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31 - A Case Study of Qualitative Methods

from Case Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2019

By
Colleen M. Lewis
Edited by
Sally A. Fincher  and
Anthony V. Robins
Sally A. Fincher
Affiliation:
University of Kent, Canterbury
Anthony V. Robins
Affiliation:
University of Otago, New Zealand
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Summary

This chapter is a narrative of the actual doing of a qualitative research study. Qualitative analysis does not follow a recipe of steps where it is possible to make continual forward progress. Textbooks about qualitative methods have a burden of providing clarity to the methods. This chapter instead seeks to show all of the mess, setbacks, and ambiguity. The chapter chronicles what I learned through writing, revising, and now reflecting on a paper that traversed a particularly rocky path. I have distilled my insights into eighteen tips that are sequenced to roughly align with the broad categories of data collection, analysis, and writing. I provide some potentially controversial advice about how to cherry pick data and writing tips that go beyond “write clearly.” Some of these tips are likely applicable for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies and may even be helpful as a checklist. Beyond the content of the tips, I hope that this chapter helps readers see how much is hidden in the unpublished backstories of research papers.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research , pp. 875 - 894
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

Bourdieu, P. (1992). The practice of reflexive sociology (The Paris Workshop). In Bourdieu, P. & Wacquant, L. J. D. (Eds.), An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology (pp. 216–260). Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
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Haas, G. (n.d.) BFOIT Introduction to Computer Programming. Retrieved from http://guyhaas.com/bfoit/itp/Iteration.html#more_projectsGoogle Scholar
Lewis, C. M. (2010). How programming environment shapes perception, learning and goals: Logo vs. Scratch. In Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (pp. 346–350). New York: ACM Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, C. M. (2012a). The importance of students’ attention to program state: A case study of debugging behavior. In Proceedings of the International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER 2012) (pp. 127–134). New York: ACM Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, C. M. (2012b). Applications of Out-of-Domain Knowledge in Students’ Reasoning about Computer Program State (PhD dissertation). University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Lewis, C. M., Anderson, R. E., & Yasuhara, K. (2016). I don’t code all day: Fitting in computer science when the stereotypes don’t fit. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER ‘16) (pp. 23–32). New York: ACM Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, C. M., & Shah, N. (2015). How equity and inequity can emerge in pair programming. In Proceedings of the International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER 2015) (pp. 41–50). New York: ACM Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, C. M., Yasuhara, K., & Anderson, R. E. (2011). Deciding to major in computer science: A grounded theory of students' self-assessment of ability. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Computing Education Research (pp. 3–10). New York: ACM Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, W.-M. (2006). Textbooks on qualitative research and method/methodology: Toward a praxis of method. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 7(1), 11.Google Scholar
Yin, R. K. (2013). Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 5th edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Google Scholar

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