Project Summary: Self-Assessment Throughout this course, you have become familiar with a variety of concepts in qualitative reasoning and analysis. You have explored the importance of qualitative thinking in research and used your knowledge to compose your own Qualitative Research Plan. This Application will give you an opportunity for self-assessment as you analyze your progress in the course. To prepare for this Application: Assess your progress and skills with qualitative reasoning and analysis. Where do you still need to improve, and what is your plan for improving these skills? Consider what role this course has played in helping you determine an approach to your Dissertation topic. Has your original topic and approach changed? Why? How? How does this reflect how you have developed as a researcher? To what extent has using qualitative research informed your understanding of research in general? What about your understanding of how to read the findings of a research article? Think about how this course fits into your residency Milestones. Are you on track? Have you registered for your next residency? Think about any lingering questions that you have. You may wish to use the Journal entries you made in previous weeks to help guide your thinking. The assignment: QUESTION: Compose a 2- to 3-page paper in which you assess your progress with qualitative reasoning and analysis. Be sure to include examples and information responding to the questions above. You may also address any lingering questions you have. ______________________________________________________________________ Introduction Quality is a term you probably hear often that can have varying meanings depending on the context. For qualitative research, quality means ensuring that the data is free from biases on the part of the researcher and that it is an accurate portrayal of the situation. This week, you will examine your data and outline the methods you used in order to ensure that your results have quality. Learning Outcomes By the end of this week, you will be able to: Recommend strategies for ensuring quality in qualitative research Self-assess progress with advanced qualitative reasoning and analysis _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Required Resources Course Text: Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach o Chapter 6, "Validity: How Might You Be Wrong?" In this chapter, you will review how to test your research study for validity and the two specific validity threats of bias and reactivity. Course Text: Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook o Chapter 10, "Drawing and Verifying Conclusions," pp. 310 321 In this excerpt from Chapter 10, you will review the standards for the quality of conclusions, as well as documentation. Course Text: Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches o Chapter 10, "Standards of Validation and Evaluation" This chapter discusses the standards of validation and evaluation in qualitative research, including validation strategies, reliability perspectives, and evaluation criteria. The reading also compares the evaluation standards of the five approaches. Course Text: Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. o Chapter 9, "Enhancing the Quality and Credibility of Qualitative Analysis" In this chapter, you will continue to explore quality and credibility in qualitative analysis. You will read about alternative criteria for judging quality, strategies for enhancing the quality of an analysis, the credibility of a researcher, and increased legitimacy for qualitative methods. Research Toolkit Handouts o Walden Dissertation Rubric Available from http://researchcenter.waldenu.edu/ The Dissertation Rubric is a Word document linked in the section for PhD Dissertation Process and Documents. o Walden Qualitative Dissertations This document directs you to dissertations in the Walden Library that use a variety of qualitative approaches and disciplines. Websites o Walden University: Office of Student Research Support http://researchcenter.waldenu.edu/Office-of-Research-Administration.htm