Nathan 6 & 7 and Creswell 10

My freshman year - Ch. 6&7

What stood out to me at the beginning of chapter six was that Nathan kind of qualified her findings a bit. While this is a common practice in qualitative research, I was surprised that she held off on this aspect of her reporting until now. She mentions that some of her observations are nothing new and are "two centuries old." She also makes a point that not all college students could be categorized by her observations. While these facts are obvious, there would have been comfort in some of her reporting if she had stressed or embedded this point in in the earlier chapters. At times when I was reading the book I dismissed her findings because I mentally made the note that "well, I'm sure not all of the students in her school are like that. Why doesn't she report on some of the more positive aspects of what she is observing?" While it's obvious that this reality exists, I would have given her more credit if she had mentioned this along with her findings. Maybe this is just a personal preference.

Later in the chapter, I appreciated her discussion on the manner in which administrators and teachers over-stress the importance of time management skills. Her writing deign in reporting this portion of her findings made me feel like I was one of the students beginning the school year. Her vivid descriptions evoked emotions of my own personal experiences as a freshman. I think good qualitative research, which this obviously is, is exposed as such when an "insider" has an "AH HA!, YES" moment to what the researcher is describing. While I was not an insider at her particular institution, I was an undergraduate student during the time period of her study, and I related to what she was saying.

With chapter seven, I liked how she postured the chapter as an opportunity to conduct personal reflection and to also make some inferences from the data. Further, I liked how she put the book into context by stating that "I hold out my conclusions not as advice but rather as food for thought that students and teachers can share." Too often I think I get wrapped up in the need for research data to bring about change. After all, most quantitative research has a section devoted to application and changes, or "suggestions for practice." I love that such profound research can be done simply for the sake of starting conversations. After all, it is these conversations and the interrelations of people and campus leaders, that will lead to change measures and applications.

Creswell Ch. 10
"Is the account valid, and by whose standards?" So much is wrapped up in this questions posed by Creswell. I really enjoyed this chapter because it answered many of my curiosities that had emerged during the previous chapters. The discussions of validity and reliability, specifically in regards to the techniques used to enhance the quality of the research, were very informative. Having operationalized definitions for terms such as credibility, authenticity, and integrity was helpful for a beginning qualitative researcher. I almost think that this chapter could have been covered earlier in the book. Many of the terms described in chapter 10 have been used throughout. While the reader may have had a general understanding of their meanings, it would have been helpful to have a more thorough grasp of the terminology. Further, coming from a strategic point of view, the section on Validation Strategies would have been helpful earlier in the book as well. I think I would have been able to see what composes the skeleton of good qualitative research and been able to use that information to better understand the information.