A500.7.3.RB - Quantitative Research Reflection

     Quantitative Research

     While pursuing my degree in leadership I will be conducting research on an area of critical thinking that I need the most improvement. For me, that area was in intellectual virtue. I am required to complete an action research project in which I will complete several activities as they relate to my topic. However, I need to first understand exactly what it means to have intellectual virtue. In order to fully understand my topic, I will scour over as much quantitative research as I can get my hands on. 

     So what is quantitative research and how will this help me with my project? For starters, quantitative research, like most research, is attempting to explain something. For example, “Why is intellectual virtue important?” In order for researchers to determine an answer to this question, they must collect numerical data based on mathematical methods. But it would be kind of difficult to collect hard, numerical data on intellectual virtue since virtue would not show up in quantitative form. In order to be able to measure it statistically, data would be collected on student’s behaviors in class and on how they respond to questionnaires that would be developed. This would give us the quantitative data needed to determine how much intellectual virtue a person or a class has. 

     While this type of research is necessary to gauge something that is difficult to really determine, it is not the best method for my particular subject. Intellectual virtue is more of a qualitative research type of concept. Part of the reason for this is the fact that quantitative research often predicts scores on a particular factor; which, would be nearly impossible to do when it comes to virtue. Quantitative research also likes to test the hypothesis. While it is possible to test a researcher’s hypothesis on intellectual virtue, it would be considered subjective. 

     My goal is find out why intellectual virtue is important to have and whether or not it should be something that is taught in school. From what I have gathered so far, we all have the ability to be intellectually virtuous within us that can either be cultivated or extinguished. If it can be cultivated, then it would seem to me that it should be a vital part of curriculum for students, whether they are in grade school or college.

     I intend to do the research necessary to find the answers to these questions and hopefully improve this area of critical thinking for myself. 

Reference:

Introduction to quantitative research. 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2016. From

                http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/36869_muijs.pdf

A500.6.3.RB - Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

 

     Research of any kind can be time consuming and tedious, but even more so when you have a larger area that you are studying and bigger focus groups. While great information can be found doing quantitative research, it is not the best way when you want your information to be more in-depth and have a deeper insight into the area which you are studying. In other words, quantitative methods are more objective and less in-depth, while qualitative methods are more about the point of view from those who are, or who have, experiences in that particular subject. 

     For example, let’s say that we are doing a qualitative research and the topic question might be something like, “How much do college students study?” This is a much broader, more general area of concentration and the focus would be more on the statistical numbers, data collected in polls, questionnaires, and surveys. 

     However, if we were to approach this same subject with a qualitative research method, we would conduct unstructured, individual, personal interviews. The interviewer would only discuss a few topics so that more details would be present and expanded upon.

     There would be several small focus groups of about 6 to 10 people who all have something in common with what you which to investigate. The whole point of the focus group would be to get a feel of the situation and how the participates feel, what they think, and what their opinions are. 

     Observations of the subjects in their natural settings would take place. The point of doing observations in qualitative research is to gain an understanding of what is really happening and to get a bigger picture of the situation. This allows the researcher to gain a more reliable understanding of the situation and information being gathered. 

     The last part of qualitative research includes action research. Action research is exactly what the name implies – action. It involves the researcher becoming actively involved with the framework of ideas, the methodology being applied, and the area of concern.

     So how does all of this information apply to my own personal experiences and aspirations? Long ago I had the dream of being a corporate pilot, flying for someone like Oprah, or the CEO of Apple computers, Tim Cook. However, once children came into the picture, that dream and my plans for the future changed. I knew I wanted to stay in aviation, but I didn’t know what I could do (and still don’t). 

     So, I need to do some qualitative research about what I want and need for my career. I have conducted small interviews of people in other fields of aviation and even interviews with the people who know me best. I have had focus groups (Embry-Riddle classes) where I have been able to listen to other people talk about what their plans are and what area of aviation they are going into, and how they are going about it. I have observed those people and others in the careers that the focus group said they were going into. And last, and most importantly, I have done major self-study. I have asked myself questions like, “What is my purpose?” and “What will I do with my findings?”  

I have not come to a conclusion at this point. The research is still taking place.

Reference:

University of Surrey. (n.d.). Module 9 : Introduction to Research. Retrieved February 19, 2016, from http://libweb.surrey.ac.uk/library/skills/Introduction to Research and Managing Information Leicester/page_58.htm

Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

     

 A500.5.3.RB - Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

     When I first started the leadership program I was a bit robotic with my way of thinking. I basically absorbed and regurgitated information that was fed to me. I never thought to question the information that I was receiving and never put much of my own thought into the work I turned it. In other words,  It was more like I was trying to show how well I understood the knowledge that I was fed instead of giving my thoughts on that subject.

     For example, In the five weeks that I have been in this class I feel as though I am finally learning to “think” and not just absorb. The biggest thing I have learned to do is to ask why. By asking why something is one way often leads to other questions and other questions lead to a better understanding of that subject. It’s one thing to be able to spit out facts about a certain subject, but it is an entirely new feeling when I truly understand the how and why of that information. 

     I feel as though the critical thinking strategies I have learned so far have redefined the way I look at things. From watching television, to listening to what my doctor has to say, I am finding that I have to set aside my emotions and even sometimes my ego in order to ask why. It also makes me feel as though I can't trust any information until I am thoroughly satisfied that I have a better understanding of it.

     I have also noticed that this new way of looking at things and thinking about things actually takes a conscious effort. It is so much easier to just take things at face value and trust the information that you are receiving.  Of course, I realize that digging deeper and gaining a better understanding is not always called for. I don’t really want to know why a brick pizza oven gives you better pizza, I just know it does and that’s that, but for some reason the simple task of asking why did not always come to me when I did want to have a better understanding of something. 

     The thing that I have been working on that will make a lasting positive change in the way I think is to be more methodical about how I think. To go through a problem or question systematically and ask what exactly is the problem and how can I put it into question form. 

     It’s kind of like being a three year old all over again with the never-ending barrage of why’s. The only difference is that this time the why’s lead to buts and buts lead to how come’s, which in turn take me back to why. This time around there is a strategy that will help keep the why’s in check. By first identifying the situation, my initial response, then an analysis of it all, it will allow me to assess the information to gain a better understanding.

 

A500.4.3.RB - Ballet Slippers or Adorable

     Choices

     I have been in a constant inner battle with myself over the very belief in choices that Dr. Lyengar says Americans have. What I mean is that I have the facts about choice (that have been taught to me) in my head: Make your own choices; More options leads to better choices; and Never say no to choice, but in constantly conflicts how I actually feel about it. The truth is, I hate choice. I absolutely despise going to large stores where you have 50 choices of shampoo, or ice-cream. I felt this way since I was a little girl. For example, I remember getting $1.00 to spend at the corner store and I would stand there, staring at all the choices, starting to sweat, starting to panic, over the fact that I could choose from 100 different types of candy. What if I chose the wrong one? Of course this inevitably ended up being the case since I always regretted my choice as soon as I bought it, because I just knew the other one would have been better, but the thought alone made me feel like I was going to hyperventilate. 

     When I had my first child I was told by my mother to let him do as much for himself as possible, to allow him to choose, because this is what builds his confidence and self-esteem and would allow him to feel empowered.  I do believe there is a certain element of truth to that, but I think this is where subconscious lessons that more options leads to better choices and that you should never say no to choice comes into play. But I do not believe in these assumptions. I do not think that the more choice you have the better off you will be. I do not think that it benefits a child to have more than 2 choices. I think that a lot of times outside factors influence how we choose and then those choices are no longer ours because we were influenced by others. This is especially true with children and even more so as they get older. 

     As an adult, I have grown increasingly more frustrated by having more choices. I spent a great deal of time living overseas on a military base where are choices were severely limited. At the time I thought it was horrible that there were only two types of deodorant to choose from, or that in the grocery store only had one type of apple. However, when we came back to the states I went to Walmart to pick up a few things. After about 20 minutes in the store I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I couldn’t choose what type of cereal to buy for my children. As I stood in the isle staring at the sea of choices, I left my cart in the isle and walked out. I simply could not handle it. I felt so overwhelmed that I just had to get out of there. Even to this day, my husband and I are building a house and it finally came to a point where I said to the builder, “here is what I like, so just build us something based off of this”. Trying to pick a floor plan out of the millions of floor plans out there was just too much. 

     Dr. Lyengar gave an example of parents who had to choose whether their child who was brain dead should stay on life support or be taken off. She stated that the French parents who’s doctor made the decision for them were more retrospective and at peace with the decision; whereas, the American parents who actually made the choice lived with more regret and a lingering “what-if” that left them feeling tortured. This feeling of “what-if” can plague anyone for any choice that was made. In some ways, having our choices taken away would be better for us, but it’s our right to choose that makes us an American. 

Reference:

Transcript of "The art of choosing" (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2016, from http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing/transcript?language=en