The last couple of weeks have been exciting as I have been uncovering more and more what it means to be a qualitative researcher. I realized that coming into the class I still had the vision of the researcher always trying to be an outside observer, but with various class discussions I have come to realize that with qualitative research, the researcher is able to define their role. The concept of qualitative researchers trying to make sure their participants benefit from their studies has really opened my eyes to view the whole process differently.
This week I checked out a copy of Berta Pérez's Becoming Biliterate from the library - the book that made me realize a few years back that I was not ready to leave the classroom in quest of a doctoral degree yet, that I wanted to have the opportunity to teach in a dual immersion school. It was fascinating to reread about her process as a researcher and her methodology now that I have been studying about the topics and better understand those aspects. I started a document to record the ideas that I notice in different research studies. I also revisited a couple of articles that stood out to me and plan to reread Kim Potowski's Language and Identity in a Dual Immersion School sometime soon. I would have looked at it this weekend, but it was at the school.
Once again dissertation ideas are swirling around in my mind, and I am excited about the possibilities but still unsure about all the logistics, which is only natural since it is still early on in the process. I still catch myself wanting to do longer-term studies, so I will have to really make sure to put a limit on what I do for my dissertation. Yet, one of my professors talked about how her dissertation led into a longer study, as she continued to follow her participants. I have been considering how that might work for one of the topics that I have been thinking about the most lately.
For now one of my biggest questions is, out of all of the exciting areas to research, how do researchers decide on their topics? My multiple writer's notebook entries and Word documents with different ideas for research are a testament to the many different directions and angles that I could look at the topics that interest me. It will be a fun journey to see where my research leads me.
Showing posts with label researcher reflexivity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label researcher reflexivity. Show all posts
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Researcher Reflexivity #2
This week I continued to think about the roles of researchers. The same questions that I was pondering last Sunday were some of the key discussion points brought up in class by others, and it was interesting to hear others' opinions, as well as our professors thoughts on the topic. One suggestion from my professor was for researchers to remember their purpose at the onset of the research. A potential scenario is that researchers often notice multiple trends, some negative, others positive. The researcher can decide to not pursue the negative aspects, especially if the negative aspects were not the initial purpose for the research. I loved this idea, and with each discussion I have a better sense of ethical issues.
Yet, I know that there is still so much to consider about these ethical research questions that come up, and our classroom discussion was not enough to answer every scenario. As I was doing the readings for this week, Shulman (1990) was questioning who her "clients" were when pondering where her loyalties should lie - whether it was the research participants or consumers of research.
Then at the end of Friday Night Lights, a book that I chose as one of our novel options, H.G. Bissinger also broached the subject of the controversy surrounding the way he represented the community of Odessa in relation to football in his book. He said, "When I first arrived in Odessa, I anticipated a book very much in the tradition of the film, Hoosiers, a portrait of the way in which high school sports can bring a community together. There were elements of that bond in Odessa, and they were reflected in the book. But along the way some other things happened--the most ugly racism I have ever encountered, utterly misplaced educational priorities, a town that wasn't bad or evil but had lost any ability to judge itself. It would have been a journalistic disgrace to ignore these elements" (pp. 353-354). It would not have been the same book if Bissinger only showed the glowing aspects of Odessa football. Instead he showed various angles.
Again and again, throughout my readings and reflections this week I have been going back to my professor's comment in class about the importance of keeping purpose in sharp focus. Based on the first weeks of class it is apparent the questions that have been at the forefront of my mind will not be easily answered. I will continue to pay attention to how researchers deal with this through course readings, class discussions, and interactions with researchers.
Bissinger, H.G. (1990). Friday night lights. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Shulman, J.H. (1990). Now you see them, now you don't: Anonymity versus visibility in case studies of teachers. Educational Researcher, 19(6), 11-15.
Yet, I know that there is still so much to consider about these ethical research questions that come up, and our classroom discussion was not enough to answer every scenario. As I was doing the readings for this week, Shulman (1990) was questioning who her "clients" were when pondering where her loyalties should lie - whether it was the research participants or consumers of research.
Then at the end of Friday Night Lights, a book that I chose as one of our novel options, H.G. Bissinger also broached the subject of the controversy surrounding the way he represented the community of Odessa in relation to football in his book. He said, "When I first arrived in Odessa, I anticipated a book very much in the tradition of the film, Hoosiers, a portrait of the way in which high school sports can bring a community together. There were elements of that bond in Odessa, and they were reflected in the book. But along the way some other things happened--the most ugly racism I have ever encountered, utterly misplaced educational priorities, a town that wasn't bad or evil but had lost any ability to judge itself. It would have been a journalistic disgrace to ignore these elements" (pp. 353-354). It would not have been the same book if Bissinger only showed the glowing aspects of Odessa football. Instead he showed various angles.
Again and again, throughout my readings and reflections this week I have been going back to my professor's comment in class about the importance of keeping purpose in sharp focus. Based on the first weeks of class it is apparent the questions that have been at the forefront of my mind will not be easily answered. I will continue to pay attention to how researchers deal with this through course readings, class discussions, and interactions with researchers.
Bissinger, H.G. (1990). Friday night lights. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Shulman, J.H. (1990). Now you see them, now you don't: Anonymity versus visibility in case studies of teachers. Educational Researcher, 19(6), 11-15.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Researcher Reflexivity Introduction and Entry 1
Reflexivity Introduction:
For my qualitative research course we have an optional assignment of keeping a researcher reflexivity journal. I decided to start recording my emerging thoughts about myself as a researcher as blog posts. One of our first assignments was to reflect on who we are as researchers, and as far as formal research goes, I am a novice. My master's program focused on a literature review, rather than conducting research. In my undergraduate I did a few projects that incorporated research, but I had not had research courses, so they would not be considered up to standard. In my classroom, I constantly have an itch (or typically itches) that I am scratching. My blog has been an integral part in the last couple of years of teaching to record my thoughts and reflect. That is why I thought it would be appropriate to consider thinking about this new phase in my professional development here.
My summer research class focuses on the continuum of research methods. It was a great introduction, but within the first couple weeks of my class focusing solely on qualitative research, I realized that the summer course truly just scratched the surface. There is still so much to learn, and as with anything in education, I know that most of my in-depth understanding will come from practice. I am looking forward to an assignment that my two fall professors have collaborated on for our classes, where we meet with a superintendent for dinner on a Sunday evening and then visit the district's schools all day on Monday. We will have opportunities to observe and conduct interviews. Prior to that assignment we will conduct a practice interview with a university faculty member about their research. I already know who I am going to interview and have been having fun thinking of some questions.
Reflexivity Entry 1:
Right now I am most concerned with the topic of my research for these fall classes. Potential dissertation topics have also been flowing through my mind for quite some time as well. When I am reading different research examples I have learned to keep a pen close by in order to record my ideas. I started this back in the summer, and I have many writer's notebook entries about possibilities. I have discovered that it is easy to get me excited about potential areas to explore, yet I am still unsure of knowing when it is a "good" topic or not. The areas that interest me the most are language, literacy, technology, professional development for teachers, and teacher philosophies.
At our last class meeting, about two weeks ago (we had last week off since it was a holiday), our professor talked about how she likes to make sure that her participants benefit from the research that she conducts. I had never really thought about this before, thinking more about potential contributions to the field without really thinking about a direct impact on the participants. The reason why this had not occurred to me is because I always think about the researcher as trying to blend in and not interfere with what is happening in the context. However, I like the concept of participants benefiting, so I am paying attention to exactly how this happens.
With my readings for tomorrow's class, I was thinking about how this seems to mean that in order to benefit participants researchers must go in ready to learn from participants and highlight what is going well/the participants' expertise. I am really grappling with how it seems like in this scenario that it would be hard to point out deficiencies. Yet, research also needs to be honest. The researcher would need to be forthright about whatever observations he/she ends up having. It seems like this will be a delicate area that is personal to each researcher - trying to honor their participants, while also contributing to the field in a forthright manner. Ideally, the observations will point toward findings that portray the participant(s) in a glowing manner. That would be the easy part. On the other hand, it would be awkward if the practices observed point toward a lack of awareness or support in the area of research.
Since I will be reading like a writer as I plunge into this new genre, I will be paying attention to these two main areas that I have been wondering about - topic selection and researcher-participant relationships. In future posts I will continue to reflect on how these questions are clarified, as well as about some of the other components of qualitative research.
For my qualitative research course we have an optional assignment of keeping a researcher reflexivity journal. I decided to start recording my emerging thoughts about myself as a researcher as blog posts. One of our first assignments was to reflect on who we are as researchers, and as far as formal research goes, I am a novice. My master's program focused on a literature review, rather than conducting research. In my undergraduate I did a few projects that incorporated research, but I had not had research courses, so they would not be considered up to standard. In my classroom, I constantly have an itch (or typically itches) that I am scratching. My blog has been an integral part in the last couple of years of teaching to record my thoughts and reflect. That is why I thought it would be appropriate to consider thinking about this new phase in my professional development here.
My summer research class focuses on the continuum of research methods. It was a great introduction, but within the first couple weeks of my class focusing solely on qualitative research, I realized that the summer course truly just scratched the surface. There is still so much to learn, and as with anything in education, I know that most of my in-depth understanding will come from practice. I am looking forward to an assignment that my two fall professors have collaborated on for our classes, where we meet with a superintendent for dinner on a Sunday evening and then visit the district's schools all day on Monday. We will have opportunities to observe and conduct interviews. Prior to that assignment we will conduct a practice interview with a university faculty member about their research. I already know who I am going to interview and have been having fun thinking of some questions.
Reflexivity Entry 1:
Right now I am most concerned with the topic of my research for these fall classes. Potential dissertation topics have also been flowing through my mind for quite some time as well. When I am reading different research examples I have learned to keep a pen close by in order to record my ideas. I started this back in the summer, and I have many writer's notebook entries about possibilities. I have discovered that it is easy to get me excited about potential areas to explore, yet I am still unsure of knowing when it is a "good" topic or not. The areas that interest me the most are language, literacy, technology, professional development for teachers, and teacher philosophies.
At our last class meeting, about two weeks ago (we had last week off since it was a holiday), our professor talked about how she likes to make sure that her participants benefit from the research that she conducts. I had never really thought about this before, thinking more about potential contributions to the field without really thinking about a direct impact on the participants. The reason why this had not occurred to me is because I always think about the researcher as trying to blend in and not interfere with what is happening in the context. However, I like the concept of participants benefiting, so I am paying attention to exactly how this happens.
With my readings for tomorrow's class, I was thinking about how this seems to mean that in order to benefit participants researchers must go in ready to learn from participants and highlight what is going well/the participants' expertise. I am really grappling with how it seems like in this scenario that it would be hard to point out deficiencies. Yet, research also needs to be honest. The researcher would need to be forthright about whatever observations he/she ends up having. It seems like this will be a delicate area that is personal to each researcher - trying to honor their participants, while also contributing to the field in a forthright manner. Ideally, the observations will point toward findings that portray the participant(s) in a glowing manner. That would be the easy part. On the other hand, it would be awkward if the practices observed point toward a lack of awareness or support in the area of research.
Since I will be reading like a writer as I plunge into this new genre, I will be paying attention to these two main areas that I have been wondering about - topic selection and researcher-participant relationships. In future posts I will continue to reflect on how these questions are clarified, as well as about some of the other components of qualitative research.
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