Focus Groups

I realized I didn't post anything to follow up our discussions on focus groups. I really things these can be powerful tools to illicit feedback that would be hard to garner through other methods, however, I am still weary of using these in an all-in-one approach. Instead, I think that focus groups in combination with other methods can be far more powerful and can help neutralize (I understand this is a problematic word, however) or almost make up for the negatives of focus groups, such as group think or inactive participants.

Surveys

I think the most important thing the Survey section and discussions of the class has taught me is that I can come up with a valid survey instrument. It just needs to be peer-reviewed and piloted to help increase it's validity and reliability (I think I'm using these terms correctly). I love the survey process that Bonne and Jen went through. This really shows the refinement of the tool, or at least the initial stages of the refinement. I would like to come up with a survey instrument that gets at self-esteem, self-efficacy and identity in young girls, particularly those who play exergames, so this is a great starting point for me. I was going to use a tool that has already been developed and still may borrow from that, but I really like the idea of creating my own.

Case Studies

Case studies stand out to me from other research methods in that they really present a very unique, in-depth picture of a specific setting, population, etc. Also, they seem to be able to draw on different methods and data collection, like surveys, interviews, observations, etc. I think this is powerful because they use this mixed methods approach to tell a more in-depth story of what is going on.

In this same vein, they seem to me more anecdotal because they are covering several layers of a more personalized setting, and tend to be with smaller groups, so this keeps it out of the generalizable pattern. Additionally, I think case studies help to tell a bigger picture through this small sampling, or at least offer avenues for further exploration and research.

My research Paradigm

I definitely don't fit into one research paradigm only, but rather a mix of several. I believe I fit more into the am more of a social constructivist framework because I do believe people's lived experiences shape how they come to know the world and we can really only look into their lives through knowing this. I also believe that action research is important because we should be able to contribute back to the world and our research participants in some way. If we don't, I don't think our research has much meaning. Lastly, I do tend to follow more of a pragmatic view of research that uses mixed methods. Through the use of mixed methods, I believe a researcher is able to tell a story in several layers. Each layer offers the researcher a richer image and a deeper understanding of their subjects and the context.