Muslim Women/Veilrevised the Purpose of Research Is Essay

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Muslim Women/VeilREVISED

The purpose of research is to gather new information that adds to a body of understanding about a particular topic or theory. Educational research often examines the beliefs of educators; results can inform teaching practice (Panjares, 1992, p. 307). This paper examines the paradigms, ethics, research approaches, methodology and methods used by authors of two studies about the perceptions of Muslim women who veil. When perceptions of non-Muslims are recognized and understood, only then can people acknowledge any biases they may have and address them. Conducting research on biases is challenging since there are no objective measures and researchers often rely on subjects' self-reported data. Researchers can have their own biases, which they must be careful to recognize and then discard to the extent possible. People come to their ideas in certain ways, which are bound by cultural and social norms and parameters. For this reason, we need to acknowledge and understand there are different views of the world and different ways of gathering knowledge (Grix 2002, p. 178).

The two studies will be discussed in this paper in terms of the research process; methodology and methods; validity, reliability, and credibility, and ethical considerations. Paradigm will be discussed with respect to both studies since they are so similar in that regard. For the remaining factors, mentioned above, the studies will be discussed separately. The papers reviewed for this project are as follows:

Cole, D & Ahmadi, S 2003 'Perspective and Experiences of Muslim Women Who Veil

On College Campuses', Journal of College Student Development, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 47-66.

Paradigms

The choice of paradigm sets down the intent, motivation and expectations for the research (Mackenzie & Knipe, 2006, p. 194). The research by Cole and Ahmadi and Seggie and Sanford intended to gather anecdotal evidence from Muslim women who chose to veil on college campuses. The researchers began with the supposition that the veiled women would report incidence of prejudicial behavior towards them. The researchers brought some personal feelings about the topic since three out of the four are women; it is the rare woman who has not experienced some kind of gender bias at least once in her life.. Additionally, two of the researchers -- one on each team -- are Muslim women, bringing their unique perspective to the studies.

Educational ethnographers "describe, interpret, analyse and represent the lived experiences of schools, classrooms and workplaces" (Methodologies and Methods). Although the study had an element of ethnography in that in constructed a portrait of cultural life, ethnographers typically make their observations over a prolonged period of time. Neither research team did this. Instead, they interviewed very small samples and based their conclusions on their limited findings.

The researchers expected to find evidence of bias against veiled women and were not surprised their subjects reported it existed. The purpose of the study was not so much to determine whether or not bias existed, but how it is manifest on a college campus and how Muslim women reacted to it. The researchers were interested in whether bias ultimately affected women's decisions to unveil or remain veiled. They wanted to know how others' perceptions influenced Muslim women's feelings of belonging on campus, whether they felt ostracized, even to a degree, and whether that impacted their abilities to be successful academically and socially.

The paradigm of these two studies is an interpretivist/constructivist approach, having the intent to understand the world of human experience. As Mackenzie and Knipe (2006, p. 196) point out, researchers under this paradigm tend to rely upon the participants' views of the situation being studied, recognizing the impact of the background and experiences they, as researchers, also bring to the study. The researchers seek to broaden their understanding of veiled Muslim women and share the information they discover. The studies also hint at a political agenda, which extends them into the realm of the transformative paradigm. Transformative researchers "believe that inquiry needs to be intertwined with politics and a political agenda" (Cresswell, 2003, cited in Mackenzie & Knipe). A research study such as this one is necessarily transformative; to explore the perceptions of Muslim women may be of personal interest to the researchers, but without some belief that the results will support a higher purpose, it is merely an academic exercise. All four researchers seem too impassioned about the study and the women with whom they spoke for this to be the case.

Both studies discussed in this paper cite links between campus climate and educational outcomes, retention, and attrition of minority groups.

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It makes sense that the experiences of marginalized groups, in the words of the group members themselves, would resonate with educators and administrators intent on providing the best possible experience for all students.

Cole, D & Ahmadi, S

'Perspective and Experiences of Muslim Women Who Veil On College Campuses'

The Research Process

Cole and Ahmadi conducted their study to fulfill a need to add to the existing scanty body of literature on the topic of Muslim women who veil on college campuses. They were not interested, for the purpose of their studies, in exploring non-Muslim's attitudes from the non-Muslim perspective. They were interested in finding out how Muslim women who veiled perceived the attitudes of the non-Muslims around them. It is an interesting approach and one that goes directly to the heart of the matter. Boyer and Sedlacek (1995, cited in Cole & Ahmadi, 2003, p. 50) found "an ability to understand racism [was] significantly correlated to [grade point average]." On college campuses, where the researchers' study took place, it would be expected that there would be an intellectual understanding of prejudice. It is probable that most white students would state they were not biased against any group, including veiled Muslim women. Academic culture fosters an appreciation of diversity and students would most likely want to give the impression of religious tolerance, even if they did not really believe in it. Biases are often evidenced in subtle ways, institutionalized and unintentional. The researchers thus sought to eliminate so-named "white bias" and talk to the Muslim women directly, to learn their thoughts about their veiling practices and the impact of choosing to veil as minorities on the college campus. They did not want to know how non-Muslim students felt; they wanted to know the perceptions of the Muslim women who veiled.

Methodology and Methods

Methodology is defined as "the collection of methods or rules by which a particular piece of research is undertaken" and the "principles, theories and values that underpin a particular approach to research" (Somekh & Lewin, 2005, cited in Mackenzie & Knipe, 2006, p. 196). 'Methodology' and 'method' are sometimes used interchangeably by new researchers, indicating these concepts are not fully understood. Simply put, methodology has a broader context and refers to an overarching approach to a project. Methods are specific tools used, such as surveys and interviews. Methods can be said to be a sub-set of methodology; the reverse is not true.

Cole and Ahmadi conducted qualitative studies of the perceptions and experiences of veiled Muslim women on a college campus. Qualitative research is the perfect "fit" for social research; prejudice can only be scaled according to the perceptions of either the perpetrator or the individual affected, and in both cases the measurement is highly subjective.

Cole and Ahmadi devised a set of five open-ended interview questions. They asked interviewees to define 'veiling,' tell why they do (or did) veil, the extent to which they had considered not veiling, what the interviewees' thought veiling meant to their peers on campus, and what they thought people perceived of them and/or their veils on campus.

Research about prejudice can be uncomfortable. Prejudice against gender, ethnic, racial and religious groups is nothing new, but a research project that explores the origins, manifestations and/or consequences of prejudice forces the researchers to confront the realities in ways they had perhaps not previously done. Prejudice is emotionally charged, with elements of ignorance and fear. Beliefs held by one group about another can become part of the identity of the first group when there are long-standing traditions that shape the culture and the society. Research about prejudice can also be uncomfortable when the researcher has an emotional investment. Cole and Ahmadi are a Christian-Muslim team who investigated the experiences of Muslim women on college campuses. Their work took place before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 although the results were not published until early 2003 when there was heightened awareness of Muslim students on predominantly Christian college campuses and, in fact, in predominantly Christian societies as well.

Validity, Reliability and Credibility

Validity in a research study determines if the construct being used actually measures what it is designed to measure. The study by Cole and Ahmadi did not attempt to quantify the results obtained from interviewing the subjects. They did not, for example, ask subjects to rate their experiences on any kind of scale. The evidence collected was merely anecdotal.

Reliability refers to the nature.....

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