TPC-Journal-V5-Issue3

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 3 330 was recorded. Digital files were immediately uploaded to a password-protected laptop once the interviews and focus group were completed. In order to ensure confidentiality, each participant received a pseudonym and all data (i.e., digital recordings, typed transcripts) were password protected. Data Collection and Analysis The authors utilized the following three data collection points in this study: individual interviews, a focus group and a visual representation. During the individual interview, participants answered questions from a semistructured protocol as well as questions about two articles that they were asked to read prior to their interview. During the focus group interview, participants answered questions from a semistructured protocol and drew a picture of what they imagined (i.e., visual representation) when they heard the word research . Importantly, visual representations facilitated a deeper co- construction of meaning relating to the levels of RI. According to Pain (2012), visual methods in research can build a trusting relationship with and between participants, encourage discussion, and facilitate the expression of abstract ideas. Visual representation also “allows for the creation of new insights using art either as the starting point for creative thought generation or as the means by which new meanings in the research can be expressed” (Poldma & Stewart, 2004, p. 146). The researchers critiqued the data through a process suggested by Moustakas (1994) in conducting a phenomenological study. Bracketing of personal thoughts and feelings was done prior to and after each interview in order to ensure greater potential for objectivity and accurate representation of the data. The data were transcribed and critiqued through a primary coding process, which captured the essence of most sentences in the transcription. Horizontalization was carried out by viewing each transcript and finding ideas that seemed important to the interviewees. The researchers entered each idea into a spreadsheet in order to examine elements that occurred most frequently during the interviews, deriving meaning units to capture the overall common experiences of participants based on their most frequently described ideas. The data were merged into themes described through narrative definition and via direct quotes from each interview, leading to a contextual description that clarified each meaning unit. In the focus group, participants were asked to draw a picture of what they imagined (i.e., visual representation) when they heard the word research. Participants shared their visual representation with the group and gave meaning to the picture by providing a narrative, which was transcribed and merged with the other data to provide more meaning to the phenomenon. Trustworthiness Procedures The researchers utilized researchers’ epoche, member checking, prolonged engagement with the data, cross-checking data, triangulation and reflexive journaling as trustworthiness procedures during the data analysis. The first author sought transparence and credibility throughout the research process by bracketing thoughts and feelings associated not only with the broad topic (researcher epoche), but also with each interview and data analysis procedure (reflexive journaling). The first and second author met on a regular basis to examine their journal entries and cross-check entries with the results of the coding processes to ensure that participants’ unique experiences were represented and to reflect on the overall research process (Creswell, 2013). Further, participants provided feedback in the process of member checking by examining their transcriptions, open codes and quotes supporting the themes. The researchers encouraged participants to review and edit, if necessary, their transcriptions, themes and quotes. Triangulation was used by comparing and integrating