I have been processing the potential proposal idea for some time now, and here is where I am.
Interests and Context
I am interested in identity development and how people experience transformative experiences, especially when they struggle through troublesome knowledge. I am interested in how people share this online, through blogs or Twitter. I am interested in how people engage in this as a result of higher education, whether this involves online / distance education or through more traditional face-to-face studies. I am interested in how these experiences change their worldviews, or paradigms, for how they see and make sense of the world (ontological changes). I am interested in how people develop as researchers, how they experience this related to communities of practice, and how this can be expressed through autoethnographic inquiry. I am especially interested in exploring how these experiences affecttheir practice of education, especially with their own current and future students.
Research Questions:
What is the experience of developing researchers engaged in doctoral studies who experience troublesome knowledge and, as a result, experience perspective transformation? How do they express and make sense of this online? What effect does this have on their studies, research direction, and teaching?
Methodology:
I like the possibilities of narrative inquiry to tell an engaging story, but I think I should wait until I attend a workshop on grounded theory that I am scheduled to attend in late May before I really settle on the specific methodologies. The population I hope to study can be in any of the areas of the social sciences (education, technology-enhanced learning, nursing, sociology, and the like), and I will identify this population by requesting participants on email distribution lists and via direct email and Tweeted requests to friends and colleagues.
I am now looking for some feedback on this . . .