Library Lessons This Week

This week's Library Lessons will continue our discussion of Section IV of The Research Proposal you will be submitting as your final exhibit in this course. If you will recall, last week we discussed elements related to Section IV if you are planning on using a quantitative approach to your research. We discussed decisions that must be made related to how you will obtain participants, what measures you will use and how you will analyze the data you collect. The same or similar decisions must also be made when planning and designing a qualitative approach to research. However, the options you have and the issues that surround these decisions differ considerably from a quantitative approach.

As I suggested last week, I would like for you to take an information gathering approach to the lessons this week. Try your best to comprehend the material at a declarative knowledge level knowing that in future weeks I will provide some practice opportunities for you to apply that knowledge prior to you writing your Section IV so you can hopefully move into writing that section with some confidence. This week I would like you to focus on comprehending the information in the text.

Again, as I suggested last week, I think it would be an excellent idea for you to skim ahead in your text and review Chapters 11 through 18.  Each of these chapters covers one or more research designs with a balance between quantitative and qualitative approaches.  It might be a useful exercise to read briefly about each one and see if you can begin to pinpoint the design you will choose to answer your research questions.  Of course, you will eventually learn about all of them as we discuss them in weekly lessons, but to read ahead about the design you think you will choose and maybe find some other web resources to read related to that design will assist you immensely when writing Section IV.

As a review, the main elements of your Research Proposal will be:

1. Statement of the Problem
   1. Topic for the study appropriate for your field
   2. The research problem within this topic
   3. A justification for the problem based on past research and practice
   4. Deficiencies or shortcomings of past research or practical knowledge
   5. The importance of addressing the problem for diverse audiences
2. Literature Review (Study-by-Study)
   1. Analysis and synthesis of the primary research that assist in validating and supporting the research problem using a study-by-study approach grouped under broad themes
   2. Summarize major themes and present reasons for a proposed study or the importance of studying a research problem
3. Specifying a Purpose and Research Questions or Hypotheses
   1. A concise statement of the purpose of the study based on the research approach chosen (qualitative or quantitative)
   2. The research questions or hypotheses to be addressed as appropriate for the research approach
4. Methods
   1. Statement of research approach and research design
   2. Setting for your study (what type of access do you have?)
   3. Participants and how selected
   4. Instrumentation - Identify types of data needed, instruments or measures used.  Include actual copy of the survey or instrument as well as evidence of reliability and validity
   5. Summary of data collection procedures
   6. Summary of data analysis techniques that will be employed
5. References
6. Appendices

This week's Lessons will continue to cover necessary skills and knowledge for Section IV.

Lesson 1

Many new researchers who struggled through their statistics course(s) often perk up when they learn of the idea of conducting research using a qualitative approach.  No means? No standard deviations? No equal Ns or standard errors? No t-tests or F tests or significance levels?  No null hypotheses?  No Type I or Type II errors?  -they think to themselves with a grin on their face - qualitative research is the thing for me!  Unfortunately, discarding quantitative research in favor of qualitative research to avoid statistics is not always the least resistant (or easiest) path to follow.  Many who jump into the idea of conducting qualitative research often come to realize that there are just as many difficult hurdles to jump when using this approach.  Many of the steps included in collecting qualitative data are similar to those for quantitative data but the specific options differ and different issues arise when planning for a qualitative approach. 

Creswell begins by reviewing the need for obtaining permissions and approvals for your qualitative study.  While many of these issues remain the same, he mentions some of the stickier issues associated with obtaining approval for qualitative studies.  Creswell notes the frequent need to clearly describe to those unfamiliar with qualitative research the exact procedures you will use and data you will collect.  I have often found it more difficult to obtain participants and permission for qualitative studies.  This can be for several reasons.  First, I generally think more people are willing to fill out an anonymous survey than are willing to sit down with someone and answer personal or non-personal questions.  Even when the researcher assures them of anonymity there is discomfort given that the researcher does know who they are.  Second, I think people are less willing to sit down and interview with someone for an hour than to fill out a survey that may take 15 minutes.  Third, when working with children and adolescents, I think parents are less willing to give permission for someone unknown to them to interview their child(ren).  This does not mean getting permission and participation is impossible but these are simply some issues that you may not consider when thinking about conducting qualitative research. Many new researchers think...how hard could it be to get 5 or 10 participants? Sometimes this is harder than it seems upon first consideration. 

If you thought you had read about all the possible methods of sampling in Chapter 6 I bet you were surprised to find almost as many in Chapter 8 related to sampling for qualitative studies.  Creswell provides you with a great review of the possible sampling techniques and the reasons you would choose one over the other.  He also briefly discusses the idea of how many participants you should select given the type of qualitative research design you plan to use. In Section IV of your Proposal you will be expected to identify the site(s) and individuals you intend to select given the central phenomenon you are investigating, describe the process you will use to obtain a sample, and identify the number of sites and hopeful number of participants that will be necessary for the design you will choose.

For Section IV you will be expected to identify the method(s) you will use to collect your data if you choose a qualitative research design.  Creswell reviews the four main sources of data in qualitative studies.  I think the 2 most likely you will use are observations and interviews.  He does an excellent job of exploring the issues surrounding the creation of protocols/tools for collecting observational or interview data. Creswell notes that most likely you will use tools you develop yourself, but I want to add that there are many cases in which I can imagine that there are tools that may be already developed for collecting observational or interview data and you should certainly consider these as you think about what data you need to collect in your study.  For example, if you wanted to study interaction in small groups I would bet you could find an observational tool already designed and used for this purpose in a previous study. The question remains whether the observational tool is focused on the same elements of interaction you want to focus on.  If it doesn't then it may be of little use to you.  However, it might also be a valuable model to follow for your first attempt at creating such a tool.  Another example I can think of are the many observational tools already created for observing teaching and other classroom activities. 

Qualitative studies are often known for their unique qualities and the fact that they are rarely a replication of a previous study so I do not think it will be a simple task to find a tool already created for exactly the thing you want to observe or investigate through interviews. But I do not want you to go off thinking that using something that already exists - if it fits the purpose of your study - is a no-no because it is not.  If you choose to use a qualitative approach in your research proposal it will likely help you tremendously to try to identify, read, and evaluate qualitative studies on a similar or the same topic to see what types of tools they developed and used.  If nothing exists then you will indeed be creating your own.  When you write Section IV of your Proposal you will be expected to include the tools you will use for data collection.

Lesson Links

As an addition to your chapter reading in this lesson you may want to take a trip to the reference room and peruse the links under the qualitative sites section for more information.

Lesson Activities

• Complete the Chapter Eight Quiz for Creswell. You will have  90 minutes for this quiz.  You may go directly into the elearning system or read the directions first.

Lesson 2

The majority of Chapter 9 was likely new to the majority of you unless you have conducted qualitative research or had a qualitative research course during your studies.  Again, the generic steps taken when analyzing qualitative data do not sound all that different than steps taken for quantitative data.  You still have to organize it in some fashion, explore it, make conclusions, and report and interpret the findings.  However, the methods used for such analyses are quite different than those used in quantitative studies.  

One of the main things I have to highlight from this chapter is the idea that the way in which qualitative data is analyzed can differ considerably from one study to the next depending on the research design used and the researcher's own way in which he/she becomes accustomed to making sense of the data collected. This is not statistics in which there is a finite number of ways to run a t-test and that is pretty much it.  There are multiple ways to organize and analyze qualitative data to answer a single question.

Creswell's discussion of computer packages for qualitative organization and analysis of data is very useful for those thinking about investing in such a computer program.  When you write Section IV you will be required to explain how you will organize and analyze the data you will collect.  If you choose to use a computer program you should use the information Creswell provides to identify the program you think you would choose and provide a rationale for that choice. 

The next step of exploring and describing your data is the critical step in qualitative data analysis.  Coding text and developing themes from qualitative data is not always as easy and straightforward as it may seem.  The volume of data you can accumulate even using a small number of participants can be overwhelming.  Many suggest that new qualitative researchers try to identify a priori  codes and themes so that they may act as a guide for identification on your first round of data analysis.  However, it is important to remember that even if you identify codes and themes you are most interested in before you analyze the data, a qualitative researcher must always be open to changing or adding additional codes and themes as the data reveal them.  This is at the root of what qualitative research is all about - exploring a phenomenon and letting the rich data collected reveal its own story and not one mapped out by the researcher before a study even begins. 

While you may not be reporting and interpreting findings of a qualitative study in this course, these sections in your text should not be overlooked.  Reading about the types of reporting that is expected will assist you in identifying the types of data you will need to do things such as provide rich descriptions and multiple perspectives. Such information will also be helpful when you read and analyze qualitative research. 

The final highlight from this Chapter is the section on "validating the accuracy of findings" beginning on page 252.  This section describes multiple methods qualitative researchers use to establish confidence that the interpretation they have of the data is also how others would interpret the data they collected.  Creswell mentions 3 main ways this is done but notes that there are more to choose from just in case you don't find one of these appropriate or useful in your study.  It is important to identify the methods by which you will validate the accuracy of your findings prior to actually conducting your qualitative study.  In many cases the process of validating your findings is done simultaneously during collection and analysis of your data.  For example, to triangulate your data you will need to actually collect data from different individuals or collect different types of data or use multiple methods of data collection. Such decisions need to be made during the planning and proposal stage and not considered after all interpretation is complete. When you write your summary of data analysis procedures in Section IV of your Proposal then I will most definitely be looking for you to have included a complete description of the steps you will take to validate the accuracy of your findings using one or more of the methods Creswell mentions or another one that you may identify from an alternative source.

Lesson Links

As an addition to your chapter reading in this lesson you may want to take a trip to the reference room and peruse the links under the qualitative sites section for a review.

Lesson Activities

• Complete the Chapter Nine Quiz for Creswell. You will have  60 minutes for this quiz.  You may go directly into the elearning system or read the directions first.

Lesson 3

As you tackle the task of completing a draft of Section II over the next several weeks, I want to review what should be included in the document you turn in. As a reminder please note that your complete literature map should be included as an Appendix in this rough draft.

The document you turn in should contain the following elements (please note that the below outline does not imply that you should name your headings this):

Front Matter

Title page

Body of the Paper

Introduction

Literature Review (Study-by-Study)

• Analysis and synthesis of the primary research that assist in validating and supporting the research problem using a study-by-study approach grouped under broad themes
• Summarize major themes and present reasons for a proposed study or the importance of studying a research problem

Back Matter

References

Appendix

Literature Map

Galvan Text

Chapters 7, 8, and 9 continue to provide you with excellent suggestions for improving not only your section II but your entire proposal by providing your guidelines for writing your first draft as well as suggestions for improving your writing.  Chapter 8 begins with noting the importance of providing an overview/outline of what you will review in the coming section.  This simple task is one that many overlook.  Instead they simply jump right in to reviewing research without ever communicating to the reader what to expect.  It would behoove all those who want a good first as well as final draft to take Galvan suggestions and guidelines and implement them. Chapter 9 can serve as a companion to your APA manual in terms of proofreading for grammar and style errors.

A final suggestion for you this week is to proofread, proofread, proofread.  It would also be very beneficial to have someone else proofread your paper prior to turning it in.  Although this is a draft of Section II, please do not think of me as your proofreader.  I may note the first instance of errors within your draft but do not expect me to correct your poor grammar or punctuation, etc. My hope is that I provide more guidance with regards to the actual content of your document and not the mechanics of your writing so that the final submission of your Research Proposal will be of highest quality.  If I find myself becoming your own personal proofreader I will send it back for resubmission prior to giving you your credit. This will delay the feedback process and impede your progress. Don't let this happen to you.

Lesson Activities

• Continue to work on Section II. Your Section II rough draft is due on July 5.

• Download and review the evaluation rubric I will use when providing you feedback and also when giving you your final grade on Section II.

• It might be a good idea to review the sample proposals in the exhibition hall and to check the FAQ as you embark on your draft.

Contact the
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Have a question but can't find the answer? Here are some options:

• Check the FAQ page to see if your question has already been answered.
• Email the Head Librarian (Dr. Curda) .
• Email the Assistant Librarian (Melissa).
• Check with the other library patrons.

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