Stephanie White

1
Traps for First Time Players the use of
open-ended questions to gather data for
qualitative research

• Stephanie White
• Christchurch College of Education
• New Zealand

2
The Literature

• An open-ended question can catch the
  authenticity, richness, depth of response,
  honesty and candor.
• ( Cohen, Manion Morrison, 2000 )
• Truly open-ended questions should minimise
  predetermined responses, so that people can
  respond in their own words ( Patton, 2002)

3
The Context

• 15 adult learners - 11 female / 4 male
• Enrolled in a week long Certificate in Adult
  Teaching Course at CCE, 2004
• Backgrounds in education, health, business,
  community and unemployed
• ( White, S. 2004 )

4
The Questionnaire

• Describe what learning is for you
• What things have you been involved in learning in
  the last 12 months?
• Explain your reasons for enrolling in this Course
• How do you perceive lifelong learning will help
  you personally / society as a whole in the
  future?
• What areas of your life might be enhanced in the
  future by your current learning?

5
Describe what learning is for you

• New ideas, excitement, stepping out of my comfort
  zone, acquisition of new ideas, skills,
  knowledge, information, to understand something
  that was previously a mystery, is a core need, to
  be regularly exposed to/ and acquire new ideas,
  methods and information, as well as the
  stimulation of meeting new people and discovering
  new places/spaces, a continual process throughout
  life which enables you to grow as well as
  empowers you to expand yourself, gaining new
  knowledge, new ideas, soaking up knowledge like a
  sponge, changing my ideas, refreshing, solving
  problems, filling gaps, discovering and
  growing..
• Over 40 responses/phrases to this one question

6
He manga wai koia kia kore e whitika

• It is a big river indeed that cannot be crossed (
  make light of the difficulties and they will
  disappear)

7
The peoples true voices

• It is like taking a walk in someone elses
  shoes
• You get a variety of rich, honest and diverse
  responses
• It catches the gems of information such as
  shown on the questionnaires themselves

8
The analysis

• Reviewed the responses initially to get a feel
  for the data
• Collated all responses to each question by hand
  on paper
• Gave responses a code and then grouped similar
  responses together
• Included examples of true responses in the
  paper and the number of times they were given

9
Capturing the prize

• Include raw data of interviews and questionnaires
  to capture the actual things said by actual
  people
• Look for patterns and integrate what is said in
  one place with what is said in another place
• Carry out a content analysis according to a
  classification scheme
• Allow for the unexpected, seek out the answers
  and impose order on them
• Celebrate the dimensions, themes, images, or
  words people use to describe their feelings,
  thoughts and experiences

10
References

• Cohen, L.,Manion, L. Morrison, K.
• ( 2000) Research Methods in Education
• Patton M. ( 2002 ) Qualitative Research and
  Evaluation Methods
• White S. ( 2004 ) What Motivates Them? Adult
  Learners Perceptions of and Reasons for Engaging
  in Lifelong Learning. New Zealand Journal Of
  Adult Learning. 32(2)