Author Archives: Benjamin Young

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Number of Posts: 5
Number of Comments: 4

About Benjamin Young

5.08119E+15

The Rhetorical Philosophical Assumption

Philosophical assumptions are less apparent in research than the theories that are employed, but they underlie the fundamental choices that are made in answering research questions. In other words, there are certain basic assumptions about how research should be done (and reported) that are deeply engrained through scholarly training, and these philosophical assumptions guide researchers to different methods (i.e. theories) of conducting their research (Creswell, 15-18).

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion (Aristotle 1946, Book I.2. as cited in O’Neill, 1998). The rhetorical structure of your paper is how you go about persuading your reader that what you are saying is worth something. There are certain formatting expectations for all scientific research reports (such as APA style) and more specific expectations for different types of research. The specific rhetorical assumption you will use depends on the type of study being conducted (e.g. ethnographic, grounded theory, case study, etc.) and is the basis for the structure of your research report. No matter what type of research you are doing, the overall rhetorical assumption in qualitative research is that you are not “truth seeking” or omniscient but instead reporting what reality is through the eyes of your research participants. Chapter 9 of Creswell outlines these formatting expectations for each different type of study.

This is important for all of our studies because it means that we are reporting on what we saw and heard in the most objective way possible, but we are not concerned with gathering quantitative data and doing statistical tests. Rather the rhetorical style of our research reports is more humanistic and about thorough descriptive and interpretive writing about our research results.

O’Neil, J. (1998). Rhetoric, science, and philosophy. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 28(2), 205-225.

Electronic Dance Music Sub Culture

I am studying the sub culture around electronic dance music (EDM). Dance music has become more popular in the US in the past couple of years. I am interested in why people enjoy listening to this particular type of music as well as possibly uncovering any reoccurring themes in the interview responses that may be interesting to report.

In order to do research on this subject, I attended Webster Hall nightclub on a night when a world famous DJ group was performing. I participated in the event as, well, a participant! I also interviewed 10 other participants chosen at random with the help of an assistant interviewer. Answers to the interview questions were recorded as well as any noteworthy body language or other observable phenomena during the interview. The study will be more ethnographic than phenomenological because I will be asking open ended questions about the experience of electronic dance music rather than the specific event taking place.

At this time I am not experiencing any issues writing up my report but that will likely change as we get closer to Thursday.

I look forward to presenting my findings.

Maxwell Chapter 5 – Methods

Maxwell’s Chapter 5 focuses on the design of the Methods section of your research.

The focus is on how to design the use of specific approaches and methods in a qualitative study, not on how to actually do the research itself. The author stresses there is no “cookbook” or cut and dry method for doing a qualitative research study. There are general guidelines for different approaches but the subject you are researching and your available resources will guide the exact method you use.

Below is an outline style rundown of the important parts of the chapter.

More and Less Structured Approaches:

  • Any substantial prior structuring of methods leads to a lack of flexibility to respond to emergent insights, and can create methodological tunnel vision in making sense of data.

Conducting a Qualitative Study has Four Main Components:

  1. The research relationships that you establish with those you study
  2. Selection: what settings or individuals you decide to observe or interview, and what other sources of information you decide to use
  3. Data collection: how you gather the info you will use
  4. Data analysis: what you do with this information to make sense of it

Negotiating Research Relationships:

  • The researcher needs to interact with people to collect data, and these relationships create and structure this interaction. Ongoing contact continually restructures these relationships.
  • Negotiating entry= allows the researcher to ethically gain the information that can answer your research questions.
  • Example 5.1 on Page 94 gives a good narrative of how a researcher prepared for his study

Site and Participant Selection:

  • Where to conduct your research and whom to include in it (sampling)
  • In qualitative research, the typical way of selecting settings and individuals is neither probability sampling nor convenience sampling. It falls into a third category, which can be called purposeful selection or purposive sampling: particular settings, persons, or activities are selected deliberately to provide information that is particularly relevant to your questions and goals

Decisions About Data Collection:

The Relationship Between Research Questions and Data Collection Methods

  • There is no way to mechanically convert research questions into methods. Your methods are the means to answering your research questions, not a logical transformation of the latter. The method selection depends not only on your research question, but on the actual research situation and on what will work most effectively in that situation to give you the data you need.
  • Figure 5.1 on Page 109 shows an example of how collected data is organized from an interview-based study.

Using Multiple Data Collection Methods

  • Collecting data using multiple methods in qualitative research is common.
  • Mixed-methods research: joint use of qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study
  • Different purposes: 1. Triangulation- using different methods as a check on one another, seeing if methods with different strengths and limitations all support a single conclusion. 2. Gain information about different aspects of the phenomena that you are studying. Different methods are used to broaden the range of aspects or phenomena that your address, rather than simply to strengthen particular conclusions about some phenomenon.
  • The use of generalized, present-tense, and specific, past-tense questions as with the joint use of observations and interviews can address the same issues and research questions but from different perspectives. The goal is to gain a greater depth of understanding rather than simply greater breadth or confirmation of the results of a single method.

Decisions About Data Analysis:

Strategies for Qualitative Data Analysis:

  • Different strategies and tools can be used for qualitative analyses
  • First step is reading the interview transcripts, observational notes, or documents, and listening to tapes you are analyzing. During this you should write notes on what you see and hear.
  • Analytical options: memos, categorizing strategies, and connecting strategies (narrative analysis).
  • The distinction between categorizing and connecting strategizes is basic to understating qualitative data analysis. The distinction involves two different modes of relationship: similarity (resemblances or common features) and contiguity (juxtaposition in time and space, the influence of one thing on another, or relations among parts of a text; their identification involves seeing actual connections between things, rather than similarities and differences).
  • Categorizing analysis begins with the identification of units of data that seem important or meaningful in some way. This often called “open coding”, which involves reading the data and developing your coding categories based on what data seems most important.
  • Figure 5.2 (Page 117) and Example 5.4 (Page 118-119) show example data and provides a narrative on how the data would be analyzed.

Computers and Qualitative Data Analysis:

  • Software designed for qualitative data analysis is now widely used and is almost obligatory for large-scale projects.
  • The main strength of such software is in categorizing analysis and many current books on using computers for qualitative data analysis focus almost entirely on coding. 

Although this chapter does not provide detailed steps for crafting the method of your research study, it gives a good overview of how to go about creating your own method. Qualitative research is more “loose” than quantitative research, and your method should reflect the way you are planning to get the richest information with the time and resources you have available.

By Benjamin Young, Marissa Levitan, & Christina Markoski

Chapter 6: Introducing and Focusing the Study

Chapter 6 of Creswell’s Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design is all about writing the best introduction to your study as possible. It gives an overview of the introduction section and then goes into details about the subparts that make it up. A good qualitative introduction begins with the identification of a clear problem that needs to be studied. It then advances the primary intent of the study, called the purpose of the study. It sets the stage for the entire article and conveys what the author hopes to accomplish in the study. Of all parts of a research project, the purpose statement is most important.

The Research Problem Statement

Qualitative studies begin with an introduction advancing the research problem or issue in a study. The purpose of a research problem in qualitative research is to provide a rationale or need for studying a particular issue or problem. An example of various research problem statements can be found on page 132 figure 6.1, the 5 elements of a good introduction: the topic, the research problem, the evidence, and the importance of the problem for select audiences. At this point the introduction proceeds onto the purpose statement.

The Purpose Statement

The purpose statement provides the major objective or intent, or “road map,” to the study. The purpose statement needs to be carefully constructed and written in a clear and concise language. An example of a purpose statement script is found on page 135.

On page 136 table 6.1 contains a chart with “Words to use in Encoding the Purpose statement” as well as several examples of purpose statements that illustrate the encoding and foreshadowing of the 5 approaches to research on page 137.

The Research Question

The intent of the qualitative research question is to narrow the purpose statement into several specific questions that will be addressed in the study. Qualitative research questions are open-ended, evolving, and nondirectional. It restates the purpose of the study in more specific terms and typically start with a word or how rather than why.

The Central Question

The author recommends that a researcher reduce her or his entire study to a single, overarching central question and several subquestions. Examples can be found on page 139-140.

Subquestions

Subquestions further specify the central questions into some areas for inquiry. Suggestions for writing these subquestions can be found on page 140-141.

If you follow the directions in this chapter, your study’s introduction should be interesting, informative, and provide a backdrop for the rest of the research report. Good luck!

 — by Benjamin Young, Christina Markoski, & Marissa Levitan

Benjamin Young

I am in the Corporate Communications Master’s program here at Baruch.

I studied psychology for my bachelor’s degree, also here at Baruch.

This is a honey badger, a fearless animal.



Comments:

"In general - and this is from what I gather, not necessarily a page I can turn you to - a qualitative research question asks "why" or "how" or seeks to explain something. Where as a quantitative research question is interested in measuring something and making deductions based on the measurement. Hope that helps."
posted on Jun 15, 2013, on the post Chapter 6: Introducing and Focusing the Study

"That was a great break down of the different types of studies presented in the book. This was very helpful to me as I was unsure of what type of study I was going to do, but after reading this summary I have a much better idea. I want to study putting loved ones in a nursing home versus seeking out home-based alternatives, and I think a phenomenological study is where I am leaning towards."
posted on Jun 12, 2013, on the post CHAPTER 4: Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry

"I am not sure yet how the different philosophical approaches will play a part in my research, which I am not even sure what I'm going to research yet, but I definitely like the fact that Creswell warns us that our own assumptions will find their way into our research and shape how it turns out. In the budding ideas I have for my own research I definitely have assumptions for how it will go and can see myself moving the research in the direction I think it will turn out. I will have to watch out for that when doing it! Great overview of the chapter."
posted on Jun 12, 2013, on the post Chapter 2

"Selcuk! The research "problem" is that you don't know yet whether or not there are modern day phenomena in the archival data. It's a good research question I think."
posted on Jun 12, 2013, on the post Chapter 6: Introducing and Focusing the Study