A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. -- I Corinthians 12:14, The Message
Imagine for a moment that you have been asked to write a reflection in which you detail the manner in which your right eye contributes to the ways in which you live your life. You might naturally write about vision, perhaps describing the process by which your eyes take in the beauty of creation, or allow you to read a compelling story, or to watch your children at play. Certainly, in writing about the eye, the author must address what is perceived visually. However, simply articulating what is known about vision would not be enough. The assignment is, after all to reflect on the RIGHT eye. What is it that your right eye alone perceives?
Imagine further that in writing about vision, you are successful in describing the function of just one eye. Has the topic been adequately covered? What about the contributions that eye makes to balance, to the ways in which the things around you are preceived - the depth and breadth of the world, the simple act of reaching out to touch an object - all would be changed by the loss of the right eye. It is possible to live without that eye, but the totality of the body is affected by the loss of any part.
For me, writing about my faith is comparable to writing about the functions of just one eye. My faith is connected to every part of my being, to the ways in which I move through the world. To consider my faith as a solitary element is impossible for me. As with the loss of one eye, I would continue to perceive the world, but my balance would be thrown, my ability to reach out and touch would be disturbed.
In fact, the integration of my faith is so ubiquitous that there is no part of me that does not incorporate and consider my relationship to Christ, so completely that I rarely notice its effects on my day to day actions. For this reason, I cannot say perceptible changes to my faith have occured as a result of taking a class in qualitative research. Conversely, I can say with certainty that my faith has informed the manner in which I perceived the content of the class - in ways that I may never fully understand or articulate.
Throughout the semester, I have seen glimpses of my faith at play in the research arena: The moment during an interview for another project, in which I was almost desperate because I could not reach out to a hurting person who had rejected all thought of the healing God whom she needed. The realization that Truth comes in many forms, and that even as I receive the gift of Story from participants, I must offer the gift of trust. The involuntary admission during an interview that I, too, serve the living God. Those moments clarify for me the differences between a researcher, and a Christian researcher.
My very nature craves and serves Story. Transmitting ideas, making word pictures, is an art I continually practice and admire. Skillful storytelling trumps reality for me. This makes the world of qualitative research a dangerous one. I have come to realize that I belong in this place, but that I must always be on guard against the temptation to embellish or to serve the art rather than the Story itself. For some, methods that ensure rigor are but the final touch on research design. For me, they will be the failsafe that catches me before accuracy is sacrificed to art.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Research Journal - Analytic Memo
Some changes in thought regarding the themes I anticipated revealing through my study on Honors Scholars: Challenge is a great motivator to these students and will be explored through the literature in the final writeup, while Hope Theory seems to be unrelated to the ways in which these students move through the world and articulate their thoughts about success and achieving. I am beginning to see that in order to need hope, a student must at some point either lack hope or experience the kind of setbacks that require the instilling of hopefullness. I will have to throw that part of my theorizing out and continue to mine the themes for other ties to literature.
I find this part of the study really difficult, as I feel I don't know enough to know even what it is that I don't know! This also helps me to understand the type of silo-ed expertise that tends to develop as good thinkers follow only one line of discovery - Carol Dweck looking at mindsets or Barbara Fredrickson examining the elements that undergird her Broaden and Buiild theory. Unless one becomes expert in one specific area there is just too much literature to grasp and synthesize in relation to new areas of exploration.
I find this part of the study really difficult, as I feel I don't know enough to know even what it is that I don't know! This also helps me to understand the type of silo-ed expertise that tends to develop as good thinkers follow only one line of discovery - Carol Dweck looking at mindsets or Barbara Fredrickson examining the elements that undergird her Broaden and Buiild theory. Unless one becomes expert in one specific area there is just too much literature to grasp and synthesize in relation to new areas of exploration.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Research Journal - Methodological Memo / Faith Reflection
It seems to me that there is a tacit agreement between researcher and subjects or participants in research that an effort will be made to tell, not only a truthful story, but a complete one. What a difficult task! The reading I have done this week tells me that even skilled, experienced researchers struggle with finding a balance between artfully writing a study and telling the complete story, including every nuance and detail.
One falls in love with the subjects as well, and it is difficult to know when to stop the process, when to declare the interviews at an end. Once that end has been reached, it feels like a betrayal of the gift of Story that has been received for the researcher not to include every last statement, every possible theme. How does one consolidate the wide spectrum of experience in an exemplary educator, for instance, into three or four overarching themes? What does one do with the MANY lovely statements the subject has offered that do not make the final writeup of the research?
I believe that all researchers must face this dilemma to a degree. But it seems that a Christian must struggle that much more diligently because we seek to reveal Truth and want to honor God with a job well done.
In the end, while the discovery is exciting, and the writing fullfilling in a way that quantitative research can never match, the daunting task of capturing, yet not over-reaching, with regard to telling the Story makes qualitative research one of the hardest things I have ever done!
One falls in love with the subjects as well, and it is difficult to know when to stop the process, when to declare the interviews at an end. Once that end has been reached, it feels like a betrayal of the gift of Story that has been received for the researcher not to include every last statement, every possible theme. How does one consolidate the wide spectrum of experience in an exemplary educator, for instance, into three or four overarching themes? What does one do with the MANY lovely statements the subject has offered that do not make the final writeup of the research?
I believe that all researchers must face this dilemma to a degree. But it seems that a Christian must struggle that much more diligently because we seek to reveal Truth and want to honor God with a job well done.
In the end, while the discovery is exciting, and the writing fullfilling in a way that quantitative research can never match, the daunting task of capturing, yet not over-reaching, with regard to telling the Story makes qualitative research one of the hardest things I have ever done!
Reading Log #5 - Part 2
Reading Log, Golden-Biddle & Locke, Introduction and Chap. 1
Summary:
The authors explain their philosophy regarding qualitative research and the manner in which it should be written via the introduction to the book. They believe that qual research must be thoroughly linked to existing research via connections with the literature, in order for qual research to be viewed as making a serious contribution to the thought in any discipline.
Using the example of a child's cartoon story of a melting snowman, Golden-Biddle and Locke introduce the idea of a "theorized storyline," or a way of writing that links field research with academic literature.
Chapter 1 concerns what the authors term "the writing enterprise in the context of our professional lives." (p. 10) They use the chapter to illustrate the tension that lies between the spare academic style of writing and the need for fuller, richer, more nuanced writing that conveys not just the facts but the perceptions of meaning as well.
Reflection:
As the authors state, "the practice of academic writing is neither plain nor simple." (p. 11)This struggling academic writer must shout AMEN SISTAHS! to that assertion. It is especially difficult, nigh unto schizophrenic,to write one minute for a class requiring the academic wriring associated with quantitative research, then to switch gears the next moment in order to write in the richly narrative style required for qualitative work. The importance of learning to write in both styles is not lost on me, yet there are days on which I would like to shout "Enough already! - pick a style and let me get on with it!" I do realize that this ultimately happens when one chooses a dissertation topic, research design, and hence a way of looking at and writing about data. Until then I would just ask the folks on both sides of the textual fence to understand the strain that straddling said fence can cause. Pun fully intended.
Side note: I take great umbrage at the statement characterizing the library as "that academically removed knowledge repository." (p. 10) It is precisely as a means to becoming less removed, more in tune, and open to the great conversations of Higher Education that this librarian chose to pursue a PhD, not in librarianship, but in Higher Ed! :) That said, I have to forgive any authors who reference my favorite book on the wriring process, their mention of Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird absolves them of any anti-library offenses for which they may be guilty.
Summary:
The authors explain their philosophy regarding qualitative research and the manner in which it should be written via the introduction to the book. They believe that qual research must be thoroughly linked to existing research via connections with the literature, in order for qual research to be viewed as making a serious contribution to the thought in any discipline.
Using the example of a child's cartoon story of a melting snowman, Golden-Biddle and Locke introduce the idea of a "theorized storyline," or a way of writing that links field research with academic literature.
Chapter 1 concerns what the authors term "the writing enterprise in the context of our professional lives." (p. 10) They use the chapter to illustrate the tension that lies between the spare academic style of writing and the need for fuller, richer, more nuanced writing that conveys not just the facts but the perceptions of meaning as well.
Reflection:
As the authors state, "the practice of academic writing is neither plain nor simple." (p. 11)This struggling academic writer must shout AMEN SISTAHS! to that assertion. It is especially difficult, nigh unto schizophrenic,to write one minute for a class requiring the academic wriring associated with quantitative research, then to switch gears the next moment in order to write in the richly narrative style required for qualitative work. The importance of learning to write in both styles is not lost on me, yet there are days on which I would like to shout "Enough already! - pick a style and let me get on with it!" I do realize that this ultimately happens when one chooses a dissertation topic, research design, and hence a way of looking at and writing about data. Until then I would just ask the folks on both sides of the textual fence to understand the strain that straddling said fence can cause. Pun fully intended.
Side note: I take great umbrage at the statement characterizing the library as "that academically removed knowledge repository." (p. 10) It is precisely as a means to becoming less removed, more in tune, and open to the great conversations of Higher Education that this librarian chose to pursue a PhD, not in librarianship, but in Higher Ed! :) That said, I have to forgive any authors who reference my favorite book on the wriring process, their mention of Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird absolves them of any anti-library offenses for which they may be guilty.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Reading Log #5 - Part 1
Reading Log, Creswell, Chap. 11
Summary:
Creswell begins the chapter with a diagram of three components of qualitative research: approach to inquiry; assumptions, worldviews, theories; and research design. He then "turns the story" by creating a short writeup of the example study called the gunman case for each of the different qualitative approaches offered in the book, illustrating how each approach differs and what would, and would not, be included in the narrative for each type of study.
In the conclusion, Creswell discusses the way that the approach to inquiry shapes the language that is used to write the study. Each facet of qualitative research depends upon the question being asked, and how the researcher plans to focus attention on answering that question. Finally, the interpretation of research is discussed, with emphasis on personal meaning and the way that the researcher speaks into his or her work, bringing our own beings into the study.
Reflection:
Chapter 11 offers what, for me, is the most important statement in the book, "Ultimately, our writing is an interpretation by us of events, people, and activities, and it is only our interpretation...Within this perspective, our writing can only be seen as a discourse, one with tentative conclusions, and one that will be contatntly changing and evolving."" (p. 231)
I believe the qualitative researcher has to give herself or himself the permission to understand that the conclusions drawn are theirs alone, that it is okay for the interpretation to be personal. Too often we try to do the same thing with qual. research that is done with quantitative researech - to prove something. When the researcher makes peace with the possibility of simply telling a story, of reflecting one possible way that reality can be seen, through the eyets of a specific researcher looking at a specific population or event, then a powerful story can be told. Stories that may not conclusively prove a theory, but can hekp to widen understanding and point to new ways of seeing. Viewed in this light, qual. research is pretty heady stuff!
Summary:
Creswell begins the chapter with a diagram of three components of qualitative research: approach to inquiry; assumptions, worldviews, theories; and research design. He then "turns the story" by creating a short writeup of the example study called the gunman case for each of the different qualitative approaches offered in the book, illustrating how each approach differs and what would, and would not, be included in the narrative for each type of study.
In the conclusion, Creswell discusses the way that the approach to inquiry shapes the language that is used to write the study. Each facet of qualitative research depends upon the question being asked, and how the researcher plans to focus attention on answering that question. Finally, the interpretation of research is discussed, with emphasis on personal meaning and the way that the researcher speaks into his or her work, bringing our own beings into the study.
Reflection:
Chapter 11 offers what, for me, is the most important statement in the book, "Ultimately, our writing is an interpretation by us of events, people, and activities, and it is only our interpretation...Within this perspective, our writing can only be seen as a discourse, one with tentative conclusions, and one that will be contatntly changing and evolving."" (p. 231)
I believe the qualitative researcher has to give herself or himself the permission to understand that the conclusions drawn are theirs alone, that it is okay for the interpretation to be personal. Too often we try to do the same thing with qual. research that is done with quantitative researech - to prove something. When the researcher makes peace with the possibility of simply telling a story, of reflecting one possible way that reality can be seen, through the eyets of a specific researcher looking at a specific population or event, then a powerful story can be told. Stories that may not conclusively prove a theory, but can hekp to widen understanding and point to new ways of seeing. Viewed in this light, qual. research is pretty heady stuff!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Reading Log #4 - Part 3
Reading Log, Creswell, Chap. 10
Summary:
Creswell is concerned with answering two questions in this chapter: Is the account valid, and by whose standards. He states that researchers have three audiences with which to validate their material as well, the researcher her or himself, the participants of the study, and the reader.
Table 10.1 offers a series of perspectives with regard to validation. These perspectives generally seek to parallel for qualitative research the means used to validate quantitative methodology, though often changing terminology in order to accommodate a more "naturalistic" research agenda.
Creswell himself summarizes his approach to validation as assessing the accuracy of the findings according to the researcher and participant descriptions. He also views validation as a "strength of qualitative research" because of the unique qualities inherent in the methodology, such as length of study, closeness of researcher to participant and the validation strategies employed in such studies.
Validation strategies include: building trust with participants through length of study, triangulation, peer review, negative case analysis, member checking, rich and thick description, and external audits. Creswell recommends that qual. researchers employ at least two of these strategies in any study.
Field notes, transcription, and various coding methods are included in Creswell's description of reliability perspectives. The author then goes on to detail three approaches to qual. evaluation - procedural, postmodern, and interpretive - as well as specific evaluative criteria for each of the five approaches recommended in the book.
Reflection:
As always, Creswell supplies a roadmap for research in each of the five discussed approaches. New researchers may choose a methodology and then use the text as a series of guidelines or steps to follow in creating a study. I find this extremely helpful, both in recognizing the different requirements of each research design, and in understanding the process. The result should be a qualitative study that is organized in a way that defines the study parameters and assures that the accuracy or validity of findings is maintained.
Summary:
Creswell is concerned with answering two questions in this chapter: Is the account valid, and by whose standards. He states that researchers have three audiences with which to validate their material as well, the researcher her or himself, the participants of the study, and the reader.
Table 10.1 offers a series of perspectives with regard to validation. These perspectives generally seek to parallel for qualitative research the means used to validate quantitative methodology, though often changing terminology in order to accommodate a more "naturalistic" research agenda.
Creswell himself summarizes his approach to validation as assessing the accuracy of the findings according to the researcher and participant descriptions. He also views validation as a "strength of qualitative research" because of the unique qualities inherent in the methodology, such as length of study, closeness of researcher to participant and the validation strategies employed in such studies.
Validation strategies include: building trust with participants through length of study, triangulation, peer review, negative case analysis, member checking, rich and thick description, and external audits. Creswell recommends that qual. researchers employ at least two of these strategies in any study.
Field notes, transcription, and various coding methods are included in Creswell's description of reliability perspectives. The author then goes on to detail three approaches to qual. evaluation - procedural, postmodern, and interpretive - as well as specific evaluative criteria for each of the five approaches recommended in the book.
Reflection:
As always, Creswell supplies a roadmap for research in each of the five discussed approaches. New researchers may choose a methodology and then use the text as a series of guidelines or steps to follow in creating a study. I find this extremely helpful, both in recognizing the different requirements of each research design, and in understanding the process. The result should be a qualitative study that is organized in a way that defines the study parameters and assures that the accuracy or validity of findings is maintained.
Reading Log #4 - Part 2
Reading Log, Nathan, Chap. 7
Summary:
Nathan begins this chapter by sharing the questions engendered by, and reactions to, her initial decision to re-enter college as a freshman in order to study undergraduate life, and her subsequent exit from the field at the end of her study. She is surprised, for instance, that three individuals let her know they see parallels between her study and the John Howard Griffin book entitled "Black Like Me."
Nathan reflects that the worlds of student and professor are bounded unto themselves, and hopes that her experiences serve as a means to look at each world from a perspective that considers both cultures and viewpoints.
Looking at the classroom as a teacher who recognizes the viewpoint of the student, Nathan attempts to organize her material, prioritize her teaching strategies and expectations in a way that more clearly addresses the realities of student life. She gives reading assignments as an example of the disconnect between faculty expectations and student time management decisions, showing a depth of understanding of both viewpoints that assists the reader in visualizing a clearer path toward integration of the two in the classroom. It is in this type of analysis that her book is most useful to practitioners of higher education. It also serves as an illustration of the benefits that can be realized from such a study, even when questions of ethics occur.
The author discusses the ways in which factions of the university, faculty and administrators on the one side, students on the other, impact one another. She then gives examples of the repercussions of cultural misunderstanding - from teacher burnout to student frustration with scheduling limitations. Within this framework, the idea of "liminality," or the place where normal rules of society are lifted, that should be the focus with regard to possible change within the university because it is in this state that creativity is allowed to flourish. As she states it, "college is at once an affirmation and a preparation for the world and a creative response and innovative challenge to that same world."
Chapter 7 concludes with descriptions of two freshman Welcome Week events, one designed to outline the ways in which education can inform the career goals of students, the other intended to foster academic pursuit and character formation. Nathan suggests that these diametrically opposed activities illustrate the extreme need for competing messages to be made known to stake holders on both sides of the academic divide in order to shape the modern univerity.
Reflections:
As always, I find Nathan more than a little deluded in her self-perceptions. She is amazed that colleagues would liken her study to Griffin's "Black Like Me." She states that such reactions serve to underscore the huge gap between the worlds of academicians and undergraduates. What she fails to consider is that the reactions may have far less to do with a perceived gap and much more to do with the notion of a deception perpetrated upon an entire population. Her colleagues rightly connect her masquerade as a freshman with that of Griffin's physical alteration in order to be accepted as a black man. It would seem that Nathan's ethical disconnect has gone so deep that she is often unable to see her actions as deceptive in any way!
On the other hand, she skillfully illustrates the need for more transparency between stakeholder groups within academe. Until these groups begin to understand one another's goals and necessities, the desired outcomes of academicians will stand in opposition to the culture of the student body. Though it might be flawed in many ways, Nathan's study serves well to illustrate the real cultural divide that exists within the academy, and the multiplicity of experience that is represented there.
Reading Log, Nathan, Afterword
Summary:
Nathan uses the afterword of her book to pose ethical questions for herself regarding her study, and then reveals her conclusions regarding relationships, privacy in conversation, disclosure of her identity, etc. She dismisses most concerns by admiting to revealing her identity in order to preserve relationships or avoid being openly dishonest. Rules for conduct, established by Nathan herself, appear to shift as she spends more time with students and is forced into situations where she must either disregard information or allow students to know she is a researcher.
Reflection:
Students in our class are clearly divided as to what constitutes harmful behavior with regard to student subjects. Nathan was not the person she portrayed to fellow students. She hid her credentials and her agenda. She listened to private conversations, that while she says she did not record or report, still inform her opinions regarding student life, priorities and behaviors. Nathan may reason that no one was harmed by this behavior. And, unlike many of my fellows, I would tend to agree for the most part. Random conversations regarding cutting classes or dorm room etiquette will not likely result in scar tissue.
It is Nathan's continual misinterpretation of her place within the student body, her willingness to accept as fact statements that cannot be verified or member-checked, and her increasing cloud of witnesses in the form of subjects to whom she has had to disclose her motives and identity that pose the most serious problems for me with regard to her study. How can the results not have been skewed when so many students actually knew they were being studied? Does she really believe that, having told one or two people in each situation, they would not share this information with others? If so, she learned very little about the truth of dorm life. If not, she has chosen to remain safely hidden behind false beliefs in order to maintain her ethical facade. Either way, the study is less valid than interesting, the results less credible than entertaining. I still regard the book as important and the study informative enough to be required reading.
Summary:
Nathan begins this chapter by sharing the questions engendered by, and reactions to, her initial decision to re-enter college as a freshman in order to study undergraduate life, and her subsequent exit from the field at the end of her study. She is surprised, for instance, that three individuals let her know they see parallels between her study and the John Howard Griffin book entitled "Black Like Me."
Nathan reflects that the worlds of student and professor are bounded unto themselves, and hopes that her experiences serve as a means to look at each world from a perspective that considers both cultures and viewpoints.
Looking at the classroom as a teacher who recognizes the viewpoint of the student, Nathan attempts to organize her material, prioritize her teaching strategies and expectations in a way that more clearly addresses the realities of student life. She gives reading assignments as an example of the disconnect between faculty expectations and student time management decisions, showing a depth of understanding of both viewpoints that assists the reader in visualizing a clearer path toward integration of the two in the classroom. It is in this type of analysis that her book is most useful to practitioners of higher education. It also serves as an illustration of the benefits that can be realized from such a study, even when questions of ethics occur.
The author discusses the ways in which factions of the university, faculty and administrators on the one side, students on the other, impact one another. She then gives examples of the repercussions of cultural misunderstanding - from teacher burnout to student frustration with scheduling limitations. Within this framework, the idea of "liminality," or the place where normal rules of society are lifted, that should be the focus with regard to possible change within the university because it is in this state that creativity is allowed to flourish. As she states it, "college is at once an affirmation and a preparation for the world and a creative response and innovative challenge to that same world."
Chapter 7 concludes with descriptions of two freshman Welcome Week events, one designed to outline the ways in which education can inform the career goals of students, the other intended to foster academic pursuit and character formation. Nathan suggests that these diametrically opposed activities illustrate the extreme need for competing messages to be made known to stake holders on both sides of the academic divide in order to shape the modern univerity.
Reflections:
As always, I find Nathan more than a little deluded in her self-perceptions. She is amazed that colleagues would liken her study to Griffin's "Black Like Me." She states that such reactions serve to underscore the huge gap between the worlds of academicians and undergraduates. What she fails to consider is that the reactions may have far less to do with a perceived gap and much more to do with the notion of a deception perpetrated upon an entire population. Her colleagues rightly connect her masquerade as a freshman with that of Griffin's physical alteration in order to be accepted as a black man. It would seem that Nathan's ethical disconnect has gone so deep that she is often unable to see her actions as deceptive in any way!
On the other hand, she skillfully illustrates the need for more transparency between stakeholder groups within academe. Until these groups begin to understand one another's goals and necessities, the desired outcomes of academicians will stand in opposition to the culture of the student body. Though it might be flawed in many ways, Nathan's study serves well to illustrate the real cultural divide that exists within the academy, and the multiplicity of experience that is represented there.
Reading Log, Nathan, Afterword
Summary:
Nathan uses the afterword of her book to pose ethical questions for herself regarding her study, and then reveals her conclusions regarding relationships, privacy in conversation, disclosure of her identity, etc. She dismisses most concerns by admiting to revealing her identity in order to preserve relationships or avoid being openly dishonest. Rules for conduct, established by Nathan herself, appear to shift as she spends more time with students and is forced into situations where she must either disregard information or allow students to know she is a researcher.
Reflection:
Students in our class are clearly divided as to what constitutes harmful behavior with regard to student subjects. Nathan was not the person she portrayed to fellow students. She hid her credentials and her agenda. She listened to private conversations, that while she says she did not record or report, still inform her opinions regarding student life, priorities and behaviors. Nathan may reason that no one was harmed by this behavior. And, unlike many of my fellows, I would tend to agree for the most part. Random conversations regarding cutting classes or dorm room etiquette will not likely result in scar tissue.
It is Nathan's continual misinterpretation of her place within the student body, her willingness to accept as fact statements that cannot be verified or member-checked, and her increasing cloud of witnesses in the form of subjects to whom she has had to disclose her motives and identity that pose the most serious problems for me with regard to her study. How can the results not have been skewed when so many students actually knew they were being studied? Does she really believe that, having told one or two people in each situation, they would not share this information with others? If so, she learned very little about the truth of dorm life. If not, she has chosen to remain safely hidden behind false beliefs in order to maintain her ethical facade. Either way, the study is less valid than interesting, the results less credible than entertaining. I still regard the book as important and the study informative enough to be required reading.
Research Journal - Methodological Memo
Just completed another student interview and it makes me wonder how one ever finds a stopping point? Each time I speak with a student, and each new student with whom I speak, I find myself bumping up against new intellectual territory that I want to explore. If I ask about overcoming difficulties, I hear about challenge. Then I think about Self-determination, and find myself wondering about the student's strengths constellation. Thinking about strengths makes me wonder what mindset certain students might be inclined to possess! It is a never-ending cycle of exploring new ideas that feed into one another like tributaries of a vast and winding river.
I imagine that experienced researchers are able to build a framework that serves as a boundary. It can only be in this way that they recognize when a study is nearing completion, or has fulfilled its usefullness with regard to a specific topic. Alas! I am clearly nowhere near the point of articulating this type of framework for myself!
I imagine that experienced researchers are able to build a framework that serves as a boundary. It can only be in this way that they recognize when a study is nearing completion, or has fulfilled its usefullness with regard to a specific topic. Alas! I am clearly nowhere near the point of articulating this type of framework for myself!
Reading Log #4 - Part 1
Reading Log, Nathan, Chap. 6
Summary:
Nathan begins the chapter with a discussion of student roles, and campus cultures, as defined in a classic text by Horowitz. Nathan reasons that, while the culture in college has retained its historical archetypes, such as the "rebel" and the "outsider," there is a "new outsider" that, contrary to past students who felt free to criticise and oppose the professoriate, operate out of a desire for grades and must therefore manage their relationships with faculty in a different way.
The title of this chapter provides a roadmap to the remainder of it's content: The Art of College Management. Territory covered includes a comparison of the time management approach used by college administrators with the actual approach of managing the college experience used by students. This approach relies on several aspects, each of which Nathan describes in detail.
First is the students' need to manage their time by creating the perfect schedule - balancing blocks of time, course load, and classes known to be easy in order to allow time for harder courses to be accommodated. This need results in the popularity of online courses and the rush to be first to register for classes in any given semester.
The next component necessary for managing college (as mentioned above) is use of the student/professor relationship. Nathan characterizes this as "playing" ones professor, often seen by students as parallel to a "boss-worker relationship." Nathan sees grades as the top driving factor in students' academic life and the currency with which professors and students operate. Students use their relationship with the professor to negotiate academic exceptions, garner favor, and influence recommendations to grad schools.
The third part of a well managed college life is concerned with limiting workload. This strategy is broken down by Nathan into sections labeled Attendance, Preparation, and Cheating. These are presented in order of their frequency and acceptability within the student population Nathan studied - from least frequent to most utilized. In each category, the reader is presented with the stark picture of a student body utterly uninterested in academic pursuit of knowledge and wholly invested in aqcuiring grades as a means toward the ultimate goal of obtaining a degree, rather than an education. Particularly disturbing is the portrayal of students as embracing cheating as a major means of controlling their workload. Though Nathan attempts to soften the picture somewhat in terms of her experience and the dominant college culture, she supports her overall conclusions with data from national studies, making the picture that much more bleak.
Nathan concludes chapter 6 with a look at senior classmen and women, used as examples of students who are successful at managing their college experiences. This section offers some encouragement to those invested in higher education. Students who are successful have become less prone to use management strategies such as skipping class and cheating, have been able to prepare for careers they will enjoy, and have begun to be more invested in their academic, rather than social, pursuits.
Reflection:
At this point in the book, Nathan's conclusions and assumptions seem quite negative and cynical. While she acknowledges that some students must certainly be truly invested in learning and gaining more than simple grades, she also characterizes such students as outsiders who are a fringe element at best in the larger composition of the student body. Given her stance, and the student commentary she provides, the reader is asked to conclude that the purpose of higher education is completely at odds with the outcomes desired by the student body.
Nathan does allow for some hope in the conclusion of the chapter, by offering the notion that seniors have begun to embrace more than parties and social activities as important in college life. However, she does not discuss or consider retention rates in this equation. Her assertion that students will have begun to embrace acadmics by their last year in college does not factor in the reality that many of their peers will have dropped out before making it to senior year.
Nathan admits that, as a student, she used many of the same strategies - from cutting class to omitting required readings - to manage her college life. Given her acknowledgment of the perceived need to utilize these strategies, it would seem that she should also feel the need as a professor and professional in higher education to redirect her efforts with regard to teaching and class organization. It would be most interesting to take a class from her and assess whether she is able to create an environment where actual learning occurs rather than simple management of information.
Summary:
Nathan begins the chapter with a discussion of student roles, and campus cultures, as defined in a classic text by Horowitz. Nathan reasons that, while the culture in college has retained its historical archetypes, such as the "rebel" and the "outsider," there is a "new outsider" that, contrary to past students who felt free to criticise and oppose the professoriate, operate out of a desire for grades and must therefore manage their relationships with faculty in a different way.
The title of this chapter provides a roadmap to the remainder of it's content: The Art of College Management. Territory covered includes a comparison of the time management approach used by college administrators with the actual approach of managing the college experience used by students. This approach relies on several aspects, each of which Nathan describes in detail.
First is the students' need to manage their time by creating the perfect schedule - balancing blocks of time, course load, and classes known to be easy in order to allow time for harder courses to be accommodated. This need results in the popularity of online courses and the rush to be first to register for classes in any given semester.
The next component necessary for managing college (as mentioned above) is use of the student/professor relationship. Nathan characterizes this as "playing" ones professor, often seen by students as parallel to a "boss-worker relationship." Nathan sees grades as the top driving factor in students' academic life and the currency with which professors and students operate. Students use their relationship with the professor to negotiate academic exceptions, garner favor, and influence recommendations to grad schools.
The third part of a well managed college life is concerned with limiting workload. This strategy is broken down by Nathan into sections labeled Attendance, Preparation, and Cheating. These are presented in order of their frequency and acceptability within the student population Nathan studied - from least frequent to most utilized. In each category, the reader is presented with the stark picture of a student body utterly uninterested in academic pursuit of knowledge and wholly invested in aqcuiring grades as a means toward the ultimate goal of obtaining a degree, rather than an education. Particularly disturbing is the portrayal of students as embracing cheating as a major means of controlling their workload. Though Nathan attempts to soften the picture somewhat in terms of her experience and the dominant college culture, she supports her overall conclusions with data from national studies, making the picture that much more bleak.
Nathan concludes chapter 6 with a look at senior classmen and women, used as examples of students who are successful at managing their college experiences. This section offers some encouragement to those invested in higher education. Students who are successful have become less prone to use management strategies such as skipping class and cheating, have been able to prepare for careers they will enjoy, and have begun to be more invested in their academic, rather than social, pursuits.
Reflection:
At this point in the book, Nathan's conclusions and assumptions seem quite negative and cynical. While she acknowledges that some students must certainly be truly invested in learning and gaining more than simple grades, she also characterizes such students as outsiders who are a fringe element at best in the larger composition of the student body. Given her stance, and the student commentary she provides, the reader is asked to conclude that the purpose of higher education is completely at odds with the outcomes desired by the student body.
Nathan does allow for some hope in the conclusion of the chapter, by offering the notion that seniors have begun to embrace more than parties and social activities as important in college life. However, she does not discuss or consider retention rates in this equation. Her assertion that students will have begun to embrace acadmics by their last year in college does not factor in the reality that many of their peers will have dropped out before making it to senior year.
Nathan admits that, as a student, she used many of the same strategies - from cutting class to omitting required readings - to manage her college life. Given her acknowledgment of the perceived need to utilize these strategies, it would seem that she should also feel the need as a professor and professional in higher education to redirect her efforts with regard to teaching and class organization. It would be most interesting to take a class from her and assess whether she is able to create an environment where actual learning occurs rather than simple management of information.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Research Journal - Theorectical Memo
When I began the big project for this class, I intended to do a grounded theory regarding the reasons that high achieving students choose to do an Honors Scholars project at PLNU. It quickly became clear, however, that my interest in the subject required a phenomenological approach - I want to see what this experience means to our students both while they do the project and after. So I changed my methodology.
When I began I had some ideas of what I might hear from the students themselves. Most of all, I expected to hear that they elected to do the project in order to gain acceptance into grad school or to fatten their resumes for a good job. That has not been the case at all! What I hear most often is that the students are doing this because of the challenge aspect of the project. They want to see how far they can stretch and what they can accomplish.
The interviews are also showing me that I need to include materials on Self-Determination Theory and Hope Theory in my literature review. I see this because I am familiar with the underlying ideas of both theories. But it makes me wonder just what I might be missing because I have less than perfect knowledge of all the existing theories regarding motivation and achievement. This is complicated stuff!
When I began I had some ideas of what I might hear from the students themselves. Most of all, I expected to hear that they elected to do the project in order to gain acceptance into grad school or to fatten their resumes for a good job. That has not been the case at all! What I hear most often is that the students are doing this because of the challenge aspect of the project. They want to see how far they can stretch and what they can accomplish.
The interviews are also showing me that I need to include materials on Self-Determination Theory and Hope Theory in my literature review. I see this because I am familiar with the underlying ideas of both theories. But it makes me wonder just what I might be missing because I have less than perfect knowledge of all the existing theories regarding motivation and achievement. This is complicated stuff!
Research Journal - Methodological Memo
The writing of qualitative research is a true match for my natural literary inclinations. When I have learned to do it well, to really bring out the themes that reside within the words of those I interview, it will be a joy to write in this way!
But, the dark side of Qual. research is becoming really appparent to me as I attempt to bring all the necessary elements together for my projects, both in this class and in Teaching and Learning. So much depends upon the willingness of others to share their lives and their time with me. Often, I feel like I am begging for the stuff with which I can do the work - PLEASE! Come talk with me, I'll make you cookies! How about a Jamba Juice card?
I find it so rewarding to actually spend time with the subjects of my study (I actually hate using that phrase in conjunction with this work, but also get tired of continually saying "the people I interviewed"). Their stories are interesting, their passion for their work inspiring to me. But getting to the point where we sit down and talk is just excruciating for me! I am busy, they are busy. Going back for additional interviews seems like asking for the moon.
The Activator in me hates that I am dependent upon others to get going with my research. The Empathy in me totally understands the demands on everyone's time at this point in the semester, making me loath to ask for more interviews. The reward that makes this all worthwhile though, is that the Communication theme in me is happy beyond measure to interact with new people and to have the chance to grapple with their unique stories. My hope is that, in the end, we will all have learned something valuable about who we are and how we move through the world.
But, the dark side of Qual. research is becoming really appparent to me as I attempt to bring all the necessary elements together for my projects, both in this class and in Teaching and Learning. So much depends upon the willingness of others to share their lives and their time with me. Often, I feel like I am begging for the stuff with which I can do the work - PLEASE! Come talk with me, I'll make you cookies! How about a Jamba Juice card?
I find it so rewarding to actually spend time with the subjects of my study (I actually hate using that phrase in conjunction with this work, but also get tired of continually saying "the people I interviewed"). Their stories are interesting, their passion for their work inspiring to me. But getting to the point where we sit down and talk is just excruciating for me! I am busy, they are busy. Going back for additional interviews seems like asking for the moon.
The Activator in me hates that I am dependent upon others to get going with my research. The Empathy in me totally understands the demands on everyone's time at this point in the semester, making me loath to ask for more interviews. The reward that makes this all worthwhile though, is that the Communication theme in me is happy beyond measure to interact with new people and to have the chance to grapple with their unique stories. My hope is that, in the end, we will all have learned something valuable about who we are and how we move through the world.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Research Journal - Faith Reflection
Creswell's questions regarding the impact upon the reader, the effect of words, really hit home with me. In chapter 9 of our book, he states that "Language may 'kill' whatever it touches..." Ouch! As a writer, I want to create, to bring to life for my reader. If it is possible that my act will actually do the opposite, kill rather than bring to life, what am I doing here?? I am almost paralytic with the thought that my research will not do justice to its subjects.
This was evident in the difficulty I had writing up my final research project for our diversity class last semester. I chose to study LGBT students at PLNU. I could not write the final paper until the deadline was so close that I could feel it like a hammer above my head. What if I mis-characterized the feelings of the students I interviewed? What if they felt outed by my paper? What if seeing what I had written made them feel badly about themselves, or the school, or life in general? Arrrgghhh!! It was so very hard for me to write that paper because I felt it had to be worthy of the gift of Story that these people had given me. Mishandling that gift would be so hard for me to forgive in myself.
I think that this type of research is especially hard for a Christian, yet truly appropriate. We question our motives to see whether they are Godly. We want to do justice in our work, and to do work that is worthy of our Lord. The same elements that make us ethical researchers may make the process of writing and making meaning from another's story excruciatingly difficult. As I see it, we are both blessed and cursed by the additional concerns that we as Christians bring to qualitative research.
This was evident in the difficulty I had writing up my final research project for our diversity class last semester. I chose to study LGBT students at PLNU. I could not write the final paper until the deadline was so close that I could feel it like a hammer above my head. What if I mis-characterized the feelings of the students I interviewed? What if they felt outed by my paper? What if seeing what I had written made them feel badly about themselves, or the school, or life in general? Arrrgghhh!! It was so very hard for me to write that paper because I felt it had to be worthy of the gift of Story that these people had given me. Mishandling that gift would be so hard for me to forgive in myself.
I think that this type of research is especially hard for a Christian, yet truly appropriate. We question our motives to see whether they are Godly. We want to do justice in our work, and to do work that is worthy of our Lord. The same elements that make us ethical researchers may make the process of writing and making meaning from another's story excruciatingly difficult. As I see it, we are both blessed and cursed by the additional concerns that we as Christians bring to qualitative research.
Research Journal - Theorectical/Methodological Memo
For many reasons, I believe the Nathan book was a great choice for us to read as a class. The story is excellent, the writing accessible, it is an interesting study for anyone who is involved in higher education in this country. But it is also a good example of how to put together the findings of a qualitative study.
Nathan incorporates the literature especially well in chapters 4 and 5 of MFY, a really good example of someone who has thought deeply about her readings and understands the relationships between her study and those that have come before. Her inclusion of the literature in the narrative of her study is graceful and allows the reader to more fully comprehend the importance of the topic and Nathan's conclusions.
That said, I wonder how much of this ability lies in Nathan's many year involvement in the field. I begin to fear that I will overlook some major study, simply because I am both new to qualitative research, and new to the particular arena of higher education I have chosen to investigate. This helps me to think about the importance of choosing my topic wisely when it comes to my dissertation as well.
Some studies I have found that begin to lay the groundwork for my own investigation into honors programs follow, along with notes on their content.
Title: A Qualitative Study of Honor Students' Learning Orientations: The Rare Liberal Scholar
Personal Author: Storrs, Debbie; Clott, Lynsie
Journal Name: College Student Journal
Source: College Student Journal v. 42 no. 1 (March 2008) p. 57-69
Abstract:
Based on interview data, we examine honors students' learning orientation in light of this. Using the analytical concept of an "ideal type" we identify "liberal scholars," "players," "critical players," and "getting by" as the four student learning orientations expressed by honors students. Our analysis reveals that some honors students experience conflict between the business and liberal education models that co-exist at institutions of higher education and relatively few students embraced a liberal arts orientation despite honors programs' attempts to facilitate one. We conclude by critically discussing the larger cultural context that encourages honors students to view learning simply as a means to an end.
Title: Effects of Programmatic Selectivity on the Academic Achievement, Academic Self-Concepts, and Aspirations of Gifted College Students
Personal Author: Rinn, Anne N.
Journal Name: Gifted Child Quarterly
Source: Gifted Child Quarterly v. 51 no. 3 (Summer 2007) p. 232-45
Publication Year: 2007
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the academic achievement, academic self-concepts, and aspirations of gifted college students who are enrolled in an honors program and of gifted college students who are not enrolled in an honors program. Participants include 294 gifted college students, 248 of whom were enrolled in an honors program and 46 who were not enrolled in an honors program. A series of analyses of covariance is used to compare the mean grade point averages, academic self-concepts, and educational aspirations of the two groups. Academic self-concept is measured using the Academic subscale of the Self Description Questionnaire III. Results indicate the gifted/honors students have higher academic achievement and higher academic self-concepts than the gifted/ nonhonors students, even when controlling for SAT score. No significant differences are found with regard to aspirations.
Title: Prioritizing Service to the Academically Talented: The Honors College
Personal Author: Floyd, Deborah L.; Holloway, Alexandria
Journal Name: New Directions for Community Colleges
Source: New Directions for Community Colleges no. 136 (Winter 2006) p. 43-52
Publication Year: 2006
Abstract: 5 This chapter describes community college honors programs and courses, emphasizing in particular the Honors College at Miami Bade College in Florida. The chapter discusses pros and cons of honors programs and courses in the context of their appropriateness to the community college mission of open access and egalitarianism.
Nathan incorporates the literature especially well in chapters 4 and 5 of MFY, a really good example of someone who has thought deeply about her readings and understands the relationships between her study and those that have come before. Her inclusion of the literature in the narrative of her study is graceful and allows the reader to more fully comprehend the importance of the topic and Nathan's conclusions.
That said, I wonder how much of this ability lies in Nathan's many year involvement in the field. I begin to fear that I will overlook some major study, simply because I am both new to qualitative research, and new to the particular arena of higher education I have chosen to investigate. This helps me to think about the importance of choosing my topic wisely when it comes to my dissertation as well.
Some studies I have found that begin to lay the groundwork for my own investigation into honors programs follow, along with notes on their content.
Title: A Qualitative Study of Honor Students' Learning Orientations: The Rare Liberal Scholar
Personal Author: Storrs, Debbie; Clott, Lynsie
Journal Name: College Student Journal
Source: College Student Journal v. 42 no. 1 (March 2008) p. 57-69
Abstract:
Based on interview data, we examine honors students' learning orientation in light of this. Using the analytical concept of an "ideal type" we identify "liberal scholars," "players," "critical players," and "getting by" as the four student learning orientations expressed by honors students. Our analysis reveals that some honors students experience conflict between the business and liberal education models that co-exist at institutions of higher education and relatively few students embraced a liberal arts orientation despite honors programs' attempts to facilitate one. We conclude by critically discussing the larger cultural context that encourages honors students to view learning simply as a means to an end.
Title: Effects of Programmatic Selectivity on the Academic Achievement, Academic Self-Concepts, and Aspirations of Gifted College Students
Personal Author: Rinn, Anne N.
Journal Name: Gifted Child Quarterly
Source: Gifted Child Quarterly v. 51 no. 3 (Summer 2007) p. 232-45
Publication Year: 2007
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the academic achievement, academic self-concepts, and aspirations of gifted college students who are enrolled in an honors program and of gifted college students who are not enrolled in an honors program. Participants include 294 gifted college students, 248 of whom were enrolled in an honors program and 46 who were not enrolled in an honors program. A series of analyses of covariance is used to compare the mean grade point averages, academic self-concepts, and educational aspirations of the two groups. Academic self-concept is measured using the Academic subscale of the Self Description Questionnaire III. Results indicate the gifted/honors students have higher academic achievement and higher academic self-concepts than the gifted/ nonhonors students, even when controlling for SAT score. No significant differences are found with regard to aspirations.
Title: Prioritizing Service to the Academically Talented: The Honors College
Personal Author: Floyd, Deborah L.; Holloway, Alexandria
Journal Name: New Directions for Community Colleges
Source: New Directions for Community Colleges no. 136 (Winter 2006) p. 43-52
Publication Year: 2006
Abstract: 5 This chapter describes community college honors programs and courses, emphasizing in particular the Honors College at Miami Bade College in Florida. The chapter discusses pros and cons of honors programs and courses in the context of their appropriateness to the community college mission of open access and egalitarianism.
Reading Log #3 - Part 3
Reading Log, Creswell, Chap. 9
Summary:
The chapter begins with four presentations of what Creswell calls rhetorical issues. The first: Reflexivity and representation, in which the researcher acknowledges her own stance within the writing, the interaction between the subject and the researcher, and how this interaction informs the study. This issue is also concerned with the impact on the subjects, their ability to inform, edit, and approve of the writing concerning themselves, as well as the impact upon the reader.
The reader, or audience, is the second of the rhetorical issues. Creswell maintains that the final writeup of our research must consider the audience and will be structured differently depending upon whom we think will be reading our work.
Encoding, or the way in which we form our narrative, is the third issue. Creswell gives the example of the Richardson (1990) study, which was written in three distinct ways in order to reach three separate audiences. He then gives examples of various ways of encoding for academic audiences.
Quotes, the fourth rhetorical issue, are broken down into three types by Creswell: short eye-catching quotes, embedded quotes in which brief statements are placed within the researcher's narrative, and longer quotations. With this last type, Creswell cautions that they are difficult to use because they may contain many ideas and require setup and explanation for the reader.
The author finishes the chapter with example rhetorical structures for each of the five qualitative approaches used in the book.
Reflection:
Creswell has a number of things to say in this chapter that wildly appeal to the writer in me. His suggestions to play with form, experiment with style, and even look to methods of communicating that step outside the textual are very freeing and exciting. This is the permission to write as I love to write that I have been seeking since starting my doctoral program! But...I wonder how far one can really go and still find acceptance from professors, scholars, and publishers? My past attempts at playing with the structure of my papers has always been viewed with a rather critical eye - I did not put this information in at the accepted point, that bit of literature should have been included later or earlier, etc. The risk one runs in playing with form is that those who grade or assess are often married to a particular format and frown on those who risk stepping outside the box.
Alas,the methodology that I have chosen, phenomenology, will likely not provide me with an opportunity to test this theory. Creswell states that phenomenological studies require a highly structured approach to the composition of the writing, one with which I will be less able to test the boundaries of acceptable practice.
Summary:
The chapter begins with four presentations of what Creswell calls rhetorical issues. The first: Reflexivity and representation, in which the researcher acknowledges her own stance within the writing, the interaction between the subject and the researcher, and how this interaction informs the study. This issue is also concerned with the impact on the subjects, their ability to inform, edit, and approve of the writing concerning themselves, as well as the impact upon the reader.
The reader, or audience, is the second of the rhetorical issues. Creswell maintains that the final writeup of our research must consider the audience and will be structured differently depending upon whom we think will be reading our work.
Encoding, or the way in which we form our narrative, is the third issue. Creswell gives the example of the Richardson (1990) study, which was written in three distinct ways in order to reach three separate audiences. He then gives examples of various ways of encoding for academic audiences.
Quotes, the fourth rhetorical issue, are broken down into three types by Creswell: short eye-catching quotes, embedded quotes in which brief statements are placed within the researcher's narrative, and longer quotations. With this last type, Creswell cautions that they are difficult to use because they may contain many ideas and require setup and explanation for the reader.
The author finishes the chapter with example rhetorical structures for each of the five qualitative approaches used in the book.
Reflection:
Creswell has a number of things to say in this chapter that wildly appeal to the writer in me. His suggestions to play with form, experiment with style, and even look to methods of communicating that step outside the textual are very freeing and exciting. This is the permission to write as I love to write that I have been seeking since starting my doctoral program! But...I wonder how far one can really go and still find acceptance from professors, scholars, and publishers? My past attempts at playing with the structure of my papers has always been viewed with a rather critical eye - I did not put this information in at the accepted point, that bit of literature should have been included later or earlier, etc. The risk one runs in playing with form is that those who grade or assess are often married to a particular format and frown on those who risk stepping outside the box.
Alas,the methodology that I have chosen, phenomenology, will likely not provide me with an opportunity to test this theory. Creswell states that phenomenological studies require a highly structured approach to the composition of the writing, one with which I will be less able to test the boundaries of acceptable practice.
Reading Log #3 - Part 2
Reading Log, Nathan, Chap. 5
Summary:
The chapter begins with a description of an activity that Nathan regularly employs in her Anthropology classroom. She tells the students that a witch is responsible for the way the class is going, etc, then has the students each identify three candidates from among their classroom that might be the witch. She then discusses the outcome - which is nearly always the same. The students routinely choose the most engaged, prepared, and vocal from among their classmates. Nathan then uses this to focus the students' attention on matters of difference and expectation culturally.
Sections on patterns of speech in the classroom and the dorm highlight the disconnect between academic expectation and reality. In class, professors desire questions and discussion that engage the material, while students ask questions and participate in discussion in ways that secure necessary information or do not reveal to others a level of engagement that would mark them as different from the norm. Conversations before and after classes also showed that students were unwilling or uninterested in participating in academically focused dialog.
Nathan's observations of conversations within the dorms confirmed that, despite their claims to the contrary, students spent less than 5% of their time discussing material presented in class or incorporating classroom discussions into their outside interactions with one another.In essence, the desire of academe - to form persons who engage with intellectual matter on a level that pervades (and hopefully changes) their lives does occur within the students' time at university. Instead, the "real" culture of the undergrad world remains highly personal and relationship driven. In Nathan's words, "Academic and intellectual pursuits thus had a curiously distant relation to college life."
A mini-study of the reasons that students remain in college revealed that students see life in college as a major reason to be there. This confirmed the students' assertions that most of their learning at AnyU took place outside the classroom. Nathan's conclusion is that college culture, rather than academics, is often the most compelling part of the university experience. This finding was confirmed when Nathan attended a course recommended as the "perfect class." The sexuality class modeled what students required in their daily lives: equality, informality, fun, irreverence, and a separation from the more formal aspects of learning.
Reflection:
Throughout my reading of MFY I have sensed an "otherness" about Nathan that I suspect she does not recognize in herself but that is quite apparent to her fellow students at AnyU. Having read this chapter I can now put a name to that difference. Nathan is the witch! She is in many ways the epitome of that student her Anthropology classes have determined to be outside the norm because they are more engaged and prepared, less invisible. Though she talks about taking pains not to stand out in class, she does so in other arenas -through her physical attributes, and in the dorms through attendance at meetings and activities - what I call her "joinerism." These behaviors have made her the witch in the situation at AnyU.
It is so interesting to me that Nathan seems to have failed to see this in most cases and finds other reasons for her fellow students' behaviors. I do realize that she has taken great care to observe, interview, and understand the AnyU situation from many angles. Her book is fascinating on several levels. I just get a kick out of seeing her blind spots. :) I also wonder how often I am guilty of the same kind of self-ignorance!
I think this chapter, more than any so far, points out to me the basic disconnect between what the university desires for the student and the desires of the student him or her self. Professors and administrators, especially in a Christian setting, see their job as student formation. We are to impart a sense of intellectual seeking and an openness to learning. But students see the job of the university very differently. The class on sexuality demonstrates a way in which we can mesh the needs of the student with the ideals of the university. Not through showing prurient movies, but through ways of interacting with students that meet them at their point of interest.
Summary:
The chapter begins with a description of an activity that Nathan regularly employs in her Anthropology classroom. She tells the students that a witch is responsible for the way the class is going, etc, then has the students each identify three candidates from among their classroom that might be the witch. She then discusses the outcome - which is nearly always the same. The students routinely choose the most engaged, prepared, and vocal from among their classmates. Nathan then uses this to focus the students' attention on matters of difference and expectation culturally.
Sections on patterns of speech in the classroom and the dorm highlight the disconnect between academic expectation and reality. In class, professors desire questions and discussion that engage the material, while students ask questions and participate in discussion in ways that secure necessary information or do not reveal to others a level of engagement that would mark them as different from the norm. Conversations before and after classes also showed that students were unwilling or uninterested in participating in academically focused dialog.
Nathan's observations of conversations within the dorms confirmed that, despite their claims to the contrary, students spent less than 5% of their time discussing material presented in class or incorporating classroom discussions into their outside interactions with one another.In essence, the desire of academe - to form persons who engage with intellectual matter on a level that pervades (and hopefully changes) their lives does occur within the students' time at university. Instead, the "real" culture of the undergrad world remains highly personal and relationship driven. In Nathan's words, "Academic and intellectual pursuits thus had a curiously distant relation to college life."
A mini-study of the reasons that students remain in college revealed that students see life in college as a major reason to be there. This confirmed the students' assertions that most of their learning at AnyU took place outside the classroom. Nathan's conclusion is that college culture, rather than academics, is often the most compelling part of the university experience. This finding was confirmed when Nathan attended a course recommended as the "perfect class." The sexuality class modeled what students required in their daily lives: equality, informality, fun, irreverence, and a separation from the more formal aspects of learning.
Reflection:
Throughout my reading of MFY I have sensed an "otherness" about Nathan that I suspect she does not recognize in herself but that is quite apparent to her fellow students at AnyU. Having read this chapter I can now put a name to that difference. Nathan is the witch! She is in many ways the epitome of that student her Anthropology classes have determined to be outside the norm because they are more engaged and prepared, less invisible. Though she talks about taking pains not to stand out in class, she does so in other arenas -through her physical attributes, and in the dorms through attendance at meetings and activities - what I call her "joinerism." These behaviors have made her the witch in the situation at AnyU.
It is so interesting to me that Nathan seems to have failed to see this in most cases and finds other reasons for her fellow students' behaviors. I do realize that she has taken great care to observe, interview, and understand the AnyU situation from many angles. Her book is fascinating on several levels. I just get a kick out of seeing her blind spots. :) I also wonder how often I am guilty of the same kind of self-ignorance!
I think this chapter, more than any so far, points out to me the basic disconnect between what the university desires for the student and the desires of the student him or her self. Professors and administrators, especially in a Christian setting, see their job as student formation. We are to impart a sense of intellectual seeking and an openness to learning. But students see the job of the university very differently. The class on sexuality demonstrates a way in which we can mesh the needs of the student with the ideals of the university. Not through showing prurient movies, but through ways of interacting with students that meet them at their point of interest.
Reading Log #3 - Part 1
Reading Log, Nathan, Chap. 4
Summary:
Upon realizing that international students would give her a needed "outsider" perspective on US higher education, Nathan decided to add formal interviews of these students to her study. Themes that emerged such as the abundance of choice in the US system, and the independent nature of American students, tend to reinforce Nathan's previous observations.
Others highlighted the basic differences in American and foreign classrooms, such as lack of rigor in the US, informal dress and classroom conduct, US students' not completing assignments, and the US tendency to parse material into small, easy to digest segments. The US reliance on group work and presentations also struck international students as being quite different from their experience, and related again to the US students being more independent and less concerned with the opinions and needs of others.
Differences in relationships were a concern for nearly every one of the students Nathan interviewed. These students felt that Americans tended to have surface friendships (some questioning whether the relationships of Americans could actually be called true friendships), did not include their family in their lives in ways that international students commonly do, and spent much more time alone - echoing the recurrent theme of US students' independence.
Lastly, Nathan learned that international students see Americans as "woefully ignorant of the world scene." US students either did not ask questions regarding the foreign students' experiences or asked questions that betrayed a severe lack of knowledge of geography, politics, and culture outside the US.
Reflection:
It is interesting to see that Nathan realized her need to see the US university system from the perspective of "outsiders" while she herself is basically an outsider in the student realm. She talks about finding relationships among other students who do not fit in, such as students of color and internationals. Yet, she still seems to feel she has a good sense of what it is to be a normal college student in many ways and draws conclusions based on that assumption. Conclusions such as US students not finding their close friendships in the dorms or through classes. I see her being excluded from those friendships because she is someone that the students find puzzling.
While Nathan speaks about the US students' cultural ignorance with regard to the international students, it is perhaps necessary for her to examine US culture in order to understand some of the ways in which these students approach people from other countries. Our customs tend to tell us to mind our own business, not to be intrusive, and to be tolerant of difference without really asking about the differences themselves. She hears and reports the complaints of the international students without really looking at why US students might be acting in such a manner.
Nathan's findings from her interviews point out some real holes in our educational system where foreign students are concerned. Activities designed to create community are offered to these students as a separate group - creating not integration or cross-cultural learning between the international students and US students, but a group of internationals that rely on one another as a subgroup. Her interviews also point out the need for US students to have study-abroad opportunities and support the on-going efforts of schools that place a high importance on such programs.
Summary:
Upon realizing that international students would give her a needed "outsider" perspective on US higher education, Nathan decided to add formal interviews of these students to her study. Themes that emerged such as the abundance of choice in the US system, and the independent nature of American students, tend to reinforce Nathan's previous observations.
Others highlighted the basic differences in American and foreign classrooms, such as lack of rigor in the US, informal dress and classroom conduct, US students' not completing assignments, and the US tendency to parse material into small, easy to digest segments. The US reliance on group work and presentations also struck international students as being quite different from their experience, and related again to the US students being more independent and less concerned with the opinions and needs of others.
Differences in relationships were a concern for nearly every one of the students Nathan interviewed. These students felt that Americans tended to have surface friendships (some questioning whether the relationships of Americans could actually be called true friendships), did not include their family in their lives in ways that international students commonly do, and spent much more time alone - echoing the recurrent theme of US students' independence.
Lastly, Nathan learned that international students see Americans as "woefully ignorant of the world scene." US students either did not ask questions regarding the foreign students' experiences or asked questions that betrayed a severe lack of knowledge of geography, politics, and culture outside the US.
Reflection:
It is interesting to see that Nathan realized her need to see the US university system from the perspective of "outsiders" while she herself is basically an outsider in the student realm. She talks about finding relationships among other students who do not fit in, such as students of color and internationals. Yet, she still seems to feel she has a good sense of what it is to be a normal college student in many ways and draws conclusions based on that assumption. Conclusions such as US students not finding their close friendships in the dorms or through classes. I see her being excluded from those friendships because she is someone that the students find puzzling.
While Nathan speaks about the US students' cultural ignorance with regard to the international students, it is perhaps necessary for her to examine US culture in order to understand some of the ways in which these students approach people from other countries. Our customs tend to tell us to mind our own business, not to be intrusive, and to be tolerant of difference without really asking about the differences themselves. She hears and reports the complaints of the international students without really looking at why US students might be acting in such a manner.
Nathan's findings from her interviews point out some real holes in our educational system where foreign students are concerned. Activities designed to create community are offered to these students as a separate group - creating not integration or cross-cultural learning between the international students and US students, but a group of internationals that rely on one another as a subgroup. Her interviews also point out the need for US students to have study-abroad opportunities and support the on-going efforts of schools that place a high importance on such programs.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Research Journal - Methodological Memo
Wow. Whoa. Really?
In transcribing I have learned that my vocal cues indicating that I am actively listening, while effective in real time, appear idiotic on paper! During my interview for the individual interview assignment I listened to a well-spoken, and quite loquacious, person tell the story of her life. There was little need to ask her questions, yet I wanted to affirm that I was listening. Wow, whoa and really seem to be my fall back words in such a situation.
I also came prepared with a protocol and only used the first question. We made it from A to Z without my having to return to ask for more information. So, it basically looks on paper as though I have left the room! :)
So...how does one communicate active listening without using nonsense words? Is it acceptable to just listen - when the story teller is offering a story that, without prompts, is answering your questions? And how much interjection is enough vs. too much?
This is harder than it appears, and twice as hard as it sounds!
In transcribing I have learned that my vocal cues indicating that I am actively listening, while effective in real time, appear idiotic on paper! During my interview for the individual interview assignment I listened to a well-spoken, and quite loquacious, person tell the story of her life. There was little need to ask her questions, yet I wanted to affirm that I was listening. Wow, whoa and really seem to be my fall back words in such a situation.
I also came prepared with a protocol and only used the first question. We made it from A to Z without my having to return to ask for more information. So, it basically looks on paper as though I have left the room! :)
So...how does one communicate active listening without using nonsense words? Is it acceptable to just listen - when the story teller is offering a story that, without prompts, is answering your questions? And how much interjection is enough vs. too much?
This is harder than it appears, and twice as hard as it sounds!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Research Journal - Faith Reflection
Having completed my first interview for this course, I find myself reflecting on the nature of truth as I see it and as it may appear to someone else. Christians tend to believe in TRUTH that is immutable and eternal. For me, even as a Christian, truth is something personal, often situational, and subject to revision when confronted with facts that alter my perceptions. My capital letter Truths are few, deeply held, and articulated in the simplest terms - I believe in God because I see His work, I am in relationship with Christ because I KNOW Him - in ways that are found at the bleeding edge of the precipice of faith, you must leap in order to know and understand, and having leapt find Truth waiting there in a way that others rarely comprehend.
My understanding of truth and reality are often the reverse of the norm. Truth is the way that I see and make sense of the world. Outside and above that truth stands reality - a place where the verifiable, observable without interpretation occurrence exists. Twenty people may observe a Reality and each will bring his or her own truth to it. That they differ does not diminish the fact of their truth, nor does the difference alter the Reality.
With this lens, I must approach every answer in an interview with absolute belief in the truth of the statements presented to me. This is tough for a person who has seen darkness and has a layer of cynicism regarding motives. I have lived a great deal of my life with a parent who told pathological lies, yet have come to see the inherent truth in the wish that was father to those lies. A truly Great Story has much in it of truth, and as much of hope in what might be truth.
And now I have been presented with the gift of a wonderful personal Story. The teller of this tale has entrusted me with her memories and experiences. I am tempted to unravel the tale and look for places where, perhaps, what is remembered is more wish than fact, but I must honor the gift and preserve it intact.
My understanding of truth and reality are often the reverse of the norm. Truth is the way that I see and make sense of the world. Outside and above that truth stands reality - a place where the verifiable, observable without interpretation occurrence exists. Twenty people may observe a Reality and each will bring his or her own truth to it. That they differ does not diminish the fact of their truth, nor does the difference alter the Reality.
With this lens, I must approach every answer in an interview with absolute belief in the truth of the statements presented to me. This is tough for a person who has seen darkness and has a layer of cynicism regarding motives. I have lived a great deal of my life with a parent who told pathological lies, yet have come to see the inherent truth in the wish that was father to those lies. A truly Great Story has much in it of truth, and as much of hope in what might be truth.
And now I have been presented with the gift of a wonderful personal Story. The teller of this tale has entrusted me with her memories and experiences. I am tempted to unravel the tale and look for places where, perhaps, what is remembered is more wish than fact, but I must honor the gift and preserve it intact.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Reading Log #2 - Part 4
Reading Log, Nathan, Chap. 3
Summary:
Nathan expands on the theme of community and diversity begun near the end of chapter two, first reporting the stress placed upon community by the academy at large, then as it is encompassed by structured attempts within AnyU itself. Activities intended to boost community, such as freshman seminar, shared reading of a common book assignment, and dorm-initiated activities (movie night, talent show, etc.) are related - all of which are failures in their attempt to engender a shared experience and sense of community. The author ascribes these failures to a thwarted sense of autonomy on the part of the student and an over abundant "proliferation of choices" that are poorly attended and therefore expanded in an effort to garner more success - an ever widening circle of disenfranchisment that is self perpetuating in its desperate attempt to create unity.
Nathan recounts an attempt to establish rules known as a "community living agreement" from among suggestions offered rather half-heartedly by the hall residents at the behest of the RA. She uses the "agreement" to which no one actually agreed, and including rules that could not be enforced, as exemplary of the current status of community in US institutions of higher education. She sees the University as a place where being in community depends upon private will and the decision to be included, rather than a place that by design or nature creates community on its own.
The exercise of free will is also seen in the way that dorms themselves are now constructed. Nathan reports that collective living arrangements have given way to condo-like arrangements that do not lend themselves to community in the same way as traditional, shared spaces have done in the past. Areas intended as social spaces are now used as retreats from the more noisy gatherings taking place in individual rooms, a reverse of the traditionally envisioned functions of both sites.
Personal networks form the basis of community at AnyU, networks that revolve around shared interests and are often formed before the student enters college or during the earliest weeks on campus. These networks differ person by person, and while they may share members, they are comprised of individuals central to the person describing them so that they form overlapping groups. It is interesting to note that Nathan seems to observe and remain a fringe member of dorm society - to the point that she must use interviews to completely understand the dynamic, rather than experiencing it firsthand, despite having gone "under cover" to do so.
Nathan uses some telling phrases in describing her study, phrases that illustrate the disconnect she has from the students she is studying. Statements such as "Students, I imagine, would see it..." and "in my day..." point out the place where Nathan exists within the freshman world - outside looking in, imagining rather than really experiencing anew, comparing past experience of the known with that of students who are truly seeing the university world for the first time.
Because she found student social networks tended to consist of members of the same ethnicity, despite NSSE findings to the contrary, Nathan undertook the last project described in this chapter, a mini-study of student dining. Her observations of student preferences for shared dining tables tended to corroborate her findings regarding diversity in the dorms - white students primarily socialized with white students, ethnic minorities with other ethnic minorities.
Reflection:
Certainly Nathan's age and life experience conspire to keep her a perpetual outsider, even as she struggles to understand and confront university life in new ways, but it is especially her prior knowledge, and constant comparison of, the university with which she is well-versed that keep her an observer/listener rather than an included participant. She cannot become invisible enough to reach into the student experience - she will remain a sort of novelty, perhaps even a mascot, an "Other" inside the walls. While students may find her amusing, and game for their activities, her very willingness to attend every event and embrace each new attempt at community building marks her as someone who is not part of the gang - and can never be.
I continue to see this book as fascinating, a good read, and offering a number of insights into what it feels like to be a new student - disoriented, uncomfortable, disenfranchised - that serve to underscore the divide between the university writ large and the student. For this reason alone it deserves its place on the academic shelf. However, it is, I think a book that has limitations that must be acknowledged and taken into account when putting its findings into practice.
Summary:
Nathan expands on the theme of community and diversity begun near the end of chapter two, first reporting the stress placed upon community by the academy at large, then as it is encompassed by structured attempts within AnyU itself. Activities intended to boost community, such as freshman seminar, shared reading of a common book assignment, and dorm-initiated activities (movie night, talent show, etc.) are related - all of which are failures in their attempt to engender a shared experience and sense of community. The author ascribes these failures to a thwarted sense of autonomy on the part of the student and an over abundant "proliferation of choices" that are poorly attended and therefore expanded in an effort to garner more success - an ever widening circle of disenfranchisment that is self perpetuating in its desperate attempt to create unity.
Nathan recounts an attempt to establish rules known as a "community living agreement" from among suggestions offered rather half-heartedly by the hall residents at the behest of the RA. She uses the "agreement" to which no one actually agreed, and including rules that could not be enforced, as exemplary of the current status of community in US institutions of higher education. She sees the University as a place where being in community depends upon private will and the decision to be included, rather than a place that by design or nature creates community on its own.
The exercise of free will is also seen in the way that dorms themselves are now constructed. Nathan reports that collective living arrangements have given way to condo-like arrangements that do not lend themselves to community in the same way as traditional, shared spaces have done in the past. Areas intended as social spaces are now used as retreats from the more noisy gatherings taking place in individual rooms, a reverse of the traditionally envisioned functions of both sites.
Personal networks form the basis of community at AnyU, networks that revolve around shared interests and are often formed before the student enters college or during the earliest weeks on campus. These networks differ person by person, and while they may share members, they are comprised of individuals central to the person describing them so that they form overlapping groups. It is interesting to note that Nathan seems to observe and remain a fringe member of dorm society - to the point that she must use interviews to completely understand the dynamic, rather than experiencing it firsthand, despite having gone "under cover" to do so.
Nathan uses some telling phrases in describing her study, phrases that illustrate the disconnect she has from the students she is studying. Statements such as "Students, I imagine, would see it..." and "in my day..." point out the place where Nathan exists within the freshman world - outside looking in, imagining rather than really experiencing anew, comparing past experience of the known with that of students who are truly seeing the university world for the first time.
Because she found student social networks tended to consist of members of the same ethnicity, despite NSSE findings to the contrary, Nathan undertook the last project described in this chapter, a mini-study of student dining. Her observations of student preferences for shared dining tables tended to corroborate her findings regarding diversity in the dorms - white students primarily socialized with white students, ethnic minorities with other ethnic minorities.
Reflection:
Certainly Nathan's age and life experience conspire to keep her a perpetual outsider, even as she struggles to understand and confront university life in new ways, but it is especially her prior knowledge, and constant comparison of, the university with which she is well-versed that keep her an observer/listener rather than an included participant. She cannot become invisible enough to reach into the student experience - she will remain a sort of novelty, perhaps even a mascot, an "Other" inside the walls. While students may find her amusing, and game for their activities, her very willingness to attend every event and embrace each new attempt at community building marks her as someone who is not part of the gang - and can never be.
I continue to see this book as fascinating, a good read, and offering a number of insights into what it feels like to be a new student - disoriented, uncomfortable, disenfranchised - that serve to underscore the divide between the university writ large and the student. For this reason alone it deserves its place on the academic shelf. However, it is, I think a book that has limitations that must be acknowledged and taken into account when putting its findings into practice.
Reading Log #2 - Part 3
Reading Log, Creswell, Chap. 8
Summary:
Creswell describes data analysis in qualitative research as consisting of three interrelated steps: 1. Organizing/processing data for analysis, 2. reducing data into themes via coding, and 3. representing the data. He then presents three research strategies as illustrated by three researchers (one is a team of two) - Madison, Huberman & Miles, and Wolcott. The strategies used by the example authors are provided in table format, making it easier to see how each views and handles the research steps.
The author points out that the steps in qual. research are not distinct from one another, but require the researcher to continually re-evaluate data in a spiral that loops from data collection until it reaches a point at which an account of the study can be articulated. The spiral will look different for each approach to qualitative research, and for each study that is conducted.
Creswell spends a good deal of text explaining coding and classifying, and the various methods and views held by differing researchers. What emerges is a rather daunting picture of the miasma of detail and decision making that takes place while analyzing data.
Following coding and classifying, the author presents suggestions, examples and procedures for analysis and representation in each of the five approaches to qual. literature. These summaries provide an excellent map for studies in each of the approaches, including the types of coding and description that pertain to each.
Finally, Creswell describes the use of computer programs for the five approaches to qual. research and gives tips on selecting a program with which to work. He also supplies templates for use in coding in each of the five approaches used in the book.
Reflection:
Okay, um, OUCH! What Creswell has basically done is to "scare the caca out of me" (to quote a favorite movie - Murder by Death). I am very much drawn to qualitative research as a means to tell a story. But the hard decisions about meaning and themes, the sheer volume of data that Creswell describes are beyond daunting!
Part of the challenge that this type of research represents to me is in the decision making. I tend, as an Activator, to make snap decisions and act upon them. In qualitative research this is obviously not the preferred or recommended way to proceed. I must discipline myself in order to make decisions about codes, themes, models in order to do meaningful research. But thinking at this level sometimes creates indecision in me, a second-guessing regarding what I really know and how I know it.
I also tend to be a bit of a last minute thinker and when I plan it is at a gut level - understanding only when the pressure is on what is really needed for a successful outcome. This semester is going to really task my ability to focus and plan ahead. This is not a bad thing - I love a challenge!
Summary:
Creswell describes data analysis in qualitative research as consisting of three interrelated steps: 1. Organizing/processing data for analysis, 2. reducing data into themes via coding, and 3. representing the data. He then presents three research strategies as illustrated by three researchers (one is a team of two) - Madison, Huberman & Miles, and Wolcott. The strategies used by the example authors are provided in table format, making it easier to see how each views and handles the research steps.
The author points out that the steps in qual. research are not distinct from one another, but require the researcher to continually re-evaluate data in a spiral that loops from data collection until it reaches a point at which an account of the study can be articulated. The spiral will look different for each approach to qualitative research, and for each study that is conducted.
Creswell spends a good deal of text explaining coding and classifying, and the various methods and views held by differing researchers. What emerges is a rather daunting picture of the miasma of detail and decision making that takes place while analyzing data.
Following coding and classifying, the author presents suggestions, examples and procedures for analysis and representation in each of the five approaches to qual. literature. These summaries provide an excellent map for studies in each of the approaches, including the types of coding and description that pertain to each.
Finally, Creswell describes the use of computer programs for the five approaches to qual. research and gives tips on selecting a program with which to work. He also supplies templates for use in coding in each of the five approaches used in the book.
Reflection:
Okay, um, OUCH! What Creswell has basically done is to "scare the caca out of me" (to quote a favorite movie - Murder by Death). I am very much drawn to qualitative research as a means to tell a story. But the hard decisions about meaning and themes, the sheer volume of data that Creswell describes are beyond daunting!
Part of the challenge that this type of research represents to me is in the decision making. I tend, as an Activator, to make snap decisions and act upon them. In qualitative research this is obviously not the preferred or recommended way to proceed. I must discipline myself in order to make decisions about codes, themes, models in order to do meaningful research. But thinking at this level sometimes creates indecision in me, a second-guessing regarding what I really know and how I know it.
I also tend to be a bit of a last minute thinker and when I plan it is at a gut level - understanding only when the pressure is on what is really needed for a successful outcome. This semester is going to really task my ability to focus and plan ahead. This is not a bad thing - I love a challenge!
Reading Log #2 - Part 2
Reading Log, Nathan, Chap. 2
Summary:
The author describes her dorm room, residence hall, and its occupants in this chapter. Along with the descriptions of such items as door decorations and bulletin board flyers, she recounts "mandatory" meetings, encounters with hall mates, and the chaotic schedule being kept by most residents of her hall.
Themes emerging from Nathan's experiences in the dorm and the first weeks of classes include:
Differences in ways that time was spent -students appeared to be studying and socializing less than past studies indicate, while more time was spent working and volunteering.
The "over-optioned" public university system - options available to students, and how they chose to deal with those options, have two implications: 1. there is little that is automatically shared by people attending the same university and 2. despite the emphasis placed on creating community, the options given and differing lifestyles that ensue are barriers to campus community.
Reflection:
I begin to see some of the methodological problems with Nathan's study. She does not fit into the typical image of a traditional 18-22 year old student and does not share their need to prepare for a future in which clubs and volunteering are seen as essential. She is attempting to go undercover, but she cannot truly "pass" as a typical college student.
Further, Nathan gleans much of what she writes about through interviews with the other students. She can observe some of what is happening in their lives, but has to rely a great deal on the outcomes of these interviews. Her observations are necessarily colored by her own perspective, which is somewhat removed from the students' stage of life. She also brings with her a knowledge of the expected outcomes of university life - and while she acknowledges this bias, she has enough background to be looking for very specific things in relation to college life, rather than simply observing and reporting her findings. I realize this is part of what must happen anytime an outsider attempts to learn about a group of people, but I wonder if more of the background knowledge should come later rather than sooner. Is it better to go somewhat unprepared and then to compare findings to what is in the literature? Is that even possible in most cases?
Summary:
The author describes her dorm room, residence hall, and its occupants in this chapter. Along with the descriptions of such items as door decorations and bulletin board flyers, she recounts "mandatory" meetings, encounters with hall mates, and the chaotic schedule being kept by most residents of her hall.
Themes emerging from Nathan's experiences in the dorm and the first weeks of classes include:
Differences in ways that time was spent -students appeared to be studying and socializing less than past studies indicate, while more time was spent working and volunteering.
The "over-optioned" public university system - options available to students, and how they chose to deal with those options, have two implications: 1. there is little that is automatically shared by people attending the same university and 2. despite the emphasis placed on creating community, the options given and differing lifestyles that ensue are barriers to campus community.
Reflection:
I begin to see some of the methodological problems with Nathan's study. She does not fit into the typical image of a traditional 18-22 year old student and does not share their need to prepare for a future in which clubs and volunteering are seen as essential. She is attempting to go undercover, but she cannot truly "pass" as a typical college student.
Further, Nathan gleans much of what she writes about through interviews with the other students. She can observe some of what is happening in their lives, but has to rely a great deal on the outcomes of these interviews. Her observations are necessarily colored by her own perspective, which is somewhat removed from the students' stage of life. She also brings with her a knowledge of the expected outcomes of university life - and while she acknowledges this bias, she has enough background to be looking for very specific things in relation to college life, rather than simply observing and reporting her findings. I realize this is part of what must happen anytime an outsider attempts to learn about a group of people, but I wonder if more of the background knowledge should come later rather than sooner. Is it better to go somewhat unprepared and then to compare findings to what is in the literature? Is that even possible in most cases?
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Reading Log #2 - Part 1
Reading Log: Nathan, Chap. 1
Summary:
The author, a 50+ year old professor of Anthropology, describes her growing realization of a disconnect between herself and her students. This realization eventually grows into the idea for an ethnography wherein the author anonymously enrolls as a freshman at her own university and begins the process of chronicling what it is like to be a student. She moves into the dorms, takes a full load of classes (at first), eats in the caf, and takes part in a multiplicity of activities - all while maintaining a very large-scale research agenda.
Reflection:
How much do I love this book? This sounds so much like suck-up talk, but the truth is that the writing is engaging, the topic completely appropriate to my life (hello - 45 year old librarian and mother takes on the PhD), and basically is the best guide to the world of ethnography a neophyte could find.
Nathan begins with some questions about the ethics of posing as a member of the culture under study, of writing under an assumed name, and of whether choices she made surrounding her "undercover" identity are tantamount to lying. I wanted to skip to the Afterword just to see how she answers her questions, justifies her choices, but I did not because I want to let the story unfold without that additional baggage. Still, there are potholes here that must pertain to every study a qualitative researcher might choose to undertake. How much of us is too much, too little, when we make ourselves a part of what we study in this way?
I must admit to having read few (maybe no) ethnographic books. Libraries are not typically the land of ethnography and so my professional reading is likely to avoid them. So far in my PhD course work they have been inappropriate as well, since most of what we do, and the direction in which we are pointed, is biased toward the quantitative. With that in mind, it is easy to see why my research design paper was put together in a way that did not make sense to a qualitative researcher and engendered comments about placement of information, sparse details, etc. What a difference reading this book is making in how I see myself writing about the research for this class!
Summary:
The author, a 50+ year old professor of Anthropology, describes her growing realization of a disconnect between herself and her students. This realization eventually grows into the idea for an ethnography wherein the author anonymously enrolls as a freshman at her own university and begins the process of chronicling what it is like to be a student. She moves into the dorms, takes a full load of classes (at first), eats in the caf, and takes part in a multiplicity of activities - all while maintaining a very large-scale research agenda.
Reflection:
How much do I love this book? This sounds so much like suck-up talk, but the truth is that the writing is engaging, the topic completely appropriate to my life (hello - 45 year old librarian and mother takes on the PhD), and basically is the best guide to the world of ethnography a neophyte could find.
Nathan begins with some questions about the ethics of posing as a member of the culture under study, of writing under an assumed name, and of whether choices she made surrounding her "undercover" identity are tantamount to lying. I wanted to skip to the Afterword just to see how she answers her questions, justifies her choices, but I did not because I want to let the story unfold without that additional baggage. Still, there are potholes here that must pertain to every study a qualitative researcher might choose to undertake. How much of us is too much, too little, when we make ourselves a part of what we study in this way?
I must admit to having read few (maybe no) ethnographic books. Libraries are not typically the land of ethnography and so my professional reading is likely to avoid them. So far in my PhD course work they have been inappropriate as well, since most of what we do, and the direction in which we are pointed, is biased toward the quantitative. With that in mind, it is easy to see why my research design paper was put together in a way that did not make sense to a qualitative researcher and engendered comments about placement of information, sparse details, etc. What a difference reading this book is making in how I see myself writing about the research for this class!
Research Journal - Methodological Memo
Aack! So, first I found out that my institution believes I need an IRB for pretty much everything I am doing this semester that involves talking to students. Nothing I can't handle, except that as part of the IRB proposal I need to submit my protocols for the interviews. Ahem.
I didn't actually have a protocol ready for my HED 742 project, but thought it wouldn't be very difficult to pull one together. Wrong! There are a million ways to ask any question, and the answers will be just as varied depending on which way the question is posed. I am beginning to see what an art it is to form a question that allows for a full response, and that does not tip my hand by telling the participant exactly what I am hoping to hear. That said, it is also quite difficult to make a "generic" sort of open ended question interesting enough to ellicit a rich response.
I also see how much reading I need to do in order to be informed enough to know what to expect in the way of responses and what to ask that will help the students to understand, not what I want them to say, but sort of how I want them to think around the topics we will be exploring. But I want my reading to inform and not dictate to my study, if that makes sense. How do I read without coming to conclusions that may not apply to my study population, and yet still read enough to create thoughtful, nuanced questions?!
I am also concerned that I might not get enough data to really shore up a grounded theory. At what point is it acceptable to change from one methodology to another? Might I get enough data for a phenomenology rather than a grounded theory? When will I know? How late into the game can I make a shift if it looks like it is necessary?
I didn't actually have a protocol ready for my HED 742 project, but thought it wouldn't be very difficult to pull one together. Wrong! There are a million ways to ask any question, and the answers will be just as varied depending on which way the question is posed. I am beginning to see what an art it is to form a question that allows for a full response, and that does not tip my hand by telling the participant exactly what I am hoping to hear. That said, it is also quite difficult to make a "generic" sort of open ended question interesting enough to ellicit a rich response.
I also see how much reading I need to do in order to be informed enough to know what to expect in the way of responses and what to ask that will help the students to understand, not what I want them to say, but sort of how I want them to think around the topics we will be exploring. But I want my reading to inform and not dictate to my study, if that makes sense. How do I read without coming to conclusions that may not apply to my study population, and yet still read enough to create thoughtful, nuanced questions?!
I am also concerned that I might not get enough data to really shore up a grounded theory. At what point is it acceptable to change from one methodology to another? Might I get enough data for a phenomenology rather than a grounded theory? When will I know? How late into the game can I make a shift if it looks like it is necessary?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Research Journal - Methodological Memo
Already I begin to see the fluid nature of qualitative research. I originally proposed to study students who self-select into an Honors Scholars program - focusing on Kinesiology students, as they seemed to predominate in past cohorts of honors students.
Alas! I received the cohort data for this year and only one is an athletic training major! So, the study shifts to include all students in the program. However, my idea about the predominance of females in the program has proven to be true. I am still working through the information on ethnicity. Perhaps 2 out of 3? :)
What I am starting to learn is that I will have be much more flexible in my design and in my thinking about qualitative research vs. quantitative. There is something really attractive to me in trying to capture Story, and in using it to help to explain concepts, etc. But there is a temptation to revert to the more rigid, and in many ways easier, methodology of quant!
Alas! I received the cohort data for this year and only one is an athletic training major! So, the study shifts to include all students in the program. However, my idea about the predominance of females in the program has proven to be true. I am still working through the information on ethnicity. Perhaps 2 out of 3? :)
What I am starting to learn is that I will have be much more flexible in my design and in my thinking about qualitative research vs. quantitative. There is something really attractive to me in trying to capture Story, and in using it to help to explain concepts, etc. But there is a temptation to revert to the more rigid, and in many ways easier, methodology of quant!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Reading Log - #1
Reading Log: Chapter 5
Summary:
Creswell uses articles as examples of the five approaches to Qualitative research that are outlined in the book. The reader is instructed to first read an article, then to refer back to the chapter text to make comparisons between reader impressions and the information of the author. This method provides me a chance to compare my expectations and understanding of the material with that of the expert, a device I really enjoyed. Providing examples of each approach also serves to underscore the more theoretical information given in the preceding chapters, and to ground each approach in a way that makes it understandable and meaningful to a novice researcher.
It is also helpful to have concrete examples of the style of writing, the concepts that best fit each type of design, and the way in which the flow of information should be presented. The articles are quite dissimilar in style and tone, and in the presentation of core information, yet all are derived from the same type of data: focus groups, interviews and observation.
Reflection:
Details from the reading stand out to me as indicators of the mental shift I must make in thinking and writing about qualitative research. For instance, sentences from Angrosino’s narrative study article: “I could form no clear sense of who or what Vonnie Lee thought he was.” - Not only does this give me a picture of what it might be like to talk with a mentally disabled person, it provides insight into the mind of the researcher, who will bring a sense of being into the story, a reading or judgment about what the life and existence of Vonnie Lee might mean to the world.
“[H]e completely lost the point (or what I assumed was the point).” Here Angrosino allows the reader to see something of the way an interviewer can impose his or her own reality upon the narrative of the subject. The point may well have been crystal clear to Vonnie Lee, but the expectations of the author have not been met, and so he questions whether there is a point. Including that line in his article shows that the author has already grappled with expectation and come to realize that what is most important is not whether the point has been made to his satisfaction, but what it means to Vonnie Lee to have told the story.
The subject matter of the articles – mental disability, sexual abuse, disease, and death - in chapter 5 illustrates the range of topics that might be used as the basis for qualitative research. The articles also serve as a reminder that some of what we may choose to look at is deeply personal and may be disturbing to hear and to write about.
I have begun to realize that rather than being outside the research - a reporter regarding the facts of the quantitative study I have originated - my stance must be that of both observer and participant in a way that will require some vulnerability on my part. This type of research and writing will also require me to think about boundaries, opinion, and bias in a way that I have heretofore been largely able to disregard. I cannot begin with a null hypothesis, working toward proving nothing more than whether certain variables relate to one another in a way that does or does not confirm that hypothesis. I will bring my history, hopes, and beliefs – like it or not – into my qualitative research. This realization tends to frighten me, even as it frees me to look deeply into a subject in a way that quantitative research may never offer. What a challenge this semester will be!
Summary:
Creswell uses articles as examples of the five approaches to Qualitative research that are outlined in the book. The reader is instructed to first read an article, then to refer back to the chapter text to make comparisons between reader impressions and the information of the author. This method provides me a chance to compare my expectations and understanding of the material with that of the expert, a device I really enjoyed. Providing examples of each approach also serves to underscore the more theoretical information given in the preceding chapters, and to ground each approach in a way that makes it understandable and meaningful to a novice researcher.
It is also helpful to have concrete examples of the style of writing, the concepts that best fit each type of design, and the way in which the flow of information should be presented. The articles are quite dissimilar in style and tone, and in the presentation of core information, yet all are derived from the same type of data: focus groups, interviews and observation.
Reflection:
Details from the reading stand out to me as indicators of the mental shift I must make in thinking and writing about qualitative research. For instance, sentences from Angrosino’s narrative study article: “I could form no clear sense of who or what Vonnie Lee thought he was.” - Not only does this give me a picture of what it might be like to talk with a mentally disabled person, it provides insight into the mind of the researcher, who will bring a sense of being into the story, a reading or judgment about what the life and existence of Vonnie Lee might mean to the world.
“[H]e completely lost the point (or what I assumed was the point).” Here Angrosino allows the reader to see something of the way an interviewer can impose his or her own reality upon the narrative of the subject. The point may well have been crystal clear to Vonnie Lee, but the expectations of the author have not been met, and so he questions whether there is a point. Including that line in his article shows that the author has already grappled with expectation and come to realize that what is most important is not whether the point has been made to his satisfaction, but what it means to Vonnie Lee to have told the story.
The subject matter of the articles – mental disability, sexual abuse, disease, and death - in chapter 5 illustrates the range of topics that might be used as the basis for qualitative research. The articles also serve as a reminder that some of what we may choose to look at is deeply personal and may be disturbing to hear and to write about.
I have begun to realize that rather than being outside the research - a reporter regarding the facts of the quantitative study I have originated - my stance must be that of both observer and participant in a way that will require some vulnerability on my part. This type of research and writing will also require me to think about boundaries, opinion, and bias in a way that I have heretofore been largely able to disregard. I cannot begin with a null hypothesis, working toward proving nothing more than whether certain variables relate to one another in a way that does or does not confirm that hypothesis. I will bring my history, hopes, and beliefs – like it or not – into my qualitative research. This realization tends to frighten me, even as it frees me to look deeply into a subject in a way that quantitative research may never offer. What a challenge this semester will be!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Research Journal - Methodological Memo/Faith Reflection
For the individual interivew assignment I have chosen to talk with Hadley Hesse Wood, a professor at PLNU who has a dramatic life story, and who brings to her classroom a unique way of seeing the world. I am excited about hearing her story, yet a bit anxious as well. In reading the article Creswell includes as an illustration of Grounded Theory, I have come to see that there is a line I may be unable or unwilling to cross in learning about Hadley's complex life. Stories of abuse hit close enough to home to fill me with dread and may keep me from probing as deeply as I should in order to get a complete picture of how it may have shaped Hadley as a person.
This type of research will require me to step away from my self enough to listen deeply, rather than simply hearing. In accepting the gift of Story from someone, I also accept the responsiblity to listen without hope of intervention or even interaction with certain elements of the story I may very much wish to mitigate for the person with whom I am speaking.
Interviews are attractive to someone with the Strength of Communication, but as an Activator I want to jump in and solve whatever I might perceive to be a problem. Empathy creates a situation where I am so in-tune to the emotions of the other that I cannot help but try to put into action some plan to improve things. Being a Christian seems to compound this dilemma, as I feel it is my job to offer that cup of water to someone in need.
There is a strange dichotomy that this course will require of me: to understand myself enough to recognize how my history and biases affect my work, and yet, to largely remove myself from the framework of the projects in order to get a true picture of the subjects with which I will be in contact.
This type of research will require me to step away from my self enough to listen deeply, rather than simply hearing. In accepting the gift of Story from someone, I also accept the responsiblity to listen without hope of intervention or even interaction with certain elements of the story I may very much wish to mitigate for the person with whom I am speaking.
Interviews are attractive to someone with the Strength of Communication, but as an Activator I want to jump in and solve whatever I might perceive to be a problem. Empathy creates a situation where I am so in-tune to the emotions of the other that I cannot help but try to put into action some plan to improve things. Being a Christian seems to compound this dilemma, as I feel it is my job to offer that cup of water to someone in need.
There is a strange dichotomy that this course will require of me: to understand myself enough to recognize how my history and biases affect my work, and yet, to largely remove myself from the framework of the projects in order to get a true picture of the subjects with which I will be in contact.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Testing, 1,2,3
Just setting up the blog, sitting here in class and wondering how I can keep up with the work and not exclude my other class. Excited about both, but as an Activator, I want to get started on the assignments for this class NOW.
Also, very frustrated that I cannot get the danged book by Creswell!
Also, very frustrated that I cannot get the danged book by Creswell!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
