Mini Research part 3

Introduction

In this qualitative phenomenological study, the role of the researcher is that of both research and participant. Therefore, I as the researcher will not “bracket” my experiences but incorporated them into the study. I will engage in reflexive journal throughout the study and incorporate my documented thoughts and feelings.

Qualitative Research Approach

A Phenomenological Research Design will be utilized. This is appropriate because phenomenology is a way to study an idea or concept that holds a common meaning for a small group of individuals. This approach generally hones in on a single concept or idea in a narrow setting. Croswell and Poth (2017) explain two main subsets of phenomenology. Hermeneutic referring to the researcher first identifying their interest or concerns pertaining to the phenomenon; then reflecting upon essential theme that constitutes the nature of the lived experience and mediates different resulting meanings. This follow up research student exploring the lived experience of black teachers in Alabama would be a hermeneutic phenomenology, because as the researcher I would be reflexive about my interest in the phenomenon of sense of belonging, as a black teacher in Alabama.

Participants

Eight participants (four males, four females) who meet the following criteria: 1) racially identify as black and 2) work as a teacher in Alabama will be recruited. A recruiting email will be sent to listservs likely to engage Black teachers (e.g. Black Educators Rock). The recruitment email will describe the aim of the study and give directions of how to participate in the study. Participants will be instructed to follow a link and complete demographic question about gender, years of teaching and state in which they teach and email address. Eight respondents will be interviewed as study participants. For phenomenological studies, Creswell (2017) recommends 5 – 25 and Morse (1994) suggests at least six. These recommendations helped me as the researcher estimate how many participants I will need.

Instrument/Data Collection

An interview protocol will be used to collect data from teacher recruited to participate in the study. The interview protocol will include questions focused on teachers’ perceived sense of belonging inside and outside the classroom. Participants will be provided with information about the study, given an inform content document to sign and will be asked for permission to record the interviews for later transcription. Participants will also be assigned pseudonyms to protect their identity and increase confidentiality.

Individual interviews will be conducted by a single interviewer for 30 to 45 minutes. The interviewer is a Black woman teacher. All interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed by the researcher. Once completed the interviewer will check audio recordings against transcripts to ensure transcription accuracy.

Data Analysis

Qualitative researchers look for patterns or themes in the texts or image analysis. Creswell and Poth (2017) discuss a data analysis spiral highlighting six steps commonly used in analyzing qualitative data. The six steps highlight an inductive analysis approach which is intended to aid an understanding of meaning in complex data through the development of summary themes or categories from the raw data. Therefore, following the interview transcription, the researcher will review the transcripts and generate possible themes. The researchers will then code the transcripts and generate core ideas once all interviews are coded with themes.

Trustworthiness

Theory triangulation will be used to establish trustworthiness in this study. According to Guion (2002), theory triangulation aids in establishing trustworthiness, if people from different disciplines, or from the same discipline within different status come to the same conclusion as the researcher after evaluating the study data. Individuals from different disciplines or positions bring different perspectives. Therefore, if each evaluator from the different disciplines interprets the information in the same way then trustworthiness is established. To triangulate the study information, I would share the transcripts with colleagues in different disciplines (i.e. counseling, nursing and public health education) to see what their findings and conclusions are. I would compare those and look for congruence to establish validation in my research findings

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.