Trying a different approach

Seven email interviews went out, and only two came back.  I thought I would be easy on my participants, and send out two interview emails with a few questions on each, and got two responses from the first emails sent out - but none after that.  After a few gentle reminders, and a pilot study assignment coming due, I decided to do what I probably should have done in the first place and will be going in to do the interviews in person.  This is not how I envisioned my research project going, but oh well.

#10 - Questions sent out....and two replies back.

This week, I've sent out the first round of questions to all participants.  I'm feeling pretty good since two participants have gotten back to me so far.  From these two responses, I can see that I might want to do a face to face interview with some of the participants if possible.  Both responses contained good information, but are missing the emotional connection to the decision.  I could include a question about personal feelings etc about the decision, but I'm still not sure how well even that would carry over.

#9 - getting those questions out.

This week, I've been writing up my questions and reworking them.  I made a timeline for myself, but I already now that I'll have to tweak it early on. 

I want to ask my participants what level of higher ed they are currently at.

If they have graduated, or will soon, what was their undergrad area of study.

In the first round of questions (I plan on doing at least two), I want to know if participants are pursuing, or are currently enrolled in a graduate program, and which one. 

If participants have not/are not, I want to know what factors led them to that decision.

What challenges, issues, concerns, and successes did you experience this week on your research project? This past week has been pretty crazy, so I'm looking forward to some free time over spring break to get things done.   I have been working on my interview questions, however, and I've run into some difficulties.  I'm not sure how many questions to have and some of the wording is illuding me.  Do I make my interview questions short and succinct but have a lot of them? Or, do I include multiple ideas in longer questions? hmm.

Finding Sources and My Constant Nemesis - Time

• What challenges, issues, concerns, and successes did you experience this week on your research project?  

This week I was trying to balance working on my Lit Review and all the work that goes into planning, preparing, implementing, videotaping, and observations associated with student teaching.  It was a big week, and I didn't do quite so well with the balancing act.

I start off my lit review a week or so back by looking for articles.  I had a path in mind, and found a good amount (though not very recent) of sources concerning the information seeking behavior of the Millennial generation.  As I went through the material, I started to focus my study in a little more.  I had started out wanting to see what a group of 20-something Math tutors were doing to plan out careers etc, but decided to focus in on decision making regarding graduate school.  This led me to a couple of articles on seeking information on graduate schools/programs, but not quite as much as I had hoped for.

I will be continuing to look for more relevant sources as my project goes on.  

Analyzing Data

• What methods will you use to analyze your data?

I will be collecting my data via face to face interviews and email correspondence.  Then, I will be coding the responses and comments and using a series of concept maps and charts to compare and contrast the results.  I find Bryman's 4 stages of qualitative analysis to be laid out in a manner that will help guide my analysis.  I will be doing a lot of highlighting and mapping as I go through all my notes and plan to ultimately end with a table created on with google docs that summarizes the results.

• What experience (formal or informal) have you already had with these data analysis methods?

I have very little experience with data analysis in this format.  I have analyzed parts of a text etc, but very limited experience analyzing actual human responses.  

• What questions or concerns do you have about these methods?

One of my biggest concerns is working to find relationships or answers to specific questions/theories I may have in my head while analyzing data and not simply letting the data speak for itself.  Perhaps I am used to the manipulation involved in literary analysis - where two people may interpret a poem or story very differently, and find ways to support both arguments.  I need to remember that I am not looking for a specific result - I will find results after the responses are in and analyze the data as it is.

Ethics

What role will you play as a researcher in relation to your subjects/participants? I will be an involved party in the course of my research.  I will act as interviewer.  These seven participants are my peers and I have a friendly though not personal relationship with them.  I feel that this will make the interview process easier, but it is not without some concerns. What ethical considerations and concerns seem most relevant to your research project? I think concerns of anonymity are probably most relevant to my project.  The questions that I will be asking are not of a very personal nature, but there may be answers the research subjects would rather not have others know.  Because this is a small group of colleagues who are friendly with each other, some may feel comfortable sharing and discussing the interviews with each other and some may not.   What is the best way of addressing these? I will clearly outline the terms of confidentiality to each subject.  Interviews will take place one on one, away from others, or over private email correspondence.  I will make it clear that I will not be using names or other identifiers, and that all data will be kept confidential and only discussed on class assignments - not on facebook or other sites.  Throughout the data collection, I will check in with each subject to make sure that they are feeling comfortable with how the research is going.

Methods, methods, methods

• What methods will you use to collect data that will answer your research questions?

My primary means of data collection will be via interviews.  I'll have at least one in person interview  with my seven subjects, and conduct the rest of my data collection through email correspondence and survey.  

• What experience (formal or informal) have you already had with these data collection methods?

I really only have experience working with surveys on past small scale research projects.  I have conducted interviews before, but never to collect data for research.  I have however, been part of someone else's research project, and as such was part of a qualitative data collection interview. 

• What questions or concerns do you have about these methods?

My main concern with conducting email interviews is getting the most honest answers.  Giving subjects time to ponder the questions may lead them to write what they think I might want to hear, or embellish answers for whatever reason.

Let's Dig a Little Deeper

• How does your previous experience influence your thinking about your research project?

I was once a graduate myself who was unsure of my next life steps.  I was a reading tutor for a couple years before I was accepted at St. Kate's and committed to my chosen career path.  I remember my own agitation trying to find information on my next steps.  I feel a connection to the information seeking that this group of tutors is currently doing and I feel empathy for them.  I want them to be successful in their life pursuits.

• What do you think are the most important factors influencing the information seeking behavior of your target study group? 

There are multiple factors for this group.  One that they all share however is cost.  These are folks who are paying off loans, or paying tuition. some have rents to pay, car costs, etc.

• What design approaches could you use to answer your research questions? 

I will be doing in person and email interviews with these folks.  

Figuring Out What the Heck I'm Going to Focus On!

Since I will be completing my student teaching hours this semester, I immediately thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to do a research project with some of the students in the libraries I'll be working at.  However, after the first day of class, I learned how difficult doing that will ultimately be.  I went back to the drawing board and this is what I have:

1.  There are about half a dozen tutors at the high school I am currently student teaching at.  They do their tutoring in the library, so I've been able to talk to them on several occasions.  They are all willing to be my "research subjects".   These tutors are all between the ages of 22 and 27.  They are math tutors working with a grant from a local company.  

2.  In conversation, I've heard many of them talk about their next life steps.  Some are considering grad school, some are completing the last requirements of their undergraduate degrees.  All of them know that once this grant is done they will be looking to the next adventure.  I want to know what their current information seeking behavior is and what are their information seeking needs.

3.  I will start by conducting in-depth interviews with each of them, and when I move on to my next student teaching site, I will maintain contact with them via email.