There's a method to this madness, after all.

[Justification] I sought to conduct my dissertation research using both grounded theory qualitative analysis and a critical race theory narrative inquiry. The study was fundamentally an analysis of the life histories of African American historically black college and university graduates. However, the life histories were analyzed through both deductive and inductive reasoning that allowed for data to emerge from both grounded and critical race theoretical lenses. As a dual Ph.D. candidate in two unique departments, I have been influenced by a variety of theoretical approaches to inquiry that made this unique research design possible.

[Integrity Statement] Prior to beginning this research, I approached this research with great caution due to the population

Qualitative Research Design
- Qualiative research: Life histories
- Data Collection
- Research Questions

Data Analysis
- Grounded Theory
- Critical Narrative Analysis using CRT

Critical Synthesis of Data
- Deductive Reasoning
- Inductive Researching

Working on the methodology section - critical narrative analysis. *I conducted 62 interviews that primarily focused on the life histories of African American HBCU graduates. Although some were of administrators and professors who could provide some context to the institutions also in question.
3 interview participants were selected that represented the clearest expression of spiritual resilience within the context of critical race theory. This was the most novel theme that emerged from the data that fills a significant gap in the literature about African American college students who face significant barriers to academic achievement. Interviews were conducted between May and August of 2017. Interview updates were made April 2020 to determine what if any changes had taken place specifically in the participants' professional and/or personal lives that were relevant to their first interviews - for the three participants selected for further study this related to a diversity initiative at a private law firm, writing a motivational devotional book and progress with a university achievement program for African American males. Due to the primary focus on academic and professional experiences, this was appropriate to ensure the accuracy of interviews up to the finalization of the dissertation research.

Define qualitative research

The vast majority of my sample were African American males and females in their mid-30s who attended medium-sized public and small private HBCUs. The researcher selected the participants based on my personal social networks due to the fact that I graduated from an HBCU as well. The researcher contacted potential participants via social media, text message and phone to request interviews. I had approximately a 65% response rate, and interviews ______ African American HBCU graduates in total. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the sense that I had a flexible outline of questions and ideas that I wanted to address that evolved over time as I noticed reoccurring themes that aligned with the critical race-related theories addressed in my literature review and theory chapters previously written. Each interview ranged from 1 hour long to 3.5 hours long with the average interview lasting 1.75* hours long.

The researcher conducted over the phone interviews only. This allowed interviews to take place with participants who lived in different cities and states. The research used a smartphone to conduct the interviews and connected the phone audio speakers to a speaker. This speaker projected a clear robust sound of each phone call. Audio from each phone call was simultaneously being recorded using a laptop program called Garage Band. Garage Band recorded high-quality audio of each interview and research created mp3 files uploaded from Garage Band for each interview. Interviews were deleted from Garage Band immediately and uploaded to the researcher's password protected cloud-based online storage database. Detailed notes were taken during the interview to help the research maintain a semi-structured interview format while noticing theoretically relevant opportunities for novel lines of questions.

The first question asked of 90% of participants was, "When was the first time you realized you were Black?" This evolved from the initial question that was first asked of early research participants, "What do you identify as?" This question was somewhat nebulous and required some framing that resulting in a leading question about race. The question was altered to focus specifically on the critical race theoretical lens through which the research was conducted. Participants were highly engaged in the interviews and were encouraged to speak candidly - I rarely interrupted them which resulted in participants being able to speak in a stream of consciousness at times, and a self-reflective manner that allowed them to recall memories, life events, emotions, and experiences. A significant number of participants expressed the cathartic nature of sharing their stories.

Statement of integrity

The researcher approached the interview with a great concern for ethics, professionalism and proper protocol when conducting interviews of a sensitive nature with individuals from a historically exploited population. As a member of the African American community herself, the research was highly sensitive to the privacy of each participant -as a result, a pseudonym is utilized for each research participant's name and the specific locations and names of schools, jobs and other identifying aspects of their life histories are generalized to avoid identification. The interviews, research notes, raw data and all drafts of the life histories are stored in a secured cloud database associated with the researchers' personal password-protected database.

The researcher painstakingly read the Professional Code of Ethics for Psychologists and procedural book for interviewing to ensure interviewing was of high quality and integrity. No participant was coerced into sharing information that was not directly relevant to the research protocol and theory. The researcher was attentive to research participants' affective responses during the interview to be responsive and avoid emotional stress or harm to the participant. Each participant was provided with a consent form that concisely communicated in detail the intent and purpose of the research. Risks to the participant were minimal; however, did include the potential of emotional distress during or after the interview. This could occur due to the sensitive nature of questions about racism, racial discrimination and personal challenges faced in their personal experiences. Approximately one month after all interviews were completed, a wellness survey was texted to each participant that inquired into their emotional wellbeing following the interview. Questions in the survey inquired primarily into whether or not the interview triggered any psychological or emotional distress. Participants were offered resources for assistance with any distress experienced. The research consulted a physician and several mental health resources to determine the best resources to offer participants that were free and easy to access. The medical doctor specializes in African American health and wellness received the survey questions to ensure they would adequately assess the potential deleterious* impact of the interview. One out of all research participants reported a need for psychological support resources and was provided with information. No participants reported experiencing negative psychology or emotional experiences as a result of the interview.

Define narrative analysis

The semi-structured interview questions were organized in a way that allowed the participant to toggle back and for in time to discuss their early childhood educational experiences, their experiences at their HBCU, (if applicable) graduate/professional school, their progressive professional careers and some limited disclosure of personal life events. The vast majority of questions were related to their experiences within the context of being an African American primarily and an HBCU graduate secondarily and a professional in a given field as a tertiary identity characteristic. Questions were focused on the critical race aspects of their life experiences and addressed a myriad of racial topics such as microaggressions, stereotype threat and mundane everyday experiences of stress (MEES*). The ending of each interview requested that the participants reflect on the life history shared to determine what role spirituality played throughout their different challenging experiences. This emerged as strong interview questions that were asked of all research participants.

The research questions were focused on obtaining a narrative style of data from each participant to gain a detailed and nuanced understanding of their life experiences. The participants were encouraged to speak in near-monologues that provided space for self reflection and self expression. The researcher did not attempt to fill pauses with words; instead allowed the silence to make room for the participant to share details that contextualized and emphasized experiences. Many impromptu questions were responsive to participants with unexpected responses. The narratives emerged in the silences. This space was where the interviews began to become sacred conversations and the researcher became a privileged witness to the histories of not only the participants' lives but the lives of people of importance to them. The research practiced mindfulness during interviews to listen for opportunities to connect different experiences and relate them to critical race when appropriate. Careful attention was made to avoid leading interviews in any a certain direction, but instead followed the natural cadence of each participants' narrative within their life histories.

The researcher took a three year period of time to analyze approximately 30% of the research interviews. These were selected based on their relevance to critical race theory and spiritual resilience theory. Other interviews will be used at a later time. Some interviews were hand transcribed, other transcriptions were typed. A computer program called Temi was utilized to electronically transcribe interviews was also utilized. This transcription program was highly accurate, although the review was necessary to correct minor errors. After transcription was complete, each interview was first analyzed using critical race theory and spiritual resilience theory among other minor theories (stereotype threat, mees, SBW and john henysims). Spiritual resilience emerged as the most salient and underresearched theme to be deeply analyzed within each narrative. After analysis, the research first wrote a detailed account of each narrative using chronological time as a way to organize data shared in interviews that were often provided in nonchronological episodes of significant in life history as opposed to time-based accounts of life experiences. A focus on imagery, dialogue and emotive recollection of events were utilized to contextualize the life histories and provide a unique understanding of a demographic of Afican Americans whose histories are often untold. Complete accounts of life histories were 10-15 pages on average and were included in the research as a way to honor and emphasize the importance of understanding the context of each individual lives that are often reduced to soundbites or tweets in today's media sphere.

The narrative accounts were distilled into summary analyses in chapter four to provide a high-level understanding of the major theoretical lens used to frame and understand the complex stories told and the primary theory that emerged as salient and underresearched aspects of their life histories. The summary analyses utilize pivotal moments of the narrative accounts substantiate critical race theory analysis and spiritual resilience theory. The analysis is framed as summaries of the narrative to ensure that direct quotes and experiences from the narrative are used to articulate the relevance of theory. Important themes within each narrative are provided as detailed supportive information. Recurring themes are reflected in dominant aspects of each narrative that are interconnected and demonstrate the similarities between each participant. Although the number of interviews is small, the power is in the rich detail that is mined in each account and the emergence of spirituality as an underresearched means of resilience in the face of racial discrimination and socioeconomic inequality.

*Check theory name.

*Check numbers of interviews and time averages.

*Speak in the first or third person?