The Anatomy of Romance: Preliminary Plan - Research Proposal Example

The Anatomy Running head: PRELIMINARY PLAN FOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH The Anatomy of Romance: A Preliminary Research Plan Angie Nunley Northcentral University School of Psychology The Anatomy 2 The Anatomy of Romance: A Preliminary Research Plan The way in which the research for The Anatomy of Romance will be designed will utilize a number of techniques that are recognized for useful approaches in a qualitative study. The study will attempt to create a metaphorical framework that explains the experiences of the participants. Several case studies will be designed based on interviews and observation with participants that fit into parameters that are designed to best construct a foundation for the approach to the topic. After a thorough review of relevant literature and an analysis of the developments of the case studies, conclusions will be drawn about the way in which the language of romance is created between two people. The participants for the study will be couples who are perceived as relationally successful, content, and have been married for a minimum of twelve years. It is important that the perception of this marital state does not suggest that it is an actuality of the relationship, but that others see them in this context. The couple should also hold this perception. These couples will be heterosexual, providing impute from both genders. Ethnic origins will not be a consideration in choosing a couple, but cultural factors that affect the case study will be included as it is necessary. Anonymity of the participants will be maintained as alternative names will be chosen to identify the individuals within the relationships. Initially, religious leaders will be approached to recommend couples who might be interested in participating in the study. The denominations from which the leader or leaders are selected to act as the conduit to the prospective participants will not be relevant to the study unless the culture of the religion has an impact on the way in which The Anatomy 3 the relationship is developed. However, an attempt to find sources that do not have traditions outside of a traditional American cultural adaptation will be made in order to not add a further aspect to the scope of the investigation. The reason that the search for participants will be done through the use of religious leaders is that: 1. These sources have the best opportunity for finding couples who have the named criteria. 2. Marriages that have a similar religious foundation are found to have greater longevity than do marriages without that foundation (Bulmer, 1984, p. 120). 3. Religious leaders have an intimate relationship with many of their congregants and can more readily recommend couples with a perceived success. 4. Religious organizations can be easily accessed and the cooperation of the leaders has a greater chance for success because promoting the concept of long and successful marriage is in the interest of most of these groups. This will provide a foundation for the concept that the couples are perceived as content in a long-term marriage. A short interview will be given to the religious leader who acts as a ’gatekeeper’ to ascertain why he or she is recommending these particular couples. The couples will be approached in ways that the ’gatekeeper’ feels is most respectful of their opportunity to agree or disagree to participate in the study. When contact has been established, a copy of the consent form will be sent to the potential participants The Anatomy 4 as a preliminary to making an appointment for the interview. Ideally, the interviews will be held in the homes of the participants in order to broaden the possibility of observational opportunity. The consent form will reveal the purpose of the study and the way in which the topic will be approached as it concerns the interview. The secondary purpose of the consent form will be to relieve as much anxiety before the interview as possible, opening the communication to deeper revelation. The intent of the interview will be to not only ascertain answers to the questions, but observe the way in which the two participants behave toward each other. Relieving anxiety before the interview will allow for easier interactions that can be observed. Part of the literature study will be an exploration of relationship interaction and body language so that interpretations of the observations can be analyzed and interpreted during the analysis phase. The first way in which the information collected will be analyzed will be in choosing the cases from which to develop case studies. Assembling case records of the most informative interviews will be done by assembling the data into a “manageable and accessible file” (Patton, 2002, p. 450) for each participating couple. When the cases have been reviewed, the examples that provide the most rich content will be developed into a narrative. The research will develop through the use of a sensitizing concept (Patton, 2002, p. 456)in the way the romance is defined. In studying the experiences of long-term marriages, the concept of romance as being defined by gifts and exorbitant attention is unreasonable. Initially, the definition of romance will involve a more subtle language that promotes the idea that thoughtfulness and consideration are the basis for the way The Anatomy 5 in which romantic expressions are created over a period of time. An example of this is a husband who maintains a car for his wife because he wants her to be safe. However, maintaining the car over concern for the car might not qualify. The intention of the act, gesture, or comment defines the concept. As the case studies are developed using the sensitizing concept, employing the use of a replication strategy (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p. 174) will create a sense of commonality between the cases. At this point, the cases will be examined through cross-case comparison to search for patterns of divergence (Patton 2002: Miles and Huberman 1994) that will be used to type the differences and develop pattern relationships. More interesting than the commonalities, will be the differences that are revealed. Corbin, Strauss, and Strauss (2008) refer to a Conditional/Consequences Matrix which appears to include the components necessary to analyze the relevant data in a grid form (p 91). This matrix allows for “findings (that) don’t oversimplify the phenomena, but rather capture some of the complexity of life”(p. 91). An example of how this might be utilized is by creating a relationship between a condition and the consequentially romantic response that creates the entity of romance within the relationship. As the topic will be primarily approached from the phenomenology aspect of qualitative research, the emphasis will be placed on the concept of the experience, rather than on any quantifiable data that could be used in relationship to the study. However, it will be valuable to include secondary research that includes statistics on marriage longevity, including research that samples a wide variety of participants in regard to the perceived success of their marriage. Relating the case studies to national statistics will The Anatomy 6 provide a context for the marriages that are studied. This research will create a method of reference in which the cases can be framed within the culture of American relationships. The phenomenological approach that will be the basis for this study will focus on the experiences of a man and a woman in a marriage within the American culture in which a sense of romance helps to continue the original connection that brought them into matrimony. By examining marriages that have lasted longer than twelve years, a focus will be made on a sensitized concept of romance in the context of thoughtful and considerate gestures, actions, and words that connect their emotional experience with one another. When the data collected through the interviews and observations are put into an organized context, and then into narratives of case studies, the commonalities and divergences will develop into findings that can be put into a matrix for further analysis. Once the findings are analyzed, it is hoped that the research can provide insight into the experience of the perceived success of a marriage, how that perception is defined inside and outside of the marriage, and what connections appear to be common to this phenomenon. The Anatomy 7 Reference List Bulmer, M. (1984). Sociological research methods. New Brunswick, USA: Transaction Books. Corbin, J. M., Strauss, A. L., & Strauss, A. L. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Los Angeles, Calif: Sage Publications Gubrium, J. F., & Holstein, J. A. (2002). Handbook of interview research : context & method. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Patton, M. Q., & Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications. Read More