chapter 3 critical research Flashcards
what are the parts of research design?
(a) developing study goals and rationale;
(b) formulating guiding research questions;
(c) developing the study’s conceptual framework and linking it to research design;
(d) developing a theoretical framework;
(e) exploring the relationship between research design, methods choices, and writing; and
(f) planning for validity and trustworthiness in/through research design
wat is research design?
Onderzoeksdesign: Een dynamisch, systematisch en geëngageerd proces van plannen van je studie, om zo rijk mogelijke data te genereren (diepgang, rigoureusheid, contextualisering)
criticality mogelijk maakt en dat het mogelijk maakt de complexiteit van de setting te (leren) zien (cf. college I)
Niet enkel het conceptuele (thought integration), maar ook het operationele: hoe plan je de studie nu concreet uit te voeren?
Terzelfdertijd solide, gedetailleerd, intentioneel enerzijds EN inductief, emergent, responsief anderzijds
what is the process of research design?
- begins at the point of interest in a topic and/or setting.
engage in a process of active exploration into fields, concepts, contexts, and theories that help you to understand what you seek to know and how you seek to know it. - The guiding research questions, which are cultivated through structured processes of learning, reflecting, and engaging in dialogue, are the glue between every aspect of research design.
- important to understand the core constructs of your research questions. Furthermore, the ways in which researchers need to be responsive to the phenomena and contexts of study settings means that research questions may evolve over time.
- This requires a mind-set that allows you to not only work hard to refine a set of research questions and a matching research design but also adopt an approach to the research that is flexible and responsive to the realities on the ground once the study begins.
inductive process design
This can include making changes, modifications, and/or additions to data collection methods.
not at the end of data collection (as is commonly the case), but is employed as a generative design tool that begins with formative analysis early on that can shape subsequent data collection and then that analysis is engaged in throughout every phase of a study.
As data are collected and analyzed, aspects of the research design may change to respond to emerging learnings and contextual realities that require engaging deeply with the data as they are collected.
Developing Study Goals
Define the personal, practical, and intellectual goals of qualitative studies
and suggests that you examine your understandings of study goals through these three broad conceptual categories.
- exploratory goals (seeking to understand something about which little is known in an exploratory rather than conclusive way)
- descriptive goals (seeking to describe a phenomenon or experience), relational goals (trying to see connections between multiple variables and sets of ideas)
- causal or explanatory goals (trying to explain causal processes within various phenomena) (Hart, 2001). It is vital for researchers to begin by critically considering the goals and motivations inspiring your research
wat is rationale voor studie?
Waarom is deze studie nu van belang? Bijv. omdat:
Je de praktijk wil verbeteren
Je wil bijdragen aan wts theorie omdat er een grote research gap is (cf. vorige week)
Je bestaande inzichten wil toepassen in/op een nieuwe context
…
Waarom is mijn benadering hiervoor geschikt?
=/= Doelen & rationales => =/= Soorten onderzoek!!
Strategy : MEMOS
Memo’s: Personal sense-making documents
Inhoud: Uitschrijven en verwerken van ideeën; ontdekkingen (eerste resultaten); uitdagingen gedurende het onderzoek; betekenisgeving
Doel: Betekenis genereren (je aan het denken zetten) en documenteren van wat je (wanneer) hebt geleerd en hoe je daarbij dacht
Informeel: Je doet het voor jezelf (maar deelt het vaak met anderen)
Gebruikelijke praktijk in het ontwerpen (CRD) van een studie: Positionaliteitsmemo
Memos are a way to capture and process, over time, your ongoing ideas and discoveries, challenges associated with fieldwork and design, and analytic sense-making.
wat is een positionaliteitsmemo
“The purpose of a researcher identity/positionality memo = a structure, at an early stage in the research development process, to facilitate a focused written reflection on your researcher identity, including social location, positionality, and how external and internal aspects of your experiences and identity affect and shape your meaning-making processes and influence your research.”
vb
Why am I interested in the gendered nature of school leadership?
Strategy : Dialogic Engagement Practices
Dialogic engagement
Dialogisch = Systematische processen van in dialoog treden met bewust geselecteerde gesprekspartners over (en doorheen) het (ganse) onderzoeksproces (“kritische vriend”)
Gestructureerd = Bewust ingebouwd in formeel CRD
build these processes into the stages of design to create accountability to multiple interpretations and to the ongoing, rigorous challenging of your biases and assumptions.
Strategy: Reflective Journaling
ongoing, structured opportunity
deepen your thinking about the research process by creating more regularity and intentionality around the process of reflection.
<> Unlike memos, which are written at selected moments throughout the research process and focus on specific topic areas
the research journal is an ongoing, real-time chronicling of your reflections, questions, and ideas over time. Research journals are useful both for in-the-moment reflection and meaning making and for charting ideas, thoughts, emotions, and concerns over time.
Doelstelling onderzoek
contextueel > kenmerken beschrijven fenomeen
verklarend > redenen voor associaties elementen fenomeen
generatief > ontwikkelen van theorieen
evaluatief > evalueren effectiviteit , waarde , relevantie fenomeen
ideologisch > ideologische positie vb is dit een meerwaarde
wat is Research Questions opstelling?
De doelstelling van deze ____________ (design: narratieve, etnografische, fenomenologische, gefundeerde theoretische, case?)
studie is het ____________ (contextualiseren, verklaren, generen van theorie, beschrijven, evalueren, …?)
van ____________ (topic van de studie?)
in het kader van ____________ (onderzoeksfenomeen: concept, groep, individu, proces, structuur, artefact?).
Op dit punt in het onderzoek wordt ____________ (centrale concept(en)) gedefinieerd als ____________ (een algemene definitie van het concept)`
hoe wordt onderzoeksvraag gevonden?
Gap spotting: finding research questions that haven’t been answered => Uitvoeren van een (systematische) review van de literatuur om ‘gaten’ in de beschikbare kennis te identificeren
‘Neglect spotting’: een nauwelijks (of niet) onderzocht topic in de onderzoeksliteratuur (vb apps)
‘Confusion spotting’: tegenstellingen in de onderzoeksliteratuur (eerder kwn)
‘Application spotting’: verder bouwen op en uitdiepen van de bestaande onderzoeksliteratuur (“further research might…”)
‘Problematiseren:’
Uitdagen van conventionele kennis en assumpties door:
Het opbouwen van een argumentatie (o.b.v. lezing literatuur)
En het stellen van vragen waarmee empirisch kan nagegaan worden of deze alternatieve visie correct is
Problematiseren assumpties over fenomeen die gedeeld worden binnen een theorie
Site and Participant Selection
the criteria you use to select a setting and participants—must be clearly defined
Rationale for and justification of all choices for the site(s) you choose and whom you include or exclude in the study design.
> representation in multiple senses of that term . Representation has to do with many aspects of participants’ social identities, experiences, realities, and roles as they relate to the study context and study topic.
Piloting
Piloting can take a variety of forms, including testing instruments, examining and noting bias, refining research questions, generating contextual information, and assessing research approaches and methods.
Piloting is a powerful tool for data-based design improvements.
Vetting Instruments
Vetting instruments entails sharing multiple drafts of your data collection instruments with knowledgeable others who can give you critical feedback. These knowledgeable others can include classmates, peers, mentors, colleagues, experts in the field, scholars, community members, potential participants, and so on
having your instruments vetted and discussed in relation to the goals of your study and fit with your research questions, as well as having them challenged and revised systematically, is incredibly valuable to you as a researcher.
Rehearsing Instruments
rehearsing your instrument(s) involves rehearsing (practicing and testing out) an instrument with a friend or colleague
NOT the target population
—to check for flow and clarity of wording, sequencing and content of questions, and relationship of the number of questions to your ability to include follow-up questions and probes for individual meaning and terminology.
Piloting Instruments
piloting instruments, you use your instruments with individuals who meet the sampling criteria for your study and collect and then analyze the piloted data.
To be clear, piloting instruments creates data that are used to drive data-based changes to your study. These data may or may not be used as a part of the formal data set depending on how significantly you change or revise the instruments as a result of piloting them.
goal is to examine the data in relation to your research questions to see if you are getting the kinds of data you need to be able to answer your research questions.
Validity and Trustworthiness in/Through Research Design
Keuze en volgorde van methodes essentieel (met oog op beantwoorden RQs)
Tools aangereikt in dit college: duidelijke rationale, duidelijkheid m.b.t. (relatie tussen) core constructs, instrumenten met goede vragen (door piloteren), etc.
Hoe kan ik het hoogst mogelijke gecontextualiseerde en gecompliceerde beeld krijgen van deze groep, individuen, processen, artefacten, … (cf. onderzoeksfenomeen)?
Het goed doordenken van je research design is een belangrijk element om finaal een valide studie te verkrijgen
triangulation, which, in research design, most basically means the strategic juxtaposition of multiple data sources to achieve greater rigor and validity in a study
Strategie voor validity en trustworthiness:
Triangulation (i.e., multiple sources, investigators, methods)
Participant validation strategies (members checks)
Long-term immersion in the research setting
Soliciting feedback from insiders and outsiders (e.g., peer
debriefers/inquiry group/critical friends)
Participatory or collaborative dialogic engagement (involving participants in some or all aspects of the research)
Audit trail/outside auditor(s)
Thick description (i.e., does the reader draw the same conclusions)
Situating your study in relationship to theory, larger contexts, and other research
Attention to and inclusion of disconfirming evidence (also referred to as negative cases or discrepant data)
