Choosing a Qualitative Research Method

Good morning Shelia,
Well, I was correct in thinking that you would jump on this week's topic before me, and you did. I agree with your comment about "jargon" although this week's chapter was a much easier read than last week's. Thank goodness!
I envy your opportunity to be able to work with students and see them apply ideas we are learning about. I would love to be able to do the Data management unit with my students while taking this course. I think I, too, would observe connections between what they were doing in their research and the ideas we are delving into. That would be really neat.
When I began looking at my Interpretive Research question, "What remedial strategies are in place, at school level, to assist students with anger issues?", I initially though I would be doing Ethnography research as I would be looking at student behaviour within the culture of the school. However, when I studied the choices further, I realized that I would need to discover this information by doing a Case Study. The defining factor for this decision was the text stating that Case Studies are valuable for "exploring an area or practice that has not been well researched or conceptualized" and that it could very well "guide subsequent studies". Since my research would reflect only the strategies of my school, it is most likely correct to assume that this area has not been well researched. To do the study, I would need to gather data through observation, interviews and viewing any documentation the school possessed. The collected data would then be analyzed and interpreted in order to complete a written report. I actually found the process of determining which approach would be the best to implement quite interesting. I hope you will share your question and the type of research yours required.
The topics in my section are varied although most of them deal with issues that I can easily relate to as an educator. That being said, I am gathering ideas from many of them. One thing I did notice, as the posts for experimental or quasi-experimental designs increased throughout the week, was that I was able to use these to assist in in a better understanding and in making my design more concise. This goes to show that we really can and do learn from one another.
Well, I had better end this rather lengthy post. I look forward to hearing from you as we proceed on our educational journey together.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Catherine