Thanks for coming to check out my academic blog.
Please read the disclaimer below before continuing to blog posts here
Disclaimer
This is a collection of blog posts. These posts are an open exploration of ideas in my effort to better understand the world in which I live and to share that experience with others in an effort to create positive change. As an exploration I do not fine tune these posts to use politically correct and perfectly grammatical language; I do not make academic references unless I feel they are particularly valuable at the moment (or if I feel like it); I do not claim these writings as any absolute belief; and, I don’t consider these writings to be complete. They are simply an effort to share what may be useful insights into the world which, if I did not share here, would sit either in my head or on my laptop hard drive and serve very little purpose.
It is through these blogs I can explore and develop ideas, and I invite you to take that journey with me. I appreciate your questions and any insights you may want share on the topics I explore in these writings, but in this time of obscene online judgment – please keep your criticisms to yourself. They are not helpful and they are not welcome here.
Insight
Most of these posts could actually be much shorter than they are (or will be). And so I ask myself, why are they so long? And the answer lies in the importance of demonstrating the building and development of ideas over time. I find it is easier to understand a concept if I can relate to experiences I have had. I have done this in my posts on unexpected consequences and interdisciplinarity and I am sure will do it again in future posts. This approach highlights the importance of personal experience in sharing and understanding ideas instead of drawing primarily from the academic literature and the experiences of others. This process not only helps my academic understanding of concepts but also allows me to grow as a person, which is an important outcome of higher education and qualitative research.
Qualitative inquiry is personal. The researcher is the instrument of inquiry. What brings you to an inquiry matters. Your background, experience, training, skills, interpersonal competence, capacity for empathy, cross-cultural sensitivity, and how you, as a person, engage in fieldwork and analysis—these things undergird the credibility of your findings.
Patton, 2014; p. 3