Are we saving the best for last?????

I really enjoyed this week’s reading. I think the topic was interesting, I liked the use of discourse analysis as the choice of methodology, and I was genuinely looking to forward to seeing what time of results the researchers were going to end up with.

The research is aiming to find out if students’ uniqueness-seeking needs are related to their discourse moves, which is how they interact within online class discussions. They conducted their research using a graduate level group where they monitored and then analyzed and coded their contributions to the online discussion and also distributed a survey that depicted the students’ desire for “uniqueness”, which they also did at the end. For the coding they created categories for all possible contributions from the students. As for results, they were able to compare the students from the beginning of the semester and the end, while also comparing them to each other.

I thought the research was done well. I think doing a deep dive of the participants is better than having more participants but less specific information. Seeing discourse analysis in this study makes me want to incorporate the methodology in my own proposal. This reading clarified the method for me dramatically. Even the coding was super clear. With my research question, essentially I would get information from younger children, so I guess I am struggling with what type of response I`d pose to them. Also, I really appreciated how the researchers organized the coding. I think that was the best way to ensure the least possible amount of bias.