1. What are African American male’s perception of mental illness?
2. How much does stigmas, associated with mental illnesses impact African American men understanding of mental illness?
There is a need for additional studies to identify the perceptions of mental illness within the black population, specifically with African American men. The researcher will use qualitative research techniques to explore the African American male participants' perceptions of mental illness and mental health services. The focus of this study will examine 25 African American men, in Tallahassee, Florida, ranging between the ages of 18 and above. The selection of the specific geographical area is a convenience sample.
The purpose of this study is to explore African American adult men perceptions of mental illness. The researcher will explore stigmas and misconceptions of mental illness among the participants. Additionally, the researcher will attempt to identify if such stigmas and misconceptions influence the participants willingness to seek mental health services. The use of qualitative research is to identify any patterns and gain general knowledge of the phenomen, based on participant’s opinions.
Inn general, case studies would treat each individual as a case and make comparisons across those case. I suggest you look at Robert Yin's work as a guide.
In contrast, phenomenology would look at the in-depth, lived experience of each individual. There are any number of divisions within phenomenology, ranging from those that are heavily influenced by philosophers to those that are similar to content analysis (e.g., interpretive phenomenological analysis).
If you are not already familiar with the more philosophical versions of phenomenology, it would probably take considerable effort to master one of them.
Also, there are any number of other approaches to collecting and analyzing qualitative data, so you might say something more about why you have chosen these two.
It seems to me that you should start with the questions that actually make up the larger questions. The interview should be structured in some way, after which you work with the data using one of your methods. There is an excellent guide to developing the interview at http://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/files/sociology/files/interview_strategies.pdf
You might see what turns up in a Google search for "qualitative interviewing" or find books in that area.
Inn general, case studies would treat each individual as a case and make comparisons across those case. I suggest you look at Robert Yin's work as a guide.
In contrast, phenomenology would look at the in-depth, lived experience of each individual. There are any number of divisions within phenomenology, ranging from those that are heavily influenced by philosophers to those that are similar to content analysis (e.g., interpretive phenomenological analysis).
If you are not already familiar with the more philosophical versions of phenomenology, it would probably take considerable effort to master one of them.
Also, there are any number of other approaches to collecting and analyzing qualitative data, so you might say something more about why you have chosen these two.
The following sources may be helpful for a better understanding/choice:
- Crotty, M., (1996) Doing phenomenology, in Willis, P. and Neville, B. (Eds.), Qualitative Research Practice in Adult Education, David Lovell Publishing, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia, pp. 272-284.
- Flyvbjerg, B. (2006) Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research, Qualitative Inquiry, 12, 2, pp. 219-245.
- Schell, C. (1992). The Value of the Case Study as a Research Strategy. Retrieved from Manchester Business School: http://www.finance-mba.com/Case%20Method.pdf
- Wilson, A. (2015) A guide to phenomenological research, Nursing Standard, 29, 34, pp. 38-43.
I agree with these answers - I encourage some wider reading around qualitative methods.
Adriene, Unfortunately, none of your questions ask for case study design. Your first question is a descriptive in nature and is not an exploratory study. However, to describe a phenomenon, definitely, first you need to explore it before describe it, and that does not mean your study is exploratory research as you mention in your purpose of the study. Your second question seemingly deals with the association of two categories or perhaps concepts of mental illness. The concepts among two categories ought to an exam to show if there are any association (correlation) among them. The result of correlation test to some degree would determine the validity of your study and would confirm the outcome of your qualitative descriptive study, particularly in your first question. As the result, up to now the formulation of your questions falls into the phenomenology research philosophy with qualitative descriptive research methodology.
Note: you probably would have some quantitative data as well.
Adriene, ….Thank you for your kind observation, you are welcome anytime.
A range of qualitative approaches would allow you to explore understandings and meaning making of the population you have in mind, not only phenomenology. A qualitative design supported by interpretive or critical theory might help you pick up on cultural elements of those understandings too. If you are a novice to qualitative method, you might like to look at some circumscribed approaches to phenomenology, such as interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA).
Case Study for question 1---as Bahram observes, this is more descriptive in nature; a phenomenology variant for question 2 as it seems more exploratory; IPA is popular in health studies.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Mathematical Sciences
- Statistics
- Applied Statistics
- Survey Design