Applying A Mindfulness Practice To Qualitative Data Collection, Laura Lemon

The Qualitative Report

Mindfulness, or paying attention on purpose in the present moment, can serve as a tool for qualitative researchers as they navigate the research setting and data collection. In this article, I provide an overview of mindfulness and suggest ways to incorporate mindfulness as a data collection tool. To demonstrate how to apply mindfulness to qualitative research, I share my personal experience in incorporating a mindfulness practice into data collection as part of a phenomenological study and what I learned in the process. In doing so, I offer an actual practice that researchers can incorporate into the research process as a …

Music To Mend Heartache: Song Choices To Match, Change, And Distract Mood, Rhiannon Kallis, Anna V. Ortiz Juarez-Paz

The Qualitative Report

Romantic turmoil is something that most people experience in their life. When faced with an upsetting event, such as a breakup or fight with a partner, a person may turn to music to achieve a more desirable state of mind. The current study extended past research on music and coping by focusing specifically on a person’s use of music when they have emotional distress due to a romantic event. Ten interviews revealed the major theme “Music as a Tool,” regarding how people use music as social support. The first subtheme, Alliance with Mood, describes how participants used music as a …

Food Justice Youth Development: Using Photovoice To Study Urban School Food Systems, Krista Harper, Catherine Sands, Diego Angarita, Molly Totman, Monica Maitin, Jonell Sostre Rosado, Jazmin Colon, Nick Alger

Catherine Sands

The Dynamics Of Participatory Monitoring And Evaluation (Pm&E) In Traditional Pakistan., Aamer Shams

Capstone Collection

This research seeks to explore the interpretation and application of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) in the context of Educational Empowerment by analyzing insights gathered from multiple stakeholder groups in four cities of Pakistan, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar. Analysis of the findings reveals nuances of PM&E, including “Equality and Equity, Respect and Tolerance” (pg. 58-61) that limit the potential of this transdisciplinary empowerment process. Empowerment and educational programs often employ the continuous processes of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to gain an understanding of the implementation, efficiency, impact, and overall performance of the program. M&E also provides valuable information about …

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

Faculty Perceptions Of Communication At An Academic Medical Center: A Faculty Forward Qualitative Analysis, Brian L. Rutledge, Jessica H. Bailey

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of the study is to examine the faculty’s suggestions on how to improve communication at five schools in an academic medical center. The University of Mississippi Medical Center facilitated the administration of the Faculty Forward Engagement Survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges to faculty in the schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and health related professions. This survey included open-ended questions with narrative responses. On these responses to one question about communication, the authors performed the constant comparative method of grounded theory design, a foundational form of qualitative inquiry. In reviewing and coding the 201 responses, …

Change In Everyday Life And In The Communication World: A Co-Constructed Performance Autoethnography, Katie Rivers, Peter Joseph Gloviczki

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we use a co-constructed performance autoethnography to explore change in everyday life and in the communication world.

Media Constructed Retirement Articles Of Professional Baseball Players, Kevin T. Berge

Sport Management Undergraduate

The career of an athlete may shape the narrative that the media uses when writing articles on that player when they retire. Many people fail to understand how the media constructs articles the way they do on Major League Baseball (MLB) players upon retirement. This research study used a mixed method approach to show how the media covers certain professional MLB players when they retire. The researcher counted how many times chosen variables were mentioned in two different articles of sixteen retired MLB players, and then extracted quotes from those articles. This study found that superstar pitchers and superstar hitters …

Perception And Articulation Of Own Cultural Otherness In Elite Interview Situations: Challenge Or Repertoire?, Sarah Anne Ganter Sag

The Qualitative Report

Increasingly, researchers are conducting studies within a diversity of cultural contexts This paper discusses whether and how the researcher’s own cultural otherness plays a role in academic interview situations. The argument is based on Goffman’s theory of interaction under conditions of otherness and the empirical data from 118 interviews and notes during the years 2007 and 2010 and between 2013 and 2014. The empirical data presented in this paper illustrate how a lack of education, socialisation, and cultivation within the fieldwork context—one’s own cultural otherness—assumes ceremonial and substantial meaning in academic interview situations and merits being the subject of methodological …

How To Conduct A Mini-Ethnographic Case Study: A Guide For Novice Researchers, Patricia I. Fusch Ph.D., Gene E. Fusch, Lawrence R. Ness

The Qualitative Report

The authors present how to construct a mini-ethnographic case study design with the benefit of an ethnographic approach bounded within a case study protocol that is more feasible for a student researcher with limited time and finances. The novice researcher should choose a design that enables one to best answer the research question. Secondly, one should choose the design that assists the researcher in reaching data saturation. Finally, the novice researcher must choose the design in which one can complete the study within a reasonable time frame with minimal cost. This is particularly important for student researchers. One can blend …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Empirically Based And Spiritually Based Marital Enrichment Programs, Laura Jacobi

Communication Studies Department Publications

Similarities and differences of two empirically based marital enrichment programs, Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) and Couple Communication (CC), and two spiritually based marital enrichment programs, Couples’ Temperament Workshop and Heirs Together were examined. Using published literature and observation, foundations, goals, content, and outcomes were considered. Programs contained similar goals and content, with core curriculum surrounding communication skills and conflict management. Although outcome information is unavailable upon the spiritually based programs, it is possible that these programs may be as effective as empirically based programs validated through research considering the similarities in core curriculum; however, research is needed to …

Examining The Relationship Between Communication Apprehension And Individual Innovativeness In Managers, Michelle Campagnola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Communicative challenges that hinder managerial engagement in social networks can impede innovation adoption and thereby damage the financial performance and competitiveness of a firm. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and individual innovativeness in managers. The focus of the research questions was determining if a relationship exists between these variables before and after controlling for demographic characteristics. With diffusion of innovation theory as the theoretical framework, this research involved an attempt to address how adoption categories relate to varying degrees of CA. One hundred and five American-based owner-executives, senior managers, and …

The Role Of Facebook In The Exhibition Of Subclinical Narcissistic Traits, Megan Gramm

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several psychological processes motivate the use of Facebook. The correlation between subclinical narcissistic traits and Facebook use has been examined, but the results have been inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Facebook use and the exhibition of subclinical narcissistic traits. The method for this study was meant to improve upon previous studies that used self-reported data by providing researchers with a technique to collect Facebook data from the personal pages of participants, with informed consent. Social learning theory provided the theoretical foundation for this study. This theory posits that new patterns of behavior can …

Uncovering The Processes And Consequences Of Egyptian Immigrant Parental Involvement In Their Children’S Education: Bridging Cultural Differences, Hend Shalan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have concluded that immigrant parents face several barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education. All studies agree that language and cultural differences are the most significant barriers to immigrants’ involvement in their children’s education, yet we know little about what these cultural differences are and how these cultural differences influence the school involvement of immigrant parents. This study integrates theories of cultural differences, acculturation, and culture shock and the corresponding literature to investigate the lesser involvement of immigrant parents in school-related activities.

A focused ethnographic design was employed and a thematic analysis …