Creating Meaningful Research for Graduate Students to Prevent Degree Abandonment

Advanced degrees are becoming more valuable in the workplace. In turn, institutions of higher education are providing multiple venues for students to obtain advanced degrees. These venues tend to reach a population beyond those who would have attended a traditional brick and mortar institution. This reaches students from a variety of backgrounds, and institutions are trying to adjust and accommodate this newly recruited and diverse population. The expectations of graduate programs have not changed; students are to emerge from these programs with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to partake in research on their own. However, these students are limited on the readiness they possess to conduct graduate research. This in turn results in attrition from the program and leaving behind their opportunity for a graduate degree. This chapter provides an overview of the skills and issues of graduate students and a discussion of how those issues affect students finding success in graduate programs. The chapter concludes with suggestions and recommendations for addressing these issues.

Delphi Method in a Digital Age

With the rapid advancement of online survey tools, research collaboration tools, communication platforms, and statistical analysis tools, the Delphi method is an increasingly popular research approach to gain insight from experts into complex problems or when future-oriented planning is required. This chapter focuses on practical considerations and implications for practice when conducting studies online using the Delphi method. Practical logistics for the management of online Delphi studies explored in this chapter include preparing for a successful study, designing communication strategies, addressing technological considerations, and handling of qualitative and quantitative data.

Design-Based Case Study

Design-based case studies allow researchers to examine instructional innovations that are bounded by perspective, context, and time. Design-based case study is an approach that blends case study research with design-based research in order to more systematically examine the process and products of an intervention. This approach provides a framework for engaging in iterative cycles of data collection and analysis to determine if, how, and why goals of instructional innovations have been met. This chapter provides an overview of the design-based case study approach and responds to common concerns surrounding case study and design-based research and how design-based case studies address these concerns by building on the strengths of both approaches.

Addressing Survey Research

Survey research is a mainstay of social research. Both cost effective and time efficient, this method of research is commonly used for the purposes of gaining insight into the attitudes, thoughts, and opinions of populations. There are several types of survey research designs and data collection instruments giving the researchers the flexibility to determine which methods will work best for their own particular study. Regardless of the method, the researcher must carefully select an excising instrument or construct the data collection instrument, as this is the key to a successful survey research study. Despite some criticisms, survey research remains a highly used research method but with the advent of the digital age, the face of survey research is beginning to change. This chapter defines survey research, outlines the basic structure for conducting such research, identifies some of the major challenges surrounding survey research, and provides some recommendations. In discussing the future of survey research, the authors place emphasis on big data and social media as two strong digital forces influencing survey research.

A Brief Preview of Q Methodology

Q methodology systematically studies subjective matters such as thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors on a wide range of topics. The purpose of this chapter is to give a brief overview of Q methodology to readers across disciplines. This chapter presents several advantages of Q methodology that make it attractive to researchers and practitioners who are interested in understanding different perspectives or behavioral patterns among individuals toward any given topic. The author also discusses Q's distinct position as a methodology and how it fits into the qualitative-mixed-quantitative continuum. The chapter further uses two research studies the author conducted as applications to demonstrate how to perform a Q methodological study, involving the following steps: development of the Q sample, selection of the participants (P set), Q sorting, and analysis and interpretation of Q sorts.

Research as Resistance

This chapter provides an overview of activist research and how it is used in various fields including anthropology, social movements, and education. It discusses the impetus for incorporating activism into theoretical frameworks and research methodologies and the distinct aspects of activist research. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is examined to identify how activist research can be situated into the methods and outcomes. Finally, a YPAR study is examined to illustrate how activist research can serve as a guided framework.

Conducting Survey Research Using MTurk

This chapter presents an introduction to crowdsourcing for survey participant recruitment. It also discusses best practices and ethical considerations for conducting survey research using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Readers will learn the benefits, limitations, and trade-offs of using MTurk as compared to other recruitment services, including SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics. A synthesis of survey design guidelines along with a sample survey are presented to help researchers collect the best quality data. Techniques, including SPSS and R syntax, are provided that demonstrate how users can clean resulting data and identify valid responses for which workers could be paid. An overview and syntax for conducting longitudinal studies is provided as well.

Fundamentals of Delphi Research Methodology

Although the Delphi method was designed as a forecasting tool for the RAND Corporation in the 1950s, in the last several decades, this research methodology is commonly used for facilitating consensus in many fields such as business, education, and nursing. Because of the increased use of the Delphi method, more information is needed for researchers to precisely execute a successful Delphi study. This chapter briefly introduces the Delphi method, reviews the methodology, discusses types and variations in Delphi studies, addresses the advantages and limitations, and provides clear, step-by-step guidelines for employing a Delphi method research study.

Thinking Historically

This chapter introduces readers to the multiple ways of perceiving historical research. It focuses on differing approaches to historical understanding and the ways that these methods shape the way we see the field. This chapter discusses archives, types of sources, and approaches to interpretation.

Using Photo-Methods to Empower Participants in Education Research

The use of photographs in ethnographic education research promises new insights and challenges to researchers who wish to do good, by doing science and working for justice in the communities under examination. The use of photo-elicitation is discussed as a method that can help alleviate what Foucault described as the analytical “gaze,” allowing for discussions of difficult or taboo subjects like race, sex, gender, and dis/ability. The history, uses, and techniques, are examined for different photo methods including photo-elicitation interviews and photovoice. This chapter also contributes practical suggestions for using photos in ethnographic research and illuminates new research in the field. Using photos in the reviewed studies achieved positive results for participants and revealed new understandings of communities, culture, and individuals.