Qualitative Research: The Future
of Training Efficacy
ATTC: The Training Point
Conference call
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007
11:00 am Central Standard Time
The Future of Addiction
Treatment & Recovery
“Fostering the development of
Recovery-oriented Systems of
Care (ROSC)”
Clark, H.W. (2007) National Perspective & Future Directions. Center for Substance
Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
ROSC
Comprehensive, flexible, outcome
driven and uniquely individualized;
offering a fully coordinated menu of
services and supports to maximize
choice at every point in the Recovery
process.
Clark, H.W. (2007) National Perspective & Future Directions. Center for Substance
Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Implementing ROSC
 Requires Vision and Leadership
 Requires systems CHANGE at all levels
– Policy
– Service
– Staff
– Volunteer
Clark, H.W. (2007) National Perspective & Future Directions. Center for Substance
Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Creating Responsive Systems
When beginning any change initiative, it is
important to understand the multitude of
factors that influence an agency’s or an
individual’s willingness and readiness to
change.
The Change Book: A Blueprint for Technology Transfer (2nd.ed.). 2004. The
Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network.
Qualitative Research
Purpose is to understand human
experiences and reveal both the
processes by which people construct
meaning about their world and to
report what those meanings are.
Hull, G. (1997) “Research with Words: Qualitative Inquiry” Focus on
Basics 1, no. A. Boston, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult
Learning.
As the search for “Truth”.
Issues in contemporary qualitative research (2002). Australian
Journal of Adult Learning, Volume 42, Number 2.
vs. Quantitative Research
 Assumes similarity of adults for the purpose
of classification
 Assume behavior of adults is pre-determined
 Used mostly in physical sciences vs. social or
human issues
 Value free
Apps, J. (1979). Problems in continuing education, New York: McGraw-Hill
Adult Learning and Qualitative
Research
encompass:
 Life experience and knowledge
 Relevancy
 Diversity of learning methods
 Existing misinformation
Training Efficacy
in Addiction Treatment
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Transformative Learning
Action Learning
Experiential Learning
Critical Self-Reflection
McCutchan, S. (1997) Transformative Learning: Applications for
the Development of Learning Organizations. Midwest Research to
Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing and Community
Education. Michigan State University.
Learner Centered
Methods of Qualitative Research
 Action Research – identifying contradictions in
practice.
 Basic or Generic Qualitative study – simply seek to
discover and understand a process with the people
involved.
 Biography – study of an individual experiences as
told by the researcher.
 Case Studies – intensive descriptions and analyses
of a single unit or bounded system.
 Ethnography – Originally used by anthropologists, the
study of human society and culture of a specific
community.
Qualitative Research in Adult, Career, and Career-Technical Education Practitioner file
(2002). ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education Center on
Education and Training for Employment
Methods of Qualitative Research (Cont.)
 Grounded Theory – investigator assumes an
inductive stance and strives to derive meaning from
the data… a theory that emerges from or is grounded
in.
 Narrative Inquiry – accessing the meaning of past ,
present, and future events through alternating
processes of inductive reasoning.
 Naturalistic Inquiry – the observation and
interpretation of social phenomena or generation of
meaning in human interaction.
 Phenomenology – focus on the structure of an
phenomenon, as consciously experienced by those
involved, putting aside prior beliefs.
Qualitative Research in Adult, Career, and Career-Technical Education Practitioner file
(2002). ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education Center on
Education and Training for Employment.
Limitations
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Time and Resources
Training
Stigma - often called soft science
Change - norm of quantitative research
Qualitative Research in Adult, Career, and Career-Technical Education
Practitioner file (2202). ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational
Education Center on Education and Training for Employment.
Saving Lives…
through the Reality
of Systems.