FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE

________________________________________________________________________
HMEF5103
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
MAY SEMESTER 2015
ASSIGNMENT 1
________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
1. This assignment contains question that is set in English.
2. Your assignment should be typed using 12 point Times New Roman font and 1.5
line spacing.

3. You must submit your hardcopy assignment to your Facilitator and ON-LINE
via the myVLE. For the online student, you are to submit a softcopy of your
assignment via myVLE and another softcopy to the facilitator via e-mail. Refer to
the portal for instructions on the procedures to submit your assignment on-line.
You are advised to keep a copy of your submitted assignment and proof of the
submission for personal reference. Your assignment must be submitted on 2628 June 2015
(3rd Seminar).
4. Your assignment should be prepared individually. You should not copy another
persons assignment. You should also not plagiarise another persons work as
your own.
EVALUATION
This assignment accounts for

50% of the total marks for the course.

ASSIGNMENT 1
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this assignment is to enable you to apply your skills for data collection using
several qualitative research techniques.
INSTRUCTIONS:
You are required to complete all TWO (2) parts of the assignment.
QUESTION:
Research has shown that integrating technology into the classroom can enhance student
learning (Krentler & Willis-Flurry, 2010). Despite overall increased access to technology both in
and out of the classroom, teachers are still not effectively integrating technology into the
classroom to support instruction in a meaningful manner (Mundy & Kupczynskil, 2013).
You are required to conduct research on the topic Factors influencing technology integration
into classroom instruction.

PART 1: Data Collection

In this part of the assignment, you will collect qualitative data by conducting interviews and
collecting documents related to the topic Factors influencing technology integration into
classroom instruction.
1A: Conduct Interviews

Identify and interview THREE (3) respondents using the topic above as a guide. Each
interview should last an hour.

Audio and/or video record all interviews.

Transcribe all interviews in verbatim, paying heed to pauses, interjections and turntaking.

1B: Collect Related Documents/Audio Visual Materials

Read and collect THREE (3) documents/ audio visual materials that may provide
confirmatory evidence of the information obtained from the interviews, as well as those
that will give you in-depth understanding of the factors influencing technology integration
into classroom instruction.

PART 2: Generating Thematic Framework and Coding

In this part of the assignment, you will analyse the qualitative data that you have collected in
Part 1. Use a two-step procedure to analyse your data.
Step 1: Familiarising yourself with data collected (interview transcripts and audio and/or video
recording of the interview, and documents)

You can do so by reading the interview transcripts, listening to the audio and/or watching
the video recording of the interview and going through the collected documents. This
process will enable you to be aware of key issues, ideas and recurrent themes
associated with the topic Factors influencing technology integration into classroom
instruction.

Step 2: Generating thematic framework and coding

Key issues, ideas or concepts, and themes which emerge from the familiarization stage
(in Step 1) are referred to as emergent themes. Make a list of the recurrent themes and
the subthemes, and how they may be substantiated by the data collected.

Assign codes or labels to these themes which are relevant to the research objective.

Present the themes and subthemes in some form of framework, using a diagram if
necessary.
Note: This process is similar to a filing system. At this point in time you may wish to read
or collect new documents to support your interview data.

Assignment Description
Write a paper discussing issues related to your data collection, and identifying emergent themes
and data coding. You may include the following outline for your paper:

Purpose of your study

Data collection:
describe how interviewees were selected and why they were chosen
describe interview procedures
describe choice of documents selected

Generating Emergent Themes and Coding

list themes derived
describe how themes were derived
describe how data was coded
[50 marks]

Reference:
Ritchie, J., Spencer, L. & OConnor, W. (2003). Carrying out qualitative analysis. In J. Ritchie &
J. Lewis (Eds.), Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and
Researchers. London: Sage
http://196.29.172.66:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1231/1/122.pdf
Srivastava, A. & Thomson, S. B. (2009). Framework Analysis: A Qualitative Methodology for
Applied Policy Research. JOAAG, Vol. 4. No. 2.
http://joaag.com/uploads/06_Research_Note_Srivastava_and_Thomson_4_2_.pdf

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES / ASSIGNMENT FORMAT

Use double space and 12-point of Times New Roman font.
The assignment should contain about 3000 5000 words (15 20 pages)
Provide reference using the American Psychological Association (APA) format
References should be latest (year 2005 onwards)
Assignments should be submitted according to the due date.
You are to submit a softcopy of your assignment online through myVLE and a hardcopy to
your facilitator. For the online student, you are to submit a softcopy of your assignment via
myVLE and another softcopy to the facilitator via e-mail.
Plagiarism is not acceptable. If you are not sure what is meant by plagiarism, refer to the
various websites which discuss this matter, e.g. owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts.

HMEF5103 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

MARKING SCHEME FOR ASSIGNMENT 1 (50%)
MAY 2015
DIMENSI
ON

UNSATISFACTORY
1

POOR EFFORT
2

SATISFACTORY
3

GOOD
4

EXCELLENT
5

Intervie
wing
and
transcrib
ing skills

- Weak or no
description of
interview
procedures
- Transcripts do not
demonstrate
appropriate
interviewing or
transcribing skills.
- The transcripts
are not submitted.

- Weak description
of interview
procedures
- Interview is not
always related to
the research
objective.
- Poor ability to use
appropriate openended questions or
probing questions.
- Transcripts do not
always show
interjections,
pauses and turntaking.
- It is unclear if only
one interviewer/ee
is present in an
interview.

- Basic description
of interview
procedures
- Interview is
related to the
research objective.
- Basic ability to
use appropriate
open-ended
questions, but
could have probed
more to glean
pertinent
information.
- Transcripts
generally show
interjections,
pauses and turntaking.
- Only one
interviewer/ee is
present in an
interview.

- Good description
of interview
procedures
- Interview is
generally focussed,
with discussion
related to the
research objective.
- Interviewer uses
appropriate openended questions,
probing where
necessary.
- Transcripts
indicate
interjections,
pauses and turntaking.
- Only one
interviewer/ee is
present in an
interview.

- Documents/ audio
visual materials are
presented but not
used to draw
connections
between themes/
categories/ data

Documents/ audio
visual materials
presented:
- show a basic
connection to
factors influencing
technology

Documents/ audio
visual materials
presented:
- show a basic
connection to
factors influencing
technology

Documents/ audio
visual materials
presented:
- are somewhat
related to factors
influencing
technology

- Excellent
description of
interview
procedures
- Interview is
clearly focussed,
with discussion
directly related to
the research
objective.
- Excellent
interview with
appropriate openended and probing
questions.
- Interviews are
well transcribed
with interjections,
pauses and turntaking clearly
indicated.
- Only one
interviewer/ee is
present in an
interview.
Documents/ audio
visual materials
presented:
- are related to
factors influencing
technology
integration into

Ability to
source
and
utilise
relevant
documen
ts/ audio

WEIG
HT &

MAR
KS

3
(15%
)

3
(15%
)

DIMENSI
ON

UNSATISFACTORY
1

POOR EFFORT
2

SATISFACTORY
3

visual
material
s

and ideas found in

documents.
- Documents/ audio
visual materials are
not related to
factors influencing
technology
integration into
classroom
instruction.
- Documents/ audio
visual materials are
not presented.

integration into
classroom
instruction.
- are not always
related to main
themes in data
- do not always
support outcomes
of the interviews
- are not effectively
used to draw
connections
between themes/
categories/ data
and ideas found in
documents.

Ability to
identify
emergin
g
themes
and code
data

Poor or no
identification of
themes and
inability to code
data.

Identification of
themes and coding
of data are weak.
Able to search
through the data
for minimal
regularities and
patterns. Words
and phrases used
for coding do not
represent the
patterns
established.

integration into
classroom
instruction.
- are broadly
related to main
themes in data
- somewhat
support outcomes
of the interviews
- are used to draw
connections
between themes/
categories/ data
and ideas found in
documents, though
not always
effectively.
Identification of
themes and coding
of data are basic.
Able to search
through the data
for a limited
number of
regularities and
patterns. Words
and phrases used
for coding do not
accurately
represent the
patterns
established.

GOOD
4
integration into
classroom
instruction.
- are generally
related to main
themes in data
- somewhat
support outcomes
of the interviews
- are used to draw
connections
between themes/
categories/ data
and ideas found in
documents/ audio
visual materials.

classroom
instruction.
- are related to
main themes in
data
- support outcomes
of the interviews
- are used
effectively to draw
connections
between themes/
categories/ data
and ideas found in
documents/ audio
visual materials.

Identification of
themes and coding
of data are good.
Able to search
through the data
for quite a number
of regularities and
patterns. Words
and phrases used
for coding quite
accurately
represent the
patterns
established.

Identification of
themes and coding
of data are
excellent. Able to
search through the
data for all or most
of the regularities
and patterns.
Words and phrases
used for coding
very accurately
represent the
patterns
established.

Note: Plagiarised or copied assignment papers are to be given a zero (0) mark.

EXCELLENT
5

WEIG
HT &

MAR
KS

4
(20%
)