CHAPTER II

METHODS

RESEARCH DESIGN

This is the detailed description of your research design. Indicate whether

your study is Phenomenology, Ethnography, Case Study, Grounded Theory, etc.

Also, state why the research design is fit for your study—stating the

characteristics and features of your study that makes the qualitative research

design suitable for it.

ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER

Here you will discuss your role as the researcher. What are your

responsibilities or what were the steps that you took upon doing the research.

You must include sources/citations, more citations the better. Here’s an example

from a qualitative study. Read below:

In qualitative research, the researcher is the primary research instrument.

What the researcher brings to the investigation from his/her own background and

identity should be treated as his or her bias (Maxwell, 2005). Since qualitative

research is interpretative research, researcher biases, beliefs, and assumptions

can intrude into the analysis of data (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Social researchers

should attempt to neutralize or bracket their biases through full disclosure

(Altheide & Johnson, 1994; Locke, Spirduso, & Silverman, 1987).

The researcher of the present study acknowledged that his personal and

work background could influence his interpretation of data. The researcher’s 1:1
laptop experience during his college years resulted in his belief that the

experience (a) increased his self-confidence, (b) increased and his efficiency in

completing assignments, and (c) gave him an advantage in the working world.

The researcher also acknowledged that his position as a high school

principal that moved his school (consisting of 400 students and 24 teachers) to a

1:1 laptop initiative could bias his interpretation of research results. The

researcher also played the role of mentor to another principal who led a smaller

school to adopt a 1:1 initiative. In addition, the researcher is currently working

hard to help yet another high school implement a 1:1 laptop computer initiative.

To minimize any personal bias on the results of this study, member

checks were utilized during and after interviews to increase the credibility,

validity, and transferability of the study results (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). During

each interview, the researcher also restated and summarized information,

questioning participants on the accuracy of the information. After the taped

interviews had been transcribed, the researcher asked each participant to review

the content of his or her transcript for accuracy. In addition, the researcher

consulted resources and faculty advisors throughout the evolution of this study.

Direction from the faculty advisor helped the researcher to focus on relevant

details that participants offered, which led the researcher to develop themes from

the data. Lastly, the researcher included ample and relevant quotes from

participants to substantiate the findings of the study (Maxwell, 2005).

Here you will be describing your research participants. You should be

writing a detailed description of them-- how did you look for them and what were

the standards/criteria that you have set before selecting them that made them

qualify for the research study. Indicate also the number of participants, how many

boys and girls were included. Discuss why and how your selected participants

are useful for your study. Here’s an example from a qualitative study. Read

below for reference but do not stick to its pattern.

First-year college students who had a minimum of two years’ experience

with a 1:1 laptop initiative in high school and who had completed a minimum of

one semester of college were selected for participants in this study since they

would be “knowledgeable informants” (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 234). Because

the goal of the study was to uncover student perceptions of a 1:1 initiative after

their first-year of college, it was important that participants had completed at least

a semester of college. The experiences that participants had during this first year

of college gave them a basis from which to compare their college readiness to

other first-year college students who were not exposed to a 1:1 laptop initiative in

high school.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

Here you will state the step by step process of collecting your data, also

the type of data collection method that you utilized. In your case, you should be

making use of In-depth/Individual Interview and Focus Group Interview. The

were developed/formulated, sampling method used in selecting

samples/participants, obtaining and signing permission letters for interview, when

and where the interview took place (exact location, time, and date). All details of

the interview should be stated here. Here’s another example. Read but do not

stick to the pattern.

For this study, all but one of the interviews were conducted by telephone;

the remaining interview was conducted over Skype for convenience of the

participant. The telephone and Skype served as efficient ways to conduct the

interviews, making it possible for students with busy schedules to participate in

the study. Further, phone interviews and Skype were the only practical ways for

the researcher to connect with participants from across the country and world.

As a first step in the interview process, participants were reminded of the

purpose of the study, research procedures, expected benefits, their right to

withdraw from the study at any time, and protection of confidentiality. In an effort

to develop a good rapport with respondents and to demonstrate familiarity with

the topic (Creswell, 1994), the researcher identified himself as a doctoral student

at Iowa State University and also as a high school principal from Iowa.

With participant approval, the interviews were audio-recorded to ensure a

complete transcript (Merriam, 1998; Rubin & Rubin, 1995). Typed notes were

taken during all interviews, enabling the researcher to track key points to return

to later in the interview and for use during data analysis.

that would elicit rich data that could be used in qualitative analysis (Lofland,

1971). Semi structured interviews give participants more room to answer in terms

of what is important to them (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Strauss & Corbin, 1998)

and to control the introduction and flow of topics (Mishler, 1986). Although the

interviews were semi-structured in the early stages, they became more

structured in the later stages of triangulation and member checking (Lincoln &

Guba, 1985).

Participants were given the interview protocol (Appendix F) approximately

a week before their scheduled interview so that they would have time to think

about and prepare their responses to the initial questions. The interviews began

with, “Please describe your experiences with having a laptop computer while in

high school.” The question was framed in this manner to provide participants with

the flexibility and freedom to explore the phenomenon in depth (Strauss &

Corbin, 1998). Mostly openended questions were used throughout the remainder

of the interview to encourage participants to talk freely and respond openly to

queries (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982; Kvale, 1996). Probing questions were used,

when necessary, to encourage participants to elaborate on or clarify a response

(Rubin & Rubin, 1995) or explore root experiences (Seidman, 1991).

Furthermore, participants were frequently asked “why” after responding to

interview questions. Asking participants “why” was the researcher’s attempt to

provide ample think time so that the participant could fully think about and

elaborate on their experiences.

experiences were explored in depth during interviews that lasted approximately

45 minutes. The audio recordings were carefully transcribed verbatim in a

Microsoft Word document by a hired transcriptionist because accurate transcripts

“are necessary for valid analysis and interpretation of interview data” (Mishler,

1986, p. 50).

DATA ANALYSIS

In here you will discuss the description of the analysis method that you

used and indicate the process of how the analysis is done. There should be an

adequate discussion of how themes, concepts and categories are derived from

the data.

TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE STUDY

In here you will state the measures to test the validity of the findings like

credibility, conformability, transferability and dependability discussed in detail.

Adequate sources to back up the four measures well presented.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

In here you will state what were some ethical considerations you did take

upon gathering your data. It includes writing permission letters, informed consent,

and etc. Discuss the ethical considerations in detail.

(DATA ANALYSIS, TRUSTWORTHINESS TO BE FOLLOWED, and ETHICAL