Priyal Morjaria

Ethnographic and Narrative Inquiry research methods are both prevalent in qualitative
research designs. Both research articles try to gain an in-depth understanding of their
participants. The Ethnographic research articles tries to look beyond previous research on
marginalized parents and their involvement on their childrens education. Previous research is
based on assumptions and stereotypes as researchers tended to highlight middle class parenting
practices. The purpose of this study is to see how marginalized parents from lower income
families, specifically Mexican immigrant mothers participate in their childrens education. A
Qualitative research design is crucial for this study because the author needed information that
was not tainted with bias, predisposed notions and stereotypes. This is possible by watching,
participating and questioning your specific participants. In the Narrative Inquiry article Stanulis,
Fallona, and Pearson (2002) structured their purpose of study as a research question asking what
challenges do novice teachers face and how do they work through the obstacles. The authors
were teachers themselves and they wanted to address the ongoing issue of attrition among novice
teachers. Using a qualitative research was beneficial to these authors because they required indepth participant data and purposefully selected participants.
Qualitative research requires some sense of personal information from participants and
researchers have to immerse themselves into their participants lives or views to better
understand them. The narrative inquiry article identified as a qualitative research article because
three participants were purposefully selected without any use of random selection. The authors
also used interviews instead of surveys and observed their participants for prolonged periods of
time. The data collected was compiled in the form of notes and audio recordings instead of
statistical analysis. The ethnographic research study required full understanding of the
participants background, cultural and social environment. The researcher was keen on gaining
an insight into the immigrant Mexican mothers views and perspectives. A qualitative study was
evident because the author chose to use a purpose statement instead of hypothesis, which are
common in quantitative research designs. This study was over the span of three years and
required in-depth interviews to collect data.
Quantitative research methods typically require random sampling. In both articles the
participants were purposefully selected. Both the ethnographic and narrative inquiry study
refrained from using statistics to analyze date. Authors from both articles chose the method of
interviewing and observing by gaining trust and confidence of their participants. The data
analysis for both qualitative research studies dealt with transcribing notes from in-depth
interviews.
Stanulis et al. (2002) used audiotapes to record interviews and to dissolve the threat to
descriptive validity. Using methods such as audio or video recordings assists in keeping data
accurate and without personal bias. Authors of the narrative inquiry article also required
substantial feedback from participants as a means to dissolve any threats to interpretive validity.
The ethnographic research article also relied heavily on participant feedback minimizing any
threats to interpretive validity. The author of the ethnographic article mentioned immersing
herself in her participants environment and gaining insight from them for three years. This can
be seen as a means to minimize any threats to theoretical validity.

Priyal Morjaria
As novice teachers participants of the narrative inquiry research study may have felt
isolated and may have felt fearful of disclosing their own personal experiences. Their right to
privacy needs to be addressed. Both articles needed to address the factors of trust and honesty
with participants. Both research methods required that the author build trust and honesty to form
a bond with their participants. In the ethnographic research study the author spent long periods of
time with these participants and delved into their personal lives. As migrant works the
participants may have been here illegally or on a short work visa. They had to trust the author to
share their personal information. The safe guard to participant privacy is a very important ethical
component here.