7 Paradoxes I Like

I saw these posted by Gretchen Rubin over at the Happiness Project:

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2010/02/nine-paradoxes-to-contemplate-as-you-consider-your-happiness-project.html

· Accept myself, but expect more of myself.

· Take myself less seriously—and take myself more seriously.

· Push myself to use my time efficiently, yet also make time to play, to wander, to read at whim, to fail.

· Strive to be emotionally self-sufficient so I can connect better with other people.

· Think about myself so I can forget myself.

· Remember that control and mastery are key elements of happiness; and so are novelty and challenge.

· Work can be play, and play can be work.

Ethics-Ephesians Post #1

Ephesians1: 1-10

Max Lucado writes “What situations will I face more effectively this week if I remember that I am chosen and valued by God?” (2007, p. 10). While N. T. Wright (2004) describes the first section of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as “a long and quite formal prayer of thanks and praise to God” (p. 5). To respond to Lucado’s question then is to examine my mindset as I set out to overlay Paul’s writing onto my daily schedule. It is too easy to get wrapped up in moment-to-moment crisis in everyday life and too easy to forget to bask in the grace and love of Christ. Further it is too easy to forget to extend the same grace to others that Christ extends to me. How quickly I want grace and forgiveness yet how hard it is as humans to offer the same things we so desire.

This week has been a nice start to my reflection on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and what a wonderful way to spend the week, as Wright describes “the appropriate context for all Christian prayer, reflection and exhortation: the worship and adoration of the God who has lavished his love upon us” (2004, p. 5).

The Art of Case Study Research

Chapter 7 Triangulation

Validation

Consequential validity-the consequences of using measurements should be considered part of the researcher’s responsibility.

Data source triangulation-we look to see if the phenomenon or case remains the same at other times, in other spaces, or as persons interact differently.

Investigator triangulation-we have other researchers take a look at the same scene or phenomenon.

By choosing co-observers, panelists, or reviewers from alternative theoretical viewpoints, we approach theory triangulation.

Methodological triangulation-most popular;

The stronger one’s belief in constructed reality, the more difficult it is to believe that any complex observation or interpretation can be triangulated.

Member Checking-In a process called “member checking” the actor is requested to examine rough drafts of writing where the actions or words of the actor are featured, sometimes when first written up but usually when no further data will be collected from him or her.

Chapter 8-Writing the Report

Page 123 excellent outline of report

To some people, a surprising feature of my work is that, at the very beginning, I make a careful estimate of the number of pages to appear in the final report

A lesser aid for me, but common for most, is the topical outline. Rather than a topical outline, I use a tentative table of contents with page allocations. The number of pages should be compatible with the logistics of communication.

Chapter 9-Reflections

Researchers do not step outside their ordinary lives when they observe and interpret and write up the workings of a case.

Qualitative case study is highly personal research. Persons studied are studied in depth. Researchers are encouraged to include their own personal perspectives in the interpretation.

Because it is an exercise in such depth, the study is an opportunity to see what others have not yet seen, to reflect the uniqueness of our own lives, to engage the best of our interpretive powers, and to make, even by its integrity alone, an advocacy for those thing we cherish.

The Art of Case Study Research, Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5 Analysis and Interpretation

Two strategic ways that researchers reach new meanings about cases are through direct interpretation of the individual instance and through aggregation of instances until something can be said about them as a class.

With intrinsic case studies, our primary task is to come to understand the case. Usually, we will try to spend most of our time in direct interpretation.

With instrumental case studies, where the case serves to help us understand phenomena or relationships within it, the need for categorical data and measurements is greater. We will forego attention to the complexity of the case to concentrate o relationships identified in our research question. The nature of the study, the focus of the research questions, the curiosities of the researcher pretty well determine what analytic strategies should be followed: categorical aggregation or direction interpretation.

Naturalistic Generalizations-are conclusions arrived at through personal engagement in life’s affairs or by vicarious experience so well constructed that the person feels as if it happened to themselves.

Naturalistic Generalization is important more because of its embeddedness in the experience of the reader, whether verbalized or not.

Chapter 6-Case Researcher Roles

The Case Study Researcher as Teacher

The intention of research is to inform, to sophisticate, to assist the increase of competence and maturity, to socialize, and to liberate. These are also the responsbilities of the teacher.

The Case Study Researcher as Advocate

The Case Study Researcher as Evaluator

The Case Study Researcher as Biographer

The Case Study Researcher as Interpreter

Constructivism

Of all the roles, the role of interpreter, and gatherer of interpretations is central. Most contemporary qualitative researchers nourish the belief that knowledge is constructed rather than discovered.

We may conceive of three realities. One is an external reality capable of stimulating us in simple ways but of which we known nothing other than our interpretations of those stimuli. The second is a reality formed of those interpretations of simple stimulation, an experiential reality representing external reality so persuasively that we seldom realize our inability to verify it. The third is a universe of integrated interpretations, our rational reality. The second and third, of course, blend into each other.

Relativity

Because they emphasize experiential and personal determination of knowledge, most qualitative researchers are relativists.

The Art of Case Study Research

Chapter 4 Data Gathering

Absolutely essential parts of a data-gathering plan are the following: definition of case, list of research questions, identification of helpers, data sources, allocation of time, expenses, intended reporting.

Access and Permissions-a brief written description of the intended casework should be offered. Usually, a couple of paragraphs will suffice, but extensive plans should be available if requested Plans for distribution of the report should be indicated, with any intention or opportunity for review of the drafts by actors. Expectations of any plan to anonymize should be expressed. Some changes in these matters should be anticipated along the way, and the ways change will be negotiated, with all relevant partings agreeing to the changes, should be mentioned in the request for access.

The researchers should indicate how and why the organization was selected but should not work hard at correcting misrepresentations of the selection procedure.

In discussing prospects of the study, burden on the host should be acknowledged. It is a good idea for the researcher to provide reports of previous studies that reveal how indirectly, the mutual involvement and the kinds of issues likely.

Observation-Most readers want the straight story but they also expect researchers to put themselves into the interpretation, finding meanings that others cannot grasp.

Description of Contexts-vicarious experiences for the reader-to give them a sense of “being there” the physical situation should be well described. There should be a balance between the uniqueness and the ordinariness of the place. The physical space is fundamental to meanings for most researchers and most readers.

The more the case study is an intrinsic case study, the more attention needs to be paid to the contexts.

Interview-Two principal uses of case study are to obtain the descriptions and interpretations of others.

Qualitative researchers take pride in discovering and portraying the multiple views of the case. The interview is the main road to multiple realities.

Suggested book: The Art of Asking questions by Stanley Payne (1951)

The purpose for the most part is not to get simple yes and no answers but description of an episode, a linkage, an explanation.

Getting the exact words of the respondent is usually not very important, it is what they mean that is important.

Perhaps the most important thing is to insist on ample time and space immediately following the interview to prepare the facsimile and interpretive commentary.

Understanding a case is greatly facilitated by finding an informant.

The Art of Case Study Research

The Art of Case Study Research

Robert E. Stake

Chapter 1 Introduction, A Intensive Study of Case Study Research Methods

The intrinsic case study is done to learn about a unique phenomenon which the study focuses on. The researcher needs to be able to define the uniqueness of this phenomenon which distinguishes it from all others; possibly based on a collection of features or the sequence of events.

The instrumental case study is done to provide a general understanding of a phenomenon using a particular case. The case chosen can be a typical case although an unusual case may help illustrate matters overlooked in a typical case because they are subtler there. Thus a good instrumental case does not depend on the researcher being able to defend its typicality

though the researcher needs to provide a rationale for using a particular case.

The collective case study is done to provide a general understanding using a number of instrumental case studies that either occur on the same site or come from multiple sites.

Producing Generalizations

The real business of case study is particuarization, not generalization. We take a particular case and come to know it well, not primarily as to how it is different from others but what it is, what it does. There is emphasis on uniqueness, and that implies knowledge of others that the case is different from, but the first emphasis is on understanding the case itself.

Emphasis on Interpretation

According to one highly respected writer on qualitative studies, Fred Erickson, the most distinctive characteristic of qualitative inquiry is its emphasis on interpretation.

Rather, we emphasize placing an interpreter in the field to observe the workings of the case, one who records objectively what is happening but simultaneously examines its meaning and redirects observation to refine or substantiate those meanings.

Progressive focusing-If early questions re not working, if new issues become apparent, the design is changed.

Chapter 2 Research Questions

The design of al research requires conceptual organization, ideas to express needed understanding, conceptual bridges from what is already known, cognitive structures to guide data gathering, and outlines for presenting interpretations to others.

Conceptual structure

We want to appreciate the uniqueness and complexity of the case, its embeddedness and interaction with its contexts.

For intrinsic case study, the cae is dominant; the ase is of the highest importance. For instrumental case study, the issue is dominant; we start and end with issues dominant.

Etic issues-brought in by the researcher from the outside

Emic issues-these are the issues of the actors the people who belong to the case

Three stages through which investigators move: observation, renewed inquiry and explanation.

Suggestion: Peshkin (1985) said he likes to trace the evolution of his inquiry by retitling it each month

Researchers differ on how much they want to have their research questions identified in advance. Case study fieldwork regularly takes the research in unexpected directions, so too much commitment in advance is problematic. Yet logistics (budgeting funds, hiring helpers, piloting instruments, etc.) make it almost impossible to get thoroughly acquainted with the case before designing the study. So the researcher makes a flexible list of questions, progressively redefines issues, and seizes opportunities to learn the unexpected. It is a style of research that becomes more manageable with experience.

Chapter 3 The Nature of Qualitative Research

Standard qualitative designs call for the persons most responsible for interpretations to be in th field, making observations, exercising subjective judgment, analyzing and synthesizing, all the while realizing their own consciousness.

Placement of the most skilled researchers directly in contact with the phenomena and making much more subjective claims as to the meaning of data.

The primary characteristic of qualitative research is the centrality of interpretation.

Chpt 5, Part 2 Analyzing Data & Chpt 6

Five Analytic techniques

Pattern Matching

· One of the most desirable techniques

· Compares an empirically based pattern with a predicted one (or with several alternative predictions)

· If the patterns coincide the results can help a case study to strengthen internal validity

· Nonequivalent dependent variables as a pattern

o According to this design, an experiment may have multiple dependent variables-that is a variety of relevant outcomes

o If, for each outcome, the initially predicted values have been found, and at the same time alternative “patterns” of predicted values (including those deriving from methodological artifacts or “threats” to validity) have not been found, strong causal inference can be made.

Explanation Building

Time-Series analysis

The essential logic underlying a time-series design is the match between the observed (empirical) trend and either of the following (a) a theoretically significant trend specified before the onset of the investigation or (b) some rival trend, also specified earlier.

Logic models

Deliberately stipulates a complex chain of events over an extended period of time. The events are staged in repeated cause-effect-cause-effect patterns, whereby a dependent variable (event) at an earlier stage becomes the independent variable (causal event for the next stage.

The process can help a group define more clearly its vision and goals, as well as how the sequence of programmatic action will (in theory) accomplish the goals.

Individual-level logic model

Firm or organizational level logic model

An alternative configuration for an organizational level logic model

Program level logic model

Cross-Case Synthesis

Applies specifically to the analysis of multiple cases

The technique treats each individual case study as a separate study

One possibility starts with the creation of word tables that display the data from the individual cases according to some uniform framework.

Now the analysis can start to probe whether different group of cases appear to share some similarity and deserve to be considered instances of the same type of general case. Such an observation can further lead to analyzing whether the arrayed case studies reflect subgroups or categories of general cases—raising the possibility of a typology of individual cases that can be highly insightful.

Chapter 6 Reporting Case Studies; How and What to Compose

Orienting the Case Study Report to an Audience’s Needs

For dissertation committee-under these conditions, should attempt to communicate directly with this committee. A recommended tactic is to integrate the committee member’s previous research into the thesis or dissertations, creating greater conceptual (and methodological) overlap and thereby increasing the thesis or dissertation’s potential communicability to that particular audience.

Whatever the audience, the greatest error you can make is to compose a report from an egocentric perspective.

Formats for Written Case Study Reports

Among written forms of case studies, there are at least four important varieties. The first is the classic single-case study.

A second type of written product is the multiple-case version of the classic single cae. This type of multiple-case report will contain multiple narratives, covering each of the cases singly, usually presented as a separate chapters or sections. Your report also will contain a chapter or section covering the cross-cae analysis and result.

A third type of written product covers either a multiple or a single case study but does not contain the traditional narrative. Instead the composition for each case follows a series of quetios and answers based on the questions and answers in the case study database.

The fourth and last type of written product applies to multiple-case studies only. In this situation, there may be no separate chapters or sections devoted the individual cases.

Rather, your entire report may consist of the cross-case analysis, whether purely descriptive or also covering explanatory topics. In such a report, each chapter or section would be devoted to a separate cross-case issue, and the information from the individual cases would be dispersed throughout each chapter or section.

Six illustrative structures-

Linear-Analytic Structures-This is a standard approach for composing research reports.

Comparative Structures-

A comparative structure repeat the same case study two or more times, comparing alternative descriptions or explanations of the same case.

Chronological Structures-Because case studies generally cover events over time, a third type of approach is to present the case study evidence in chronological order.

Theory-Building Structures-chapters or sections follow some theory-building logic.

Suspense Structures-Inverts the linear-analytic structure

Unsequenced Structures-one can change the order the chapters and not alter its descriptive value

Procedures In Doing Case Study Report

When and How to Start Composing

After the literature ha been reviewed and the case study has been designed, two sections of a case study report can be drafted: the bibliography and the methodological section.

A third section is the preliminary literature review and how it led to or complemented yur research questions and the propositions being studied.

After data collection but before analysis begins, a fourth section that can be composed covers the descriptive data about the cases being studied.

If you can draft these four sections before analysis has been completed, you will have made a major advance.