Effect of Paradigms on Research Methods

Effect of Paradigms on Research Methods Each paradigm brings a unique view to research and to how reality and all of which it consists should be viewed. No paradigm is more effective than another as each looks at reality differently. Interpretivism is a paradigm which was created as an alternative to Positivism and took an alternative approach to research by encouraging the use of qualitative, in-depth data to create knowledge. The article, The Insider’s Experience of Long-Term Peer Victimisation, by Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011), is informed by the Interpretive paradigm as it aims to understand the concept of bullying from a subjective perspective through the use of personal experience. The use of the Interpretivist paradigm influences every aspect of this research from how the topic is viewed, the purpose, how the research problem is presented, the collection of materials, how the data is analysed and displayed as well as the ethical considerations of the research. Interpretivism, similarly to other paradigms, has a unique and distinct view of the world and of how the world should be understood. Interpretivism does not accept reality as it appears at face- value. Instead this paradigm claims that reality consists of people’s subjective experiences of the external world (Terre Blanche Durrheim, Histories of the present: Social science research in context, 2006). This means that a world which is shared by everyone is experienced differently by everyone as each individual applies their own unique perspective and meaning to their experiences and actions. In order to understand this type of reality, the patterns and problems which occur in reality and even solutions to these problems; Interpretivism proposes that research explores people’s subjective experiences and actions and the meanings or reasons they attach to these actions and experiences. In order to conduct research through the Interpretivist paradigm, the researcher must also take a unique stance to reality and to the subjects in the research. The researcher is required to be open and empathetic. Empathy involves attempting to view the beliefs and experiences of other as they themselves would view or experience them. Therefore, the use of empathy will allow for the researcher to fully understand the individual’s subjective experience and the meaning they attached to the experience. Empathy and understanding of the subjective experience can be achieved through the Qualitative methodologies which Interpretivism uses. These methodologies create a subjective relationship between the researcher and the participant which allows the researcher to interpret the data at a deeper, involved level and to form ideas from the interpretations in a mutually – constructed manner (Mottier, 2005). Ultimately, it is important to emphasise that the way the Interpretivist p aradigm sees reality, the way the researcher engages in the research and the various research methods used by this paradigm all work simultaneously and influence the research in order to answer the research question in a particular, desired way. The topic of the study is usually the first part of the research which is decided upon. How the researchers wish to study and understand the topic, however, is influenced by the research paradigm, â€Å"Paradigms are all-encompassing systems of interrelated practise and thinking that define for the researcher the nature of their enquiry† (Terre Blanche Durrheim, Histories of the present: Social science research in context, 2006, p. 6). The topic of the article by Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011) revolves around bullying and the experience of bullying. The researchers have chosen to look at the experiences of bullying which requires them to look into the data deeply as the experience of bullying is not simple but an extremely personal experience which has many complex layers and effects to understand. Through this topic, the influence of the chosen paradigm, Interpretivism, begins to immerge. Kelliher (2005) states that Interpretivism is based on the assumption that if people are studied according to their social context, there is a greater chance of understanding the meanings associated with and perceptions they have of their experiences and actions. Therefore, the interpretivist paradigm is perfectly suited to study and understand the concept of bullying as a social action and a social problem experienced by individuals. This is because this paradigm focuses on the meanings underpinning human actions and associated with human experience (Kelliher, 2005). Ultimately, it is clear that how the topic is being viewed and researched is influenced by the Interpretivist paradigm as the researchers have chosen to study bullying in an in-depth manner and to view it from a subjective or personal perspective in order to understand bullying in its entirety. The paradigm informing the research also has an effect on the purpose of the research as the paradigm indicates what type of questions are asked about the topic and the purpose of the research is to ensure that these questions are answered. This idea is supported by Durheim (2006) who states that although the paradigm does not directly define the purpose of the research, it provides a guiding framework for the purpose of the research. The article states that the overall purpose of this research is to improve the understanding of bullying through the personal experiences of bullying victims who have experienced long- term victimization (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). The research is however divided into three sub-questions or purposes in order to gain a full representation of bullying. The first purpose of the research is to understand the victims’ perspectives of what factors contributed to bullying while the second purpose aims to understand the why the victims allow themselves to be continuously subjected to the bullying. The third purpose of the research is to provide information on and discuss various treatments and interventions of bullying. All of these research aims rely heavily on the personal opinions and experiences of the victims. Thus it is evident that Interpretivism plays an indirect role in the formation and fulfilment of these research purposes. This is because these purposes have a qualitative, interpretivist nature as they require the researcher to delve into the experiences of the individuals. Therefore only Interpretative, qualitative methods focusing on individual’s personal experiences can thoroughly and correctly fulfil these purposes. The collection of material in research typically involves the type of sample and participants used, the sampling methods and the methodology used to collect data from this sample group. The methodology used within Interpretivist contains various Qualitative methods which are clearly employed in the research conducted by Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011). These interpretivist methodologies had a great impact on the type and number of participants used, how the participants were selected and how the data was retrieved. The participants used in this research had to be victims of bullying and had to have experienced bullying for the majority of the school year. These specifications of the participants are undoubtedly influenced by the Interpretivist nature of the research which aims to understand the subjective experiences of individuals and therefore, the research specifically requires the participants to have subjective experiences of bullying which can be analysed and interpreted. The sample population size used in this research was also influenced by the Interpretivist nature of the research. Only three participants, one female aged eleven and two males aged twelve and fifteen were selected to take part in the research (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). This is due to the fact that Interpretivism only needs a small amount of participants in order to achieve a meaningful, ethnographic inquiry. This small sample is also influenced by the type of interpretive data analysis which is used, namely Interp retive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA requires an even smaller sample sizes than typical interpretivist research as it analyses the cases of the participants in intense detail rather than using many participants to form generalizations, â€Å"The detailed case-by-case analysis of individual transcripts takes a long time, and the aim of the study is to say something in detail about the perceptions and understandings of this particular group† (Smith Osborn, 2007 , p. 55). Thus, it is clear through the extremely small sample population, that Interpretivism and IPA have had an impact on the number of participants decided to be used. The interpretivist nature of the research requires the research to rely heavily on the participants and their experiences and therefore these participants should be selected extremely carefully (Scotland, 2012). The size of the sample population and the specifications of this population greatly affect the type of sampling used in the research. In the case of this research, only a small sample population, who had personal experiences of being bullied, was needed. Therefore, purposive sampling was used to meticulously select these types of participants. Purposive sampling is the typical sampling method used for interpretive research as it allows for a particular group of participants, for which the research question will significant, to be chosen (Smith Osborn, 2007 ). Ultimately, the use of purposive sampling was influenced by the Interpretivist nature of the research as it allowed for the perfect sample population to be selected. The method of data collection is also an aspect of research which is undoubtedly influenced by the paradigm informing the research. Interpretivist research primarily focuses on using the power of ordinary language and expression in order to understand the social world (Terre Blanche, Kelly, Durrheim, 2006). This is achieved through Interpretivist data collection methodologies which are flexiable and yeild indepth, qualitative data; for example interviews, focus groups, observations and role-playing (Scotland, 2012). The semi- structured interview, which is used in Mackay, Carey and Steven’s (2011) research, is a common type of data collection method informed by the Interpretivist paradigm. This is because a semi- structured interview allows insight on behaviours to surface and also aids in explaining actions and experiences from the individual’s perspectives which is the primary goal of this research. Scotland (2012) further states that semi- structured interviews are unique as they allow the participant to freely express themselves and for the participant to delve deeper into their story. In Mackay, Carey and Steven’s (2011) article semi- structured interviews are used precisely for this purpose as the research requires the method of data collection to be able to get the particpant to reveal intimite details of their victimization and also to allow for important areas of the topic to be probed. The quote, â€Å"if it gets bad, the teacher will actually say the names of the bullies, and they get really embarrassed †¦ So that usually keeps them down for a few days. Which is a relief for me†, in the article taken from a participants interview cis just one example that shows how the particpant was able to explain and express their feelings around their experience through the interview. The paradigm informing the research instructs the research to use certain participants, collect certain data in a certain way and therefore it also instructs the research on how this data must be analysed. In Mackay, Carey and Steven’s (2011) research, the Interpretivist paradigm has influenced the use of the Interpretive technique, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), in order to analyse the data in manner which will yield the results needed. Generally, IPA is used to examine how individuals interpret their world and their experiences and attempts to understand the meaning of these interpretations and experiences. When researching a specfic topics such as bullying, IPA focuses on attempting to understand what the individual believes and feels about the topic and how they have personally experienced the topic and ultimately transforms this information into themes (Chapman Smith, 2002). The use of IPA is clearly seen through the results of the research which used how the individuals described their experiences to generate themes of why the victims felt they were bullied. An example of this is seen through the theme, ‘being different’ which emerged from the interpretive analysis of the victims’ statements such as, â€Å"they tease me about being [name]’s friend, because she’s different† and â€Å"They tease me about being different, because I care for my brother†(Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). IPA is also distinct from other Interpretivist research as it understands that the researcher plays an active role in data analysis as they interpret the participants’ interpretation of their experiences in order to reveal patterns and themes in the data (Smith Osborn, 2007 ). The use of this interpretive technique is evident in the research by Mackay, Carey and Steven (2011) as the researchers regularly discussed the emerging themes throughout the data analysis process in order to assure that they each found were related to the experience of the individual. Thus, the influence if the interpretive paradigm is seen in the data analysis of the research as it allowed for the use of IPA to generate themes. IPA was specifically needed in order to completely understand and interpret the individuals’ experiences but also allowed for themes to be formed based on these three experiences. In Mackay, Carey and Steven’s (2011) research, the way in which the themes and findings were presented was based on the interpretive nature of the research. Through the use of IPA, the superordinate themes, ‘experience of victimization’ and ‘Strategies’ and their subthemes were generated and were presented in a very simple thematic table (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). Typical to interpretive research, the thematic table containing the superordinate and subordinate themes is then explained and the themes are described in depth and are supported with statements made by the participant (Chapman Smith, 2002). An example of this is seen when discussing the bullying policy at school which was discovered through the research to be inefficient and was support by statements such as, â€Å"Yeah they had a bullying policy, but nobody abided by it.† (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). Terre Blanche, Kelly, and Durrheim, (2006) further state that Interpreti ve techniques in communicating research findings make use of â€Å"evocative language† which is strong language used to bring about images or feelings (p. 274). In the results of this research the use of descriptions stating that the vicitms had, â€Å"only one or two friends† and that there was an â€Å"unwillingness of teachers to suspend bullies† creates an image of the problem and consequences of the bullying being experienced by the participants. Ultimately, the influence of the Interpretivist paradigm is evident through the thematic table and various linguistic techniques used to discuss the results of the research.

Is the story Daughters of the late Colonel more comic than tragic Essay

Is the story Daughters of the late Colonel more comic than tragic for the reader overall? Be sure to comment on Mansfield’s use of language. The story â€Å"Daughters of the late Colonel†, written by Katherine Mansfield takes place during Victorian times, based around two sister’s whose father had recently died. Mansfield describes the struggles of these two women as they try to express their femininity and overcome the barriers of etiquette and the presence of their father, whom they feared. The story ends as the sisters Josephine and Constantia attempt to break free of their suppressed world but fail to, thus ending the story in tragedy. Despite this the path leading to the tragic ending is riddled in humorous moments. Therefore it might be said about the story that it is more comic than tragic for the reader. Mansfield often uses humor as a technique to reveal the darker, suppressed side of the two sisters and she often does it subtly. A casual reader might never discover this area of the story. It is as if Mansfield employs comic moments as a mask to cover the tragedy of the play. On one occasion Constantia is worrying about an imaginary mouse: â€Å"A spasm of pity squeezed her heart. Poor little thing! She wished she’d left a tiny piece of biscuit on the dressing table. It was awful to think of it not finding anything. What would it do?† The way Constantia exerts herself is simply pathetic. The reader is amused at her antics to attempt to bring the mouse some food. This obsession with detail is further emphasized with the rhetorical question at the end of the quote, as well as the phrase: â€Å"poor little thing!†- it’s short length and exclamation mark emphasizes its importance, and the use of â€Å"poor... ...ephine was silent for a moment. She stared at a big cloud where the sun had been. Then she replied shortly, â€Å"I’ve forgotten too.†Ã¢â‚¬  During the final section, the sun represents their chance for freedom. â€Å"Golden rays† symbolized the richness and exiting new life which they could have taken. Yet, the whole new path the sisters might have taken was blocked out, symbolizing the cloud. It is thus that the story ends in tragedy- the sisters fail to break free, and remain stuck inside their self-imposed world. Their late father’s influence is too great for them to overcome. In conclusion, it may be said that the story is both a comedy and a tragedy. However, because Mansfield cleverly disguises the tragedy to blend into hilarious moments the reader gets an overall sense of comic fun. Therefore, Daughters of the Late Colonel is more of a comedy than a tragedy.

My Best Kept Secret

For a year, we had something special. It wasn't big. It wasn't flashy. But it meant a lot to me. Welcome to JTOP: an arcane collectivity within the walls of Lower Merion High School. JTOP stands for Justin Timberlake Operation Project, an opaque title chosen to baffle anyone who might overhear us mention the organization. I was inducted as the fifth member in November of 2008, joining Maggie, Jake, Patricia and Sarah. At the time, I knew no one in this coterie but Jake, who provided me with little information.He insisted that I would find meaning in the group—that together we would be able to channel our restless frustration and curiosity into something worthwhile—but that I must first be sworn to secrecy. I was dubious, nervous, and excited. Okay. Okay. This is peculiar right? I'm not from Hogwarts, I'm not some top-secret CIA operative—I'm just a girl from a suburb of Philadelphia†¦ right? And what did â€Å"JTOP† even do? That question cannot be an swered so easily. JTOP was a chance for bright kids who love learning†¦to explore. Every meeting, every task, every debate felt like a new adventure.One day Maggie came home from school and informed us of hearing about trepanation, the practice of cutting holes into one's skull. This was creepy†¦ yet fascinating. Why would anyone willfully drill a hole into his or her head? What would that be like? So on a Wednesday night, after we finished our homework, we furtively gathered and watched a documentary that Maggie purchased entitled â€Å"Hole in Your Head,† all about the history of trepanation. Once we decided to make â€Å"circle poetry† for other students whom we admired throughout the school.Some of the students we didn't know personally—just respected from afar. Taking a black Sharpie and ripping out pages from The Philadelphia Inquirer, we began to circle words and letters creating personalized messages. I wrote a poem for Hannah, a girl I knew on ly through her insightful comments in English class. Hannah had lately been bemoaning that she was turning jaded by the stressful experience of junior year. I wrote that she shouldn't let the school system break her and that her infectious enthusiasm is too important to be replaced by cynicism.When we finished, JTOP looked up the recipients' addresses in the phone book, drove to the various homes and anonymously deposited the poems into each of their mailboxes. Once we all attended a school board meeting at which our district was considering proposed changes to the high school grading policy. I stood up and made a speech before the administrators, teachers and community on the defects of the proposal. Another time we found ourselves sitting in a coffee shop trying to figure out if we were stuck on an island which mix of 20 people from our school would we need along with us in order to survive.Another time we clandestinely met at an out-of-the-way Chinese restaurant (JTOP avoids loca tions where we could be likely spotted) and, over egg rolls, debated the merits of biological determinism. Patricia, a fierce advocate of Richard Dawkins, battled Maggie and me, advocates of environmental factors also playing a fundamental role in pushing genetic â€Å"limits. † We decided we needed an adult figure within our organization so we divulged the details of our club to Mohsen Ghodsi, our old 9th grade gifted support teacher, and asked that he serve as our mentor.He was enthusiastic in his support. He not only allowed us to hold JTOP meetings in his classroom during free periods but also supplied us with book titles and journal articles that he felt might interest us. We went creek-walking. We cooked homemade dumplings. We gave opera music a try. We debated the injustice of calling â€Å"shotgun† in the passenger seat of a car. Once, we decided to write â€Å"JTOP† on all the dollar bills we owned in the hope that some day, years from now, they might c ome back to us in currency recirculation. In June I decided to read Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons.The novel describes an idealistic young girl starting her freshman year at a prestigious university, who is recruited for an intellectual discussion club with an opaque misleading name—The Millennial Mutants. The resemblance between Charlotte Simmons' club and JTOP was uncanny. I realized though, it wasn't mere coincidence that Tom Wolfe described a society similar to JTOP. And, importantly, the parallels did not make me feel generic. To the contrary, they made me feel like I was a part of something much bigger. Something universal.It was exciting to think about people living â€Å"the life of the mind† elsewhere, in different schools and states and perhaps in secret clubs of their own. The notion that there are many people out there who band together in the free pursuit of ideas and experiences was comforting and validating. Maybe it all sounds trivial. Perhaps intel ligent students shouldn't be â€Å"wasting their time† writing acronyms on dollars and instead direct more focus to investing time into an internship or â€Å"getting ahead. † But I disagree. When I look back on my junior year I feel lucky to have received such a precious experience.Where is JTOP now you might ask? Well, we're all still friends, but the club definitely lost its fire over the summer, and I can't really predict what the future holds for it. But, that's okay. Just having been able to experience unfettered adolescent discovery, with people who have the same interests as I, is something that I believe really matters. And knowing that I'm not alone, and that others out there are also exploring—well that matters too. And knowing that I'll meet many more people in college who share the same passions, well that's the most exciting prospect of all

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The Effect of IT on the Business World essays This paper is about the way information technology effects the business world today. We will also talk about how information came about and how it has evolved over the years. There are also many more innovations we will discuss, such as: programming, networking, cell phones, DSL, internet, etc. We will also analyse the way information technology has affected the way businesses function and how the have adapted over the years. Civilization has never expenenced as much change as it has over the last twenty years. This change was brought about by the Information Age. Every part of our lives are affected by information technology. Information Technology is the best thing that has happened to the business world. Our businesses, as well as out own personal lives have all been extraordinarily transformed due to technological advances over the past twenty years. Since the introduction of the computer back in the 1940s, this has changes the way we do business. Before computers you would have to do everything by hand. The pre-information age business office included information producing tools, such as typewrites, and adding machines. Most of the equipment was simple, manual in operation, big, bulky, and noisy. Clerical staff primarily used this equipment as the were the appointed information processors of the time. (Article on the effects of technology on business; vaxxine.com/hyoomk/philo/humbl.html) Then along came the office networking, which allowed everyone in the company to be up to date using an integrated networking databases, programs, and information. ...

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Algea essays Algae are simple water plants. They contain chlorophyll and photosynthesize (retain water, light and carbon dioxide to produce food and oxygen). They are eukaryotic having a full fledged nucleus, and contrary to prokaryotic cells, they have cell walls usually composed of cellulose. Algae come in different colours, shapes and sizes (10-25 Um to 200m); some are unicellular, or found in simple to complex colony style endeavors and even in multicellular structures. Some are mobile; propelled by their flagella, and some have specialized cells called holdfast to get a grip on things. Reproduction can be both asexual and sexual for these simple, yet abundant plants. Algae are amongst the most important food producing groups in the world, and are by far responsible for over 90% of the oxygen in this world. They are found in just about any type of environment though they are dependant on light (photosynthetic) and water for most of their basic needs. The most important factor of survival for algae is their immediate habitat. Since algae are photosynthetic they cannot survive without light, thus they must live in the presence of light. Because algae are simple plants and lack the complexity of having a thick and vascular assembly, they are constantly in need of water for structural support and to prevent them from drying out. Most Phylum Chlorophyta algae (green algae) live in fresh water: places such as lakes, ponds and streams. Chlamydomonas, a genus of green algae, are common in ditches, pools, and other bodies of standing fresh water and in soils. Chlamydomonas are more likely to be found in gentle environments to compensate for their simple structure. Moving on, we have the slightly more complex green algae, such as Oedogonium, Ulothrix and Spirogyra, which can adapt to both running and standing fresh water. Rarely some types of green algae are found in marine habitats (salt water, oceans). The Ulva for instance, lives in a somewhat shal...

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Discussion borad 3.2 - Essay Example FAA: A structured observation was performed three times during the different days of the week and different times of the day to obtain a picture of his disruptive and aggressive behavior. The frequency count of hitting, kicking, biting, pinching, poking, grabbing eyeglasses and jewelry, and screaming was done to establish a baseline. Additionally, Jon’s teacher was interviewed to get her perspective and develop a working relationship in order to develop successful interventions. Setting Event (Ecological) Strategies: During transitions, Jon can be assigned to a peer partner who could model being calm and explain what was going on and what was expected; and the new teacher can be given more training in behavior management. Antecedent Strategies: Jon might benefit from more opportunities to choose which activities he would do first (e.g., allowed to continue working on puzzle if asks appropriately); Easy and preferred tasks may be combined with difficult, less preferred tasks; Activities should be made more appealing (e.g., reduce length, assistance offered). Consequence Strategies: The teacher should listen to and honor Jons new alternative requests (i.e., he was given assistance, or a break, or allowed to choose a different activity if he made the requests appropriately); The teacher will remain emotionally supportive when confronted with problem behaviors. Measures: (a) Number of incidents of aggression, noncompliance, and disruption per week, (b) percent of class activities in which Jon participated, (c) general indicators of quality of educational experience (e.g., type of activities, need for one-to-one assistance). From the information collected during FAA is seems that the function of Brandon’s behavior was actually seeking attention. That’s why when his grandmother moved away, the frequency of negative behaviors at school has increased. It seems that Brandon is lacking some social skills, which is typical among children