On Qualifying Qualitative Research: Emerging Perspectives and the “Deer” (Descriptive,Exploratory, Evolutionary,Repeat) Paradigm

This article presents the use of the qualitative research method and the challenges that this form of research imposes along with the increasingly systematic reluctance experienced by doctoral students and their chairs. Increasingly, doctoral students are opting for the qualitative approach over that of the traditional quantitative methodology. The qualitative method is an evolutionary process that addresses the phenomenon being investigated and must show a connection to the question or questions being explored. Within this approach, data collection and analysis often lead to additional questions or findings. The article presents examples of the process for developing the evolving concepts from the interviews of the participants. Additional research is needed to transform this process. This article acknowledges the overall approach for doctoral students and other novice researchers to embrace the qualitative research method within the evolutionary structure.     

Preference for punishment of the instrumental or the consummatory response

In two discriminable runways, rats were punished (shocked) either prior to receiving water reinforcement (punishment of the instrumental response) or after ingesting the water (punishment of the consummatory response). Both forced-choice and free-choice trials were conducted. Results indicate that rats preferred to have the instrumental response punished. It was also observed that the subjects more frequently failed to traverse the runway in which the consummatory response was punished compared to the runway in which the instrumental response was punished. The results were interpreted as being consistent with predictions derived from net incentive theory.     

Profile analysis of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children,Second Edition,with African American and Caucasian preschool children

This study used profile analysis to investigate the interpretability of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC‐II), in terms of the Cattell‐Horn‐Carroll (CHC) theory among ethnically diverse preschool children. Forty‐nine African American and 49 Caucasian preschool children from a Midwestern city were included in the study and were matched for age, sex, and level of parental education. The profile analysis examining CHC broad abilities showed that the African American and Caucasian preschool children had similar patterns of highs and lows and performed at the same level with no significant difference between the two groups in their overall mean IQ. Profile analysis of the KABC‐II subtests found that although the African American and Caucasian groups performed overall at a similar level, they did not show the same pattern of highs and lows in subtest performance. Specifically, Caucasian preschoolers scored significantly higher than their African American counterparts on the Expressive Vocabulary subtest. Overall, the two groups displayed remarkably similar performance on the KABC‐II. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.