Today’s Topic: Characteristics of non-positivist research

Ethnography: “writing about people” (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993, p. 356)

(LeCompte & Preissle, 1993, p. 3) “Ethnographers seek to construct descriptions of total phenomena within their various contexts and to generate from these descriptions the complex interrelationships of causes and consequences that affect human behavior toward and belief about the phenomena.”

Educational ethnography provides “rich, descriptive data about the contexts, activities, and beliefs of participants in educational settings.” (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993, p. 8)

Characteristics of “classical” educational ethnographies:  A small, relatively homogeneous and geographically bounded study site.  Long-term and repeated residence of the researcher at the site.  The use of participant observation as the primary data collection method, supplemented other techniques.

Characteristics, cont.:  Triangulation or corroboration of data via the use of multiple data sources.  Creation of a data base, consisting primarily of field notes.  A preoccupation with the interpretive description and explanation of the culture, life ways, an social structure of the group under investigation.

Discourse Analysis Narrative Analysis Textual Analysis Almost any kind of ‘text’ can be analyzed. Your text can be oral, signed, non- verbal, written, graphic, visual, linguistic, or non- linguistic.

When analyzing text, your method of analysis stems from your research question. Your research question comes from a particular theoretical grounding within a particular field and should be referenced to the professional literature and pre- existing research.

Possible Data Types Interviews Newspaper articles Radio & TV programs Oral narratives Written journals Natural conversations

Possible Methods of Analysis Thematic analysis Ethnography of communication Conversation analyses (CA) Collaborative biography Speech act theory

Example: Thematic Analysis “Thematic analysis, first and foremost, is about searching for patterns in data” (Shank, 2002, p. 129). It is a process of inductive analysis, where the “findings emerge out of the data, through the analyst’s interactions with the data” (Patton, 2002, p. 453).

Steps in Developing and Conducting a Thematic Analysis: 1.Establish a system for how you are going to about doing the thematic analysis (i.e. different colored highlighters, index cards, computer program). 2.Read and re-read the text(s). 3.Identify “salient incidents” and make notes on initial reactions and ideas.

Steps in Thematic Analysis, cont.: 4.Begin to identify initial categories. 5.Refine your categories. 6.Code (and re-code) your data. 7.Obtain “consensual validation” (member checking). 8.Re-analyze data as needed, after the member check.

Whole Group Discussion: So now, what do you understand some of the key differences to be between: – Qualitative and quantitative research, – Hypothesis-driven and naturalistic research, or – Research stemming from positivist versus naturalistic paradigms?