015

Research, When You Know What You’Re Doing: A Review Of Essentials Of Qualitative Inquiry, Daniel C. Allen

The Qualitative Report

Maria J. Mayan’s publication of Essentials of Qualitative Inquiry (2009) provides a broad introduction to the scope and process of conducting qualitative research. The author used many of the same concepts in his dissertation and continues to conduct qualitative inquiry, often times using Mayan’s book as a useful resource in structuring his research. The book outlined qualitative philosophies, methodologies, and data analysis procedures used in qualitative research.


Using Visual Vignettes: My Learning To Date, Tricia L. Morrison Apr 2015

Using Visual Vignettes: My Learning To Date, Tricia L. Morrison

The Qualitative Report

Cancer survivors report a gap in work integration advice from healthcare professionals. This occurs despite physicians routinely providing comment upon survivors’ work abilities to insurers and employers. In order to understand the phenomena of survivors’ work integration from physicians’ perspectives, a vignette methodology was used. Vignettes were chosen as a means to explore physicians’ perspectives in a non-confrontational and sensitive manner. Vignettes, composed of photographs and narratives reflective of survivors’ lived experiences of work integration were presented to 10 physicians during individual interviews. In this manuscript, I outline my experience using vignettes, the learning I have achieved, and the modifications …


Opening The Ears That Science Closed: Transforming Qualitative Data Using Oral Coding, James A. Bernauer Apr 2015

Opening The Ears That Science Closed: Transforming Qualitative Data Using Oral Coding, James A. Bernauer

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this article is to describe an alternative method for transcribing and transforming (analyzing and interpreting) oral data collected from interviews. Rather than record and then immediately transcribe data, the “oral coding” approach relies on a Three-Phase Approach. Phase One involves extended and reflective listening to the original interview data. This extended time with data in its original oral form enables researchers to construct both propositional and tacit knowledge in relation to the phenomenon being investigated. Intensive encounters with the original data are continued during the Second Phase of analysis and interpretation by re-recording on another device those …


Positive Psychology’S Character Strengths In Addiction-Spirituality Research: A Qualitative Systematic Literature Review, Sahaya G. Selvam Apr 2015

Positive Psychology’S Character Strengths In Addiction-Spirituality Research: A Qualitative Systematic Literature Review, Sahaya G. Selvam

The Qualitative Report

There is an increasing interest in the scientific study of the association between spirituality and recovery from addiction. While most of these studies have provided evidence for a possible relationship, others have explored the underlying mechanisms and meditators in the relationship. However, generally, many studies and reviews have not approached the issue within a specific theoretical framework of mainstream psychology. In an attempt to fill this gap, the review being reported here undertook a Qualitative Systematic Literature Review (QSLR) of addiction-spirituality literature. QSLR is an orderly manner of searching for academic literature, selecting relevant literature following a set of inclusion/exclusion …


Goal Orientation And Reading Strategy Use Of Turkish Students Of An English Language Teaching Department, Leyla Tercanlioglu, Hakan Demiröz Mar 2015

Goal Orientation And Reading Strategy Use Of Turkish Students Of An English Language Teaching Department, Leyla Tercanlioglu, Hakan Demiröz

The Qualitative Report

This study aims to investigate qualitatively the role of goal orientation in reading comprehension both in native (L1) and second or foreign languages (L2), and the reading strategy use in L1 and L2 of the Turkish advanced students of an English Language Teaching (ELT) Department in order to understand the pedagogical aspects of reading. The data of this phenomenological study come from one-on-one, semi-structured interviews carried out with 8 Turkish ELT students; 4 preparatory class students, 4 firstyear students, who take a reading course. The results of the study demonstrated that the participants had a variety of goal orientations which …


Together, Apart. A Review Of On (Writing) Families: Autoethnographies Of Presence And Absence, Love And Loss, Edited By Jonathan Wyatt And Tony E. Adams, Jessica Smartt Gullion Mar 2015

Together, Apart. A Review Of On (Writing) Families: Autoethnographies Of Presence And Absence, Love And Loss, Edited By Jonathan Wyatt And Tony E. Adams, Jessica Smartt Gullion

The Qualitative Report

In this essay, I offer a review of the book, On (Writing) Families: Autoethnographies of Presence and Absence, Love and Loss, edited by Jonathan Wyatt and Tony E. Adams. An important contribution to the field of authethnography, this book will appeal not only to scholars of family and of qualitative inquiry, but also to people struggling to find meaning in the crazy complexities of family relationships.


A Qualitative Analysis Of Athletic Apparel And Equipment Sponsorship Related To Student-Athlete Recruitment, Melissa J. Davies, Katharine A. Burakowski Mar 2015

A Qualitative Analysis Of Athletic Apparel And Equipment Sponsorship Related To Student-Athlete Recruitment, Melissa J. Davies, Katharine A. Burakowski

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to extend previous literature on student-athlete college choice by examining part of the recruitment process as a precursor to student-athlete decision-making. More specifically, this exploratory study aimed to empirically examine the extent to which apparel sponsorships affect student-athlete recruitment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten football players at a state-supported NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) institution in the Rocky Mountain region. An inductive approach was used in identifying three emergent themes. These themes suggest that football players at this institution did not hold the apparel and equipment sponsorship as a deciding factor for the …


The Political Dynamics Of Corporate Co-Evolution: Replicating And Extending A Case Study, Ilan Avrichir, Maria Laura Ferranty Maclennan Mar 2015

The Political Dynamics Of Corporate Co-Evolution: Replicating And Extending A Case Study, Ilan Avrichir, Maria Laura Ferranty Maclennan

The Qualitative Report

Although a significant body of knowledge about the strategies that companies use in their interactions with their environments exists, much less is known about the political dynamics of these interactions in situations of co-evolution between companies and environments. In this case study, we analyze the interactions between the representatives of producers (RPs) of ornamental rock and government authorities (GA) in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo (ESS). These interactions involved the regulation of heavy cargo transportation and resulted in a significant reduction in road accidents. In this analysis, we replicate a recently published case (Child, Tse & Rodrigues, 2013). Replicating …


A Grounded Theory Of Persistence In A Limited-Residency Doctoral Program, Donna H. Kennedy, Steven R. Terrell, Michael Lohle Mar 2015

A Grounded Theory Of Persistence In A Limited-Residency Doctoral Program, Donna H. Kennedy, Steven R. Terrell, Michael Lohle

The Qualitative Report

Approximately 50% of doctoral students in social science, humanities, and educational doctoral programs fail to earn their Ph.D. This number is 10% to 15% higher for students enrolled in online or limited-residency programs. Using in-depth interviews and qualitative data analysis techniques, this grounded-theory study examined participants’ recollections of their experience as students in a limited-residency doctoral program and their reasons for withdrawal while working on their dissertation. The study was guided by the central question “What is the nature of the participants’ experiences of doctoral attrition in a limited-residency doctoral program?” The resultant theory clarified relationships between attrition and a …


Exploring Teacher Development Through Racial Discourse, Lamont D. Simmons Mar 2015

Exploring Teacher Development Through Racial Discourse, Lamont D. Simmons

The Qualitative Report

In reviewing the book, Making Meaning of Whiteness, by Alice McIntyre, I discussed the author’s examination of whiteness through the lenses of white female, student teachers. I underscored how McIntyre employed a Participatory Action Research methodology (drawing on feminist theory), as a way to understand how her participants made meaning of whiteness. The study’s findings reveal that for the participants, their “whiteness” is normal, which may serve to hinder their capacity for developing culturally responsive teaching practices.


Ethics And/Or Success In Conducting Organization Studies: A Habermasian Account, Fabio Vizeu Mar 2015

Ethics And/Or Success In Conducting Organization Studies: A Habermasian Account, Fabio Vizeu

The Qualitative Report

In the world of Organization research, some words are used by scholarswith a specific political purpose: two of these are ethics and emancipation. The second is used to recall the social purpose ofthe academic community, which can be donefromseveral perspectives (for example, that of Critical Management Studies). Regarding ethics, organization researchers often use this word to denounce managerial practices.Their researchcommonly reports the ideological orientation of such management practices as imply unethical behaviour. In this sense, the unethical orientation of managers has been seen as something masked by a manipulative discourse, which has built the false impression that management practices are …


Understanding Hospital-Based Nurses’ Experiences Of Structurational Divergence, Lakesha Anderson Mar 2015

Understanding Hospital-Based Nurses’ Experiences Of Structurational Divergence, Lakesha Anderson

The Qualitative Report

This study examined hospital-based nurses’ experiences of structurational divergence. I used a semi-structured narrative approach to interview 10 hospital-based nurses and data was analyzed using phenomenological methods. This resulted in the identification of the following three themes, which capture instances of structurational divergence and resulting interpersonal, intrapersonal, and organizational conflicts: Managing Overload, Identifying and Negotiating Boundaries, and Substituting and Advocating. I also discovered an additional theme, Eating their Young.. Results have implications for future research in health and organizational communication and reflect the importance of research into the communication between and amongst nurses, patients, and physicians and the impact of …


A Critical Case Study Of Selected U.S. History Textbooks From A Tribal Critical Race Theory Perspective, Gary Padgett Mar 2015

A Critical Case Study Of Selected U.S. History Textbooks From A Tribal Critical Race Theory Perspective, Gary Padgett

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the portrayal of American Indians in U.S. textbooks selected for review in Hillsborough County, Florida’s 2012 textbook adoption. The study identified which of the textbooks under consideration contained the greatest amount of information dedicated to American Indians and analyzed how that information was portrayed. The exploratory question that guided this study was, under what conditions can Tribal Critical Race Theory help illuminate how American Indians are portrayed in textbooks? The methodology used is a critical case study (Janesick, 2004; Rubin & Rubin, 2005). The Five Great Values, as developed by …


Perceived Occupational Stressors And The Health Software Professionals In Bengaluru, India, Giridhara R. Babu, Sathyanarayana T. N., Asha Ketharam, Snehendu B. Kar, Roger Detels Mar 2015

Perceived Occupational Stressors And The Health Software Professionals In Bengaluru, India, Giridhara R. Babu, Sathyanarayana T. N., Asha Ketharam, Snehendu B. Kar, Roger Detels

The Qualitative Report

There is limited research on occupational stress and its relation to health from developing countries such as India. This study was done to evaluate work conditions of professionals in two highly productive sectors: the information technology (IT) sector, also known as software development, and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES), also known as call centers. The study employed thirty-two in-depth interviews. The results indicate the presence of nine stress domains: job control, autonomy, time pressure, length of experience in industry, night shifts, income, appreciation of work, physical environment, work-environment and affective or emotional factors. Global drivers of demand, and local supply …


A “How-To” Introduction On Pursuing Arts-Based Fiction Research And Writing As A Methodology: A Review Of Fiction As Research Practice: Short Stories, Novellas, And Novels, Aniuska M. Luna Mar 2015

A “How-To” Introduction On Pursuing Arts-Based Fiction Research And Writing As A Methodology: A Review Of Fiction As Research Practice: Short Stories, Novellas, And Novels, Aniuska M. Luna

The Qualitative Report

Research written as fiction can expand the audience pool and reach of knowledge generated in an accessible, familiar and less convoluted format than its more traditional methodological counterparts. Leavy’s (2013) book demonstrates how this is the case. Sh e eases interested researchers into how to plan and execute fiction - based research, and provides examples, useful tips and resources. An issue that is not explored in detail, however, is the advantages for readers of reading texts produced through this met hodology over those produced by fiction writers. This issue aside, Fiction as a research practice: Short stories, novellas, and novels …


Occupational Health Stress In The Service Sector, Fozia Malik, Shaan Shahabuddin Mar 2015

Occupational Health Stress In The Service Sector, Fozia Malik, Shaan Shahabuddin

The Qualitative Report

The basic purpose of the current study was to explore the occupational health stress reasons, consequences, and job outcomes in the service sector as well as to suggest stress management techniques to overcome stress. This research used a mixed qualitative research methodology, which included a collective case study method as well as a narrative inquiry method. Respondents (both males and females) were selected from two of the most important service sectors -- the banking industry where working hours are long, and the education sector where working hours are comparatively short. A total of eight case studies were taken through focus …