IDSL 840

Unit 2
Assignment 1
Directions:
Read the material in the Merriam text pages 21-38 and answer
the following questions below. Save the questions and answers and
upload them into Blackboard. After the homework has been
uploaded, respond to the discussion question for the week.
Assessment/Homework from Merriam:
The approaches or research strategies used in qualitative
research are numerous ranging from a low of four to high of 45.
Thankfully, Merriam has grouped the qualitative research strategies
or approaches into six common categories. Read the material from
the Merriam text in Chapter 2 related to these six approaches and
answer the following questions.
1. Basic Qualitative Research
A. Define the term: Basic Qualitative Research as described by
the author.
Basic qualitative research is research that satisfies the researchers
need to know and understand, and does not include the additional
dimensions of more in-depth forms of qualitative research.
B. Basic qualitative research is considered interpretive. Explain
why.
Initially, according to Merriam, a researcher is interested in how
people interpret their experiences and what meaning they attribute to
their experiences.
C. How is the term, Constructionism related to this approach?
According to Merriam, a central characteristic of qualitative research

is that individuals construct reality as they interact in their social

worlds. A researcher is interested in understanding this
phenomenon, but the meaning is constructed, not discovered.
D. Describe the tools used in Basic Qualitative Research?
In addition to the researcher having an inquiring mind about the
study, the way people interpret their experiences, the way they
construct their worlds, and the meaning they attribute to their
experiences are all evaluated in a basic study.
2.

Phenomenology
A. Define the term: Phenomenology.
Phenomenology is the lived experience, a focus on the experience
itself and how experiencing something is transformed into
consciousness.
B. What must a phenomenological interviewer do before
conducting an interview with a person who has experienced a
phenomenon which is the focus of the research?
First an interviewer must develop epoche by first examining his/her
own experiences to become aware of any pre-conceived judgments,
assumptions or viewpoints.
C. Define the word Epoche. Why is this term important?
Epoche is a Greek word meaning to refrain from judgment and set
aside ones own beliefs, and it is important for an interviewer to adopt
before embarking on research and effecting the outcomes with
his/her personal beliefs.
D. What does it mean to bracket our prejudices and
assumptions?
Bracketing means to set aside our own beliefs and assumptions
about a phenomenon so that we can review a subjects experience

and data without interfering with or intuiting the elements or

structure of the phenomenon.
E. What is meant by phenomenological reduction,
horizontalization, imaginative variation, and essential invariant
structure?
Phenomenological reduction is continually returning to the essence
to derive the inner structure or meaning in and of itself.
Horizontalization is laying out all of the data for examination with
everything having equal value at the initial data analysis stage.
Essential invariant structure is a composite description that
presents the essence of the phenomenon.
3.

Ethnography
A. Describe the term ethnography and provide an example of an
ethnographic study.

Ethnography is both a process and a product, and focuses on human

society and culture. An example would be a study of where African
American babies sleep per concerns of their mothers that sleep
locations effect their babies health and safety.

B. Define the term Culture.

Culture is defined as the beliefs, values and attitudes that structure
the belief patterns of a specific group of people.

C. How is Thick Description used? Create a short example of a

thick description that could be used or generated from qualitative
research.

Thick description is immersive, providing vivid detail of

experiences to provide the reader a context of the experience.
An example Merriam uses is the description of the study of a Hmong
child in the U.S. whose medical condition brought about a collision of
two nations medical views of healing.

4.

Grounded Theory
A. Define the term: Grounded Theory.

Introduced in 1967 by Glaser and Strauss, grounded theory seeks to

inductively derive meaning from the data.

B. The end result of grounded theory is a ________________

THEORY that is grounded in the data.

C. Is grounded theory is based on deduction or induction? Why?

Grounded theory is based on induction. This inductive comparative
nature provides a systematic structure for analyzing any data set.

D. Describe the term theoretical sampling. Why is this concept

important?
The researcher collects codes and analyzes data in order to decide
what to collect next. This helps to develop theory as it emerges.

E. Describe the process of constant comparison and its value to

grounded theory.
The researcher compares one segment of data with another in order
to identify patterns in the data.

F. How are core categories determined?

A core category is the main conceptual element through which all of
the other categories and properties are connected.

5.

Narrative Analysis
A. Define the term: Narrative Analysis.

Narrative Analysis is the use of stories, particularly first person

accounts having a beginning, middle and end, as data.

B. What factors are important in conducting discourse analysis?

Discourse analysis is a linguistic approach that focuses on the
language of the story of the spoken text with attention to the
speakers intonation, pitch, and pauses.

C. What cautions should be heeded when retelling stories, in

terms of validity and reliability?

The researcher must make sure of trustworthy narrative in terms of

validity and reliability.

6.

Critical Research
A. Define the term: Critical Research.

Critical research seeks to study and understand society while at the

same time critiquing and changing society.

B. What is the goal of critical inquiry research?

Critical inquiry research seeks to critique and challenge, transform
and empower.

C. What type of social questions could a critical researcher ask in

a community college system?
Examples of questions could be: What shapes the educational
practice at this institution? Who has power, how it is negotiated, and
what structures reinforce the current distribution of power?

D. Define PAR.
Participatory research action (PAR) provides the political
empowerment of people by involving them in the design and
implementation of a research project.

7.

Use your work group, these will be assigned to you; (3) three or
(4)four people should be in a group within Blackboard for this
unit, and locate (3) three examples of community college or
educational research that could accurately be classified under
each of the six qualitative research strategies. Work together as
a team and report the: tile of study, author, and URL under the six
strategies. One source of community college research is listed at
the end of this unit. Use APA to cite the references.

A. Basic Qualitative Research example:

B. Phenomenology Research example:
(Contributed by team member Veronica Wilkerson Johnson)
1. Messing, J. (2005). From the child's perspective: a qualitative
analysis of kinship care placements. National Abandoned
Infants Assistance Resource Center, University of California at
Berkeley.
2. Owens, Karen R., Community college transfer students
experiences of the adjustment process to a four year institution: A
qualitative analysis (2007). Graduate School of Theses and
Dissertations.
Lampkin, C. (2012). Insights and spending habits of modern
grandparents: Telephone survey data collected by Woelfi Research,
Inc. In-depth interviews conducted by Alan Newman Research. In
AARP Research and Strategic Analysis. Washington, D.C.
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21053702. Last retrieved 328-13.
C. Ethnography Research example:
(Contributed by Veronica Wilkerson Johnson)
1. Joyner, B, Oden, R., Ajao, T, Moon, R. (2010) Where should my
baby sleep: qualitative study of African American infant sleep location
decisions. In Journal of National Medicine Association. Vol. 102, No.

10, October 2010, pgs. 881-889.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21053702. Last retrieved 3-2813.
D. Grounded Theory Research example:
E. Narrative Analysis Research example:
F. Critical Research example