Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nova Southeastern University Libraries Annual Report 2003-2004, Nova Southeastern University

Alvin Sherman Library Brochures, Pamphlets, Reports

No abstract provided.

The Implications Of Sex Tourism On Mens Social, Psychological, And Physical Health, Kimberly Bender, Rich Furman

The Qualitative Report

This article explores sex tourism and possible concerns for the male sex tourist through a content analysis of sex tourism web sites. This qualitative, exploratory study describes the manner in which sex tour web sites attract and maintain male customers. Findings related to men’s psychosocial health are placed within an international context. Recommendations are made that pertain to international social welfare.

Sipping Coffee With A Serial Killer: On Conducting Life History Interviews With A Criminal Genius, J.C. Olsen

The Qualitative Report

As part of my Ph.D. research on criminal genius, I conducted 44 semi-structured interviews. One of the 44 subjects, in particular, stood out. This noteworthy individual claimed that he had killed 15 people. His story was particularly interesting because unlike most social research involving serial killers he claimed that he had never been arrested or convicted for his homicides. Compelled by his account, I met with this subject on five additional occasions, and gradually compiled his criminal life history. Ethical and legal considerations limited inquiry into several dimensions of this subjects life history, but over time, an interesting and richly …

Understanding The Role Of Language/Culture In Group Work Through Qualitative Interviewing, Gavin Melles

The Qualitative Report

The second language student experience of group work at university is not often transparent in survey evaluations, although the multicultural nature of the student population in Australasia would suggest that culture and language should be on the research agenda. Culture and language, notwithstanding, is used in the higher education literature to position the Asian learner as different and problematic, although such cultural models and stereotypes have been the subject of some criticism in recent years. Through semi-structured qualitative interviewing in focus group interviews with nineteen South East Asian students, I explore the ways students account for their experiences of group …

Visual Evidence In Qualitative Research: The Role Of Videorecording, Sorrel Penn-Edwards

The Qualitative Report

Videorecording allows the researcher to record and replay the pictures and sound of an event. As such, it can be a valuable research tool. Nevertheless, it is not just a simple measuring instrument. As a qualitative research data gathering tool, video recordings should be authenticated. Researchers should indicate clearly the role of this tool in their work and discuss the factors that may have an influence on the way it is used or on the data analyzed. The substance of these factors is shown in inventoried form. This paper discusses these and advises how researchers may address the validity of …

The Multiple Roles Of Low Income, Minority Women In The Family And Community: A Qualitative Investigation, Avery E. Goldstein, Wendy Reiboldt

The Qualitative Report

This longitudinal, ethnographic research study was incepted to investigate service use among families living in poor urban communities. Themes that emerged during data collection focus on the variety of roles played by women, in the home, and in the neighborhood. We identified numerous strengths exhibited by women, that is, roles that help families adapt and survive. Over a two-year period, we spent time with families, in their homes, and in their communities. Not only did the women fulfill multiple roles in the family, but they performed care taking functions within the community as well. A more complete understanding of family …

Qualitative Research On Mediated Dialogism Among Educators And Pupils, Thomas Hansson

The Qualitative Report

The relevance of qualitative research to virtual practices rests on subject knowledge and practical know-how on operations for exchange, growth, learning, and dialogue. Highlighting the discursive perspective, this paper covers theory on emerging didactics for online learning. In doing so, the contents show how computer-mediated learning incorporates a dialogical orientation. There is an empirical account of experiences of applying the theory in a comprehensive Nordic network with an aspect of computer-mediated theory focused on Ba, a construct illustrating how educators and pupils keep their higher mental operations creative in the process of critiquing and applying knowledge in English as a …

An Interpretive Investigation Into Motivations For Outgroup Activism, Catherine Borshuk

The Qualitative Report

A qualitative study was conducted to explore the motivations of individuals, who advocate politically for members of social outgroups. Long interviews with social activists focused on self-ascribed motivations for activism, relationship with the outgroup, and the costs and benefits associated with being an outgroup activist. A thematic analysis revealed that feelings of social responsibility were shared by the activists, who were interviewed. Further, some activists attributed their behavior to their personal relationships, while others believed they had a psychological predisposition to engage in social justice. Experiences of personal marginality were also highlighted as a key contributor to social justice efforts. …

Some Epistemological Issues In The Conduct Of Social And Behavioural Studies In The Faculty Of Education Of Nigeria Universities, Chinedu Onochie Okeke, Theophilus A. Ume

The Qualitative Report

A predominantly positivistic quantitative research tradition is uncovered through a survey of selected Nigerian universities with particular reference to the faculty of education. This predominance of what appears to be a one sided research enterprise and the neglect of the qualitative approaches is born out of the self-evident lack of history of research methods as well as the epistemological undertones underpinning research conduct. Important issues resulting from this lack of knowledge of the historical antecedents surrounding the adoption of the various methods are highlighted in this article. While concluding that the revelations here are not idle ones, this paper noted …

Push-Pull Factors Of Undocumented Migration From Bangladesh To West Bengal: A Perception Study, Pranati Datta

The Qualitative Report

Movement is an integral part of human existence. While talking about transborder migration from Bangladesh to India, we are, however, aware that this is a controversial subject. The partition of Bengal in 1947 was the cruelest partition in the history of the world and caused forced illegal migration from erstwhile East Pakistan. It is estimated that there are about 15 million Bangladeshi nationals living in India illegally. West Bengal has a border running 2,216 km along Bangladesh. The present study highlights push-pull factors of illegal Bangladeshi migration based on perceptions of respondents obtained from a qualitative survey done on the …

Provisions Of Trustworthiness In Critical Narrative Research: Bridging Intersubjectivity And Fidelity, Glenda Moss

The Qualitative Report

This paper is a reflective-reflexive examination of provisions of trustworthiness in critical narrative research. The author presents her understanding of provisions of trustworthiness as a science and as an art, and blurs these boundaries as she acknowledges their tension in practice. She weaves between theory and her experience in two studies first the study of the Texas-Spain Visiting Teachers Program and secondly the study of Amish culture and education where the author felt a deep sense of responsibility that she maintain trustworthiness. This paper examines the provisions of trustworthiness as evidence of research accountability and shared responsibility and brings to …

Network Thinking In Peace And Conflict Studies, Alvin W. Wolfe

Peace and Conflict Studies

Developments in mathematics and social theory and in techniques of communication and computation have brought network analysis to a state where it can be practically applied over a broad spectrum. Surprisingly, this mode of analysis has not been adopted by practitioners and scholars of peace and conflict studies to the extent that it ought to be. Examples of types of analysis that could have important applications are given, using network concepts such centrality, structural equivalence, and regular equivalence.

Metaphors For One Another: Racism In The United States And Sectarianism In Northern Ireland, John Alderdice, Michael A. Cowan

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article explores the possibility that an analysis of racism in the United States and sectarianism in Northern Ireland inspired by literary, psychotherapeutic, religious and philosophical conceptions of metaphor might yield new insight into the two situations by attending carefully to similarities and differences between them. Following brief summaries of the current state of racism in the U.S. and sectarianism in Northern Ireland, the article offers two perspectives from the field of psychotherapy that seem particularly germane to both situations. Then we turn to the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt for a reflection on the unpredictability and irreversibility of human …

Volume 11, Number 1 (Spring 2004), Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Back Matter, Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Some Guidelines For Conceptualizing Success In Conflict Resolution Evaluation, Marc Howard Ross

Peace and Conflict Studies

The immediate job of project evaluation is to decide what worked and what didn’t. However, the more challenging task is making sense of why success or failure occurred and in so doing to propose appropriate future action. Effective evaluation of conflict resolution initiatives is complicated since interventions involve multiple goals and cross-level connections where indirect effects are often not seen in the short-run. This paper argues that there is no single best instrument or method for evaluating the extent to which conflict resolution practice has been successful. However, this does not mean that evaluation should be ignored. Instead projects need …

Toward The Civil Society: Finding Harmony Between Havel’S Vision And Learning-Organization Theory, Patsy Palmer

Peace and Conflict Studies

This theoretical paper derives inspiration from former Czech President Vaclav Havel and lessons from “learning organizations” to guide government executives in helping develop shared meaning among constituents, interest groups and public employees. Such shared meaning is seen as a framework for policy decisions and implementation. American civil society, like learning organizations, is understood as broadly interdependent and continuously changing, with conflict both latent and overt. Leadership is defined in contrast to management and administration; government leadership is compared and contrasted with learningorganization leadership. Strengths, weaknesses and political costs of various approaches are considered. It is argued that successful publicsector leaders …

Transforming Conflict: A Group Relations Perspective, Tracy Wallach

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article offers a group relations perspective of conflict and conflict transformation and explores how conflict manifests on the individual, interpersonal, group, and inter-group levels. Conflict and aggression are defined as normal aspects of the human condition. Current theories and practices in the field of conflict transformation tend to be more rationally based. The author uses concepts from psychoanalytic theory, such as defense mechanisms; and concepts from open systems theory, such as task, role, boundaries, and authority, to argue that in order to transform conflict, it is essential to understand the non-rational and often unconscious emotional elements that operate in …

Editor’S Reflections: Academic Indigenization, Honggang Yang

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

The movement for academic indigenization has been growing swiftly in the social science fields over recent decades. From a historical, sociological perspective, for example, Lee (2000) recognizes that Western social sciences were implanted in East Asian countries like many other developing societies where there were abundant cultural traditions and indigenous frameworks of understanding human interrelations. As early as the 19th Century, several Chinese intellectuals had called for “Eastern Way and Western Technology” or “Chinese Body and Western Utility” in their search for solutions to “saving the nation” from feudal corruptions and imperialist invaders. These thinkers and reformers were trying …

Front Matter, Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Combining Causal Model And Focus Group Discussions: Experiences Learned From A Socio-Anthropological Research On The Differing Perceptions Of Caretakers And Health Professionals On Children's Health (Bolivia/Peru), Pierre Lefèvre, Charles-Édouard De Suremain, Emma Rubín De Celis, Edgar Sejas

The Qualitative Report

During the summer of 2002, thirty-one medieval frescoes went on display at the Museum of Texas Tech University, the only venue in the world for this extraordinary exhibition. This paper summarizes a qualitative research study that focused on the experiences of three visitors to the Medieval Frescoes from the Vatican Museums Collection exhibition. The study applied Gadamers (1993) idea of horizons to both the visitor-participants and the frescoes to illuminate the interpretive event, the meeting of horizons, and to uncover any obstacles that might hinder the fusion of horizons. The findings of the study are presented in a readers theatre …

Beyond The Horizon: Visitor Meaning-Making And The Vatican Frescoes, Lee Brodie

The Qualitative Report

The re-birth of South Africa in 1994 has brought the implementation of effective educational policies. Simultaneously, the Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) approach has been introduced to advance teaching and learning of the Learning areas in schools in South Africa. This article focuses on the learning of English as a Second Language (ESL) in Grade eight. The focus is furthermore on schools from the Black township areas, called previously disadvantaged schools. The introduction of OBE in South Africa heralds an era of meaningful teaching. The use of OBE strives to root out the last vestiges of Apartheid education. With an OBE approach, …

Outcomes-Based Education In The English Second Language Classroom In South Africa, Gawie Schlebusch, Motsamai Thobedi

The Qualitative Report

This study focuses on the impact of race, and its intersection with gender, in influencing and/or preventing the development of disordered body image. Specifically, Black samples are examined to see the role that racial identity plays in the process of developing such attitudes. Using qualitative data analysis methods rooted in grounded theory, the study finds that race is intrinsically linked to the notion of self-esteem, non-internalization, and maternal support, and that in turn these factors serve to prevent the African American sample from the development of body image dissatisfaction

Using Qualitative Methods To Understand The Educational Experiences Of Students With Dyslexia, Debby Zambo

The Qualitative Report

The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the use of a narrative inductive method of analysis. The essence of qualitative work is described. The natural ability for issues of ethnicity and diversity to be investigated through a qualitative approach is elaborated Recent developments in systematic review are delineated, including the Delphi and Signal and Noise …

Mission Drift In Qualitative Research, Or Moving Toward A Systematic Review Of Qualitative Studies, Moving Back To A More Systematic Narrative Review, Kip Jones

The Qualitative Report

The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the use of a narrative inductive method of analysis. The essence of qualitative work is described. The natural ability for issues of ethnicity and diversity to be investigated through a qualitative approach is elaborated. Recent developments in systematic review are delineated, including the Delphi and Signal and Noise …

Rethinking Validity In Qualitative Research From A Social Constructionist Perspective: From Is This Valid Research? To What Is This Research Valid For?, Jeffrey P. Aguinaldo

The Qualitative Report

This article theorizes the issue of validity that is premised upon social constructionist assumptions, particularly as it is applied to the assessment of qualitative research. As a social construction, validity must thus be interrogated for its discursive function within the social sciences. I will argue that, as a criterion of assessment, validity polices the social science enterprise and thus, functions as a practice of power through the de/legitimation of social knowledge, research practice, and experiential possibilities. This critique will lead into a reformulation of validity that actively recognizes and negotiates its practice of power. Within this reformulation, research findings are …

Relating The Categories In Grounded Theory Analysis: Using A Conditional Relationship Guide And Reflective Coding Matrix, Karen Wilson Scott

The Qualitative Report

This paper describes the process for employing two principal instruments for relating the categories identifying the central phenomenon in grounded theory analysis. The Conditional Relationship Guide contextualizes the central phenomenon and relates structure with process. The second tool, the Reflective Coding Matrix, captures the higher level of abstraction necessary to bridge to the final phase of grounded theory analysis, selective coding and interpretation and ultimately to the theory generation. Examples of each instrument are provided and discussed.

Studying Human-Centered It Innovation Using A Grounded Action Learning Approach, David J. Pauleen, Pak Yoong

The Qualitative Report

This paper describes how two research methodologies, grounded theory and action learning, were combined to produce a rigorous yet creative and flexible method for field study of a recent IT-based innovation, virtual teams. Essentially, an action learning program was used to train facilitators of virtual teams and generate research data while grounded theory techniques were used to analyze and interpret the data. This paper shows how this combined method can be used to develop local and practical theory for complex, human-centered areas of information technology. The implications of this grounded action learning approach for practice and research in IS will …

Racial Identity And The Development Of Body Image Issues Among African American Adolescent Girls, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, Stephanie A. Howling, Patricia Leavy, Meg Lovejoy

The Qualitative Report

As readers, children with dyslexia are vulnerable to becoming academically, socially, and emotionally detached from education. Traditional educational practices tend to use quantitative measures to diagnose children to better serve their needs and researchers, who study students with special needs often focus on a deficit model that quantify just how far a child is from the norm. This practice, while full of good intentions, often creates emotional scars and feelings of inferiority in a child. This reductionist view of a disability is most likely different from the lived experience of the person with the disability. To get a complete picture, …

Faster, Richer, Better: Rapid Appraisal Techniques For The Study Of Is Implementation In Virtual Communities, Linda Wilkins, Paula Swatman, Tanya Castleman

The Qualitative Report

A major issue in Information Systems (IS) research is how to combine relevance and rigor (Benbasat & Zmud, 1999) and reduce the widening gap between research results and adoption (Dunn, 1994). Qualitative researchers make use of interpretivist methods to add richness and depth to their understanding of user problems. Interpretivist methods applied to IS implementations can thus result in research which communicates those findings more effectively. However standard interpretivist data-collection and analysis methods can be time-consuming and expensive. Findings based on these methods may be irrelevant to practitioners by the time they reach publication stage. A potential solution to this …