Analysis of Research Paradigm: Week 2 EDGI 508 by Whitney Botron

Whitney Botron

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Nancy Lopez

"Unequal Schooling: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education"

Epistemology:

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A large part of Lopez's (2003) epistemology comes from her own Carribean background. Her mother was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to the United States. Lopez had a great desire to learn why people of Caribbean decent in the United States continue to suffer both gender and racial disparities. Lopez also refers to the ethnicity paradigm which she claims was critical in the research. She notes how cultural characteristics play a role in how Caribbean immigrants assimilate into the United States. She also dismantles the segmented assimilation theory which she explains keeps generations of immigrants racialized and gendered as their only categories of identity.

Ontology:

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Lopez's (2003) ontology is one that has some similarities with Paulo Freire. In Paulo Freire's (2000) work Pedagogy of the Oppressed he says, "Without a sense of identity, there can be no real struggle.” Lopez mentioned in her piece as well that these second generation immigrant youth have experienced struggles and different journeys in life which all play into their identity growing up and in school. Freire acknowledged a group of people being oppressed by another group but having the power and hope to change their situation. Lopez realizes how Carribean immigrants have not always been treated as equals yet she has a positive outlook that there are solutions to create more equitable opportunities for these youth in urban areas. In addition Lopez has the view of constructivism in the sense that she believes that each persons experiences are a large part of how they perceive the role of education.

Methodology:

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Lopez (2003) focused her research on qualitative methods over quantitative methods for numerous reasons:

a) quantitative data provides outcomes without experiences
b) surveys give snapshots of experiences and life, not depth
c) surveys also force participants to choose answers that the researcher has chosen which may not be their first choice
**Just as noted in this week's reading by Denzin and Lincoln (2011), "the use of multiple methods, or triangulation, reflects an attempt to secure an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon in question." (p. 5) Lopez saw the importance of a deeper understanding of her participants, thus chose various different methods which you can see below.

Methods:

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Qualitative methods were used to examine deeper meanings and a greater range from the participants.

a) Focus groups with college students.
b) Life history interviews with young adults
c) 6 months of participant observations at high school

Research goals:

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a) To understand what contributes to the disparities in both race and gender in urban education in the United States.

b) To better understand how Caribbean immigrants assimilate into the U.S. society, specifically with a focus on how this affects their view of and experience in education.

Research questions:

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a) How is second generation Caribbean immigrants racialized and gendered?

b) How do these second generation immigrants experience race and gender in daily life and how does that shape life perspectives?

c) How do these experiences differ in gender between men and women?

d) How do family life and gender roles influence the view of the role of education for both men and women?

e) How does race-gender experiences in the work place impact each gender?

f) "How can oppressive racialization and gendering processes be revealed, interuppted, and rearticulated to create more equitable and liberating education opportunities, particularly for low-income urban second-generation youth?" (Lopez, 2003, p. 6)

References:

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Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (2011). Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research, inDenzinand Lincoln, Eds.The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. London: Sage.

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

Lopez, N. (2003). Unequal Schooling: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education in

N. Lopez (Ed.), Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in

Urban Education. New York: Routledge

Maxwell, I. (2013). Goals: Why are you Doing this Study? Chapter 2 Qulitative Research Design:

An Interactive Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Paradigm:

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Lopez (2003) follows the interpretivist paradigm in various ways. For example, Lopez was researching her participants in social settings, such as the workplace because this helped her bring meaning and understanding about each of their realities. The interpretivist paradigm believes that findings are built through dialogue and Lopez did just that, she had focus groups and interviews in order to better understand her research and findings.