Week 4 discussion
Dealing With
Difficult Participants
Interviews are the primary data collection method for
qualitative research. During your interview(s) you may encounter participants
who are difficult. Interviewees may provide monosyllabic (e.g., yes/no)
responses. Perhaps the participants provide excessively long answers, not
addressing the question, or, perhaps participants start interviewing you. How
will you deal with these challenges? Independent scholars must be well prepared
to deal with issues associated with gaining access to and dealing with difficult
participants.
To prepare for this Discussion, consider the following
scenario:
You are a researcher conducting a qualitative research study
and have scheduled a series of interviews. As you begin to conduct your
interviews, you encounter a number of problems: Particiant A does not expand on
his or her responses, providing mostly one-word answers, and refuses outright
to answer some questions. Participant B continually goes off topic, sharing
personal anecdotes, and takes up interview time with unrelated information.
Finally, Participant C has been difficult to schedule and attempts to withdraw
his or her contribution to the process after showing initial interest. Consider
strategies you might employ to address these challenges and any potential insights
you may gain toward your growth as an independent scholar.
By Day 3
Post a strategic approach for addressing participant
difficulty in qualitative interviews. In your strategic approach, do the
following:
Identify two or more strategies for addressing difficult
participants within the interview process.
Assess the effectiveness of your identified strategies based
on scholarly research. Be sure to provide scholarly examples to support your
assessment.
Be sure to support your work with a minimum of two specific
citations from this week’s Learning Resources and one or more additional
scholarly sources.
Refer to the Week 4 Discussion Rubric for specific grading
elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this rubric to assess your
work.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
By Day 5
Respond to two or more of your colleagues’ postings in one
or more of the following ways:
Address a colleague’s analysis and evaluation of the
topic(s).
Expand or remark upon a colleague’s integration of relevant
resources.
Answer question(s) posed by your colleague(s) for further
discussion.
Link a colleague’s posting to other postings or to course
materials and concepts, where appropriate and relevant.
Extend or constructively challenge your colleagues’ work.
Please note that for each response you must include a
minimum of one appropriately cited scholarly reference.
Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the
responses to your initial posting. Note what insights you gained as a result of
reading the comments your colleagues made.
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entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
