Sociology Commons^™

Cultural Diversity In Education: Examining The Challenges And Issues Of Lgbtq Students Enrolled In A Tertiary Education Institution In The Bahamas, Terry Laverne Rolle

Theses and Dissertations

This research study examined the challenges and issues faced by LGBTQ students attending a tertiary education institution in The Bahamas. Utilizing a phenomenological analytical process, seven individuals gave information regarding their lived experiences in a tertiary institution in The Bahamas. Data for this research study were collected through two 60-minute in-depth interview sessions. This qualitative study was guided by the theoretical frameworks of the planned approach to change and the theory of resilience, both of which were used to inform the elements of the research. Many research studies have been conducted in regard to the experiences faced by LGBTQ students …

Living A Nightmare: A Study On The Reluctance Of Native American Women To Report Violent Crimes To Police, Misty Marie Neal

Theses and Dissertations

To address this problem, this study will explore, if at all, the differences and relationships between Native American women’s reluctance to report a violent crime to the police with their perception of police, previous interactions with police, prior victimization, tribal affiliation, and specific demographic factors. The population for this research will be Native American women from federally recognized tribes between 18 and 55 years of age. In addition, the participant's marital status, sexual affiliation, religion, level of education, and geographic location will be examined.

From this population, a sample size of 500 - 600 participants will be constructed for this …

Evaluating Higher Education In Prison Effectiveness By Modality Through Student Success And Retention Rates In California Community Colleges, Peter Michael Fulks

Theses and Dissertations

There is a strident body of empirical research evidence that Higher Education in Prison (HEP) has a direct impact on reducing recidivism. Additionally for participants, it also increases the economic mobility and employability post-release. However, the ability to conduct randomly controlled trials with a distal measurement of recidivism is hindered due to the inconsistent industry definitions of recidivism. Considering the implementation of credit bearing college programs from California Community Colleges since Senate Bill 1391 in 2014, the study conducts statistical analysis through independent and paired t tests to determine which modality of delivery, face-to-face (F2F) or correspondence (COR), to provide …

The Lived Experience And Perceived Challenges Of Child Protective Investigators Who Place Children In Foster Care, Elizabeth Presume

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation examined the difficulties and coping mechanisms associated with child welfare professionals’ interactions with vulnerable children who provide vulnerable populations with emotional, physical, mental, and psychological support. This responsibility impacts their personal life and professional performance since their regular involvement with the children and the following aspects, such as case resolution, in-depth discussions about trauma, and home visits, are emotionally and mentally taxing. The researcher conducted a phenomenological study with nine child protective investigators via an asynchronous online focus group on the Google Groups platform. The participants were all employed in the United States child welfare department, held …

Haitian Immigrants Lived Experiences With Police In South Florida, Christie Laroche

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a qualitative phenomenological exploration of the interactions between Haitian immigrants residing in South Florida and law enforcement. Despite existing research on the experiences of Blacks with the police, there is a noticeable gap concerning the unique encounters of Haitian immigrants, who bring distinct cultural, historical, and linguistic backgrounds to their interactions with law enforcement. Given the increasing population of Haitian immigrants in the United States, this study sought to comprehensively examine their encounters, treatment, and experiences with the police, including aspects such as demeanor, contact handling, and the resultant impact on their perceptions. Through in-depth interviews with …

On The Outside Looking In: Difficulties In Obtaining The Opinions Of Muslim Religious Leaders’ Views On Domestic Violence Experienced By Married Muslim Women, Muhammed Suleman Dr

The Qualitative Report

In this paper I discuss the difficulties I faced in getting access to respondents in a qualitative study on the opinions of Muslim religious leaders on domestic violence experienced by Muslim married women. This in turn highlighted the need for me to reflect carefully on my own assumptions about my insider status and take into account how prospective participants identify me as a researcher. For the study on which I am reflecting, I chose an interpretive research paradigm which falls under the umbrella of qualitative research. This research paradigm was necessary as it places emphasis on context and nuanced meanings …

How Doctoral Students With Low Gre Scores Succeed: A Grounded Theory Study, Dea Mulolli, June E. Gothberg

The Qualitative Report

Most U.S. graduate schools rely on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) to predict readiness for graduate degree programs and differentiate between applicants in verbal and quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills. Many times, low GRE scores create a barrier to entry into U.S. graduate programs despite research showing that selecting graduate applicants based solely on academic metric thresholds does not guarantee graduate student performance and many low scorers still attain a graduate degree on time (Miller et al., 2019b; Pacheco et al., 2017; Petersen et al., 2018; Wang et al, 2013). In this study, we used a constructivist …

Examining The Cultural Adjustment Experiences Of International Students In Writing Dissertations In A Uk Campus, Mukhlash Abrar, Amirul Mukminin, Nur Fitriani, Failasofah Failasofah, Nunung Fajaryani, Hadiyanto Hadiyanto, Rafiza Abdul Razak, Herri Mulyono, Sri Kusuma Ningsih

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study drew on a larger study which was to explore and understand the experiences of non-native speaker postgraduate students in writing dissertations at one university in the United Kingdom. In this qualitative study, we interviewed four international students from different countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan. We identified two main themes pertaining to the challenges in writing dissertations. The first included student-related challenges (technical writing matters, thinking in English, identifying research topics, writing literature review, lack of communicative competence and boredom) and the second focused on s-related challenges (meeting supervisor). To cope with those challenges, the participants …

Racism And Resilience: Counter-Narratives Of Asian International College Students In The Age Of Covid-19, Katrina Liu, Richard Miller, Sharolyn D. Pollard-Durodola, Lei Ping

The Qualitative Report

Using Asian Critical Race Theory and Resilience Theory, this qualitative study explores how Asian international college students experienced racism before and after the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they developed and used resilience to counteract that racism. Eleven Asian participants shared their counter-narratives through semi-structured interviews. Results reveal that, before the pandemic, participants were regularly subjected to racist acts and attitudes grounded in a deficit view of Asians that treated them as inscrutable foreigners, blamed them as individuals for perceived shortcomings in their home countries, dismissed their expertise outside of technical STEM fields, and failed to recognize their …

Whatsapp? Opportunities And Challenges In The Use Of A Messaging App As A Qualitative Research Tool, Rocio Bueno-Roldán Ma., Antje Röder Prof. Dr.

The Qualitative Report

This article evaluates the use of the popular Mobile Messaging App (MMA) WhatsApp as a way to conduct qualitative research with geographically dispersed samples. Through the use of a case study of Latino expat-wives around the globe, we show how traditional methods of qualitative interviewing were adapted and evolved through the use of this application. Findings suggest that WhatsApp is a valuable tool for conducting qualitative research with specific advantages over other MMAs and VoIPs due to its familiarity amongst the target group and its flexible blending of video, audio, and written forms of communication. Particularly its use on smartphones …

Fictional Escapism And Identity Formation: A Duoethnographic Exploration Of Stories And Adolescent Development, Cammie J. Lawton, Leia K. Cain

The Qualitative Report

Young Adult Literature has often been utilized to explore reader responses especially in attention to how fiction provides space to explore identity and one’s place within a larger societal context. In this duoethnography, we explored the importance of children and young adult literature’s influence on our own identity development. We share our primary findings that highlight the ways reading stories has provided escape, space for self-discovery and questioning, as well as pathways of learning to cultivate empathy and work towards social justice. We agree with Ellis’s (2014) argument that storytellers must share stories in a way that makes lessons or …

Can A Combined Agriculture And Nutrition Behaviour Change Intervention Improve Women’S Empowerment? A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study In Rural Bangladesh, Elizabeth K. Kirkwood, Michael J. Dibley, Wajiha Khatun, Gulshan Ara, Mansura Khanam, Anowarul Bokshi, Mu Li, Neeloy Ashraful Alam

The Qualitative Report

Many agricultural and home gardening interventions aim to improve the nutritional status of women and children in low- and middle-income countries by focusing on women as the recipients of the intervention and make assumptions that women will be empowered as a result. This paper examines the potential impact of an intervention study that combined home garden training and support, and nutrition behaviour change communication, with a social safety net payment, on women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh. We assessed the implementation of this study in terms of feasibility, acceptability, and practical application. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with randomly selected women …

Consensual Qualitative Research Of Compassion And Self-Compassion Definitions: A General Public Perspective, Júlia Halamová, Andrea Petrovajová, Tomáš Žilinský

The Qualitative Report

Even though compassion for others and for the self are important indicators of mental and physical health and well-being, scientists vary greatly in defining them. Therefore, we examined how the public defines compassion for others and self and explore what are the similarities or differences between researchers´ definitions and public´s definitions of compassions as well as between compassion and self-compassion themselves. 305 members of public defined compassion and self-compassion using their own words, of which we randomly selected 35 for the analysis. The definitions have been analysed using the modified Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR-M) method. The research team composed of …

Defining Traffic Scenarios For The Visually Impaired, Judith Jakob, Kordula Kugele, József Tick

The Qualitative Report

For the development of a transfer concept of camera-based object detections from Advanced Driver Assistance Systems to the assistance of the visually impaired, we define relevant traffic scenarios and vision use cases by means of problem-centered interviews with four experts and ten members of the target group. We identify the six traffic scenarios: general orientation, navigating to an address, crossing a road, obstacle avoidance, boarding a bus, and at the train station clustered into the three categories: Orientation, Pedestrian, and Public Transport. Based on the data, we describe each traffic scenario and derive a summarizing table adapted from software engineering …

Experiences And Concerns Of Female Hotel Housekeepers In The First Stages Of The Covid-19 Lockdown In The Balearic Islands (Spain): A Qualitative Study, Xenia Chela-Alvarez, Cristian Sanchez-Rodriguez, Oana Bulilete, Mclara Vidal-Thomàs, Joan Llobera

The Qualitative Report

Strongly enforced mobility restrictions to deter the spread of COVID-19 severely impacted tourism, a pivotal economic sector of the Balearic Islands. Little is known about the experiences of the most economically affected groups, such as hotel housekeepers. This study aimed to explore the experiences and concerns of hotel housekeepers (approximately 13,000 worked in the Balearic Islands before the pandemic) during the first stages of the COVID-19 lockdown. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by telephone in April of 2020. Thematic analysis was used for interpretation. Eighteen hotel housekeepers were interviewed. Main experiences and concerns identified were: (a) distress due to employment status …

Life Story Narratives Of Adults With Intellectual Disability And Mental Health Problems: Personal Identity, Quality Of Life And Future Orientation, Hefziba Batya Lifshitz, Ayelet Shahar

The Qualitative Report

The narrative is a functional skill and a means for sharing stories which consist of a single event or events causally related to the individual’s past, present, and future. In this study we aimed to explore the narratives of a voiceless population in society and in research: adults with a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability (ID) and a mental health problem (MHP). Our operative goals were to explore the meaning of their lives as people with a dual diagnosis, their quality of life, and their aspirations for the future. The core questions of the study were: which type of disability …

Palestinian-Arabs Volunteering In State Institutions In Israel: Reconciliation And Peacebuilding Or Conflict And Suspicion?, Edith Blit Cohen, Mays Essa

Peace and Conflict Studies

Volunteering in government institutions by national minorities in conflict with the state raises fascinating issues. The identity of Palestinian-Arabs in Israel is divided, as they belong to the Palestinian people and Arab nation, as well as nominal citizens of Israel. This perception study explores the meaning of the volunteering experience for fifteen Palestinian-Arabs in various Israeli state institutions. Three themes arise from the interview analysis: motives for volunteering, challenges faced by the volunteers, and their coping strategies. The study contributes to the theory and practice of the meaning of volunteering in government institutions for minority members in conflict with the …

How Can You Call Her A Woman? Male Soldiers’ Views On Women In The Drc Armed Forces, Dostin Lakika, Ingrid Palmary

Peace and Conflict Studies

There has been a longstanding body of literature on women in the armed forces at least since the 1970s (Segal, 1999). This literature varies considerably in its approach, from feminist work that reflects on the forms of masculinity produced through military and militarization, to work that considers women’s role in the army and attitudes towards women in the army. Furthermore, policy efforts to increase women’s participation in the army (such as UN Security Council Resolution 1325) have explicitly called for the inclusion of women in peace and security efforts. In this paper, we contribute to this literature by assessing how …

Linguistic And Ontological Concept Formation: The Lion Method, Göran Goldkuhl

The Qualitative Report

Concept formation is a demanding task in social research. A methodological approach (called LION) is presented that emphasizes the clarification of concepts based on linguistic and ontological views. This method originates from a qualitative-pragmatist tradition of studies of work-practices in organizational settings and it is explicitly based on the linguistic turn and the practice turn in social research. It is also based on the articulation of seven conceptualization maxims. Its aim is to bring rigor to the conceptualizing process and clarity to resulting conceptualizations. The method is illustrated through an analysis example from service management. The concepts of “value-in-use” and …

Crossing The Gender Chasm For Productive Field Engagement, Raghunandan Reddy

The Qualitative Report

The paper aims to demonstrate that while researcher’s background could be a factor in gaining access to research participants and to the organization, other elements like trustworthiness, reflexivity, and engaged participant listening help in overcoming gender barriers in interviewing the research participants. This paper is a reflexive account of field experience as a part of doctoral research aimed at establishing that not only could gender barriers to access to research participants be overcome, but also that a gender-outsider positionality offers insights into women’s workplace experiences that are shaped through the discourses and practices of managerialism. The field experience highlighted the …

International Teaching Internship: Development Of Pre-Service Teachers’ Competences, Luthfi Auni, Teuku Zulfikar, Saiful Akmal, Alfiatunnur Alfiatunnur, Farah Dina

The Qualitative Report

Teachers’ competences should be shaped from a very early stage of their training (Mâţă, Cmeciu, & Ghiaţău, 2013). For that reason, pre-service teachers are required to get involved in teaching internships and gain professional experience from training programs and workshops. These experiences are assets for these pre-service teachers when they resume teaching positions upon graduation. The present narrative study, therefore, aims to investigate the benefits of international teaching internship, known as South-East Asian Teacher (henceforth SEA-Teacher Program) on Indonesian pre-service English teachers’ identity and competence development. There were four male and four female participants of SEA-Teacher program participated in the …

Pushing On In Defense Of Qualitative Research: A Book Review Of Patricia Leavy’S Oral History, Vaso Thomas

The Qualitative Report

The central feature of Patricia Leavy’s book, Oral History: Understanding Qualitative Research, is the legitimization of doing oral history and, generally, qualitative research in the social sciences. Leavy reviews the foundational philosophies that inform the qualitative practice of doing social research and the methodological tools that affirm the scientific nature of oral history (such as reflection, explicitness, proper coding, and congruence). Leavy instructs the reader through each stage of the methodological process from research design to writing up the research findings. Oral History is not only an instructional guide but also a response to the critics of the qualitative …

Qualitative Online Data Collection: Towards A Framework Of Ethical Decision-Making, Søren Kristiansen

The Qualitative Report

This paper offers an ethical framework to guide decision-making when using online methods to collect qualitative data. With the introduction of the internet, a range of new ways to collect data have emerged, each of which involves sets of ethical issues and concerns. From a review of these concerns, the paper presents a framework that may facilitate decision-making when faced with ethical challenges. The framework is based on reviews of three internet-mediated qualitative methods used to collect qualitative data on human life and behavior: online interviews, online focus groups, and online observation. Based on his review, a conceptual framework is …

Thank You, Caroline, Sally St. George

The Qualitative Report

I offer a book review of Caroline Lenette’s new book called Participatory Action Research: Ethics and Decolonization in which I focus on the ethical and justice dimensions that I believe we, in our research worlds, need to give greater consideration to and inclusion in our research design, conduct, and publishing practices.

A Conversation In Time: A New Concept For Creating Stream Graphs For Qualitative Data Visualization, Emily S. Nelson, Sheryl Chatfield

The Qualitative Report

Despite the affinity between qualitative research and non-text visual information, the range and application of creative visualizations used to give depth and dimension to qualitative research reports is limited. Thoughtfully designed visualizations, including those which emphasize color, have myriad advantages, including the ability to compress information into an easily understood summary. The purpose of this paper is to describe a new method, developed by the first author, suitable for capturing temporal aspects of conversations and word volume for presentation in an engaging visual way. This method uses the widely available software program Microsoft Excel, in conjunction with R, an open …

Who Am I When I Am Teaching? Self In Yoga Practice, Krzysztof T. Konecki

The Qualitative Report

The paper shows the situational transitions between the different identities of a teacher in hatha yoga practice: teacher, instructor, trainee, student, and researcher. The analysis is based on self-reports of my feelings about practicing and teaching hatha yoga. The explication is based on the self-observation of my lived experiences and the observation of interactions with hatha yoga session participants. The self emerges from the interactions or lack of interactions. Sometimes I am a participant, sometimes an instructor, and sometimes a student, even in the same yoga session. I analyze my self-reports using the first-person perspective and third-person mode. There are …

Implementing Research Methods With Confidence: A Review Of Research Methodology: A Step-By-Step Guide For Beginners, Robson Mekonnin Shiferaw, Addisalem Tadesse Bogale, Kenenisa Lemi Debela Dr.

The Qualitative Report

The authors of this work reviewed Ranjit Kumar’s book entitled Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners (3^rd ed.). This book can provide desirable skills for readers regarding writing a successful research project and implementing research methods with confidence. It goes beyond teaching students how to conduct academic qualitative and quantitative research. It can also be adapted to various projects that scholars will encounter throughout their careers.

An Interactionist Approach To Btlg Pride, Lain A.B. Mathers, Jason E. Sumerau

The Qualitative Report

Within and beyond Symbolic Interactionism, sociological studies of bisexual, transgender, lesbian, and gay (BTLG) populations have expanded dramatically in the past two decades. Although such studies have invigorated our understanding of many aspects of BTLG life and experience, they have thus far left BTLG Pride relatively unexplored. How do BTLG populations experience Pride, and what insights might such efforts have for sociologically understanding such populations and events? We examine these questions through an interview study of bi+ people (i.e., sexually fluid people who identify as bisexual, pansexual, or otherwise outside of gay/straight binaries; Eisner, 2013). Specifically, we analyze how bi+ …

How Things Take Up Space: A Grounded Theory Of Presence And Lived Space, Aleš Oblak, Asena Boyadzhieva, Jaya Caporusso, Borut Škodlar, Jurij Bon

The Qualitative Report

In cognitive science, it is unclear what precisely presence (both in the sense of objecthood and immersion) refers to in lived experience. The present study addresses the research question of what the relationship between presence is and lived space. A hundred and seventeen phenomenological interviews were conducted with 14 participants. We sampled their experience in a transdiagnostic manner. That is, we observed how the experience of presence changes both in circumstances appraised as positive (e.g., sexual intimacy) and negative (e.g., psychopathology). Our grounded theory suggests that presence is a phenomenon that is comprised of all available sensory knowledge, however, it …

Detectives And The Legal System: A Paradigm To Support Scholarly Inquiry And Mixed Methods Research In The Social Sciences, James A. Bernauer, Frank Hartle

The Qualitative Report

It is argued in this article that the legal system, from initial investigation by detectives to final resolution in court by lawyers, judges, and juries, offers a basis for investigating phenomena in the social sciences using mixed methods. We think that this new paradigm combines the components of both the qualitative and quantitative paradigms and provides a practical model for conceptualizing and conducting mixed methods research. The implication of this new paradigm is that it may help us better understand underlying phenomena in scholarly inquiry and thus offers a potential contribution for using a mixed-methods approach in both education and …