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The Qualitative Report An online journal dedicated to qualitative research since 1990 Volume 8 Number 4 December 2003 http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR8-4/index.html |
| Ronald J.
Chenail, Ph.D., Sally St. George, Ph.D., and Dan Wulff,
Ph.D., Editors ISSN 1052-0147 |
Real Middle School Teachers (pp. 530-538)
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Rhoda C. Sommers
Abstract: Effective middle school teachers are more than the sum total of their educational beliefs and practices. They are whole persons whose lives reflect receptivity to growth, treasured relationships, and the intertwining of their personal and professional lives. This article uses the childrens classic, The Velveteen Rabbit, as a metaphor to describe effective middle school teachers. Key words: Middle School Teachers, Effective Teachers, Metaphor, Case Study, and Qualitative Research
Joint Stories and Layered Tales: Support, Contradiction
and Meaning Construction in Focus Group Research (pp. 539-548)
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Agnieszka Kosny
Abstract: This paper uses focus group data about womens work experiences gathered in five Canadian east coast communities to examine some of the strengths and weakness associated with focus group research. I explore the case made against the use of focus group methods and the basis for some of the critiques aimed at focus group research. By examining the evolving discussions between focus group members, it is possible to understand some of the benefits of group-talk, including the creation of a unique opportunity for interaction, joint meaning creation and contradiction. Key words: Focus Groups, Theory, Meaning Construction, Interaction, and Conflict
Meta-Inquiry: An Approach to Interview Success (pp.
549-569)
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Nancy M. Carlson and Mark McCaslin
Abstract: Developing an effective interview strategy presents unique challenges for the novice and master researcher for if the questions one asks are not crucial, then differences in responses are not crucial either (Creswell, 1998, p. 335). To focus qualitative research in the human ecology of the study, our strategy uses an initial interview protocol and preanalysis process, called meta-inquiry, prior to developing our formal interview protocol. Meta-inquiry of initial interview data, obtained in dialogue with key informants in the researched culture, provides us with an inductive tool to assess, modify, enhance, and focus the formal interview protocol. Thus, preparing for the research journey requires a human ecology-based interview protocol to acquire data from which concepts, categories, properties, and theory can emerge. Key words: Meta-Inquiry, Interview Protocol, and Grounded Theory
Indicators of Resiliency Among Urban Elementary School
Students At-Risk (pp. 570-590)
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John L. Rausch, Cheryl R. Lovett, and Christopher O. Walker
Abstract: This study was designed to investigate the phenomenon of resiliency among urban elementary school students in an at-risk environment. In contrast with previous studies narrowly focused upon the identification of risk factors, this study utilized a phenomenological qualitative approach to investigate indicators of resiliency from both individual and contextual perspectives. The narrative descriptions of 25 elementary school students in an at-risk environment were analyzed. The results indicated that the participants had strong individual and contextual resiliency indicators through the fifth grade despite being educated in a school district with almost a 60% drop-out rate before high school graduation. Key words: Resiliency, Phenomenology, Ecological Systems, and At-Risk Environment
Autoethnographic Verse: Nickys Boy: A Life in Two Worlds
(pp. 591-596)
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Ronald J. Ricci
Abstract: This autoethnographic verse is about my childhood experience of two distinct and ethnically representative family cultures. Poetry and qualitative research share in their goals of providing meaning, density, aestheticism, and reflexivity They are also evocative I selected verse as a means to express my experience, and to invite the readers reflections on this experience for themselves and others. Key words: Autoethnography, Culture, Poetry, Verse, Reflexivity, and Inquiry Methods
Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative
Research (pp. 597-606)
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Nahid Golafshani
Abstract: The use of reliability and validity are common in quantitative research and now it is reconsidered in the qualitative research paradigm. Since reliability and validity are rooted in positivist perspective then they should be redefined for their use in a naturalistic approach. Like reliability and validity as used in quantitative research are providing springboard to examine what these two terms mean in the qualitative research paradigm, triangulation as used in quantitative research to test the reliability and validity can also illuminate some ways to test or maximize the validity and reliability of a qualitative study. Therefore, reliability, validity and triangulation, if they are relevant research concepts, particularly from a qualitative point of view, have to be redefined in order to reflect the multiple ways of establishing truth. Key words: Reliability, Validity, Triangulation, Construct, Qualitative, and Quantitative
Memories in Context via Cyber Reminiscing: The Case of
Marilyn Monroe (pp. 607-623)
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Kelvin Eng Yong Low
Abstract: This paper attempts to extend the various existing lieux de m‚moire available hitherto in the perpetuation and (re)construction of social memory by looking at the cyber landscape. Marilyn Monroe as an icon of American popular culture and thus of popular memory in this context, is explored, by looking at various select websites designed in commemoration of her stardom. Within this investigation, I also invoke the link between the production of social memory, with frames of remembrance and collective memory that therefore indicates memory as indubitably, a social phenomenon. The value of cyber reminiscing is also addressed briefly, by exploring how the cyber landscape offers as an additional outlet for the perpetuation and maintenance of fan discourse. A short section that ruminates upon the Internet as an entity of postmodernity with regards to the presentation of knowledge and information is also submitted. Key words: Social Memory, Cyber Reminiscing, Frames of Remembrance, Fan Discourse, and Postmodernity
Power Games between the Researcher and the Participant in
the Social Inquiry (pp. 624-639)
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Ana Bravo-Moreno
Abstract: This article will deal with the different power relationships that are in play during the interview process in ethnographic research. It explores how interviewees are agents in the creation of their own positions during the interview process and how they shift positions in interaction with the researcher and with the questions posed to them. Key words: Reflexivity, Ethnography, Power Relations in Interviews, Social Class, and Women Migration
Practice Approaches and the Ethnography of Communication:
Investigating for the Possibility of a Mutually Beneficial
Relationship
(pp. 640-654)
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Keith Berry
Abstract: In this essay, I explore the areas of accord and discord between two efficacious modes of research: practice approaches and the Ethnography of Communication (EOC). As an interpersonal and intercultural scholar, I carefully analyze these approaches in order to find innovative ways to describe the diversity that I see in modern social interaction. Working against paradigms that suggest using either one approach or another, I engage this project hoping (expecting?) to find and/both alternatives for communication study. I argue that, in spite of their differences, practice and EOC traditions co-exist in a mutually beneficial relationship for the study of communication in 2002. Key Words: Ethnography of Communication, Practice Approaches, Ethnography, Pluralist Research, and Qualitative Methods
The Impact of Devolution on Organizational Effectiveness:
An Exploratory Case Study of Faith-Based Child Care
(pp. 655-675)
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Javier Stanziola and Tania Schmitz
Abstract: Although the foundations of President Bushs faith-based initiative could be traced back at least to Colonial times, the re-packaging of this idea has raised concerns about the role of the federal government in the affairs of faith based organizations, the professionalization of social services, rent seeking, and the crowding out of private funding. This paper aims to examine the local implications of decentralizing the provision of social services in Lee County, Florida. More specifically, we will identify how devolution has affected the organizational effectiveness of faith-based organizations in the day care sector. For this paper, organizational effectiveness was defined in terms of goal setting, efficient use of resources, and reputation. This initial exploratory study suggests that any devolutionary policy that aims to aggressively include faith-based organizations in the provision of social services will face the challenge of weak information flow mechanisms within the industry. Key words: Devolution, Faith Based Organizations, Organizational Effectiveness, Exploratory and Qualitative Research
