Initially I was concerned about incorporating a Qualitative method in my research, but now I am starting to wonder how I would do a Quantitative study. When I think of Quantitative, the first thing that comes to mind is test scores, either in-class or standardized. Maybe I would be ethically safe using this data if I only compared test scores among Hispanic students. Perhaps I could analyze the effect a student’s attitude has on their academic achievement. This is just an add-on to last week’s topic, but after reading the comments, I wanted to brainstorm a little more.
So, as far as Qualitative research goes, I completely agree with Dr. McCoy’s suggestion of conducting interviews instead of surveys. There is a high probability there will be a language barrier with some students, and questions on a survey may be misinterpreted, as well as their responses. After reading about Qualitative methods in the text, I think both Observing and Interviewing would be beneficial for my study.
Initially I would want to sit in on the math class and observe the students and their behaviors, participation, etc. From my observations, I think I would be able to create valuable interview questions. Throughout my research, I would like to conduct both structured and unstructured interviews, because both seem they would produce important data. If I am sitting in on a class one day and observe an interesting behavior or reaction from a student, I would love to be able to sit down with them after class and ask about the situation, thereby conducting an unstructured interview. After observing for a while, I should be able to come up with some specific questions, and would then conduct a structured interview. Or should questions in a structured interview come from previously read research, and be given to the students on day one? After reading the text I am not sure.
I am feeling better about my topic, so hopefully within the next week I will be able to tie everything together.
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Katie, these are good ideas. One thing I mean to ask is whether you speak Spanish? That may be a good thing for the interviews.
It may not be practical to interview students immediately after a class every day. You might need to do several observations to come up with general interview questions from both what you have seen and what you read about earlier.
Good progress!!
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