Research Article
Rosalie Rolón-Dow, Michelle J. Bailey
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 1-18
ABSTRACT
Stories that document the experiences of individuals are central to narrative research methods. Like narrative research, critical race theory (CRT) also values the experiential knowledge that can be documented through storytelling. CRT scholars, however, particularly focus on the use of storytelling to document how race and racism are understood and experienced by racially minoritized groups. As researchers, including CRT scholars, use narrative methods, they face many complex choices about which data analysis methods to use and how to use them. In this article, the authors feature a CRT research project to provide examples of three strategies they used for analyzing narrative data: restorying, typology development and classification, and memoing. The authors demonstrate the process of restorying to streamline participant narratives for a clearer understanding. They show the use of a typology for organization and exploration of stories based on common themes. And they outline how analytic memoing lends itself to exploring participant narratives more deeply by writing about them using consistent prompts. Overall, this article emphasizes working with whole narratives, understanding narratives as stories, and acknowledging participants and their narratives as a source of knowledge. While these analytic strategies can be applied to a wide range of research topics, the project featured in this article shows their potential and close alignment with research projects that employ a CRT framework.
Keywords: narrative research analysis, restorying, typology, analytic memos, Critical Race Theory.
Research Article
Cherell Cottrell-Daniels, Dina M. Jones, Sharrill A. Bell, Maitreyi Bandlamudi, Claire A. Spears
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 19-41
ABSTRACT
Low-income and African American adults experience severe tobacco-related health disparities. Mindfulness-based interventions show promise for promoting smoking cessation, but most mindfulness research has focused on higher income, Caucasian samples. “iQuit Mindfully” is a personalized, interactive text messaging program that teaches mindfulness for smoking cessation. This qualitative study sought feedback from predominantly low-income African American smokers, to improve the intervention for this priority population. After receiving 8 weekly group sessions of Mindfulness-Based Addiction Treatment for smoking cessation and between-session iQuit Mindfully text messages, participants (N=32) completed semi-structured interviews. Participants were adult cigarette smokers (90.6% African American, 62.6% annual income <$30,000, mean age 45.1 [±12.9]). Interviews inquired about participants’ experiences with and suggestions for improving iQuit Mindfully, including message content, number, and timing. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded by a team of 5 coders in NVivo. The coding manual was developed based on response categories from the interview guide and themes emerging from the data. Themes were organized into a conceptual model of factors related to engagement with the mHealth program. Response categories included helpful aspects (e.g., themes of social support, mindfulness, personalization); unhelpful/disliked aspects (e.g., too many/repetitive messages); links between in-person sessions and texts; and suggestions (e.g., changes to number/timing and more personalization). Findings provide insight into participants’ day-to-day experiences with iQuit Mindfully and suggest ways to improve mHealth programs among low-income and African American adults.
Keywords: Smoking cessation, mobile health technology, mindfulness, qualitative research, African Americans.
Research Article
Terrell L. Strayhorn
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 42-58
ABSTRACT
Sense of belonging is associated with students’ social adjustment and academic success, especially during the first-year of college. In this study, ethnic minority first-year college students were exposed to a brief belonging video intervention designed to alter self-beliefs, antisocial behaviors and personally threatening interpretations of academic-related adversities. Using an innovative qualitative approach, the researcher assessed college students’ perceptions of the intervention on their health, well-being, and sense of belonging in the first year. Findings reveal that the video intervention helped first-year college students of color at PWIs reframe negative academic, financial, and social experiences while facilitating supportive networks, community, and belonging. Implications for research, policy, and practice are delineated.
Keywords: qualitative research, sense of belonging, college students, intervention.
Research Article
Patricia Akojie, Imhabibi Laroche, Jane Schumacher
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 59-72
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 took business, education, and the government sectors off guard. On the education front, the problem was interruptions in instruction when alternative forms of instruction are not provided. This study is a narrative of how six certified teachers, with between 1-26 years of teaching experience in K-12 grades, and who were recruited through snowball sampling quickly adjusted to providing instruction to students with available and accessible learning management tools during the first two months of the COVID-19 health crisis. Participants shared teaching practices to quickly transition to online education. Teachers drew from their toolbox to reach students using both high and low technology embedded lessons. Participants shared the types of technology and methods used for teaching. Teaching styles included the following approaches: inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning, and kinesthetic approach. The study calls for a crisis management plan for K-12 virtual learning. Recommendations included providing continuous training, so K-12 teachers can effectively teach online.
Keywords: Coronavirus, COVID-19 Pandemic, K-12 education, alternative instruction, online learning, technology, distance education, web-based learning.
Research Article
Prativa Shrestha, Prakash C. Bhattarai
AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 73-84
ABSTRACT
The purpose of writing this article is to demonstrate that the case study methodology can be very useful in the exploration of inclusion in education. As evidence, the authors have presented their experiences of using a case study methodology to study inclusive education with a particular focus on girls with visual disability and their school context. Going beyond an interpretation aligned with ecological system theory and theory of dysontogenesis, the methodology was able to capture the essence of the participants’ experiences, exploring the different layers of environment and how the layered aspects influenced the school experiences of girls with visual disabilities and their integration or segregation in schools. In the meaning-making process, the case study was able to unpack the complexity of school and classroom practices and their connections amongst diverse layers at the levels of the teacher, the pupil, the classroom, the school, and its context.
Keywords: inclusive education, inclusion in Nepal, research in inclusion, case study, visually impaired girls