RSCH 201 Final
IRB
(Institutional Review Board) - Protect university from legal repercussions of conducting research deemed unethical. - Protect university from financial (and legal) sanctions imposed by federal government and other funders on research deemed unethical. - Protect research participants from unethical practices in research.
Quantitative research
(not absolutely here too) use theory to form and test their hypotheses in research circumstances. main focus in qualitative research is to understand, explain, explore, discover and explore situations . . . [t]he study designs are therefore often based on deductive rather than inductive logic. The designs are more flexible and emergent in nature, and are often non linear and non sequential in the way that they operate
respect for persons and informed consent
- Autonomous agents - Full information on research given - Some exceptions - Exempt research - Vulnerable populations (Assent)
Sampling and Data Collection in Autoethnography
- Co-constructed interviewing - Interactive interviewing
our theoretical standpoint
- Constructions - Value-laden and never neutral - Always leaves something out - Snapshot in time - Statement or argument in favor of a particular approach or particular way of seeing the world
maintaining ethics
- Do not steal by plagiarizing or claiming the results of others. - Do not lie by misreporting sources or by inventing results. - Do not destroy sources and data for those who follow. - Do not submit data whose accuracy they have reason to question. - Do not conceal objections that they cannot rebut. - Do not caricature those with opposing views or deliberately state their views in a way they would reject. - Do not write reports in a way that deliberately makes it difficult for readers to understand them, nor simplify that which is legitimately complex.
where does knowledge come from?
- Epistemology - Experience - Tenacity - Authority - Traditions, Customs, and Faith - Magic, Superstition, and/or Mysticism - Intuition or Hunches - A Priori Reasoning
qualitative research paradigms
- Etic approach (Deductive) - Emic approach (Inductive)
Justice
- Inclusion and exclusion - Work to avoid favoring one group over another
including participants in co-constructed research
- Legitimation - Representation - Member checks - Avoiding exploitation - Equalize power differential - Participatory action research
Nonmaleficence and Beneficence
- Nonmaleficence: No avoidable harm should be done to participants. - Beneficence: The outcome of research should be positive and beneficial. - Anonymity - Confidentiality - Do no harm - Deception
Theories
- Organize and explain - Generate new knowledge
evaluating research sources
- Peer review (ensure it's scholarly) - Currency - Author's reputation - Primary or secondary
the creative process
- Preparation - Incubation - Illumination - Verification
types of research
- Proprietary - Scholarly (Methodological, Creative, Self-critical, Public, Cumulative and self correcting, Cyclical)
what makes a good theory
- Provides insights - Introduces new ideas - Has staying power - Qualitative uses theory as a lens - Quantitative uses theory to form and test hypotheses
Ethical Concerns Specific to Autoethnography
- Relational ethics - Voice - Representation
Human Subjects Protection
- Research ethics = protect participants' rights - IRB
following research ethics and ethical guidelines
- Respect for Persons and Informed Consent - Nonmaleficence and Beneficence - Justice - Including Participants in Co-Constructed Research
ethics in report findings
- Significant findings - Insignificant findings
Evaluating Theory
- Theoretical Scope - Appropriateness - Heuristic Value - Validity - Parsimony - Openness
literature reviews/theoretical perspectives
- progressive - use resources
Characteristics of Qualitative Research Questions
1. Goal-directed 2. Start with a specific or broad problem or question, but these researchers "begin their study with at least a general sense of where they are headed . . . [and] what they want to find out" (126).
Qualitative research paradigms
1. Rhetorical Paradigm 2. Social Science Paradigm 3. Social Constructionist Paradigm 4. Arts and Humanities Paradigm 5. Interpretive research
three points to remember
1. The study of the humanities is often described as the study of the human experience 2. There is NOT a central discipline to the Humanities (Hard sciences - think biology, chemistry, physics, etc. - are not part of the Humanities) 3. takes in a variety of forms and disciplines, is often interpretive, a process that includes the reinterpretation or rediscovery of known artifacts, or cultural projects, the products of research are predominantly intellectual and intangible
two logical systems
1. inductive grounded theory, qualitative 2. deductive theory driven, quantitative
The role of theory in qualitative research
1. use theory as foundation 2. use theory as explanation
other forms of research
1.Case Study Interviews 2.Consumer Observations and Interviews 3.Questionnaires 4.SWOT Analysis 5.Personal Research
Generating Value - Implementation and Delivery
1.Choosing the best solution, then activating it 2.Making sure people know about your solution 3.Selling the solution 4.Rapidly learning and "tacking" based on your successes and failures
visual research methods
1.Compositional interpretation 2.Content analysis 3.Semiotics
types of mixed methods
1.Convergent Parallel 2.Explanatory Sequential 3.Exploratory Sequential
creative arts
1.Creative Process varies 2.Results vary 3.Creative Process is most important
visual and material culture studies
1.Data collection 2.Data analysis 1.What does my selection depict? 2.Who is the audience? 3.How do people look at this? 4.How are these things embedded in a wider cultural context? 5.What is the interrelation among the image, the form, or the object and the accompanying text (if any)?
semiotics
1.Define the topic that you will analyze 2.Decide what kind of data you will gather 3.Describe the data you have gathered 4.Interpret the data 5.Highlight any relevant cultural codes 6.Discuss your findings Write a conclusion
seven steps in creative arts
1.Defining the Problem: 1.Analysis (1) and Discussion (2) 2.Innovating: 1.Design (3), Concept Development (4), and the creation of a Prototype (5). 3.Generating Value: Implementation (6) and Delivery (7)
AIGA's Designing Framework divides project development into three categories:
1.Defining the problem 2.Innovating 3.Generating value
defining the problem
1.Envisioning the desired end state 2.Defining the approach by which victory can be achieved 3.Inciting support, then action
Content Analysis Process
1.Establish your research question 2.Read widely on the topic 3.Define your object of analysis 4.Define your categories 5.Create a coding sheet to record your findings 6.Test your coding categories 7.Collect your data 8.Summarize your findings 9.Relate this back to your research question 10.Present your findings Discuss the findings
hallmarks of good visual research
1.Interpretations are persuasive arguments 2.Interpretations imply a worldview 3.No interpretation can be absolutely correct 4.Interpretations are often guided by feelings 5.The work, and not the creator, must remain at the focus of the interpretation 6.All images, forms, and objects are in part about the world in which they have emerged 7.Interpretations can be both individual and persona, as well as a communal and shared endeavor
Data Collection Methods
1.Multiple methods to achieve crystallization 2.Observations 3.Types of observers - Complete observer - Observer-as-participant 4.Peripheral-member researchers 5.Active-member researchers 6.Complete-member researchers
arts-based paradigm
1.Performance Studies 1.Performance ethnography 2.Ethnodrama and ethnotheatre 1.Research Questions Appropriate for Ethnodrama and Ethnotheatre 2.Ethical Issues in Ethnodrama and Ethnotheatre 3.Data Collection in Ethnodrama and Ethnotheatre 4.Analysis in Ethnodrama and Ethnotheatre Writing Ethnodrama and Ethnotheatre
Types of Sampling
1.Purposive sampling 2.Theoretical construct sampling 3.Maximum variation sampling 4.Typical instance sampling 5.Extreme instance sampling 6.Snowball or network sampling 7.Data saturation
Innovating - Design, Concept Development, & Prototype
1.Seeking insight to inform the prototyping of the solution 2.Prototyping potential solutions 3.Delineating the tough choices 4.Enabling the team to work as a team
appropriate research questions answered by autoethnography
1.Speak against hegemonic cultural practices 2.Explain a cultural phenomenon from the point of view of someone inside the experience 3.Take a political position in favor of marginalized and silenced voices 4.Offer rich descriptions of everyday experiences 5.Write and publish work that is accessible to a non-academic audience
Compositional Interpretation
1.What do you see? 2.Can you provide the location and date when the work was made and by whom? 3.What kinds of objects or forms are represented in the image? 4.Can you describe the texture of the surface, or provide any other comments about the execution of the work if the issue of texture is not applicable? 5.Can you describe the composition of the design? 6.Can you describe the spatial organization?
questions to ask in visual research
1.Who commissioned the work? 2.Why was the work commissioned? 3.Who was the creator behind the work? 4.How is this work being used? 5.Who is using this?
How is research knowledge distributed?
Academic publishing, social dialogue and public policy, communication in popular press
important!!
Because there are general steps and sequencing in the Creative Arts design process. This isn't absolute for all researchers, but it's a vital sequence that involves seven steps
operationalization
Defining your terms as you're using them in the research project . . . based on how other people have operationalized the same variables—you find this out based on your library research This helps create context for both your terms and your proposed research
Formal review of the literature/existing works on the topic includes all of the following, except:
Describing the procedures and methods for the proposed research study/creative project
Aristotelian Rhetoric
Ethos, Logos, Pathos
conceptualization
Forming an idea. Ideas are built on the body of knowledge that's already been created. Your idea builds on the research that's already been done on your topic or related topics you are working on framing the problem and/or a gap in the literature on your proposed field of study
positivist
Hold a deterministic philosophy - most common in quantitative research
true
In order for you to make a contribution to knowledge with your research, however large or small that might be, you will need to know what has already been written in the field, what are the main debates, who the experts are, what the themes are and where your work can be positioned in relation to what's been said before and what is being said at the moment (read broadly, focus on arguments, contextualize)
Why do a literature review early in the research process?
It is using the literature to establish context and argument, the perspectives of major theorists whose work informs yours - putting all of this into a dialogue with your work
secondary research
Research that has been previously collected or conducted
primary research
Research that is conducted to answer a specific problem or question and produces original data
Ethics in Human Research
Researchers in the Humanities are, perhaps to your surprise, less concerned with collecting permission (it's unnecessary) from human subjects than researchers in the social sciences Important point to remember: the Humanities deals with "texts" - defined as "any communicative message" (154) - as a primary starting point for its discussions and research, and that process rarely involves needing permission from other people to complete research
phenomenology
The study of experience, in order to understand—in great depth—the nature, essence, and meaning of that experience - bracketing
visual research
The study of images, forms, and objects in both visual and material culture
discourse analysis
The study of spoken or written discourse - studies speech acts from the content of the discourse to its delivery . . . to its context, and the meaning deriving from each of these, to understand how people use language to construct ideas, meanings, and identities - conversation analysis
Why do researchers review existing literature/artifacts/creative works in the early stages of the research process?
To establish context and argument for their study/creative project
reconceptualization
When you write up your research, you do what's called reconceptualization—you reconnect it back to the larger body of knowledge In other words - you're summarizing and synthesizing your work to engage with related literature
tringulation
You triangulate by comparing
worldview
a basic set of beliefs that guide action
Choose the most important consideration in a Creative Arts research project
a creative process
paragidm
a set of assumptions governing how we interact and interpret the world
What's wrong with everyday ways of knowing?
accuracy, overgeneralization, cognitive conservatism, contradictory knowledge
ethnography
answers 'how' questions and focuses on the communication process rather than the outcomes or motivations
three distinct phases of research
conceptualization, operationalization, reconceptualization
transformative worldview
holds that research inquiry needs to be intertwined with politics and a political change agenda to confront social oppression at whatever level it occurs
scientific paragidm
in the most basic sense of the word, is a framework containing all of the commonly accepted views about a subject, then utilizing those views/assumptions to create a structure of what direction research should take and how it should be performed
what to watch for in quantitative designs
internal validity, history, testing, instrumentation
pragmatic
many forms of this philosophy, but . . . pragmatism as a worldview arises out of actions, situations, and consequences rather than antecedent conditions (as in postpositivism). There is a concern with applications—what works—and solutions to problems
qualitative
naturalistic, interpretive
three components involved in a research approach
philosophical worldviews designs research methods
quantitative
positivist, numerical data
Case study, phenomenology, grounded theory, and ethnography are all examples of __________________ research designs.
qualitative
grounded theory
seeks to understand interactions within social practices and the resulting meaning - theoretical saturation
qualitative research questions must...
start with a specific desire in mind but step back and ask the broadest questions possible
What matters most for the Humanities researcher
the questions being asked in the research project
praxis
theory-informed action
Qualitative research
though not absolutely, use theory to shape their perspectives into social and research circumstances. are more structured, rigid, fixed, and predetermined in their use to insure accuracy in measurements and classification . . . Because the measurement and classification requirements of the information that is gathered demand that structure
Unlike research in the Sciences, Humanities researchers are interested in raising questions rather than providing absolute answers
true
constructivist
typically seen as an approach to qualitative research . . . social constructivists believe that individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live
what is the purpose of library research?
•Determine what's already known. •Define the problem and formulate possible solutions. •Plan the collection of primary data. •Define the population and select the sample. •Supply background information.
Quantitative design concerns
•Sampling •Cross-sectional design •Longitudinal design •Trend study •Cohort study •Panel study •Interviews