Social Statistics Commons^™

When Pandora’S Box Is Opened: A Qualitative Study Of The Intended And Unintended Impacts Of Wyoming’S New Standardized Tests On Local Educators’ Everyday Practices, Jeasik Cho, Brian Ebhard

The Qualitative Report

In the context of a newly adopted statewide assessment system, PAWS (Proficiency Assessment for Wyoming Students), this paper describes intended instructional changes and unintended outcomes in classrooms and schools as a result of an assessment policy involving an innovative online portion of the test. An elementary school was selected and prolonged qualitative fieldwork with in - depth and focus group interviews were conducted for 1½ years. A constant comparative data analysis and interpretation from grounded theory methodology led to the following themes: adaptive implementation policy, teachers’ dilemmas, instructional change, and school culture change. While observing an elusive role for teachers …

Interviewing Key Informants: Strategic Planning For A Global Public Health Management Program, Karen E. Kun, Anisa Kassim, Elizabeth Howze, Goldie Macdonald

The Qualitative Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Sustainable Management Development Program (SMDP) partners with low - and middle - resource countries to develop management capacity so that effective global public health programs can be implemented and better health outcomes can be achieved. The program’s impact however, was variable. Hence, there was a need to both engage in a strategic planning process and collect useful data to inform the process. We therefore designed a qualitative evaluation and findings that emerged concerning o ur program’s contribution to individual career advancement and professional growth; the need for institutional support and a champion to …

Subjectivity Not Statement And Not Apa!, Dana Cihelkova

The Qualitative Report

I inspect in a brief theoretical - philosophical essay the roots of subjectivity and suggest many possible directions for examining the phenomenon of subjectivity so that multiple different meanings can be revealed. For instance, a researcher can explore her or his own subjectivity or he/she can attempt to define subjectivity per se or the researcher can uncover subjectivity or merely learn about subjectivity. I propose that subjectivity is an inner essence of flux and ask if it is even possible to fully capture a researcher’s subjectivity. Another proposition is to view subjectivity as an inner essence of each and every …

Guidance On Performing Focused Ethnographies With An Emphasis On Healthcare Research, Gina M.A Higginbottom, Jennifer J. Pillay, Nana Y. Boadu

The Qualitative Report

Focused ethnographies can have meaningful and useful application in primary care, community, or hospital healthcare practice, and are often used to determine ways to improve care and care processes. They can be pragmatic and efficient ways to capture data on a specific topic of importance to individual clinicians or clinical specialties. While many examples of focused ethnographies are available in the literature, there is a limited availability of guidance documents for conducting this research. This paper defines focused ethnographies, locates them within the ethnographic genre, justifies their use in healthcare research, and outlines the methodological processes including those related to …

Kinetic Art And Transcendental Phenomenological Analysis, Martha M. Snyder

The Qualitative Report

Transcendental phenomenological analysis (TPA) is a form of qualitative research analysis that engages the researcher in the process of observation, interpretation, reflexivity, and imagination. It is a form science and art. This digital narrative is a story of how I studied TPA through the lens of kinetic art and more specifically, the art of making mobiles. In this video, I present a blend of narrative and photography to share how I made my first mobile and deepened my knowledge and appreciation of TPA

Interviewing Key Informants: Strategic Planning For A Global Public Health Management Program, Karen E. Kun, Anisa Kassim, Elizabeth Howze, Goldie Macdonald

The Qualitative Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Sustainable Management Development Program (SMDP) partners with low - and middle - resource countries to develop management capacity so that effective global public health programs can be implemented and better health outcomes can be achieved. The program’s impact however, was variable. Hence, there was a need to both engage in a strategic planning process and collect useful data to inform the process. We therefore designed a qualitative evaluation and findings that emerged concerning o ur program’s contribution to individual career advancement and professional growth; the need for institutional support and a champion to …

The Perceived Effect Of Hiv/Aids On Other Identities, Lisa M. Baumgartner, Eric Niemi

The Qualitative Report

The onset of a chronic disease influences other roles or identities. For example, an HIV or AIDS diagnosis can affect a person’s work identity (Bedell, 1997). In this article, we explored how living with HIV/AIDS shapes other identities. Thirty - six individuals living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) participated in semi - structured interviews. Participants’ work, sexuality / intimacy, spirituality, advocate, self - esteem, addict/recovering addict and parent identities changed after being diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. In general, respondents’ advocate and recovering addict identities emerged and gained salience after being diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. Further research on how HIV/AIDS affects …

Teachers Of Color Creating And Recreating Identities In Suburban Schools, Vera J. Lee

The Qualitative Report

In this qualitative study, I explored the socialization experiences of eight teachers in two suburban high schools, and how they described their in - school identities. The findings from the study revealed how the participants constructed their identities differently for reasons that included wanting to deflect particular stereotypic images of their cultural/ethnic group or mitigating their own discomfort in revealing more private aspects of their core identities. The study offers implications for teacher education programs and the critical role that they play in preparing preservice teachers of color to work in suburban school settings, and in exposing all teacher candidates …

The Laws Of Nature: Reflections On The Evolution Of Ecosystem Management Law And Policy, Kalyani Robbins

University of Akron Press Publications

This timely collection written by an interdisciplinary array of law professors, who specialize in legal and policy issues surrounding ecosystem management, and scholars and practitioners in areas such as environmental policy and planning, conservation, economics, and biology explore why ecosystems must be valued and managed in their own right. The importance of ecosystems has been underestimated. We cannot simply hope ecosystems will benefit from legislation focused on other environmental and natural resource protections, such as those for wildlife, trees, air and water. An ecosystem, a community of organisms together with their physical environment, viewed as a system of interacting and …

Teacher - Student Relationships In Court - Mandated Adult Education: A Phenomenological Study, Ron Mottern

The Qualitative Report

While there is a considerable body of literature on adult correctional education, this literature almost exclusively deals with teachers and students working within incarceration settings, where students are in jail or prison. There is a lack of research on the experiences of teachers working with students who are a part of the correctional system but are placed within the community , i.e., community corrections. In this study the author examines the experiences of teachers working with court - mandated, community corrections students in GED/ABE programs. Seven adult education teachers share their experiences in this phenomenological study. The findings of the …

Effects Of Group Work On English Communicative Competence Of Chinese International Graduates In United States Institutions Of Higher Education, Mo Xue

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study investigated 14 Chinese international graduate students’ lived experiences with group work and the effect s of group work on their English communicative competence. The interview results showed that these participants’ attitudes towards group work went through changes from initial inadaptation or dislike to later adaptation or acceptance, and the time for their adjustment ranged from half a year to one year. The results also revealed that group work greatly improved their English communicative competence in terms of grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Suggestions for educational researchers, international students, and Chinese EFL instructors were provided.

Community - Based Participatory Research With Hispanic/Latino Leaders And Members, Mary Grace Amendola

The Qualitative Report

Hispanic/Latinos (H/L) are being studied for healthcare disparities research utilizing community - based participatory research (CBPR). CBPR’s active participation of community members and researchers suggests improvement in community health. Yet there are no known studies that inductively investigated the lived experience of H/L community leaders and members with CBPR using interpretive phenomenology. Data were obtained from observations, field notes, biographical interviews, individual interviews and focus groups. The findings supported that community members wanted to collaborate with researchers utilizing the C BPR approach so that culturally sensitive interventions can be created to encourage health - seeking behaviors in their community

Two Cultures Collide: Bridging The Generation Gap In A Non - Traditional Mentorship, Lisa R. Merriweather, Alberta J. Morgan

The Qualitative Report

Cross - cultural mentoring relationships between younger mentors and older mentees are increasing in frequency across all levels of post - secondary education. Generational cultural differences can result in conflict and misunderstanding and therefore should be considered in non - traditional inter - generational mentoring relationships. Through auto - ethnographic inquiry, we, a younger faculty member and older graduate student, explored our mentoring relationship. We identified communication, respect, and ambiguous roles as issues that significantly impacted our mentorship. The manifestation of power was also highlighted in the study. K

N/Om, Change, And Social Work: A Recursive Frame Analysis Of The Transformative Rituals Of The Ju/’Hoan Bushmen, Hillary Keeny, Bradford Keeney

The Qualitative Report

The Ju/’hoan Bushman origin myth is depicted as a contextual frame for their healing and transformative ways. Using Recursive Frame Analysis, these performances are shown to be an enactment of the border crossing between First and Second Creation, that is, pre - linguistic and linguistic domains of experience. Here n/om, or the presumed creative life force, is infused into the community. As the Ju/’hoan Bushmen struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of economic and political change, they are likely to increasingly come into contact with social service and other aid programs. Any future for social work …

A Qualitative Study Of Women’S Decisions Not To Have A Hysterectomy, Erin Fredericks

The Qualitative Report

In focusing on individual and physician demographics and system characteristics that lead to hysterectomy rate variations, researchers overlook the impact of culturally mediated meanings women assign to their bodies, hysterectomy, and other treatments. In this study I sought to provide a fuller description of this decision - making process by examining the role of meaning making in women’s decision not to have a hysterectomy. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, nine women diagnosed with menstrual disorders in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada each took part in a semi - structured interview. Factors deemed “irrational” in bio medical understandings of informed choice played …

County-Specific Net Migration By Five-Year Age Groups, Hispanic Origin, Race And Sex 2000-2010, Richelle Winkler, Kenneth M. Johnson, Cheng Cheng, Paul R. Voss, Katherine J. Curtis

Sociology

This report documents the methodology used to prepare county-level, net migration estimates by five-year age cohorts and sex, and by race and Hispanic origin, for the intercensal period from 2000 to 2010. The estimates were prepared using a vital statistics version of the forward cohort residual method (Siegel and Hamilton 1952) following the techniques used to prepare the 1990 to 2000 net migration estimates (Voss, McNiven, Johnson, Hammer, and Fuguitt 2004) as described in detail below. These numbers (and the net migration rates derivable from them) extend the set of decennial estimates of net migration that have been produced following …

Writings Of Lions: Narrative Inquiry Of A Kenyan Couple Living In The U.S, Miranda Gilmore, Marianne Mcinnes Miller

The Qualitative Report

In this study, we told the story of a Kenyan couple, B. and F., who has left Kenya and moved to Southern California. We followed a narrative inquiry framework, using Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) guidelines. We delineated core components of narrative inquiry research, as well as related the journey of B. and F., who have created dual lives in both Kenya and the United States. As part of the interpretive analysis process, we integrated the first author’s experiences, both in interviewing the couple and in volunteering in Kenya in previous years. The final product is an intersection of Kenyan and …

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

The Qualitative Report

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

Mixed Methodology Approaches To Exploring Spiritual Transformation, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Barbara Mainguy, Michael Pickren Valenti

The Qualitative Report

Research suggests that spiritual transformation, a change in the way a person considers the sacred, can change medical outcome (Pargament, 2006) Psychometric studies have failed to identify specific factors, but qualitative reports detail an experience that can be reliably shown to have an impact. We report on the development of a rubric for quantifying levels of spiritual transformation. Narrative analysis techniques were used to quantify levels of spiritual transformation from participants’ life stories, experience with traditional healers, and subsequent medical status. A quantification rubric was developed and 111 assistants rated the stories after a three - hour training session. Inter …

Women’S Experiences With Postpartum Anxiety: Expectations, Relationships, And Sociocultural Influences, Andrea A. Wardrop, Natalee E. Popadiuk

The Qualitative Report

Evidence about anxiety in the postpartum is sparse and contradictory. Our research expands this knowledge by using a qualitative methodology, the Feminist Biographical Method, to explore first time mothers’ experiences of postpartum anxiety. Data collection included 1.5 to 2.0 hour interviews with six women about their experiences of anxiety in their transition to motherhood. We transcribed the interviews and used an iterative hermeneutic coding process to develop themes and subthemes over the course of four coding cycles. The findings include five major themes: (a) experiences of anxiety, (b) expectations of a new mother, (c) issues of support, (d) societal scripts …

Recursive Frame Analysis: A Method For Organizing Therapeutic Discourse, Bradford Keeney

The Qualitative Report

A practical method of organizing and understanding discourse in therapy is presented based on four catagories of distinctions: (1) orders of framing; (2) markers; (3) content to frame relations; and (4) frame to frame relations. Following a general discussion of recursive frame analysis, two case studies demonstrate its applicability to managing family therapy.

Qualitative Research Ladder For Fledging Researchers A Review Of Essentials Of Qualitative Inquiry, Sepideh Mirzaei Fard

The Qualitative Report

In order to qualify our research, I think quantitative studies are not enough. A s a matter of fact, we need more qualitative studies especially if we are dealing with human traits and the social sciences’ studies as the numbers would not suffice. In doing so, there is a need for resear4chers to acquire a full understanding of qualitative research methodology, data collection procedures and the risks and issues related to them. For the beginners to enter in to the ocean of qualitative research areas, it seems necessary to have good sourcebooks to get a general view of this type …

Stories Of Aboriginal Transracial Adoption, Simon Nuttgens

The Qualitative Report

Despite the significant number of transracial Aboriginal adoptions that have taken place in Canada, little research is available that addresses the psychological and psychosocial ramifications for the children involved. The scant literature that does exist raises concerns about the psychological impact of this type of adoption. The present research used narrative inquiry to bring greater understanding to the experiences of Aboriginal children raised in non Aboriginal families. The life stories of four Aboriginal adults who were adopted as children were gathered through audio - taped interviews. Seven “narrative threads” salient across the four participants’ life stories include: disconnection, passing, diversion, …

Doulas’ Perceptions On Single Mothers’ Risk And Protective Factors, And Aspirations Relative To Child - Birth, Gizem Arat

The Qualitative Report

This study the author aims to explore the perceptions of doulas on single mothers’ risk and protective factors, and aspirations relative to child - birth in the postpartum care. The current study was conducted by semi - structured questions, case file reviews, field notes, and twelve home visits via utilizing Grounded Theory. These mothers receive social services through a family services agency in Pittsburg h, PA. There were three doulas and three single mothers in the sample group. Findings displayed four themes: (a ) doula program is helpful for single mothers relative to child - birth, ( b ) social …

The Constant Comparative Analysis Method Outside Of Grounded Theory, Sheila M. Fram

The Qualitative Report

This commentary addresses the gap in the literature regarding discussion of the legitimate use of Constant Comparative Analysis Method (CCA) outside of Grounded Theory. The purpose is to show the strength of using CCA to maintain the emic perspective and how theoretical frameworks can maintain the etic perspective throughout the analysis. My naturalistic inquiry model shows how conceptual frameworks and theoretical frameworks can be integrated when using the CCA method.

An Appreciative Inquiry Into An Urban Drug Court: Cultural Transformation, Raymond Calabrese, Erik Cohen

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to use an appreciative inquiry (AI) theoretical research perspective and change methodology to transform the working relationships and cultural expectations of members through the discovery of their positive core leading to an optimistic and confidence - based future for an urban drug court. This study describes how participants through their participation in the first two stages of an AI 4 - D cycle (Discovery and Dream) transformed their working relationships and organizational culture. Participants included an urban drug court magistrate, manager, and purposively selected staff [15 participants]. The urban drug court is designed as …

A Novel Method Of Enhancing Grounded Theory Memos With Voice Recording, Rachel Stocker, Helen Close

The Qualitative Report

In this article the authors present the recent discovery of a novel method of supplementing written grounded theory memos with voice recording, the combination of which may provide significant analytical advantages over solely the traditional written method. Memo writing is an essential component of a grounded theory study, however it is often difficult to capture thoughts, feelings, and emerging theorising using written methods after a research interview. I found that many of these potentially valuable ide as were lost or misunderstood upon reading my subsequent written memo, and the feelings and context which influenced the emerging theory were not always …

Nebraska Youth Tobacco Survey 2012/2013, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Student Health and Risk Prevention Surveillance System (SHARP)

No abstract provided.

Creating Knowledge, Volume 6, 2013

Creating Knowledge

It is my great pleasure to introduce the sixth volume of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences’ “Creating Knowledge,” our undergraduate student scholarship and research journal. First published in 2008, the journal is the outcome of an initiative to enhance and enrich the academic quality of the student experience within the college. Through this publication, the college seeks to encourage students to become actively engaged in creating scholarship and research and gives them a venue for the publication of their essays.

This sixth volume is, however, unlike the previous ones in one major respect: the papers in this …

Life In Hampton Roads Report: The Fourth Annual Life In Hampton Roads Survey, Sara Resnick, Tarah Gibbs, Charles Bush, Steve Parker, Tandy Vandecar-Burdin, Jesse Richman

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[From the Executive Summary]

This document presents the results from the ODU Social Science Research Center’s fourth annual Life in Hampton Roads survey. The survey was designed to examine social and economic indicators of the quality of life in Hampton roads, particularly with respect to transportation and traffic, local and state government, education, heatlh, emergency preparedness, the economy, and crime. Questions were obtained from University faculty as well as from previous years’ Life in Hampton Roads surveys. The survey was conducted via telephone with 812 residents of the seven cities of Hampton Roads.