An Introduction to Qualitative Research
Revised Reading Prompts
1. The article talks about the nature of a question. What kind of question do you have? For instance, is it open ended, experiential? What makes it that way? Where does your question come from; for instance, a review of the literature, your own experience? Is it an emerging question growing out of grounded theory? Connect any relevant voices on this topic from your own literature review.
My question is open ended and experiential. This is because it invites many different responses, there is not one response that I am looking for, and I hope to discover new things that I didn’t imagine. There is not one solidified answer to my questions, and I am interested in finding out many different responses and opinions, as well as figuring out my own response, and comparing them. My question comes from my own experiences of teaching collage to students, as well as making collages myself. My questions will explore the process of collage, and students interactions with the experience, as well as my own.
2. One of your goals in your thesis is to situate your research as qualitative. This article offers an entry point to many perspectives on what constitutes qualitative research. Briefly summarize what qualitative research is and does. Connect any relevant voices on this topic from your own literature review.
Qualitative research is a method of research that extends our understandings, rather than providing us with strict numerical information. It is a process of describing, analyzing, and interpreting the insights that we discover through our research. Qualitative methods begin with observing in the natural setting. Some approaches to qualitative research are ethnography, phenomenology, case study, narrative analysis, action research, or arts-based research.
3. Qualitative researchers, therefore, must explain their approach and selection of methods (Smith, 1978; Stokrocki, 1991). Based on the summary of the types of inquiry described in this article, what are your initial thoughts as to your own research study and process of translation? What type(s) of approach do you think you might use and why do you think this? Connect any relevant voices on this topic from your own literature review.
My main approach that I will use in my study is art-based research. This is because I will be using the artistic process of collage to understand and examine the experience for myself, and for the students that I will be observing and participating with for my study. The result of the art work that is made by the students, and myself, will be a large portion of my data collection. I will be making collages throughout my whole study to try and understand the process more, as well as discover new ways to use it, and how it is affected under different circumstances. I will also use the approach of a case study for certain aspects, since I am searching for understandings of a complex idea.
4. Narrative: At this stage in your process, how are you going to gain access to your research site? If this is a case study involving people, how are you establishing trust? How might your research impact them? ? Connect any relevant voices on this topic from your own literature review.
I hope to use the Pratt Institute Youth Programs as my research site. Since I already have a relationship with the professors, and some of the student teachers, it will be easy to do some observations. I am also going to try and see if I can conduct a lesson or two, and cooperate with one of the teachers to collect more data for my study. Since the students have already signed waivers, I will not need to go through all of the paperwork to gain access. Since I hope to work with high school students, I will explain to them my purposes for this study. I will explain how it is in no way affecting them, but that it may even inspire them to start thinking about using the process of collage in their work, and think about it in a new way. It may open their eyes up to new ideas an excite them. If it doesn’t, they have still learned something new about an art process, so there is nothing lost.