Fieldwork Lab Participation in Emergent Literacy Project

The Fieldwork and Qualitative Data Research Laboratory serves this project by supporting all aspects of the research that involve qualitative and ethnographic methods and their integration with quantitative methods.  This support includes assistance in research design and staff training, management and analysis of qualitative data, integrating qualitative and quantitative data sources, and presentation of qualitative data.  The Lab has worked to develop the Emergent Literacy Ecocultural Family Interview (EL EFI) for use in evaluating family daily routine activities associated with the development of language learning preparedness in pre-school aged children.  Following the application of the EL EFI, the Lab will participate in developing and applying strategies for analyzing the qualitative data and integrating these data with the quantitative data collected in other aspects of the project.  More specifically, these activities include:

1. EL EFI development to meet the specific needs of this project

2. Interviewer training

3. Strategies for the development and application of a coding system

4. Assessment of coding system reliability and validity

5. Interview transcript coding and retrieval strategies

6. Guidance, training, and supervision in the use of micro-computer software for managing, coding/retrieving, and analysis of qualitative data and subsequent integration with quantitative analyses

Key Lab personnel involved in this project include:

Eli Lieber, Ph.D.; Helen M. Davis, Ed.D.; Thomas S. Weisner, Ph.D., and Jenny M. Ortega, BA.