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The article focuses on the participative methods used with young people in their final year of secondary school and how using such techniques contributed to my own changing positioning in the field (pg. 236)

The research approach drew on the assessment of Kendall (2007) of current definitions of quality schooling:

Educational quality is only shallowly intersecting with communities, parents, children and teachers daily educational experiences and desires education quality as defined by various local and nonlocal actors could be strengthened by good participatory approaches (706)

Great quote!

There is a need to re envision a better understanding of the way in which more traditional boundaries, such as nationality, language, ethnicity, culture, gender and age, interact, but also a recognition and understanding of various ontological, epistemological and disciplinary boundaries that might be encountered and the way in which these might impact on the generation of new knowledge (McNess, Arthur, and Crossley, 2013).

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I think this article emphasized the importance of understanding our positionality - in all its complex ways and the impact it has on our research and our relationship with our "subjects." Biases and power dynamics need to be examined if we are striving to be mindful ‘inbetweeners.’

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This article reinforces how active choices in research design and data collection can affect the way research is viewed, the trust placed in it, and its potential to influence future scholarship or practice.

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I found that this article helped me to better appreciate that the choices we as researchers make related to research design and data collection can directly affect the way we are perceived. Milligan’s choice of participatory methods allowed her to find an “inbetweener” position in relation to those who were part of the study. This enabled her to develop trust and friendship with the students, parents, and community and to contribute to the generation of more authentic knowledge.

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This chapter gave me flashbacks of my days as an English teacher and teaching teens about intros and hooks. They can definitely be tough to write! A first sentence that is considered one of the bests is: Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” This is from Gabriel Garcia Márquez's novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude (by the way- the Netflix series was so good).

While we are not writing fiction - I often think about magical realism in research. I appreciated how the authors emphasized care in presenting the opening material of a study. The 5 key elements were helpful along with the examples.

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My comment on Ch. 3 still stands and I appreciated more tips on crafting a strong title- and also a strong abstract. Those two are like the trailer of a movie- a hook to your research. I agreed with this chapter on how starting with a title can help keep you on track and help narrow down the literature review.

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I was intrigued by the recommendation to stay away from "quantitative phrases, such as 'impact of,' 'relationship between,' 'effect of,' 'correlation between,' or, 'influence of.'" I hadn't really thought of those words as mostly quantitative other than "correlation," and may have used them in my own papers. Will definitely keep this and the rest of the tips in mind. Currently, I have been using the following: Nimalaj Be’, Mayan Language Club:

A Qualitative Case Study of Language Justice for Newcomer Students in U.S. High Schools. Does that sound interesting?

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One argument against studying your own backyard is that you have predetermined expectations of what you will find.

Another is that the people you collect data from may see you as a colleague rather than as a researcher.

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I appreciated how the section on "The Nature of Qualitative Research" included reporting the voices of participants & lift up the silenced voices of marginalized groups or populations. I think the reason many of us are drawn to qualitative research is exactly that - voice. I think at times people's voices get lost in numbers. As an educator, I am often in meetings where numbers are presented - test scores or attendance, for example. But the stories of why those numbers exist are often left out. And that can help us lead to the WHY/root of the problem.

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"We are not interested only in how people talk about things; we are also interested in how their particular settings or contexts shape what they have to say. "

It is essential to consider the contexts and settings that inspire perspectives of the participants in a qualitative study. There is much emphasis placed on words, expressions, body language, and other social cues while the setting or scene may not always be recounted in research papers.

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"I put forward that as much as being situational, the shifting positioning was also reflective of a conscious effort in research design for me not to remain an outsider."

"This should not only include a better understanding of the way in which more traditional boundaries, such as nationality, language, ethnicity, culture, gender and age, interact, but also a recognition and understanding of various ontological, epistemological and disciplinary boundaries that might be encountered and the way in which these might impact on the generation of new knowledge."

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I see myself struggling in writing an introduction that differs from my abstract, but this chapter and chapter 10 definitely helped me distinguish them a bit better.

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Qualitative research is methodologically diverse, rigorous, and is rising in efficiency with recent technological advancements.

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Questions, questions, and more questions?

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Questions, questions, and more questions?

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The central question is the broadest question you can ask about the central phenomena. This can now be parsed into up to seven sub-questions. Sub-questions can be used for semi-structured interviews, and for reflective questions during observations of documents, videos, photographs, and other materials.

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Write in a manner that be understood yet also scholarly in tone.

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Titles should be short (<10 words). Begin with a gerund verb, site the central phenomenon, identify the participants

My pilot title is “Improving teacher-parent communication through video and AI-enhanced email”

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Describe your central phenomenon in a few words or a phrase that will catch your attention. Pick a fishing hole (topic) you are passionate about. Will it advance your personal goals. Is it sticky so it can be studied in different forms over a period of time?

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Qualitative research is science. It is empirical because data is collected. Their approach is structural and embraces rigor, good protocols for collecting and analyzing data, extensive data collection, and iterative data analysis.

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Participative methods with students allowed for the development of trust. But, this will obviously vary between different people. Nevertheless, there are many benefits to being an active “inbetweener” in certain research.

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How/What + Central phenomenon + Participants + Site = RQ

Anyone who took 601 with Dr. Paik knows that RQ = TF, but I found this formula for RQs more clarifying and helpful. C & C also do a great job specifying quant versus qual terms and vocabulary that are commonly used in academic writing.

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I like the idea of crafting the title and abstract as preliminary writing and research exercises. Of course, there is nothing stopping us from revising as the project evolves through iterative processes. I can see how using the title and abstract as starting points could really shape and guide a project.

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C & C recommend making sure that your research will add to the literature, policy, and practice. Is it so bad to do an occasional study just for the sake of personal interest? Obviously, there's reasons to focus on lit, policy, & practice (career advancement, money, good of mankind, limited time/energy). I suppose, ideally, one's research should be both interesting to oneself and add to the lit, policy, and/or practice.

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C & C mention that there are some great tools for data collection and analysis. I've had a good experience with Dedoose and my colleagues like MaxQED also. Qualtrics is handy for surveys. Zotero for collecting and sorting documents.

What other tools have you all used and liked?

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“Traditional dichotomies of insider and outsider are largely redundant in contemporary international and comparative educational research.” McNess, Arthur, & Crossley, 2013

I found that Milligan's inclusion of this quote really highlighted a beautiful thing about our current world: the increasing acceptance of overlapping, intersecting, and layered identities. When I think of decolonizing our perspectives, I think of breaking down categorization and "putting people into boxes."

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The suggestion of collecting data that are not typically expected, such as sounds, was of interest to me. I could imagine its application.. This chapter pushed me to consider how I have titled my topic to make it interesting.

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Qualitative researchers have an approach to inquiry and seek what needs to be solved by:

Defining and defending your choice of research methodology.

Rigorous methods, good protocols for collection, and the ability to sustain multiple steps in data analysis.

Understanding rich human experiences while remaining open to emergent insights.

Curiosity, reflexivity and interpretive stance.

Tools for uncovering nuanced realities.

The major elements introduced and the iteration described contrasts with the misconceptions that qualitative research is less structured.

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The individuals being studied need to be included in the title of the research project. It is also important to provide details about who the participants may be, specificity is important. Stating the participants in the title should be placed between the central phenomenon and the research site.

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The researcher’s identity in the study was not static (European/foreigner --> teacher --> family)

Developing trust, respect, and comradery allowed the researcher to place herself as inbetweener.

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The first sentence of an intro can include any of the following: personal statement, past research, timely issue, statistics, info about specific participant or site, a question, or references for scholarly weight

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A good title often has an -ing word and includes the central phenomenon, participants, and research site

-ing word examples: understanding, exploring, discovering, developing

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Take a new/innovative approach towards your topic.

Study a unique location/group, take an angle/perspective that may not be expected, collect data that is not typically expected in social science research, present findings in a creative way, study a timely topic

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“The sign of a good thinker is the ability to conceptualize in a simple way as well as in a complex way.”

A good thinker can understand a complex topic and synthesize it in a simple way (parsimony).

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Explore in an open-ended way: “We are not trying to explain…We might simply want to describe…” (p. 7). This quote was so powerful to me. It made me realize that I keep writing as if I am trying to EXPLAIN why, but Qual. research is meant to describe, explore, and discover the perspectives of my participants, not prove a point about them. As I went back to my proposal I found many sections I wrote "to understand why" and rewrote it to say "to explore how" and it made much more sense to me.

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Being a researcher may feel like you are a reporter.

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Cautious about studying your own background!

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Cautious about studying your own background!

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In Creswell Chp 3, (p.21) they caution about studying your own background due to the ethical and power issues that it raises (among other concerns that are political and ethical). Their position is that they see the"disadvantages outweighing the advantages" (p.21) and encourage us to not study our own backgrounds and "meet people who are not familiar to you" (p.21). I think that as long as you are critical and reflexive of your own positionality, you can do it, but its good to know to be cautious about it as well. Also, it made me definitely reconsider doing research in my own school site and district and leaning more towards doing research in a completely different district than my own. THOUGHTS???

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1. Ensure the topic is examined in the study

2. Identify the research problem or problems

3. Include evidence in the literature justifying the problem

4. Identify the deficiencies in the literature

5.  Identify the audience that will profit from the study and address these deficiencies (Creswell & Creswell, 2021)

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I thought this script/template would be helpful when preparing a Title for your project.

“_______ (gerund) _______ (central phenomenon) for _______ (participants) at _______ (site).”

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I wondered if studying in one's community may lead to blindspots because of familiarity but I also understand how an outsider might struggle with access and trust. The participative approach demonstrated requires the researcher to negotiate their positionality, and not assume a fixed role.