Case study, North Carolina

I've decided to concentrate my case study on North Carolina Native Americans (Cherokee, Catawba) and Researchers (museum professionals, anthropologists) and the effect of NAGPRA.

New Ideas about Garbage

Looking at Joanne Martin's ideas on the 'garbage research model' as applied to social science research.  I read her 1981 paper and found it an interesting idea on how you put your head around a doing research in a field that has no dominant paradigm.  Although intriguing, I'm not positive that I can apply it to my proposal, but I may try.

Qualitative Analyses of Documents

The use of content analyses of documents produced by past NAGPRA conferences such as minutes of meetings, letters, memoranda, speeches other ephemera could give a good insight as to the evolution of the Act over the past 20 years.

Participant Observation

Interested in adding some participant observation into the mix.  Robson stated that it is used in case studies.  This would only be sitting in on a meeting of NAGRA representatives.  But perhaps I could find a couple of key informants for my research.

Skype Interview

Looking into using Skype as a way to interview individuals for my research proposal.  I found some guidelines from a paper by Jane K. Cater (2011) for using Skype for qualitative research "Skype: A cost effective method for qualitative research."
The link suggests using Call Recorder for Skype to record the interview, which can be downloaded from ecamm.com.  This software records Skype audio and video.
It also suggests ways to easily transcribe the interview by using transcription software or the QuickTime control box.

Intro and Lit Review

Currently working on the introduction and literature review for research proposal.  Also been perusing some of the samples for a better feel of how others have structured their papers.  Especially interested in the appendix.  I know that I am not going to have a questionnaire or a survey, but it is going to be dependent on interviews as I've already mentioned.  I feel that it is starting to look less and less nebulous.

Case Study

On further research I've decided to go with the flexible design research strategy.  This strategy is concentrated in qualitative research, which fits my research proposal because it is interview heavy.  I also believe that the best flexible strategy approach for my work is the case study.  This approach can be used to focus on an organization, such as the organization made up of museum professional, anthropologists, and Native American leaders that are the ones who make decisions based upon the NAGPRA legislation.