CHAD 123 Module 1/2 Readings

What is referred to Big Q qualitative research and contrasted with small q qualitative research

The use of specific qualitative data collection and techniques, not (necessarily) within a qualitative paradigm.

Qualitative research

words as data, collected and analysed in all sorts of ways

Paradigm

the beliefs, assumptions, values, and practices shared by a research community, and it provides an overarching framework for research

Elements of a qualitative paradigm (Silverman, 2000:8)

- the use of qualitative data and the analysis of words which are not reducible to numbers
- the use of more ‘naturally’ occurring data collection methods that more closely resemble real life (compared to other possibilities, such as experiments) — this develops from the idea that we cannot make sense of data in isolation from context
- an interest in meanings rather than reports and measures of behaviour or internal cognitions
- the use of inductive, theory-generating research
- a rejection of the natural sciences as a model of research, including the rejection of the idea of the objective (unbiased) scientist
- the recognition that researchers bring their subjectivity (their views, perspectives, frameworks for making sense of the world; their politics, their passions) into the research process; this is seen as a strength rather than a weakness

Quantitative approaches and ‘the scientific have dominated psychology (in a way that isn’t the case in all other social sciences). It’s tempting to see the emergence of qualitative research in two ways:

a) as a new development; and b) as simply offering a complementary data collection and analysis toolkit for quantitative psychology. (The textbook warnes against both conclusions)

Paradigm Feature: Multiple versions of reality. What is the research implication?

Knowledge is viewed as context-dependent rather than universal.

Qualitative ideas and approaches have been part of psychology from

its inception

What we think of as psychology and indeed how you do it, has been strongly shaped by

the behavioural and cognitive traditions

phenomenology

a 20th-century philosophical movement and method that studies conscious, subjective experience from the first-person point of view

poststructuralism

a late-twentieth-century movement in philosophy and literary criticism that rejects the idea of fixed, stable meanings and objective structures in language and culture

hermeneutics

the systematic study and theory of interpretation, particularly of written texts, speech, and human behavior

In the study by Burns and Gavey (2004) regarding bulimia, how did the researchers utilize context to enhance their analysis?

By analysing public health messages to see how they influenced women's accounts of 'healthy weight'

A researcher who shares a group identity with their participants is described as having:

insider status

In Box 1.1, how is the scope of data generated in qualitative research compared to quantitative research?

qualitative generates narrow but rich data

According to the textbook, what are the three distinct types of questions in qualitative research?

research, data generation, and data analysis

Which researcher is associated with the idea that discourse analysis is a 'craft skill' similar to riding a bike?

Jonathan Potter

Which method is specifically *excluded* from the book because it blurs qualitative and quantitative boundaries?

Q-methodology

what is the example given in the Milner reading about unseen dangers

if the researcher is not conscious of dangers that may surface in a study, they are unseen by him or her.

How can dangers occur according to the Milner reading

In the process of conducting research, dangers can emerge when and if researchers do not engage in processes that can circumvent misinterpretations, misinformation, and misrepresentations of individuals, communities, institutions, and systems.

Why do "guides and frameworks are needed to (a) contribute to and extend the discourse about researchers’ roles, responsibilities, and positionality; (b) assist and empower researchers in the process, production, and outcomes of inquiry; and (c) hold researchers more accountable to the communities and people with whom they conduct research."

People of color historically have been misrepresented, exploited, silenced, and taken for granted in education research (Dillard, 2000; Stanfield, 1995). Some education researchers have given privileged status to dominant, White voices, beliefs, ideologies, and views over the voices of people of color (Gordon, 1990; Tillman, 2002). Researchers’ multiple and varied positions, roles, and identities are intricately and inextricably embedded in the process and outcomes of education research (Chapman, 2007; Ladson-Billings, 2000; Stanley, 2007).

although SES is important to consider and to include in educational study and analyses, what else is important to consider

race and culture are also important to consider in the study of people, perspectives, experiences, and spaces

Critical race theory emerged from critical legal studies when

Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) introduced it into education in a Teachers College Record article and attempted to advance research and theory where issues of race were concerned.

The tenets of critical race theory in education

The postulation that race and racism are endemic, pervasive, widespread, and ingrained in society and thus in education. The importance and centrality of narratives and counter-narratives,4 or stories—particularly stories “told by people of color”. As well as interest convergence.

Dangers in Education Research

"a) color- and culture-blind research in P–12 educational settings,

(b) color- and culture-blind policy and document analyses, and

(c) teacher education research. "

what is one danger of teacher education

an overemphasis on the education of White teachers and a neglect of the education of teachers of color. Quite often, teacher education programs are tailored largely to meet the needs of White female teachers (Gay, 2000); teachers of color, as well as male teachers, are often left out of policies, procedures, planning, courses, curriculum, and instruction of content.