Sunday, May 31, 2009
Rabbit trails
Rabbit trails are one of my favorite aspects of conducting qualitative interviews. As the researcher, I can’t help but formulate ideas about what information is going to result from my questions. Often I am accurate in my prejudgments, but occasionally I ask a question that opens up a door of data that I had not anticipated, but is full of rich and meaningful data. For instance, I asked an administrator about the history of the Shanghai program and how it began and he shared about the inauguration speech of the current university president. During this speech, over 12 years ago, the president projected a vision for making inroads to higher education in China. This foundational vision that was cast in his speech started a domino effect that over the course of more than a decade resulted in the foundation of the shanghai program. Here I was anticipating an answer to my question that I believed would center around a 3-5 year period, but I learn that it all started with a presidential inauguration address. These gems of information that are totally unanticipated are one of my favorite aspects of qualitative research.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
interviewing
I’ve found that the interview phase of qualitative research is my favorite. People generally want to tell their story and if the right questions are asked, it is cool to see the energy that is created in the room. The interviews I've conducted with the participants and planners of the Shanghai international program have been great because it is something that the interviewees want to talk about. They get excited which in turn gets me excited. Every interview I've conducted thus far has been pleasant and each time the interviewee has been enthusiastic about participating in any future follow-up interviews.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Timelines
What I have been most surprised with about the research process this semester has been my lack of timeliness. I set a time-line for my big project with my proposals. I glanced at it this morning and chuckled. In my idealized world at the beginning of the semester I had it all planned out. Then life hit and things got pushed back again and again. Now I am glad that the first day of summer has begun and I can focus a bit more on my research. July will be here soon.
Monday, March 16, 2009
My Freshman Year Ch. 4 & 5 and Creswell Ch. 9
My Freshman Year Ch. 4 & 5
Chapter four was an interesting peek into the world of international college students. Nathan did a fine job of juxtaposing the experiences of US students with those from differing countries. Misinterpretations (or possibly accurate interpretations) on the part of international students towards US students in regards to language, friendship, and activities were all explored in this chapter. What was interesting is that the majority of the reported data concerned how international students perceived and interacted with US students. It did not really explore the full college/academic experience of international students, rather, the data was used to explore the international experience in the context of US students. It was more about the international students interpretations of the US academic and social systems then it was about the international students themselves.
Chapter five was an interesting portrayal of the attitudes, approaches, and habits that many US students take towards their academic life. It was actually a very critical examination of some of the flaws in the manner in which colleges educate their students and the way students respond in this environment. For instance, the chapter touched upon the unwillingness of students to engage in dialogue or critical thought, their separation of in-class and out-of-class behavior, and the "real" motivations for their attending and progressing in college (hint: it wasn't to simply learn or get a good education). These interpreted realities, while not transferable to all students at all institutions, portrayed a somewhat grim picture of academics in college in my opinion.
My first question raised while reading chapter four & five of "My freshman year" was how are researchers supposed to handle the relationships that develop during qualitative research? Nathan noted that, "As a partial outsider in college owing to my age, I found myself drawn to other partial outsiders, and vise versa." She further noted that "the transfer student on my hall became a friend" (p. 66). As researchers, is it okay to allow relationships to develop in the course of your work? If so, how might it affect the data? Might there be a tendency for the relationships to positively or negatively alter the data? Further, in the case of Nathan, is it ethical to develop friendships under the false identity of being a student when in actuality, she is not? Interesting, indeed.
One thing I liked about this chapter was how she developed the research protocal as she progressed, based upon her findings. For instance, as she learned more about the international student experience, she decided to incorporate formal interviews of these students into her work. I would guess that chapter four resulted from this decision. The information that was discovered concerning the experiences of the international student was fascinating. Had it not been for this momentary shift in direction, the reader may have missed out on this important aspect of modern-day college life.
The final notable point that I learned about the research process from these chapters concerned the valuable of data that can emerge from a participants misunderstanding of a researchers question. For instance, in response to Nathan's question, "Do you have friends who are American?" she learned a great deal about American students. She learned that often American cordiality can be misinterpreted by international students as being fake or lacking depth in relationships. But, I would argue that this data suggests that many American students are fake and do lack depth in relationships. If the international students had simply understood the face value of her question about friendship and not responded with confusion, this data may not have emerged in the research.
Creswell Chapter 9
This chapter was interesting in that it began to paint a picture of what the writings of quantitative approaches can look like. As with most of his chapters, he systematically walked through each qualitative approach and highlighted the gist's of each one. He also relied heavily on the writings of others in this chapter and this was helpful in hearing others take on how to proceed with a particular approach.
My initial assessment of the chapter was that it was somewhat scattered and varied and lacked flow. While frustrating at first, I think that it speaks to the many directions in which qualitative research can be pursued. The thing I liked the most about the chapter was the manner in which he incorporated metaphors to describe writing styles within the different approaches. Things like "walking slowly around a statue," or a camera lens zooming in focus and then zooming out to look at the larger picture in context were very helpful in understanding the differing approaches. This was helpful in better understanding the uniqueness and complexities of each approach. What I realized early on in the chapter is that for me, I think the best way to write about in a particular qualitative style is to read actual qualitative research. Although his descriptions were informative, there was still something lacking. It's almost as if he was trying to add structure while simultaneously noting that there is substantial variability in the structure. I liken Creswell's attempts in this chapter to trying to describe the method to writing poetry. While there are definite approaches to writing sonnets or hiku, to truly understand a sonnet or hiku, you have to experience it. I think the same can be said of the writing of qualitative research. I look forward to getting more into the literature with the base knowledge that Creswell has provided.
Chapter four was an interesting peek into the world of international college students. Nathan did a fine job of juxtaposing the experiences of US students with those from differing countries. Misinterpretations (or possibly accurate interpretations) on the part of international students towards US students in regards to language, friendship, and activities were all explored in this chapter. What was interesting is that the majority of the reported data concerned how international students perceived and interacted with US students. It did not really explore the full college/academic experience of international students, rather, the data was used to explore the international experience in the context of US students. It was more about the international students interpretations of the US academic and social systems then it was about the international students themselves.
Chapter five was an interesting portrayal of the attitudes, approaches, and habits that many US students take towards their academic life. It was actually a very critical examination of some of the flaws in the manner in which colleges educate their students and the way students respond in this environment. For instance, the chapter touched upon the unwillingness of students to engage in dialogue or critical thought, their separation of in-class and out-of-class behavior, and the "real" motivations for their attending and progressing in college (hint: it wasn't to simply learn or get a good education). These interpreted realities, while not transferable to all students at all institutions, portrayed a somewhat grim picture of academics in college in my opinion.
My first question raised while reading chapter four & five of "My freshman year" was how are researchers supposed to handle the relationships that develop during qualitative research? Nathan noted that, "As a partial outsider in college owing to my age, I found myself drawn to other partial outsiders, and vise versa." She further noted that "the transfer student on my hall became a friend" (p. 66). As researchers, is it okay to allow relationships to develop in the course of your work? If so, how might it affect the data? Might there be a tendency for the relationships to positively or negatively alter the data? Further, in the case of Nathan, is it ethical to develop friendships under the false identity of being a student when in actuality, she is not? Interesting, indeed.
One thing I liked about this chapter was how she developed the research protocal as she progressed, based upon her findings. For instance, as she learned more about the international student experience, she decided to incorporate formal interviews of these students into her work. I would guess that chapter four resulted from this decision. The information that was discovered concerning the experiences of the international student was fascinating. Had it not been for this momentary shift in direction, the reader may have missed out on this important aspect of modern-day college life.
The final notable point that I learned about the research process from these chapters concerned the valuable of data that can emerge from a participants misunderstanding of a researchers question. For instance, in response to Nathan's question, "Do you have friends who are American?" she learned a great deal about American students. She learned that often American cordiality can be misinterpreted by international students as being fake or lacking depth in relationships. But, I would argue that this data suggests that many American students are fake and do lack depth in relationships. If the international students had simply understood the face value of her question about friendship and not responded with confusion, this data may not have emerged in the research.
Creswell Chapter 9
This chapter was interesting in that it began to paint a picture of what the writings of quantitative approaches can look like. As with most of his chapters, he systematically walked through each qualitative approach and highlighted the gist's of each one. He also relied heavily on the writings of others in this chapter and this was helpful in hearing others take on how to proceed with a particular approach.
My initial assessment of the chapter was that it was somewhat scattered and varied and lacked flow. While frustrating at first, I think that it speaks to the many directions in which qualitative research can be pursued. The thing I liked the most about the chapter was the manner in which he incorporated metaphors to describe writing styles within the different approaches. Things like "walking slowly around a statue," or a camera lens zooming in focus and then zooming out to look at the larger picture in context were very helpful in understanding the differing approaches. This was helpful in better understanding the uniqueness and complexities of each approach. What I realized early on in the chapter is that for me, I think the best way to write about in a particular qualitative style is to read actual qualitative research. Although his descriptions were informative, there was still something lacking. It's almost as if he was trying to add structure while simultaneously noting that there is substantial variability in the structure. I liken Creswell's attempts in this chapter to trying to describe the method to writing poetry. While there are definite approaches to writing sonnets or hiku, to truly understand a sonnet or hiku, you have to experience it. I think the same can be said of the writing of qualitative research. I look forward to getting more into the literature with the base knowledge that Creswell has provided.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Interview reflections
In conducting the interview for the recent assignment, I was pleased at how open and frank the student was in answering the questions and providing depth to his answers. It was somewhat surprising because I have conducted student interviews in the past that were like pulling teeth to get meaningful answers. One of the strategies I used with this student that I had not used in past student interviews was to conduct the interview in a neutral setting. In the past, I had conducted interviews in my office with myself on one side of my desk and the student on the other. In class it was mentioned that conducting interviews in a neutral setting was helpful in obtaining better data. Thus, I chose to conduct the interview at an outdoor patio sitting at a picnic table. This was a great setting in regards to neutrality. However, there were a few too many distractions such as people walking bye while talking on their phones and a low-flying airplane that was very loud. If I were to conduct the same interview again, I would have probably either conducted the interview indoors or in an area more secluded from foot traffic.
An important factor mentioned by Creswell (2007) was the importance of choosing interviewees that are not shy or hesitant. My question with this is whether I as the researcher should attempt to decipher which students/individuals are going to be hesitant or shy in an interview type situation, or do I conduct the interviews without filtering and simply discard the ones in which the subject is apprehensive? It seems that the second option is the most appropriate. In a past interview I chose a participant that I thought would be energetic and articulate on the subject. However, during the interview she had very little to say and was very general in her responses. I could not have known that beforehand, so I ended up just disregarding her interview. With the student in this interview, I had no idea that he would provide as much detail on his experiences as he did, so I was just lucky, I guess.
Another change I would have made would be to refine the interview questions through use of a pilot-test. I believe this would have been helpful in collecting better data. There were a few instances where the student had to ask a clarifying question as to what information I was looking for with the question. While I was able to explain what I meant by the question and while he was able to provide an appropriate answer, I think the interview would have been better served had a pilot-test been conducted. The questions made total sense when I asked them to myself, but my biases and assumptions play a large role in how I hear and answer questions. Having someone lend a critical ear to the protocol before I actually use it would have greatly improved the quality of the questions.
The final observation that I noticed in my interviewing skills was that I was often eager to get to the next question. In transcribing the interviews and listening to the playback, I realized that I should have probably gone in to more depth with particular questions or allowed for a few more moments of silence in anticipation that the student would have added more to his answers. While I was pleased with the majority of the information that he provided during the interview, I think that if I had been more patient and less focused on the next question that the data would have been much more meaningful and rich.
An important factor mentioned by Creswell (2007) was the importance of choosing interviewees that are not shy or hesitant. My question with this is whether I as the researcher should attempt to decipher which students/individuals are going to be hesitant or shy in an interview type situation, or do I conduct the interviews without filtering and simply discard the ones in which the subject is apprehensive? It seems that the second option is the most appropriate. In a past interview I chose a participant that I thought would be energetic and articulate on the subject. However, during the interview she had very little to say and was very general in her responses. I could not have known that beforehand, so I ended up just disregarding her interview. With the student in this interview, I had no idea that he would provide as much detail on his experiences as he did, so I was just lucky, I guess.
Another change I would have made would be to refine the interview questions through use of a pilot-test. I believe this would have been helpful in collecting better data. There were a few instances where the student had to ask a clarifying question as to what information I was looking for with the question. While I was able to explain what I meant by the question and while he was able to provide an appropriate answer, I think the interview would have been better served had a pilot-test been conducted. The questions made total sense when I asked them to myself, but my biases and assumptions play a large role in how I hear and answer questions. Having someone lend a critical ear to the protocol before I actually use it would have greatly improved the quality of the questions.
The final observation that I noticed in my interviewing skills was that I was often eager to get to the next question. In transcribing the interviews and listening to the playback, I realized that I should have probably gone in to more depth with particular questions or allowed for a few more moments of silence in anticipation that the student would have added more to his answers. While I was pleased with the majority of the information that he provided during the interview, I think that if I had been more patient and less focused on the next question that the data would have been much more meaningful and rich.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Creswell Chapter 8
Chapter eight was helpful in developing a visual model of the qualitative process. The “spiral” helped provide a structural framework for each step in the process. I also appreciated his “enter & exit” analogy in relation to the spiral. It simplifies the research process in my mind when it is thought of as entering the process with data such as text or images and exiting with a descriptive narrative or account.
The spiral, and other aspects of the chapter, provided a clearer picture of where the different approaches are similar and where they differ. While describing the development of coding and categorizing the information, Creswell used the term “winnowing” to describe how the data is organized and often even discarded. I was struck for the first time while reading this section of the chapter at how much influence the researcher has on the data in qualitative research. I think it really calls the researcher to an extremely high standard in accurately representing the data that was gathered.
Another aspect of the chapter that I appreciated was the guidelines or parameters that he mentioned for establishing the number of categories in a qualitative study. With hundreds of pages of data, it must tempting to identify hundreds of categories that can be coded. However, Creswell’s standard of not developing “more than 25-30 categories of information” helped me realize that the point of qualitative research is to identify the categories and data that speaks the loudest and carries the most depth. Although there are probably hundreds of findings that could be reported on in a qualitative study, he stresses that it is important for researchers to limit themselves to the most meaningful.
The table on pages 156-157 was helpful in further understanding the "spiral" for each of the five approaches. By reading through the processes for each approach, I better understood the differences in the approaches that were introduced in chapter five. This was particularly true when examining the process of moving into the describing, classifying, and interpreting phases. Although theoretically similar, these phases of the process look quite different.
The spiral, and other aspects of the chapter, provided a clearer picture of where the different approaches are similar and where they differ. While describing the development of coding and categorizing the information, Creswell used the term “winnowing” to describe how the data is organized and often even discarded. I was struck for the first time while reading this section of the chapter at how much influence the researcher has on the data in qualitative research. I think it really calls the researcher to an extremely high standard in accurately representing the data that was gathered.
Another aspect of the chapter that I appreciated was the guidelines or parameters that he mentioned for establishing the number of categories in a qualitative study. With hundreds of pages of data, it must tempting to identify hundreds of categories that can be coded. However, Creswell’s standard of not developing “more than 25-30 categories of information” helped me realize that the point of qualitative research is to identify the categories and data that speaks the loudest and carries the most depth. Although there are probably hundreds of findings that could be reported on in a qualitative study, he stresses that it is important for researchers to limit themselves to the most meaningful.
The table on pages 156-157 was helpful in further understanding the "spiral" for each of the five approaches. By reading through the processes for each approach, I better understood the differences in the approaches that were introduced in chapter five. This was particularly true when examining the process of moving into the describing, classifying, and interpreting phases. Although theoretically similar, these phases of the process look quite different.
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