Critiquing Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research Critique Student Name Institution Course Professor Name Date Qualitative Research Critique Dissertation 1: Meaningful Work and Remote Employee Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic The research conducted by Monique Foster analyzes middle manager strategies for generating meaningful work engagement among staff members during remote work situations caused by COVID-19 through narrative inquiry. The study builds on the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused organizations to implement work-from-home policies that disrupted employee work meaningfulness. The study’s purpose is well defined and presented in the problem statement, which identifies the lack of research on how middle managers can sustain meaningful work from a distance. The purpose is well connected to the problem, which is to explore the stories of middle managers during this process. The questions are research questions; they are open-ended, appropriate for a narrative approach, and directed at these managers. The study’s theoretical framework is based on the literature on meaningful work and employee engagement. These theories offer the theoretical framework through which the researcher makes sense of middle managers’ experiences of remote work transitions. The study can establish several constructs pertinent to how employees find meaning and meaninglessness in their positions. However, the study would have been more beneficial if the author explained how these theoretical concepts apply to the narrative inquiry approach. It would have been helpful to explain how the theory is applied to data analysis or how it fits into the narrative structure of the study to strengthen the link between the conceptual and methodological frameworks. The chosen methodology is suitable for answering the research questions, which are exploratory and based on the phenomenological approach. The qualitative approach is ideal for describing the leadership and engagement during remote work due to COVID-19. Using ten middle managers for the study provides a rich data set from which the interviewees are free to express themselves but are guided by the general themes under investigation. This format is suitable for detailed storytelling, which aligns with the narrative design. The study could also enhance the way it addressed the issue of sample size and how saturation was attained. The data collection and analysis process is explained in detail, making the study more credible and reproducible. The study reveals four conceptual categories derived from the data, which gives a systematic view of the managers’ experiences. There is one area that could be improved in the paper, and it is the section on data preparation. However, the process of preparing the data for analysis, for instance, transcription and coding procedures, could have been explained in detail to increase the credibility of the study. In terms of data representation, the study employs narratives to present the findings; however, using tables or models would help the reader summarize the key themes. Foster’s work provides valuable information on how middle managers can help keep employees engaged and find purpose during extraordinary circumstances. The narrative inquiry design is appropriate to capture these experiences as they are complex, but some of the methodological aspects could be elaborated further. This research is particularly significant for the current and future research on leadership in the context of telework. It also advises managers who want to maintain employees’ meaning in work for those physically distanced from their workplace. The research contributes to the knowledge of organizational behavior and leadership in the post-pandemic professional environment and can be helpful in practice and policy-making. Thus, by focusing on the actual practices applied during the crisis and remote work, the study helps to enrich the knowledge about the role of leadership in keeping motivation, connectedness, and meaning for the distributed teams. Dissertation 2: Well-Being of Leaders, Teachers, and Parents During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: A Basic Qualitative Study The title is appropriate for the study as it captures its essence: the state of the key stakeholders in education during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aligns with a qualitative research paradigm aiming to capture people’s experiences, especially during the disruption. The study’s participants are teachers, parents, and school leaders, all of whom have been affected by the pandemic in one way or another, thus making the study relevant. The introduction establishes the background of the study by explaining how the pandemic affected education systems globally. It emphasizes the transition to distance learning and its impact on those who are to ensure the continuity of education. The introduction is justified by the fact that the study is based on the early days of the crisis, especially New York’s “Pause” period, and the need to understand these changes’ emotional, psychological, and practical impact. This setup provides a good platform for analyzing the well-being of the frontline education stakeholders. The problem statement identifies the educational authorities’ absence of strategic planning and the pressure this creates for teachers, parents, and leaders. As stated earlier, this lack of planning and response exacerbates anxiety and reduces well-being. The problem regarding educational leadership, crisis response, and family-school relations in emergencies is significant and timely. The study’s objective is clearly defined: to understand the well-being of educators and families during the pandemic. It aligns with a qualitative approach, which focuses on collecting data through stories rather than figures. The three research questions are open-ended and suitable for a basic qualitative design, allowing for the examination of positive and negative factors in well-being during the remote learning period. This study’s theoretical framework is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Crisis Leadership Theory. These theories are ideal for evaluating how people manage and function in stressful situations. Nonetheless, the study could have been enhanced by a clearer link between these theories and the qualitative design outlining how th...