My research though for my dissertation is: Parents' and teachers' perceptions of how Carribean culture influences views about mental illness and stigma in the school environment. When it comes to academic achievement?

Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study

• Briefly describe the phenomena you are interested in studying.

2. Briefly summarize the key findings or what is understood about this phenomena based on the three articles you reviewed.

3. Briefly identify the “gap”—what do you see as an important, relevant, next step in learning more about this topic that would be appropriate for a qualitative study.

(Note: As you write your problem statement,

use your literature review/meta-analysis article,

your theory article,

and your research article to support your problem statement.

Part 2

_Write a purpose statement using terminology of qualitative research. The purpose statement should contain:

1. A statement using the following template: The purpose of this qualitative study is to [choose one: explore, describe, understand, explain] the meaning/experience/culture/stories of [phenomenon of interest] in [population/setting].

2. A justification of why the purpose of your study is suited for the qualitative approach in terms of:

The phenomena you choose

The fit with a constructivist epistemology and ontology

The relevance of the naturalistic setting or context to the phenomena of interest.

Based on your knowledge of reflexivity, explain your relationship to the problem; and the issues of bias and positionality to be addressed.

The research question should incorporate and mirror the purpose statement using the following template: What is the meaning/experience/culture/stories of [phenomenon of interest] in [population/setting]?