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Qualitative Research At Stephen Decatur Middle School

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Qualitative Data Collection
There are several types of methods that can be used for qualitative research. They include ethnographic, case study, phenomenological, ground theory, and critical study. The following will detail what the methods are and how they could be used in a classroom at Stephen Decatur Middle School. The research question being utilized for each example scenario is “will the use of audio books increase engagement for seventh grade special education students during independent reading sessions?”

Ethnographic Ethnographic studies are in depth and focus on culture. “Ethnography has been the primary mode of study in anthropology for many years” (McMillan, 2012, p. 278). Ethnography is used for studying the common aspects of groups, in education researchers using ethnography study cultural themes. A teacher researching at Stephen Decatur Middle School would need to spend a significant amount of time observing, interacting with students, interviewing students and analyzing artifacts. For example during FLEX class, the teacher could observe students during Silent Sustained Reading. The observations could clue the researcher into the attitudes of the students on independent reading. The researcher would also need to spend time interviewing students to get their personal perspectives on the issues. Lastly, the researcher would need to evaluate any artifacts associated with the silent sustained reading such as reading logs, reading journals, teacher notes on

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