Social Statistics Commons^™

Conducting Thematic Analysis With Qualitative Data, Chad R. Lochmiller

The Qualitative Report

This article discusses one approach to conducting thematic analysis using structured qualitative data collected from focus groups. Thematic analysis is one of the most used but often poorly defined approaches in the qualitative research community. The method is principally concerned with the identification of patterns which are then reported as researcher-generated themes. In this article, I use data obtained from the Qualitative Data Repository to demonstrate how secondary qualitative data can be analyzed to produce themes. I note the ways in which this process unfolds as well as how it differs from other techniques.

Discursive Psychology For Applied Qualitative Research, Jessica N. Lester, Michelle O'Reilly

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we offer discursive psychology (DP) as a particularly useful analytic approach for engaging in applied research. We begin by overviewing the broad area of discourse analysis and then more specifically describe the contours of discursive psychology. Drawing upon a secondary, shared dataset, we provide a general discussion of the analytic process for conducting a DP informed analysis and offer some example findings. Notably, we highlight the limitations of doing DP work when working with a secondary data set and point also toward the possibilities and opportunities.

Aproximaciones Al Duelo Migratorio De Los Venezolanos Residentes En La Ciudad De Medellín, Colombia: Un Estudio Cualitativo, Katy L. Millán Otero Srita, Nicolasa M. Duran Palacio Dra, Liliana M. Castaño Cano Srita

The Qualitative Report

El éxodo de los migrantes venezolanos a Colombia se ha convertido un tema presente en la agenda pública nacional e internacional. Esta investigación buscó aproximarse a la experiencia de los duelos migratorios de los venezolanos, específicamente el duelo a la familia y amigos, a la lengua, la cultura, la tierra, el estatus social, el contacto con el grupo étnico y los riesgos para la integridad física. Se enmarcó en el horizonte cualitativo de investigación, bajo el método fenomenológico hermenéutico. Los hallazgos develan que los migrantes presentaban una baja vulnerabilidad al momento de migrar, que, sumado a la cercanía geográfica entre …

Comparing Girls’ And Boys’ Lived Bodies Of Middle School Students In Self-Defense Utilizing Participant Observation, Giovanna Follo

The Qualitative Report

The Frailty Myth proposes that the female body can be frozen, restricted by the ever present negative gendered narrative perpetuated by society. Embodiment occurs when the female body is thawed. The opposite can be argued for boys. Boys are taught to live their bodies, that is they have a sense of embodiment. Therefore, boys do not have to concern themselves with thawing their bodies as they already experience their bodies in strong and liberal ways. In this study, I compare how girls and boys live their bodies utilizing participant observation. Six themes emerged: being the instructor, gendered discourse in action, …

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 …

Key Finding: Result Of A Qualitative Study Of Judicial Perspectives On The Sentencing Of Minor Drug Offenders In Indonesia: Structural Inequality, Cecep Mustafa

The Qualitative Report

Although there have been a number of recent developments in criminal justice research on the topic of structural inequality sentencing, much work is needed to explore the judicial perspective. Researchers use this paper illustrates how a recent study used qualitative semi-structure interviews to study current judicial perspectives on sentencing of minor drug offenders in Indonesia. This paper reports a recent study of judicial perspectives when sentencing minor drug offenders in Indonesia. Firstly, it reviews existing sentencing option and recent development that motivated me to explore the issues of justice among Indonesian Judges. Secondly, it reports the procedures and method used …

An Inferentially Robust Look At Two Competing Explanations For The Surge In Unauthorized Migration From Central America, Nick Santos

Dissertations

The last 8 years have seen a dramatic increase in the flow of Central American apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol. Explanations for this surge in apprehensions have been split between two leading hypotheses. Most academic scholars, immigrant advocates, progressive media outlets, and human rights organizations identify poverty and violence (the Poverty and Violence Hypothesis) in Central America as the primary triggers responsible. In contrast, while most government officials, conservative think tanks, and the agencies that work in the immigration and border enforcement realm admit poverty and violence may underlie some decisions to migrate, they instead blame lax U.S. immigration …

Rethinking The Policies For Nurturing Teacher Identity Development In Indonesia, Jarjani Usman, Teuku Zulfikar, Dorine Lugendo

The Qualitative Report

This study explored supports given by in-service teachers to student-teachers for professional identity development in Indonesia. In this qualitative study, sixteen student teachers taking the course of Curriculum Development at an Islamic higher education institution in Aceh were grouped into six and assigned to six schools (primary to senior high) in two districts in Aceh, Indonesia, to communicate with classroom teachers regarding lesson plan and teaching materials. We also expected them to observe classroom practices if possible. In this way, student teachers gain real experiences on how the teachers develop their lesson plans and implement them in actual lessons, as …

Experimenting With Zmet: Issues And Adaptions, Tauheed Ahmad Ramjaun Dr

The Qualitative Report

This paper is aimed at academic researchers considering the adoption of the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) as a qualitative data collection method. It is meant to warn about the practical difficulties and challenges that the inexperienced ZMET researcher might face on the field. It argues that while the use of ZMET can allow for a deeper exploration of issues with participants, there could be potential challenges and issues that a novice ZMET researcher could face. Several recommendations are provided on potential adaptions to the technique based on the author’s own experience.

Adapting Practices From Qualitative Research To Tell A Compelling Story: A Practical Framework For Conducting A Literature Review, Neringa Kalpokaite Dr., Ivana Radivojevic

The Qualitative Report

Despite the literature review being a common task for researchers, the actual process of conducting a quality literature review can easily be taken for granted. In effort to help qualitative researchers, this paper presents a practical framework for conducting a literature review that stems from qualitative research practices. As a literature review is essentially an analysis of rich textual information, qualitative research concepts, and skills can be creatively applied to the process of conducting a literature review. The present paper aims to share the fruits of qualitative analysis with researchers from all disciplines so that they may make sense of …

A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Tefl Graduate Students’ Perspectives Of Qualitative Research: Challenges And Solutions In The Spotlight, Hassan Soodmand Afshar, Fatemeh Hafez

The Qualitative Report

This study explored the challenges of conducting qualitative research encountered by Iranian Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) graduate students and their solutions for them. To delve into the issue, 20 TEFL graduate students who had passed a research methodology course were selected based on their availability from among the participants of the study who were selected based on purposive sampling from various universities. The participants thus selected sat a semi-structured interview based on the results of which, a researcher-made five-point Likert-scale questionnaire was developed and validated. Next, one hundred TEFL graduate students who had passed the research methodology …

Engaging Social Science Students With Statistics: Opportunities, Challenges And Barriers, Charlotte Brookfield, Malcolm Williams, Luke Sloan, Emily Maule

Numeracy

In 2012, in a bid to improve the quantitative methods training of social science students in the UK, the £19.5 million Q-Step project was launched. This investment demonstrated a significant commitment to changing how we train social science students in quantitative research methods in the UK. The project has involved eighteen higher education institutions exploring and trialling potential ways of engaging social science students with quantitative approaches.

This paper reflects on the activities of one Q-Step centre based in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. As well as describing some of the pedagogic changes that have been implemented, …

Perceived Stigma Among Family Members Of Persons Suffering From Mental Illness: A Narrative Exploration From West Bengal, India, Bidisha Banerjee, Shikha Dixit

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we report the findings of a qualitative study that, aims to understand the family members’ subjective experiences with perceived stigma of mental illness. The theoretical standpoint and the research method for the study employed are social constructivist theory and narrative inquiry respectively. We conducted semi-structured and in-depth interviews with family members and others accompanying patients to an outpatient unit of a psychiatric clinic. The professionals and the administrative staff at the clinic gave additional interviews. The constant comparative method was employed for the analysis of the narratives. The findings suggest the existence of perceived and direct stigma …

The Issue Of Unemployment Among People With Disabilities, Angelina C. Pagano

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The rate of unemployment for people with disabilities continues to rise greatly above that of people without disabilities. The issue seems to be exacerbated by employer biases and concerns which are not supported in the face of evidence. A lack of employer education on disability related subjects causes this misconception among both employers and the public as a whole. To resolve the underlying problem of miseducation, an increase in the self-identification of people with disabilities is necessary to provide researchers with data to assist in the formation of a revised curriculum.

Over-Complexifying Social Reality: A Critical Exploration Of Systematicity And Rigidification In Ethnographic Practice And Writing, Anson Au

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative methodological development has produced canonical tendencies that over-complexify and fix a fluid and lived social world. Meanwhile, critical theory has produced critiques on methodology but without enough attention to the qualitative tradition. I bridge these gaps by using an Adornoian position to interrogate the concepts of systematicity, rigidification, complexification, and their problems in ethnographic research and qualitative methodology. I conduct an urban ethnography and autoethnography of the metropolitan blasé as a public attitude of indifference to articulate an alternative, quotidian approach to ethnography that better captures social embeddedness, meaning-creation, and how contexts should drive data collection, analysis, and method-selection.

“Research For A Change”: A Book Review Of Norma R. A. Romm’S Responsible Research Practice: Revisiting Transformative Paradigm In Social Research, Daniel P. Wulff

The Qualitative Report

In the book, Responsible Research Practice, the author, Norma Romm, makes the case for actively incorporating social justice initiatives within social research of any kind. Through numerous examples from around the world, using various research traditions, practices, and disciplines, she demonstrates how ethical practices can be implemented in research projects so participants are better off for having participated in the studies. This richly referenced book of research examples and supportive theoretical perspectives pushes the notion of ethical practice into a new gear. Readers of this book will be inspired and energized to see the realistic potential of active social research …

Distinctions And Something Between: An Inspection Of Eviatar Zerubavel’S Concept Driven Sociology, Krzysztof T. Konecki

The Qualitative Report

The paper presents short summaries and analyses of two books by Eviatar Zerubavel (2018a; 2020) that are demonstrations of his approach to cognitive sociology. The first book (2018a) shows examples of the analysis in Zerubavelian cognitive sociology, and the second one is a methodological and theoretical elaboration of his approach described in formal terms. We analyze the approach presented at the end of the paper, showing that the analysis of distinctions and perceptive categories is essential in Zerubavel analysis. Still, there is an unclear dimension (in between) included in the contexts of perception, lived experiences, and perception of …

Barriers To Post-Secondary Success, Douglas Swanson, Najeana Henderson, Maritza Sloan

Dissertations

This study reviews factors that prior studies have identified or failed to consider as barriers to post-secondary success. The three main areas include academic success for Latinx students after high school, organizational systems and their impact on African-American students’ postsecondary readiness, and what workers think of their high school education with regards to career preparedness.

Five factors are identified as major barriers for Latinx students to continue in a higher education system. A survey of former students from Saint Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, metroplex area identified 56 Latinx students that participated in an initial survey. This led to a …

English As A Foreign Language Teachers’ Motivation: An Activity Theory Perspective, Teymour Rahmati, Karim Sadeghi

The Qualitative Report

Drawing upon Activity Theory, this mixed-methods study explored L2 teachers’ (de)motivation factors, motivation change, and voice in adopting strategies that could motivate L2 teachers. Semi-structured interviews, a motivational timeline diagram, and a researcher-developed scale were used to collect data from 226 in-service L2 teachers. The interview data collected from 15 participants were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA Analytics Pro version 12.3. Individual participants’ motivational timelines were also carried over into a collective diagram to illustrate motivational trajectories. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data collected from 211 teachers. The findings identified a number of …

Becoming Holistic Teachers And Learners: A Review Of Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies For Engaging Emerging Scholars, Viviane Klen-Alves

The Qualitative Report

In this review I offer an alternative perspective on the book Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies for Engaging Emerging Scholars by emphasizing how the authors propose a holistic approach to learning qualitative research. Departing from the point of view of an emerging scholar, this piece was written as I was transitioning from a doctoral program to the professional world, learning with the authors what it is to teach qualitative research methods while being socialized as a scholar in the doing of qualitative research.

Designed Generalization From Qualitative Research, Ian H. Falk, John Guenther

The Qualitative Report

In our earlier work on generalizing from qualitative research (GQR) we identified our two-decade struggle to have qualitative research outcomes formally “listened to” by policy personnel and bureaucratic systems in general, with mixed success. The policy sector often seems reluctant to acknowledge that qualitative research findings can be generalized, so impacts tend to be informal or simply ignored. The “official” methodological literature on generalizing from qualitative research is epitomized by Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) still oft quoted, “The only generalization is: there is no generalization” (p. 110). We now understand there are many alternative possibilities for generalizing. In this paper …

Research Recruitment: A Case Study On Women With Substance Use Disorder, Kristy J. Cook Phd, Rn, Ibclc, Kim L. Larson Phd, Mph, Rn, Fnap

The Qualitative Report

Women with substance use disorder may evade research participation because of individual and societal factors. Limited information exists on recruitment of women with substance use disorder. The purpose of this study was to delineate recruitment challenges among women with substance use disorder and identify successful recruitment strategies. An exploratory case study was used to examine recruitment of women with substance use disorder. This case study was informed by a pilot study in 2017-2018, where data were generated from 25 direct observations and three key informants from a drug rehabilitation treatment agency. Analysis took an explanation-building approach, which incorporated chronological field …

Proximity To Power: The Challenges And Strategies Of Interviewing Elites In Higher Education Research, Kevin Mcclure, Jon L. Mcnaughtan

The Qualitative Report

Presidents, provosts, deans, and other upper-level administrators in higher education fit common definitions of “elites” in the context of qualitative research. Scholarship on methods specific to the field of higher education has not identified or described the unique challenges of interviewing these and other elites. The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges and share strategies for elite interviewing, with specific application to qualitative research in the field of higher education. We provide three examples of empirical studies involving elite interviewing and, using literature from other fields, highlight challenges and strategies. By anticipating challenges and implementing these strategies, researchers …

Emotional Overload! A Dialogic Autoethnography Of Scholar-Participant-Consumer Reactions To The Marketing Of Thanatourism, Elizabeth Lloyd-Parkes, Jonathan H. Deacon, Alec J. Grant Phd, Simon Thomas

The Qualitative Report

The terms “thanatourism” and “dark tourism” relate to visiting places of human tragedy, which are increasingly developed as tourist destinations. There is a need to trouble thanatouristic assumptions through sharing and discussing lived experiences. These challenge the simplistic mechanistic marketing and conventional research practices of thanatourism. This dialogic autoethnographic study responds to this need, addressing thanatourism from the subjective and emotional perspectives of “insider” scholar-participant-consumers. Two interactive dialogic stories are presented by the lead and second authors, with the fourth providing a theoretically informed response. In the final section, the third author, an experienced autoethnographer and outsider to the thanatouristic …

Pornography: Social, Emotional And Mental Implications Among Adolescents, William Kelly Canady

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will explain the historical development of pornography. It will highlight four segments: 1- Porn’s impact on brain development of reward pathways, ultimately increasing the appetite for more porn. 2- Porn can be a false substitute for real intimacy, resulting in decreased sexual satisfaction with a real person and increased verbal and physical aggression. 3- Porn promotes sex trafficking, promotes multiple sex partners and reduced STD prevention. 4- A review of interventions available to assist clients in navigating a lifestyle away from pornography.

A Qualitative Description Investigation Of U.S. Higher Education Quantitative Datasets, Mia Ocean, Karon T. Hicks

The Qualitative Report

Currently, the U.S. system of higher education is almost exclusively evaluated by quantitative data based on traditional student trajectories and university structured programs. This could be problematic for community colleges and post-traditional students, who are a growing population at all institutions. Therefore, we conducted a pilot, qualitative description analysis of three U.S. quantitative national datasets to assess their accuracy and identify factors that influence classifications. We interviewed individuals (n=13) who would qualitatively be considered success stories, specifically individuals who attended community colleges during their undergraduate studies and ultimately high ranking graduate programs, to gather information about their educational timelines. In …

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’ …

Inequalities In Private Tutoring Of English: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study Based On Bangladeshi Higher Secondary Students, Monjurul M. Islam 8965323, Dr. Shams Hoque, Kazi Enamul Hoque

The Qualitative Report

This phenomenological qualitative study analyzes the lived experiences of eleven Bangladeshi higher secondary students in mainstream schools to provide insight into their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values, and assumptions of private tutoring in English (PT-E). The study also focused on PT-E that contribute to inequalities between students who have access to private tutoring and those who do not. Each participant participated in a one-to-one in-depth semi-structured interview. Using phenomenological analysis, 321 significant statements and three themes emerged. The data show that unequal practice, discrimination due to financial capability, and social psyche for PT-E that influences students to widen the negative impacts …

From “Robot” To “Rejuvenating Warrior”: An Efl Learner’S Conceptual Metaphors During School Transition, Özgehan Uştuk

The Qualitative Report

Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory, I investigated the school transition experience of an English as a foreign language (EFL) learner. In this narrative case study, the participant’s emotion labor was followed throughout his first semester at a high school in Turkey. Exploring narrative journals, conceptual metaphors, and interviews, I examined his dynamic emotional states. The findings revealed that school transition may entail inhibiting emotion labor for high school freshman EFL learners. Moreover, it was also shown that these emotions may force adolescent learners to reconceptualize foreign language learning with a negative perspective and develop surviving learner’s strategies that may support …

Survey Versus Interviews: Comparing Data Collection Tools For Exploratory Research, Neha Jain

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of the paper is to offer a comparison between survey and face to face interviews as tools for data collection in qualitative exploratory research. This study aims at encouraging new researchers to experiment with different data collection tools and then select the one that fits best to the research. Memos documented during data collection served as the basis for analysis. The memos were analyzed using a systematic three-step coding process to identify the challenges and benefits of using each of the two data collection tools. Using content analysis of the memos and field notes that were documented during …