Journal of Advocacy, Research and Education

60-65

Authors: Jacob Owusu Sarfo, Timothy Pritchard Debrah, Newton Isaac Gbordzoe, William Twum Afful, Paul Obeng

Qualitative research is currently growing in acceptance, especially within the health research scope. Notwithstanding this positive trend, issues about the adequacy of sample size have been a contention among qualitative and quantitative-based researchers. Our paper seeks to address some of the issues facing popular qualitative designs in human research with this backdrop. Our article explains the five key qualitative designs (case study, narrative inquiry, ethnography, phenomenology, and grounded theory). Based on the existing studies, we reported their respective sample size ranges that supported their data adequacy points. Our paper posits that sample size concerns for qualitative designs revolve around their extensiveness and appropriateness. Therefore, qualitative researchers’ judgement for data adequacy for a particular method should not only rely on data saturation or a rule-of-thumb. Instead, they should also be guided by their research goals, sampling approach, and research participants. Furthermore, we recommend that qualitative researchers always verify the quality of data saturation by conducting additional interviews and be more open in reporting their selected methodologies.

70-79

Authors: Jon Oscar Gary

This paper aims to extend the researcher’s initial findings of information and communication technology (ICTs) of a decade ago, with current cultural and technical capital as a framework for considering alternative approaches of empowering Black Women as our next technology leaders through current social justice movements. This study focused on protest movements led by three Black women; leading groups of different ages and social classes (most notably Black Lives Matter), and their frameworks in organizing protests. The analytics used were website traffic statistics, demonstration participant numbers, and similar dominant themes revealed between all three movements. In times past, these Black women’s ideas may have only been exchanged in spaces such as in family food-way meal preparation and health needs. Combined with current technological advances, these frameworks overlap with designing external performance spaces with designs by young Black girls in k-12 settings. The researcher claims that the deficit model provided by digital divide research phenomenologically captured the structure Black women efficiently used to articulate cultural capital and technology frameworks. These frameworks helped in organizing the George Floyd influenced protest marches during the challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

88-94

Authors: Mbusiseni Celimpilo Dube, Chinaza Uleanya, Dumsani Wilfred Mncube

Classroom interaction during teaching practice is the crucial aspect that shapes schools’ teaching and learning enterprise. Student teachers must develop their lesson plan guided by classroom interaction as one of the teaching styles similar to those observed from mentors. This exploratory case study was underpinned by a qualitative approach to better understand their experiences and context. The sample consisted of university supervisors who were selected from the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa. Using thematic analysis, narrative reflections, and one-on-one structured interviews with 17 university supervisors were analysed. Findings revealed that most student teachers failed to integrate classroom interaction when teaching, while some relied on question and answer method to implement classroom interaction. This study recommends that students first be exposed to laboratory simulated lessons capable of helping them acclimatise to classroom interaction dynamics. Also, student teachers should be introduced to more dynamics of the question and answer teaching method.

39-43

Authors: Yi Wang

This study presents the final results of 15 classes conducted in Tianjin Instrument Radio Industry School following the adoption of the Sanquan Educational Model. I explored in this study the factors that influence students’ performance in mathematics, English language, Chinese history, mechanical drawing, and electrical training using the Sanquan Educational Model. Also, I compared the performance of students who received Sanquan Education before and after using this approach for three years. Results show that factors such as type of subject, class size, time spent with teachers and students play a vital role in students’ performance. Furthermore, the Sanquan Educational Model positively affected natural science courses than the social sciences. This model of instruction offers a constructive approach to improving students’ academic performance. Thus, the middle-class teaching scale in natural science could benefit from this teaching and learning approach.

49-57

Authors: Iryna O. Zhuvahina

The necessity to assess the inner investment potential of the retail trade enterprise to provide simple and/or expanded reproduction purposes and the feasibility of their implementation through comparing existing resources and their needs has been outlined. The methodology for determining the retail trade enterprise needs in investment resources has been presented based on the type and form of reproduction of the retail trade enterprise of Ukraine. The matrix “Sufficiency – Perspectivity” has been developed, which provides an analysis of the ratio of dynamics of available investment resources and their needs in the form of indexes of relevant analytical indicators in accordance with the general strategy of development of domestic retail.

3-12

Authors: Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva

In early 2017, a manuscript was submitted to a special issue of Walailak Journal of Science and Technology (WJST), a free (platinum) open access (OA) journal published in Thailand. Prior to submission, WJST was checked for most obvious signs of predatory OA publishers and being covered by SCOPUS and listed at Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), it was determined to be a non-predatory OA journal. An editor-created account that entered incorrect data and without the implicit permission of the corresponding author raised an immediate red flag. WJST immediately corrected that error. After submission, the article was peer-reviewed, and the steps between editorial revision and final proof processing and publication were fairly quick, and professionally handled. No DOI was assigned. An unrelated article published in WJST with an apparent error in a figure was discovered. The authors of that paper were contacted about the query, and the journal and editors were copied. After a week of silence, the editor contacted the corresponding author (CA). After one more week, and with the threat of retraction by the editor-in-chief if no suitable explanation was provided, the CA responded. No explanation was provided for the figure irregularities, and it was discovered that the CA had submitted the paper without the knowledge of at least one of the authors, with whom he had not been in contact since 2004. In clear breach of the ethical and submission policies of the journal, WJST decided to swiftly retract the paper, the first-ever such retraction for WJST. WJST was caught by surprise and was very apologetic for editorial oversight. This case represents a rarely documented and witnessed birth of a potential black swan event – a highly unlikely or improbable event – in an OA journal. Future perspectives and cautious advice are provided.

21-27

Authors: Jelisavka Bulatović, Goran Rajović

Studies on rural settlements are useful for tourism, research, historical, and educative purposes. Notwithstanding the indisputable global need for studies in the area of rural settlements, little works have been conducted so far. Since Montenegro lags behind most European and even neighboring countries in this respect, we explored rural settlement in Gnjili Potok until the immigration of Slavs using a geographical (spatial) method. Our findings show that the main relics in the field of social life in the considered geo-space were and are still indicative of tribal-brotherhood and family relations. Furthermore, the history rural settlement of Gnjili Potok is not fully explored, so its history, as well as the history of many other rural settlements in Montenegro, cannot be reliably traced until 1744. It is almost certain that the ancient peoples (Illyrians, Celts, Romans) lived in the area of the rural settlement of Gnjilog Potoka and that they were engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. Therefore, our study contributes to the study of the rural settlement of Gnjili Potok from the aspect of the evolution of the settlement to the immigration of Slavs.