Exercises Used in the Text

¶ … exercises used in the text is presented here. Additional notes are included here. Why Are You Doing this Study? This section discusses the reasons for conducting qualitative research. The respective strengths of qualitative research are provided here. The importance of personal values and identity are presented in a vignette fashion here. Factors that contribute to a decision on a dissertation topic are provided here. These include ethical considerations and pragmatic constraints that may affect the research process. Exercise 2.1 is presented at this point.

Additional notes are presented at the conclusion of this section. The main idea = carefully collected results can be misleading if the underlying context of assumption is wrong. The context of the study is therefore a key part of the study design. A key point to remember is that: "The conceptual context is the formulation of what you think is going on with the phenomena you're studying -- a tentative theory of what is happening and why" (p. 25). Handwritten highlight: The contextual concept is not found but constructed (found on page 26).

The conceptual context is also known as the theoretical framework for the study. Table 3 Chapter 3: Conceptual Context: What Do You Think Is Going on? Section Summary of Contents Experiential knowledge and its use in developing a research design are discussed in this section, including the preliminary proposal and literature review (which the author emphasizes are not the same thing).

Not only is a critical review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature needed in almost any study, it is also important to draw on the knowledge of experts in the field as well as unpublished dissertations and other sources that might not be readily available without exhaustive research.

A critical review of the juried and scholarly literature, though, involves more than just summarizations, but rather requires an in-depth evaluation of the studies' findings in view of their reported and unreported limitations as well as how their results compare to each or how the results refute other findings. The author cites three reasons for the need for critical analysis rather than just summaries: It can lead to a narrow focus on literature, ignoring other conceptual resources that may be of equal or greater importance for the study.

It tends to generate a strategy of covering the field rather than focusing specifically on those studies and theories that are particularly relevant to the current study. It can deceive researchers into believed that their role is simply a descriptive one rather than an analytical one. The author emphasizes that, "Your purpose is not only descriptive, but also critical; you need to understand (and clearly communicate in your proposal) what the problems (including ethical problems) have been [encountered] with previous research and theory" (p. 26).

Hand-written highlight: The current knowledge is not based in the library but in the invisible college of informal association among research workers. 27 The more researchers draw on their own personal experiences, education and training in applying qualitative research methods, the more likely they will achieve valid, reliable and trustworthy results that are informed by real-world experiences and empirical observations. Key highlights cited: Separating research from other aspects of your life cuts you off from a major source of insights, hypotheses, and validity checks.

Although subjectivity can be adversely affected by drawing on these personal experiences and observations, the failure to do so means that the research will not be as robust and the findings that emerge will be a regurgitation of previous findings rather than a critical analysis of these findings and how they apply to the current study. There cannot in principle be a "God's eye" view that is completely free of subjectivity (in other words, all exegesis involves some eisegesis.

The quality of the addition of empirical observations and personal and professional experiences is related to the scope and extent of personal experience. 33 The use of existing theory in qualitative research has advantages and disadvantages as set forth below. Advantages: Theory as coat closet: A useful high-level theory provides a framework for making sense of what you see. Theory as spotlight: A useful theory illuminates what you are seeing in your research.

It draws your attention to particular events or phenomena and sheds light on relationships that might go otherwise unnoticed or be misunderstood. 37-41 A conceptual map can be a useful tool for depicting the relationship between the various elements in a study. The author cites two main reasons for using concept maps: To pull together, and make visible, what your implicit theory actually is, or to clarify an existing theory; and, To develop theory.

Concept maps can show you unexpected connections or identify holes or contradictions in your theory, and help you to figure out ways to resolve the latter. Developing concept maps is an iterative process that builds on what is learned as the research.