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Documents and Website Content as Data Sources for a Qualitative Study

          At the core of positive social change is initiating social progress (Green, 2014; Walden University, 2014; Yob & Brewer, n.d.). However, perspectives on positive social change vary thereby creating a phenomenon of different strategies of it (Green, 2014; Walden University, 2014; Yob & Brewer, n.d.). Walden University, for example, believing that positive social change is about involving people, communities, and institutions in activities that bring progress to people’s lives locally and globally leverage educational resources both human and nonhuman such as the scholar of change initiative to promote social progress across the world (Walden University, 2014). Green (2014) on the other hand, believe that negative social change stems from inappropriate measurement methods applied to social progress arguing that the use of GDP indicators to measure social progress was impoverishing and inappropriate as a positive social change initiative. Kezar (2014) although believes in the use of educational resources and platforms to enable social positive social change vis-à-vis social progress suggested a strategy of connecting people socially-social networking. Notwithstanding a common thread I have observed is there is an awakening consensus among diverse and emerging people and communities across the world towards revolutionizing positive social change initiatives, some even utopian in nature, with the aim of generation transforming social progress outcomes (Korten, 2006; Wright, 2010).

How Reviewed Literature Sources Have Shaped My Experience of Positive Social Change

          Studying diverse and emerging scholarships regarding social change has brought me varied perspectives regarding the phenomenon. Mentioning a few, I have been able to comprehend social change through the following lenses: revolutionary, missionary, confrontational, and visionary (Korten, 2006; Wright, 2010); diversity, collaborative, shared, knowledgebased, and experience (Walden University, 2014); networking-social (Kezar, 2014); measurement-indicators (Green, 2014); and qualitative research (Walden University, 2014; Saldaña, 2016; Yob & Brewer, n.d.). These perspective are gradually shaping my insight into the growing need to collaborate scholarship and practice (Bartunek, 2008) towards social progress novelty going forward.

Supporting Explanation of Positive Social Change with Data from Analytical Memo

          Clarke (as cited in Saldaña, 2016) describe analytical memos as where we engage in tête-à-tête with ourselves regarding our data. Saldaña (2016) discussing a proposed content of analytic memo highlighted specific categories inherent that guides the crafting of the memo by qualitative researchers. One of the categories involves the reflexivity and writings regarding a researcher’s personal relationship to the participant, and, or, the phenomenon (Saldaña, 2016).

          Including many, my analytical memo reflects data from a video vis-à-vis transcript of one of the scholars of change called Jackie Kundert (Kundert, 2012). Kundert’s (2012) phenomenon of interest vis-à-vis problem of drug overdose increase in communities or societies, resonates strongly with me in that as a health worker, I experience on a daily basis the influence and effects associated with narcotic drugs and drug abuse among people especially the youth. I have overly witnessed that, being a “mother of drug overdose child or children” can inspire a negative or, and positive social change reaction in and among mothers and families. Overdosing on drugs, can also be a “community challenge” in that it triggers negative or, and positive social change issues within the communities.

Conclusion

         Increasingly, positive social change is becoming a vision shared by people, institutions, communities, including governments who believe in the inevitability of real social progress (Korten, 2006; Wright, 2010). More so, it is a collaborative and revolution that is unconventionally shared among scholarship and practice, two forces that underlie real, increasing, and lasting social progress (Korten, 2006; Wright, 2010). Thus, collaboratively, scholars and practitioners (Bartunek, 2008) can make societies progressive.

Reference

Bartunek, J. M. (2008). You're an organization development practitioner-scholar: Can you contribute to organizational theory? Organization Management Journal, 5(1), 6-16. doi:10.1057/omj.2008.3

Green, M. (2014, Oct). What the social progress index can reveal about your country. TEDGlobal. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_green_what_the_social_progress_index_can_reveal_about_your_country.

Kezar, A. (2014). Higher education change and social networks: A review of the research. Journal of Higher Education, 85(1), 91–125.

Korten, D. C. (2006). The great turning: From empire to Earth community. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.

Kundert, J. (2012). Battling drug addiction in the heartland [Video file].

Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Walden University. (2014). Social change impact report. Retrieved from walden university website: https://www.waldenu.edu/-/media/Walden/files/about-walden/2014-social-change-impact-report.pdf?la=en

Wright, E. O. (2010). Envisioning real utopias. London, England: Verso.

Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Working toward the common good: An online university's perspectives on social change, 1-25