Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons^™

Cross-Check For Completeness: Exploring A Novel Use Of Leximancer In A Grounded Theory Study, Ian Harwood, Rod P. Gapp, Heather J. Stewart

The Qualitative Report

This paper investigates the potential for Leximancer software to actively support the Grounded Theory (GT) analyst in assessing the “completeness” of their study. The case study takes an existing GT study and retrospectively analyzes the data with Leximancer. The Leximancer output showed encouraging similarities to the main themes emerging from the GT analysis; but not sufficiently at the selective coding level to justifiably claim a definitive cross-check for overall theoretical saturation. Whilst Leximancer is not found to be a substitute for the 'hard labor' of GT coding and theory development, it can provide a very useful, efficient and relatively impartial …

Review Of Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills In History And The Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Approach By Kathleen W. Craver, Victor J. Ricchezza, H L. Vacher

Numeracy

Kathleen W. Craver. Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills in History and Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Standards Approach (Lantham MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2014). 191 pp.
ISBN 978-1-4758-1050-9 (cloth); ISBN …-1051-6 (pbk); ISBN…-1052-3 (electronic).

This book could be a breakthrough for teachers in the trenches who are interested in or need to know about quantitative literacy (QL). It is a resource providing 85 topical pieces, averaging 1.5 pages, in which a featured Web site is presented, described, and accompanied by 2-4 critical-thinking questions purposefully drawing on data from the Web site. The featured Web sites range from …

Youth With Disabilities Talk About Spirituality:A Qualitative Descriptive Study, Patricia J. Baldwin, Jan Evans, Nicole Etherington, Megan Nichols, Virginia Wright, Janette Mcdougall

The Qualitative Report

There is little known about what spirituality means for youth with disability or about the potential relevance of youths’ spirituality in pediatric rehabilitation. This study explored perceptions of spirituality for youth with disabilities. Using a qualitative descriptive methodology, we examined the lived experiences of eighteen youth ages 11-20 years with disabilities including cerebral palsy, central nervous system disorder or autism spectrum disorder. In individual interviews, followed by a focus group, youth identified key spiritual themes – the importance of their beliefs, personal sources of comfort and strength, finding purpose in helping others, significance of personal connections, and strengths-based perspectives on …

Experiences Of Individuals Suffering From Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Qualitative Study, Anindita Bhattacharya, Amool Ranjan Singh

The Qualitative Report

This study was aimed at giving voice to the experiences of four people suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Five in-depth interviews were conducted on each individual constructing themselves in the light of their own experiences. A “case study approach” was chosen as the suitable method to go in depth into the information and “thematic content analysis” was used as the method of analysis. The life stories of these individuals were reconstructed in terms of themes, and recurring themes were further explored and elucidated and linked with literature. This study helps in reaching the depths of life experiences of individuals …

“Plugging In” Epistemology: A Theoretical And Methodological Manoeuvre In Qualitative Research, Genine Hook

The Qualitative Report

In this paper I aim to illustrate how an epistemological three-way manoeuvre I propose may work in qualitative academic research. Epistemology is critical to my research because I live the topic that I research and in this paper I chart a three-way manoeuvre between and through an articulation of my researcher self, theoretical framing and the intent of the research project. This paper is my response to Jackson and Mazzei’s (2013) work “Plugging One Text into Another: Thinking with Theory in Qualitative Research.” I have included the paper title here to introduce the reader to Jackson & Mazzei’s work earlier …

The Strength Of Social Bonds In Preventing At Risk Youth From Engaging In Delinquent And Law Violating Behavior, Christopher A. Falcone

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to assess whether social bonds (i.e., attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief) are associated with a decrease in delinquent and law violating behavior among at-risk youth in various geographical locations. According to Travis Hirschi's (1969) social bonding theory, delinquent acts occur when an individual's bond to society is weak or broken. Hirschi stated that humans by nature are deviant, and that the value individuals place on their relationships prevent them from engaging in such behavior. Using data from the 2000 ICPSR Evaluation of the Children at Risk Program in Austin, Texas; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Memphis, Tennessee; …

A Case Study Illustrating The Importance Of Educating The Whole Person By Using The Arts As A Supplementary Training Tool In Workplace Learning, Matilda Mettälä

The Qualitative Report

From a humanistic, learner-centered view this practical case study involving Tetra Pak, a world leadingfood processing and packaging solution company,explores the role of emotion in learning and the arts as a supplementary training tool by describing and interpreting their new employee orientation trainings based on the facilitator’s accounts. This case will illustrate the added value the arts contribute as well as the need to include the whole person-concept in workplace learning. This case does not suggest an exact design with specifications of how this kind of training should be conducted, but rather this specific study will offer additional knowledgeby exemplifying …

Trying Not To Lie...And Failing: Autoethnography, Memory, Malleability, John Freeman

The Qualitative Report

All research is experiential, whether this is the experience of reading in the library or observing in the field. Autoethnographers take experience into narratives and are themselves key participants in their research, and often also its subject. For autoethnographers the idea of research as a neutral process is abandoned in favour of a self-reflective form that explores the researcher's perspective on the subject in question. Autoethnography inevitably negotiates the relationship between the stories we want to tell and the histories we have lived through; between the necessary fictions of publication/presentation and the real world experiences we draw upon. This article …

A Phenomenological Multi-Case Study About Social Success Skills, Aspirations, And Related Media Experiences, Darnel Degand

The Qualitative Report

The social success skills valued and ultimately acquired by youth during their formative years can be better understood by examining the social spaces, processes, and interactions that are related to their personal aspirations and related media experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, I conducted a year-long multi-case study about two Black male high school students’ thoughts on social success, their aspirations, their social experiences, and their experiences with media. The participants were selected using purposeful sampling. I collected data through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations. I performed analyses by using the hermeneutic cycle which requires one to repeatedly read text, …

The Ideological Dilemmas Inherent In Informal Learning Spaces: A Discourse Analysis Of Preservice Teacher Talk, Jessica Nina Lester, Lisa Scherff, Trena M. Paulus

The Qualitative Report

Informal learning spaces, such as summer reading programs, have the potential to both motivate children and provide opportunities for preservice teachers to try out new practices. However, there is little research on the talk that occurs in these informal learning spaces, particularly those intended to function as third spaces. Audio recordings of meetings between preservice teachers and high school students talking together about young adult literature in a space intended to function as a third space were analyzed to explore how discourse choices shaped the participants' practices. We found that the participants both resisted and reproduced the traditional classroom in …

The Experiences Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders In College: A Heuristic Exploration, Fleur Wiorkowski

The Qualitative Report

This inquiry was conducted to describe the experience of individuals with autism spectrum disorders who have experienced the higher education system. All participants have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and experienced some aspect of the higher education system. Data was collected using primarily face to face interviews. The data was then analyzed using the heuristic methodology of Dr. Clark Moustakas (1990). Ultimately, many patterns and themes emerged from this analysis, culminating in a creative synthesis which sums up the experience. The themes showed the highs and lows of being a college student coupled with the experience of having …

The Challenge Of Involvement And Detachment In Participant Observation, Enock Takyi

The Qualitative Report

The technique of participant observation, and the roles involved, have been widely discussed in the literature across a range of settings and topics. However, researchers rarely argue for a particular role that a participant observer should adopt. In this paper, I attempt to argue for the participant-as-observer role. I do so by reviewing existing literature on the topic. I argue that the complete observer and the complete participant roles are not applicable in today's research environment because, aside from their practical problems, they violate the ethical requirement of informed consent. I argued further that the observer-as-participant role, with its limited …

Borderlands: My Path To Becoming A Sex Therapist, G. Corey Carlisle

The Qualitative Report

Current studies focus on the practice of therapy more than the person of the therapist, which remains true in the practice of sex therapy. This study seeks to provide insight into the person-of-the-therapist by exploring the researcher’s personal journey to becoming a sex therapist. Using an autoethnography qualitative research approach, the researcher analyzed his inner experiences. The researcher demonstrated his life in the borderlands, how Eros reconciles his double-consciousness, and how this has led him to his work as a sex therapist. This study encourages readers to reflect and give voice to their own developmental experiences, adding to the collective …

Resisting Technical Rationality In Mental Health Nurse Higher Education: A Duoethnography, Alec J. Grant, Mark A. C. Radcliffe

The Qualitative Report

This duoethnographic study has three aims: the first is to coherently situate our emerging duoethnographic dialogue in relation to an overview of both its parent methodology and related approaches within the narrative inquiry paradigm. Our second aim is to then enable readers to make contextual sense of our dialogue. We do so by prefacing it with a brief, focused overview of our theoretical, empirical and fiction work, and related literature, selected for the purpose of clarification. Following this, our final aim is to demonstrate in our dialogue the differences between our respective attempts as academics to work against the neoliberal …

Comprehensive Field Work Instructions: A Review Of Applied Ethnography. Guidelines For Field Research, Elizaveta Polukhina

The Qualitative Report

This book provides extended information and concrete guidelines for applied ethnographic research. It is rich in methodological advice, applicable empirical instruments and tools. The work will be helpful for advanced researchers, academic and non- academic people involved in complex international programs, lectures and graduate students planning to conduct ethnographic research for their dissertation. It includes research examples in education, marketing, community health, nursing, geography and more. The empirical fields of Pelto are slightly removed from the focus on Euro-American academic research and include reflections of working in the developing countries such as South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and more.

Perceptions Of Violence In East New York (Brooklyn), Sheyla A. Delgado, Jeffrey A. Butts, Marissa Mandala

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the East New York area of Brooklyn.

Perceptions Of Violence In Harlem, Sheyla A. Delgado, Jeffrey A. Butts, Marissa Mandala

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the East Harlem area of Manhattan.

Perceptions Of Violence In The South Bronx, Jeffrey A. Butts, Sheyla A. Delgado, Marissa Mandala

Publications and Research

The NYCCure study measured changes in violent norms and attitudes in areas of New York City operating Cure Violence programs. Respondents were men aged 18-30 from the South Bronx.

Managers’ Perspectives On The Effects Of Online Grapevine Communication: A Qualitative Inquiry, Pratyush Baerjee, Sweta Singh

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to understand how modern-day managers perceived their subordinates were reacting to the phenomenon of online grapevine communication in the workplace. A qualitative inductive inquiry drawing upon techniques of grounded theory was conducted to collect and analyze feedback provided by 15 top-level corporate managers from 10 organizations in India. Managers cited several evidences of employees engaging in online grapevine communication and discussed reasons behind such behavior. Some of the key factors behind such behavior of employees were level of internet familiarity, anonymity of the rumor mongers, quicker and wider reach and opportunity for cyber loafing. …

Giving A Face To Immigration And Integration Processes: The Use Of Photovoice With Italian Young Adults, Nadia Rania, Laura Migliorini, Paola Cardinali, Stefania Rebora

The Qualitative Report

This study used Photovoice to investigate the perspectives of majority youth in Italy about the immigration and integration processes. The participants were 99 Italian young adults living in two northwestern regions of Italy. Images produced by young adults and subsequent discussion focused on the benefits, challenges and possible solutions to foster intergroup integration. The proposed solutions involved intergroup contact, deepening knowledge of other cultures, and recognition of immigrants’ rights. These solutions demonstrate young adults’ openness toward immigrants and their attitude regarding intercultural integration.