Monday, August 24, 2009

Discussion Card for Creswell's Ch. 9

Please post your question, quote, and fact here.
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14 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 4, 2009 at 4:07 PM

    Question: On page 245, Creswell describes the simultaneous process of analyzing while collecting data, and writing about results as they emerge. This seems like an immense task. Are there strategies for simplifying qualitative research for a researcher who already works full time?

    Quote: page 265 "Because qualitative researchers believe that your personal views can never be kept separate from interpretations, personal reflections about the meaning of the data are included in the research study. You base these personal interpretations on hunches, insights, and intuition."

    Fact: page 267 Member checking is a process in which the researcher asks one or more participants in the study to check the accuracy of their account. I think member checking is an excellent method to insure accuracy and fairness in a study. It would also provide participants with a greater sense of ownership concerning the outcome of the project.

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  2. Corey NickellOctober 4, 2009 at 5:53 PM

    Corey

    Question: Does a 30 minute interview really result in 30 pages of single spaced transcription? What have we gotten ourselves into?

    Quote: Pg 297 “Saturation is the point where you have identified the major themes and no new information can add to your list of themes or to the detail for existing themes.”

    Interesting fact: In qualitative research personal views are included along with hunches, insight, and intuition. This brings me back to the bias question. I am guessing a good researcher does this correctly where biases are not a concern.

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  3. Corey NickellOctober 4, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    oops...that quote is page 257.

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  4. UnknownOctober 5, 2009 at 7:22 PM

    Question: Creswell defines qualitative research as interpretive, meaning one researcher may assess information differently than another. How does one determine which researcher's assessment in valid and which is not...is this where the peer-review comes in?

    Fact: p245 A 30 minute interview can result in a 20 page single-spaced transcription...ouch!

    Quote: 261 "Qualitative researchers often display thier findings visually by using figures or pictures that augment the discussion. Different ways to display data are...(comparisons tables, hierarchical tree diagrams, figures, maps, demographic tables)."

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  5. UnknownOctober 5, 2009 at 7:28 PM

    Barb,
    I agree that member checking seems like a good way to check fairness in a study. It reminds me of a technique we use with our students in active listening where we say, "I understood you to say..., is that what you meant." It ensures that the participants voice is heard clearly.

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  6. Mrs. DalrympleOctober 6, 2009 at 3:14 PM

    Question: What software does Missouri Western provide in regards to qualitative research?
    Quote:(p. 245) "Organization of data is critical in qualitative research because of the large amount of information gathered during a study."
    Fact: Detailed descriptions in a qualitative study can transport the research site or help the reader to visualize the person.

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  7. Ann GustafsonOctober 6, 2009 at 5:34 PM

    Question: While reading about themes in qualitattive date I wondered... aren't there also themes in quantitative data? If so, how do those relate to key terms?

    Quote: "Interpretation may also contain references to the literature and past studies." 265

    Interesting Fact: Multiple perspectives are important when conveying the complexity of the phenomenon in qualitative research. page 257

    To Barb, Corey, and Dana,
    I think most if not all of us are having that "What have we gotten ourselves into?" feeling!

    Corey,
    That quote stood out to me as well. I just wonder how we are to be sure when we are 'saturated'! :-)

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  8. AnonymousOctober 6, 2009 at 6:45 PM

    Question: Is there one better way than the other to represent findings? Creating a Comparison Table, Developing a hierarchial tree, present figures, drawing a map or developing a demographic table... Is one more effective than another?

    Interesting Fact: page 246 - As general rule of thumb, it takes approximately four hours to transcribe one hour of tape.
    Oh my goodness!

    Quote: Page 268 - Take the time to read all of your data to obtain general sense of it before you conduct a detailed analysis.

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  9. AnonymousOctober 6, 2009 at 6:47 PM

    Corey - Seems as though not a lot of research times equals a great day of work time in order to analyze, transcribe and to report. Kind of like lesson plans for teaching. It takes a lot less time to teach a lesson than to locate, understand and create the meaningful learning experience.

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  10. AnonymousOctober 6, 2009 at 6:49 PM

    I am interested as well as to what software for MWSU provides for qualitative research. Anyone find out the answer?

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  11. AnonymousOctober 6, 2009 at 6:53 PM

    Ann G - So I am wondering if multiple perspectives are required for qualitative research if the more researchers working on a project the more reliable? Or if it is just to have more than one set of eyes when conducting the research.

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  12. UnknownOctober 6, 2009 at 8:02 PM

    Christina said...
    Interesting Fact: As a general rule of thumb, it takes approximately 4 hours to transcribe 1 hour of tape (Dana Miller, personal communication, April 11, 2000). Hence, the process of transcription is labor intensive and you will need to allow adequate time for it. Page 246

    Quote: “In providing detailed information, description can transport the reader to a research site or help the reader visualize a person. It takes experience and practice to describe the detail in a setting.” Page 255

    Question: Creswell demonstrated layering themes on page 259. He created 4 layers to show the layering themes. As I start to layer themes in my research, do I need to focus on creating 4 layers or can I find myself using more?

    This is also in chapter 10...gotta be smarter then the computer!!!!

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  13. UnknownOctober 12, 2009 at 5:42 AM

    Barb, I found that interesting too about snslyzing while collecting data. It seems as if that would be the only way to have time to fit it all in!

    Interesting Fact: It seemas as if Barb and I have trouble giving up handwritten documentation and going to computer programs. But on pg 246, it looks as if we can incorporate that technique by using" hand analysis of qualitatative data"

    Quote: The object of coding process is to make sense out of text data....this is an inductive process of narrowing data into a few themes." pg 251

    Question: Is coding data the best and most efficient way to narrow the data and eliminating what you don't need?

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  14. Dr. HendrixOctober 27, 2009 at 12:58 PM

    Ann G.,

    Good points here! In quantitative data, you are looking at pre-tests and post-tests a lot of the times. You are looking to see if something you did (an intervention or new teaching method) worked. Then, you can use the quantitative data to see that effect or no effect in the end. In qualitative work, you are trying to find the themes to talk about there.

    Take care,
    Dr. Hendrix

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