Week 7

This week’s narrated presentation emphasizes the concept of reflexivity as central to qualitative research. The central thrust of the presentation is to develop and strengthen awareness of the roles and responsibilities of the qualitative researcher and to offer practical suggestions to most responsibly perform the role of “researcher-as-instrument”, a concept that has been highlighted throughout the course. This deeper level thinking that this assignment provokes and encourages, allows you to reflect on new learning and insights, and prepares you for the final upcoming Signature Assignment that you will complete next week.

As with the first assignment in this course, you are called upon again to reflect critically on your role as a qualitative researcher. As you have learned in this course, qualitative research values the concept of subjectivity, and because of this, the researcher is expected to be transparent throughout the research process. This week, you have an opportunity to think deeply, critically, and reflectively. As such, consider this a very valuable and rich learning moment! Use the Kaltura tool within the LMS to create a narrated presentation. To help you remain focused, you will first write a script, which you will submit along with your presentation. This week, you are provided with the Kaltura User Guide which explains how to access and use this recording tool that is integrated into the LMS.

In the past few weeks, you have learned about the importance of alignment and trustworthiness, and you have also become aware of the researcher’s critical role in achieving this. Demonstrate your understanding of qualitative research by matching each of the following principles with its corresponding explanation.

You will accomplish several tasks with this penultimate assignment. Be sure to address each of the following three prompts clearly and articulately:

■ Describe your understanding of the following terms: positionality, reflexivity, and researcher-as-instrument. Provide definitions for each term, and offer examples that you draw from your own personal and professional experiences.

■ Pick three adjectives to describe the role of the qualitative researcher. Address each adjective in 3-5 sentences explaining what you see as the researcher’s responsibilities in planning for, conducting, and writing up a qualitative study.

■ Create some “notes to self”. In these notes, include ideas about the important and useful aspects of your role and responsibilities as a qualitative researcher that you will want to remember. These notes can serve as a reminder as you move forward with your research study. As such, it would be a good exercise to write these notes for yourself so that you can refer back to them, and also build on them, as you proceed in your program. These notes could in effect also be the start of a research journal that will be required in some future research courses further on in your program.

Length: This assignment will include a written script of 2-3 pages and a narrated presentation that will last 3-5 minutes.

References: Include a minimum of 4 scholarly resources.