TOPIC: parental involvement affecting student academic performance Select one qualitative peer-reviewed research study published in an article related to your topic of interest. All articles must be o

QUALITATIVE CRITIQUE 1

NOTE: This example is not perfect. It is provided to give you an idea of what the content may look like. It is set up with the required components and in APA format; however, the actual content will vary considerably based on the study reviewed.

Research Critique: Qualitative

Liberty Student

School of Education, Liberty University

Author Note

Liberty Student

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Liberty Student

Email: [email protected]

Research Critique: Qualitative

Military life has its own unique set of characteristics and stressors. These issues affect not only the military member but their children as well. Hills et al. (2022) conducted a qualitative research study to explore how Canadian secondary schools are meeting the needs of military-connected children.

Summary

Purpose

Hill et al. (2022) conducted a study to figure out how educators can identify and support children of military members. The research aimed to assess educators' knowledge of the lives of military-connected students on more than an observable surface level. They also sought to determine if teachers knew of available resources for aiding them (Hill et al., 2022).

Participants/Sample

The participants all hailed from rural schools located near military bases in Ontario, Canada, even though Hill et al. (2022) wanted more pan-Canadian representation. The participant pool consisted of six people who had direct input into students' learning (Hill et al., 2022). The participants had different educational titles, but all were teachers at secondary schools.

Research Design

A phenomenological research design was chosen due to the participants' lived operational experience in childhood education (Hill et al., 2022). Participants with a broad experience base were necessary to gauge the support academic institutions offered military-connected students. A constructivist research paradigm was used as it connects well with the phenomenological design because a lived experience becomes reality for a person.

Method of Data Collection

Hill et al. (2022) conducted semi-structured interviews with all six participants. There were four interview questions seeking information on personal knowledge of the military lifestyle, the process of identification of military-connected students, availability of professional development for faculty, and possible collaboration with the military to support students. The interviews were performed at a convenient date, time, and location for the participant and lasted no longer than forty-five minutes. The questioning was audio-recorded and transcribed faithfully, leaving out identifiers to maintain participant anonymity (Hill et al., 2022).

Method of Analysis

Hill et al. (2022) analyzed data using an inductive approach looking for themes among the interview responses. Following procedures from Strauss and Corbin (1990), they used open and axial coding to determine categories. Then, they used selective coding to determine the general themes (Hill et al., 2022).

Results

Hill et al. (2022) presented four themes. The first theme was that participants were generally aware of what the military lifestyle entailed and the associated challenges (i.e., relocation and parental absence) of military-connected students. The second theme highlighted a general, informal identification of military-connected students. The third theme shed light on the lack of awareness of professional development designed to help teachers support military-connected students or families or whether there really was any at all. The fourth theme highlighted a deficit in intentional collaboration between the military and schools/school boards relative to specific military-connected student support. They were amiable in forming such connections, though.

Critical Analysis

Further Research

Further research should be conducted with more participants. Hill et al. (2022) mentioned that this was a seed mechanism for a larger study; the minute sampling from one location is not enough data to provide effective strategies to enact institutional change to help military-connected students. It would also be good to conduct this study in the middle and elementary grades, as well as with the parents (both military and non-military members).

Threats to Validity/Undocumented Bias

Although the primary investigator transcribed all recordings verbatim, she did not indicate any member checking by those interviewed. Some bias that may be present but not noted is that there was no disclosure of whether any of the researchers were products of, engaged in, or had been prior military. Including information about the researcher's role should be presented to avoid bias (Holmes, 2020). Also, the sample size was small for a qualitative study and was only representative of areas near four out of 20 Canadian military bases (Hill et al., 2022).

Original Insight/Criticism

The authors did not perform in-depth interviewing; instead, they opted to utilize broad ideas with simple questioning, not diving deeper into educators' responses (Check & Schutt, 2012). Participant responses mainly were surface level and only on a couple of occasions provided solid answers to questions. As such, the findings are somewhat superficial, considering the limited number of participants and the size of Canada and its military.

Implications of Findings

Even with the surface-level findings, teachers and administrators can use the results to start professional development to promote awareness of challenges that military-connected students have to help teachers develop strategies to counter these challenges and build relationships with this somewhat-transient population. Additionally, both the education and military sectors can use this as a jumping point to initiate collaborations that are military-connected and support specifically the students and their families. Just the fact that the study was a first of its kind lends itself to future studies being conducted, as now many will know of the issue that was somewhat invisible before.

Discussion

Working with military members, spouses, dependents, and veterans has impressed the necessity for civilians with no connection to the military to be offered insights into the psychological and sociological military mindset. Some resources are available, such as Green Zone training which gives compelling and easily relatable integration strategies for educational facilities to implement. Looking through the lens of actual military-connected individuals will help educators get to know their students better, and researchers formulate better questions and data harvesting for their study. While in the Air Force, I did not have children, but my experience in the Air Force has helped me relate to my military-connected students and their families. If you have never been in the military, there is much to learn because life on all levels is different than for civilians. Ensuring that educators care for military-connected students is imperative for Christians, for we must show love and compassion for all, especially those experiencing hardships. As educators and Christians, we have a responsibility to do all we can for all of our students because, as Jesus says in Matthew 25:40, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me..." (King James Bible, 2023).

References

Check, J., & Schutt, R. K. (2012). Research methods in education. Sage Publication, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781544307725

Hill, S., Lee, E., & Cramm, H. (2022). "If you don't know who they are, how can you help them": A qualitative study exploring how educators perceive and support Canadian military-connected students. Canadian Journal of Education, 45(3), 646–669. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.v45i3.4575

Holmes, A. G. D. (2020). Research positionality – A consideration of its influence and place in qualitative research – A new researcher guide. International Journal of Education, 8(4), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232

King James Bible. (2023). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research (2nd ed.). SAGE.