Sociology Commons^™

Creative Combinations In Qualitative Inquiry, Robin Cooper

The Qualitative Report

In Qualitative Inquiry: Thematic, Narrative and Arts-Informed Perspectives, Lynn Butler-Kisber offers students of qualitative research a valuable resource that provides useful foundational information about both traditional and arts-based qualitative methods. At the same time, by bringing a discussion of these various methodological approaches together into one text, the book inspires possibilities for creative combinations in qualitative research design.

Theoretical Considerations In Qualitative Interviewing, Robin Cooper

The Qualitative Report

You might expect a book on interviewing in qualitative research to focus solely on the procedures of conducting interviews; however, in Reflective Interviewing: A Guide to Theory & Practice, Kathryn Roulston (2010) offers this perspective and much more. In particular, her new book addresses ways in which the researcher's theoretical perspective can inform not only the interview but also each stage of the research process. This thoughtful, well-written text also includes at the end of each chapter helpful suggestions of further reading and activities that relate to the chapter's topic.

Simulation In Nursing Education: A Review Of The Research, Pamela G. Sanford

The Qualitative Report

Simulation in education has been used at least since the time of World War II. Simulation in nursing education in the form of static manikins, role playing, CPR manikins, and other techniques has also been utilized as a teaching modality for quite some time. High-fidelity simulation is a relatively new area in nursing education and utilizes high technology simulation monitors and computers. This technology offers new avenues for teaching student nurses scenarios as well as critical thinking and reflection on lived experience and practice. However, the outcome research in the area of high-fidelity simulation in nursing education is limited at …

A Winning Combination For Business Researchers: A Review Of Qualitative Methods In Business Research, Jane Whitney Gibson

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative Methods in Business Research by Paivi Eriksson and Anne Kovalainen is a comprehensive, current, and compelling text discussing both qualitative research in general and nine specific approaches in particular. These include: case studies, ethnography, grounded theory, focus group research, action research, narrative research, discursive research, critical research and feminist research. The reviewer identifies the considerable strengths of this book, which include its attention to the writing process that differentiates qualitative from quantitative research, and recommends the book as a solid resource for both students and practitioners.

Situating Narrative Construction Within Social Dynamics And Context To Create Complex Meaning: A Review Of The Book Analyzing Narrative Reality, Becky De Oliveira

The Qualitative Report

Analyzing Narrative Reality (Gubrium & Holstein, 2009) examines how stories are constructed for different purposes in a variety of social situations and aims to provide a framework for analysis "oriented both to the internal and especially to the external organization of stories" (p. 2). The authors are keen to create an understanding of how stories emerge and why they are constructed, confident that these factors are vital to creating good stories-"continuously unfolding accounts, whose extensions move in many directions" (p. 228) and that go beyond the boundaries of text. The book covers narrative reality, narrative work, narrative environments and narrative …

Using Message Boards To Conduct Online Focus Groups, David Deggs, Kenda Grover, Kit Kacirek

The Qualitative Report

Geographic dispersion of research subjects can make traditional face-to-face focus groups difficult if not impractical to conduct. Online focus groups have many advantages such as enabling researchers to save costs, allowing for more efficient collection of data, and allowing researchers to accommodate research subjects' schedules. However, online focus groups require greater skill on the part of the researcher and research subjects alike. This manuscript chronicles the process that we recently used to conduct an online focus group using a message board system with graduate students enrolled in an online degree program. We explain the processes that were followed in conducting …

Using Qualitative Research To Identify And Address The Unique Needs Of Caregivers Of Persons With Alzheimer's Disease, Breanda K. Wheeler

The Qualitative Report

This paper reviews articles describing qualitative research that explores the unique needs of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Qualitative research methodologies used in these studies include hermeneutic phenomenology, descriptive studies with focus groups, and individual interviews. Researchers identified needs and concerns unique to caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease including the need for knowledge about the disease, care recipient and caregiver issues, resource needs, and coping post-nursing home placement. Suggestions for addressing the needs were given by study participants. Implications for nurses and other professionals working with caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease were addressed. The importance of qualitative …

A Sex-Based Examination Of Violence And Aggression Perceptions Among Adolescents: An Interactive Qualitative Analysis, Tammy Jordan Wyatt

The Qualitative Report

In this study I examine the critical factors and themes that are identified as salient influencers of overt and relational aggression among youth. Sex differences and similarities associated with such adolescent perceptions are assessed. Forty-eight ethnically diverse youth between the ages of 14 and 16 years participated in sex-specific focus groups and individual interviews. Sex-Specific Systems Influence Diagrams (SID), models of influences and outcomes, were created using the Interactive Qualitative Analysis methods (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004). Study findings suggest that the critical influences on violent and aggressive behavior, peer relationships, popularity, and emotions, are sex-specific. By examining and understanding such …

Using Qualitative Data To Refine A Logic Model For The Cornell Family Development Credential Program, Betsy Crane

The Qualitative Report

Human service practitioners face challenges in communicating how their programs lead to desired outcomes. One framework for representation that is now widely used in the field of program evaluation is the program logic model. This article presents an example of how qualitative data were used to refine a logic model for the Cornell Family Development Training and Credentialing (FDC) Program. This interagency training program teaches a strengths-based, family support, empowerment-oriented approach to the helping relationship. Analysis of the qualitative data gathered from interviews and focus groups with stakeholders led to revisions and further development of the program's initial logic model. …

Conducting A Focus Group, Barbara Packer-Muti

The Qualitative Report

Conducting focus groups seems to be a process that is practically intuitive. However, this key practice in qualitative research requires that a novice facilitator must do his or her homework. This article describes the process by which I became more cognizant of the tools necessary to be successful in planning and running focus groups. The article provides information about books and articles that were useful in providing practical information. It also details the use of the "learning-by-doing" journey embarked upon at my institution, whereby we conducted 56 town hall meetings over a four month time period using a focus group …

Peter L. Berger's Early Conception Of Agency: Exposition And Evaluation., James Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Peter L. Berger's conception of agency in his earliest writings (c.1954-1960) is logically and empirically inadequate. At the root of this inadequacy is an idealism that prevents him from providing a compelling account of actual empirical agency. Chapter 1 asserts that Berger's earlier works warrant analysis. Chapter 2 discusses Berger's earliest influences, particularly Max Weber and The Swedish Lund School of motif research. Chapter 3 identifies a unique commitment to Christian Humanism at the base of Berger's conception of agency. Chapter 4 clarifies how Berger's Christian humanism interacts with his Weberian, and Parsonian-inspired functional analysis of the American religious establishment. …

Art Therapy And Anorexia: A Heuristic Self-Study From Treatment To Career, Katie Kiskinis

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this self-study was to explore the personal experience had during treatment for anorexia nervosa that included an art therapy component and what impact this has had on subsequent recovery, current healthy functioning, and the career decision to become an art therapist.

The total duration of the study was 13 weeks. Thirty-minute reflection sessions supplemented with writing were scheduled for the first four days of the study, during which there was a submersion in artwork made during treatment (Treatment Artwork) for anorexia nervosa and any related memories. On the fourth day, eight themes were identified to be the …

Art Therapists’ Strategies For Improving Adolescent Self-Esteem: A Qualitative Study, Jennifer Lauren Barnette

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to interview art therapists who work with an adolescent population in a variety of settings, to acquire an in depth understanding of what various therapeutic approaches and art-making strategies they utilized to improve adolescents’ self-esteem. Six art therapists were interviewed. The interviews, which were transcribed, generated information about the art therapists’ theoretical orientation, how they addressed self-esteem with their clients, and what processes and materials they find to be most effective for improving such a goal. Themes were extracted from the interviews in order to acquire a further understanding of work with adolescents as …

An Art-Based Self-Study Of Immersion In Amish Culture: Implications For Art Therapists, Alison R. Hunt

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Literature reveals that cross cultural experiences can be beneficial to therapists in terms of personal growth and cultural competency (Finlay, 2005). This heuristic study employed Moustakas’ (1990) six stages of initial engagement, immersion, incubation, illumination, explication, and creative synthesis to examine the impact of immersion in Amish culture on my sense of myself as an art therapist. Data collection included keeping a visual journal and making art during the immersion stage. The data was evaluated using qualitative techniques of categorizing, interpreting, and integrating (Ansdell & Pavlicevic, 2001). Themes which emerged from the artwork were reported in a narrative format and …

An African-American Breast Cancer Survivor’S Journey With The Use Of Visual Journaling, Kristen Spellman

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative case study guided one female breast cancer survivor through a 6-week art therapy visual journaling experience. The art therapist taught the participant about the purpose of visual journaling and the potential benefits, as well as the basic methods used to journal. Qualitative data consisted of the visual journal entry (containing both images and writing) that she made in each session and entries made between sessions. Through content analysis, the following themes emerged from the data: breast cancer treatment, anger, family, body image, and depression. The sessions appeared to be beneficial to the participant, and she was enthusiastic and …

A Qualitative Research On Portfolio Keeping In English As A Foreign Language Writing, Selami Aydin

The Qualitative Report

Little attention has been paid to the problems about portfolio keeping in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing, while the existing literature mostly focuses on the effects of portfolios on writing skills of learners, rather than those of teachers or pre-service teachers. This study aims to investigate the problems encountered and contributions of portfolios to the language skills of EFL pre-service teachers. The sample group consists of 39 pre-service teachers; a background questionnaire, interviews, a survey, and essays were used for data collection. The results indicate that portfolios significantly contribute to the writing skills, and that there exist potential …

Protecting My Interests: Hrm And Target's Coping With Workplace Bullying, Premilla D'Cruz, Ernesto Noronha

The Qualitative Report

Based on a study rooted in van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology, conducted with agents working in international facing call centers in Mumbai and Bangalore, India, this paper describes targets' coping with workplace bullying. Data were gathered through conversational interviews and were subject to sententious and selective thematic analyses. The core theme of "protecting my interests" displayed two prominent features: the presence of stages and the critical role of HRM in influencing multiple facets of the experience. Major themes, organized around these defining characteristics, include experiencing confusion, engaging organizational options, moving inwards and exiting the organization. The findings break new ground in …

The Ground They Walk On: Photography And Narrative Inquiry, Diane Ketelle

The Qualitative Report

In this project, the author explores a novel variation on an established social science research method, photo-elicitation. The author photographed eight school principals during a two-year period and asked the principals to respond to the photographs by writing narratives below each. The author uses photography, reflections, and her own memories to construct descriptive narrative snapshots of the eight principals. Further, the author argues that this approach underscores how photographs are both technically and socially constructed and through the use of photo-elicitation new ways of understanding self and others in relation can be explored.

Teaching Experiences Of African American Educators In The Rural South, Ellene Polidore, Stacey L. Edmonson, John R. Slate

The Qualitative Report

A scarcity of research exists regarding the voices of African American teachers who taught in the rural South. In this study, we report the life experiences, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of three female African American educators as they pertain to their experiences teaching before, during, and after desegregation. Three female African American educators who taught before, during, and after desegregation in the same school district in the rural South were interviewed extensively. Data analysis revealed themes that mirrored those themes found in resiliency research. By examining these resilience themes within the context of this study, a model of adult resilience …

Legislative Decision Making On Education Issues: A Qualitative Study, Kathy Canfield-Davis, Sachin Jain

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this descriptive, single case study was to provide knowledge and insight about state education policy-making, specifically, the process by which education-related bills pass through a legislature. This study was also designed to identify factors of influence shaping legislative decision-making as perceived by lawmakers and observers of the legislative process. Sources of evidence included interviews, direct observation, archival records, public records documentation, and tape recordings of committee meetings and Senate floor sessions. Results show that a bill's fate is subject to many planned and unplanned sequential steps, and to a collection of diverse personalities that drive the legislative …

Using Wordle As A Supplementary Research Tool, Carmel Mcnaught, Paul Lam

The Qualitative Report

A word cloud is a special visualization of text in which the more frequently used words are effectively highlighted by occupying more prominence in the representation. We have used Wordle to produce word-cloud analyses of the spoken and written responses of informants in two research projects. The product demonstrates a fast and visually rich way to enable researchers to have some basic understanding of the data at hand. Word clouds can be a useful tool for preliminary analysis and for validation of previous findings. However, Wordle is an adjunct tool and we do not recommend that this method be used …

Attributes Of Spirituality Described By Survivors Of Sexual Violence, Gregory P. Knapik, Donna S. Martsolf, Claire B. Draucker, Karen D. Strickland

The Qualitative Report

This study focuses on what aspects of attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley (1998) are most salient for female and male survivors of sexual violence. Content analysis of secondary narrative data, provided by 50 participants in a study of women's and men's responses to sexual violence, was coded to the five attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley. The attribute aspects of connecting with others in spiritual ways and with God/higher power were particularly significant. The attribute of transcendence was found less important, and the attributes of value, becoming, and meaning were not found important. …

A Hockey Night In Canada: An Imagined Conversation Between Theorists, Curtis Fogel

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, various methodological issues surrounding the sociological study of sport are explored. Through an imagined dialogue between two graduate students at a hockey game, this work brings together three divergent approaches to social enquiry: Positivist Grounded Theory, Constructivist Grounded Theory, and Actor-Network Theory. This paper challenges conventional writing on method in two ways: (a) assembling three divergent approaches within a single work, and (b) employing a scripted narrative as a means of exploring methodological issues. Through this innovative approach, many of the overlaps and tensions between these theories/methods are captured. In so doing, numerous methodological questions about the …

Using Millie Thayer's Making Transnational Feminism To Connect Transnational Feminist Theories To Transnational Feminist Practices, Camille Sutton-Brown

The Qualitative Report

I review Millie Thayer's 2010 book, Making Transnational Feminism, from a methodological standpoint to discuss its ability to effectively connect transnational feminist theories with transnational activist practices. Transnational feminism is at once a theoretical and practical model, consisting of an intricate, yet complex, web of small entities that work with and for one another to address related concerns. Thayer illuminates the processes that are involved in creating and sustaining these transnational feminist networks in the attempt to deconstruct the complex social relations and power dynamics that operate within the current structures of globalization. I purport that Making Transnational Feminism is …

A Guide To Conducting Ethnographic Research: A Review Of Ethnography: Step-By-Step (3rd Ed.) By David M. Fetterman, Maribel Del Rio-Roberts

The Qualitative Report

Ethnography: Step-by-Step (3rd ed.) is a book that introduces novice researchers to the practice of ethnographic research. It provides an overview of ethnography, a discussion of methods and techniques utilized in the field, a guide to the use of ethnographic equipment, and basic tenets of the process of analyzing data. In addition, it provides important strategies for writing up the results and a valuable discussion of ethics.

Art As Inquiry: A Book Review Of Being With A/R/Tography, Nicole Manry Pourchier

The Qualitative Report

In this essay, the edited anthology, Being with A/r/tography (Springgay, Irwin, Leggo, & Gouzouasis, 2008) is reviewed in regard to its relevance to visual arts research. Art is presented as a method of inquiry as theory, dialogue, and a/r/tographic works are shared within a community of practicing arts-based researchers. This text offers insight into the possibilities of the arts as active and perceptive modes of inquiry.

From "Clueless" To "Completed": A Review Of The Essential Guide To Doing Your Research Project, Angela Yehl

The Qualitative Report

O'Leary (2010) has written her book for the student; however, she delves beyond the "how to" of most introductory research texts. The author works to ground students in the theoretical and foundational aspects of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research, in addition to providing "real world" advice and common scenarios often encountered in the field. From determining an appropriate sample size to navigating political processes in evaluative research, O'Leary stays grounded in the practical, often re-emphasizing the importance of "doability" in planning and conducting any type of research.

Creative Possibilities And Responsibilities: A Review Of Maria J. Mayan's Essentials Of Qualitative Inquiry, Jacquelyn Browne

The Qualitative Report

In her book, Essentials of Qualitative Inquiry (2009), Maria J. Mayan has provided a highly readable text. Using examples, tables, charts, plus exercises at the end of each chapter, a student new to the field, or an instructor looking for a useful text will find a good companion in this book. In addition to her thorough teaching, Maria Mayan uses humor, humility, and transparency to convey her deep moral and philosophical commitment to scientific rigor, as well as a deep sensitivity to honoring the stories researchers strive to tell about the human condition.

Qualitative Interview Design: A Practical Guide For Novice Investigators, Daniel W. Turner Iii

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative research design can be complicated depending upon the level of experience a researcher may have with a particular type of methodology. As researchers, many aspire to grow and expand their knowledge and experiences with qualitative design in order to better utilize diversified research paradigms for future investigations. One of the more popular areas of interest in qualitative research design is that of the interview protocol. Interviews provide in-depth information pertaining to participants' experiences and viewpoints of a particular topic. Often times, interviews are coupled with other forms of data collection in order to provide the researcher with a well-rounded …

Conducting An Online Focus Group, Jeanine Stancanelli

The Qualitative Report

Traditionally, focus groups have been conducted in person using the face-to-face format. However, improvements in technology have resulted in the emergence of the online focus groups. Online focus groups are an extension of traditional focus groups, which have been utilized in qualitative research for decades and, for the most part, the principles are consistent with traditional focus groups. Learning to conduct online focus groups requires the researcher to delve into the literature on traditional focus groups, as having a thorough understanding of traditional focus groups is paramount. After gaining a sufficient understanding of traditional focus groups, the researcher can explore …