This paper provides commentary on the visual method of concept mapping and how it was combined with semi-structured interviews to study participants' perspectives on educational leadership. Utilizing methodological literature and the author's research, the paper outlines key characteristics of concept mapping and provides an example of how these…

This article explores the complex relationship between researcher and respondent through shared experience and interaction in the interview processes. Ethical considerations related to the balance of power and potential for change in respondents' professional actions and decisions post-interview are discussed whilst problematizing the concept of…

This paper describes and analyses the pilot of one data collection tool, the work diary, for an educational research project. Before inclusion in the wider research project, the researcher developed, piloted and qualitatively assessed the feasibility of the data collection tool. As the wider research project will be conducted in and investigate…

Qualitative studies that utilize telephone interviews, as a primary data collection mode, often are not discussed in the qualitative research literature. Data excerpts from a study that sought to understand the culture of for-profit universities are used to illustrate the types of data that can be garnered through telephone interviews. In…

In the present study, an examination is conducted in three school districts of how data are used to improve classroom practice. In doing so, we explore the effects that attitudes toward data, principal leadership, and computer data systems have on how data are used to affect classroom practice. Findings indicate that educators are ambivalent about…