Thesis Seminar Module 11: Method VI
Thesis Seminar: Week 11 RecapThesis Seminar: Week 11 Recap - Notes
🎯 Understanding
Instructors will understand that…
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Ethical, transparent data collection strengthens the credibility of qualitative and mixed-methods theses.
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A clear, reproducible data-collection procedure (instruments, scheduling, consent, storage) reduces threats to validity/trustworthiness.
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Alignment among research questions, participants, instruments, and analysis plan is necessary before collecting data.
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Data collection and analysis are iterative; early checks (pilots, quality audits) improve the dataset.
🎯 Language Objective
Students will be able to…
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Describe their finalized data-collection procedure using academic, step-by-step language (purpose, participants, instruments, timeline).
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Write a brief “Data Collection” subsection draft that uses appropriate verbs (administer, conduct, obtain, record) and clear sequencing (first, next, subsequently).
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Use conditional and hedging language to state constraints and decisions (e.g., “If participants withdraw…”, “This approach is intended to…”).
🎯 Vocabulary
Key vocabulary for Week 11:
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consent form / informed consent
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confidentiality / anonymity
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data storage / secure storage
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participant recruitment
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inclusion / exclusion criteria
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instrument (survey, interview protocol, observation checklist)
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administration (of a survey)
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conduct (an interview)
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pilot (study) / pilot test
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transcription
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coding
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trustworthiness (credibility, dependability)
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limitations
🎯 Things to Consider…
Recall the three types of data used when doing qualitative research: interviews (and focus groups, stimulated recall, etc.), (classroom) observations, and documents (Patton, 2002).
🎯 Things to Consider…
Review Stimulated Recall.
🎯 Things to Consider…
Review Triangulating Qualitative Data.
🎯 Things to Consider…
Review Using Questionnaires within a Qualitative Research Design.
Key takeaways for including a Likert-scale questionnaire
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Likert items can be included, but only as minor support to an explicitly qualitative design (the primary data and analysis must be qualitative text, not numbers).
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Use Likert items for context**, not** results:
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Brief participant descriptors/background (to help interpret narratives).
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Routing/branching into deeper open-ended prompts.
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Identifying information-rich cases for qualitative follow-up (purposeful sampling).
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Pair scale items with qualitative depth:
- If a Likert item is conceptually important, follow it immediately with an open-ended “why/how/describe an example” prompt.
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Keep them minimal and justified:
- Use only a few, and justify each item’s qualitative function (context, routing, sensitivity management).
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Avoid “mixed methods drift”:
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Don’t compute scores, run psychometrics (e.g., reliability, factor analysis), compare groups, or treat distributions/percentages as findings.
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Don’t let open-ended items become mere “illustrative quotes” appended to a mainly survey-based argument.
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Reporting rule:
- If you mention Likert responses at all, treat them as background description; your claims should be supported by qualitative analysis (themes, narratives, discourse patterns) of the open-ended responses.
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🎯 Video Archive
Thesis Seminar Weekly Recap #11Thesis Seminar Weekly Recap #11 - Notes