Thematic Error Qualitative Research According to Agostinho

Thematic Error

Qualitative Research

According to Agostinho (2005), educational research which focuses on the efficacy of e-learning classes has lagged behind the implementation of this teaching approach and therefore a great need exists in this area. Although the integral use of computers and software in e-learning courses renders them ideally suited for quantitative research approaches, Agostinho argues that qualitative or naturalistic forms of investigation can play an important role in e-learning research as well. For example, qualitative research could provide details about the experience of online learning environments from the perspective of students and teachers, thus generating ideas on how to promote innovation that enhances e-learning efficacy.

Towards the goal of providing a deeper understanding of the value that qualitative research can offer to e-learning research, Agostinho (2005) analyzed an e-learning study in terms of its methodological structure using an intrinsic case study approach (Creswell, Hanson, Plano, and Morales, 2007, p. 247).

Data Analysis Critique

The goals of the study analyzed by Agostinho (2005) were to determine the teacher-student and student-student interactions possible within an e-learning environment, and participant attitudes that developed toward the e-learning class. The study involved two phases; with the first phase involving the researcher participating as a student in a class of students taking an e-learning course. The second phase involved introducing innovations based on the research information gathered during the first phase into the next e-learning class.

The primary data collection techniques included participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, reflexive journal entries, online discussion transcripts, and recorded videoconferencing sessions. The analysis of this data depended on segregating the data into themes, the clustering of themes into categories, and generating working hypotheses that could be used to inform the second phase of the study. Since this was an intrinsic case study (Creswell, Hanson, Plano, and Morales, 2007, p. 247) and the case was the e-learning class, the development of themes was inappropriate. Based on the case study approach described by Creswell and colleagues (2007), themes emerge as a function of commonalities between case studies, rather than within an individual case study. Phase 2 of Agostinho's (2005) case study involved testing several innovations based on the themes generated from the first e-learning class and therefore cannot be considered an equivalent case study for the purposes of developing themes.