NACADA International
Research Seminar
Maastricht, Netherlands
12-13 June and 16-17 June, 2014
Over the next 24 hours, you will:
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Think deeply and critically about your inquiry topic
Receive constructive feedback
Make a plan for how you will accomplish your inquiry project
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Hear others share their topics
Provide constructive feedback to others
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Make new friends
Probably feel overwhelmed for a moment
Ultimately feel empowered as a scholar
LEAVE READY to get started
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Clear Your Head
In the space below list the first things you need to accomplish immediately upon returning from
this seminar.
At work
At home
They’ll be here waiting for you.
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Developing your inquiry question is an iterative process
Developing a “good” question takes a
great deal of work at the outset. The
clearer your question is at the beginning
of your project, the smoother the project
will be, and the more likely you are to be
happy with the result.
Your question will be influenced by your
reading of others’ work, the development
of your theoretical perspective, and the
data collection methods you have
available.
How do you know if your question is a good one?
1. Is the question right for you?
 Will it hold your interest? Can you manage your biases/subjectivities?
2. Is the question right for the field?
 Will it contribute something new? Will it be considered significant?
3. Is the question well-articulated?
 Are the terms well-defined? Are there unchecked assumptions?
4. Is the question answerable?
 Can information be collected that addresses the question? Do you have access to that
information? Can it be done within an appropriate time and monetary framework? Are there
ethical problems?
5. Is the question valued by those in the know?
 Does it meet approval of those who have political clout in your setting? Do experts in the field
value it?
Some helpful sources of information on research design:
Fox, M., Martin, P., Green, G. (2007) Doing Practitioner Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
O’Leary, Z. (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Marshall, C. & Rossman, G. B. (2006) Designing Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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Articulating a clear research question is a necessary component of a successful project
“… how will you know when you have found the answer to your question, if you
can’t say what your question is?” (O’Leary, 2009, p. 47)
Your research question will:
 Define the investigation
 Set boundaries
 Provide direction
1. What are you interested in finding out more about? What problem have you identified that you want
to investigate?
2. What are the variables in this problem and how do you think they relate to each other?
3. Write three different questions that address this problem
Question
How could that question be answered?
1.
2.
3.
4. Write the first draft of your research question
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Qualitative and Quantitative Research Strategies
Troxel, W. G. (2009), adapted from Borland, K. W. (2001).
Qualitative
The purpose is to explain, and gain insight and
understanding of phenomena through intensive
collection & analysis of narrative data
Quantitative
The purpose is to explain, predict, and/or control
phenomena through focused collection & analysis of
numerical data
Approach to Inquiry
Inductive, value-laden (subjective), holistic processDeductive, value-free (objective), focused outcomeoriented
oriented
Hypotheses
Specific, testable, stated prior to particular study
Tentative, evolving, contextual
Review of Related Literature
Limited
Extensive
Does not significantly affect particular study
Significantly affects particular study (replicability)
Naturalistic (as is) to the degree possible
Research Setting
Controlled to the degree possible
Purposive: intent to select “small”, not necessarily
representative, sample in order to acquire in-depth
understanding
Non-standardized, narrative, ongoing
Sampling
Random: intent to select “large”, representative
sample in order to generalize results to a population
Measurement
Standardized, numerical, at the end
Design and Method
Flexible, specified only in general terms in advance
Structure, inflexible, specified in detail in advance of
of the study, emergent but documented
study Intervention, manipulation, and control
Nonintervention, minimal disturbance
Descriptive, correlational, causal-comparative
All Descriptive – historical, biographical,
experimental, quasi-experimental
ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, case
study (hybrids of these)
Data Collection Strategies
Document and artifact collection
Evidence is generated for the purpose of the study
Observation (participant, non-participant)
Observation (non-participant)
Interviews and Focus Groups (un-structured, semiInterviews and Focus Groups –(semi-structured,
structured)
structured)
Administration of questionnaires (open ended)
Administration of tests and questionnaires
Taking of extensive, detailed fieldnotes
Collection of outputs
Raw data are words (unit of analysis)
Essentially ongoing, involves synthesis
Data Analysis
Raw data are numbers (unit of analysis)
Performed at end of study, involves statistics
Data Interpretation
Conclusions tentative, reviewed on an ongoing basis,
Conclusions and generalizations formulated at end of study,
generalizations speculative or contextual
stated with predetermined degree of certainty with potential
for inference
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Other Components of a Research Proposal
Statement of the Problem – A statement that succinctly describes why this research needs to be
conducted and summarizes what this project intends to accomplish in the short and long term
Reflect & Write: Why is this project important? Why should anyone else care?
Theoretical Framework – What theory guides your identification and interpretation of variables and
their relationships? While many might apply, choose one at a time.
Reflect & Write: Theoretical frameworks under consideration
Literature Review – A synthesis of what is known and unknown about your research topic. A solid
literature review helps you make sure you are adding to the field’s scholarship and can point you toward
fruitful theoretical frameworks.
Reflect & Write: Possible search terms
Methodology – A detailed description of how you plan to acquire and analyze data that will provide
answers to your research question. After a clear research question, a solid methodology is THE MOST
IMPORTANT part of a project.
See helpful information at http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/researchcourse/key_elements.html (It was
designed for high school students!)
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Summaries of Common Research Methodologies
Quantitative Research Methods
Overview: To date, the most often used family of methods in academic advising research.
“Quantitative research designs and methodologies rely on numerical data derived from observation of the
object(s) being studied. In their purest form, quantitative research designs are philosophically grounded
in positivism and post-positivism as well as a worldview in which reality is viewed as external to the
individual. . . . The objectivity of the research situation reflects a belief that the researcher is separate
from the topic and means of research.” (Troxel and Campbell, 2010, p. 73)
Descriptive Designs
Use descriptive statistics to describe the phenomenon under study more fully, often to set
the stage for subsequent research using other methodologies.
Relational Designs
Describes the way that two or more variables interact with each other. Establishes
correlation, not causality.
Experimental Designs
The manipulation of two or more variables to establish causality.
Qualitative Research Methods
Overview: Clearly on its way to becoming the most used family of methodologies in advising research.
This family of methodologies operates from an ontological and epistemological perspective that could be
stated as: the observer is not and cannot be separated from the phenomenon being observed, there is no
objective reality separate from the observer. “The investigator comes to the study with an identity,
information, and biases that will serve as the foreground to oneself and the participants.” (AikenWisniewski, 2010, p. 87) This is not seen as a drawback, but rather as a strength of the qualitative family
of methodologies. Often, the goal is not to “push back the frontiers of knowledge,” but rather to advocate
for change in the world: “the hallmark of qualitative research today is the deep involvement in issues of
gender, culture, and marginalized groups” (Creswell, 1998, p. 19).
Case Study
This is what it seems to be: a well defined situation, event, or activity bound by time and
place. The researcher seeks to discover and describe the nuances and issues (Aiken
Wisniewski, 2010, p. 88).
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Action Research
This approach takes to heart that the researcher is not separate from the subject of the
study. Participants and researchers work together to develop strategies for change. “It is
based on lived experience. . . . The participatory nature emerges as the practitionerresearcher and respondents collaborate beyond data collection to understand the
phenomenon being studied.” (Aiken-Wisniewski, 2010, p. 88)
Ethnography
Emerged from cultural anthropology—e.g., Margaret Mead, Clifford Geertz—where the
researcher immerses himself/herself in the culture being studied in order to understand
and explain the culture of a group. Its aim is “thick” description. “Like ethnographers,
academic advisors continuously strive to understand the culture of the student
populations they serve. Their ethnographic studies could include the cultures of women
in medical school; Latinos in science, technology, engineering, and math majors; or
students who utilize social networks, such as Facebook.” (Aiken-Wisniewski, 2010p, 89)
Grounded Theory
In most other methodologies, a theoretical approach is assumed, either tacitly or overtly,
prior to the research being conducted. In grounded theory, however, the research plan is
developed in order to develop new theory grounded in the data that is collected. Thus,
pre-established theory does not “tarnish” the findings, but rather theory is allowed to
emerge as the study progresses. Because of the seeming freedom of this approach, the
researcher must go to great lengths to assure the integrity of the findings.
Biography
This is what it appears to be: the in-depth study of one person using interviews or written
records. It tells the story of a person’s life and what it meant to that person. This has
been of limited use so far in academic advising research. But as our field ages and the
founders age and die, it may come to be of greater interest.
Phenomenological Study
This could as easily be found as one of the Critical Inquiry family of methods below, but
it is commonly grouped as one of the qualitative approaches. It seeks to understand how
a given phenomenon is experienced and understood by a group of people. It is rooted in
the philosophical writings of Edmund Husserl on phenomenology. “The aim is to
determine what an experience means for the persons who have had the experience and are
able to provide a comprehensive description of it” (Moustakas, 1994, p. 13)
Critical Inquiry
Overview: This family of methodologies is the newest on the scene of academic advising research and
is just beginning to become known in the NACADA Journal and The Mentor. These methodologies
come from the critical inquiry traditions of the humanities, mainly from literature, history, the arts,
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rhetoric, archaeology, and philosophy. Methods in this family are “characterized by a quest for meaning,
the rendering of judgments, the construction of arguments, the interpretation of related texts, and the
integration of knowledge from one field to another. . . . Critical inquiry concerns rhetoric and persuasion
more than demonstration and description of a free-standing objective reality” (Hagen, et al., 2010, pp. 99100). Scholars in these traditions who do research in academic advising have not yet clearly defined
traditions that work best for academic advising. But the following can serve as possibilities.
Narrative
Recognizing that the advising interaction is largely the telling and the receiving of
narratives, a narrative approach studies the “texts” of the advising interactions as
narratives that can be discussed in light of what is already known about narratives in such
fields as literature, anthropology, and history. For example, do the stories that students
tell us cohere well? Are they in harmony with other narratives? Narratology deals with
questions such as the intentions of the author and the responses of the reader, as well as
the relationship of one narrative to another.
Hermeneutics
Based on ancient traditions of the interpretation of sacred texts, hermeneutics is the art or
science of interpretation. Its basic movement is to get at the innermost meanings of a text
without trying to “provide an opportunity for grand theories about human identity,
development, or personality” (Champlin-Scharff, 2010, p. 34). It seeks out the ways that
people make meaning in the world for themselves. It bears similarities to ethnography,
but is language based. Originally hermeneutics looked for the “true” meaning of a text:
the author’s meaning. Now, it is more likely to be concerned with meaning-making more
generally and how things are understood by those in a communication interaction.
Sources
Aiken-Wisniewski, S. (2010) Qualitative inquiry and the practitioner: Answering interpretive questions
that emerge daily in academic advising. Scholarly Inquiry in Academic Advising, NACADA
Monograph Series, Number 20, pp. 85-97.
Champlin-Scharff, S. (2010). A field guide to epistemology in academic advising research. Scholarly
Inquiry in Academic Advising, NACADA Monograph Series, Number 20, pp. 29-35.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hagen, P.L., R. L. Jackson, G. T. Lenard, R. Gregg, and L. Baker (2010). Critical inquiry: The
humanities and research in academic advising. Scholarly Inquiry in Academic Advising,
NACADA Monograph Series, Number 20, pp. 99-111.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Troxel, W. G., and S. Campbell (2010). Quantitative methodologies for the academic advising
practitioner-researcher. Scholarly Inquiry in Academic Advising, NACADA Monograph Series,
Number 20, pp. 73-84.
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Evidence for THIS Study
Participants: Are there participants in your study? If so, who are they? How will they be identified?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Existing Evidence: Is your study based on already existing data? What elements or items are relevant?
Who controls those data? What other artifacts or pieces of evidence are available? Who ELSE cares?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Planning for Data Collection:
Measures (describe the
potential evidence)
Collection Procedures (how will
you gather the data/evidence?)
Analysis Plans (what analysis
procedures will you use?)
Things to remember: Jot down anything that might be a challenge or that needs further collaboration
(or permission) regarding the items above. Use the back of this sheet, too, if necessary.
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Tips for Starting a Literature Search
1) Decide on your initial search terms—write them down. Choose terms that are central to your issue or
method that others are also likely to have used to describe their work.
2) Choose a database to search, and use the advanced search feature
o
o
ERIC and ProQuest are often good starting places
Once you’ve begun to get a handle on productive search terms, expand into other disciplinary
areas that might also use your methods or have a focus on similar issues or populations (e.g.
anthropology for many qualitative methods, nursing for practitioner researcher issues, etc).
3) Enter your first search term and indicate where in the database you want to look for that term (try
“anywhere” or “abstract” to start with). Once you see what you get, try combining terms to increase the
efficiency of your search.
4) Look at the keywords and suggested terms associated with your search and the articles you found.
Add the terms that make sense to your list..
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5) When looking at articles, restrict your first pass to peer reviewed articles or articles published in
scholarly journals.
6) Look at the titles and abstracts of articles identified in the search. Mark the articles that seem helpful
and save the list and the search terms that got you there.
7) Choose the articles that seem most promising and read the relevant sections—don’t waste time
reading the whole article.
8) Keep track of useful articles with a bibliographic database program like EndNote,, RefWorks, or Zotero
(free Firefox plug-in), Diigo, or KnightCite (for formatting citations).
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My Action Plan
Action Item #1:
Action Steps:
Deadline:
Action Item #2:
Action Steps:
Deadline:
Action Item #3:
Action Steps:
Deadline:
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Action Item #4:
Action Steps:
Deadline:
Action Item #5:
Action Steps:
Deadline:
Action Item #6:
Action Steps:
Deadline:
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My Research Timeline
2014
2015
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
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