Qualitative Research Project
- Nelson Contreras
- Jul 23, 2021
- 3 min read
A group research project conducted on current undergraduate Transfer Students
For EDAD 522, we conducted a research project on students that transferred from a two-year community to a four-year university. This was the first group project in the MSHE program that required us to interview multiple people and analyze the answers. The group was composed of 6 members.
Term: Summer 2021
Learning Domains:
Leadership
Social Justice and Advocacy
Education
Personal and Professional Development
Learning Outcomes:
SWiBAT describe at least two steps of the analytical process of qualitative research.
SWiBAT identify at least two differences between qualitative and quantitative research.
Evidence
Qualitative research is conducted to obtain insight into the perspectives, lived experiences, strengths, and challenges people face (Shuh, 2016). One of the first steps in the process is to identify what information needs to be obtained. One must determine what group of people has been neglected in research and what information we should know. Our project chose to interview people of color that transferred from community college to a four-year university. The next step is to design a protocol that includes the interview questions. The interview questions are critical because they must be carefully worded correctly. How you ask people about their experiences affects how they answer. Later, after the interviews are completed, the group must analyze the participants' answers and determine codes. The codes are sort of categories into which we can sort their answers. Using the coding system, we can determine emerging themes and eventually the themes on which the research will focus. The final paper will discuss the themes discovered in the participants' answers and how those themes helped or hindered the participants' success.
A limit to this research is the amount of time required to conduct the interviews or investigations. Compared to quantitative research, qualitative research has a lower limit to how many participants you can include in your research. For example, the interviews for this project took an hour to conduct. In quantitative research, you can assess multiple people at the same time through virtual programs. Similarly, the time required to analyze the data is different for each type of research. Quantitative research relies on statistical software to determine trends and correlations. Qualitative research, on the other hand, requires hours of reading and coding the participant data.
References
Schuh, J. H., Biddix, J. P., Dean, L. A., & Kinzie, J. (2016). Assessment in student affairs. John
Wiley & Sons. Wiley.
Reflection
This project was a significant task for the program so far. In all honesty, I was a bit scared of it. Nevertheless, now that we have completed it, I am very proud of myself, my teammates, and my cohort for completing it.
Although I mentioned some of the limitations of this type of research above, I want to point out how vital qualitative research is. This research allows us to learn more about the challenges of people who are often ignored or marginalized. Through individual interviews or other forms of expression, participants can tell us their experiences and perspectives. Higher education institutions must conduct this type of research or assessment to serve minoritized or oppressed people on campus better.
I also want to acknowledge how powerful this project was for me. As I stated earlier, I was so scared of this project. Now that we have completed it, I feel empowered to accomplish more daunting projects in my career. I also feel honored to have had the privilege to interview transfer students for this project. This project was the first time that I interviewed strangers about their experiences and challenges. I am very proud that I could connect with the students at such a level that they were willing to be vulnerable with me.
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