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This mixed-methodology dissertation study employed grounded theory in an explanatory-sequential research design and post-hoc format. The research utilized theories in rites of passage (i.e., ropi), racial identities (i.e., CRIS), social identities and organizational commitments (i.e., SOCID), Multiple Intelligences (i.e., MIPQ), and Maslow’s motivation hierarchy (i.e., MASL) to investigate differences among participants during the quantitative phase (i.e., “little quan”). The participant-selection model for the qualitative phase (i.e., “Big QUAL”) was conducted using a constructivist design.
In the quantitative first phase, 64 African American men from 16 U.S. states were recruited and surveyed through snowball sampling. The study examined factors correlating with differences between those who participated in rites of passage experiences and those who did not. The research focused on identifying the statistically significant and perceptively persistent differences within and between these African American men’s racial identities, social identities and organizational commitments, multiple intelligences in learning styles, and motivations in the hierarchy of their needs. Frequency analyses were used to assess sociodemographic backgrounds. Additionally, the One-Way MANOVAs identified 20 statistically significant differences within identities, and the Two-Way Between-Groups MANOVAs revealed 24 statistically significant differences between relative patterns and matched groupings.
The qualitative second phase employed purposive sampling to select nine interview participants. Through semi-structured, open-ended interviews, participants' narratives were used to co-construct meaning for the quantitative results. The qualitative phase involved Bricolage, 13 ad-hoc interviewing techniques, memo writing, and the theoretical counting, sampling, saturation, and sorting sequences to analyze over 16 hours of empirical data.
The study confirmed the research hypothesis, identifying influences that held statistically significant differences and persistent perceptions of differences between African American men who participated in rites of passage experiences and those who did not. These quantitative and qualitative results, elements, and components were framed into the taxonomies and models comprising the PIANKHI Ubuntu Theory.