Summary and Reflection #1

Summary and Reflection #1

(Learning Log assignment #3 for HED 742)

Greetings!

Summary and Reflection

In chapter nine of Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches the author addresses issues of writing up qualitative research within the five approaches. According to Creswell, the issues one should consider when writing qualitative research include the audience, encoding for the audience, the use of quotes, and reflexivity and representation (p. 198).

As I began to read chapter nine, the issue that stood out to me was the discussion about reflexivity and representation of the writer. Creswell writes, “Qualitative researchers today are much more self-disclosing about their qualitative writings than they were a few years ago” (p. 178). I immediately noticed a strong connection with this issue of self-disclosure in my readings, It’s all about Jesus!: Faith as an oppositional collegiate subculture (an ethnographic study of an Evangelical student organization at a public university). This book was published last year and the authors do a significant amount of self-disclosure in the first few chapters, particularly in chapter three. Gross, who is the co-author, (2009, p. 40) states:

“Like Peshin, we realize that to casual readers, these stories appear to be about the SCC – its staff, its students, its programs, and its relationships with peers. Yet ultimately and unavoidably these stories and interpretations are about us – the researchers and authors. It is for this reason that we devote the remainder of this chapter to sharing our life stories. We share these stories not as self-indulgent but as a necessary prerequisite to understanding our meaning making.”

This idea of understanding the writers meaning making through disclosure aligns closely with my own epistemological philosophy. I hold a constructivism view about how knowledge and meaning are discovered which is subject to human construction through interactions with one’s environment. I agree that with qualitative research a writer’s self-disclosure is an important part of understanding how the researcher analyzes or “makes meaning” of the data. I also ascribe to the idea that the researcher and participates are both affected by the study. Both Magolda and Gross admit to a “self-discovery process” while conducting the research. I am interested to see how the researchers’ journey unfolds as they study this faith-based organization.

I had recently spoken with one of my professors and we were discussing why researchers study particular topics. One of my professors area of study has to do access and resiliency for under-represented groups in higher education. He told me that he has been accused of researching these kinds of topics because he is trying to “resolve his own issues.” To my surprise, he quickly accepted these accusations and owed them without shame or excuse. This was profound to me because if I really stop to think about the topics I study and the professional work I do, it directly or indirectly helps me to resolve my own issues. My assumption is that this phenomenon happens with most researchers whether they are cognizant of it or not.

So as I continue to read It’s all about Jesus!: Faith as an oppositional collegiate subculture and unfold the researchers’ journey, I wonder if it affirms or reconciles any of their personal faith beliefs or issues?

Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd Ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Magolda, P. & Gross, K. E. (2009). It’s all about Jesus!: Faith as an oppositional collegiate subculture. Sterling, VA: Stylus.