Farrah Mae C.

Castro 1
Qualitative Research

Running Head: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ARTICLE CRITIQUE

University of Southeastern Philippines[Type text] December 9, 2010

 Farrah Mae C. Castro 2
Qualitative Research

This paper is an academic critique of a qualitative research article by Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere

of the University of Alberta and E. Jane Watkinson of the University of Manitoba (2010) entitled

Inclusion Understood from the Perspectives of Children with Disability. It is a study that

explored the children with disabilities perspectives on inclusion particularly in physical activity

settings. It involved eleven (11) participants, nine (9) boys and two (2) girls aged 8 12 years

old. Participants were suffering from different physical disabilities including including cerebral

palsy, fine and gross motor delays, developmental coordination disorder, muscular dystrophy,

nemaline myopathy, brachial plexus injury, and severe asthma. The study was conducted using

semistructured interviews, both digitally audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Through content

analysis of the data gathered, they came up with three themes: gaining entry to play, feeling like

a legitimate participant, and having friends. The purpose behind the study was to examine how

children with disabilities see inclusion during physical activities.

University of Southeastern Philippines[Type text] December 9, 2010

 Farrah Mae C. Castro 3
Qualitative Research

In the study Inclusion Understood from the Perspectives of Children with Disability, Cavaliere

and Watkinson (2010) is primarily exploratory in nature and does not require a theory (Patton,

2002). Having this kind of approach gave the researchers the liberty to cite theories throughout

the duration of the study without necessarily being boxed in one deductive framework alone.

They employed purposeful sampling approach in selecting their participants, particularly

maximum variation sampling. It involved documenting unique or diverse variations that have

emerged in adapting to different conditions. It also identifies important common patterns that cut

across variations (Frida, 2009). Data was collected using two methodologies, individual

semistructured interviews and reflective field notes. Throughout the study, certain themes

emerged from the data which were collected and coded. These are gaining entry to play, feeling

like a legitimate participant, and having friends (Cavaliere & Watkinson, 2010, p. 4). These

themes are outlined in the results section of the report. These themes allow the researcher to

inductively generate hypotheses which result, in essence, in a grounded theory (Ivany, 2009, p.

5).

After gathering 183 pages of data, the researchers conducted Content analysis which is a

method for summarizing any form of content by counting various aspects of the content,

resulting to a more objective evaluation than comparing content based on the impressions of a

listener (List, 2005, para. 1).

Because of the bulk of data collected, one may have hesitations about the validity and credibility.

It is good, however, that the researchers took extra effort to determine dependability by

employing a second reader, who also had experience in qualitative research, to independently

encode the data (Cavaliere & Watkinson, 2010).

University of Southeastern Philippines[Type text] December 9, 2010

 Farrah Mae C. Castro 4
Qualitative Research

In general, I find this study satisfactory. I commend them for tediously and painstakingly

documenting the data. They also exhausted all possible means of validating their collected data

through the use of line-by-line analysis and audit trail. They even conducted two pilot studies

with two 10-year-old girls with the purpose of (a) to confirm the childrens understanding of the

questions and (b) for the researcher to practice her interviewing skills (Cavaliere & Watkinson,

2010, p. 6).

It was already mentioned in the the study that one of their limitations was that only two out of

the eleven participants were girls (Cavaliere & Watkinson, 2010, p. 17). This made it impossible

for the study to come up with an analysis as to whether there is a difference in the results

according to gender. It would have been good if one could see the comparison between how

girls and boys perceive inclusion in terms of physical activities.

I agree with the researchers when they said there are few studies that speak to children with

disabilities viewpoints of their own inclusive experiences (Cavaliere & Watkinson, 2010, p.

15). Most studies focus more on the readiness of the school, the teachers and the community.

What struck me the most in the paper are their recommendations.

The study states that:

For practitioners, recommendations to enhance childrens free play experiences may also

include (a) employing collaborative and cooperative learning approaches in structured

activity environments in ways that transfer well to less structured play settings, (b) using

peer-mediated strategies that emphasize the roles of peers over adults in intervention, (c)

preparing the physical play environment in advance using environmental supports to ensure

access, and (d) arming children with and without disabilities with the social skills required

to navigate the free play environment successfully (p.17).

University of Southeastern Philippines[Type text] December 9, 2010

 Farrah Mae C. Castro 5
Qualitative Research

These recommendations seem so simple and achievable but it is startling that little effort has

been made towards their implementation. Hopefully, in the years to come, when more studies

have been conducted, the education world would take time to see inclusion through the eyes of

those who are really at stake.

University of Southeastern Philippines[Type text] December 9, 2010

 Farrah Mae C. Castro 6
Qualitative Research

REFERENCES

Cavaliere, N. & Watkinson, E. (2010). Inclusion Understood from the Perspective of Children
with Disability. Human Kinetics, Inc.

List, D. (2005, February 4). Know your Audience: Chapter 16 Content Analysis. Retrieved
from http://www.audiencedialogue.net/kya16a.html

Frida, M. (2009). Sampling in Research. Retrieved from

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Mugo/tutorial.htm

Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

University of Southeastern Philippines[Type text] December 9, 2010