250 likes | 387 Views
Instrument Creation 1. EDUC 894 Week 4. Plan for Today. Reports-In, Wiki Update, $$$ Silverman’s 6 Class Activity: The Art of Interviewing --------------------Dinner Break--------------------- Report-Outs Input and ideas from the class
E N D
Instrument Creation 1 EDUC 894 Week 4
Plan for Today • Reports-In, Wiki Update, $$$ • Silverman’s 6 • Class Activity: The Art of Interviewing --------------------Dinner Break--------------------- • Report-Outs • Input and ideas from the class • Discussion: Concerns in Creating Instruments and Collecting Data • Group-work
Silverman’s Six Rules of Qualitative Research • Don’t mistake a critique for a reasoned alternative. • Avoid taking the actor’s point of view as an explanation • Recognize that the phenomenon always escapes • Avoid choosing between all polar opposites • Never appeal to a single element as an explanation • Understand the cultural forms through which “truths” are accomplished.
The Art of Interviewing • Interviewing isn’t hard • An interview is just a conversation that has a purpose and (some) structure • Interviewing isn’t easy • It is a performance that requires both careful planning and artful execution (of course it’s really easy to do it poorly) Presentation based on the work of Kvale (1996)
Dimensions of Interviewing • Purpose • Exploration / Hypothesis Testing • Mode • Description / Interpretation • Openness of Purpose • Direct Approach / Indirect Approach • Rationality • Intellectual / Emotional
Structure of the Interview • Well-structured • Formalized question wording • Standardized sequence of questions (possible branching) • Interviewers interchangeable • Semi-structured • Pre-determined themes / question areas • Formulation and sequence flexible, follow-up questions determined on the fly • Unstructured • Only a topic-introducing question is planned
Interviewing: The Miner Approach • Knowledge is the gold nuggets that need to be uncovered and extracted • Objective facts • Essential meaning • Assumes • Nuggets are pre-existing • Nuggets are unaltered by the extraction process • Aligns with an objectivist epistemology Image Source: http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/bertrand-miner.jpg
Interviewing:The Traveler Approach • The interviewer is on a journey to explore unknown territory • They may seek out specific sites or topics • The outcome of conversations is a coproduction of the interviewer and the subject • Goals include: • Understand the world from the subjects’ point of view /unfold the meaning of experiences • Aligns with a constructionist / subjectivst epistemology Image Source: http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/bertrand-miner.jpg
Miner versus Traveler: An Example • “What grades did you get?” • “What are your study habits?” • “You feel that grades are not an adequate measure of your competence?” In a semi-structured interview a student says: “I am not as stupid as my grades on the test say I am, I just have bad study habits” The Miner Says: The Traveler Says:
Key Concepts in “Miner” Interviews • Objectivity of the Interviewer • No leading questions • The subject’s ideas already exist, the goal is to reveal them • May or may not be conscious to the subject • Expectation of Convergence • Process of honing in • Questions must be cleverly designed to uncover the truth
Key Concepts in “Traveler” Interviews • Focus on Themes of Meaning • Not completely free-form, where do questions lead • Strive for Specificity • Elicitation of rich, nuanced descriptions of specific situations and actions, not general opinions (it’s not just about asking your research Qs) • Flexibility • Interviewer needs to be open to new and unexpected phenomenon (not ready-made interpretations) • Realize that the process of the interview may change not only the interviewer’s understanding, but also that of the subject • Subject as Intellectual Companion
The Car Crash • Watch carefully • Answer the question on the paper I gave you • No sharing with your neighbor!
Designing Interview Questions:3 kinds of contributions • Thematic • The question (question area) relates to the research topic / questions and the theoretical conceptions underlying it • Analytic • The question is posed in a form that will facilitate the planned analysis (e.g. rich narrative versus conceptual categories) • Dynamic • The question promotes a positive interaction (keeps the conversation going and motivates openness). Question should be short, clear and jargon-free
Designing Interview Questions:9 Types of Questions • Introducing Questions • “Can you tell me about…?” • “Do you remember an occasion when…?” • Follow-Up Questions • Nods and “Hmms” • Repeat signification words / implicit ideas • Look for unusual terms / intonation / body lang. • Silence • Let the subject associate, reflect and break the silence with important information
Designing Interview Questions:9 Types of Questions • Probing Questions • “Could you say more about that…?” • “Do you have other examples of that…?” • Specifying Questions • “What did you do in that situation…?” • “In what way was that hurtful to you…?” • Direct Questions • “Have you ever copied someone else’s work?’ • Indirect Questions • “How do you think other students feel about copying work?”
Designing Interview Questions:9 Types of Questions • Structuring Questions • “I would now like to introduce another topic…” • Interpreting Questions • “Do you mean that…?” • “Does the expression _______ capture what you have just expressed?” • “Do you see any connections between your attitudes towards copying work and the incident you mentioned about your brother?”
Interviewing 101 • Introduction: Provide a context • Purpose, consent, tape recorder • First 5 minutes: The Key to the Interview • Inspire comfort and confidence with attentive listening with interest and respect • Conclusion: Debrief the Subject • Opportunity to bring up other issues, ask questions, what happens when you turn the tape recorder off • Immediate Field Notes • Impressions based on interpersonal interaction that may not be captured on tape
Practice: Question 1 How do students use online course discussion forums? Group Alpha Group Zed
Practice: Question 2 How do students develop identities as participants in online discussions? Group Alpha Group Zed
Report-Outs • Where is your group at? • What have you done? • What are you working on now? • What is your biggest concern?
Discussion: Concerns in Creating Instruments and Collecting Data • What are the big issues to worry about in collecting data from an objectivist perspective? (Argumentation) • What are the big issues to worry about in collecting data from a constructionist perspective? (Greening Gotham, Wario, SuperStar) • What are the big issues to worry about in setting up an experimental design? (Argumentation) • What are the big issues to worry about in terms of sampling? (Wario and Greening Gotham) • What are the big issues to worry about in collecting survey data?(Team SuperStar) • What are the big issues to worry about in analyzing online documents (posts / blogs)? (Greening Gotham, Super Star)