Going the Distance: Examining the Impact of a Long-Term International Fellowship

Dado, Meikah; Spence, Jessica R; Elliot, Jack

doi:10.4148/2831-5960.1088

Cited by 1 publication

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“…All the codes and themes from every component of qualitative data collection were the same including interviews, focus groups, and open-ended questions on the monthly questionnaire. The themes include programmatic adjustments, international development, challenges, personal and professional growth, personal positivity’s, and contradictions (Dado, 2022). Although the other themes heavily describe the participants' thoughts about the IAEFP and skills gained through the experience, the contradictions theme exposes how their words in the interviews, focus groups, and open-ended questions contrasted with their everyday words and actions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The program required the fellows to be United States citizens, have an undergraduate degree in an agriculturally related field, some experience in the agricultural youth organizations focusing on leadership such as 4-H or FFA, and participate in a 7-week training (Elliot & Redwine, 2020). The training included four components on interior formation, strategies for teaching pedagogy, cultural awareness, and Ghanaian agriculture (Dado, 2022). The fieldwork took place in the Eastern and Central regions of Ghana where the qualitative components included semi-structured one-on-one interviews, focus groups, monthly open-ended survey questions, and analyzing various IAEFP artifacts such as documents and training materials.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Case of Contradictions: How Prolonged Engagement, Reflexive Journaling, and Observations can Contradict Qualitative Methods

Dado

Spence

Elliot

2023

International Journal of Qualitative Methods

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Interviews and focus groups are common methods for conducting qualitative research. They provide in-depth descriptions of a phenomenon by listening to and analyzing participants' words. Yet, when a researcher immerses themself in an environment for a prolonged period participants are able to act and think naturalistically rather than in a formal interview setting. Prolonged engagement allows the researcher to blend into the participants' environment, therefore increasing the likelihood that the activities that occur in the presence of the researcher do not differ from the activities that occur without the researcher present. This prolonged interaction can provide more in-depth data including observations and address questions of credibility, rather than only conducting an interview or focus group. However, the observations can also bring forward contradictions participants display that differ from the interview or focus group conversation. By spending 3 months in Ghana with the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program conducting monitoring and evaluation efforts, using a mixed-methods approach, contradictions arose from observations and reflexive journaling that would not have been found without the prolonged engagement. The purpose of this study is to provide methodological insight by examining how contradictions from interviews and focus groups arise when the researcher is immersed in the participants' environment and highlight the importance of prolonged engagement, observations, and reflexive journaling to qualitative credibility.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%