In order to shed some preliminary light on the problem being investigated two female freshman students having come from an all girls' school high school environment were selected for observation and interviewing. On the basis of the data retrieved from this preliminary step the research investigator will form a focus group of 10 similar situational freshman students for an in-depth qualitative assessment and analysis. The interview questions and observation format used for the preliminary sample will be applied to the focus group as well. As such compliance to the principle of standardization of data being retrieved will be maintained as well as its integrity. Guiding Interview Questions. The uniqueness of qualitative research endeavors lies in the accepted principle that interviews can be expanded upon so long as the bottom line intent remains the same, namely uniform data in support of the research question. In order to garner the necessary information from the two (2) sample and the focus group participants the following sample questions will be presented:

How large was your all girls' high school?

How large is your co-educational college?

What was the general size of your high school classes?

What is the general size of your freshman college students?

Do you have any college classes that are all female?

Do you reside in a co-educational dormitory or all female dormitory?

Do you reside off campus and share housing with other females?

Did you date in high school?

Are you dating in college?

Did you have many friends in high school?

Do you have many friends in college?

Of you high school friends were any of them males?

Of you college friends are many of them males?

Did you date in high school?

Are you dating in college?

Was your first friend in college male of female?

When offered a choice in...

The list above, therefore, is simply to be used as a guide to the final questions being assembled for the focus group situation.
Self-Reflection

The art of self-reflection is part and parcel of qualitative research. Self-reflection is, by all measures, one's ability to know what one has learned from the expressions of others. For this research investigator I am the research instrument charged with the task of evaluating a very subjective topic, namely, the expressed feeling of others who have been placed in a situation that might possibly, or possibly not, cause possibly cause feelings of social inadequacy, personal anxiety and frustration, and even depression. Therefore, conducting the qualitative research study in the area of female high school students from an all female high school entering a co-educational college provides a means whereby needed information can be garnered with respect to that which cannot be measured numerically, namely, expression, body language, language tone, and hope.

As a socio-metric approach is being implemented for the proposed study this researcher is able to reflect upon their own social interaction situations wherein many of the same feelings were held as those of the participants. As such those who participated in the study have generated a great deal of understanding for this researcher. Further, involvement in the study has shown this investigative researcher the value of a quality response that cannot necessarily be quantified and reduced to a mathematical or statistical coefficient.