Hi, its better to spend time with students and just observe the problems faced by students during their study and daily lives.

Hello Vimal

I have no expertise relating to researching children's needs, but in your quest for appropriate research methods, I wondered if it might help to read articles that offer comparison between the different options:

Goulding, C. (2005). Grounded theory, ethnography and phenomenology. European Journal of Marketing, 39(3/4), 294-308 - a ResearchGate member - downloadable from her publications page:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/32116769_Grounded_theory_ethnography_and_phenomenology_a_comparative_analysis_of_three_qualitative_strategies_for_marketing_research

The paper below is also available from the publications section of a ResearchGate member, Professor Michael David Myers:

Myers, M. D., & Avison, D. (1997). Qualitative research in information systems. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 21, 241-242.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/31734739_Qualitative_Research_in_Infomation_Systems__A_Reader__M.D._Myers_D._Avison

Fossey, E., Harvey, C., McDermott, F., & Davidson, L. (2002). Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36, 717-732 - also available from ResearchGate:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11058344_Understanding_and_evaluating_qualitative_research

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications - below is chapter one:

http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1334586.files/2003_Creswell_A%20Framework%20for%20Design.pdf

Thorne, S. (2000). Data analysis in qualitative research. Evidence Based Nursing, 3(3), 68-70.

http://ebn.bmj.com/content/3/3/68.full.html

Merriam, S. B. (2002). Introduction to qualitative research. Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis, 1, 1-17.

http://stu.westga.edu/~bthibau1/MEDT%208484-%20Baylen/introduction_to_qualitative_research/introduction_to_qualitative_research.pdf

Best wishes

Mary

Article Grounded theory, ethnography and phenomenology: A comparativ...

Article Qualitative Research in Infomation Systems : A Reader / M.D....

Article Understanding and Evaluating Qualitative Research

Thanks Mary,

I am also doing ethnographic study to study caste violence in a India village. I will read these articles and get back to you.

With Regards

Vimal

Hi

I do not have much experience in research as I only finished my BA last year. However, this topic is relevant to one of  my final year  modules, which  was  Theoretical and cultural aspects of SEN. I hope it will be of some help.

The course looked  at the roots of the ‘labelling’ problem in psychology, rationalism and the birth of pathologisation through considering Foucault’s development of the concept of ‘the medical gaze’.  This was considered  in light of the idea of governance by normativity.

 We asked questions such as:

what is done in the name of attending to ‘needs’?

- what are the exclusionary forces inherent in working with ‘needs’ and calling them ‘special’?

- what happens when a pupil is labelled as having special educational needs?

-what is the role of ‘voice’?

Also, we looked at how SEN policy and practice must be considered within its cultural context. We considered how a society’s views of people in terms of gender, ethnicity and class might affect the ways in which special educational needs are identified and managed within that society.

I know that this may not provide you with the answers you were looking for  but it might give you some help when reflecting . It has helped me to challenge the deficit model and the inevitability of deprivation.

Reading material :

Fletcher, MW(2007) ‘Children with special educational needs’ in Zwozdiak-Myers (Ed) Childhood and Youth Studies Exeter: Learning Matters 99-109

 Thomas, G and Loxley, A (2001) Deconstructing Special Education and Constructing Inclusion Buckingham: Open University Press Chapter 3 pages 46-64

French, S and John Swain (2004) ‘Controlling Inclusion in Education: Young Disabled People’s Perspectives’ in Swain, J, S. French, C. Barnes and C. Thomas (Eds) Disabling Barriers- Enabling Environments (2nd Ed) London: Sage Publications

Scott-Hill, Mairian (2004) ‘Inpairment, Difference and ‘Identity’ in Swain, J, S. French, C. Barnes and C. Thomas (Eds) Disabling Barriers- Enabling Environments (2nd Ed) London: Sage Publications chapter 25, pages 169-175

Frederickson, N and Cline, T (2002) Special educational needs inclusion and diversity: a textbook Buckingham: OUP chapter 1 pages 3-32

Vinden, P and Astington, J  (2000) ‘Culture and understanding other people’s minds’ in Baron-Cohen, S, Tager-Flusberg, H and Cohen, D (Eds) Understanding other minds: Perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience Oxford: Oxford University Press Chapter 21 503-519

C. Jonah Eleweke & Michael Rodda (2002) ‘The challenge of enhancing inclusive education in developing countries’, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 6:2, 113-126

Extract from: Ainscow, Mel and Memmenasha Haile-Giorgis (1998), The Education of Children with Special Needs: Barriers and Opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe  UNICEF pp. iii to 35.

All the best.

Candy

Hi, Candy,

Thank so much! It is extremely helpful!

Khu

No problem Khu Li Huang! Glad it would be of some use.

If you want to use ethnography your concern should be to understand others' lifeworlds from their own perspective, and you gain access to that primarily by observation, participation and interviewing. Children are problematic as a) conditions of observation need to be restricted and policed (for good reason) b) you can't participate with them on the same basis so cannot expetyence the child's perspective c) they can't adequately express their own experhence d) they don't have developed cognitive capacities to explain themselves especially if they have special needs. So you need to establish real clarity in relation to your research question, then consider egetger you can adapt ethnographic method, within these limitations, to still make a useful contribution. You can use ethnography to study the communities that interact with these children, such as teachers, to get closer to their perspectives and to offer interpretations of behaviour that you observe. It's not strictly ethnography, but rthnogrsphically informed - it's ok to be pragmatic as long as you can justify it theoretically and can show that you have thought through alternatives and consequences.

Ethnography about inclusion of children with disabilities involves talking to families, teachers, administrators and other school staff that the children interact with. It also means studying the culture of the community in which the school is situated, local and state policies and laws on inclusion, barriers and attitudes. One must be immersed in the context to develop an in depth understanding.

Dear Khu Li Huang

The purpose of statement of research is narrowed in the form of research question statement. Question statements are interrogative statements that narrow the purpose statement to specific questions that researcher seeks to answer in his/her study. Research Questions are typically framed at the end of the introduction of the statement of the problem section or immediately following the review of literature.

while formulating a research question the following process is tenable:

• pose a question
• Begin with how, what or why
• Specify the independent, dependent and control variables or specify a phenomenon
• Use such words as describe, compare, relate or indicate the action or connection among the variables.
• Indicate the sample and population

Three popular forms are available to frame the question statement i.e. Question form, Relationship form and Comparison form.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FORMULATING RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Adequate formulation of research question statement is one of the most important parts of research. However, there are some suggestions, which if followed, result in good research question statements being framed.

• Research questions must explain the relationship among variables.
• research questions should not be vague e.g. what is the issue of illiteracy.
• Specific problem to be solved must be indicated e.g. what is the effect of intelligence on achievement?
• Research questions should be researchable and feasible. these must be within the reach of a researcher and must contribute to the quantum of knowledge.
• It must specify the activities of the researcher. A good research question monitors the researcher's  efforts.
• It must not involve any philosophical issue or value judgement.
• It should be observed that the problem's solution fills the gap in the existing knowledge or helps resolve some of the inconsistencies or the interpretation of known facts.
• The scope of the investigation or the limits within which the problem is to be studied must be mentioned explicitly in stating a research problem.

I hope by the help of these basics regarding to research questions framing you will be able to frame the best research questions for your research study.

Happy Researching.

Hi. I am currently doing an Ethnographic Research entitled "Exploring Variation of Vowel Sounds in English: An Ethnographic Linguistic Research". I read for some artifacts with regards to linguistics and phonology. I cannot proceed because I cannot formulate well the questions for my research. This is also my first time to do a qualitative research and an ethnographic research. Anyone can give suggestions which may helpful in the formulation of the research questions and the success of this study.