PSY 326 Week 3 – Discussion

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

To prepare for this discussion, read the instructor guidance, Chapter 12 by Levitt (2016), and Sections 3.1, 3.2, “Pros and Cons of Observational Research” and “Types of Observational Research” in Section 3.4 of the Newman (2016) textbook. View the following videos: Different Qualitative Approaches (Links to an external site.) and When to Use a Qualitative Research Design? Four Things to Consider (Links to an external site.).

Then, determine from the list below your assigned qualitative research design based on the first letter of your last name:

• A-F: Ethnography
• G-L: Grounded theory
• M-R: Narrative research
• S-Z: Phenomenology

Using the Research Methods research guide’s list of suggested articles, look for information about your assigned qualitative research design. You may also search the Library databases for articles about the research design. In your initial post:

• Evaluate the features of the design and what kinds of research topics it is suitable for.
• Explain the data collection and data analysis methods used in the design.
• Cite at least one scholarly/peer-reviewed article about the design and one published research study that used the design, for a total of at least two scholarly/peer-reviewed journal articles.

Document your sources in APA style (Links to an external site.), with in-text citations and references listed at the end of the post. For additional guidance see the Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) and Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resources from the Writing Center.

Guided Response: Read several classmates’ posts and respond to one post for each of the other three qualitative designs. Ask any questions you have about how the design works. Compare the design to the one you were assigned. What features are the same or similar? What features are different between the designs? Are you familiar with any studies that used the design? If so, please share the topic of the study. Check your own thread for replies and answer any questions from others about the design you presented.