Herald reporter McGinnis wins award for photography

For the third year in a row, the Calgary Herald's education reporter has been honoured for her work by the province's teachers.

But, after two years of being recognized for her writing, Sarah McGinnis has this time been given an award by the Alberta Teachers' Association for her photography.

The image of young soccer players linking arms as they observed a moment of silence for 13-year-old Jason Louie -- who was found dead with his sister in their Panorama Hills home in November -- netted McGinnis the honour, announced Tuesday by the association.

The annual Education News Writers and Photographers of Alberta Awards are given to two journalists and two photographers, at daily and weekly newspapers in the province, for their work on public education issues and achievements.

McGinnis, 30, said she is honoured to have won the EdNews Award for the picture that captured an emotional moment in the lives of Louie's friends.

"Photography is a passion of mine and one I get to indulge in at the Herald from time to time," she said.

"It's rare at a daily that I can do both (writing and photography) and I did both that day."

The photo accompanied a story that McGinnis wrote about the Calgary West Soccer Club's effort to honour Louie and help its other members cope with their grief.

Edmonton Journal education reporter Sarah O'Donnell was given the award for reporting at a daily newspaper.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

idea of intepreting visual image

Old paint on canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman’s dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. That is called pentimento because the painter “repented”, changed his mind. Perhaps it would be as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and then seeing again….. The paint has aged now and I want to see what was there for me once, and what is there for me now.

-Lillian Hellman

Pentimento: A Book of Portraits

Visual Methods Chapter - by Pink

VISUAL METHODS Chapter by Sarah Pink

- visual anthropology and visual sociology – subdiscipline in the development of visual methods.

In anthropology – Bateson and Mead

In sociology – Howard Becker – his was quote found in visual research methods text

Pinks work – field of the visual in ethnography – is critical of purely observational approaches

Ways of introducing photography and video in qualitative research include -

• The analysis of existing photos or video
• Using photos as prompts for discussion “photo elicitation”
• Asking informants to produce photographs or video along certain themes and questions to discuss and analyse later
• The researcher producing photos and video in collaboration with informants during participant observation or interviewing

Visual research is a creative process requiring researchers to respond creatively to their own research situation with well-informed innovations and adaptations to existing methods. P. 363

PLANNING VISUAL RESEARCH

A) Deciding which visual media and method to use –

• Appropriateness of using different media in specific cultural and persona contexts
• Privacy issues
• Institutional rules and regulations
• Possiblity of carrying out a pilot study to determine appropriateness beforehand

B) Innovative visual research can be costly

- cameras, batteries film and tapes, computing equipment, editing facilities for video making, developing, printing, digitalizing and reproductions costs, technical support or training that might be needed

- range of visual technology now available is immense,

- visual technologies constantly changing and evolving

- kind of camera may be dictated by research context eg small DV camera more appropriate in a home than big professional camera

C) Thinking about permissions and consent

-depends on context

- ethical issues and agreements

We often mix the visual with other methods – video with interview or participant observation – need to see as integrated into the process not visual as add-on

DOING VISUAL RESEARCH

A) Getting the informants - getting the informants is a challenge – Pink recommends developing a collaborative relationship with informants whereby they become involved in decision-making about the way the interview materials are used

B) Being a reflexive visual researcher – being aware of how our own experiences, knowledge and stand-points inform our interpretation with and interpretation of our informants

C) Understanding the meaning of the camera in the research context –

D) Introducing the camera – usually develop contact first and let them hold and use the technology being used

E) Working with informants – because anthropologists and sociologists have to negotiate with their informants to produce knowledge anyway, most research is collaborative

UNDERSTANDING AND ANALYSING VISUAL RESEARCH

- difficult to separate research and analysis in visual research

- might include reflexive analysis of process and relationships

QUOTES

“Photographs and videos do not tell us the whole story about either or own or our informants experiences; instead, like our written notes, they are subjective representations of reality.”

“The meanings of visual images are ambiguous and we cannot assume that a photograph or video recording produced during our research will always have the same meaning. It will be given different meaning according to the subjectivity of the person viewing and interpreting it.” Pg 371

“… doing ethnography is establishing rapport, selecting informants, transcribing texts, taking genealogies, mapping fields, keeping a diary, and so on. But it is not these things, techniques and received procedures, that define the enterprise. What defines it is the kind of intellectual effort it is: an elaborate venture in, to borrow a notion from Gilbert Ryle, ‘thick description’.” (Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.6

“Ethnography is an ambiguous term, representing both a process and a product. As a product an ethnography is usually a book.” (Michael H. Agar, The Professional Stranger p. 1

notes on the internet as research context

Chapter 21
The Internet as research context
by Annette N. Markham
NOTES

The chapter challenges the idea of perception as it is merged with the cyber world or virtual world.

-the researcher approached her study as an ethnographer and went to ‘live’ with her subjects in the online world

-had to interpret text from the interviews done…

-viewed the internet as “…a multiplicity of cultural phenomena not limited to either a monolithic entity or a universal set of experiences” p. 330 as well as, “I view the Internet as an umbrella term for those social spaces constituted and mediated through computer-mediated interactions. As such, the Internet can be seen as a place or a research context.” P. 330

-author comments on how using the internet in research causes the researcher to adjust their perspective,

“In my own experience, the absence of the body does not make the interaction less real, or the ‘knowing of other’ impossible, but it forces an adjustment of perspective; I must be keenly aware of my preconceptions” p. 331

-while conducting research on the net, the researcher can observe behaviour in a less obtrusive way (p. 332)…
“the researcher can lurk and not be noticed. Participant observation is also easier, in that joining groups is not difficult” p. 332
-the author notes that ethical considerations must be balanced in this type of research

Social spaces on the Internet… “These spaces of interaction can draw on or transcend traditional ways of being with others, reify traditional or create new stereotypes, democratize or marginalize. These spaces, like the humans constituting and occupying them, are like any social space we see and study in physical environments; I argue that the primary distinctiveness of the Internet lies in the capacity for anonymity and the unique way this technology reconfigures time and space” p. 333



Internet as a way of being (p. 333)
-author states, “there are those users who embodied connection to the technology is powerfully evident, such as those who broadcast daily activities as public display via webcams…we can create and destroy our various identities and selves at will in cyberspace; our identities can be perceived as having continuous malleability and transformative potential.” P. 333

About Online Interviewing-when the visual element is removed from communication and the individual has to rely on text only, language and perception are joined and this takes a great deal of patience, listening and constant interpretation. P. 334

Interpretation-

The author talks about how she does not know her subjects outside of their ‘online’ personas…however, does this make the person any less real? As well, can the researcher ever ignore his/her judgments about subjects based on how the subject presents him/herself?

“The interpretive lens is not separable from the researcher’s frame of reference and history, but researchers often deemphasize or totally ignore this limitation under the protective guise of if scientific tradition” p. 340

“The methodological dilemma is to be sensitive to the context, to figure out what the most suitable interpretive path is, and to remain epistemologically consistent. Of course, in my own experience, this is easier said than done…” p. 340

“Embodiment dysfunction: When we rely on our embodied sensibilities of knowing, we are not necessarily getting a better or more ‘accurate’ picture of the subjects of our studies; we may be simply reflecting our own comfort zones of research.” P. 341

“In the end, however, our goal as qualitative researchers remains; we strive to understand other in context, analyze some of what it means, and, when we think we know something, present this knowledge to colleagues.” P. 343

“…Internet contexts prompt us to reconsider the foundations of our methods and compel us to assess the extent to which our methods are measuring what we think they are, or getting at what we have always assumed they did.” P. 343

more images

Historical Images

Berlin wall comes down
Princess Diana
Jumping over Berlin wire
Elvis Presley
The Challenger
Mona Lisa
Lee Harvey Oswald
Bobby Orr
Twin Towers
Hurricane Katrina
Seal Hunt
John Lennon an Yoko Ono
Obama
Hitler
Japanese Surrender
Time Square
Pearl Harbour
Sinking of the Titanic
OJ Simpson

Interesting Quote

"In the end I am convinced that theorizing about photography is similar to theorizing about sex - one can indeed come up with some creative and useful insights, but a bit of practice will tell you much of what you need to know."

by Stanczak

from Visual Research Methods

Textual Analysis

Qualitative Research Course March 17, 2010

Case #8 Texts

Presentation Notes

-likened textual analysis to a sweater with a wool string that is pulled…the sweater becomes unraveled, just as, with textual analysis, once you pull it apart, it unravels the research

Presentation:

1. What it is (textual analysis)?

2. What constitutes text?

3. Key methodological points in textual analysis

4. Questions

“When we perform textual analysis on a text, we make an educated guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might be made of that text”

1. -with textual analysis, based on interpretation and MAY indicate truths but not always…how others make sense of the world (what they read, texts)

-way to understand how members of a various culture/subculture make sense of who they are, how they fit into the world in which they live

-concept of, likely interpretation, made by people, researchers

-more than one way to study text, mutually contradictory and incompatible with each other

-no approach tells us the truth about a culture

-documents must be looked at within the context they came from and how does this relate to the social phenomena we are studying?

2. What constitutes text? “…whenever we produce an interpretation of something’s meaning, a book, tv programme, film, magazine, t-shirt, kilt, piece of furniture or ornament, we treat it as a text”

-text may be understood as a written formal document expressing aspects of a shared social existence

-meaning of text may be extended to shared social behaviour with multiple levels of meaning

-common traits of text = authorship, document purpose, readership, form, conventions of style, grammar, etc..,

Main inspiration for this presentation is from the Olympic games this year in Vancouver (see handout)

-group looked at the National Anthem…the text as identity…Canadian identity /National identity

What was the purpose of our national anthem? Began as a poem by Judge Adolphe-Basile Routhier that was written for a congress on St. Jean Baptiste Day celelbration

-initially intended to a competition to compose music for it, but then asked a musician to do this

-originally in French and then translated 20 years later…the French version focuses on ancestors, war and religion while the English version talks of glowing hearts and the true North

Examination of Content

-what does the text reveal about itself as a text? (home and native land)- it is a ‘home’- meaning to some

-true patriot love in all thy sons command, etc…

Literary and Rhetorical Analysis of Intertextuality – the reference of a text to other texts from which it is issued. Discover the trail…where did it come from?

-from the person, what kind of knowledge does a person bring to it?

Document As Action

-strategy based documents as an example of action documents

-board game/video game instructions, DIY manuals – other examples…these help you to play or do something

-manifestos/platforms

-rules, laws and procedures

-spiritual/cultural/academics/life guidelines

-recent news story: about the anthem…a debate between Kim Campbell (wants some of the language changed in the anthem) vs. ‘real women’ in Canada…say it is a waste of money/time…see the story that aired on the ‘Current’ CBC radio Canada

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2010/201003/20100305.html

The Power of Documents

-the written word is more powerful than the spoken word…for example: wills, court orders, search warrants, marriage contracts, work contracts and more

-the idea within a document can explode into a way of life or a cultural trend, which could surpass the life of the document itself (e.g. movies made from books)

-texts can be misunderstood when taken outside of the original context for which it was written and intended

Text and Identity

-can one’s Canadian identity be addressed by the National anthem??

-

Visual Data and Qualitative Research

Group Meeting- Presentation of "Visual Data"

Lana shared: (Review of the Literature)

Visual Images of "Eyes" and "Ears"

"No One Saw" - Ordinary Things Through the Eyes of an Artist by Bob Rackzka

"Prayer for the Twenty-first Century" - John Marsden

Visual - "Eye" for the 1st slide

Brainstorming

Students pick a meaningful picture and send it via email to Dale.

Chris suggested bringing a photograph and having a partner analysis it using a series of guiding questions. Discussion then about the significance of the picture

Linda - notes on the blog summarizing Case #11

Interpretation of visual data individual- being aware of your bias as a researcher

BBC News - Tin-amen Square/man in front of tank - Chris

Rolling Slide Show - opening provocation - Dale and Chris

Dale has some interesting quotes...

Discussion from..

Seale, Clive. Qualitative Research Practice p 331

"In my own experience

Dale shared:

Ricky Goldman "Digital Ethnographers Journey"

Technology is our prosthetic device, they are tools that extend our boundaries, they are tools that help us see from the prospective of others.

Sees the video camera as her partner

Questions

What is our overriding question? Essential question that we will keep coming back to throughout the seminar? How can we justify our interpretation of visual data? Are some kinds of data easier to study?

Methods & Materials

Collect visual images that we can analyse, interpret and share our findings.

Lana's documentation panel- Rainbow Colour

Video

Dale shared...

"In My Language" (Amanda and Autism) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc

Perspectives

Linda spoke about...

how Amanda perceives the world from within and also mental.

how does this video illustrate how different people perceive the world? What is the root of perception?

Review of Literature

Dale "Points of Viewing" by Goldman-Segal.

Theory comes from the Greek word "theoria" which means viewing or contemplating. We want others see what we see and we do not see.

You have to see the world through "their" eyes ie as children. As a social worker Dale had to go live on the streets for a night, just to see or know ...walk a mile in my shoes. This is no longer done.

Pink, has informants talk about their data, which informs her research. Reggio says, you sit down with the images, "Why was this important."

Reflexivity - the physical, the interpretation, very individual

We are apart of what is happening. Once we are in it, we influence it.

"The Hundred Languages of Children" The Reggio Emilia Approach - Advanced Reflections

What is the intent, content, context?

What is our criteria for analysing?

Everyone understands visual data and knows it is context dependent.

Analyse each others photo-

•What happened before and after the image?

•What is your emotional response to the image?

•What is missing from the image?

•What is the eye brain connection?

•How do you categorize it?

•What is the technical/aesthetic quality?

•If there was text, what would it say?

•What do you believe is the context of this picture?

• What is the content of the picture

•What is the intent of this picture? What does it show?

•How am I being manipulated?

"I will not ask, is this photo real, because I know it is not."

Share video/stop the video/analyse/watch the end

Provide questions for small groups to look at and analyse the video

Unconventional Materials placed around the room-

Artifacts from Japan

Ying and yang worry balls/medicine balls

Tension balls

Korean sticks

Frog Guiro/percussion instrument

Penguin Cafe-music

Slide on Reggio for Keynote

What can visual data not be good for?

Provocative Studies - I wouldn't want to see all the images

Quantitative Studies - provincial exams...why would we need a visual? Is a graph a visual?

Mammograms - they do look at images as well as data

Rolling Slides -talk to it (Dale)/historical and contemporary images/(Chris)

Laura and the Watches - scanned Jeannie √

Ubuntu - scanned Jeannie √

What does it mean to be human?

Flow of the Evening

Rolling slides....

1. Visual data tells its own story - "Laura and the Watches"

2. Lana to share - 10 months old babies are reading images/speaking loudly with the eyes.Child is a researcher, testing a hypothesis, "Diary of Laura" You can hear with your ears, you can hear with your heart.

3. Sharing Images of Humanity

Their own images/go off and talk about it/Dale will create questions

Data collection

4. Rolling dialogue-Jeannie

•Co construct and make meaning

Quotes - each of us have one that comes out of visual data/and has meaning for us

4. Linda introducing the video/groups of 4

Video - autism / stop video/discuss/watch the end

Dale - quote videographers (participation in the study)

Ethical use...

5. Tensions associated with visual data

6. Reggio clip

7. Ubuntu - finishing

"We walk around believing that what we see with our eyes is real, in truth, each of us constructs our own understanding of what we are seeing." Donald Hoffman

"We do not really see through our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs. To put our beliefs on hold is to cease to exist as ourselves for a moment." Lisa Depit

The environment is the 3rd teacher

"How is humanity represented through visual images?"

Content, context, intent

Looking in the mirror

Exploring

A Vision of 21st Century Teachers - video

Eighteen classroom teachers "speak out" on the topic of tech integration and 21st Century skills for students.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4g5M06YyVw

Pictures of Children

Have a look at this site. The pictures of the children are beautiful and tell there own story.

http://www.mgtotshots.com/index2.php

Sarah Pink, "Doing Visual Ethnography"

Images inspire conversations, conversation may invoke images

Pink, defines ethnography as a "methodology an approach to experiencing, and representing culture and society that informs

Ethnography is a process of creating and representing knowledge about society, culture and individuals

The use of visual media and methods creates new ethical and practical dilemmas

Photography can inspire people to represent and articulate experience that they may not in an interview

Photography and video bear a relationship with reality. The connection between visual images and experienced reality is constructed though individual subjectivity and interpretation of images.

Reflexive approach to classifying,analysing and interpreting visual research materials recognizes both the constructedness of social science categories and the politics of researchers' personal and academic agendas

Thought

As Reggio inspire practitioners wouldn't a documentation panel be an example of visual data - maybe we can use someone's to have on display.

Dale

Notes on Case 11 VISUAL DATA

CASE 11: Visual Data
Notes

-pictures show detail and context in a way that words cannot
-the meaning of the pictures depend on the context and that depends on the observer’s making sense of things
-visual data- goes beyond pics to anything we can see; however, the question is, what does it represent to the individual who views it

-same challenge with using visual data as any other data…the interpretation needs justification

“The Neurophysiology of Cognition: Language and Social Interaction in the Work of Humberto Maturana”

Pressing question in social science research: interpretation…how we know and understand the world

Galileo and Descartes: believed in a “body – mind dualism”…external phenomenon separate from thoughts and feelings

Maturana has challenged this view, as well as, Martin Heidegger

-they believe that “the essence of our intelligence is in our practical involvement in the world in which we act unreflectively, for there is no neutral viewpoint from which we can see our beliefs as things. Heidegger calls this involvement with the ‘ready to hand’” p. 107

Heidegger describes life “as a process not a product…be-ing, not being” p. 108

Both researchers believe that living in the world cannot be separate from what is happening…we are a part of what happens…cannot ‘stand apart’ from it p. 108

Both researchers reached the same conclusions even though their approaches differed…Maturana through scientific research and Heidegger through reflection and reason

Maturana- has a ‘reflexive understanding of the relationship between the material and social worlds’ p.108

Maturana’s research: 3 conclusions- theory of perception, theory of living systems and a theory of language and cognition



Theory of Perception:
-in his research he was interested in the relationship between perception and the world being perceived p. 109…he studied frogs’ vision
-he noticed that when a white stick is illuminated by white light from one side and a red light from the other, 2 shadows are cast…one red and one green…conclusion that there was no simple correlation between wavelength and perceived color

Generally speaking…’we cannot distinguish between an event and our experience of it’ p. 109
-he theorized that,

“perception must be studied from the inside- that we must look at the nervous system as a generator of phenomena, rather than as a filter on the mapping of reality…Perception is a mental, rather than a physical activity” p. 110

-Maturana agrees with Garfinkel’s ‘reflexive relationship between phenomena and their interpretation’ p. 111
-no difference between what is real and what is perceived by the individual

A Theory of Living System:

-Maturana believes that we experience an event and then we make sense of it…we cannot ‘stand outside of ourselves to distinguish between reality and illusion’ p. 111

A Theory of Cognition and Language:

-believed that cognition and language are both social and physical phenomena p. 112 and ALWAYS context dependent…language and cognition can only be interpreted in context
-this is why computer programs that attempt to use language fail as language is so contextual and computers cannot interpret the complexity of multiple contexts

“the only reality is our experiences as we express them in language. We use experiences to explain experiences” p. 113

IMAGES FROM JEANNIE

From Tracey

RE: DIGITAL NATION VIDEO

Collaborative Creation

We are all explorers! By cultivating our creativity and imagination through the materials, together we are uniting in an empowering interpretation of our combined knowledge of qualitative research and the social world

Remember to engage the senses for the class…food, music, lighting, materials, provocation

(From the Text Book) -Quality in qualitative research-pull out the root woods

-quality and credibility

Headings: learning from philosophy, learning from social theory, learning from methodology, and learning from practice (case studies)

-perhaps each of us take each of these topics and go deeper with them and then link them to the digital nation/merit pay cases

-Jeannie to do philosophy, Dale social , Linda methodology, and Lana practice

-each person to pull the key points out from this section of the paper…rewrite headings as a question…pull out quotes from the reading and make further sense of them

Learning from Methodology

Learning from Methodology pp. 382- 384

Research Materials- methodologists call this ‘data’

In order for a methodologist to do ‘good research’, “We have to think about our research while we are doing it if work of good quality is to be produced” (Becker 1998)

- “blindly following methodological rules can close things down and lead to accounts that don’t hold up under criticism” p. 838

-author feels that methodology can improve the quality of research (p. 382)

“…if researchers learn to read methodological writings as moments of scholarly reflection in a research career that…encapsulate some research skills that the writer has learned.” P. 383

-when reading research, the reader must be aware that the findings of any given study may only be relevant for the present research context and not work outside of this context…so if they want to include the findings/ideas into their own context, but do this with good judgment

-author believes that methodological reflections from the quantitative method have a lot to offer qualitative researchers (p. 283)- goes onto to say that in quantitative research cannot be valid or invalid but instead be cited as ‘approximately’ or ‘tentatively’…control groups, stats are technical procedures that do not make a study ‘valid’

-quote on P. 283 explains what Campbell and Stanley believe

“…rules for proper research are not universally applicable are modified by pragmatic considerations…”

-the evaluations that happen in research depend upon, “linguistic practices, social norms, and contexts, assumptions and traditions that the rules had been designed to eliminate”

-the author also refers to these ‘rules’ as ‘threats’

-the author seems to say that qualitative research allows the researcher to enter into the ‘thoughts’ of the researcher to figure of the context in which the research is being done…this then adds to the ‘richness of the eventual account’ p. 283

-the internal dialogue shows transparency from the researcher and the author believes that methodological procedures assist with this initial inner dialogue and then help with sharing the dialogue with the external audience p. 283

More Metaphors - about QR

I found this bit in a text by Denzin and Lincoln - Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials helpful.  

Metaphors seem to help with my understanding of this complex topic.

Qualitative research is a field of inquiry in its own right.  I crosscuts disciplines, fields, and subject matters.  A complex, interconnected family of terms, concepts, and assumptions surround the term qualitative research.

In North America QR operates in a complex historical field that crosscuts seven historical moments. (pg 3)

Any definition of QR must work within this complex historical field.  QR  means different things in each of these moments.  Nonetheless an initial generic definition can be offered:  QR is a situated activity that locates the observer iin the world.  It consists of interpretive, material practises that make the world visible. (Pg 4

The qualitative researcher may take on multiple and gendered images:  scientist, naturalist, field-worker, journalist, social critic, artist performer, jazz musician, filmmaker, quilt maker, essayist.  

The researcher may in turn be seen as a bricoleur, as  a maker of quilts, or, as in filmmaking, a person who assembles images into montages.

A bricoleur  is a "Jack of all trades or a kind of professional do-it-yourself person.  There are may kinds of bricoleurs - interpretive, narrative theoretical, political.

My image for social learning theory. :)

Linking philosophy, methodology, and methods in qualitative research

As I search for information on the Philosophy of Qualitative Research I came across this article. In it is a definition of Epistemology or the Philosophy of Knowledge.

"Qualitative research methods should be congruent with a philosophy of knowledge. Philosophy of knowledge is known as epistemology. Epistemology assumes a separation between knowing and being. A holistic philosophy that knowledge cannot be dissected from life experience is known as ontology. Philosophers have different visions of what constitutes knowledge. A researcher needs to align his or her personal perspective with a philosophy, which will underpin the assumptions of a study. Methodology, therefore, can be thought of as being embedded with a guiding philosophy and method as a concrete process of research steps.

An analogy of cooking can be used to facilitate understanding of this terminology. If your vision (ie, philosophy) is of French gourmet cuisine (ie, methodology), you would not follow a recipe (ie, method) to make franks and beans. You probably would expect a recipe (ie, method) related to crepes suzette or creme puffs. Realize, though, that more than one method can fall under a guiding philosophy. To complicate matters further, specific philosophers (ie, chefs) may fall under the same methodology (ie, French cuisine) but disagree as to the method (ie, recipe).

How does a researcher choose a philosophical perspective and method? There is no easy answer. A novice researcher may use the single tool provided by a professor without being aware of different choices and perspectives. Qualitative researchers must read extensively to broaden their views and identify their personal epistemology. This will generate an awareness of the diverse methodologies and the congruence or conflict with specific research methods. The research question and phenomenon under study also will guide the methodology and method. In addition, some disciplines lend themselves to specific methodologies and philosophies. In education, for example, researchers often perform narrative research. Narrative research is similar to nursing's phenomenologic methods; however, the guiding philosophies differ.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FSL/is_1_73/ai_70361334/pg_2/?tag=content;col1

Information about Social theory I found

Martin O’Brien (1993) has used the example of a kaleidoscope to answer the question what is theory?

A kaleidoscope is a child’s toy …

When you turn the tube and look down the lense of the kaleidoscope the shapes and colours, visible at the bottom, change. As the tube is turned, different lenses come into play and the combinations of colour and shape shift from one pattern to another. In a similar way we can see social theory as a sort of kaleidoscope – by shifting theoretical perspective the world under investigation also changes shape. (1993:10-11)

Pg 76 (Doing QR – Silverman)

The point is that none of these data are more real or more sure than the others.

It all depends on our research question. And research questions are inevitably theoretically informed. So we do need social theories to help us address even quite basic issues in social research. (pg 76 Doing QR – Silverman)

Theories arrange sets of concepts to define and explain some phenomenon. As Strauss and Corbiin put it: “Theory consists of plausible relationships produced among concepts and sets of concepts” (1994: 728).

Theory provides both:

· a framework for critically undestading phenomena

· a basis for considering how what is unknow might be orgniz (Gubrium, personal correspondence)

(Pg 78 – Doing QR – Silverman)

COMPETING PARADIGMS IN QR

by Egon G. Guba and Yvonna S. Lincoln

I found this article helpful for trying to understand the ontology, epistemology, and methods questions of our case.

PPT notes from Linda

SLIDE 1

The Case for Qualitative Research case #6

Linda, Lana, Dale, and Jeannie

Notes:begin with a disclaimer that this is our interpretation/ “we are not here to make a claim, but we are here to share our interpretations and to invite your stories about qualitative research”Setting the environment… “opening explorations”…food, music, images

SLIDE 2

• Begin with a story or a poem as a provocation on research or the book, “why research”

• John Dewey quote

• Question: As a researcher, what is it that you believe about qualitative research?

How can we create a connected understanding of qualitative research through expressive languages? (groups to create their own understandings and then place them on a larger ‘chicken wire’ piece for a large art piece’)

Notes:Remember to engage the senses for the class…food, music, lighting, materials, provocation(From the Text Book) -Quality in qualitative research-pull out the root woods -quality and credibility

Headings: learning from philosophy, learning from social theory, learning from methodology, and learning from practice (case studies)-each person to pull the key points out from this section of the paper…rewrite headings as a question…pull out quotes from the reading and make further sense of them

SLIDE 3

-we take one each of these topics and go deeper with them and then link them to the digital nation cases

-Jeannie - philosophy, Dale social , Linda methodology, and Lana practice

• “Languages of Learning” – book by Karen Gallas

• Stories- epistemological research…narratives

Could pull from this book to validate using the wire…this is a thread that is present throughout the presentation

Notes:-Dale to send an email to all the students and ask them to let us know what their country of origin is- then we will find images from each country to include in a visual presentation of images

-each of to send our notes to be included on the blog…we can then share this with the class and our prof