Education & Teaching Question

The purpose of this Major Assignment is to immerse you in the qualitative research process. The process includes hands-on opportunities for you to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret qualitative data. This qualitative research process begins with some items that have already been identified for you:

1. The research topic for this effort is the meaning of social change for Walden graduate students. You have been examining videos and reading about social change as part of the course study.
2. The knowledge you have gained plus your reflections on the meaning of social change will form the beginning of the inquiry. That is, the research question you will explore is “What is the meaning of social change for Walden graduate students?”
3. The description of your efforts of gathering, organizing, and analyzing data will form the basis of your methods section. And, the results of those efforts—the analysis and interpretation of those data—will be summarized.

This Major Assignment 2 is composed of four parts, each of which will be completed over four weeks. These parts include: Part 1: Introduction; Part 2, Role of the Researcher; Part 3: Results; and Part 4: Summary.

For this week’s Major Assignment 2, you will complete Part 1. In this Part 1, you will begin to examine social change from a Walden graduate student perspective, explore positive social change as a research problem, and explore the gap in research.

Part 1: Introduction

1. Write a background statement of approximately 1–2 pages that includes:
   1. What you have learned about social change as a social issue.
   2. What you have learned about social change as a research problem. Support your insights with academic citations from the Learning Resources.
   3. Describe the gap that your study will address.
2. From the gap, create a brief purpose statement that is aligned with the following research question:

What is the meaning of social change for Walden graduate students?

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

• Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Codes and Coding” (pp. 1–42)
• Chapter 2, “Writing Analytic Memos About Narrative and Visual Data” (pp. 43–65)

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2021). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological (2nd ed.) Sage Publications.

• Chapter 8, “An Integrative Approach to Data Analysis” (pp. 233–252)
• Chapter 9, “Methods and Processes of Data Analysis (pp. 254–294)

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

• Chapter 12, “Data Analysis in the Responsive Interviewing Model” (pp. 189–211)

The following articles are examples of literature reviews on the aspects of social change. Choose one of the articles for this week’s Discussion 2.

Ashoka. (2017). My changemaker toolkit. Retrieved from https://issuu.com/ashokachangemakers/docs/my_changemaker_toolkit_2017_issuu

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Tackling Heropreneurship. (n.d.). The impact gaps canvas. Retrieved from http://tacklingheropreneurship.com/the-impact-gaps-canvas/

Thomas, E.F., MCGarty, C., & Mavor, K.I. (2009). Transforming “Apathy into movement”: The role of prosocial emotions in motivation action for social change. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 13(4), 310-333.

Kezar, A. (2014). Higher education change and social networks: A review of the research. Journal of Higher Education, 85(1), 91-125.

Aguinis, H. & Glavas, A. (2012). What we know and don’t know about corporate social responsibility: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 38(4). 932-968.

Walden University. (2015). Social change. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change

As you review this website, think about Walden’s meaning of social change and how this website will guide you as you consider positive social change for your Major Assignment 2.

Document: Excel Video Coding Document Template (Excel spreadsheet)

Review this Excel template as you view this week’s media programs. Also, you will use this template for organizing your transcripts and preparing them for coding.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2016). Introduction to coding [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 10 minutes.

In this media program, Dr. Susan Marcus, Core Research Faculty with the School of Psychology at Walden University, introduces you to the world of coding using Word or Excel documents. In this first video, you will learn how to organize your data.

Accessible player –Downloads– Download Video w/CC Download Audio Download Transcript

Laureate Education (Producer). (2016). From content to coding [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 12 minutes.

In this media program, Dr. Susan Marcus, Core Research Faculty with the School of Psychology at Walden University, introduces coding and how to move from content to codes. This video focuses on what Saldaña (2016) calls “first cycle” coding. Three different approaches are presented. Analytic memos will also be discussed.

Accessible player –Downloads– Download Video w/CC Download Audio Download Transcript

Optional Resources

Walden Univeristy Center for Research Quality (2021). Narrative Methodology Retrieved from https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/RSCH/2021/Narrative_Methodology/index.html

This resource provides tutorials on narrative methodologies.

Walden Univeristy (2018). Qualitative Designs and Methods. Retrieved from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/researchcenter/resources/design

This resource provides tutorials on narrative methodologies.