Sociology Commons^™

Contextualising The Research Process: Using Interviewer Notes In The Secondary Analysis Of Qualitative Data, John Goodwin, Henrietta O'Connor

The Qualitative Report

In this paper we argue that for the secondary analysis of qualitative data to be effective, researchers need to subject any accompanying interviewer notes to the secondary analysis process. The secondary analysis of interviewer notes can provide important insight into the research process and the attitudes, experiences, and expectations of those collecting the data. Such information is essential if meaningful analyses are to be offered. Using interviewer notes from a little known research project on youth transitions form the 1960s, this paper explores how the interviewers’ experiences of the research process and their perceptions are documented in the interviewer notes.

“The Times They Are A Changing” 1 : Undertaking Qualitative Research In Ambiguous, Conflictual, And Changing Contexts, Lea Kacen, Julia Chaitin

The Qualitative Report

This article explores qualitative research issues that arise when researchers engage in study within their own ambiguous, unstable, conflictual, and rapidly changing society. We explore the topics of the relationship between the researcher and the context, the difficulty in choosing relevant research quest ions under such conditions, and the relevance of generalizing or transferring findings from such contexts to other sites and populations. We present two research cases from the Israeli context: one that demonstrates an external conflict (between Israelis and Palestinians) and one that demonstrates an internal conflict (between Israelis and Israelis), analyzing them according to these three main …

Understanding Student Self-Disclosure Typology Through Blogging, Vernon B. Harper, Erika J. Harper

The Qualitative Report

Significant research indicates that student self-disclosure plays an important role in the learning experience and producing positive learning outcomes. Blogging is an increasingly popular web tool that can potentially aid educators by encouraging student self-disclosure. Both content analysis and focus groups were used to assess whether student self-disclosure reveals in descriptive, topical, and evaluative categories. The results indicate that blogging encourages student self-disclosure, and the implications of these findings are also discussed.

Narratives Of Developing Counsellors’ Preferred Theories Of Counselling Storied Through Text, Metaphor, And Photographic Images, Gina Wong-Wylie

The Qualitative Report

Reflective practice is integral for developing counsellors to maintain self- awareness and to recognize influences upon one’s personal theory of counselling. In this exploratory narrative inquiry research, four doctoral level counselling psychologists participated to uncover “What are the personal stories of developing counsellors and in what ways are lived stories reflective of counsellors' personal theories of counselling?" The researcher employed a butterfly metaphor, and photographs to illustrate lived stories. Dawn, East, Crystal, Sean, and the researcher’s own lived stories elucidated personal counselling theories and approaches. The view that all theories are constructed portraits of theorists' lives is substantiated. A strong …

Understanding Implicit Texts In Focus Groups From A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective, Brigitte Smit, Frans Cillers

The Qualitative Report

Many researchers have been inquiring into focus groups as a qualitative data collection method (Barbour & Kitzinger 1999; Krueger 1998; Morgan, 1998), but only a few have been able to analyse the different levels of understanding in focus groups, which we focus on in this article. The guiding research question is how do focus groups offer deeper levels of understandings from a systems psychodynamic perspective. Research participants were purposively sample d using maximum variation (Patton 2002). Data were collected during the focus group, and group data were analysed during data gathering. Meaning making and interpretation of data was done from …

Goals And Distractions: Explanations Of Early Attrition From Traditional University Freshmen, John L. Rausch, Matthew W. Hamilton

The Qualitative Report

This grounded theory study was designed to investigate the factors that influenced 20 "traditional" university freshmen to withdraw prior to the end of their first year at two Midwestern universities. A two-hour audio- taped interview was conducted with each of the participants, and the grounded theory method was utilized to analyze the interview data. Eighteen of the twenty participants had strong high school GPAs and ACT scores, and would not have been identified as being at-risk for attrition. The grounded theory that emerged from the participants' data indicated that an absence of clear educational goals, as well as individual and …

Lived Experience Of Women Suffering From Vitiligo: A Phenomenological Study, Leili Borimnejad, Zohreh Parsa Yekta, Alireza Nikbakht Nasrabadi

The Qualitative Report

Vitiligo is a chronic skin disease, which through change of appearance and body image, exerts a devastating effect on people, especially women. The objective of this study is to explore lived experience of women with Vitiligo by the hermeneutic phenomenology method. The purposive sample consisted of 16 Iranian women. Data analysis followed Diekelmann, Allen, and Tanner (1989). The results showed four main themes: (1) Perceiving myself in a different light; (2) Vitiligo: Worry about others’ perceptions; (3) Vitiligo, Being influenced by cultural beliefs; and (4) Accepting and fighting the disease; Variations in experiences of living with Vitiligo. The women affected …

Ring Of Silence: African American Women’S Experiences Related To Their Breasts And Breast Cancer Screening, Eileen Thomas

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to explore women’s memories and feelings concerning their breasts and breast cancer screening experiences in relation to their current breast cancer screening behaviors. Twelve African American women shared stories that were generated in written narratives and individual interviews. Two core themes emerged from the data analysis: silence and societal contradictions. On further review and interpretation of the core themes, one integrative theme became apparent: Ring of silence. Contradictory messages women receive from society, both voiced and unvoiced, can have a long- term effect on how some women perceive their bodies, and how they value …

Studying Hiv Risk In Vulnerable Communities: Methodological And Reporting Shortcomings In The Young Men’S Study In New York City, Ananya Mukherjea, Salvador Vidal-Oritz

The Qualitative Report

This article considers demographic categories used in the Young Men’s Study on HIV risk for men who have sex with men. We critique oversimplified pan-ethnic categories and the polarization of US racial discourse. We also interrogate the use of certain gender and sexuality markers that produced confusing results in this study. We use a critical standpoint derived from cultural studies to suggest that quantitative and qualitative methods of studying health risks and intimate behaviors in vulnerable populations require reorganization to more accurately represent the lives of members of these groups. Interviews, surveys, and statistics can be crude and lacking in …

Professional Outcomes Of Eastern Virginia Medical School Art Therapy Graduates, Heather Tyng

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

In 1982, Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) awarded the first art therapy graduate with a Master’s Degree. Since then there have been 202 graduates through 2004.

The EVMS art therapy program has had no detailed or current information regarding the professional outcomes of its alumni. This lack of information created a need to survey EVMS art therapy graduates to determine how their careers have progressed to this point.

A survey was designed to investigate the professional outcomes of the EVMS art therapy alumni and to determine their opinions of the strengths and weaknesses of the EVMS art therapy curriculum. Of …

Art Therapists’ Response To Countertransference: An Exploratory Study, Rachael Smith

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study explored five practicing art therapists’ common countertransferential reactions and the methods used to attend to their countertransference. Data was collected by recorded interviews, which were reviewed and transcribed using the note-and-quote method. The content was analyzed according to theoretical constructs of The Countertransference Questionnaire, Index of Countertransference Behaviors, and Racker (1968). Disengaged countertransferential reactions were reported most often, followed by special/overinvolved and helpless/inadequate. The researcher found art making a valuable tool for proper identification of countertransference. Themes of decreasing the intensity of countertransference and personal/professional development were motivations for attending to countertransference. This study suggests that identifying …

Perceptions Of Art Therapy As Portrayed Through The Media, Heidi Torres

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the perception of art therapy as portrayed through the media. Two studies were conducted with two facilitated via online surveys and one focus group. All participants were college students from Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University. A sample of 14 volunteers participated. It was hypothesized that adolescents from both groups would use art as an effective and desirable means of personal communication and expression.

Results are based on qualitative analysis of data from two questionnaires, pre and post, which included perceptions toward art therapy prior to viewing media sources and …

"Does It Take One To Know One?" A Comparison Of Police Recruits' And Sergeants' Perceptions Of A Good Police Officer, Kara K. Hoofnagle

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Police departments strive to hire good officers. However, there is difficulty in defining what constitutes a good police officer. The literature is rife in defining what constitutes a good police officer and characteristics indicative of a good officer. Past research suggests that characteristics of a good police officer may be more than the characteristic itself and that officers' may form their perception of what characteristics good officers harbor based on socialization, the police subculture, and the official police organization.

As such, this study sought to explore the following research question: What differences, if any, exist between police recruits' and sergeants' …

Incidence Of Four-Generation Family Lineages: Is Timing Of Fertility Or Mortality A Better Explanation?, Sarah H. Matthews, Rongjun Sun

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

Objectives. This article estimates the percentage of lineages that include four or more generations for a sample of the U.S. population and explores how social status and race are related to lineage depth.

Methods. We assembled data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households in order to estimate the proportion of adults in four or more generations for the Wave 2 sample (1992-1994). When necessary, we used various decision rules to overcome an absence of information about specific generations. We examine relationships between lineage depth and sociodemographic variables by using logistic regressions.

Results. The …

You Can’T Be Serious, That Ball Was In: An Investigation Of Junior Tennis Cheating Behavior, Jonathan Casper

The Qualitative Report

Because junior tennis players have to enforce the rules of the game against each other, cheating to give a player an unfair advantage is common. While this deviant behavior is found to be commonplace in the sport, there is little research to investigate its cause or influences. Results indicated that junior players felt that personal and parental pressures were the most common sources of perceived pressure to win that resulted in cheating behavior. The prevalence of parents who cheat was also cited as a major issue with the participants. Implications as to how the current study adds to the literature …

Moving From Separate Subject To Interdisciplinary 1 Teaching: The Complexity Of Change In A Preservice Teacher K-1 Early Field Experience, Janet C. Richards, Kim T. Shea

The Qualitative Report

This phenomenological inquiry looked at 28 preservice teachers as they participated in a field-based curricula restructuring initiative that connected the disciplines of creative arts, science, and reading. The preservice teachers offered weekly interdisciplinary lessons to kindergarten and first grade students . A survey, teaching cases, and a group exit interview informed the study. Throughout most of the semester, the preservice teachers struggled with procedural and pedagogical content knowledge, concerns directly related to effective teaching. By the end of the semester, they felt comfortable teaching interdisciplinary lessons. Results suggest that preservice teacher curricular restructuring efforts are complex and that teacher educators …

Post Modern Image-Based Research: An Innovative Data Collection Method For Illuminating Preservice Teachers’ Developing Perceptions In Field-Based Courses, Janet C. Richards

The Qualitative Report

As part of course requirements twenty -eight preservice teachers in a field- based content reading course create d a series of se lf-portraits that illustrated their concerns and perceptions about teaching content reading. They accompanied their drawings with dialogue. Analysis of the portraits indicates that arts-based techniques have the potential to provide insights about preservice teachers’ perceived realities and understandings that narrative data alone might not reveal. The preservice teachers experienced high levels of stress as they prepared to teach their first lesson and their anxieties continued pas t mid-semester. By the end of the course the majority developed confidence …

Community Research Mythology, Barabara Walden

The Qualitative Report

This article is dedicated to an in-depth discussion of the theme “community” and the implications the multiple meanings of community hold for the field of qualitative research. This theme surfaced from Waldern’s 2003 study entitled Resistance to Research in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, which dealt with participant resistance to joining research efforts, and deserves the attention of all social researchers. In this article, the politics of the rese arch process are discussed to evaluate and suggest improvements for reflexive methods of inquiry. Determining that the idea of “community research ” is a myth, this work is concerned about making qualitative methods …

Comparison Of Methods And Interdisciplinary Possibilities. The Case Of Literature Reviews In Social Work And In Nursing Sciences, Yves Couturier, Christian Dumas-Laverdière

The Qualitative Report

The reflections on interdisciplinarity cover several dimensions. One, among them, concerns the nature of what occurs between two disciplines. Does inter-disciplinarity relate to an intention, to a metatheory, to the object, or to a method? It is this ultimate space that we propose to study, supported by Resweber’s (2000) proposition, putting the study of the homology of forms forward as a promising way to better understand the interdisciplinarity. Therefore, we have modelled the literature review methods for social work and nursing in order to clarify what expresses, on the plan of the method, either some form homologies or else some …

A Necessary Evil: The Experiences Of Managers Implementing Downsizing Programmes, Ernesto Noronha, Premilla D'Cruz

The Qualitative Report

This paper presents the findings of a phenomenological study, which describes the experiences of human resource (HR) managers implementing a downsizing programme in a steel manufacturing organisation in India. Data were collected through conversational interviews. Following van Manens sententious analytic approach, the core theme of a necessary evil, emerged, which indicates that while participants were pained by their task of having to terminate workers and deprive them of their livelihood, they believed that they had no choice in the matter if they had to ensure the competitive position of the organisation and their own survival as employees. The findings of …

Designing And Implementing A Qualitative Evaluation Protocol For Non-Credit Life Long Learning Programs 1, Dennis L. Mcelhoe, George Kamberelis, Jerry L. Peters

The Qualitative Report

This study was undertaken to determine whether an evaluation model employing multiple methods of data collection and analysis might yield more useful information for improving lifelong learning courses than existing models. Major findings included: (1) learning satisfaction appears to be dependent on the instructional environment adults may be most comfortable with and; (2) the confidence gained in using computers, rather than skills acquisition, was the greatest benefit students derived from their participation. Findings from this study suggest the value of mixed methods evaluation designs for generating information that is useful for improving lifelong learning courses. Findings also suggest the need …

College Student Mentors And Latino Youth: A Qualitative Study Of The Mentoring Relationship, Lisa L. Knoche, Byron L. Zamboanga

The Qualitative Report

This phenomenological study describes the meaning of mentoring relationships from the perspectives of six purposefully selected mentors involved in the Latino Achievement Mentoring Program (LAMP), and investigates underlying themes regarding the mentors’ relationships. Clusters of themes pertaining to the mentors’ relationship with the mentee, the relationship of the mentor with the mentee’s family, and the mentors’ personal and professional development contributed to the meaning of the mentoring relationship for LAMP mentors. Mentors highlighted challenges that characterized the mentoring relationships at various points in time: However, relations hip strengths outweighed potential obstacles. Findings are useful for programs that target Latino youth, …

Phenomenological Research And Adolescent Female Sexuality: Discoveries And Applications, Gabrielle Morrissey, Joy Higgs

The Qualitative Report

This paper presents research in female first sexual intercourse in Australia. Previous research in adolescent sexual behavior, particularly issues around first sexual intercourse behavior , has mainly utilized quantitative methodology. Our research adopted a qualitative approach to provide unique insight in to adolescent sexual behavior, attitudes, and development. We used phenomenology to investigate adolescent female sexual experiences. The findings ca n inform national and international sexuality education.

Low Self-Esteem Of Psychotherapy Patients: A Qualitative Inquiry, Jacob D. Van Zyl, Elsje M. Cronjé, Catharine Payze

The Qualitative Report

In this article the story of 11 male psychotherapeutic patients with low self- esteem is told within the context of the research process. The literature suggests that the concept of “self-esteem” has a significant influence on the way an individual experiences his/her world. Therefore, the meaning that the psychotherapeutic patients associated with negative and positive labels, as it relates to self-esteem, was examined using grounded theory. The main storyline is conceptualized as follows; negative suggestion from the patient’s past leads to low self-esteem which is, within his emotional problematics and by means of a negative thinking scheme, unhealthily handled. Therapy …

Comment Mener Un Exercice De Couverture : Outil D'Évaluation Rapide De Programmes Et Services, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Un exercice de couverture (EC) est un instrument d’évaluation simple, économique et rapide pouvant servir à profiler les personnes touchées par un prestataire donné, un groupe de prestataires ou des organisations partageant une clientèle commune dans une zone géographique particulière. Cet instrument a été mis au point pour assister les programmes de jeunesse, mais il peut également être utilisé par d’autres bénéficiaires ayant des services offerts en établissement ou en antenne. L’EC collecte les données relatives à différentes caractéristiques, y compris le sexe, la scolarisation, l’habitat, l’activité rémunératrice et l’état matrimonial des personnes bénéficiant d’un programme ou d’un service. Il …

Como Conduzir Um Exercício De Cobertura: Uma Ferramenta Para A Avaliação Rápida De Programas E Serviços, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Um exercício de cobertura (EC) é uma ferramenta de avaliação rápida, simples e de baixo custo que pode ser utilizado para se obter o perfil das pessoas atingidas por um determinado serviço ou grupo de prestadores de serviços1ou organizações com uma clientela comum atuando numa área geográfica definida. Esta ferramenta foi desenvolvida com o intuito de auxiliar programas de atendimento à juventude, mas a mesma também pode ser utilizada com outros beneficiários. Pode ser empregada para um gama de serviços, tanto os realizados numa clínica ou ambulatório bem como na comunidade. Um EC coleta dados sobre uma variedade de características, …

Cómo Realizar Un Ejercicio De Cobertura: Una Herramienta De Evaluación Rápida Para Programas Y Servicios, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Un ejercicio de cobertura (EC) es una herramienta de evaluación sencilla, rápida y de bajo costo que puede emplearse para perfilar quién está siendo alcanzado por un determinado servicio o grupo de proveedores de servicios u organizaciones con una clientela común que operan dentro de un área geográfica particular. Esta herramienta fue desarrollada para ayudar a los programas que ofrecen servicios a jóvenes; pero puede emplearse igualmente para otros beneficiarios. Se le puede utilizar en una gama de servicios, desde las que operan en instalaciones hasta las de alcance comunitario. Un EC recaba información sobre características diversas—que incluyen género, escolaridad, …

How To Conduct A Coverage Exercise: A Rapid Assessment Tool For Programs And Services, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

A coverage exercise (CE) is a simple, low-cost, rapid assessment tool that can be used to profile who is reached by a given service or group of service providers or organizations with a common clientele operating within a particular geographic area. This tool was developed by the Population Council to assist programs servicing youth, but it can be used for other beneficiaries as well. A CE collects data on a variety of characteristics including gender, schooling status, living arrangements, work status, and marital status of those benefiting from a program or service. It also enables program staff and managers to …

Policy Lessons Of The East Asian Demographic Transition, Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The usual lessons drawn from East Asia’s striking experience of health and fertility transition concern the efficacy of well-designed government programs catering to an existing or ideationally stimulated demand. An alternative interpretation sees the demographic change—and the uptake of services—as a by-product of social and economic development together with, in some cases, strong government pressures. This Population Council working paper probes more deeply into this experience, seeking to identify common features of development design and administration that underlies it and to derive lessons for policies elsewhere. The broad sequence entailed, initially, establishment of an effective, typically authoritarian, system of local …

Building Capacity To Utilize Operations Research: Strategies And Lessons Learned, James R. Foreit

Reproductive Health

The effectiveness of development assistance depends on good decision-making. Many donors and international health agencies such as USAID, DFID, and WHO are placing more emphasis on the utilization of research results for policy and program development. Yet, while there is a long tradition of training researchers to produce research, there are few lessons on how to teach managers to request and use research results for making program decisions. Addressing this gap has been a major strategy of the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program (FRONTIERS). Since its inception in 1998, FRONTIERS has complemented its support for operations research (OR) …