Research+Journal

suggested writing prompts for your journaling: - what is my theoretical perspective? - who am I as a researcher? - what are some of my assumptions about what can be known, what can be knowable? - Prepare a statement of your own epistemological position. and/or conduct an interview with another researcher about his/her epistemology. - how have I selected the quetions I've chosen? what assumptions are embedded in my questions? - How does my research topic intersect with my life? How is my research autobiographical? - Propose two design options for your study; What is an alternative methodology for your study? - Reflect on how you will negotiate access and gain entree to your research site. - How will you develop rapport with your participants? - What are the pros and cons of insider knowledge? Does it help or hinder? ["backyard research" can create ethical and political dilemmas] - Draft a lay summary (see Glesne, 1999, pp. 35-38)

here are some useful articles on writing a research journal

Borg, S. “The research journal: a tool for promoting and understanding researcher development.” Language Teaching Research, v. 5 issue 2, 2001, p. 156-177.

Burgess, R.G. (1981). Keeping a research diary. Cambridge Journal of Education, 11(1), 75-83.

Janesick, Valerie. “A Journal About Journal Writing as a Qualitative Research Technique: History, Issues, and Reflections.” Qualitative Inquiry, v. 5 issue 4, 1999, p. 505-524. Abstract: The author is writing this article as a journal to show how a journal may be used as a qualitative research technique in long-term qualitative studies. The history of journal writing within the context of the arts and humanities is described to illuminate our understanding of the tradition of this type of writing. For qualitative researchers, the act of journal writing may be incorporated into the research process to provide a data set of the researcher's reflections on the research act. Participants in qualitative studies may also use journals to refine ideas, beliefs, and their own responses to the research in progress. Finally, journal writing between participants and researcher may offer the qualitative researcher yet another opportunity for triangulation of data sets at multiple levels: first, the interdisciplinary triangulation of journal writing as a trope of literature, and second, data triangulation in terms of journal writing of the researcher, participants, and interaction between both.

Glesne, C. (1999). //Becoming qualitative researchers, 2nd ed//. New York: Longman.