Reflections on workshops and tutorials

Preparing to analyse the data.

In order to prepare myself for data analysis I read as much as I could on the topic in a given time. I started with two short texts, just to get a feeling of what data analysis involves. I hoped to get some insight of where I could start with analysing my questionnaire and focus group.

Beginning to analyse: a chapter from: Matthews, B. and Ross, L. (2010) Research methods: a practical guide for the social sciences. Harlow: Longman, Pearson Education. pp.316-319

This was a very short introduction to analysing data process that helped me to relax a bit about this part of my research.

I found our workshop no.3 that was on the subject of analysis very stressful. Not because of how it was run – it was a very informative and rich session with good set of readings assigned to us. It was its timing that worked against me. I was very far from starting analysing data at the time of this session. Actually, I was still reading on my topic and deciding on my research question then.

Finding this chapter was a great way to ease myself into the subject and enabled me to get on with my project.

First of all it says that analysis begins with the moment we start working on our project. When we think of answering our research question we already start planning what methods of data collection and its analysis will suit our project. In my case, I have already decided to use questionnaire and focus group as methods of data gathering. I know my data will be qualitative and I need to look into analysing this kind of data.

Another important take out from this short text is:

“The purpose of data analysis is to describe, discuss, evaluate and explain the content and characteristics of the data that has been collected in your research project.” (p. 317)

It contained a very useful checklist for starting the process of analysis and it has already helped me to think about my project and steps I need to take:

think carefully what you need to do to begin analysis	I need to have the text of questionnaire answers and transcript of the focus group ready first
return to your research question to make sure that you know what you need to answer	that will be done once I familiarise myself with the data. I will keep in mind my question when deciding on themes/categories
learn and check the details about technique you are using	I think I will be using thematic analysis and have already started learning about it
know what you are looking for – check your topic/question again	It comes back to my research topic of improving teaching IL with inclusivity and critical pedagogy in mind
remember that the purpose of analysis is to reach conclusion	I am most scared of this part of my project. I hope to feel better about it once I have analysed some of the data

Ningi, A. I. (2022) “Data Presentation in Qualitative Research: The Outcomes of the Pattern of Ideas with the Raw Data ”, International Journal of Qualitative Research, 1(3), pp. 196-200. doi: 10.47540/ijqr.v1i3.448.

This was another very short and helpful piece that I found in time when I most needed it.

The following steps of qualitative data analysis were extremely useful, especially that they were presented in a very simple and accessible way:

Processes	Actions
Familiarising with the data	Transcription, readings, proofreading, and assigning of ideas
Generating initial codes	Coding interesting features in a systematic manner across the entire data set, organizing important points relevant to each code
Searching for themes	Collecting codes into major themes and gathering relevant data into such themes
Revising the themes	Checking in the themes information that relates to the coded extracts and the entire data set
Defining the themes	This process defined the specific themes and the overall information by generating clear definitions and suitable names for each theme
Producing the report	The final segment involves the selection process through the processed data which was conducted by relating the analysis to the research questions and literature.

Outcomes of Pattern of Ideas in Data Presentation/Analysis

The following quote from this article “the data must be represented in various ways as descriptive extracts from interviews, or indeed as illustrations of highly abstract categories derived from the analysis of the data.” (p.199) made me think of using a few methods in presenting my data (time allowing, as I am highly aware of time constricts in this small scale project). I think wordclouds or other visual aids may be helpful to show the themes in my focus group transcript.

Refining my research question

Padlet with notes on reading about research question design – https://artslondon.padlet.org/kidzi1/research-question-pxjnvzbmxeufzn2b

I took me quite a long time to narrow down my research question.

The most helpful was our first workshop when we talked about critical friendship, which inspired me to consult with the librarian who also studied on the PgCert. That lead to a very interesting conversations about what I had already worked on, looking at my initial mind-map and putting my research into our local perspective.

That finally unblocked me and I submitted my first draft of the research question and the Ethical Enquiry form. My tutor had provided me with excellent advice and link to an online resource on designing research questions (https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-questions/). This website together with the other recommended reading – Research for people who (think they) would rather create (Vic, 2021), were my main sources of information that allowed me to refine my research topic and finish writing my research question.

I used Padlet (https://artslondon.padlet.org/kidzi1/research-question-pxjnvzbmxeufzn2b) to keep my notes on reading about research question design. This was a very useful way of keeping them in one place with clear notes that I could come back to every time I needed.

Reflections on our 2nd workshop

The workshop was most helpful for me in terms of looking at the research cycle and thinking at what stage of the cycle I am at. I had been struggling with my research question and working on my Ethical enquiry form at that moment, and this workshop made me rethink my project. I’d realised that I may not be able to complete the cycle during my ARP unit the way I initially planned. I started thinking of focusing my research on my teaching and how we as a team can improve what we are doing. It would be the first research cycle that will lead to the next one with taking action and implementing what I found out during my ARP unit with sessions for the students.

The second part of the workshop that was important to me was a discussion on the articles we were asked to read in preparation for the session. It was great to share our views on citational justice in small groups and then talk about it all together. Being a librarian and working a lot with students on referencing, I feel these has enriched me with new perspectives on the topic that I want to include in my teaching now. I read two articles for this part of the workshop and share my thoughts in a separate blog post.

I appreciate the resources that had been shared with us in the part of the session where we talked about research methods and tools we are going to use. I have shared the resources I engaged with in my blogs on research methods (Category: ARP, Research methods).

Reflections on the first ARP workshop

My main takeouts from the first part of the workshop:

What is ARP?

Small scale enquiry
Master-level research
PhD study
Process that can be continued and developed further
Action research ≠ activist research

Working in groups

I found it very useful to discuss the article that was assigned to me in a small group in the workshop. It was great to get to know the fellow students and learn about our roles within the UAL and how our work influenced the reading of “Views on Interviews: A Skeptical Review”. I reflect on the article in a separate blog post. We had different levels of experience in using the interviews in our research and it was very helpful to hear from more knowledgeable colleagues.

Engaging with research ethics

The workshop is a good starting point for thinking of my project’s research ethics and how I can approach it. I found looking at BERA Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research very engaging and thought provoking. I want to give this text more time to make sure I understand its implications better. First thoughts on reading:

Ethics – respect for any persons including ourselves – I think it is an aspect of ethics that is easy to overlook in our busy day to day work life.
“individuals should be treated fairly, sensitively and with dignity and freedom from prejudice” – importance of thinking of and confronting our biases. I think that keeping in mind our positionalities can be also helpful.