Summary Of A Qualitative Interview Study

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Chapter 3: Research Methods The purpose of this phenomenology qualitative interview study is to explore 20 Texas community college leaders’ perceptions regarding a gender leadership gap. Relatedly, community college leaders’ perceptions are to be discerned concerning: a) community college leadership, b) hiring practices, and c) competencies. Therefore, identifying how Texas community college leaders perceive these relevant, timely leadership concerns within Texas community colleges is the problem to be solved. In order to understand and explore how 10 men and 10 women community college leaders within Texas perceive community college leadership, the following research questions have been developed. Research Question 1. How has the community …show more content…

Aspects of a phenomenological interview include the nature of the semi-structured interview; where new knowledge is generated through participant experiences. Additionally, collecting data from participants initiates an audit trail of the participants’ insights into their own lives, where evidence of ontological authenticity can be identified. Furthermore, interviews can assist the researcher in delving deeper into the participants’ stories; documenting the participants’ and the researcher’s awareness of growth and change during the study (Onwuegbuzie, et al, 2008, ....). Relatedly, a recording tool can supplement the researcher and the research; for this study, a Sony ICD-UX533 digital voice recorder will be used to record the individual semi-structured audio …show more content…

Tools such as the NVivo software and the Sony ICD-UX533 digital voice recorder are also assumed to be the best selections for the interview study. Also, there is a possibility of bias; therefore, it is imperative that the researcher establishes control by maintaining an attentive internal consideration of thoughts, opinions and internal reactions to participant responses, so that bias is not transferred to the study. Another assumption is that participants shall be engaged and reply honestly and ethically to both the study invitation and throughout the interview segment. Relatedly, the initial introduction will describe the purpose of the study and the ethical responsibilities and need for participant honesty during the interview. It is also assumed that the purposive selection criteria is best for the interview study; further, an assumption is also present relating to interview participant insights and data investigated, which is dependent upon an understanding of the ethical responsibilities for researcher and participants. The intended outcome of the proposed qualitative interview study is to progress the research toward a comprehensive awareness of community college leaders’ perceptions. Therefore, the researcher assumes that addressing leadership knowledge and practice using qualitative interviews adds a