Discussion 6 responses: Read and respond to the four posts below.

Joy -Inside Out

            When I think of living “Inside Out” I am immediately reminded of the relationship between man and the Holy Spirit. If we have ears to listen and eyes to see, the truth will be revealed to us, and we will be able to move forward in the right way after discernment: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (ESV, 2016, John 16:13). It is imperative to look inside, to take quiet moments where everything else around us is settled so that we can focus on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

            The best comparison I can think of is in my teaching job when I must supervise the cafeteria. If I am standing in the cafeteria alone and focusing only on supervising and observing the behaviors of students to make sure they are following directions and being safe, then I’m better able to discern whether that is actually happening because all of my focus and attention is on that task, at hand. If I am doing my supervisory duty while I’m talking to another colleague or simultaneously working on my computer, only looking up every couple of minutes, then it is much more likely that I will be missing critical moments that I should be witnessing. My attention is diverted, and I am not able to be fully present in the moment, doing what is expected of me. The same goes with listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If our attention is constantly on other things – the things of this world, like television, our phones, activities – then we can’t be fully present in the quiet moments where God is revealing to us His plan for all the circumstances in our lives. We are then living for ourselves, as opposed to living for God and His purpose and plan for our lives.

            So, living “inside out” means that we are spending intentional, quiet moments with God by looking 
within ourselves, to be in relationship to God, to know the right course for living those plans through action 
outside of ourselves. Our actions become the effects of our internal time spent with our Heavenly Father. Since we can do nothing without God, we must be in relationship with Him in the quiet, true recesses of our hearts to intentionally live out our lives each and every day.

References

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Bible Gateway – John 16:13 ESV.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A13&version=ESV

Weston Inside Out

When reading Jesus’s words on the sermon on the mount, what he is calling people to live for is wildly radical. The audience of his sermon would have been very surprised by his teachings, and many would be offended and upset by Jesus’ message. We don’t have any insight into how people responded to the message, but it is safe to say many people would have been confused by what Jesus was telling them.

Jesus wanted this people to have a strong desire to love God and follow him with all that they have. He wanted them to seek after God and desire to know him and be known by him. Jesus said in his sermon “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”. God wants us to seek after what he declares as good and righteous and wants us to have a heart that desires His will.

The purpose of the beatitudes is to help us understand our need for God. We are blessed when we mourn our sin and understand our need for forgiveness. Jesus was trying to help people prepare their hearts to accept the gift of salvation and forgiveness of sins that he was going to offer them after his death and resurrection. The people obviously wouldn’t be able to see that or understand in the moment but being able to see the full picture this message is one done out of great love and desire to be in relationship with these people.

As I reflect on my own life what the beatitudes means for me, I understand that Jesus is calling us to surrender all to Christ and chose to live for him. When we do this and give ourselves over to Christ we will be transformed. In order to live inside out we have to give ourselves over to God. We cannot change on our own but only through the transformation that comes with knowing Christ and giving all of ourselves to him.

Weston- Qualitative

Qualitative data is information that researchers gather that don’t have numerical value and are sometimes more challenging to measure and study. Some ways that researchers gather this information is through surveys, observations, case studies, and interviews. Qualitative data is made up of things that cannot be concretely measured such as, thoughts, opinions, and dreams. Qualitative data is usually taking more time to collect than quantitative and it usually takes more time to analyzing the information and decipher the results. The reason to use qualitative studies is because they allow for open ended questions and can tell the narrative of what is happening better than quantitative data at times. Although the scientific community prefers the hard data that quantitative data brings, qualitative data allows us to study new ideas and topics that can’t be measured using quantitative data.

After learning more about qualitative research I still believe I want to keep my research topic the same and continue to use quantitative measurements to study how gratitude impacts anxiety and depression. If I was trying to measure what factors lead to increased anxiety and depression in college students, then I would be much more intrigued to try to collect qualitative data. Although interviews and other ways of collecting data are valid, I believe having my participants take surveys that can be more easily measured would be more efficient and more reliable.

When attempting to decide whether to use a qualitative or quantitative research design it is best to grasp exactly what you are trying to measure and accomplish. If I was trying to have a better understanding of group opinions, thoughts, or feelings about a topic then a qualitative approach would be very fitting. However, if I was trying to conduct research with more concrete facts with more hard data then a quantitative research design would be the most fitting. It all comes down to what you are trying to study and what you want to accomplish with your research.

One question that comes to my mind is how qualitative data cannot be considered bias if it comes from only one or two researchers. It seems like how results are scored and measured is greatly impacted on how researchers score and label results which could be easily influenced by biases. The wording of questions in an interview could led people to answer a certain way. It seems like there are a lot of ways that bias could influence the results whether it is intentional or not.

Cing – Qualitative

“Qualitative research involves asking participants about their experiences of things that happen in their lives. It enables researchers to obtain insights into what it feels like to be another person and to understand the world as another experiences it. With qualitative data, one can preserve chronological flow, see precisely which events lead to which consequences, and derive fruitful explanations” (Austin & Sutton, 2014). Qualitative research methodology is not a single method; it has variety. For example, qualitative data can be collected through interviews, focus groups, and observations. 

Since qualitative research is interested in participants’ experiences of life events and seeks to analyze what the participants have said, in most circumstances, research must be conducted safely and securely. 

This learning informed me that I am doing a qualitative research proposal. I feel like I do not need to change anything about my proposal because I have been doing the right kind of proposal. I wanted to know if there is a connection between parenting style and depression among adolescents. I planned to use secondary data, most of which follow qualitative research. And in those secondary data, data were collected using interviews, focus groups, and observations. 

Now, I am confused about determining whether I want to use a qualitative or quantitative research design. Because, to my understanding, I use both designs. I thought that was what was required from the other assignment. Now, this question throws me off. It made me lost and confused once again. 

References:

Austin, Z., & Sutton, J. (2014). Qualitative Research: Getting Started. 
The Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 
67(6), 436-440. 

https://doi.org/10.4212/cjhp.v67i6.1406

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