BY DAY 5

Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ posts and explain:

· Their choice of sampling strategy

· Strategies for improving saturation

BRANDI

Purpose of the Study

Yob and Brewer (n.d.) were interested in learning how faculty members at an online institution who reside in various locations perceive and affect social change. The researchers aimed to explore the perspectives of faculty members from diverse geographical backgrounds and understand their role in driving social change within an online institution. By examining these perceptions, Yob and Brewer (n.d.) sought to gain insights into the potential impact of faculty members on fostering social transformation in an online educational setting. To better understand how members of an online institution with a mission to foster positive social change comprehend and support such change in their communities, the study employed a qualitative research design.

Research Questions

The researchers do not state the study questions in a clear way. For this study, a potential research topic might be, “How does the geographically spread-out community of an online institution see social change? How has the experience of an online university encouraged students, staff, and alumni to advocate for social change in their communities? might be another research topic for this study.

 Site Selection

Choosing a research environment is critical because it should be directly related to the study’s goals and questions (Ravitch & Carl, 2021). Yob and Brewer (n.d.) did their research at an accredited, for-profit online institution whose goal has been to make good changes in society since the beginning. This university fits with the study’s goal, so it’s a good place to do the research (Ravitch & Carl, 2021).

Purposeful Sampling Strategy

Selecting participants for a study is an important step in the research process. In quantitative studies, researchers use a random sample of the community to generalize results. In qualitative studies, on the other hand, researchers use a method called “purposeful sampling” (Ravitch & Carl, 2021). Patton (2015) says that purposeful sampling is choosing study subjects in a way that will give researchers the information they need to answer their research questions. Yob and Brewer (n.d.) used a method called “purposeful sampling” to choose teachers, students, and alumni of the university who were known to be involved in social change.

Alternate Sampling Strategy

Purposive random sampling is an alternative sampling approach that the researchers could have used. This form of sampling increases the credibility of the study and may reduce bias (Patton, 2015). Purposive random sampling involves randomly selecting participants from a specific population with the intention of including individuals who possess certain characteristics or experiences relevant to the research topic. This approach allows for a more diverse and representative sample, potentially enhancing the generalizability of the findings (Patton, 2015). 

Data Saturation

When collecting additional data doesn’t produce new knowledge, it’s said to be saturated (Mason, 2010). Yob and Brewer (n.d.) used a sample size of 30 participants, made up of university faculty, alumni, and students. To persuade the reader of the pertinent and significant themes that emerged, the researchers may have used a larger population sample.

References

Mason, M. (2010). Sample size and saturation in PhD studies using qualitative interviews. Forum : Qualitative Social Research, 11(3)

Patton, M. Q. (2015). Chapter 5, Module 30: Purposeful sampling and case selection: Overview of strategies and options. In Qualitative research and evaluation methods (4th ed., pp. 264–315). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2021). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological (2nd ed.) Sage Publications.

Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Working toward the common good: An online university’s perspectives on social change, 1-25

WALTER

·
The purpose of the study

The study aims to gain insights into how this specific online university interprets and practices its mission in the context of online education and dispersed communities, aiming to improve its community outreach efforts and potentially benefit other similar institutions (Yob & Brewer, n.d.).

·
Research questions

The purpose and goal of the study were delineated. However, there was no mention of specific research questions for the study. Specificity regarding all aspects of the design, including research questions, would lend credibility to the work of the researchers (Ravitch & Carl, 2021).

·
Site selection

The site selection in the article is this specific for-profit online university, chosen because of its mission of creating positive social change and its relevance to understanding how faculty members, students, and alumni perceive and practice social change processes within the context of an online, geographically dispersed community institutions (Yob & Brewer, n.d.).

·
The type of purposeful sampling strategy the researchers applied. 

A purposeful sampling strategy was used for this project (Yob & Brewer, n.d.). Referral sampling was a subset of this approach, which involved identifying potential participants through recommendations or referrals.

·
An alternative sampling strategy that the researchers could have considered. Explain your choice in terms of how the strategy is consistent with their research purpose and criteria for selecting cases.

Although purposeful sampling is the primary method utilized in qualitative research, comparison-focused sampling could be helpful (Patton, n.d.). The study was orientated toward gaining insight into how an online university practices its mission in the context of online education and dispersed communities to improve outreach (Yob & Brewer, n.d.). The sampling population included faculty members, students, and alums. Due to the difference between inherent power differentials, such as student versus faculty member, further delineating how emergent themes may be different between these roles could be helpful to the study’s findings.

·
Provide a data saturation definition and evaluate the work of the researchers in this article regarding their efforts to achieve data saturation. Note what the researchers could have done differently to convince you that the relevant and important themes emerged.

Data saturation in qualitative research refers to the point in the research process where no new information or insights emerge from the data being collected and analyzed (Mason, 2010). The authors note emergent themes but do not note where saturation was achieved (Yob & Brewer, n.d.). The authors could have been more transparent in their reports or provided more explicit data collection documentation. Both would have lent credibility toward saturation as documentation can provide evidence they had actively monitored their data collection process while showing criteria were used to internally determine data saturation (Yob & Brewer, n.d).

References

Mason, M. (2010). 
Sample size and saturation in phd studies using qualitative interviews. n/a.

Patton. (n.d.). 
Module 30: Purposeful Sampling and Case Selection: Overview of Strategies. Retrieved September 20, 2023, from 

/courses/83779/files/5301599?wrap=1

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2021). 
Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological (Second edition). SAGE Publications, Inc.

Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). 
Working toward the common good: An online university’s perspective on social change. Retrieved September 20, 2023, from 

/courses/83779/files/5301721?wrap=1