American Journal of Qualitative Research (AJQR) welcomes original research articles and book reviews for its next issue. The AJQR is a quarterly and peer-reviewed journal published in February, May, August, and November.
We are seeking submissions for a forthcoming issue published in May 2023. The paper should be written in professional English. The length of 7000-10000 words is preferred. All manuscripts should be prepared in MS-Word format and submitted online: https://www.editorialpark.com/ajqr
Due to the high volume of submissions in the American Journal of Qualitative Research, the editorial board decided to publish quarterly starting in 2022.
Research Article
Hannah H. Kim, Deborah L. Vietze
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 1-24
ABSTRACT
This research is a qualitative and narrative inquiry to investigate how Korean American youth’s bicultural identity develops and to determine whether that bicultural identity serves a protective function in facing prejudice and discrimination and contributes to developing resilience. Data was collected through in-person interviews with ten second-generation Korean youth in New York City. Their life story narratives were analyzed using over 20 coding categories. The findings showed that the Korean youth felt comfortable embracing both their Korean- and Americanness. Their bicultural identities evolved as they confronted racism, including American stereotypes and prejudices towards them, raising their awareness of their Korean and Asian identity. They believed that biculturalism could be an asset as it could contribute to cultural flexibility and adaptation to the multicultural U.S. society. This study has significance for public health in that (1) it takes a closer look at the issues of identity struggles and discrimination experienced by young people with a minority background as they grow up in the United States; and (2) it provides an opportunity to explore ways to help these youth by understanding their psychological and emotional difficulties and sufferings.
Keywords: biculturalism, identity, life story model, narrative inquiry, resilience.
Research Article
Terrell Strayhorn
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 25-45
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to explore the law school experiences of underrepresented racial minorities (URMs) enrolled at predominantly white institutions (PWIs), paying close attention to the nature of their racialized academic and social lives on campus. Drawing upon one-on-one and group interviews with 29 ethnic minority law school students at three PWIs, I identify the myriad factors that law school students of color consider when choosing, enrolling, and/or persisting through law school. In consonance with the beliefs and standards of phenomenological research, I use information from these extensive interviews to describe the essence of their law school experiences, paying close attention to any racialized challenges, supports, or opportunities using critical race theory (CRT) as a lens. Verbatim quotes from participants are presented to illustrate the depth, meaning, and context of the findings in their own words. Results from the present study hold promise for informing the future decisions, programs, and practices of law school administrators, legal educators, diversity officers, policymakers and enrollment management staff more generally.
Keywords: critical race theory; qualitative; case study; interviews; legal education.
Research Article
Luiza Bontempo e Silva, Gustavo Beck, Miguel Jaschack
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 46-57
ABSTRACT
This article presents original research on the dreams of adults during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Mexico. Subjects went through a series of in-depth clinical interviews where they were asked to share their most recent dream and then explored the dream imagery in conversation with the interviewer to find meaning through an analytic, dialogical process. After gathering the data through the interviews, the authors proceeded to use the narrative method and grounded theory to process the findings. The fundamental objective of the article is to explore the advantages that a qualitative exploration of dreams offers over other methodologies of dream analysis. The article proposes that a qualitative approach has the benefit of validating the dreamer’s experience without generalizing it. This shifts the focus of dream research from the description of categories to the co-creation of meanings with the participants. Additionally, it constitutes an initial attempt to explore and understand the affective and/or cognitive conflicts that underly dream imagery rather than simply mentioning repeating elements within the dream content.
Keywords: dreams, COVID-19, research on dreams, analytical psychology, subjectivity, qualitative research.
Research Article
Philippa Parks
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 58-72
ABSTRACT
Narrative research collects and tells stories about people’s lives. It is a recognized methodology for exploring identity development in educational research. This article describes the Story Circle method, an innovation in narrative research data collection and analysis that was used in a project looking at identity construction in pre-service teachers. In the Story Circle method, the researcher uses a focus group type setting to gather large quantities of narrative data generated from several participants to explore commonalities in the data. The narrative data generated by the Story Circles method in this project was rich in both quantity and quality, with over two hundred anecdotes generated over six one-hour sessions. The paper describes the approaches and protocols of data collection and analysis of this method and discusses some of the benefits of using this approach, especially for researchers interested in incorporating narrative research in mixed methods.
Keywords: Focus groups, narrative inquiry, narrative research methods, teacher identity.
Research Article
Seyfettin Arslan, Drorit Lengyel
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 73-93
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to determine the educational status, problems, goals, and expectations of an educated Turkish migrant group who had to migrate to Germany after 2016 due to some political pressure. The process of data collection was carried out between the months of January and September 2021. As a qualitative data collection tool, a semi-structured interview form was applied. After the literature review, open-ended questions were prepared in the interview form in order to determine the views of the participants. The target group of the study consists of 25 interviewees who migrated from Turkey to Germany after 2016. All the participants were selected among the ones who wanted to involve voluntarily in the research, and their identities were kept anonymous. For the timing of the interviews, a convenient time was agreed upon with the participants. Due to the pandemic, the participants were interviewed via e-mail, telephone, or digital media platforms, such as Zoom and Skype. In the research, it was found that participants primarily aimed to work on a job suitable for their education level. Thereupon, they have tried to fulfill the conditions such as language learning and diploma equivalency. While some have achieved their goals, it was seen that the majority of them are making an effort for those purposes. It is anticipated that such studies will contribute to the shaping of immigration policies of the hosting countries.
Keywords: Education, migration, Turkish, integration, career target.
Research Article
Lucas Enrique Espinoza, Luis Enrique Espinoza, Rosalva Resendiz, Georgina Villegas-Montenegro
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 94-113
ABSTRACT
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a severe public health and criminal justice issue that disproportionately affects women more than men. This sought to explore Latina experiences of IPV in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Twelve Latina IPV survivors from the RGV, ages 24 to 40 years old, were interviewed using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Several primary themes were discovered: types of abuse; perceived reasons for the abuse; education and economic insecurity; why stay or leave an abusive relationship; the criminal justice system’s role; and self-blaming. All participants (n = 12) were college educated and endured IPV victimization at the hands of their male significant others. This study should be replicated on a larger scale to determine if the results are representative of all RGV IPV victims. These findings have implications for positively affecting IPV prevention, services, and interventions to reduce Latina IPV victimizations in the RGV.
Keywords: intimate partner violence, Latina, college-educated, partner abuse.
Research Article
Hoa H Nguyen, Nhi TY Nguyen, Huong TT Vu, Thu TM Le
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 114-127
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the study environment, teaching-learning activity, and employment status of the Public Health discipline. Qualitative research was conducted from December 2021 to August 2022. We recruited graduates, lecturers, and employers using the snowball sampling method and purpose. This research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (No. 550/HDDD-DHYD), and the oral consent form was obtained for each in-depth interview and focus group discussion. The number of participants in the focus group discussions was 20, equal to those in the in-depth interviews. There were 22 women (55%) and 47.5% of people over 35 years. University was the highest choice for working (47.5%), and over 50% of people had post-graduate degrees. The Faculty of Public Health is a romantic place with various green spaces and fresh air on Hung Phu Street and a modern building at 12A of Hong Bang Street. There are various teaching-learning activities, such as role-playing, case study, group discussion, writing report, presentations, and thesis defenses. Employers satisfy the Public Health graduate student knowledge and skills; however, they must improve their soft skills for job adaptation. This study's results may help to supply evidence for our university to improve the educational training program of Public Health. Furthermore, it may contribute to the expected learning outcomes to train human resources, which satisfies employers' needs and requirements of social changes relating to Public Health professionals.
Keywords: Study environment, teaching and learning activity, employment status, stakeholder, qualitative research.