Conceptual Issues and Analytic Strategies in Mixed-Method Studies of Preschool Inclusion

Li, Shouming; Marquart, Jules M.; Zercher, Craig

doi:10.1177/105381510002300206

Cited by 47 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Such descriptive and process-oriented research may require the use of qualitative methods (Brantlinger, Jimenez, Klingner, Pugach, & Richardson, 2004). Educational researchers have acknowledged the value of mixing methodologies to provide a complementary set of information that would more effectively (than a single method) inform practice (Greene, Caracelli & Graham, 1989;Li, Marquart, & Zercher, 2000).…”

Section: More Than One Research Methodology Is Important I N Special mentioning

confidence: 99%

Research in Special Education: Scientific Methods and Evidence-Based Practices

Odom

Brantlinger

Gersten

et al. 2005

Exceptional Children

708

489

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This article sets the context for the development of research quality indicators and guidelines for evidence of effective practices provided by different methodologies. The current conceptualization of scientific research in education and the complexity of conducting research in special education settings underlie the development of quality indicators. Programs of research in special education may be viewed as occurring in stages: moving from initial descriptive research, to experimental causal research, to finally research that examines the processes that might affect widescale adoption and use of a practice. At each stage, different research questions are relevant, and different research methodologies to address the research questions are needed.

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Section: More Than One Research Methodology Is Important I N Special mentioning

confidence: 99%

Research in Special Education: Scientific Methods and Evidence-Based Practices

Odom

Brantlinger

Gersten

et al. 2005

Exceptional Children

708

489

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Figure 1 provides a graphic representation of the series of steps in the data analysis process conducted within and across sites. This process is explained in greater detail in related studies of the research institute (Li, Marquart, & Zercher, 2000). First, each of the four research teams coded transcript interviews for their site and developed a set of initial coding categories.…”

Section: Ata a N A Ly S I Smentioning

confidence: 99%

After Preschool Inclusion: Children's Educational Pathways over the Early School Years

Hanson

Horn

Sandall

et al. 2001

Exceptional Children

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A complex array of factors influences the implementation of inclusion within educational systems. This article examines decision making regarding young children's participation in inclusive programs. A qualitative design was employed to study influential factors over the course of a 5-year period as children moved from inclusive preschool placements to elementary school. Family, classroom, school, and societal influences were examined through families' perspectives on children's school experiences. At the end of the 5-year follow-along period, 60% of the children remained in some level of inclusive placement. Placements were influenced by professionals' decisions and school options, families' abilities to access information, advocates, the match between family needs and expectations and school options, and the influence of specific child and family characteristics. Downloaded fromI t's really imperative to me that he's in a regular classroom because he learns so much that you're not aware of him learning . . . I don't want to shortchange him. (Mother of Lester, a kindergartner diagnosed with autism) I think we have to try [inclusion]. If it doesn't work . . . then we can always make a change. (Mother of Ella, a first grader with Down syndrome) If he were in a regular classroom, he wouldn't get as much attention as he does now. (Mother of Lenny, a second grader with physical disabilities)These quotations from parents hint at the many factors that influence educational placement decisions for children with disabilities in the early school years. Though the provision of educational services in least restrictive or inclusive environments has been a central goal in recent decades, the decision to place a child in an inclusive or self-contained special education program is seldom a clear cut decision. Rather, these decisions reflect a complex transactional process involving multiple factors that often interact and may change over time. Educational placements and the goals and decisions surrounding placements, thus, are not static phenomena.Inclusion in the early years has been the target of many educational initiatives (Buysse, Inclusion is a complex process influenced by many factors within families, classrooms, communities, and society. An individual child's experience both affects and is affected by her or his family beliefs and values, aspects of the classroom (e.g., curricular activities, teacher's philosophy) and school (e.g., services offered, philosophy), as well as the policies and values espoused in the larger community.Children's placement decisions are rarely made on the basis of a single factor. The nature of decision making with respect to inclusion highlights the complexity of these decisions. Often professionals and parents must weigh a variety of factors in this process. Bailey, McWilliam, Buysse, and Wesley (1998) identified potentially competing factors families must weigh as they consider various educational alternatives; these factors included program quality, availability of specialized services t...

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“…Mixed researchers can minimize this legitimation threat by utilizing concurrent research designs, in which data collected in one phase are kept separate from and do not inform the data collected in the other phase; these two sets of data are integrated later, either during data analysis or data interpretation. Alternatively, mixed researchers can reduce the sequential legitimation threat by utilizing a multiple wave design, wherein the qualitative and quantitative data collection and data analysis phases oscillate multiple times (Li et al 2000;Sandelowski 2003), or occur in different orders for different sets of participants. In any case, it is clear that sequential legitimation fits well in the inquiry logics domain.…”

Section: Sequentialmentioning

confidence: 99%