Lots to think about...

Reflections on Thursday

Nalani opened class with her demonstration of Dragon Dictate in Inqsribe --so far, Dragon looks cool, and I am interested in it, but I don't think I will do anything with it at this point.  I have so much information on so many things, and I need to keep things simple.  When we practiced using atlas for transcription, I found it very easy, and I do not mind listening, stopping, then typing.  I am not discounting the idea speak-to-text, because I love the idea of speaking rather than typing, but I may use the feature already installed on my Microsoft pc prior to spending any money.  I am undecided.  What I plan to do with this information is file it and keep it, but not act on it at this moment.  I did not know that while ‘training’ dragon, you uploaded a word doc with your own writing so it can become even more familiar with your speech patterns.  That is quite impressive, but it could be a limitation, because you’re training the software to you only, which doesn’t allow Dragon to do the majority of the work for you.  For example, you cannot let Dragon ‘hear’ your interview with another person.  You must listen and speak both parties’ words in order for Dragon to be more accurate.  Nalani also pointed out that she prefers to enter punctuation AFTER transcribing rather than giving commands, which, I believe, can add more work and time, but as a researcher, you will become even more intimate with your transcription and interviews.  The idea of speak-to-text (for me, at least) may be a wash when compared to the traditional ‘listen and type’ method of transcription.  Thank you, Nalani :)

I really enjoyed the activities.  I talk about my experiences with them below:

I don't get much "background noise" when I am interviewing since its usually in an empty classroom or an empty teacher workroom/lounge (that is hilarious in of itself, a “lounge”) but I do not believe that this year I will have that experience, so it is important as a researcher to think about the setting.  I plan on meeting in a public place, but this will influence my participants' responses, and even my body language and demeanor, simply because people act differently in different locations.  Maybe they will be more relaxed, maybe they will be more guarded, maybe I will be distracted by what is happening around them, or maybe they will be--there is no way to know, but the space you and your participant are in matters.  It will be important to discuss that when I am analyzing the data in my written work.

Also, while using Wordle, it was very apparent how this can be useful for visualizing data (Cidell, 2010).  I have seen ‘word clouds’ for years, but I can’t believe it took me this long to realize that those are useful in data analysis. In my defense, I had not been in a graduate program and I had never even collected or analyzed data, so I suppose I would not have seen this obvious use of word clouds. 

I have never been on Pintrest—our group had a very interesting discussion—Nalani  and I initially thought it was gender biased, for example, we searched "sports" and the first word on the search was not ‘sports’ that popped up, but ‘sports bra’.  Ann came by, and said that Pintrest is user-generated data, and more women use Pintrest than men, so maybe it's not Pintrest that is gender biased, but since  it is used mainly by women, then everything will be geared towards women.  Ann told us to do a search on "maniterest??"(I got the email from Dr. Paulus yesterday on the “man pintrest” comparable websites)  We did not get to do that, but we did ask Scott for a topic to search in Pintrest.  He said, "guns".What came up were purple and pink and zebra guns--along with "normal" guns--still for women--but mostly women are using pintrest...that is also another aspect to show in written findings—knowing how data is generated if you are using internet sites for data collection. 

While discussing the mobile app for ATLAS.ti, I am glad it was covered, but I am not an iPad owner (nor do I plan to be), but, the usage seems pretty 'easy'--and handy, I guess, especially if you are in the field.

I am very glad we were able to work with video files in Atlas--so nice that it works the same as an audio (sort of).  Either way, I was able to pick it up.  Now I'm really starting to think about rewriting this IRB...

I really like these functions with visual data in atlas--much easier than I expected.  I know people have described atlas as 'clunky' or not 'intuitive', but actually, if you're familiar with atlas and its functions with documents, it's relatively easy to get--but I am always grateful for in class tutorials/support :) ATLAS IS ON YOUTUBE!  I need to remember that when I run into an issue (which I am certain will happen sooner or later)  Thanks, Ann, for a great class!

On a final note, Nvivo is super cool--maybe someday--not now.

 

Looking ahead to Tuesday

Ann, the Woo (2008) has you written all over it, as you are a proponent of what Dr. Paulus calls ‘far left’ or ‘radical’ qualitative research.  I know you are committed to representational ethnographic methodology and counter-narrative.  Woo (2008) states in her introduction about the validity of arts-based research in education and in the field, but then she also goes on to discuss whether the research may not be ‘artistic’ enough (p.321).  It seems as if there is a fine line, and I have a tendency to align myself more to the center of the qualitative research continuum, but when she gives her rationale for filmmaking, “My impulse for translating this research into film emanates from my curiosity about what would happen if I could engage a wider audience in dialogue about the themes in my study, certainly an audience wider than the handful of souls who might read the conference papers, book chapter, and journal article where the study would be published” (Woo, 2008, p.322), I embrace the idea.  How does this shift occur?  I would love to attempt something of this nature, because I feel that although I am working on becoming a part of academia, I become excited about sharing those academic ideas with others that are not part of that group.  I am such a ‘new’ researcher and my conceptual understanding of the word ‘scholar’ is morphing before my eyes daily.  I need to look at myself in the ‘now’, and hopefully ideas like this will stay with me when I feel I can stand alone as a ‘true’ scholar and researcher, and then move into the idea of more interpretive research.