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

Making Forests, Making Communities: An Ethnography Of Reforestation In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Megan Brown

Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

Reforestation is not just planting trees in the ground. More than net increase in forest cover, reforestation is a complex political endeavor undertaken by both humans and non-humans and a popular climate change mitigation tactic. However, little research has examined the dynamics between selection of specific reforestation strategies, health, and community resilience, particularly with attention to entanglements between the lives of both human and non-human forest dwellers. This ethnographic work, based on six months of in-person fieldwork and six months of digital ethnography, examines reforestation and forest relations in Costa Rica’s Monte Verde zone, a region which experienced widespread deforestation, …

An Exploration Of Online Sex Work, Olivia Haffey, Carolyn Miller, Emily Isbell

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Sex work is deemed one of the world’s most ancient professions, but it has undergone substantial changes within even the last 20 years (Kipling 1888; Jones 2015; Sanders, Connelly and King 2016). The emergence of the Internet has shifted the work locations of sex work from saunas, brothels, and street work to online platforms as well as the use of the Internet as a mediator for in-person sex work (Jones 2015; Jonsson, Sveden and Hyden 2014). This migration in the nature of sex work has changed its delivery and interaction for both workers and clients. The appeals of online sex …

Evaluating The Validity Of Restrictions On Blood Donation Eligibility For Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) In The United States, France, And Switzerland, Swathi Gorantla

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For the first time in a decade, the number of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses is higher for heterosexual people compared to gay and bisexual men (Florêncio, 2022). Additionally, in the United States, the American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis due to the nationwide shortage of donated blood. During this crisis, charged with the new information on HIV diagnosis rates, many advocates for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) community question why discriminatory policy surrounding gay and bisexual men donating still exist around the world. These policies are changing worldwide – several European countries have …

“Antes ÉRamos De Tierra Firme”: Community Perspectives On The Past, Present, And Future Of Isla Narganá And Isla CorazóN De JesúS, Comarca Guna Yala In The Face Of A Changing Climate, Izabella R. Klosterman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this research was to learn about Isla Narganá and Isla Corazón de Jesús, Comarca Guna Yala residents’ perspectives on climate change and, to learn about what needs to be done to mitigate the effects of climate change on the islands. In April 2022, eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted in Spanish with residents of the islands. Interviews revealed that flooding caused by sea level rise, intensification of precipitation events, extreme heat, and biodiversity loss were the most reported impacts of climate change on participants’ lives. Poor waste management opportunities were also discussed as a critical environmental issue affecting …

Factors Driving Changing Community Acceptance Of Gays And Lesbians In Cato Manor, Kwazulu-Natal, Isabella Van Der Weide

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Acceptance of LGBTQ people is an important and encouraging area of social progress. As attitudes change in South Africa and across the world, it is important to understand the drivers of change and how that change is experienced within communities. Using both semi-structured interviews (n=19) and collection of survey data (n=30), this study interrogated the factors that formed and changed views on gay and lesbian people among respondents from a community in Cato Manor, a peri-urban area near Durban, South Africa. About half of all participants reported an opinion change. Interview participants who experienced opinion change most commonly reported the …

The Power Of The Middle Class In The United States And China, Sarah Kent

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The global middle class has been experiencing exponential growth, but because of differences among countries in regard to stages of development, the growth has not been spread evenly across the world. The United States and much of the Western World is undergoing a shrinking middle class due to economic deregulation and automation whereas China and other countries in the Eastern World have had middle class growth in recent years (OECD, 2019). The juxtaposition between the middle classes is also reflected in the juxtaposition of the respective countries’ GDP growth. Therefore, the United States and China, because of their pronounced systemic …

Desert Power: Exploring How Jordan Can Democratize Through Tribalism, Shahab A. Khan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project will analyze tribal institutions in Jordan to understand how conducive they are to democracy. In the wake of the Arab Spring and the collapse of many burgeoning democracies in the Middle East, it is important to find ways in which pro-democracy advocates can build strong democratic states in the Middle East. Democracy allows a polity to choose who rules them. Furthermore, it has proven that peopling living in a democracy live longer, more fulfilling lives than those who do not. Given Jordan’s unique history as a stable regime with a strong tribal tradition, the researcher has …

Perceptions Of Race, Status, And Instructional Modality As Predictors Of Degree Attainment For African American Male Community College Students, Roderick C. Lewis Sr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given the large number of students who begin their college education yet never graduate, it is essential that, as higher education leaders and policymakers develop student success strategies, they consider the persistence and degree attainment dynamics of all populations. This study focuses on the problem of degree attainment from the perspective of male, second-year, African American, community college students. A qualitative narrative case study approach was used to ascertain their perception of race, status attainment, and instructional learning modalities as predictors of degree attainment. Accordingly, those perceptions were then evaluated to determine their utility as predictors of degree attainment. Six …

Research Data Management Policy, Munster Technological University, Ireland

Policies & Procedures

The purpose of this policy is to provide a framework for Research Data Management (RDM) in the University throughout the stages of the research cycle. This includes, but is not limited to, collection, curation,secure storage, organisation, retrieval, re-use, sharing, archiving, and access of research data, in accordance with international best practice, legal, statutory, ethical, contractual and intellectual property obligations, and the requirements of research funding bodies, publishers and stakeholders.

The University and researchers will make all best efforts to make sure they are consistent with this policy.

The Pink Tax, Scott T. Grether

Feminist Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Memory Rewriting As A Method Of Inquiry: When Returning Becomes Collective Healing, Ethan Trinh, Giang Nguyen Hoang Le Mr., Ha Dong, Trang Tran, Vuong Tran

The Qualitative Report

Writing is collective healing to build a community. We, five Vietnamese bodies, enquire, how can individual memories be collective healing to rewrite a better future of education? We borrow Nhat Hanh’s philosophy to touch on our suffering to heal and Barad’s returning as a multiplicity of processes for reconnecting with the pastpresentfuture. We use the recollection of individual memories to share critical incidents of past experiences to build a collective community for healing purposes. We have demonstrated our deep commitment to creating a resilient system in retelling stories and rewriting for hope for educational change through this process.

The Lively Science: A Book Review, Ashley N. Schmidt, Megan K. Mitchell

The Qualitative Report

A book review on The Lively Science by Michael Agar, published in 2021. In this review, we examine the three underlying points around which Agar structures the book, then appraise the book from our lens as novice female researchers. We end the review by sharing a reading guide novice researchers could use to document their reading and understandings.

“Advancing Our Collective Awareness In Doing Social Justice Research”: A Book Review Of Anna Cohenmiller And Nettie Boivin’S Questions In Qualitative Social Justice Research In Multicultural Contexts, Norma R. A. Romm

The Qualitative Report

In the book, Questions in Qualitative Social Justice Research in Multicultural Contexts, the authors, Anna CohenMiller and Nettie Boivin, ask provocative questions meant to stimulate us as qualitative researchers to strengthen options for conducting “better” research which is likely to advance inclusion and equity for communities who have been historically marginalized, colonized and/or oppressed. The book is adeptly structured so to invite us to (re)consider possible answers to their questions posed. As part of explicating the diversity of approaches to questions that can and should be asked regarding the doing of inclusive qualitative research, they include vignettes of a …

Del Silencio A La Acción Colectiva: Voces De Mujeres Víctimas De Acoso Sexual En Las Instituciones De Educación Superior, Bibiana Catalina Cano-Arango, Luisa Fernanda Duque-Monsalve, Mónica Cecilia Montoya-Escobar, Ana Milena Gaviria-Gómez

The Qualitative Report

En el artículo analizamos las reacciones de las víctimas de acoso sexual en dos universidades de Medellín - Colombia. La investigación tuvo un diseño mixto, con enfoque de género. Implementamos las siguientes técnicas de generación de datos: encuestas, entrevistas en profundidad y talleres reflexivos. Los resultados indican que las mujeres son las principales víctimas de esta problemática y que sus respuestas van desde la evitación (huida del lugar de la agresión), la confrontación (manifestación explícita del rechazo) hasta la denuncia (queja ante superiores, activación de rutas internas o externas, entre otros). Las reacciones más frecuentes son evitativas y no contribuyen …

Storying Ways To Reflect On Power, Contestation, And Yarning Research Method Application, Cammi Murrup-Stewart Dr, Petah Atkinson, Karen Adams Professor

The Qualitative Report

Internationally within academia settler-colonial processes occur in various ways alongside a growth in the use of research methods conceived with Indigenous knowledges. However, most research environments and practices are built upon and privilege dominant non-Indigenous settler-colonial knowledge systems. It is within this power imbalance and contested space that Yarning research method is being applied and interpreted. Underpinned by an Indigenous Research Paradigm, we employed storying ways to examine researcher experiences of settler-colonialism and the Yarning research method. The story outlines challenges and pitfalls that researchers can fall into and critically examines how researchers can fail to recognise the depth of …

Social Inclusion And Exclusion Places: The Point Of View Of Young Adults, Nadia Rania, Ilaria Coppola, Laura Pinna

The Qualitative Report

In the literature places have been defined as First (home), Second (work and school) and Third places (physical and virtual). The present study aims to analyze the perception of inclusion/exclusion that young adults have of the places that they live. The research was conducted using the Photovoice technique and involved 50 young Italian adults. Results highlight how participants perceive some Second and Third places in most cases as inclusive places, even if they highlight the exclusion dimension for some categories of people. We think that reflecting on inclusive/exclusive places can stimulate greater awareness and sense of belonging, which affect well-being.

“I Needed To Become A Mother”: Poetic Representations Of Maternal Embodiment, Autonomy, And Birth Trauma, Elizabeth A. Bennett, Lori E. Koelsch

The Qualitative Report

While poetic inquiry has been used to explore many aspects of motherhood, there has been less attention given to pregnant, birthing, and immediately postpartum/fourth trimester embodiment. Here, we utilize poetry to explore a topic that is understudied and embodied experiences in the transition from pregnancy to early motherhood. The poems we present in this article are part of a larger project exploring experiences of embodied transition into motherhood. In the context of this larger project, 14 women were interviewed about their experiences of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. In order to maintain focus on the embodied transition to new motherhood, only …

Examining Newcomer Women’S Experiences With Perinatal Care In Ontario, Canada: An Application Of Carspecken’S Critical Ethnographic Method, Jessica Pimienta, Oona St-Amant, Sepali Guruge, Corinne Hart, Cristina Catallo

The Qualitative Report

This article provides a practical description of Carspecken’s (1996) five-stage critical ethnographic approach entitled “Critical Qualitative Research (CQR).” Situated epistemologically and ontologically in the critical paradigm, this article is an exploration of critical ethnography as an important methodology for shedding light on the discursive culture of perinatal care for newcomer women during the three-month health insurance waiting period in Ontario, Canada. We argue that Carspecken’s approach to critical ethnography is especially instrumental in illuminating the social structures that contribute to health inequities.

Dimensions And Strategies Of Sustainable Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: An Explorative-Mixed Research Study, Mehdi Zivdar, Hadi Sanaeepour

The Qualitative Report

With regards to the concept of sustainability, the dimensions and strategies of the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem have not been identified in most of valid literature of entrepreneurship discipline yet. The aim of this study is to conceptualize dimensions and strategies of Sustainable Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (SREE) phenomenon for clarifying its dimensions and proposing regarding strategies for development of SREE. This study was conducted in two stages using an explorative mixed research design. In the first step, using a qualitative design, SREE was conceptualized, and its dimensions and strategies were developed. Therefore 6 dimensions and 36 strategies were conceptualized based on …

Iranian Efl Teachers’ Challenges And Coping Strategies During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study, Nasim Ghanbari, Sima Nowroozi

The Qualitative Report

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented effects on education. The sudden shift to online classes along with strict physical distancing measures in the pedagogical settings require educators to reconsider all aspects involved in teaching and learning. Teachers as important stakeholders must grapple with the challenges caused by the abrupt transition to remote teaching and learning. Hence, using a qualitative case study, the present study set out to find how two Iranian experienced English language teachers at Persian Gulf University faced with the challenges after COVID-19 came into effect halfway through the university semester. To achieve this goal, the …