Step 4: Gather and analyze relevant information as needed.

Having selected one or more research questions about cultural influences in Step 3, your purpose in Step 4 is to understand cultural influences on your focus student(s) and, in particular, whether and how the cultural influences in your research question(s) seem to be useful in understanding your puzzlement. Your answer will help you decide what interventions to try in Step 5.

The first sections of this page provide some general suggestions relevant to any CIP study. After those sections, there are suggestions and links related to specific CIP questions.

Careful attention to research methods used to collect and analyze information is important because the methods you use affect the quality of the information you gather. You want high quality information to be the basis for your understanding of your puzzlement, for developing your intervention(s) in Step 5, and for convincing others of the validity of your work.

Texts on teacher research (e.g., Anderson, Herr & Nihlen, 1994; Frank, 1999; Mills, 2003; Hubbard & Power, 2003; Stringer, 2004) and on qualitative research (e.g., Bogdan & Biklen, 2003; Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Maykut & Morehouse, 1994; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Schensul & LeCompte, 1999) provide general suggestions for gathering and analyzing information. Sleeter (2001, Culture> Exploring Culture> Ideas or >Activities) provided useful suggestions about learning about communities in general, and about conducting interviews and observations in particular. Moreover, information and skills you have developed in research methods courses (e.g., EDUC 612: Inquiry into Practice in the ASTL program at GMU) should be useful to you in Step 4.

A note on terminology: I use the term "qualitative research" throughout Step 4. This term is widely used to refers to research that emphasizes collecting and analyzing non-numerical information (e.g., observations or interviews) in natural settings in order to understand the points of view of those being studied. This approach to research is also called "naturalistic research," "field research," "ethnographic research," or "ethnography." The latter two terms are sometimes used with a narrower meaning to refer to a subset of qualitative research that is explicitly focused on describing culture.

There are two major components to Step 4: gathering information and analyzing the information gathered. Part of analyzing information involves deciding whether the cultural influences you thought might be relevant (i.e., the research questions you decided to use) seem to be influencing your puzzlement.

Gathering information

Before beginning to gather information, it is useful to pause and think about what data are relevant to your research question(s). Hubbard and Power (2003, pp. 17-18) offer some guidance and examples related to this issue.

Also, early in the process, consider using multiple methods of data collection. Every method of data collection has some limitations; using data collected through different methods helps compensate for the different limitations. Using multiple methods of data collection is sometimes discussed as "triangulation" of data. Hubbard and Power (2003, pp. 124-127) and Mills (2003, pp. 52-53) offered brief discussions and examples of triangulation using multiple methods of data collection. Bogdan and Biklen (2003, p. 107-108) provided a useful overview of triangulation and important cautions about using this term. Note: using multiple methods of data collection may complicate your data analysis, but on the positive side it often results in a richer, fuller, and more valid, understanding of your puzzlement.

Because you are exploring cultural issues, a general principle for gathering information is to take a "learner" stance, i.e., that of one seeking to learn about others' perspectives and experiences. Open-ended methods of data collection are particularly useful in understanding others' perspectives because they minimize the impact of the researcher's assumptions. See Henze & Hauser, 1999 for further discussion of these issues. See Cook-Sather (2002) and Shultz and Cook-Sather (2001) for discussion of issues related to learning from students; Shultz and Cook-Sather (2001) also provided extensive examples of students' perspectives on school.

Standard methods for gathering open-ended information are interviews and observations. The other methods listed below may also be useful.

• Open-ended interviews

  Anderson, Herr and Nihlen (1994, pp. 115-123) and Springer (2004, pp. 64-80) provided extensive discussions of open-ended interviews.
  
  Informal interviews (conversations) can be viewed as a subset of open-ended interviews. As discussed by Hubbard and Power (2003, pp. 61-63), informal interviews are often spontaneous and can be part of your daily interactions with the participants in your study. Be sure to write at least "shorthand notes" from your informal interviews as soon as possible after they occur, and later the same day expand these brief notes into more formal notes that summarize the informal interviews.
  
  Another potentially useful approach to open-ended interviews involves collecting first-person narratives from students. Morris (1997), for example, collected and analyzed the narratives of Latino, European American, and African American boys labeled "learning disabled" (LD) to examine the meanings and consequences of this label for the boys.

  An important issue to consider for all open-ended interviews is how to record them. Taping them (usually with audiotapes) preserves the most information and helps to make sure that you don't unconsciously "edit" the information. Hubbard and Power (2003, pp.78-84) offered some useful tips for using tape recorders and for transcription of tapes.

• Participant observations

  This form of observation is discussed by Anderson, Herr & Nihlen (1994, pp. 129-138), Hubbard and Power (2003, 40-59), Mills (2003, pp. 53-57), and Stringer (2004, pp. 80-83).

  For information on making maps, making photographs or videotapes, or studying artifacts, (which are related to conducting observations), see Anderson, Herr & Nihlen (1994, pp. 141-153), Hubbard and Power (2003, pp. 59-60), Mills (2003, pp. 68-70), and Stringer (2004, pp. 82-87).

• Journals

  Journals are discussed briefly by Anderson, Herr & Nihlen (1994, pp. 153-155) and by Mills (2003, pp. 67-68).

In addition to the books on teacher research cited in the bulleted text above, books about qualitative research methods (e.g., Bogdan & Biklen, 2003; Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Maykut & Morehouse, 1994; Schensul & LeCompte, 1999) also provide useful guidance about collecting open-ended information.

In collecting qualitative, open-ended data it is important to think about issues of sampling because they influence the quality of your information. For observations, this involves issues such as who will be observed, when, where, and for how long. For interviews, issues include who will be interviewed, in what way, and how extensively. See Stringer (2004, pp. 50-51) for a discussion of purposive and snowball sampling techniques.

Structured methods of gathering information (such as questionnaires or observation checklists) contrast with the open-ended methods discussed above because the researcher decides in advance what is important to know about the topic. These methods can be useful after collecting open-ended information, when the researcher has previously conducted open-ended research on the topic, or when it is crucial to have systematic information from a large number of people.

• Structured interviews and questionnaires

  Structured interviews and questionnaires are discussed by Anderson, Herr and Nihlen (1994, pp. 123-128), Hubbard and Power (2003, pp. 62-72), Mills (2003, pp. 59-78), and Stringer (2004, pp. 87-79).

• Structured observations

  Structured observations are discussed by Anderson, Herr and Nihlen (1994, pp. 138-141).

Issues of trustworthiness or validity, and ethical issues, are important in all forms of data collection. For discussions of validity, see Springer (2004, pp. 55-60) and Mills (2003, pp. 77-87). For discussions of research ethics, see Mills (2003, pp. 90-96) and Springer (2004, pp. 53-55).

Analyzing the information gathered

Data preparation is an important preliminary step in data analysis. Hubbard and Power (2003) discussed general data preparation issues (pp. 92-99) as well as issues related specifically to transcription of audio and video tapes (pp. 78-84).

Analyzing and reflecting on the information you gather should occur before data collection has ended because this allows your preliminary findings to guide your subsequent data collection. A useful way to conduct preliminary analysis is to write about the information you are collecting. This could include short thoughts, comments, or questions written in brackets while you expand on your observation notes or transcribe interviews. You could also write memos that summarize parts of your data or themes within it. Anderson, Herr and Nihlen (1994, pp. 155-156) and Mills (2003, pp. 104-105) offered some useful guidelines for reflection during the data collection phase of your study.

Once the information has been gathered and prepared, it is useful to identify patterns in the information that occur within and across various sources of information. It is important to think about the patterns in relation to the cultural influence(s) you identified for your research question(s). What does the information gathered indicate about possible cultural influences on the puzzlement? (Answers to this question should provide a basis for developing interventions in CIP Step 5.)

A common method of analyzing open-ended qualitative data is categorizing or indexing the data. This involves developing categories (codes) related to the cultural influence(s) you are examining in relation to your puzzlement, using those categories to "index" the information, and then identifying patterns in the information you have collected. Each of these processes is discussed below.

Developing categories is part of the analysis process. It should be done carefully and after you have read and reread the information you have gathered. Ideas for categories might come from your rereading of the data, from the cultural influences(s) you are examining, from words or phrases used by the people you observe or interview, or from other studies you have read. In any case, the categories you use to analyze your information should seem to "fit" your data rather than be imposed on them.

Use the categories you have developed to index the data. The term "index" is appropriate because, like an index in a book, all the instances of data that apply to a category should be associated with it. You might do this by assigning a different color to each category and then highlighting or underlining the data associated with each category. You could also leave wide margins on the pages with your data and draw brackets around sections of the data and label them with the appropriate categories.

Having labeled data with the categories, you then review (read and reread) all the data associated with each category and identify patterns that occur across the data within each category. When you have a sense of patterns within categories, you should also look for patterns across categories. It is useful to write memos that summarize the patterns that you have found. As discussed below, it is important to identify examples (for example, quotes from interviews or descriptions from observations) as evidence for the patterns you have found.

For more information from teacher research books about categorizing data see Anderson, Herr and Nihlen (1994, pp.156-161), Hubbard and Power (2003, pp. 99-108), and Stringer (2004, pp. 110-118). For more information about qualitative data analysis in general see Bogdan and Biklen (2003), Denzin and Lincoln (2000), LeCompte and Schensul (1999), Maykut and Morehouse (1994), Miles and Huberman (1994), Schensul, Schensul, and LeCompte (1999), and Spradley (1979, 1980).

Mills (2003) offered a useful discussion of techniques for interpreting your data (pp. 113-116) and guidelines for using descriptive statistics with your data (pp. 106-109; see also Stringer, 2004, pp. 89-91).

It is important to remember that the purpose of your data analysis in general is to understand the cultural influences on your puzzlement, and that your purpose in particular is to decide whether the cultural influences you thought might be relevant, i.e., the research question(s) you selected, seem to be influencing your puzzlement. This involves focusing on the cultural influence(s) you selected but also remaining open to the possibility that something else is a more important influence on your puzzlement. Thus, it is important to conscientiously look for disconfirming evidence or evidence of alternative explanations, as well as evidence that supports the importance of the cultural influence you originally decided to examine.

Note: Various computer programs are now available to assist with qualitative (e.g., ATLAS.ti, Ethnograph, HyperRESEARCH, NVivo, and WinMAX) and quantitative (e.g., SPSS) data analysis. However, the amount of information collected for most CIP studies would not justify the cost or effort involved in learning and using such programs. For further information about qualitative analysis programs, see the brief discussion by Mills (2003, pp. 110-113), the chapter by Weitzman (2000), or visit the Scolari web site.

Suggestions for writing

As mentioned above, memos can be useful in both the data collection and data analysis aspects of your CIP study.

In relation to data collection, you might use memos to brainstorm different kinds of information that might be useful for your study. Then for each kind of information you might explore ways to collect that information.

Data collection sometimes generates some anxiety because it may involve new behavior. If this is the case, you might use memos (see earlier discussion of "personal response" memos) to free write about your fears or anxiety; this could involve starting a memo with a statement of what you fear or are anxious about and then just continuing to write whatever comes into your mind for 10-15 minutes. This can be a very useful tool for bringing fears to the surface so they can be released or addressed. Memos can also be useful as tools for problem solving. For example, you might start a memo by stating a problem you anticipate related to data collection and then writing about ways that you might address that problem.

Memos are seen as particularly useful for stimulating thinking in relation to data analysis (Hubbard & Power, 2003, pp. 110-114; Miles & Huberman, 1994, pp. 72-75). You might use memos initially to summarize information on a particular topic, but then you should also use them to think about what you've found--for example, thinking about your data in relation to other patterns in your data, published research, or the cultural influence(s) you identified as your research question(s). You also can write a memo to help you develop an idea further or to explore information that seems to be contradictory.

If you follow these suggestions about writing memos as part of your data collection and analysis processes, you will find them useful as you draft and polish your final report.

Work on CIP Step 4 contributes to three important components of your final report: a discussion of how you gathered and analyzed your information (sometimes labeled the "methods" section of a report), the presentation of what you found as a result of your analysis, and your conclusions about the cultural or social influences on your puzzlement (which form the base for your interventions in Step 5).

Reporting how you gathered and analyzed your information can occur as a separate section of your report or be "woven" into it. In either case it is important to convey clearly to the reader the kind of information you collected, from whom, and how extensive it is. It often is useful to include your interview questions, other data collection "instruments," and a list of your analysis categories in appendices.

There are many possible ways of presenting the results of your analysis. Several common approaches are discussed below. As you think about how to organize this section of your report, consider which structure "fits" your findings best and which will most clearly convey your results and conclusions to your readers.

• Pattern organization

  In pattern organization the major sections are the major patterns that you have found in your data. If you use this structure, think carefully about how best to order the patterns so as to present a clear "story" to the reader. See also Stringer (2004, p. 121).

• Narrowing or expanding focus

With this approach the report moves either from "broad" topics to "narrow" topics (for example, from a discussion of the local community, to a an overview of peers groups in the community, to a particular peer group), or from narrow topics to broad topics.

• By source of information

In this approach the major organizing principle is the kind of information collected. Thus, there might be sections on observations, interviews, and a survey. This may be useful if the different kinds of data offer significantly different kinds of insights; a subsequent section should then discuss these differences and how you make sense of them.

As you draft your final report it is also important to pay careful attention to providing adequate evidence to support any assertions you make. Direct quotes from interviews, summaries of survey responses, and descriptions from observations notes are examples of such evidence.

The final component of Step 4 involves sharing your conclusions about the cultural influences on your puzzlement. This is where, based on the evidence and arguments presented in your "results" section and on other research you have cited, you tell the reader what cultural influences you think are useful in understanding your puzzlement. The reader should be able to see clearly the links between the results of your analysis and your conclusions. Similarly, there should be clear links between these conclusions and the interventions you develop and implement in CIP Step 5.

Suggestions related to specific CIP questions

Books and articles related to the topic of your inquiry and to the cultural influence(s) you examined (including previous CIP studies) can provide suggestions closely related to your own study. See the Tutorial on Using Resources in the CIP for guidance and specific suggestions.

Because the CIP focuses on cultural influences, it is important to be aware of how culture can influence scholarly research and theory. Maher and Tretreault (1997) argued that whiteness shapes the construction of classroom knowledge through "the imposition of certain ways of constructing the world through the lenses of traditional disciplines" (p. 325). For specific examples related to the discipline of psychology, see Sue, Bingham, Porché-Burke, and Vásquez (1999) and Guthrie (1998). Maher and Tretreault (1997) argued further that the domination of European American perspectives within disciplines "is often couched in the language of detachment and universality, wherein the class, race, and gender position of the 'knower' is ignored or presumed irrelevant" (p. 325). See Tillman (2002) for a discussion of the need to acknowledge and use the cultural knowledge and experiences of researchers and their participants in the design and conduct of qualitative research.

In addition to this Step 4 general page, you should carefully read the Step 4 pages for the CIP question(s) associated with the cultural influences you are examining. The following linked pages provide ideas for gathering information related to each of the top level CIP questions listed in Step 3. At the end of these pages there are links for the subquestions (i.e., 4.2.1, 4.2.2, etc).

4.1	Gathering information about your beliefs or values, or those of other educators
4.2	Gathering information about the school's culture(s)
4.3	Gathering information about cultural mismatches
4.4	Gathering information about students' experiences and meanings
4.5	Gathering information about individual students' cultural "negotiations"

Step 3-Questions | Step 5-Develop Intervention(s)
Guide for Reading Step 4 and Step 5 Pages