Reflections on Week 4

This has been a very unusual week. I am writing this from the mountains of southern France - specifically near the town of Chamborigaud. I have been here since Friday along with 7 others from Florida to teach at a Salvation Army music camp here. This is the first time in 15 years that the France Salvation Army has been able to put together a camp such as this and my friends and I were requested to come and assist with the teaching responsibilities. We are teaching everything from band classes (3 levels), chorus and various electives. I am also writing some quick "on the spot" arrangements as needed for some of the ensembles.

In the mean time I am also working to try to get my required work done for this class. I apologize for some of this being late, but I have to squeeze it in where I can. (We also had issues with our wireless router yesterday, but of course being Sunday, they couldn't get anyone in to fix it.)

I did manage to watch all the videos with the exception of the one concerning Dr. Woody's work. Try as I might I just could not get that to load sufficiently for me to be able to watch it. The other videos were quite helpful in better understanding what a literature review is - and just as importantly - what it isn't. It really helped me begin to crystallize in my mind what the nature of the assignment will be as I get going with it later today.

The group case study for the discussion group was very interesting to me. As one who has worked for a number of years in a public secondary school situation, I still find it very hard to believe that not one of those 4 teachers felt that role ambiguity was an issue. As I stated in my discussion post, I would think that must be due to having a larger staff and the ability to divide things between team members more efficiently. In two different school situations I have been the entire music department and I can attest to role ambiguity being a significant factor in those type of situations.

The readings in Phillips this week helped to clarify some of the issues and procedures that make up qualitative research. In particular, the brief explanations for each of the characteristics of research (Phillips, p.83-84)gave good nutshell type descriptions of what each of these mean and how they should be taken into consideration. The division of modes of inquiry into the two main categories of interpretive studies and critical theory are instructive. I must say that have long had difficulty personally with much of what is passed off in the name of critical theory. It has been my experience that too much of this type of work results from an individual getting on their own personal hobby horse and trying to beat everyone else into submission. As the text states "most critical theorists regard objectivity in social sciences as no more than a polite fiction". (p.86) If objectivity is not even seen as a desirable trait, it is hard for me to see how the reported results can be weighted much more than just personal opinion.

However, the included case study provides a most interesting perspective. The outstanding success of many young Asians has been noted for quite some time. This study begins to provide a small window into some of the cultural influences and pressures that have had a hand in the development of so many fine musicians from similar backgrounds.

Once again Mertler has been helpful in moving further along that path towards a workable research project. What stood out to me was his emphasis on designing research questions in such a way as to provide data that clearly responds to the question raised. In addition, I had never really had correlation coefficients explained to me before and I thought his explanation was very understandable. I have always heard the saying that "correlation is not necessarily causation" and now it begins to make more sense.

By then moving into the explanation of group comparison designs, he helps fill in that gap to move on to how one actually does establish reasonable evidence of causation. I do also appreciate the emphasis on ethical behavior in this process. Human beings are not lab animals and each should be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. Adequate disclosure of what the participant will be exposed to and the obtaining of informed consent are simple standards of ethical respect. Sadly, in the day in which we live, it is necessary to spell this out in black and white to try to prevent abuses.