Barriers That Special Needs Children Face with Being Included in Social Activities

Major Assignment 1: Overview: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study

Developing an idea for a research study is a process, where a topic of interest or social problem gets translated into a research problem that can be explored using accepted systematic procedures for recruiting participants, collecting data, and analyzing and interpreting results.

In this week’s Discussion, you considered what you might want to study. In your first Major Assignment, you will have the first-hand experience of translating that idea into a viable research problem that is a good fit for a qualitative approach. But, before you begin this Assignment, please consider the following concepts:

1. Ontology is defined as the assumptions one makes about the nature of reality. In qualitative studies, researchers assume that “reality” is constructed from personal experience and context.Example: If four people see a car accident from different points of view, they will see it differently depending on their position (context) and personal experience.So consider a topic where the experiences of participants will be one of your primary sources of data, and your “job” as a qualitative researcher is to do your best to understand your sources’ unique experiences.
2. Epistemology is defined as the assumptions one makes about the relationship between the researcher and the object of study.Example: If the researcher collects survey data from an accident witness, it is different than if the researcher engages with the witness in person using an open-ended interview format.So, consider a topic where you will be able to be part of the data gathering experience, and that your “job” as a qualitative researcher is to distinguish your experience from your sources.
3. A research problem emerges from an understanding of what prior research studies have found, and what, according to that body of literature, needs to be done next.Thus, before you commit to a topic for this Assignment, it is essential to review published research studies on your topic.

Overview

The purpose of this Major Assignment is for you to gain experience in taking a topic of your interest and considering it as a possibility for a qualitative research study.

Major Assignment 1 is composed of three parts, as described further in the Overview and Assignment Guidelines document. You will work on one part each week, so that you can submit your Assignment at the end of Week 4. Your Instructor will provide feedback by Week 6. By Week 8, you will revise your Assignment based on the feedback from your Instructor, and you will also submit the revised Assignment.

Part 1

• Create a title page for your Major Assignment 1. Use the Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study Assignment Overview and Guidelines for proper formatting of your paper.
• Write a problem statement based on your topic of study. Develop a 1- to 2-paragraph statement that is the result of a review of the articles you located on your topic.
  1. Briefly describe the phenomena you are interested in studying.
  2. Briefly summarize the key findings or what is understood about this phenomena based on the three articles you reviewed.
  3. Briefly identify the “gap”—what do you see as an important, relevant, next step in learning more about this topic that would be appropriate for a qualitative study.
• Include your Annotated Bibliography section.

No Assignment submission for this week.

For this week’s Assignment:

• Review the expectations of the Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study Overview and Guidelines. (Note: Make sure you review it in its entirety before you begin.)

Part 2

• Write a purpose statement using terminology of qualitative research. The purpose statement should contain:
  1. 1. A statement using the following template: The purpose of this qualitative study is to[choose one: explore, describe, understand, explain] themeaning/experience/culture/stories of [phenomenon of interest] in [population/setting].
     2. A justification of why the purpose of your study is suited for the qualitative approach in terms of:
        • The phenomena you choose
        • The “fit” with a constructivist epistemology and ontology
        • The relevance of the naturalistic setting or context to the phenomena of interest

  Based on your knowledge of reflexivity, explain your relationship to the problem; and the issues of bias and positionality to be addressed. Include a brief description of the setting and possible sources of data.

• Write a research question using terminology of qualitative research. (Note: This could be the same research question you created in your Discussion 1 for this week ONLY if it applies to your topic of study for this Assignment.)The research question should incorporate and mirror the purpose statement using the following template: What is the meaning/experience/culture/stories of[phenomenon of interest] in [population/setting]?
• Include your updated Annotated Bibliography section.

Submit your Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study by Day 7 of Week 4.

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2016). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

• Chapter 4, “Design and Reflexivity in Data Collection” (pp. 111–144)
  • Table 4.3, “Purposeful Sampling Strategies” (pp. 129–137)

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

• Chapter 3, “Qualitative Data-Gathering Methods and Style” (previously read in Week 3)

Patton, M. Q. (2015). Chapter 5, Module 30: Purposeful sampling and case selection: Overview of strategies and options. In Qualitative research and evaluation methods (4th ed., pp. 264–315). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Mason, M. (2010). Sample size and saturation in PhD studies using qualitative interviews. Forum Qualitative Social Research Sozialforschung, 11(3).

Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Working toward the common good: An online university’s perspectives on social change, 1-25. (previously read in Week 1)

Document: Video Field Notes Guide (Word document)
Use this guide to help you as you take notes for your Scholar of Change video.

Required Media

Scholar of Change Video #4

Topper, C. (2014). Christin Topper, PhD student, bringing the natural world to Hong Kong [Video file].
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.
In this media program, Christin Topper discusses how she’s taking on “nature deficit disorder” in one of the world’s biggest cities. As you observe, take notes using the Video Field Notes Guide.

Answer preview

The problem with the special need’s children is that they experience many barriers when being included in social activities due to their physical challenges. The children that are affected include those with visual, speech/language, orthopedic and hearing impairment, intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, autism, learning disability, multiple disabilities, health impairment, and traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately, the society has contributed profoundly to the barriers that the special care children face due to the stereotyping towards them (Yob, & Brewer).

The special needs children and their parents bear the burden of the stereotyping and negative society’s attitudes. Due to that, some of the children end up staying at home since they need complex care needs or the stereotyping in the society destroys their self-esteem. In the case of the parents, they end up doing great parenting since they cannot afford to have nurses taking care of their child. Therefore, this means that the parents play the role of a nurse on top of their parenting when juggling to meet the complex care needs of the special child which is a great hustle…

(1000 words)