...UNDERSTANDING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Qualitative research, also called interpretive research or field research, is a methodology that has been borrowed from disciplines like sociology and anthropology and adapted to educational settings. Qualitative researchers, as you already have learned, use the inductive method of reasoning and strongly believe that there are multiple perspectives to be uncovered. Qualitative researchers focus on the study of social phenomena and on giving voice to the feelings and perceptions of the participants under study. This is based on the belief that knowledge is derived from the social setting and that understanding social knowledge is a legitimate scientific process. The following are the key characteristics of qualitative research: • Studies are carried out in a naturalistic setting. • Researchers ask broad research questions designed to explore, interpret, or understand the social context. • Participants are selected through nonrandom methods based on whether the individuals have information vital to the questions being asked. • Data collection techniques involve observation and interviewing that bring the researcher in close contact with the participants. • The researcher is likely to take an interactive role where she or he gets to know the participants and the social context in which they live. • Hypotheses are formed afterthe researcher begins data collection and are modified throughout the study as new data are collected and analyzed...
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...University of British Columbia 2125 Main Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada Courier: 2034 Lower Mall Road University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 Canada Qualitative Approaches to Classroom Research 2 ABSTRACT This chapter provides an overview of recent qualitative research in classrooms examining English language learners (ELLs). I first present common features of qualitative research and review debates regarding research paradigms in the social sciences and humanities. I also discuss the role of triangulation and capturing participants’ insider or emic perspectives in qualitative research and highlight various data collection methods and ways of combining macro-level and micro-level analyses, particularly in ethnographic research. Ethical issues, difficulties obtaining informed consent in classroom research, and criteria for evaluating qualitative research are then considered. Three qualitative studies that have been deemed exemplary and meritorious by scholars in English language education are then presented and some common themes in current qualitative classroom research with ELLs are identified. The chapter concludes with directions for future qualitative research. Introduction Over the past 2 decades, research in language education, as in other academic disciplines, has witnessed a major shift in the types and methods of research that are accepted as valid, important, and useful. Whereas quantitative studies of a psychometric nature or...
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...3.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF HANDOVER Laxmisan et al (2007) conducted an ethnographic study involving analysis of emergency department handover in a US hospital. The study found that interruptions within the emergency department were prevalent and diverse in nature and that there were gaps in information flow due to multi-tasking and shift changes. The communication process is complex and cognitively taxing during and after team handover, that can compromise patient safety. The study also discusses the need to tailor generic electronic tools to support adaptive processes like multi-tasking and handoffs in time constrained environments. Arora et al (2005) conducted interviews using the critical incident technique to handover failures between inpatient physicians in a US hospital. The study interviewed 26 interns and found 25 discrete incidents. The 21 worst events are described. Omitted contents and failure prone communication processes were identified as a major category of failure in communication. These may result in inefficient or sub-optimal care, leading to patient harm....
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...BANKING STRATEGIES Case Study: Product Innovation at Bank of America By Cindy Murray What financial institutions can learn from inventions and innovations in other industries. owhere is innovation more essential to survival than in the banking industry. In the payments domain, for example, nonbank competitors less constrained by bank regulations and therefore more agile are changing the banking industry’s grip on the public perception of banks as the only trusted brand for holding and moving money. However, innovation is challenging for banks. Many products, like payments, are a commodity. A vast number of products and a complex infrastructure require continual upgrades to keep apace with technology advancements and comply with evolving regulations and security requirements. This article describes how Bank of America fosters a culture of innovation. Pivotal to an innovative culture is the direct engagement of clients in the innovation process. We highlight some of the ways that Bank of America achieves this. But first we’ll look at the role of innovation process in building brand loyalty. N Build Brand Equity Through Progressive Transformation Change can occur by redefining a problem or redefining a solution. According to Robert Sternberg, a leading creativity expert,1 creativity is the ability to redefine a problem. Innovation can be viewed as the ability to redefine a solution. Successful innovation is a process over time—one that typically happens in increments rather...
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...Brief Summary The article “Rethink the Hawthorne Studies: The Western Electric research in its social, political and historical context. Human Relations” attempted to provide an insight about the Hawthorne study conducted to provide an investigation of organisational history for a company named as “Western Electric”. The article primary objective was to understand organisational behavior within range of social, political and historical factors and to address question around identifying the kind of enterprise was Western Electric (Hassad, 2012). The study was conducted at Western Electric's factory at Hawthorne during the period of late 1920s and early 1930s. There were primary study conducted around the two case studies, and was conducted by Elton Mayo, a Harvard professor of industrial research along with fellow researchers. The two cases were related to neglecting the corporate and cultural context respectively and were reviewed in this article while the first one evolve around welfare capitalism and the another one was about Eastland disaster and to understand the impact of both cases from perspective of social organisation and communal experiences. The article also evaluates the viewpoint of other scholars and historical sources to determine the credentials of the findings (Hassad, 2012). What is the Problem? There were primarily two problems were tried to addressed through this article. The first one is related to the neglected corporate context where the Western Electric’s...
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...Research Method Hypothesis and Theory Hypotheses can be developed and tested to recognize the relationships between categories. Silverman (1991:1) defined hypothesis as a ‘testable proposition’. The appearance of an apparent relationship or connection between categories will need to be tested in order to find out whether there is an actual relationship (Saunders, 1997:344). The importance of hypothesis is that it will bring a specific direction and focus to a research study. The theory on the other hand, is usually drawn from the hypothesis. Theories are usually generated from attempts at explaining observations and thus prediction or expectations can be made (Gill, 1991:25). Deduction and Induction There are two methods of establishing what is true or false and of drawing conclusion. These two methods are deduction and induction. Induction is made by empirical evidence based, while deduction is logic based. Through induction, a general conclusion can be made from empirical observation. It goes by the process of assumption to conclusion (Ghauri, 1995:8). From deduction, conclusions are draw through logical reasoning and it is not necessary to be reality. When an observation is made to generate a theory with consistent facts, it is called induction, on the contrary deduction involves the gathering of facts to confirm or disprove hypothesized relationships among variables that have been deduced from proposition or earlier theories (Ghauri, 1995:9). Research method and methodology ...
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...Summary At the last half of the nineteenth century the social sciences such as anthropology, economics, psychology and sociology have emerged and the grew in influence, and the public administration was one of these sciences. Due to the huge impact of these disciplines, research methods has developed. Some of these methods included quantitative ways of analyzing data, while other methods used different ways of qualitative approaches in analyzing the data. A lot of questions were placed about the nature of the public administration science, and if it should be treated as an administrative science or should it be considered a social science. The answer of these questions is critical because it's affecting the research. Researchers have been going back and forth since then arguing about the appropriate method to use in research. Is it the quantitative or the qualitative approaches that would be more suitable for a proper approach. The early researchers agreed that the qualitative methods was the right way to conduct research. However, other researchers were not comfortable with that method and stated that the quantitative ways can not answer a lot of human problems facing the public administrators. Thus, they concluded that more illustrative approach is needed, and these approaches require the use of many different qualitative methods in research. Research is based on a solid foundation of philosophy, practical experience, cultural characteristics, and social...
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...Vietnam National University -HCMC International University School of Business Qualitative vs. Quantitative methods – Lê Hoàng Dũng, PhD DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESEARCH Exploratory Descriptive - Undertaken when few or no previous studies exist - Aim: to look for patterns, hypotheses or ideas that can be tested and will form the basis for further research - Typical techniques: observation case studies & reviews of previous related studies & data. - Used to identify and classify the elements or characteristics of the subject, - E.g. number of days lost because of industrial action. - Typical techniques: quantitative (used to collect, analyze & summarize data) Analytical Predictive - Often extends the descriptive approach to suggest or explain why or how sth. is happening - Aim: to speculate intelligently on future possibilities, based on close analysis of available evidence of cause & effect - E.g. predicting when and where future industrial action might take place - E.g. underlying causes of industrial action. - Important Feature: locate and identify the different factors (or variables) involved 10/8/2014 LHD-BRM-S6 2 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Nature: exploratory used when we don’t know what to expect, to define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. used to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances related to the problem at hand seeks to determine the causes of human behaviors E.g. • life choices which result in shortened...
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...Your book review assignment is to 1) read Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s ethnography, Labor and Legality, and 2) write a book review by 11am, November 3rd. 1. The point of a review is to take a position with respect to the book and to present a cogent, all-argued paper. Depth, originality and critical thinking in your arguments will be important part of grading. You should use concepts we have been discussing in class (structural violence, colonialism, etc.) to guide your argument. However, the concept of the paper is open-ended. Please develop your thoughts based on the book Labor and Legality. 1. A quality paper will have a strong analysis that draws from concepts learned from the book and also from class. Your arguments should be supported by proper evidence from the book. In other words, your thoughts must be fully engaged with the reading. Thus, proper citations, a clear structure, and also format requirements listed below would be important. 1. Format requirement. 1) Your review should be 3-5 pages (with a separate references cited page), which is a small adjustment from the syllabus. You will still need to use 1-inch margins, double-spaced, 12-point font. 2) Please review the section of the syllabus labeled “2” under “expectations” for information on academic integrity. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Use in-text citations per the Chicago Style Manual when directly quoting or paraphrasing an author and make sure to include a “works cited” section. If there is any...
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...Primary research is any type of research that you go out and collect yourself. Examples include surveys, interviews, observations, and ethnographic research. A good researcher knows how to use both primary and secondary sources in her writing and to integrate them in a cohesive fashion. Advantages * 1) Targeted Issues are addressed. The organization asking for the research has the complete control on the process and the research is streamlines as far as its objectives and scope is concerned. Researching company can be asked to concentrate their efforts to find data regarding specific market rather than concentration on mass market. 2) Data interpretation is better. The collected data can be examined and interpreted by the marketers depending on their needs rather than relying on the interpretation made by collectors of secondary data. 3) Recency of Data. Usually secondary data is not so recent and it may not be specific to the place or situation marketer is targeting. The researcher can use the irrelevant seeming information for knowing trends or may be able to find some relation with the current scenario. Thus primary data becomes a more accurate tool since we can use data which is useful for us. 4) Proprietary Issues. Collector of primary data is the owner of that information and he need not share it with other companies and competitors. This gives an edge over competitors replying on secondary data. Disadvantages * 1) High Cost. Collecting data using primary...
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...Case Study: Bank Of America How it learned that what customers really want is to Keep the Change THE PROBLEM Innovation in services is rare. In financial services, the last big breakthrough was online banking, nearly a decade ago. In October, 2005, Bank of America (BAC ) brought out a radically different product that broke the paradigm. It's called Keep the Change.The cocept solves a critical banking problem -- how to get consumers to open new accounts. The product works like this: Every time you buy something with a BofA Visa debit card, the bank rounds up your purchase to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference from your checking into your savings account. It also matches 100% of transfers for the first three months, and 5% of the annual total, up to $250 a year. Since the launch, 2.5 million customers have signed up for Keep the Change. Over 700,000 have opened new checking accounts and 1 million have signed on for new savings accounts. THE RESEARCH How did Bank of America create Keep the Change? In the spring of 2004, it hired an innovation and design research firm in Palo Alto, Calif., to help conceive of and conduct ethnographic research on boomer-age women with children. The goal was to discover how to get this consumer segment to open new checking and savings accounts. For the next two months, a team of five BofA researchers and four researchers from a West Coast consulting firm visited Atlanta, Baltimore, and San Francisco. They observed a dozen...
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...Evidence Based Practice Task 1 Western Governors University Evidence Based Practice and Applied Nursing Research The nursing topic of interest is bedside handover, which is the concept of conducting shift handover at the patient’s bed instead of doing it at the front desk. Part A The article being analysed is: Tobiano, G., Chaboyer, W. & Murray, A. (2012). Family Members’ Perceptions of the Nursing Bedside Handover. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22, 192-200. The analysis of the primary research report is done in the form of a graph (figure 1). Each of the four analysis areas is rated within a scale of 1-10; 1 denotes extremely weak while 10 denotes very strong. Table 1 then gives justifications for the rating by explaining why each area of analysis was rated that way in the analysis chart. [pic] Figure 1 Table 1 |A1 Article: Tobiano, G., Chaboyer, W. & Murray, A. (2012). Family Members’ Perceptions of the Nursing Bedside Handover. Journal | |of Clinical Nursing, 22, 192-200. | |A2 Background or introduction |The researchers provided an in depth introduction of the research topic outlining | | |important issues, previous research on the topic and their findings. The introduction | | ...
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...education with the development of the regional economy. This problem can be solved by ecotourism as the rapidly developing service. Tourism – one of the sectors of the economy, particularly useful for people. It enables a person to relax, satisfy their natural need and it does not lead to the depletion of natural resources. Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people. [3] Ecotourism – tourism, including travel to places with relatively untouched nature, in order to get an idea of natural, cultural and ethnographic features of the area that does not affect the integrity of the ecosystem and create an economic environment in which the conservation of nature and natural resources is profitable for local people. [4] There is the law of the Russian Federation, which regulates the tourism activities. In this case, from the point of view, tourism is a business that allows you to adjust revenues to the regional budget. [5]...
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...Tashiana Hill Tmh2012@yahoo.com Social Psychology PSYC321 Social Psychology of Nightclubs The Locker Room For my observation for this project I chose to observe a nightclub, called The Locker Room. This club is located in Marietta, Ohio. I recently visited Ohio Valley University, which is a college I attended last year and this is a club we would go to on the weekends. Being from PG County, Maryland and going to this club in Ohio was a different scene. Nightclubs in general are a universal part of my generation and also culture. Nightclubs are social venues and attract all genders, races, and ethnicities. Nightclubs are a place where you can meet friends or make friends, a place where you could dance, a place where you could enjoy the newest and hottest music. For some nightclubs are where they meet prospective dates, and nightclubs are aware of this, which is why they keep it all in mind when they are being designed. I have two goals for this observation my first goal is to see how the club goers interact with one another, which gender approaches the other more often? Also does the race of an individual play a role in how other interact with them? Second, I hope to investigate how club employees interact and treat the club goers, again based on race and gender. In this observation I hope to reveal hoe club goers interact and are treated while in nightclubs. I have three Research questions I posed during this observation. Does the gender of the individual have any...
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...phenomena. This is a key element of all research, be it quantitative or qualitative. When we set out to do some research, we are always looking to explain something. In education, this could be questions like ‘why do teachers leave teaching?’, ‘what factors influence pupil achievement?’, and so on. The specificity of quantitative research lies in the next part of the definition. In quantitative research, we collect numerical data. This is closely connected to the final part of the definition: analysis using mathematically 1 8725 AR.qxd 25/08/2010 16:36 Page 2 2 DOING QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IN EDUCATION WITH SPSS based methods. In order to be able to use mathematically based methods, our data have to be in numerical form. This is not the case for qualitative research....
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