Individual Interview Analysis

Andrea R. C. Kasper

February 1, 2013

Submitted to Dr. Tova Sanders In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for EDUNortheastern University

Andrea RC Kasper Individual Analysis Winter 2013

Individual Interview Analysis There is little understanding about the issues that impact the low completion rates of doctoral students. However, research does indicate that the development of an academic identity is linked to doctoral success. While there is some literature on identity development in traditional doctoral programs, the emergence of new doctoral programs, specifically those that offer scholar-practitioner programs, have not been included in the literature. These programs, aimed at students who are working full time, are often developed as online programs where attrition is high. Little is known about why students in these online scholar-practitioner programs leave. In an effort to fill in the gap in the literature this research project aims to gain insight into how students in an advanced research course perceive their doctoral student identity as part of an online, scholar-practitioner doctoral program. This research is guided by the following research questions: Research Question #1: How do students describe their identity as scholar- practitioners? Research Question #2: What experiences were most influential in the development of their identity as scholar-practitioners? Research Question #3: What relationships were most influential in the development of their identity as scholar-practitioners? Research Question #4: What experiences prevented attrition from the program? As part of this project this researcher interviewed, transcribed and coded one participant interview and coded two other interviews which were conducted and transcribed by two different researchers. This short paper presents the analysis of one interviewer with no input from the other two researchers. While each interviewer followed a set interview protocol (Appendix i),

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this interviewer had no control over the interview process, environment, interaction, recording or transcription of the other two interviews. Following a description of the analysis process, the analysis of each participant interview will be presented below beginning with the interview conducted by this researcher. Analysis Process With the transcriptions of each interview in hand, now using pseudonyms, the documents were saved as PDF files and imported to the trial version of MAXQDA software on the researchers personal computer. This researcher began InVivo coding of the interview the researcher conducted. InVivo coding uses participant language for the initial round of coding, by which the researcher chooses a quote or phrase from the interview to capture the essence of the communication (Saldana, 2009). As the researcher continued, some InVivo codes were used later in the transcripts and in the following interviews as the researcher felt that the InVivo code represented other participant answers as well as preparing for the consolidation of the data in future coding rounds. The researcher used InVivo coding and reviewed each transcript four times. Once the researcher felt satisfied with the first round of coding, she began to consolidate the InVivo quotes. Using the software she dragged codes and created subcodes under InVivo codes that represented larger ideas. Using this method the researcher began to organize the data while not deleting any InVivo coding. During this process the researcher reviewed each transcript 2-3 times. In the next stage the researcher began adding new codes to the data set as categories to bucket as many of the existing InVivo coding as was appropriate, including but not limited to demographic data and profession. After revisiting the data several times the researcher created four new codes, one for each research question and attached a memo to each of these codes with the full research question. She then recoded each transcript coding sections as they

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applied to each research question. She then continued to consolidate the InVivo and category coding into the research question codes to begin the process of applying the data directly to the research questions. (See Appendix ii for sample of transcript). The researcher found that in the process of writing up each interview analysis that themes emerged both within each interview and between the interviews that both illuminated the research problem as well as point to new areas of investigation. For this researcher the process of seeing this data come together relationally was easier through the writing process than through the Axial coding.

Results Interview #1 Recording and Transcription. The interviewer scheduled a 45-minute time slot with the participant via email communication to conduct the interview through a video skype call. For this interview the researcher downloaded TipCam, a recording software, recommended by a classmate. Following the research protocol, once permission was granted, the recording of the interview began. Approximately of the way through the interview, the interview was disrupted because the software stopped recording. By saving the first part of the interview, the researcher was able to continue the interview with little issue; however, it was clear that recording software to be used in the future must have the necessary recording capacity for the interview to minimize interruptions. Aside from this interruption the interview was conducted smoothly and both recordings saved. The researcher also downloaded ExpressScribe to assist in the transcription process. After conducting online research concerning auto-transcription software the researcher learned that without high quality sound recording that the current technology is not sufficient to

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produce a high quality transcription. ExpressScribe was recommended in the journalist community and well recommended on CNET. The audio file was imported to ExpressScribe, allowing the researcher to listen at regular speed as well as to slow down the audio in order to transcribe the interview. The software allows for direct transcription within the program. During this process it was clear that the TipCam recording was not as clear at certain moments as the researcher would have wanted and new recording software is necessary. Finally, the completed transcription was copied into a word document, and saved with line numbers for the coding. Coding. As recommended by the professor the researcher downloaded a trial version of MAXQDA coding software. Once the transcription was saved as a PDF file it was imported into the coding software to begin coding. Coding proceeded as described above. Results. Participant #1 is a female student, Jennifer Goldman, who has been enrolled in the online Ed.D. scholar-practitioner program for approximately a year and a half. She is a teacher in a private Jewish day school where she is responsible for teaching five classes, writing curriculum, she serves on several task forces and is involved in experiential education. Jennifer came to the program with a strong identity as a scholar-practitioner, I didn't know the term scholar-practitioner before I started this program but I think in a way I have always been a scholar-practitioner. While she made this statement in several ways she also remarked several times that she enrolled in the Ed.D. program, to kind of build my scholarly background because the scholar side is a little bit weaker. While she was rooted in an identity of scholar-practitioner she was self-reflective and realized where her weaknesses lay and how to approach strengthening them. This participant shared that her undergraduate degree was an online program that was really good for me because I really enjoyed being able to have a balance of work and learning and being able to implement things that I was learning. She

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continued to explain that her sense of being a scholar-practitioner was challenged while she pursued a masters degree, for that time period I really wasn't a scholar-practitioner because I was a scholar but I was totally lacking the practitioner part and I really didn't like it. The challenge was so great that it affected her sense of self. I felt kind of selfish that I was only focusing on myself, I felt kind of useless ... I was also learning all this really great stuff and I had nothing to do with it. So it was really important for me to be able to do a program that allowed me to maintain my job. While Jennifer came to the program with this identity, being in the program has certainly increased her confidence in her abilities and provided her with skills essential to being a scholarpractitioner. She explains that she would not have known about the scholarly world. This shows an interesting tension between her identity of scholar-practitioner before the program and the admission that she was not knowledgeable about the scholarly world beforehand. This tension is somewhat resolved when she explains that she defines being a scholar-practitioner as someone who is not happy, content or satisfied with his/her current level of work, that she always uses research and professional development in an attempt to constantly improve. She came to the program looking for experiences and skills to help her develop as a scholar-practitioner. To this end, she shares her learning and reading with colleagues (and is frustrated by their lack of response), has sought out opportunities to publish as well as present at conferences, and wrote a program proposal for her school. None-the-less Jennifer cites that her position as a teacher has kept her from being able to implement her learning in a concrete manner within her work environment. This motivates her in working toward the Ed.D. which she believes will set her apart from her colleagues, move her into administrative roles that deal

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with the big picture; furthermore the degree will give her the credentials necessary to one day possibly move into higher education. Jennifer shared two experiences with professors, in the program, who supported her work and pushed her to either present a proposal or send a paper for publication. Both of these experiences influenced her sense of being a scholar-practitioner and gave her the confidence to pursue publication. She also mentions that participating in the program and being able to put doctoral candidate next to my name (gives me) the self-esteem and the skills to go ahead and try it. Jennifer has contemplated leaving the program twice for short periods of due to great frustration either with scheduling problems or lack of professor support. She was able to move through both frustrations either through resolving the issue with scheduling or reaching out to a fellow student to work through the frustration. While the first situation did not reflect an issue of identity it is possible, although unclear whether the second one did cause her to question her abilities. After, what she perceived, as an overly negative response to work she had previously received positive feedback about, she found herself ready to quit. After finding comfort from another student, I looked at my professor's feedback, I mean I still think she could have worded it less harshly, umm but it was stuff that I could do. The final part of this sentence suggests that her professors criticism did cause her to question her abilities as a scholar. Jennifer has a strong sense of herself as a scholar-practitioner. Her desire to pursue a doctoral degree is embedded in her upbringing and the value her family placed on education. Her father, a medical doctor, and her mother who earned multiple degrees modeled for her a pursuit of continued higher education. Enrolling in a doctoral program was a natural decision for her and her experiences within the program, the skills and knowledge she has gained have

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solidified her identity as a scholar-practitioner. As the literature suggests, when her identity as scholar-practitioner was threatened it caused her, although briefly, to question whether to continue in the program. So while the research suggests that creating a scholar-practitioner identity is essential to doctoral studies completion this interview presents another challenge rooted in the fragility of the identity in developing scholar-practitioners. This possible finding might lead to increased professional development among faculty in scholar-practitioner programs directly dealing with student support and appropriate language of communication.

Interview #2 Recording and Transcription. Recording and transcription was conducted by a different researcher and details concerning the scheduling, interview, recording and transcription are not known to this researcher. Coding. Coding proceeded as with the first interview. The researcher noted that in comparison to the first interview the answers were sparse, less detailed, with fewer anecdotes. At this point it is unclear to the researcher whether this is a result of the interaction between the interviewer and the participant or simply a reflection of the participants personality. Results. Participant #2 is a female student, Gabrielle Silva, who has been enrolled in the online Ed.D. scholar-practitioner program for approximately a year and a half. She is a high school guidance counselor and the chair of the guidance and counseling department in her high school. Gabrielles upbringing valued education, both her father and her grandmother had earned doctoral degrees. As a result, she always knew she would pursue a doctoral degree as well. To earn a doctoral degree in psychology or counseling required more time than she was interested in

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committing and she was interested in pursuing a degree which would be directly relevant to her job. Without knowing it, she was looking for a scholar-practitioner program. She understands scholar-practitioner to mean, being kind of, ah, interested in, um, the research and being able to put that research to use. So the whole reason for doing the doctorate is to apply that knowledge and that research to what I do now. Gabrielle does not, in this interview, state that she identified as a scholar-practitioner previous to enrolling in the program. She recalls that writing her first literature review was an experience that impacted her sense of being a scholar-practitioner, just being able to read a whole lot about a topic that I was interested in I um, I found myself just from that one experience being able to use ah, the knowledge that I gained through reading different articles and books ah, in my own work. You know, I find that I can use it any time. The opportunity to pursue an interest in-depth and then the ability to apply that information to her work greatly impacted Gabrielles identity development as a scholar-practitioner. Nearing the end of her course work, she describes herself as almost ABD. While she never uses the term scholar-practitioner while referring to herself she explains, I am able to be more kind of thoughtful about some of the work I do at, at work itself, you know. Im able to really integrate a lot of what Ive read and what Ive studied into my work at school, um, or at work ah, and I think it makes me feel much more confident um, when Im discussing. She has had hunches about issues in the past and the program has allowed her to ground those thoughts in the literature, increasing her self-confidence. Although her academic influences began in her home, she describes a class with a rigorous and demanding professor. She enjoyed the tight and strict structure of the class, after the freedom of a previous instructor. As a self-described conscientious student the demands

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this professor placed on her pushed her to greater achievement in the class, increasing her confidence. You, you come out of there feeling like you have a really good handle on not only the topic but on the writing piece. She then explained that she is looking forward to the constructive feedback that will come with having an advisor and working on her dissertation. Her experience with this particular professor gave her the grounding to move forward confidently and feel prepared to approach her dissertation. Gabrielle reports that she has never thought about leaving the program, although she shares that she was nervous at the beginning. Grounded in a desire to pursue a doctoral degree, her courses and experiences built her confidence by giving her the necessary skills to research, write and integrate her learning into her workplace, her original goal. In her case there was a growing sense of being a scholar-practitioner that has not been threatened. Interview #3 Recording and Transcription. As in the second interview, the recording and transcription was conducted by a different researcher and details concerning the scheduling, interview, recording and transcription are not known to this researcher. Coding. Coding proceeded as with the first and second interview. Again the researcher noted that in comparison to the first interview the answers were sparse, less detailed, and had fewer anecdotes. This researcher received communication from the researcher who conducted this interview that the participant is an English language learner and that the interviewer did her best to share a clear and readable transcription. A review of the transcription shows some lack of understanding by the participant of certain questions, primarily: What experiences most impacted your sense of becoming or being a scholar-practitioner?;As a result this event, describe what, if

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anything, changed with regard to a. How you view yourself now. b. How you would describe yourself to others after this point. Results. Participant #3 is a male student, Jack Jenkins, who has been enrolled in the online Ed.D. scholar-practitioner program for a little more than a year. He is a science teacher with experience in both private and public school education who currently teaches and has administrative responsibilities. Both the interviewer and the interviewee alluded to the participant learning English as a second language, which impacted both the interview and the experience of the participant in the program. Working in an urban school district, Jack found that his experiences with parents, struggling with their children, made him want to work toward solutions that he could offer the community. I felt myself uhh responsible to work to find the solution to help those people, so uhh, I would have at least a little bit of contribution, uhh, to help them, uh, go to or move to next socio economic status so then, uhh, I would be helping with the community. He continues to explain that majority of my teaching was in urban area and I realize that, uhh, there are a lot of problems with parents but there are also a lot of problems with, uhh, schools inside including academics, teaching, instruction, accountability so that that pushes me pushed me to move forward to get to learn more and to come up with, uhh, solutions. This sense of responsibility combined with his feeling that he cannot continue to be a teacher in his sixties led him to pursue a doctoral degree. He chose this particular program due to geography, the reputation of the school, and his desire to, eventually, be a head of school. Jack explains that as a scholar -practitioner I feel I am applying what I learn into my program, my school. That motivates me. And uhh, that is really practical. I dont know whether the PhD would help me this much but I feel so comfortable when I walk into the

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building uh every other, uh every semester that I complete. So I feel okay now, I know more, so I can give back to the school more, uhh, so that motivates me. Integration of the scholarship into his work is paramount to being a scholar-practitioner and his ability to do so reinforces his reasons for being in the program. He finds that both the reading and interaction with his colleagues in the program have impacted his ability to act as a scholar-practitioner. He takes new information and suggestions from his peers and brings them into his workplace. Jack had an opportunity to take his scholarly work, implement it in his class and then present it to the school where it is now being implemented. This kind of success and agency empowered Jack; he said the strength, relies on my doctoral experience. In Jacks case there is a clear feedback loop between his sense of developing as a scholar-practitioner, its applicability to his workplace and his commitment to the program. When asked when Jack felt that he was acting as a scholar he explained it as, But maybe I should say a delivery guy (laughing). Delivering from college or from other people into this school that I am working for. This piece of the text is somewhat problematic to decipher. It is clear that the relationship between his doctoral learning and the school are an element to his identity as a scholar, yet it is less clear whether Jack understood the question and furthermore if there is a lack of understanding of scholar. In this case Jack is alluding to the experience of bringing new, scholarly information to his place of work, but he is not citing an example of conducting scholarship. As a matter of fact, he describes himself as the conduit of information rather than the creator of that research. Without the ability to follow-up with Jack on this explanation it is difficult to assess or analyze Jacks understanding of being a scholar. Recalling an influential person in his doctoral experience, Jack tells of a class with a demanding professor. He describes the class as more, uhh, academic, uhhh, more doctoral so,

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uhhh, his class was not just, uhhh, a simple, uhhh, simple facts but rather it was more like the background of the events or the facts that take place. This person impacted Jack so strongly that in this professor he saw a model of what he would like to be. I said now I should be more like him when I start if, uhh, sometime in the college. Jack appreciated this professors commitment to teaching doctoral students while conducting research. I felt that he, loves his, uhh, job. He loves teaching. Although he could have, umm, been a ,umm, researcher, which is more comfortable and less headache because you dont have to deal with people, but he chose to teach while he is doing his research. In this case it is clear that Jack has a real sense of what it means to be a scholar-practitioner and that he desires the same end goal. Although Jack shares that he was nervous at the beginning of the program and that being an English language learner impacted his ability to be fully involved with discussions that he never considered leaving the program. Furthermore, his time in the program has increased his confidence. I am writing so fast and it seems like there was, uhh, puzzle pieces in my mind. When I started it was hard to bring them together. Now it is easy ehhhh - to put those puzzles together while I am writing. He continues to explain that the benefits of having a doctoral degree, that the title will open up new employment opportunities, possibly within higher education, have kept him from ever considering leaving the program. Finally, Jack adds, there are several areas of research he would like to get involved in. He envisions teaching on the college level and pursuing these research interests. It seems that Jack is in the process of developing his identity as a scholar-practitioner. Enrollment in the program has increased his knowledge, communication skills and confidence and specific experiences have influenced him profoundly. Most notably, seeing professors who

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are living as scholar-practitioners has inspired Jack to continue working toward earning his doctoral degree. Conclusion These three interviews are an incredibly small sample but provide insight into the research questions as well as raise new areas of investigation. All three participants have gained confidence as scholars and in their contribution to their work environments as a result of grounding their knowledge in the current research and scholarly practices. Each one has had positive experiences incorporating their learning into their practice, albeit at different levels within the organization. Jack impacted his workplace, empowering him and his work. Jennifer incorporates her learning and scholarship into her own work, but finds that her position within her school makes it difficult to implement larger scale change. While this is at times frustrating it also motivates her to complete her degree so that she can get to an administrative position where she can affect larger scale change. Affecting Gabrielles confidence is her ability to integrate her learning into her workplace. It is important to note that each of these participants was raised in a home with parents who had earned multiple higher education degrees, modeling for the participants the option and also acculturating them into the expectation. The researcher suspects that parental modeling and expectation are possibly important factors in doctoral completion rates that need to be investigated further. An interesting difference that arose from the interviews was between Gabrielle and Jacks experiences as developing scholar-practitioners and Jennifers already strong sense of identity in this area. Jennifer was the only participant who considered leaving the program when her identity as scholar-practitioner was threatened. This is an area that requires further investigation, both into whether the researcher has understood the situation correctly, then into the

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phenomenon itself and whether it arises in others and then as a potentially identifiable variable in doctoral program completion rates.

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References Saldana, J. (2009). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.