Qualitative Research for Instructional Technology Essay

Technology of the past 20 years has become a focal point of teaching and learning. As a teacher, it is my job to facilitate the learning for an individual by creating an environment that not only conducive for learning, but also places the child in a position to discover and learn them for themselves. Technology has given teachers to opportunity to take learning beyond the classroom, and has begun to reshape their role in the learning process.

The intention of the Comprehensive Classroom Technology Plan is to enhance the use of technology in the classroom to improve the education that students receive in their learning and communicating. The detail found within the Comprehensive Classroom Technology Plan will describe the ability of the teacher to use technology in an effective manner within the classroom while providing a safe, secure, and educational environment for students to learn.

Qualitative data is not numerical and is more likely to take the form of observations or interviews. Obviously, it is very difficult to perform any statistical analysis on this kind of data. A further problem is that another researcher cannot replicate this data and therefore it is difficult to check the validity of what has been written. Researchers using this kind of data must be careful to avoid subjectivity, that is, they must avoid letting their personal beliefs or preferences affect the way they record and interpret the data. The advantage of this form of data collection is that it allows the researcher to answer open-ended questions; consequently, it is more flexible. Qualitative data also provides opportunities to explain the context of an observation and can therefore present a fuller picture (OU, 2001).

This type of research involves getting together information that cannot be easily quantified and instead can only be recorded using language. This type of data is usually collected using unstructured interviews, audio recording of conversations or

Qualitative research is a broad field of inquiry that uses unstructured data collection methods, such as observations, interviews, surveys and documents, to find themes and meanings to inform our understanding of the

The method of qualitative research become key method in the human and social science and also in the education and health science. The definition of qualitative research is a research using methods such as participant observation or case studies which result in a narrative, descriptive account of a setting or practice. Sociologists using these methods typically reject positivism and adopt a form of interpretive sociology (Parkinson & Drislane,2011). It involves the research using data that do not indicate ordinal values. Furthermore, qualitative research includes the different kinds of data collection, techniques of analysis and diversity of theoretical frameworks (Guest; Namey & Mitchell, 2013). According to Creswell(2013) ‘’the final written report or presentation includes the voices of participants, the reflexivity of the researcher, a complex description and interpretation of the problem, and its contribution to the literature or a call for change.

It consists of a methodology which defines the design of the study, the manner in which it should be conducted and the way to analyse the findings. The following elements are

Focus groups are a popular method used to capture views and opinions for qualitative research.

The team would agree that there must be a way to test subjects to generate research that either proves or disproves a select theory. Subsequently, the research and conclusions drawn from the study must add breadth to the discussion of human development. Finally, the team would agree that the research design must contain some element of problem solving that will assist in the confirmation or denial of listed predictions. The team may disagree on how to test the subjects (through survey, experimentation, clinical interviews, brain scanning/mapping, etc). The team may also disagree on how accurately the research results verify the

Thematic analysis technique is used to identify and analyze patterns or themes within the work being analyzed (Vaismoradi, Turunen, & Bondas, 2013). In order to familiarize oneself in the data, they must reread the diary so that they themselves are submerged in the data (Gray et al., 2017, p. 270). Thematic analysis was used in the study to expose 18 meaning units, which consist of a group of words that are associated with each other through relevancy (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004, p.

It is an objective data gathering process that involves the collection of information so that a researcher can come to a conclusion (Blankenship, 2010). The first step is to identify the problem or to develop the research question, this is the focus of what the research will be on. Step two is to review available literature on the topic that has been chosen. This allows a foundation regarding the topic to be built and to develop an understanding of the topic. The third step, is to narrow down the topic if needed. Sometimes a research topic is chosen and it is then discovered to be very broad and large in scope, so in order to be able to do a study the research has to narrow down the focus to a smaller more manageable problem, this is known as clarifying the

Qualitative research method is a systematic strategy used for gathering information that are non-numerical, that is, they use visual and narrative words instead of using number. The data collected are from comprehensive case studies, focus groups a qualitative research approach whereby subjects answers an open-ended interview questions, likewise each others ' comments; ethnographies or field observation. (Headlessprofessor, 2012)

Qualitative research is conducted in a natural setting and attempts to understand a human problem by developing a holistic narrative and reporting detailed views of informants about the culture of a problem. It forms a report with pictures and words. One of the most important distinctions that sets qualitative research apart from more traditional types of research is that qualitative research is holistic in that researchers study phenomena in their entirety rather than narrowing the focus to specific defined variables” (p. 93). Similarly, Cresswell (1984) indicated that qualitative research “is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting” (p. 2). Cresswell’s definition clearly delineates the major characteristics of qualitative research. Pg. 50 (Smith & Davis, 2010).

Qualitative research is a type of research that involves word rather than numbers. This involves looking at feelings, opinions and emotions. Qualitative research is concerned with trying to explain why rather than what or how many.

Qualitative research is a technique of promoting research that stresses the quality according to the user’s point of view and approaches. In depth interviews and focus groups are best examples of qualitative research. [Laura Lake, 2009]