As I have generally received positive feedback for the “ambitious” direction I am headed (regarding the research project that I have been designing here over the past few weeks), I now want to think a bit about the method I am considering for this work, especially before I tighten up the problem and research question.

I was initially planning to use  phenomenography, though think that may not work due to the size limitations of the expected 3 participants, the limitations to the semi-structured interview questions I need to use (as phenomenography would require me to rigidly use the same questions with everybody–leading to the eventual categories), and given that I am not sure I will be able to categorize much as this is an exploratory study.

I am now thinking about using some form of ethnography, something that blends the ethnography of Wittel with that of Hines and Efimova, perhaps in a more Focused manner, similar to that detailed by Knoblauch. I expect to conduct interviews and possibly review blogs or other social media as examples of the participants’ work, as needed. I will get more specific here as a next step, after I (hopefully) get some feedback first.

Tags: Lancaster, Research, research design

I have been plugging away at this, and think it is finally in a condition to be shared. While undoubtedly still in need of tightening, I can no longer see it clearly as I have been wordsmithing it since Sunday. Thoughts and suggestions are really appreciated. How can I tighten this research project proposal for my class?

Research Problem
The ways people develop as researchers has been studied, though there is limited understanding of how this occurs through the use of social media. With the rise of virtual ethnography and content analysis, more of what is written and communicated online can be studied, though this often appears in final form, and does not necessarily help understand the steps and thresholds achieved during the course of study. Even through studying the blogs or microblogs of those who track and develop their research in process, it can be challenging to understand the moments when some transformational experience and its subsequent understanding occurs in the academic growth of those engaged in graduate or doctoral research studies. Educational researchers need to better understand the experiences of adult learners who recognize when they have made significant perspective or paradignmatic shifts in their academic thinking, as this may help in designing learning experiences to assist future learners who will continue to use social media in their academic work.

Research Question
What is the experience of adult learners who develop their academic research understanding through the use of social media, such as blogging or microblogging?

Purpose
The purpose of this research is to understand how adult learners navigate through their growth in understanding research through using social media as tools for reflectivity, self-expression, feedback, and collaboration. Using the frameworks of threshold concepts and transformative learning, I want to explore how they are processed by those who use engage in their work in a public space where identity development takes place in a more transparent manner than learning has done before.

Tags: Research, research design

As I worked so long and hard on the research design ideas in my last post, it finally occurred to me what the problem is–I am overthinking it! I have been so busily trying to link all of my interests together, that I think I missed that the model to show their relationship has not yet been made. I have not created it yet.

It will come, but not now. For now, I need to do some research as another step toward my degree, ideally build upon what I previously learned, and then look at the trajectory after I submit my research and get feedback on it in about 2 months.

Ideal? Not necessarily. However, having ideas circle round and round without aligning now simply means they are not aligning, at least not now. Perhaps all they need is to be further developed, here in this very research paper, after which they may reveal something else. I will begin to strip them down to their fundamentals, and move on.

Onward and upward.

Tags: Research

Here is my (very rough) working (initial) research design. None of the elements are clear or tight enough yet; this is primarily shared here for proof of concept. I expect this to be refined and cleaned up / developed after initial feedback and my ongoing processing this week. Any feedback is appreciated.

Title (Working)
Public Transformations: Adult Learners Who Use Social Media to Express and Understand Their Experiences

Abstract
TBD

Introduction
With the rise of social media, more of what used to be learned, thought, and experienced in private is now engaged in publicly. As blogging and microblogging, to name only 2 of the countless forms of social media and social networking, increase, educators need to better understand how these are being used by learners, especially in regard to the more challenging content areas and concepts within the various social sciences.

Research Problem

Literature Review
Litertatures to be reviewed include threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (especially Meyer and Land), transformative learning (especially Mezirow, Brookfield, and Cranton), and how these may relate to blogging or social media.

Research Design

1. Describe an experience you had while engaging in your academic studies where you experienced a transformed way of understanding, interpreting, or viewing something.
2. How did you express or share this using social media?
3. Describe your experience and what you learned during this process.

Data Collection
Data will be collected via recorded phone interviews

Analysis and Interpretation
The interviews will be transcribed and coded to develop and categorize the experiences of the participants

Findings

• TBD

Next steps

• TBD

Conclusion / Learnings

• TBD

Tags: Lancaster University, research design

As I am nearing a proposal for my research project (which I hope to have later today for feedback), I am now turning some attention to one of the more anxiety-causing elements of a research project — the outline / headings used in the paper.

This is the organizational structure which is used as an outline, and into which I feed the specs for the project itself, and I find that my understanding of this skafolding and how it is used is developing, so I know there is not a single framework that will work in all cases for all projects. Nevertheless, this is what I have in mind now:

Abstract

Introduction

1. Research Problem

2. Aim / Significance

3. Purpose

Literature Review

Research Design

1. Philosophical Worldview

2. Theoretical Lens

3. Strategy of Inquiry

4. Research Method

5. Research Questions

Data Collection

Analysis and Interpretation

1. Reliability, Validity, and Generalizability

Findings

1. Next steps

Conclusion / Learnings

Any feedback on this outline will be appreciated.

Tags: research design

I am always so appreciative of the insights my (distant) colleague Kip offers, especially when he comments on my blog or Tweets, and otherwise offers such insightful thoughts and words for the wise. His comment earlier today is among the best (thank you, Kip!), and with delicious humor and tongue-in-cheek (or some such), he raises a wonderful point about autoethnographic dissertations. While I already replied to his thoughts here, I do want to clarify my (developing) research direction a bit.

I like the framework of Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge (cf, Meyer and Land), as this focuses on forms of learning, as well as Jack Mezirow’s framework of Transformative Learning). I cannot envision I am alone in blogging (Tweeting, etc.) about my worldview shifts and other strong experiences while engaging in my academic work (yes, others do this as well!!). Whether they do this for self-reflection or autoethnographic purposes I am not sure yet, but they do this. I wonder how processing these sorts of experiences affects the concept of self-identity? What does it mean to share this with others and gather their input? To what extent does a sense of community influence the outcome? If done explicitly as an a/e, and if there is other input and sharing / collaboration, whose autoethnography is it, anyway?

I feel my (module’s) research purpose, problem, and question are all very close . . .

Tags: Autoethnography, Lancaster, Research

I received a direct email reply to my research design work, and there was an interesting question regarding a shift that was identified in my work from a focus on autoethnography (a/e) toward qualitative interviewing.

I do want to focus on autoethnography. However, I think more people are using this method (or some form of this method) in their doctoral / research blog postings than realize it. Some of the people whose work I read are basically doing this without naming it, and I think that for some of them to name it would become more of a legitimacy issue for them than not (my speculation), though in fact that seems to be what they are doing. I am thinking about trying to look at their experiences without trying to explicitly determine if that is what is happening. By focusing on their experiences and seeing what I can learn, I may in the process exploring if there is instead some unconscious use of a/e.

I wonder if autoethnography is used unconsciously quite often?

Tags: Autoethnography, Lancaster University

I really appreciate all the feedback I have received in the last few days about my developing research design, and now that 2 commitments that were taking a lot of my time have ended, I plan to focus on processing, replying to, and developing all this beginning later today.

As I am starting to get personal, public, and formal academic feedback about my (working and developing) research design (both here on my blog, directly to me, and in my university’s Virtual Learning Environment), I am slowly narrowing it down.

I am thinking about how I work all various elements together (transformative learning, adult education, critical theory, teaching and learning, virtual identity, etc.), and it occurred to me that many of the people I speak with on Twitter and whose blogs I read are all sharing a similar experience to me — we are (or recently were) doctoral (or even graduate) students. I find myself interested in reading those blogs about people who chronicle their research interests, learning, struggles, and journies through graduate and doctoral work.

• Why do this via a blog?
• What is learned in the process?
• How does it feel to be public with your thinking?
• How do you learn about yourself?
• Where does this fit with your identity development?
• What troublesome knowledge do you learn along the way?

I wonder what it would be like to identify and interview some of these folks to inquire what they learned about themselves through blogging their educational experiences, why they did it, and how it influenced their research?

I wonder if there is a research problem and question in here?

Tags: identity, Lancaster, Research, transformative learning, troublesome knowledge, virtual identity