The three core designs that were discussed in chapter three were the Convergent Design, the Explanatory Sequential Design, and the Exploratory Sequential Design. With my topic of interest: Deaf Students Language Abilities as Assessed by ASL Proficiency, I will describe how this inquiry could be studied using each of these designs while indicating some potential affordances and constraints within each.

With the Convergent Design, both types of data are collected concurrently and they are typically of equal importance. Following my topic of interest, the procedures for the quantitative data collection would be: select 10 Deaf 4thgraders and 10 hearing 4thgraders, utilize a normative language rubric that measures story structure, and record all students telling original stories (Deaf students in ASL and hearing students in English).The product would be scores from the Rubric. At about the same time, the procedures for the qualitative data collection would be: utilizing the same 10 Deaf 4thgraders, conduct semi-structured interviews with regard to primary language and their attitude toward English. In this case, the product will be transcriptions. It will be insightful to note that the depth to which the students are able to answer the questions, in ASL, will "speak" volumes in terms of their overall language abilities in their primary language. In terms of the quantitative data analysis, the procedures will include descriptive statistics and group comparisons utilizingt-tests and regression analyses. Procedures for the qualitative analysis will include looking for common themes which may include: language of the parents, years of schooling, whether they are day or residential students, and how they describe communication at home. Means, Standard Deviation, and significance will be among the products for the quantitative data analyses. The products for the qualitative analysis will involve finding themes within the student responses. At this point in the design, the results will be merged. The qualitative themes will be charted and overlayed with the statistical results from the normed rubric. This will bring together the results from the assessment of the Deaf students' scores with their responses from the interviews. The product from this merge will be a table of themes matched to the scores of those particular students. The final stage of this design is the interpretation. The procedures will involve a comparison of the Deaf students' oral language with that of the hearing students. The merged results will provide insight into any deficiencies that may be found. The discussion section of this study will include not only the statistical significance of the findings but also the factors that impact the language development of Deaf children. The notation of this study's design would be QUAN + QUAL = complete understanding.

Using the convergent design for my study would offer some affordances. It would allow me to capture all of my data, both qualitative and quantitative at the same time. Given that I will need to travel over several states to find a school for the deaf with a large enough population, this will safe me both time and money. In addition, I will have the same Deaf students available to me without worrying about them transferring. With the information being gathered at the same time, I will be assessing the information from the same moment in time. This will be advantageous especially because I will be researching language ability.

The constraints of the convergent design include: difference in sample size (from 20 students in total to 10 students), the challenge of merging numeric data with the words, and the ability to adequately explain any surprising results that may appear.

With the Explanatory Sequential Design, the quantitative phase occurs first and, subsequently, the qualitative phase follows in order to explain the quantitative results. The intent of the study is to show that when assessing Deaf students, in their primary language (ASL), on a normed referenced test that they will score similarly to hearing students of the same age-group. To this end, this design begins with quantitative data collection. In this phase, the 10 Deaf 4thgraders will each tell an original story in ASL while the 10 hearing 4thgraders will orally tell an original story in English. All stories will be recorded. The hearing students' stories will be scored against the Rubric for story structure based on a scale from 1 - 5 as evaluated by independent hearing educators. Stories by the Deaf students' will be scored against the same Rubric and will be evaluated by college educated Deaf adults who are fluent in ASL. The product in this phase will be based on this 1 - 5 Rubric. The quantitative data analysis will be conducted with SPSS software and the use oft-tests and regression analyses in comparing the two groups of students with regard to their story structure. The products for this phase will include: descriptive statistics, means, standard deviation, and significance. Following this phase is the first integration of methods. It is here that the selection of participants is decided as well as the development of the questions for the semi-structured interviews. For this study, only the 10 Deaf 4thgraders will be interviewed and questions will be constructed based on the results of the quantitative analysis and information from the descriptive statistics. The next phase of this design is the qualitative data collection. In this case, I will need to travel back to the school for the deaf to interview the 10 children involved in the first phase of this research. Interviews will be video recorded, not for purposes of transcription since the language is ASL, but for information gathering and language use. During the qualitative data analysis, coding will be implemented and themes will be identified. The products or outcomes will include a chart that will indicate the factors most influencing the results. These may include attitudes, experiences with stories, length of ASL exposure, and communication in the home. At this point in the design, there will be an integration of the quantitative and the qualitative results. The interpretation of the Rubric scale will be further explained by the results of the qualitative interviews. The product will be an in depth discussion of the language abilities of Deaf students as well as implications for Deaf education. The abilities of these students to create and tell original stories as well as participate in an interview will make it difficult to continue viewing these youngsters as language deficient. The notation of this study's design would be: QUAN qual = explain significant factors.

Using the explanatory sequential design will have some affordances for my study. It will provide me with the statistical evidence that I am seeking as well as the ability to help explain my results. As a design it follows a logical sequence and the report writing should flow evenly.

The constraints of this design include the following: extra will be needed to travel to the school twice in order to gather data. Given that the semi-structured interview questions cannot be written until the analysis of the Rubric is completed, may hinder and/or delay approval from the IRB.

With the Exploratory Sequential Design, the investigator begins with the qualitative data, which is followed by a developmental phase, and finally a phase in which what is developed is tested quantitatively. The intent of this study is basically the same as with the previous designs. Deaf students have traditionally been tested for language ability solely in English and therefore most often have been found to be language deficient. In this regard, it is the purpose of this study to discover a Deaf student's true language ability when evaluated in their primary language of ASL. The first phase of this design involves the collection and analysis of qualitative data. In this case, the study will begin with the semi-structured interviews with the 10 identified Deaf 4thgraders. The questions will revolve around their experiences with telling stories and having stories read to them, attitudes toward stories, years in school, experiences and instruction in ASL, and communication in their homes. These interviews will be video recorded and used to develop codes and themes. The product will be the table of themes that will emerge. This phase will build to the development of a rubric to assess story structure for oral presentations of original stories in both English and ASL. The elements included in the rubric will be a direct outgrowth of the types of story elements that the students identify or acknowledge. In addition, the rubric will need to be inclusive of language that is conceptual at its base. At this juncture, the rubric is constructed on a scale of 1 - 5 and is tested on a variety of students both Deaf and hearing. The product is a Rubric that is fair and accessible to both populations (hearing and Deaf). The next step would be to check the validity and reliability of the new test. The quantitative data collection and analysis would be the next phase. 10 Deaf 4thgraders and 10 hearing 4thgraders would be video recorded as they individually told their original stories. These stories would be rated by a panel of three experts for each group and the data collected would be statistically compared. The products would include:t-tests, regression analyses, means, standard deviations, and significance. Interpretation would be the final phase. It is here that the importance of the semi-structured interviews would be highlighted in the significance that they had in the construction of a new assessment. The final product would be this new assessment rubric, which was able to evaluate a student's language, regardless of its origin, in a fair and unbiased manner. The notation for this study could be: qual development QUAN = validation by developing and testing a new instrument.

Using the exploratory sequential design will have some affordances. The design follows a logical sequence that provides ease in describing and following the flow of the process. It allows the development of a new instrument which is tailor made to fit the specific situation of the study and its population.

The constraints of this design include the following: the investigator must allow for extended time to complete this study due to the task of developing a new test and piloting it for use, the quantitative phase is not fully formed in the beginning which can be an issue for the IRB, and the investigator must have skills in not only both types of research methods but in test development as well.

Question: Read the author's response and evaluate the answers. What are your thoughts or opinions? With the author's research interest in "Deaf Students Language Abilities as Assessed by ASL Proficiency", what core design for mixed methods would be best for the author to use? Why? Explain your answer.