9.12.17

30 Essential Skills for the Qualitative Researcher by John W. Creswell — Chapter 14: Conducting a Good Observation

My senior year of undergrad, I took an introductory course on research methods in the field of communication. Reading this chapter was a great refresher on how to conduct a good observation. I think the most important part of conducting observations is taking detailed notes. Creswell admits that observations can provide an overwhelming amount of information.

From both this chapter and my prior knowledge, I know that one of the main pitfalls of observation is that subjects will often alter or change their behavior when they are aware of being observed.

30 Essential Skills for the Qualitative Researcher by John W. Creswell — Chapter 15: Designing and Administering an Interview Protocol

Again, this was a really great refresher. Even in my assistantship, we do a lot of interviewing in the investigation process, so this chapter had some good tips.

In my research methods course, I didn’t get to actually interview anyone, so I’m looking forward to that process this semester. I really appreciated Creswell’s advice on how to start an interview (with an “ice-breaker” question), on getting more information out of an interviewee, and how to end an interview and circle back to any information that the interviewer wanted to speak on.

College Students in the United States: Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes by Penn, K. and R. Reason—Chapter 4: Transition to College

Socialization is a process that occurs at college. I think I kind of wrote about it in my RNA last week in response to the academically-focused readings. Obviously, I find this to be an incredibly important piece of the college experience (since I’m getting a master’s degree in student affairs).

There are lots of activities/functional areas that play important roles in the socialization process, such as orientation, living learning communities, and first-year seminars. For my first two years of undergrad, I thought these things were exclusive to my institution and I was so impressed with them. I thought they were the coolest things and that my school was so progressive and forward-thinking. Now, I obviously know that these are heavily researched and intentionally designed programs, but I still love them.

Helping Sophomores Succeed: Understanding and Improving the Second-Year Experience by Molly A. Schaller — Chapter 1: Understanding the Impact of the Second Year of College (2010)

I was a music major my sophomore year of college. And I always compared sophomore year to an artist’s sophomore album. It’s often difficult to sell a second album. Probably because the artist has changed their style from the first album and not all their fans are necessarily into it. I think the author of this chapter would appreciated my analogy.

The needs of sophomore students are different than those of first-year students. I think this is an important area for student affairs professionals to focus on. As we can see from this chapter, there isn’t a whole lot of information out there on what these students need.

(1/4 of) American Hookup by Lisa Wade

Chapter 1:

• I’m already hooked on this book because the author has proved that she knows the subject matter. The steps to hookup are extremely accurate (based on my experiences and the experiences of my friends).
• Hookup culture is 100% tied to drinking culture and I’m so glad that this is acknowledged in this book.
• The “emotional distance” piece is a huge piece of hookup culture. There is a common fear among college students of “catching feelings” (or becoming emotionally attracted to someone). I think that this Step 5c is the most critical of all the steps.

Chapter 2:

• “Being fun” and being a part of hookup culture seem to be synonyms in today’s society.
• Interesting to see the history of the binary of men and sex vs. women and love.
• Valuing the masculine over the feminine is unfair.