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DreamCatchers: Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Allison Cheng & Yue Shi

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Background

DreamCatchers provides a welcoming after-school environment for low-income, underprivileged middle school students in PAUSD. Volunteers help DreamCatchers’ students develop more effective study habits, and provide homework help.

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Executive Director: Barbara Sih Klausner

Program Director: Miguel Fittoria

College Intern: Perla Ramos

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Goals of the Internship

  • Analyze data gathered from students and parents during the 2015-2016 school year

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  • Find common ideas and trends that could help improve the program

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Transcriptions

  • Audio interviews (students and volunteers):
  • Transcribe into text
  • Develop coding manual for qualitative data analysis

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  • Paper interviews (parents):
  • Transcribe into text
  • Translate from Spanish to English
  • Develop coding manual for qualitative data analysis

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Qualitative Data Analysis

Steps:

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  • Analyze audio interviews

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  • Find common themes in interviews

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  • Create coding manual

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  • Revise interview questions for the future

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Analyze Audio Interviews

Round 1:

  • Direct quotes
  • Repetition of words, phrases, or ideas
  • Take notes

Round 2:

  • Pause interview and discuss meaning behind words
  • Write down observations on poster paper
    • Color-code and symbolize

Round 3 (if needed):

  • Count number of repetitions for each repeated thought

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Coding Manual

Coding manual: method used to put qualitative data on a numerical scale

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  • Identify common ideas between interviewees
  • Rank presence of these ideas based on repetition and intensity
  • Provide detailed definition for each level on numerical scale
  • Apply numerical scale to interviews

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Example - Coding Manual

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Future Revisions

A good interview question…

  • Provokes a useful answer without asking the interviewee directly
  • Is general and open-ended for elaboration
  • Is broken up into several questions for follow-up
  • Asks for clarification

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We hope that our work will help with revisions for DreamCatchers’s future interview questions.

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What Did We Learn?

  • Collaboration with interns and adults
  • Job experience:
    • Flexibility in completing tasks
    • Busywork (essential, but tedious)
    • Scheduling consistent meetings
  • Qualitative data analysis

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Special thanks to:

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Get Involved Palo Alto

Ms. Owen

Nicole Chen

Hannah Hansen

DreamCatchers

Miguel Fittoria

Barbara Sih Klausner

Perla Ramos