Qualitative Research Question

[Frances Riemer]

>I had a doc student, Madge Becker, here at NAU who used portraiture
>to present her findings on the ways Navajo children in a 5th grade
>classroom used written reflection and drawings to "learn" science.
>Becker finished the dissertation in December 2003 and actually did
>quite a nice job of folding her portraits, students' voices, and
>students' work into her analysis.  Hope this is of some help, Frances


She also

>  > Is anyone familiar with the practice of presenting qualitative
>  > data in the form of first person stories informed by interviews,
>>  discussions, notes and so forth with participants who are second
>language learners?
>>
>>  I have come across stories constructed by the researcher which are
>>  written in the first person as part of the results section of a
>>  dissertation. While they have aspects of the "flavor" of a second
>>  language learner, to my eyes, the actual language use presented
>>  appears somewhat more fluent and native than the interview
>>  transcripts
>>  and other data sources would indicate. The actual sources of
>>  specific language used are not listed except in a summary way- the
>stories
>>  appear to be an amalgam which dramatizes the experiences of the
>participants.
>>
>>  I have been told by some fellow faculty that this approach is now
>>  well accepted in qualitative research circles and it's about time I
>got
>>  on the bandwagon. One colleague shared that 95% of participants in a
>>  bilingualism and literacy conference she has just attended favored
>>  this approach.
>>
>>  I appreciate the opportunity to learn about a new way (to me) to
>>  analyze and present data, but I have some concerns about how the
>>  participants' words, language, and order of ideas are transformed
>>  through this process.
>>
>>  Your thoughts, experiences, analysis, opinions, sources for these
>>  ideas- in short anything you could add to the conversation will be
>>  appreciated.
>>
>>  Thanks!
>>
>>  Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Ph.D.
>>  <MEE1 at nyu.edu>
>>  Director of Doctoral Programs in Multilingual Multicultural Studies
>>
>>