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

Exurban Residents’ Perceptions Of Naturally Returning Predators: Connecticut Case Study, Margaret E. Sackrider, Susan G. Clark, Isaac M. Ortega

Yale Day of Data

As a result of reforestation, growth of exurban areas and wildlife adaptation, it is believed that the public is currently encountering more human-wildlife conflicts than ever before. The key to balancing wildlife conservation and human development is understanding the dynamic relationship between humans and carnivores. Specifically, gaining insight into the complexity of this relationship will aide in the creation of more effective conservation policy and outreach.

Reforestation throughout Connecticut has supported a tremendous population growth of pray species and subsequently the growth of predator populations including coyotes, Canis latrans, and black bears, Ursus americanus. According to some biologists, …

Qualitative Inquiry As A Method To Extract Personal Narratives: Approach To Research Into Organizational Climate Change Mitigation, Jeff Birchall

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that qualitative inquiry is highly effective at facilitating the extraction of personal narratives of senior managers in the New Zealand (NZ) public sector. Specifically, in this article I lay out the method used to develop theme-based narratives from semi-structured interviews with senior managers responsible for the delivery of the Communities for Climate Protection and the Carbon Neutral Public Service programs in NZ. In doing so, I demonstrate why qualitative inquiry is the ideal methodological approach for this kind of research program. Further, in demonstrating the research approach, this article may provide policy …

Fundamental Assumptions In Narrative Analysis: Mapping The Field, Dominique Robert, Shaul Shenhav

The Qualitative Report

The richness of narrative analysis resides in its unruly openness, but points of reference are needed to tame the variety in the field. This article suggests that researchers should grapple with two fundamental questions when conducting narrative analysis. The first pertains to the status attributed to narrative: it is defined as the very fabric of human existence or as one representational device among others? Emphasizing one answer over the other means mobilizing different theories of representation and therefore, suggesting different articulations between "narrative" and "reality." The second question refers to the perspective developed on narrative: Is it defined mostly as …

Reflexivity: Interviewing Women And Men Formerly Addicted To Drugs And/Or Alcohol, Judith Grant

The Qualitative Report

This article considers how one researcher used reflexivity in two research projects. Qualitative research often involves a consideration of sensitive topics, one which may include research with individuals formerly addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. However, there is little in the literature that focuses directly on such experiences for researchers in this field; that is, a consideration of how a researcher might use reflectivity while interviewing those formerly addicted to substances. Exploring the following themes, I highlight how I reflected on the experiences that my participants (25 women and 25 men) revealed about their stories of their addiction and recovery processes: …

What They Left Behind: A Case Study Of Teachers' Experiences With School Improvement At Evergreen Elementary School, Amy Orange

The Qualitative Report

With the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act, an unprecedented amount of pressure has been placed upon schools to increase student achievement. During the 2009-2010 school year, Evergreen Elementary School was in Year Four of school improvement for failing to make Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) in both reading and math. Drawing on observational and interview data from upper elementary school teachers, this paper will explore how striving to make AYP impacted teachers including increased workloads and stress, and how these factors led to teachers leaving the school, with a focus on a single teacher’s experiences.

Autoethnography As A Transformative Research Method, Dwayne Custer

The Qualitative Report

Autoethnography is a qualitative, transformative research method because it changes time, requires vulnerability, fosters empathy, embodies creativity and innovation, eliminates boundaries, honors subjectivity, and provides therapeutic benefits. This article discusses these seven lenses using select passages from “Jesus Christ and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: A Narrative on Homosexual Identity, Spirituality, and Human Development” (an unpublished manuscript) written in 2013.

From Learning Comes Meaning: Informal Comentorship And The Second-Career Academic In Education, Joe Barrett, Hilary Brown

The Qualitative Report

Informal mentoring relationships develop out of mutual identification and the fulfillment of career needs. As new faculty, we struggled to balance and decipher all the various facets inherent in the research, service, and teaching responsibilities in our new roles. This paper chronicles an informal comentorship collaboration we struck up to support our efforts as second-career academics in the field of education, seeking to navigate our way through institutional resocialization at a mid-sized Canadian university. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, we collected data comprising handwritten notes, tape-recorded coversations, e-mail reflections, and metareflections crafted after scheduled meetings over the course of a …

Bullying In Graduate School: Its Nature And Effects, Rachel H. Gentry, Bernard E. Whitley Jr.

The Qualitative Report

Does bullying exist in graduate school? If so, what does it look like? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 graduate students from various departments at a medium-sized, Midwestern U.S. university. Grounded Theory methodology (Glaser, 1978) was utilized to gain insight into the terms and behaviors students used to define bullying in the graduate school context. Through constant comparative analysis (Stern, 1980), categories emerged that provided an understanding of the different perspectives inherent in a bully system, and the meanings attached to bullying behaviors. These findings can provide administrators and counselors with the information necessary to conduct preventative training to help …

Advancing Grounded Theory: Using Theoretical Frameworks Within Grounded Theory Studies, Donald Mitchell Jr.

The Qualitative Report

The founding fathers of grounded theory (GT) claimed it is an inductive methodological approach. Yet, some scholars argue that purely inductive GTs are not possible given researchers’ involvement in data collection and analysis. Subsequently, a constructivist GT approach was introduced. Still, full-length methodological articles that include rationales or detailed explanations for using constructivist GT approaches are limited in peer-reviewed journals. The purpose of this article is to highlight the ways in which the author used a constructivist GT approach in his dissertation. Within the article, the author provides concrete examples and a rationale for the ways in which he used …

Collective Voices: Engagement Of Hartford Community Residents Through Participatory Action Research, Kenneth M. Williamson, Karen Brown

The Qualitative Report

The article details a Participatory Action Research (PAR) Project that partnered Latino and African and Caribbean American residents with research educators from the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, CT. PAR has been used to engage marginalized people in the process of knowledge production and take action to change the oppressive structures affecting them. Project participants worked together to design research projects on economic opportunities and trainings for Spanish speaking residents, the social, environmental and physical conditions of neighborhoods, and the educational outcomes for Hartford schoolchildren; together they conducted research, analyzed and disseminated the results, and planned and implemented action …

Out-Of-Home Placements Falling Among Younger Juveniles, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

According to juvenile court data, the number of formally handled juvenile cases, as well as out-of-home placements for juveniles, dropped between 1996 and 2011. The rate of decline was much lower for 17-year-old juveniles than those 16 and under. This databit looks at the rate of out-of-home placements for juveniles between 1985 to 2011.

Leaders And Recruiters From The Next Generation: A Phenomenological Study, Lautrice M. Nickson, Richard C. Henriksen Jr.

The Qualitative Report

Studies involving student ambassadors have demonstrated their significance in recruiting prospective students to universities and colleges but they have not included the perceptions of the student ambassadors themselves. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the perceptions and experiences of students who served as student ambassadors for their educational institution. Fifteen student ambassadors provided individual descriptions of their perceptions of being an ambassador. Four themes provided a description of ambassadors’ perceptions: (a) belonging, (b) personal growth, (c) diversity, and (d) recruitment. A discussion of the benefits of student ambassadors as leaders are presented in terms of their ability …

My Story: An Authoethnographical Account Of Being A Phd Candidate, Rod Pitcher

The Qualitative Report

This paper is an autoethnographical account of my PhD candidature. It shows how the work affected my development as a researcher and also as a person. As I near the end I realise that the process of doing a PhD has changed me beyond recognition. I am no longer the naive undergraduate student of the recent past. I have developed beyond that. I discuss some of the important influences on me during my candidature and how they changed me and my way of thinking about myself and my work.

Opportunities And Challenges Of Using Video To Examine High School Students' Metacognition, Rose Bene

The Qualitative Report

This article reflects on the opportunities and challenges of using digital video (DV) technology as a visual research tool in qualitative research. The ideas are derived from a multiple case study that examined ten high school students’ metacognitive thinking as they created video representations of their own. The article begins with a brief history of visual research, and an introduction to the context, problem, and definition of metacognition within the study. This is followed by a literature review that examines the use of video in qualitative research and an explanation of the research questions and methodology. As revealed by the …

A Parent-Teacher View Of Teens Behaviors In Nuclear And Joint Family Systems In Pakistan, Noor-Ul-Ain Baig, Rana Rashid Rehman, Noor Mobeen

The Qualitative Report

This research work tries to unveil the changing teen’s behaviors in nuclear and joint family systems in Pakistan. Pakistan enjoys the social values of joint families; and, where grandparents are very important constituent of the family, the family structure is an important component in shaping the teens behaviors. Therefore, this paper focuses the sample of parents and teachers of the teens in the postmodern urban society and tried to better point out the eminent changes in the attitudes and behaviors of teens. This study follows a qualitative approach of research that pursues a phenomenological inquiry describing lived experience of the …

A Failed [Yet Successful Narrative] Review Of D. Jean Clandinin's Engaging In Narrative Inquiry, Alissa Gardenhire

The Qualitative Report

What happens when an overwhelmed, yet hungry for qualitative immersion, well-intentioned person [me] attempts to review a very thoughtful and well-done book on narrative inquiry [Clandinin, 2013]? Evidently an autobiographical narrative inquiry takes place. Well let me tell you the story...you'll laugh, you'll cry...I did anyway.

Living With Cancer Aged 75 And Older: A Biographical Narrative Case-Study, Nicholas David Hughes

The Qualitative Report

Aging is associated with greater incidence of disease and illness, including cancers. Extensive literature reports incidence, prevalence, and treatment of cancers in older individuals. The subjective perceptions of older individuals undergoing the experience of cancer remain largely unknown. The case-study reported in this article is derived from a larger study whose aim was to investigate the experiences of older people of living with cancer. Data were generated using narrative interviews with 20 individuals aged 76-87 diagnosed with one of four common cancers. Interview data were analysed using the concept of the “illness trajectory” (Corbin & Strauss, 1988). In this article …

The Debt Penalty: Exposing The Financial Barriers To Offender Reintegration, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

Financial debt associated with legal system involvement is a pressing issue that affects the criminal justice system, offenders, and taxpayers. Mere contact with the criminal justice system often results in fees and fines that increase with progression through the system. Criminal justice fines and fees punish offenders and are designed to generate revenue for legal systems operating on limited budgets. However, fines and fees often fail to accomplish this second goal because many offenders are too poor to pay them. If they do not pay their financial obligations, they may be subject to late fees and interest requirements, all of …

Exploring The Subaltern Voices: A Study Of Community Radio Reporters (Crr's) In Rural India, Dhanraj A. Patil

The Qualitative Report

Despite India’s remarkable communication media revolution the rural subalterns remained uninformed, unheard and voiceless, who asks the question: Whose Media, Whose Voice? This created a space for community radio (CR) because it is of, for, and by the community. However, in spite of the alternative, counter-hegemonic, and participatory communication ethos, the contribution of CR’s and CRR’s lingered unexplored and unacknowledged. To bridge this gap, within the theoretical framework of alternative-media-theory this study has been undertaken. Based on case studies of India’s pioneer CR’s (Sangam Radio and Radio Bundelkhand) using media ethnography tools a qualitative inquiry was carried out. Findings suggest …

Relationships Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Their Fathers, Terry Keller, Julie Ramisch, Marsha Carolan

The Qualitative Report

This phenomenological study investigated the relationships between 7 fathers and their sons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Seven major themes emerged: Shared Activities, Developmental Sensitivity, Emotional Understanding, Fighting the Label, Fatherhood Expectations, Parent Responsibility, and Fatherhood Isolation. Fathers were sensitive to their sons’ emotional needs and developmental milestones. Clinicians can help fathers to develop appropriate relationships with their children that involve shared activities. Clinicians can also assist fathers in coping with isolation and expectations regarding fatherhood, developing desired fatherhood roles, and finding appropriate shared activities with their children.