Thinking About Thinking

Reflections on Saldaña's Chapter 1:

I've always considered myself to be pensive. Yet, until combing through Saldaña's chapter 1, I've never fully processed my own "process" of thinking. Thankfully qualitative research is seemingly compatible with the way I "naturally do things". The chapter has been helpful in highlighting opportunities for my continued development as a researcher.

In my first year as an APU student, I discovered that my epistemology is centered on constructivism. After reading the chapter, I revisited my first paper.
      [Constructivism is knowledge constructed in conjunction with the individual experience. (Crotty, 2003; Feast, 2010; Takacs, 2003) Those who subscribe to constructivism believe that understanding is formed as the mind interacts with the world. (Feast, 2010) Crotty (2003) explains, “There is no objective truth waiting for us to discover it.  Truth, or meaning, comes into existence in and out of our engagement with the realities in our world.  There is no meaning without a mind. Meaning is not discovered, but constructed” (pp. 8-9). Constructivism recognizes the importance of the phenomenon and research rooted in participant observation. (Feast, 2010) Constructivism equally values the scientific and non-scientific aspects of research. (Feast, 2010) Mixed method research, the blending of quantitative and qualitative research, is most compatible to this form of epistemology.]

From the reading I identified the following components to my lens:
Black - Woman - Higher Ed Practitioner - Cisgender - Heterosexual - Middle Class -Differently Abled - Womanist

I will continue to reflect on this chapter throughout my research.