Qualitative Inquiry in Education: Theory & Practice

Editorial

Ali Ersoy — 2024-06-30

I am delighted to share the second issue of the Qualitative Inquiry in Education: Theory and Practice (QIETP) journal. This issue includes five articles: two research articles and three review articles. I am grateful to our esteemed authors and referees for their contributions to QIETP. The first study in this issue is a research article derived from a doctoral thesis. “A Heuristic Inquiry into the Experience of Not Realizing Our Ideal Teaching” was written by Aslı Özaslan and Ömer Bayhan. This study is significant as it demonstrates how teachers’ experiences of not achieving their ideal teaching can be methodologically addressed using heuristic inquiry. Therefore, it offers a good example for those interested in conducting thesis research with heuristic inquiry. I believe the study will be useful both methodologically and in terms of its findings. The second study, based on a master’s thesis, is titled “Investigation of Activities Related to Specific Days and Weeks in Life Science Course in the Context of Classroom Teachers’ Opinions.” This study conducted by Lokman Tekin and Uğur Gezer examines classroom teachers’ experiences through a case study design, linking specific days and weeks celebrated in schools with the life sciences course. It serves as an example of how to use case study design to examine activities within a course. In the third study, Yılmaz Soysal and Salih Türkmen reinterpret the member-checking strategy in qualitative research from a hermeneutic perspective in their review article titled “Reinterpreting the Member Checking Validation Strategy in Qualitative Research through the Hermeneutics Lens.” This study contributes to qualitative methods by evaluating the member-checking validation strategy from a hermeneutic perspective in light of current literature. It will be particularly useful for those looking to holistically understand the member checking strategy in qualitative research. The fourth study, “Content and Thematic Analysis Techniques in Qualitative Research: Purpose, Process, and Features,” by Muhammet Özden, compares content and thematic analysis techniques, often confused by newcomers to qualitative research, with the current literature. This review will benefit doctoral students and those new to qualitative research.

Reinterpreting the Member Checking Validation Strategy in Qualitative Research Through the Hermeneutics Lens

Yılmaz Soysal — 2024-08-04

This review proposes that exploring hermeneutics could reveal significant potential for reassessing the essence and structure of qualitative research, particularly in refining validation methods like memberchecking. This inquiry suggests that embracing a hermeneutic perspective might provide fresh insights into how we understand and validate qualitative data, potentially enhancing our comprehension and improving the robustness of research practices in this field. The review is divided into multiple sections and subsections to build the argument that the hermeneutic viewpoint offers greater explanatory and exploratory potential for guiding specific validation strategies, such as member-checking, in qualitative research. This review’s main argument begins with an overview detailing which aspects and how-aspects of qualitative research and its validation strategies. Subsequently, this review delves into the member-checking strategy as a central validation approach in high-quality qualitative research. The review then introduces hermeneutics within the qualitative research paradigm. Moreover, the present review explores how hermeneutics can serve as a tool for thinking in research endeavors. Finally, the current review integrates the focus on memberchecking with the perspective of hermeneutics to achieve a broader and more holistic understanding. Concluding remarks and research-based implications are offered for the use of future qualitative researchers.

Content and Thematic Analysis Techniques in Qualitative Research: Purpose, Process and Features

Muhammet ÖZDEN — 2024-08-04

It has been observed that qualitative research methodologies are increasingly used in educational research. However, many errors can occur in qualitative research at various stages, from planning the study to collecting data, from selecting participants to writing the findings. One of the processes where novice qualitative researchers experience the most problems is data analysis. At this stage, researchers often do not know how to structure and code the data, and they lack confidence in their knowledge and skills regarding the processes of developing categories and themes. Another significant issue for researchers is their inability to understand the purposes and usage of the techniques applied in qualitative data analysis. It is even observed that in some studies, the processes of one analysis technique are replaced with those of another technique with similar characteristics. The continued increase of these problems negatively affects the robustness of qualitative research. The present study has been prepared to contribute to solving these issues observed in the literature. The study explains the characteristics, purposes, differences, and necessary steps of content analysis and thematic analysis approaches, which are frequently used in the analysis of qualitative data. Additionally, the study highlights the principles that should be considered in conducting content and thematic analyses, with the hope of assisting researchers in carrying out a rigorous and robust process.

Development and Use of the Alphabetical Analysis Technique in Qualitative Research

Sadegül Akbaba Altun — 2024-08-04

Researchers utilize data analysis methods according to the questions they explore and analyze the data accordingly. However, current qualitative techniques may be insufficient, and many different research designs and techniques have been proposed in recent years. As Patton (1990) stated, if there is no existing method or technique suitable for the research, the researcher should develop and conceptualize one. This study first discusses the importance of choosing the appropriate qualitative research method for the research topic. It then explains which analysis technique should be used in qualitative research and depicts the development process of alphabetical analysis. Finally, the alphabetical analysis technique is introduced. Alphabetical analysis provides a framework for presenting content using the letters of the alphabet. The stages of alphabetical analysis consist of five steps: 1) reading the data multiple times and deciding how to analyze it; 2) preparing a table with the letters of the alphabet; 3) placing each feature under the relevant letter; 4) determining the frequency of each concept or word; 5) writing the features under each letter in a meaningful way. This technique aims to make data more understandable and offers a novel approach for qualitative researchers, increasing interest and readability by presenting characteristics of professions in a different format.

A Heuristic Inquiry into the Experience of Not Realizing Our Ideal Teaching

Aslı Özaslan — 2024-08-04

Purpose: The inability of a teacher to realize their ideal teaching is a phenomenon that is obviously experienced but has not yet been clearly researched. Research on this topic has generally focused on teachers’ working conditions, teacher identity change, autonomy, disempowerment and deskilling. It is apparent that no research has yet been conducted to explain this phenomenon experienced by teachers based on their experiences without the limitations of theoretical frameworks. The purpose of our study is to understand and explain to the readers the essence and significance of the experience of "not realizing one’s ideal teaching" based on the statements of a group of teachers, including the first author.

Method: The participants in this study, which was based on a heuristic research design, were 11 teachers, diversified by gender and teaching field, who felt that they could not realize their ideal teaching.

Findings: When the experiences of the participating teachers are analyzed, three themes emerge: “I feel blocked,” “I lose motivation,” and “I am in despair.”

Implications: The results of the research provided data for a better understanding of the impact of the physical conditions and insufficient equipment of schools on the teaching process, for planning measures to increase teachers' autonomy, for a better understanding and review of the impact of the examination system on the teaching process and for planning qualified training for teachers on the issues with which they have professional difficulties.

Keywords: Ideal teaching, teachers, heuristic inquiry

Investigation of Activities Related to Specific Days and Weeks in Life Science Course in the Context of Classroom Teachers' Opinions

Gökhan Özkan — 2024-08-04

Purpose: Life science course is one of the courses in which students acquire essential life skills at the primary school level. Students acquire many skills, such as being aware of what is happening around them, having knowledge about cultural life, social participation, personalizing basic human values, being sensitive to the natural environment, and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Since life studies is a course that focuses on human and social life, activities related to specific days and weeks are significantly associated with the life studies course. This study aimed to examine the practices related to specific days and weeks within the scope of life studies course in line with the opinions of classroom teachers. Method: The research was designed as a case study, one of the qualitative research methods. The participants were 20 classroom teachers selected according to the criterion sampling technique. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and the data obtained were analyzed using the content analysis technique. Findings: As a result of the research, it was determined that the activities related to specific days and weeks contribute to the course’s importance in raising awareness in students, strengthening national unity and solidarity, and being sensitive to social events. It was determined that teachers did not find the activities related to specific days and weeks in the textbooks sufficient. Teachers stated that activities such as ceremonies and celebrations for specific days and weeks are not effective for students when they are unplanned and out of necessity, but more effective results are obtained when they are processed with active learning activities in the classroom. The teachers expressed problems such as lack of materials and resources and physical impossibilities as problems that prevented more effective handling of specific days and weeks. Implications: Based on the results of the research, suggestions can be made for life science textbooks to reflect specific days and weeks more effectively, to increase the variety of resources and materials related to specific days and weeks, and to carry out activities related to specific days and weeks within good planning.