Sara Petry
Qualitative Research Project - ED 151
The Project ...
This course was focused on introducing the theory and practice of basic qualitative research methods. In the span of one quarter, students take on a mini research project and go through all the steps in the process from defining a research question to collecting data to data analysis and making conclusions.
The Solution ...
Working with two other members of my cohort, we decided to take on a research question about effective methods for teach health and nutrition. After refining our research question, we had the opportunity to observe a fitness class at Stanford and to interview a dietician in San Francisco. During both of these processes, we observed strict research practices, such as taking field notes, diagramming the observation space, designing questions for our interviewer, and recording and transcribing interviews.
Once we did our data collection, we worked as a group to code our research, both from the observation and from the interviews, to make three distinct conclusions about the most effective ways to teach fitness and nutrition.