Abstract
While many research methods courses challenge students to make sense of their own researcher identities as they relate to research paradigms and perspectives, there is a lack of research that examines how students actually go about constructing theses identities, particularly at the level of discourse. In this study, we attended to graduate students’ talk in an introductory research methods course, taking note of how students used particular discursive resources to construct a research identity in online classroom discussions. We analyzed 93 discussion posts students were asked to make in response to a discussion board prompt after completing assigned readings related to research paradigms and researcher identity. We identified two discursive patterns through our analysis: 1) minimizing knowledge, and 2) justifying paradigmatic orientations. Our findings highlight how being asked to talk about one’s research identity is a potentially fragile task, as evidenced by disclaimers of ‘knowing’, and one that evokes justifications and connections to students’ everyday lives. We highlight implications for the teaching of research methodology, particularly qualitative methods courses.
Highlights
While many research methods courses challenge students to make sense of their own researcher identities as they relate to research paradigms and perspectives, there is a lack of research that examines how students go about constructing these identities, at the level of discourse
We identified two discursive patterns or social actions: 1) minimizing knowledge and 2) justifying paradigmatic orientations
Similar to other discourse studies, (e.g., Attenborough, 2011; Benwell & Stokoe, 2010), our findings point to the tension between taking up an academic identity, in this case a researcher identity, and being just an average graduate student ‘who doesn’t know much.’
Summary
While many research methods courses challenge students to make sense of their own researcher identities as they relate to research paradigms and perspectives, there is a lack of research that examines how students go about constructing these identities, at the level of discourse. We attended to graduate students’ talk in an introductory research methods course, taking note of how students used particular discursive resources to construct a research identity in online classroom discussions. Construcción de Identidades de Investigador de Estudiantes Postgrado Explorado a través de Análisis del Discurso (Recibido: 12 de marzo de 2015; Aceptado: 20 de noviembre de 2015; Publicado: 28 de febrero de 2016). En este estudio atendimos a las conversaciónes de los estudiantes de postgrado en cursos de la introducción a métodos de investigación, tomando nota de como los estudiantes utilizan recursos discursivos para construir una identidad de investigador en los debates de clases en línea. How do graduate students enrolled in an introductory research methods course discursively navigate their research identities? How do students go about constructing a research identity for themselves?
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