The use of both quantitative and qualitative strategies to examine a single research question has been a subject of considerable controversy and still remains a largely uncommon practice in the sociology of health and illness. Yet, when seeking to understand the meaning of a chronic disabling condition in later life from a social psychological…

Lesbian and bisexual women from diverse backgrounds possess unique viewpoints regarding the meanings and functions of "community." Despite this, few studies have explored sexual minority women's understanding of and relationship to their communities. The present study employed qualitative research methods to investigate the meanings and functions…

This paper reports on a failed experiment to use Wiki technology to support student engagement with the subject matter of a third year undergraduate module. Using qualitative data, the findings reveal that in an educational context, social technologies such as Wiki's, are perceived differently compared with ordinary personal use and this…

Does religion play any specific part in Icelandic teenagers' life interpretation? This paper examines Icelandic teenagers' talk about religion and presents some of the findings in interviews with teenagers in a qualitative research project. The focus is especially on how three individuals express themselves about the influence of religion on their…

This ethnographic study explored to what extent white students were able to critically understand the significance of their racial identity in more diverse demographic settings. It further looked at the discourse the students used to describe themselves, their cliques, and other groups with regard to race and racial identities. The participants in…

This article describes and analyzes the experiences of two tenured university professors at two different US universities located in the Midwest as they collaborate to design and carry-out innovative pedagogies related to teaching doctoral-level qualitative research methods courses. One of the primary elements of the innovations under examination…

In this article, a beginning teacher, experienced teacher, and teacher educator reflect upon their experiences with qualitative self-studies of language and literacy in teacher education courses. The goal of these course projects was to introduce teachers to sociocultural theories, qualitative research, and "new" literacies. Sharing…

Writing has always been regarded as playing a prominent role in learning a second language. Research within this discipline has mainly focused on the development of writing skill, but in recent years, some researchers have examined students' perceptions of writing. The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perceptions about an…

Many of the communities interested in learning and teaching technologies within higher education now accept the view that a conception of personal learning environments provides the most realistic and workable perspective of learners' interactions with and use of technology. This view may not be reflected in the behaviour of those parts of a…

This study utilizes documentary photography and storytelling, photovoice, to identify the educational realities of 16 Hispanic English Language Learners from an urban elementary school in the Southwest. Reflections from preservice teachers who utilized photovoice to gather data from the English Language Learners of this study are also discussed.…

This article reports findings from a study of the motivations of college students to choose or not choose a career as a K-12 teacher. Five hundred-seventeen college students majoring in education and non-education programs enrolled in undergraduate courses were surveyed as to their motivations for choosing/not choosing a career in K-12. If they…

The centrality of quality education provisioning for all towards a better and socially just life is acknowledged globally. To date, however, there are still skewed gender differentials unfavourable to girls, thus impeding gender equality. In this paper I report on the reasons for leaving school early cited by out-of-school girls in North-West…

We report an investigation on the relationship between metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and comprehension monitoring of language learners in English as a foreign language context. Participants were thirty first year university students majoring in electronics. They completed a questionnaire aimed at discerning the strategies that…

The present study explores the use of the first language in a context of foreign language teaching. This qualitative research presents the classroom practice and points of view of French and English teachers and students within a public educational institute in central Mexico using the techniques of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.…

The goal of this study was to identify areas of teacher performance that were lacking to the point that the teacher was nonrenewed. Individual school districts can gain insight into why teachers are failing and make adjustments to their training and teacher induction programs that will improve professional practice. The study found that teachers…