Teaching computer-assisted qualitative data analysis to a large cohort of undergraduate students

Qualitative research is increasingly being conducted with the support of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), yet limited research has been conducted on integrating the teaching of CAQDAS packages within qualitative methods university courses. Existing research typically focuses on teaching NVivo to small groups of postgraduate (primarily doctoral) students and mostly take the form of reflections of the trainers. In 2011, we implemented the teaching and use of a CAQDAS package, NVivo, within a large third-year undergraduate psychology research methods unit. Sixty-seven students participated in an online survey evaluating the use of NVivo in the unit. In this paper, we present quantitative and qualitative findings related to students' perceptions of the resources provided, their confidence in using NVivo, their satisfaction with the teaching and their intentions to use CAQDAS in the future. Student evaluations were generally positive, but highlighted the need for both increased class time and greater access to the CAQDAS program outside of class time to enhance opportunities for learning.     

混合方法研究:美国教育研究中的新范式

混合方法研究是指研究者在同一研究中综合调配或混合定量研究和质性研究的技术、方法、手段、概念或语言的研究类别。它是在美国质性、定量两种研究方法范式的争论中产生的。其理论基础是实用主义和系统哲学。混合方法研究程序设计包括确定研究问题、确定研究目的、选择研究方法、收集资料、分析资料、解释资料、使数据合法化、得出结论并撰写最终报告等步骤。其突出优势是在研究中能增加交叉性优势,压缩非重叠性弱势,提高研究的效度与信度。     

Writes of passage: writing up qualitative data as a threshold concept in doctoral research

Effective writing is an essential skill for all doctoral students, yet it is one that receives relatively little attention in training and supervision. This article explores extensive feedback from participants in a series of workshops for doctoral candidates engaged with writing up qualitative data. The themes arising from the data analysis are discussed in terms of the affective domain of writing, and the main claim is that writing up qualitative data has been identified as what Meyer and Land would call a threshold concept for doctoral candidates employing qualitative analysis. Drawing on Turner's notion of liminality, the article concludes that interdisciplinary workshops can be instrumental in helping doctoral candidates understand the role of writing, and of writing up qualitative data in particular, in their development into independent, autonomous researchers.     

《质的研究及其设计》:院校研究应读的一本好书

《质的研究及其设计》是质的研究中十分重要的一本著作,从研究方法的角度看,对院校研究的开展亦很有助益。院校研究中,定量研究是长期、普遍甚或主要的方法,质的研究则可以其独特的优势弥补定量研究的局限,成为院校研究的重要方法。质的研究在文献综述、问题陈述、材料收集等方面为院校研究提供了诸多启示,其五种研究传统皆可成为院校研究的具体方法。运用质的研究方法,将为院校研究开辟一个新的天地。     

Putting threshold concepts to work in health sciences: insights for curriculum design from a qualitative research synthesis

The idea of threshold concepts (TC) has been well received across the higher education community. However the concept’s framework is still evolving and the literature uses the framework in different ways. Just over a decade since the idea first captured interest, it is opportune to explore the nature of that discourse, and the kinds of enquiry undertaken to date. This article reports on a qualitative synthesis that analyses published research on TC in health sciences. It provides a fresh perspective on the literature to identify key themes. Inducting students into complex practices; beyond concepts and developing students’ agency, are the three themes to arise from our findings. These themes offer insights on the ways TC have been used to develop scholarly curriculum, teaching and learning practices. They not only reflect the concerns of the community, but represent a set of empirically based principles for curriculum and course design.     

More than words in a text: learning to conduct qualitative research in the midst of a major life event

The process of becoming a qualitative researcher is fraught with challenges that are not always knowable prior to engaging in research. Coursework, reading, discussions, and writing about the process provide a foundation but cannot replace the experiential value of engaging in research. This autobiographical intrinsic case study describes the author’s first attempt conducting qualitative research as a doctoral student documenting additional challenges after the participant, my mother, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Using document analysis, I chronicled and made meaning of this first experience, especially how my relationship with the participant impacted my understanding and applying the concepts of rapport, reflexivity, subjectivity, and intersubjectivity.     

Putting ourselves on the line: the epistemology of the hyphen,intersubjectivity and social responsibility in qualitative research

As researchers, we are intertwined in our research relationships in two ways that put us on the line. First, our very beings are co-constituted and developed in an intersubjective exchange with the people we work with. Acknowledging our interdependence frees us to take an empathetic and hermeneutic stance that I have termed the epistemology of the hyphen, in our qualitative research relationships, and in the process, reject the objectivist, dissociative mode of procuring research. Instead, we produce knowledge that is socially responsible by virtue of its grounding in empathy and care. Second, I suggest that we are also on the line when it comes to the relationship between ourselves, and our audiences. The constraints and freedoms that contour our voices as qualitative researchers shape not only the stories we tell about our participants, but also ourselves as human beings. We must incorporate affect into our reports for them to do justice to ourselves, our readers and listeners, and our participants.     

Towards a re-conceptualization of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs: tackling enduring problems with the quantitative research and moving on

Various commentators have argued for years that the study of teachers' self-efficacy (TSE) beliefs, largely dominated by quantitative research methodologies, has been confused. Contentious issues include the very conceptualization of these beliefs, how they are defined and accessed through research and how the research is used. One of the biggest anomalies is that, despite claiming that these beliefs are task-specific, many quantitative researchers have both assessed them globally and portrayed them as hard to impact. In contrast, some qualitative researchers have emphasized the task-specific nature of these beliefs and their potential for transformation through self-doubt, reflection and learning. This literature review examines these and other contentious issues, focusing on studies published in international peer-reviewed journals in the last few years, looking, through the use of search terms and the surveying of abstracts followed by detailed reading, for evidence of developing understandings and changing research practices. This review highlights continuing misalignment between theory and method in much of the literature, but also identifies promising research directions. Mixed methods and qualitative research designs seem to have the potential to produce insightful findings that can make the study of TSE beliefs of greater use to teacher educators than has previously been the case.     

Making meaning from data on school-related gender-based violence by examining discourse and practice: insights from a mixed methodology study in Ghana and Mozambique

Efforts to address school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) globally are hampered by conceptual and methodological difficulties in capturing meaningful data needed to inform policy and practice. Whilst the emphases of influential studies tend to be on measuring practice of violence, the authors investigate whether they can develop a more meaningful analysis that incorporates attention to both discourse and practice. They do this by examining data collected through a five-year mixed-methods study assessing change in SRGBV in Ghana and Mozambique. The analysis reveals how in the two quite different contexts there were different discursive emphases and in turn practices which were invisible in the SRGBV disclosure data. They identify how both quantitative and qualitative data contribute to understanding changing gender violence in ways that can be illuminating. It is by understanding the interplay between discourse and practice that can really help us understand ‘what works’ to address SRGBV.     

Conceptualising food research in higher education as a matter of social justice: philosophical,methodological and ethical considerations

Globally, food concerns in higher education have emerged as an issue of critical importance. Food acquisition struggles and high rates of food insecurity among students have been documented, yet food within higher education continues to be an under-researched area of study. This paper calls for advancing research that critically engages with food concerns in higher education. The argument is made that food concerns should be viewed as a social justice matter, and a case is made for conducting research on food concerns by adopting an alternative approach to research in this area – a transformative paradigm. The paper advances new insights for the philosophical, methodological and ethical dimensions to researching food in higher education as a matter of social justice. The argument is made that a transformative approach to research is conducive for examining the experiences of those who are marginalised within the context of higher education and confront food challenges.     

The experiences of and attitudes toward non-pharmacological interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder used in school settings: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research

School-based non-pharmacological interventions are an important part of the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We aimed to systematically review qualitative literature relating to the experience of and attitudes towards school-based non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD. Systematic searches of 20 electronic databases were undertaken. Reviewers screened titles, abstracts and full reports of studies, before extracting data and critically appraising 33 included papers. Studies were synthesised using meta-ethnographic methods. Four-key interrelated themes were identified: (1) individualising interventions, (2) structure of interventions, (3) barriers to effectiveness, (4) perceived moderators and impact of interventions. The perceived effectiveness of interventions used in school settings is reported to vary. Therefore, flexible, tailored interventions ought to hold potential. However, highly individualised interventions may negatively affect children with ADHD. Findings point to the need for school-based interventions to take into account the wider school context, as well as core symptoms of ADHD.     

Transforming practice in Design and Technology: evidence from a classroom-based research study of students' responses to an intervention on inclusive design

This article offers evidence from a classroom-based research study in English secondary schools which developed an innovative approach to teaching in Design and Technology based on inclusive design (also known as universal design). The research evidence highlights how creative, problem-solving approaches in Design and Technology can be used to provide authentic, engaging learning experiences for students. This study, entitled ‘Designing our Tomorrows', introduced secondary school teachers and students to the principles and practices of inclusive design through an intervention using specially designed resources. In this article, findings from the study's qualitative pre- and post-intervention interviews are presented to illustrate how this type of approach can stimulate students' creativity and understanding of design.     

The achievement ideology of Reading Wonders: a critical content analysis of success and failure in a core reading programme

In the early 1960s, researchers began to conduct content analyses of core reading programmes/basal readers. Although these researchers often adopted a critical perspective, and examined the ideological underpinnings of the texts, they failed to make an explicit connection between ideologies and reader access to the text. The study described here is a critical content analysis of texts contained within the core reading programme Reading Wonders. It addresses these research questions: What vision of success and failure is exemplified by selections in the fourth-grade Reading Wonders textbook?—and—To what extent are selections in this programme accessible to readers? Mobilizing MacLeod’s notion of achievement ideology, the study explores the contrast between the programme’s emphasis on individual success and the inaccessibility of the selections included in it. The analysis demonstrates that the achievement ideology is the foundation for most of the selections. It also shows that the complexity and unengaging quality of the basal reader interferes with the reader’s ability to access the included texts. I argue the Reading Wonders textbook serves to convince readers that personal and professional success is the norm in contemporary society, while failing to allow them to construct more than a surface-level meaning of the included selections.     

Evaluation of treatment effect estimates in single‐case experimental research: comparison of twelve overlap methods and visual analysis

The purpose of this study was to compare 12 commonly‐used nonoverlap methods with each other and with the results of visual analysis. Data were obtained from 25 studies focused on embedded instruction and schema‐based instruction and included a total of 101 graphs. Treatment effect estimates using 12 nonoverlap methods were calculated for each graph by hand or using an online calculator. Five experts conducted visual analysis of each graph. Results showed that strong agreements existed between visual analysis and PND, Tau_NOVLAP and Tau‐U when raw data were analysed, and PND, PNCD and PEM‐T when categorised data were analysed. Of the 12 methods investigated, PND had the highest agreement rate with visual analysis, followed by PEM‐T, PAND, PNCD, IRD, NAP and Tau_NOVLAP. Overall, visual analysis appeared to be more conservative, as most nonoverlap methods overestimated the treatment effect. Additional research is needed to replicate and potentially validate the findings of this study.     

提升新建本科院校工程教育研究水平的实证研究——基于福建工程学院2005-2014年研究文献的可视化分析

利用CiteSpace软件,通过定量分析CNKI平台上收录的文献,首次对福建工程学院教师发表的工程教育期刊研究论文进行计量学研究和可视化分析,以此了解学校教师对工程教育研究领域的关注度及研究的发展轨迹,指出存在的问题及与国际工程教育研究关注热点的差距,并就提高学校教育研究水平提出建议。