Student Affairs
On-Line
The on-line magazine about
technology and Student Affairs
Gary D. Malaney - Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst
Editor
Stuart Brown - StudentAffairs.com
Executive Editor
|
Student Affairs Gary D. Malaney - Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst Editor Stuart Brown - StudentAffairs.com |
|
|
|
||
Join our mailing list!
|
Conducting Qualitative Research On-Line in Student Affairs
Lamont A. Flowers Assistant Professor Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Foundations University of Florida lflowers@coe.ufl.edu James L. Moore III Assistant Professor Counselor Education The Ohio State University moore.1408@osu.edu Posted: February 10, 2003 Student Affairs Online, vol. 4 no. 1 - Winter 2003 The primary objective of qualitative research is to obtain
information by exploring, identifying, and examining an issue by questioning,
engaging, and/or observing those individuals who are involved with, affected
by, and/or familiar with the issue under study (Moore & Flowers, 2002a). In
student affairs settings, a qualitative research design is suitable when student
affairs professionals are interested in collecting in-depth data reflective of
students’ attitudes about a program, students’ opinions about student services,
and/or students’ college experiences. In regards to qualitative research,
many scholars (e.g., Krueger, 1994; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Mason, 1996)
recommend that qualitative researchers carefully develop their research
questions in such a way that they can generate meaningful and useful data. To
achieve this objective, often it is recommended that a comprehensive interview
guide with open-ended questions should be developed and used. This qualitative
data collection technique enables students to conceptualize their perceptions
and opinions in their own words. Open-ended questions also help minimize the
occurrence of leading or directing students to answer questions in a particular
manner (Brenner, Brown, & Canter, 1985; Rubin & Rubin, 1995; Scott, 1995). It
also should be noted that maximizing reliability and validity are just as
important in qualitative research as it is in quantitative research (Miles
& Huberman, 1984; Moore & Flowers, 2002a). To enhance reliability in
qualitative research, it is recommended that researchers spend sufficient time
with the study's participants to check for discrepancies in responses (i.e.,
prolonged engagement and persistent observation); verify the accuracy of
participants' responses (i.e., member checking); and explore each participant's
responses meticulously (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). To maximize validity in qualitative
research, it is recommended that participants' responses are accurately
reported and represented (Scott, 1995) and that multiple sources of information
are used to triangulate the qualitative data (Miles & Huberman, 1984). Collecting
Qualitative Data On-Line
This
article advocates the use of collecting qualitative data on-line via AOL Instant Messenger™. AOL Instant Messenger™ is
a free windows-based program (available from www.aol.com)
that anyone with Internet access can download and use to transfer messages
instantly with other users (e.g., interviewer to
interviewee and interviewee to interviewer). Capitalizing on the technological
background of most college students makes this method of data collection a
viable option (Moore & Flowers, 2002a). In other words, this electronic method of collecting data
will also enable student affairs professionals, who have access to the
Internet, to interview students from their computers via AOL Instant Messenger™, and it will also give student affairs
professionals the option to print the qualitative data (Moore, 2000; Moore
& Flowers, 2002a). Moore
& Flowers (2002b) successfully implemented this process in a study
assessing the effectiveness of conducting qualitative research on-line versus
traditional interviewing techniques for African American male college students.
Additionally, the purpose of the study was to explore the influence of family
factors on the persistence and education of African American males in college.
The sample consisted of two groups: 1) African American males who had already
graduated from college, and 2) African American male students who were
categorized as juniors or seniors with a 2.5 grade point average or higher. The
first group of African American males participated in “electronic” individual
interviews via AOL Instant Messenger™. This method was selected because members of
this group lived far away and because “electronic” individual interviews were
more convenient for both the researchers and participants. The second group of
African American males who participated in the study consisted of juniors and
seniors from a large southeastern university. Preliminarily, the study shows
that using the Internet to collect qualitative data yields the following
benefits: a) increase in efficiency by eliminating the time needed to
transcribe audiotapes; and b) elimination of audiotapes and other expensive
data transcription equipment (Moore & Flowers, 2002b). Procedures for Analyzing
On-Line Qualitative Data
Once
qualitative data are collected on-line, student affairs professionals can print
the transcripts and then begin coding and analyzing the data utilizing the
grounded theory approach. The grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss,
1967; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Mason, 1996;
Scott, 1995) refers to collecting and analyzing data simultaneously for the
purposes of developing theoretical and thematic explanations, in turn, to
explain, compare, and trace the development of the researched phenomena. The
process involves the following steps: “(a) comparing the data applicable to
each conceptual category; (b) integrating the categories and their properties;
(c) delimiting the emergent theory; and (d) writing up the theory” (Jorgensen,
1989, p. 113). For the purposes of this article, the phrase “writing up the
theory” refers to constructing statements of explanation resulting from
particular questions or objectives and derived through a systematic process of
questioning, probing, analyzing, and synthesizing. This process, the grounded
theory approach, should continue until saturation and redundancy occurs (Scott,
1995). Student affairs professionals employing this approach should rely
heavily on the transcripts for analyzing the data. This procedure is referred
to as transcript-based analysis
(Morgan, 1998). As stated earlier, all on-line interviews should be both coded and analyzed utilizing the grounded theory approach. Specifically, student affairs professionals should review and analyze the on-line qualitative data throughout a study or assessment project. This process should be continued until all student affairs professionals involved in the project are able to formulate a comprehensible picture of the participants and are able to answer the research questions. During this phase, student affairs professionals must look for patterns in the data and code the data so themes and subthemes can be easily identified. Then all student affairs professionals involved in the assessment process should meet to discuss “how” and/or “why” they identified certain themes in the data. This method of analysis will again allow the data to be constantly compared and organized as recommended by the grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Jorgensen, 1989; Scott, 1995). Once patterns and themes are identified, student affairs professionals can use direct excerpts from the on-line transcripts to present and illustrate the themes and subthemes. Potential Uses
of On-Line Qualitative Data Collection in Students Affairs Offices The
following is a list of potential research objectives, relevant to student
affairs professionals, which may be addressed using the on-line qualitative
research methods discussed in this article: §
to explore
students’ perceptions of their satisfaction with existing programs and/or
services. §
to
determine the extent to which students are developing in
educationally-meaningful ways. §
to assess
the effectiveness of student advising. §
to discuss
sensitive issues and/or recent campus events with students. §
to measure
students’ perceptions of the campus climate.
§
to obtain
student input in the strategic planning process. §
to assess
the influence of student involvement on academic success. §
to study
ways to improve the recruitment and retention of diverse and underrepresented
students. §
to assess
student leaders’ development of their team-building skills. §
to
investigate the opinions of alumni regarding services offered by the
university. Limitations of Collecting Qualitative
Data On-Line Despite the benefits of using the procedures
discussed in this article, the following limitations to this approach need to
be acknowledged. In our research employing this procedure (Moore & Flowers,
2002b), we have noted the following limitations of using the Internet to
collect qualitative data: 1) a considerable amount of time is needed to
adequately prepare and train researchers and study participants to effectively
use the on-line technology during the interview process; 2) conducting
interviews on-line prevents the researchers from analyzing the participant’s
body language, facial expressions, and voice tone during the interview; 3)
on-line interviews make it difficult to effectively probe for more information
because the researchers are given very little information regarding when to
probe for more information; and 4) the process of conducting on-line interviews
is entirely dependent on expensive technology that may or may not be available
to all study participants. References Brenner, M.,
Brown, J., & Canter, D. (1985). Introduction. In M. Brenner, J. Brown,
& D. Canter (Eds.), The research interview: Uses and approaches (pp.
1-8). Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Glaser, B. G.,
& Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago,
IL: Aldine. Jorgensen, D. L.
(1989). Participant observation: Methodology for human studies. Newbury,
CA: Sage. Krueger, R. A.
(1994). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Newbury,
CA: Sage. Lincoln, Y.,
& Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury, CA: Sage. Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative research. Newbury, CA:
Sage. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1984). Qualitative data analysis:
A source book of new methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Morgan, D. L. (1998). The focus group guidebook. Newbury, CA:
Sage. Moore, J. L. (2000). The persistence of African American males
in the college of engineering at Virginia Tech. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Moore, J. L., & Flowers,
L. A. (2002a). Collecting qualitative data on the World Wide Web: A
step-by-step guide for counselor educators and student affairs professionals.
Manuscript submitted for publication. Moore, J. L., & Flowers, L. A. (2002b). Using the Internet to collect
qualitative data: An exploratory study assessing the effectiveness of conducting
qualitative research online versus traditional interviewing techniques for African
American college students. Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (1995). Qualitative interviewing:
The art of hearing data. Newbury,CA: Sage. Scott, D. W. (1995). Conditions related to the academic
performance of African American students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.
|
|