Research Journal #2

Methodological Memo

It has been truly challenging trying to determine which direction I want to go with my research. While I want to understand student's perceptions about graduation and their sense of preparedness, I have found it difficult to identify a target population. It is my opinion that women (soon I will back this with research) that women feel less prepared than men for the post-college work force, non-White women may feel less prepared than White women, and first-generation non-White women likely feel less prepared than second and third-generation non-White women.

I have decided to narrow my target population to African American graduating senior women living in an honors community on campus. There are a total of 11 women living in this particular area of the residential community. I initially wanted to explore students of different ethnic background to determine if there were racial or ethnic differences in terms of students feeling prepared for graduation and the post-college workforce. However, I realized that within the scope of this research project, it is necessary to hone in on one population and focus on the experiences of the women within this particular population and to truly gain any depth of their experiences.

While in my head, I think I understand why I have selected one sub-population to work with, I realize that I haven't really examined what makes this choice purposeful. I have found it very challenging so far, in the three interviews that I have scheduled, to explain to the participant that they have been chosen for a set of particular reasons. I explain my rational for the study, I explain my ideas and desire to explore gender differences in preparedness for graduation and my interests in whether differences exist for women who are first generation college students and for women from different ethnic backgrounds. That's where I get stuck, I have a hard time explaining why I chose African American women--it's almost as if I feel like the participants assume that because I have selected an African American female population within the honors community that they are somehow less prepared or able than their peers from other ethnic backgrounds. No participant has indicated this at all, but I sense this non-verbally every time I engage in that initial conversation. I think I need to challenge myself both in terms of my presuppositions and biases consider whether these are accurate assumptions or fabricated because of my own insecurities. I think as I explore the literature more and continue to think about my study, these insights will become clearer to me.