Scientific visualization tools render quantitative data into visual representations that can be analyzed and manipulated by students. But certain types of problems require more qualitative, observational data that cannot be easily represented with current visualization software. This paper describes an approach to using photographs and video as a primary data source for observational inquiry. W...

Although qualitative inquiry has developed into a popularized and very useful way of conducting research within the health sciences, there has been a relatively disproportionate amount of literature devoted to “who“ is represented in such inquiries. It is most often assumed that the end text should present an objective, value-free, and accurate representation of the participants and therefore e...

Amajor effort to establish “scientifically-based research” (SBR) in education has been under way for some time (Feuer, Towne, & Shavelson, 2002). Key manifestations of this effort are found in the No Child Left Behind Act and the reauthorization and reorganization of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement as the Institute for Educational Science (Eisenhart & Towne, 2003). The most d...

Purpose: A qualitative inquiry was conducted to investigate the qualification requirements of medical doctors in different professional fields and from different perspectives. The inquiry was part of an empirical workplace analysis. Methods: Seventy-four structured interviews were conducted and analyzed to examine critical incidents and behaviors of medical doctors working in different professi...

Concepts are the basic building blocks of scientific knowledge or theoretical frameworks for any discipline. The strength of the theories that guide a discipline is dependent on the quality of the concept analysis. Thus, the utilisation of poorly understood concepts in research and theory development will result in questionable reliability and validity. Concept analysis is associated with the r...

Research in education technology encompasses a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods (Savenye & Robinson 1996). Methods and approaches formerly applied in the broader realm of qualitative educational research have become important to researchers in educational technology. Conversation analysis (CA) is one such qualitative approach that has recently become highly relevant for examin...