When I read the reading assignment for today, I knew that I wasn't going to really benefit from reading and considering all the questions included in the text, but I wanted to use some of those questions to really help me improve my study development. Since I feel like my Research Design needs some help, I spent a while brainstorming answers to the questions from that section.
The first question was What was the purpose of the study: exploration, description, explanation, or a combination? As I considered this question, I realized I'd like to become familiar with and describe the policies of the SA Clinic, AND explore the perceptions of the community of those policies. This ultimately helped me narrow my research down to a description and exploration study. I like the focus those simple categories give my research, and that what I want the purpose of my study to be fits well in these categories.
Another good group of questions that spurred thought was What was the unit of analysis? Was it appropriate to the purpose of the study? Are the conclusions drawn from the research appropriate to the unit of analysis? For example, have the researchers studied cities and ended up with assertions about individuals? From this I tried to find a unit of analysis. It is difficult for me to pinpoint, but I feel like a good unit would be the development policies in the SA Clinic. As the rest of the questions implicate, my research should focus on describing and exploring opinions about these policies. My conclusion would have to deal with whether they are effective (I'm not sure how I'll measure that yet; perhaps through opinions and the success in solving an issue the clinic or community faces). I think this question helped me see the focus my study should have on policies, without making conclusions beyond what I've studied. As I read these questions, I think it educated me on what mistakes I should avoid (confusing units of measurement and conclusions) and helping me shape my research design. All of the questions helped, but these two especially made me think.
Because I want to ask good, effective questions, I've also been thinking about how helpful it would be to participate weekly in a Development Effort in Provo. I think that could influence my research proposal if as I'm developing my method of research I have a situation where I can imagine the questions I would ask the volunteers, administrators, or community members about this effort and how those questions would be received.
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