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Amanda
ThursdayJul 5 at 7:43pmManage Discussion Entry
In your initial post, compare the characteristics of appropriate research designs and recommend a qualitative research design that would facilitate answering the instructors’ additional questions.
Various qualitative research designs exist. Common methods as stated in Frost (2011) used to conduct qualitative research include: grounded theory, discourse analysis, interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), and narrative analysis (p. 3). While various methods exist, they all serve a useful purpose and have different characteristics. The grounded theory asks what, how, and why questions that are related to psychological processing. The discourse analysis design asks what and why questions related to the use of linguistics. IPA asks various questions about how individuals understand their environment around them. Narrative analysis uses storytelling to ask questions and share experiences in order to gain an understanding of the internal and external environment amongst individuals. While these methods all ask questions, they are designed to gain information in a variety of ways depending on the topic and the purpose of the study.
In order to gain a better understanding of how students feel about the intervention and how they view the influence of the intervention related to their learning, the instructor should use a narrative analysis design. Using the narrative analysis method would allow students to share their experiences and feelings about the intervention. For example, they could share if the intervention motivated or unmotivated them and their feelings toward the incentive. This method would also allow students to discuss and share how the intervention impacted or did not impact their learning in the classroom environment and external environments. 
Explain the philosophical paradigm underlying the recommended approach.
In order to conduct a strong qualitative study, being aware of philosophical perspectives is essential. Postpositivism, constructivism-interpretivism, and critical-ideological perspective are three paradigms’ that can be used as a foundation for qualitative research (Ponterotto, 2013, p. 581). The critical-ideological perspective is the underlying paradigm related to the narrative approach. The narrative approach uses communication to gain a better understanding of the world. It allows individuals to interpret their feelings and make sense of their world. The communication provides a better understanding of the needs and implementing necessary tools.
Evaluate the required articles for this week and describe the assumptions the instructors might have to set aside as they enter into a qualitative research study.
The instructors should set aside any tunnel vision and open their eyes to various perspectives. Setting aside stereotyping or bias judgements is also critical. Refraining from positivistic assumptions, but rather reflexivity is essential (Frost, 2011, p. 12). Researchers must be open to change and have an open mindset.
Be sure to identify any ethical issues that may apply to the research.
The researcher is responsible for remaining ethical as conducting qualitative research can be very challenging. According to Ponterotto (2013) a variety of ethical challenges exist including informed consent, recruitment of participants, confidentiality, relationships, and interpreting data (p. 587). Gathering and interpreting data can be difficult, especially when evaluating information from various cultures, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and communities. Anticipating or not having a clear understanding of where the study will go may be an issue as the original consent of the study may change. Gaining competence is essential when conducting qualitative research in attempt to reduce ethical issues (Ponterotto, 2013, p. 587). The researcher should be proficient in conducting research in order to complete the study in an efficient manner and remain ethical.
Review the characteristics of the quantitative approach you described in the Week Two discussion. Explain the ways in which the quantitative approach and paradigm differs from the qualitative approach and paradigm you have recommended here.
Various characteristics of the critical-ideological perspective and pretest-posttest-only control group design differ. The critical-ideological perspective is a qualitative approach to research, but may have some quantitative approaches as well. Various factors assist the researcher in shaping the inquiry process including political, economic, and social factors (Ponterotto, 2013). The researcher’s values provide insight to this process. The pretest-posttest-only control group design is a quantitative approach to research. An experiment is done and the participants are assigned at random. The researcher’s values should not influence the process, which is another characteristic that differs this method from the critical-ideological perspective.
References
Frost, N. (2011). Qualitative research methods in psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Ponterotto, J. G. (2013). Qualitative research in multicultural psychology: Philosophical underpinnings, popu