In 2014, we embarked on a research agenda focused on raising up the voices of urban youth who had disengaged from school before graduating high school. The youth communicated events that not only contributed to their disengagement but also to a sense of mistrust for individuals in traditional "helping roles" (e.g., teachers or parents).…

'Everybody can quickly collect data using questionnaires'--this is an incorrect assumption among not only students but also veteran researchers. As a researcher and lecturer for research methods, I have more than once came across carelessly conducted studies using poorly constructed questionnaires meant to inform the implementation of…

Designing, developing, and implementing a multi-year randomized control trial targeting what works in gifted education mathematics study is challenging, at best. In response to the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences request for proposal, we carefully constructed a mixed-methods study by assembling a diverse…

Survey research in education is a popular quantitative research design and is used to determine opinions, attitudes, behavior, habits, and perceptions on a wide variety of topics. While many people are familiar with survey methods, it is often used in a 'quick and dirty' way to get information. This case aims to describe some of the challenges of…

In winter 2014, I came upon an opportunity to conduct a case study on a team of middle school math teachers who initiated a study group to examine how a set of learning progressions could help them with their planning, instruction, and assessment. Learning progressions are research-based hypotheses about how students develop more sophisticated…

Mediated conversations are an innovative method for the generation of rich qualitative data on complex issues such as researchers often face in education contexts. The method draws from the sociocultural paradigm, which highlights the role of "artefacts" and "audience" in mediating participants' actions and thoughts. Mediated…

How can attention to kinship enhance the qualitative study of public services, such as schooling and health promotion? This question underscores several qualitative studies in which the authors have been involved, each engaging what we call the 'family sample' method summarized here. Involving research in Europe, Africa, North and South Americas,…

My PhD research asks why UK high school mathematics teachers who probably love mathematics do not always fully share this with their students. Currently, I am completing my data collection at the end of my second PhD year. I think that researching this might inform new teachers and classroom practice. There is research in mathematics education…

This case study describes the creation process for a mixed methods study from 2009 to 2011, examining for the first time gender differences in how undergraduate students create videos for online platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. I conducted this research for my doctoral dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of…

This case study describes how the method of thematic analysis was used in a research project examining the phenomenon of cyberbullying in the United Kingdom, from the perspectives of students between 13 and 16 years of age and their teachers. In this case study, we focus on the methodological steps underlying the data collection (sampling, ethical…

This case study presents an overview of how multimodal social semiotic theory was combined with visual means of data collection and analysis. The visual methods used were content analysis and still and animated experiential landscape mapping. These methods and theory were used in a study that considered the impact of increasingly visual means of…

Conducting international research presents unique possibilities for peril. Without understanding local context, culture, and norms, data-collection efforts may produce little usable data. This case study reports lessons learned about the importance of involving broad stakeholder groups in the design phase of a study. To inform the design of a…

This case is based on the research project I conducted for my PhD dissertation. The research objectives were to examine the process of cultural knowledge creation and to address the role of social capital in this process. While many studies discuss global social capital and its role in the development of global mindset and expatriate adjustments…

This research uses a qualitative research approach, specifically a single-case study method, to explore the journey to school improvement of one struggling school district that is involved in year 2 of a 3-year turnaround plan. The single-case study method allows the researcher to use several data collection methods to build a picture of the…

Dissertation advisors play a significant role in the development of student theses and dissertations whether or not the dissertation is a qualitative or quantitative study. The conceptualization of a student dissertation prospectus requires unmitigated dedication and commitment by the advisor, providing encouragement to the student and committee…