Sociology Commons^™

Democratizing Academic Writing: A Revision Of An Experience Of Writing An Autoethnographic Dissertation In Color, Marcela Polanco

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, I revise my experience of writing an autoethnographic ( Ellis, 2004) dissertation in the field of family therapy as a Colombian mestiza. I discuss how I grappled with my writing, and, in the process, stumbled into matters of democratizing texts. I problematize male - dominant academic standards, telling of the tensions when maneuvering at marking cultural and gender differences in my text. I focus on the storywriting of my storytelling when writing aesthetic, evocative, and emotional stories as a woman of color, at the intersection between autobiography and ethnography (Ellis, 2004). I discern elements of my handicraft …

Finding A Balance: A Narrative Inquiry Into Motherhood And The Doctoral Process, Brooke Eisenbach

The Qualitative Report

Carolyn Ellis states, “autoethnography shows struggle, passion, embodied life, and the collaborative creation of sense - making... [it] wants the reader to care, to feel, to empathize, and to do something, to act” (Ellis & Bochner, 2006, p. 433). This autoethnography describes one new mother’s struggles to complete her doctoral program of study while remaining devoted to her familial obligations and relationships. In particular, this article investigates the causes of tension and stress that exist as she attempts to find a balance between her need to care and love for her child, to maintain a relationship with her husband, and …

Expanding The Application Of Appreciative Inquiry Based On Its Principles Of Human Systems, Vatusha Howard

The Qualitative Report

This review serves to examine The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change by Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten - Bloom (2010). It will introduce the topic of Appreciative Inquiry, giving supporting information from the book, and discuss its adaptability. The authors discuss Appreciative Inquiry as a positive approach to change, introduces the 4D cycle associated with it, and uses it to explain how Appreciative Inquiry is carried out in many capacities at the organizational level. Furthermore, this review includes a look into the basic premise of Appreciative Inquiry and how this premise alone affords this Appreciative …

A Phenomenological Examination Of Context On Adolescent Ownership And Engagement Rationale, Melissa Cater, Krisanna Machtmes, Janet E. Fox

The Qualitative Report

Youth ownership and engagement are foundational pieces of the service - learning cycle. Youth voice is posited as a promising practice for building engagement and ownership. As community programs search for proven methods of sustaining youth participation, research that examines the links between practice and outcomes is essential. This study is a phenomenological examination of how adolescents in a non - formal youth development program make meaning of having a voice and its contributions to their ownership and engagement of the program. Findings indicate that an autonomy - supportive environment is a prerequisite for engagement and ownership to develop.

Conversations In A Pub: Positioning The Critical Friend As “Peer Relief” In The Supervision Of A Teacher Educator Study Abroad Experience, Jenifer Jasinski Schneider, Audra K. Parker

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we share the results of a self - study of our experience as university supervisors in a study abroad program for U.S. pre - service teachers. We share the shifts in our thinking that occurred as a result of our daily conversations about our work as teacher educators. Our reflections led us to new understandings of the nuances of field experiences, our constructions of pre - service teachers in the field, and the necessity of personal and professional renewal for faculty, not only as critical friends, but as peer relief.

How To “Get” Grounded And Not “Get” Lost: Review Of Grounded Theory For Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide, Kristin Wyatt

The Qualitative Report

As a developing PhD student one must work to develop the ability to apply critical thinking skills and analysis. In my pursuit to further understand qualitative research methods, I chose to look more closely at grounded theory method due to its seemingly complex structure and unique method of theory development. Urquhart (2013) works to present the components of grounded theory method (GTM) as a reaction to confusion and frustration of postgraduate students struggling with the method. She provides a sequential “how to” guide on GTM while asserting the importance of staying flexible within the structure. She acknowledges and addresses the …

Found Poems, Member Checking And Crises Of Representation, Rosemary C. Reilly

The Qualitative Report

In order to establish veracity , qualitative researchers frequently rely on member checks to insure credibility by giving participants opportunities to correct errors, challenge interpretations and assess results; however, member checks are not without drawbacks. This paper describes an innovative approach to conducting member checks. Six members of a learning organization participated in two group interviews to examine the use of poetry as a method to promote individual and organizational learning. Several weeks later, participants received a copy of their transcripts and were asked to create a “found poem” to reflect their thoughts and feelings about using poetry as a …

An Exploration Of Positive Identity Development In Women Living With Chronic Pain, Hillary Sharpe, Sandra Collins

The Qualitative Report

We explored the concept of living positively with chronic pain using a mixed - methods design that relied primarily on hermeneutic phenomenology. Ten women described their experiences of developing a positive identity while contending with chronic pain. Throughout their journeys, the women interviewed experienced a number of key themes including: the sense of being separate from their bodies, the failure of the biomedical system, and the creation of support networks. Three major categories emerged from the data: (a) Before Diagnosis , (b) Redefinition of Self, and (c) Moving Forward. The implications for healthcare providers and the limitations of this study …

There Is No Right Way To Do The Wrong Thing: The Ins And Outs Of Research With Children, Steve Trotter

The Qualitative Report

The 3rd Edition of Doing Research with Children: A Practical Guide (2013). Greig, Taylor, and Mackay was reviewed and areas were highlighted. The text is best used as an introduction and refresher to conducting research with children. The volume addresses both quantitative and qualitative research designs and the theoretical context and frame work supporting the uniqueness of working with children. The text is suitably written for a worldwide audience and is not specific when it comes to ethics and guidelines for working within the United States. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to check with their own Institutional Review Board when using …

Interrupting Life History: The Evolution Of Relationship Within Research, Ronald E. Hackett

The Qualitative Report

In this paper the author explores how relationships are defined within the context of constructing a life history. The life history of Benjamin, a homeless young man transitioning to adulthood, is used to illustrate how difficult it is to define the parameters of the research environment. During an “ethically important moment” in the research process, the author had to critically analyze his obligation to his participant based upon the relational titles exchanged. As chaos in Benjamin’s life increased, a choice needed to be made about the researcher’s involvement in his life. Should the researcher provide support or simply document events? …

Baby Steps: A Book Review Of Dorothy Valcarcel Craig’S Action Research Essentials, Mahdi Qasqas

The Qualitative Report

Action Research Essentials by Dorothy Valcarcel Craig (2009) is an excellent resource for the emerging researcher; especially doctoral students in their first year of studies. Craig is successful in providing the reader with the essentials of action research while also addressing common challenges; one baby step at a time. In this review I will first explain the process of selecting and conducting the first reading of the book followed by identifying the author’s objectives and intent. Then, I present a brief description of each chapter and note how their content relates to struggling research students' common challenges of the . …

Never A Yellow Bird, Always A Blue Bird: Ethnodrama Of A Latina Learner’S Educational Experiences In 1950 - 60s South Texas, Norman Gillen, Kakali Bhattacharya

The Qualitative Report

This article is a response to calls for more first - person accounts from researchers using narrative formats to interpret data. The authors examine the practice of ethnodrama as a means of exploring and analyzing the experiences of a Latina public - school student in a small South Texas coastal town during the 1950s and 1960s as she attempted to negotiate multiple ethnic spaces while resisting traditional behavioral expectations representative of that period. Through coding and synthesizing the participant’s responses, the researchers established theme s on which to base the composition of three dramatic scenes for purposes of data representation. …

The Characteristics Of Women Seeking Funding From The Dc Abortion Fund, Karin Elizabeth Bleeg

GW Research Days 2013

Objectives: To determine whether the population DCAF serves, based on current research, are those most in need of its financial services. Describe the population that DCAF is supports by age, race and ethnicity, poverty, educational attainment, union status, contraceptive method used, referral source, and number of prior pregnancies.

Methods: An adapted version of The Guttmacher Institute's National Patient Survey will be used to collect data from women who contact DCAF for financial assistance for their abortion (n=150). The data will be collected for one month and then analyzed in SPSS.

Results: Between January and March 2013 approximately 400 women contacted …

The Impact Of Home Visitor Relationship Quality On Parenting And Child Outcomes: Does Maternal Age Matter?, Elizabeth A. Colsey

Senior Honors Theses

Early Head Start (EHS) is an early intervention program that seeks to mitigate the effects of risk for those families with young children. Consistent with attachment theory, the home visiting component of EHS targets parent-child relationships in order to combat negative child outcomes. Research indicates that children of adolescent mothers are susceptible to poor outcomes both in childhood and adulthood. The current study utilized EHS data from 1198 parent-child dyads to assess the indirect relationship of home visitor quality on child aggression through parent quality, as moderated by maternal age. Findings indicated that home visitor quality may have a greater …

Social Media And The Transformation Of The Humanitarian Narrative: A Comparative Analysis Of Humanitarian Discourse In Libya 2011 And Bosnia 1994, Ellen Noble

Political Science Honors Projects

Within humanitarian discourse, there is a prevailing narrative: the powerful liberal heroes are saving the helpless, weak victims. However, the beginning of the 21^st century marks the expansion of the digital revolution throughout lesser-developed states. Growing access to the Internet has enabled aid recipients to communicate with the outside world, giving them an unprecedented opportunity to reshape discourses surrounding humanitarianism. Through a comparative discourse analysis of Libyan Tweets, 1994 newspaper reports on Bosnia, and 2011 newspaper reports on Libya, this paper analyzes whether aid recipient discourse can resist the dominant humanitarian narrative and if that resistance can influence dominant …

There Are No "Innocent Victims": The Influence Of Just World Beliefs And Prior Victimization On Rape Myth Acceptance, Rebecca Lynne Vonderhaar

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Approximately 209,000 women report being raped every year. Of those 209,000 rapes, only 19,491 arrests were made (U.S. Department of Justice 2011). Furthermore, reports estimate that one out of every three women will be raped at some point in her life (Amir, 1971). The prominence of rape in the United States, as well as the disparity between documented rapes to the police and victim reports of rape, is problematic for researchers in fully understanding the breadth of the problem. Considering that rape occurs at such an overwhelmingly high rate and frequently goes unreported, it is important to understand the attitudes …

Queering Methodologies: Challenging Scientific Constraint In The Appreciation Of Queer And Trans Subjects, Joshua M. Ferguson

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative studies require a queer perspective to challenge stagnant forms of scientific discourse. This paper argues for a deconstruction of hegemonic qualitative practices in order to appreciate and listen to queer and trans subjects when employing qualitative research and methodologies. I focus on qualitative methods from an audiovisual perspective to suggest that there is scientific constraint in the way researchers still approach qualitative methodologies. I propose some foundations for thinking about queer qualitative methods that employs queer theory in relation to a self - reflexive creative perspective towards ethics, research and representation. Moreover, I critically analyze the HBO trans documentary, …

Tasers And Community Controversy: Investigating Training Officer Perceptions Of Public Concern Over Conducted Energy Weapons, Joseph De Angelis, Brian Wolf

The Qualitative Report

Over the last several decades, “Tasers,” “stun guns” and other conducted energy devices (CEDs) have become a widely adopted, though publicly controversial, form of police restraint technology. While there is a growing body of research on the physiological effects of these types of weapons, less attention has been devoted to the social effects of this technology. This paper draws on in - depth interviews with a stratified random sample of police training officers from two states (n=27) to explore the effect that community controversy over the use of CEDs has had on police organizational practices. In particular, we explore how …

Exploring The Methodology Of Getting Lost With Patti Lather, Sarah Fotheringham

The Qualitative Report

In this article I review the book Getting Lost: Feminist Efforts towards a Double(d) science (Lather, 2007) from the perspective of a feminist social worker. Lather, using herself and her previous research with women as example, explores feminist methodological issues of loss of authority and loss of innocence as a means towards the creation of new forms of knowledge. This complex book, while extraordinarily difficult, provides the reader with a rare opportunity of getting lost – in the literal sense - in the postmodern poise while simultaneously opening the reader up to new ways of knowing. For feminists and social …

Substance Abuse And Insecure Attachment Styles: A Relational Study, Yasmin Borhani

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

The attachment styles an individual forms while they are growing up can impact the type of relationships they form as adults. Research has shown insecure attachment styles can be correlated to substance abuse, emotional distress, and interpersonal problems. More specifically, this study focuses on the correlation between insecure attachment styles and substance abuse. Nineteen participants (nine male, ten female) between the ages of 18 to 32 were selected. Participants were given a 20-question survey that measured substance abuse and attachment styles. A t-test was conducted to compare the differences between participants who abuse substances and participants who do not abuse …

Recruiting Ethnically Diverse Participants Into Qualitative Health Research: Lessons Learned, Hagar Renert, Shelly Russell-Mayhew, Nancy Arthur

The Qualitative Report

The inclusion of ethnically diverse populations in health research is crucial for addressing ethnic disparities in health status and care. Despite this need, non - dominant ethnic groups continue to be under - represented in health studies. The reasons may be at least partly du e to the difficulties inherent in recruiting such groups for research. In this article, we attempt to assist researchers , who are seeking to conduct inclusive qualitative health research , by sharing some of the lessons we learned in the process of recruiting ethnically diverse immigrant women for a qualitative study on the experience of …

Hand - I Coordination: Interpreting Student Writings And Drawings As Expressions Of Identity, Inda Schaenen

The Qualitative Report

In schools where curricular constraints and testing pressures narrow the ways in which students can take up identities as writers, longterm enrichment programs offer opportunities for the meaningful design of compositions. This paper, which presents the work of four elementary student participants in a writing workshop, shows how qualitative inquiry -- in particular critical multimodal analysis -- can enable a teacher researcher to see, interpret, and explain what might be going on in the writings and drawings of students, and how these illuminations help establish and expand the identities of students as writers. I focus especially on the work of …

An Innovative Way To Present Qualitative Work: A Review Of Life After Leaving: The Remains Of Spousal Abuse, Mo Xue

The Qualitative Report

Life after Leaving is an innovative, creative, and amazing autoethnographic work in which Tamas explores how women struggle to make sense of loss, get recovery, and experience the loving, longing, fear, uncertainties, trust, hope, and frustration after leaving spousal abuse in the form of a performative and arts - based dramatic story. In this paper I review this book mainly from two aspects: data trustworthiness and data analysis. For qualitative researchers and our doctoral students in education or social studies, the success of this book would encourage all of us to bravely use various and more advanced approach to present …

Picturing Leisure: Using Photovoice To Understand The Experience Of Leisure And Dementia, Rebecca Genoe, Sherry Dupuis

The Qualitative Report

Interviews and participant observation are commonly used to explore the experience of dementia, yet may not adequately capture perspectives of persons with dementia as communication changes. We used photovoice (i.e., using cameras in qualitative research) along with interviews and participant observation to explore meanings of leisure for persons with dementia. We discuss our photovoice process and the challenges we encountered, including ethical concerns, difficulty using the equipment, forgetting the context of photos, and questioning self. Despite challenges, photovoice aided in cuing memory, planning for the interview, sharing stories, and capturing meaning. We recommend further exploration of photovoice with this population.

Case Study O F Three Rural Texas Superintendents As Equity Oriented Change Agents, Gerri Marie Maxwell, Leslie Ann Locke, James Joseph Scheurich

The Qualitative Report

For this qualitative case study (Patton, 2003 ), we used narrative inquiry (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993) and sought to analyze extended interviews and field notes based on inter actions with three rural superintendents working in high - needs, public PK - 12 school districts in Texas. We collected data with regard to these superintendents’ perceptions of themselves as social justice/equity oriented change agents based on the Equity Oriented Change Agent or EOCA framework developed by Skrla, McKenzie, and Scheurich (2009). Our goal with this study was to glean greater insight into the work of these rural school leaders …

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 …

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 …

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