Role of Student Researchers
Student researchers were an integral part of the research team in 3 major ways: adapting ethnographic research methods for Carleton’s context, conducting interviews with student participants, and analyzing the case studies. There was a team of five student researchers as part of the research team: Egohsa Awaah, Anna Duchon, Hope Harvey, Chelsea Jones, and Alex Sciuto.
As noted in greater detail in the report, the first phase of the study adapted and adopted ethnographic research methods from Foster and Gibbons’ Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester. Carleton student researchers pretested the mapping diary and photo survey. The adapted versions of the exercises are included in Appendix A of the report. The team of student researchers also conducted the one-on-one interviews with student participants.
Two students, Egohsa Awaah and Alex Scuito, continued into the analysis phase of the study. They worked with the project lead in transcribing and coding the interview materials for each case. Once the study materials were prepared, were active participants in the co-listening/co-viewing analyese of each case.
Contact the study authors for information about the training program used for the student researchers or with any other questions.
Additional Case-Study Methods
The co-listening/co-viewing exercises through which the cases studies were analyzed were also adapted from Foster and Gibbons. This exercise was adapted so that the analysis groups each could complete their work in two one-hour sessions. To this end, the interviews were transcribed and coded. This preparatory work enabled analysis group participants to review case study materials independently and for the project lead to generate reports based on keyword searches across the interview transcripts.
A full description of the research methods employed in this study is available in the report. Feel free to contact the authors with any questions.