How do we know what problems are worth investigating?

Qualitative Research7900Weekend One SundaySt. John’s University

Oakdale CampusAnne H. Smith, Ed.D.

Portfolio

• Annehessionsmith.com

Course AgendaKeep the Focus on the Goals!

Overarching Goals:

• Problem Statement• Drive Literature Review• Drives Methods• Drives Theoretical Framework

• 9:00 – 10:15 Work session• Share out “rapid fire” two other qualitative

articles so far• 10:30 Chapter 2 presentation• 10:45 – 11:15 Input• 11:15 – 12:15 Work and create “poster” and

conference with me• 12:15 – 1:00 Share “poster” so far

Problem Statement P. 35 Leedy

• Clear Statement of a Problem for Research• Complete, clear, open-minded• Does the answer to your statement have the potential

for providing important an useful answers or information

• Will the result be more than a simple gathering, answering a yes/no question, or making a simple comparison?

• Is it really what you want to investigate?• Will need many iterations

If you can draw it you can write it

• Take time to draw your questions or ideas about what you are investigating

• What is it you are seeking to learn more about?

• What is the research starting to say might be going on in the field that you will shed more light on by exploring the nature of the problem or ideas about the problem?

Practice QuestionHow does distributed leadership impact the

effectiveness of a PLC? (review)

Distributed Leadership

Professional Learning

Communities Improved Instructional

Practice

Formal and Informal

Leadership

Hord: PLCSpillane: D.LHargreaves: PLC, D.L.,S.L.., P. C.

Research and Problem

• The research on Distributed Leadership and the impact on the interactions and quality of interactions is documented in the literature by Spillane as a way to capture leadership practice among constituent groups. (Spillane)

• Hargreaves research on Sustainable Leadership (year) and Professional Capital (year) creates a context for studying the impact of leadership and culture.

• So, What’s the problem?

Practice Problem Statement

• If good learning comes from good teaching and the “collective” use of best practice develops the wider teaching practice (Hargreaves and Fullan), district level leaders need to leverage professional and understand the culture that nurtures effective uses of professional learning communities.(Hargreaves)

• What literature have you found to support the viability of your topic or question?

Chapter 2 B & B Presentation

• Research Design

Start with Chapter 3

• Close Read Chapter Three• Focus on the Process of Researching on your idea or

topic• Begin to draft a problem statement as you go along• Begin with the “giants” in your area of research, who

is the leading researcher or expert, think big then dig deeper

• Review Many: Select those that weave together to support your ideas or formation of the problem statement

• The formulation of the problem is more important than the solution (Einstein)

Review of the LiteratureYin Chapter 3

• A review of the literature should give some attention to how other researchers gathered data for similar research questions.

• Look at reports from research foundations.• Who on that board/or was commissioned to write the report is a

leading expert on your topic.• Your goal is to review and report in greater detail about a specific

array of previous studies directly related to your likely topic of study, method, and data source.

• Closely related or resemble your study, related to a loose end of another study

• Page 70 for sample and process example• Read Chapter 4 more thoroughly once this is complete• Glossary on Page 307 is helpful for proper terms

Methodology

• What do you propose to do in order to collect the data you need?

• Understand and discuss your role as researcher and possible impact on the data and the analysis of the data

Interviewing

• Interviewing is key to many forms of qualitative educational research; we interview respondents for oral histories, life histories, ethnographies, and case studies (see Tierney & Dilley, 2002, for an overview of interviewing in education).

Seidman• Meaning is not "just the facts," but rather the understandings one

has that are specific to the individual (what was said) yet transcendent of the specific (what is the relation between what was said, how it was said, what the listener was attempting to ask or hear, what the speaker was attempting to convey or say). Just as language signifies and is constituted by specifics and abstracts, so too does qualitative research—and interviewing in particular.

• There are skills—physical, social, mental, communicative—that embody the act of interviewing, but those alone will not determine answers to research questions. For such determinations, budding researchers must learn the skill of comprehension, the complex aptitude and competence of reflection and representation which are perhaps ultimately un-teachable by any method than trial and error.

Seidman• Researchers must ask themselves what they have learned from doing

the interviews, studying the transcripts, marking and labeling them, crafting profiles, and organizing categories of excerpts.

• What connective threads are there among the experiences of the participants they interviewed?

• How do they understand and explain these connections? • What do they understand now that they did not understand before they

began the interviews? • What surprises have there been? • What confirmations of previous instincts? • How have their interviews been consistent with the literature? • How inconsistent? • How have they gone beyond? (Seidman, 1998, pp. 110-111)

Draw It

• Using chart paper, draw your problem statement or some version of your ideas

• If you are familiar with Thinking Maps see if any work for you

• If not, just start and see what happens• Include your “giants” or the significant

researchers you have found influencing your ideas

• We will post and see what we see

Article Assignment Review

• Be sure to let me glance at your two articles today so you are ready to do the critiques

• I can give you another article if you need me to help you find one for the purposes of this assignment

• The goal is to practice reading peer reviewed research and find problems, questions, theoretical frameworks, methodology, findings

• Use the practice to think about your work

Work Session Continues

• Wrap up and share at 12:15 to plan for next session

• Be sure to find the major text, research, publications related to your topic

• Consider any Theoretical Frameworks you have learned about so far

• You will learn others in future courses• I will try to get at least one qualitative graduate

to come next session to share work

Weekend Two Agenda

• Refine Problem Statements• Research and Develop Review of the Literature• Develop ideas for methodology and rationale• Develop or begin to understand the role of the

Theoretical Framework• Share work• Outline the paper for Assignment Two• Hand in and email Assignment One by Sunday:

revisions if needed, I will help you• Remaining Chapters B & B

Between Sessions

• Email or call if you need me to review anything

• I will check email periodically• Office hours: Does anyone want to meet as a

group between sessions on a weekend or week night?

How do we know what problems are worth investigating?

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