Cross-mapping text sets using Microsoft Word tables: First steps on the road to qualitative research
Location
1049
Format Type
Event
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
January 2019
End Date
January 2019
Abstract
Several years ago, as a second-year doctoral student in a College of Education, I was assigned as a research assistant to tackle a project comparing departmental syllabi to newly approved Florida Department of Education Approved Practices (FEAPs). A previous study conducted along similar lines had used an Excel spreadsheet to note the presence of particular indicators, but the spreadsheet approach seemed too limiting. I felt it wouldn’t give the department the information they needed to make the revisions.
After some false starts and refinements, I developed a system of using Microsoft Word tables to compare the outcomes, assignments, and critical tasks in each syllabus to each of the FEAPs. Using highlighting and shading, I created a visual map that gave an at-a-glance picture of where courses aligned and where there were gaps. Eventually, I was asked to map two sets of syllabi—one for the undergraduate program and one for a masters program—to the FEAPs and then both sets of syllabi to a different set of standards.
In this presentation, I explain the processes I used in those first projects and share how those steps became a journey along the qualitative methods road.
Keywords
cross-mapping text, tables
Cross-mapping text sets using Microsoft Word tables: First steps on the road to qualitative research
1049
Several years ago, as a second-year doctoral student in a College of Education, I was assigned as a research assistant to tackle a project comparing departmental syllabi to newly approved Florida Department of Education Approved Practices (FEAPs). A previous study conducted along similar lines had used an Excel spreadsheet to note the presence of particular indicators, but the spreadsheet approach seemed too limiting. I felt it wouldn’t give the department the information they needed to make the revisions.
After some false starts and refinements, I developed a system of using Microsoft Word tables to compare the outcomes, assignments, and critical tasks in each syllabus to each of the FEAPs. Using highlighting and shading, I created a visual map that gave an at-a-glance picture of where courses aligned and where there were gaps. Eventually, I was asked to map two sets of syllabi—one for the undergraduate program and one for a masters program—to the FEAPs and then both sets of syllabi to a different set of standards.
In this presentation, I explain the processes I used in those first projects and share how those steps became a journey along the qualitative methods road.
Comments
Breakout Session B