From 'steady progress' to 'stormy seas'

Just when I thought I had methodology sorted! I have just finished taking notes from Hancock, T.E et al (2005). Attempting valid assessment of spiritual growth: A survey of Christ-centred living. Christian Education Journal 3 2(1), 129-153.

Their work could change mine.

Hancock et al surveyed freshmen and seminarians in an on-campus setting to measure and compare spirituality across both groups, as a snapshot. One of their findings (from my notes – emphasis added):

Hancock et al (2005, p.147) found in their survey that those scales “that focus on an individual’s living of Christ with other Christians... are among the lowest of all items for both seminarians and freshmen”. They also found that “of the 18 items that discriminate between freshmen and seminarians, there was not one of these five items [relating to the living of Christ with other Christians] that is significantly higher for the seminarians”, noting that “it could be that this vital aspect of the Christ-centred life is just not developing properly” (2005, p.147).

In other words, freshmen at the entry part of the University programme and seminarians at the start of theirs, both in on-campus settings, reported poor relationships with other Christians – as I would expect in my own thesis. While this is useful fodder for my own study, Hancock et al have also developed a rather good instrument… while they intend it for longitudinal comparison, I am considering its potential for use in comparison across the on-campus (part-time and full-time) and distance student groups.

At the back of my mind I have often wondered how graduates of previous years might be able to adequately recall their study experiences over time, as my own (draft) methodology required. If I switch to an existing instrument, I might be able to focus on surveying final-year students with 60 or fewer credits remaining before they achieve their 360 credit degree. This will remove any error that might arise from recall and improve the objectivity of the study. There are some additional things I would like to measure relating to the transformative aspects of their study experiences however for my interest relating to spiritual formation drawing on Hancock et al’s instrument seems a good move.

So, methodology for my study is yet to settle. I had, until now, considered a mixed-mode study that would begin by developing a quantitative instrument based on qualitative interviews exploring graduates' understanding of spiritual formation during their studies. Now, it seems, I may be able to focus instead on rich data-gathering for comparison rather than instrument creation. This means I may be able to include some questions relating to educational transformation (again drawing on an existing instrument) alongside those relating to spiritual formation (drawing on Hancock et al and Ma, whose work I mention in my previous post).

I have some six or so more works (including books and a dissertation) to consider before coming back to my methodology. For now, I have the sense of being in story waters where once steady progress was being made! I just hope my hull is up for the journey ;o)