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discussion of qualitative research
Qualitative-qualitative research
Qualitative-qualitative research
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Recommended: discussion of qualitative research
Introduction
In recent years, qualitative analysis has became predominant in current research, with many qualitative approaches, various ways of analysis are used such as thematic, ground theory, conversational analysis (Howitt and Cramer, 2010). Even though quantitative analysis is able to assist researcher gain information such as how many friends a person has, qualitative analysis is able to provide participants to give opinions about friendships without it being limited to a single number. Holloway and Todres (2003, Cited in Braun and Clark, 2006) said that qualitative methods are diverse and that thematic analysis is a foundational method when it comes to undergraduates carrying out a qualitative analysis for the first time. For this reason, this research will use a thematic analysis.
Friendship is a concept that is mostly researched upon young children due to the way they develop certain attachments and how it affects their future relationships including their friends. However there are not vast amounts of research based on how university students make friends during their first year. Many people assume that because they are adults it will relatively be easy, especially if they live in student accommodation as they share the experience together. However Hartup and Stevens (1997) argue that experience is not the only factor that contributes towards having friends and that individual differences also play a role. They also suggested that friendship also depends on who they are and the qualities they possess. Therefore this research will explore how friendships are made at university among first year undergraduates.
Method
Participants
The development of friendships is a common topic being currently researched upon and therefo...
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Buote et al. (2007). The Importance of Friends: Friendship and Adjustment Among 1st-Year University Students. Journal of Adolescent Research. DOI: 10.1177/0743558407306344.
Hartup, W., & Stevens, N. (1997) . Friendships and Adaptation in the Life Course. Psychological Bulletin.
Howitt, D., & Cramer, D. (2011). Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology. (3rd Edition). England: Pearson Education Limited.
Lydon, J., Jamieson, D., & Holmes J. (1997). The Meaning of Social Interactions in the Transition From Acquaintanceship to Friendship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Madge, C., Meek, J., Wellens, J., & Hooley, T. (2009) Facebook, social integration and informal learning at university: ‘It is more for socialising and talking to friends about work than for actually doing work.’ Learning, Media and Technology. DOI: 10.1080/17439880902923606.
Many people think it is vital to surround yourself with a group of friends and to belong, especially when you are in high school. After watching the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks, it is evident there are several great examples of interpersonal communication, as well as numerous types of friendships. These varying relationship examples will be discussed.
Marion Winik’s “What Are Friends For?” expresses the characteristics of friendships and their importance in her existence. Winik begins by stating her theory of how some people can’t contribute as much to a friendship with their characteristic traits, while others can fulfill the friendship. She illustrates the eight friendships she has experienced, categorized as Buddies, Relative Friends, Work Friends, Faraway Friends, Former Friends, Friends You Love to Hate, Hero Friends, and New Friends. In like manner, the friendships that I have experienced agree and contradict with Winik’s categorizations.
Karbo Karen. "Friendship: The Laws of Attraction." Psychology Today 39.6 (2006): 90-95. EBSCOhost. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Erick Erickson developmental theory is one of the most influential theories in human development. His stages of development elaborate on ambiguous developmental period in which he characterizes conflict of Intimacy vs. Isolation in young adult, Generativity vs Stagnation in middle adulthood and Integrity vs. Despair in late adulthood (Schwartz, 2001). Erickson’s developmental stages theory paves the way for in-depth research on social developmental changes that occurred from young adulthood (18-25), middle adulthood (26-39), to late adulthood (40-67). In his developmental research on social relationships, Berndt (2002) found that friendships vary in term of quality, stability, intimacy and number. These changes are link to socioemotional selectivity theory, which explains how across the lifespan, individuals gradually interact with fewer people as they deliberately withdraw from social contact in peripheral relationship, while maintaining or increasing involvement in relationships with
In addition to romantic partners, other age peers such as friends and family have the potential to become dominant attachment figures for adults. Throughout adolescence and early adulthood, friends and romantic partners gradually replace parents as the preferred source of emotional support and proximity seeking (Freeman & Brown, 2001; Hazan & Zeifman, 1994). Shifts in attachment tend to be a function of the relationship length, and only longer lasting friendships are likely to create close attachment bonds (Fraley & Davis, 1997). Enduring close friendships have the potential to
According to a study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science journal, researchers have found that much of a young person’s personality is formed as early as first grade. It is fascinating how important these formative years are to a person’s future life. If our personality and perspective on life is formed by such a young age, it should then be understood that those people closest to us are the ones framing our perspective on life. These perspectives follow us throughout much of our adolescence and even into adulthood. How fitting it seems then, that the categories we find many of our friends fall into appear to be affected by the attention, or lack thereof, received at home at an early age. As I look back at my group of friends from high school, it is clear that we all had someone in our lives were trying to please. The only real difference appears to be the way we went about getting the approval we so desperately desired.
As people grow, a variety of relationships develop over time. Relationships with family, friends, and romantic partners are such examples of these diverse ties. Friendships in particular are affected by the following: the level of interaction involved, how communication between two friends is established, and contact, if they exist, between multiple circles of friends through one person. Some examples of these are friendship expectations, the stages of childhood friendship, and the stages of adult friendship.
From a young age most people have gone through many relationships with other people who were not their family. Thus, we often acknowledge these relationships as friendships. But the word friend is too broad, so people categorize their friends to several types. In her book “Necessary Losses: The Lovers, Illusions, Dependencies and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow”, Judith Viorst divided friendships to six types. Those are convenience friends, special Interest friends, historical friends, crossroad friends, cross-generation friends and close friends. In my life, I have been friend with many people since I was little. Although I have met all six kinds of friend of Viorst, convenience friends and close friends are two important kinds of friends in my life.
This longitudinal perspective opens up the possibility that the peer social environment is one that is dynamic. Friendships can be added and terminated resulting in the number of friends reported changes from childhood into and through adolescence. Children moving from intimate elementary classroom settings into a broader age range of adolescents in junior high and high school increases the potential for developing friendships with older adolescents. At the same time, the quality of the relationships with these friends may also be changing. Adolescent relationships are becoming more intimate than those of childhood with the sharing of intimate feelings and being aware of the needs of others becoming a prominent feature of friendship during adolescence.
Hewstone, M. Fincham, F. and Foster, J (2005). Psychology. Oxford: The British Psychological Society, and Blackwell Publishing. P3-23.
Besides looking at the influence that close friendship has on the cognitive development in childhood, another factor that was focused upon is the emotion component. Past research has shown that having friends help to buffer negative repercussion from peer rejections as it provides a positive emotional function (Estell, et al., 2009). The importance of close friendship in childhood is illustrated by a finding of 18 years of longitudinal study, which reported people who had no close friends during childhood are prone to have psychological predicament where they demonstrate symptoms of internalizing or externalizing (Sakyi, Surkan, Fombonne, Chollet & Melchior, 2015). In close friendship, there are differences between gender. This can be seen in a research that indicated that among close friendship between girls and boys, girls have the tendency to be more affectionate in sharing their personal details as compared to boys who are more prone engaging in physical activities (Beazidou & Botsoglou, 2016). This is supported by the information that girls are more inclined to show affinity while boys are more prone to show power (Rabaglietti, Vacirca, Zucchetti & Ciairano,
One of the greatest aspects of one’s life is the friendships made throughout the years. Friends are there to help comfort, laugh with, ward off loneliness, and to build up connections between other people. Amongst these attributes, friends at a young age help children to “build trust in people outside their families and consequently help lay the groundwork for healthy adult relationships (Stout, 2013, para. 14).” However, with the introduction of technology brings along social medi...
Michael J. Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University and author of“Facing the Facebook” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, states that the initial purpose of having access to the Internet in the classroom was to give students the opportunity to conduct research. However, this privilege is rapidly being used as a means for students to not pay attention during class. A poll was taken at Iowa State University where 20,247 out of the 25,741 enrollees were registered on Facebook (Bugeja 1). Social networking sites such as Facebook have had some negative effects in academia such as “institutions seeking to build enrollment learn that ‘technology’ rates higher than ‘rigor’ or ‘reputation’” (2), that there has been improper use of the freedom to use technology in the classroom, that employers and parents check Facebook to see what users have been doing, and that technology is an overall distraction in the classroom.
The journey of life follows a predetermined pattern; we evolve from needing influence and guidance to finally reaching that point where our lives are up to us. I consider myself very lucky up to this point in my journey. Some people become sidetracked and wind up on a far different course than initially planned, but the detours I made have only assisted in embellishing the individual instead of devouring it.
Wise, L. Z., Jason Skues, and Benedict Williams. "Facebook in Higher Education Promotes Social but not Academic Engagement." Changing Demands, Changing Directions. Proceedings Ascilite Hobart 2011 (2011): 1333-1342. Ascilite with Full Text. 9 Feb. 2014.