RESEARCH

My research explores and investigates gender-based agriculture issues, food insecurity, and developments in international agricultural education; My work utilizes upon storytelling, visual, and arts-based qualitative methods. Additionally, I enjoy employing Q methodology as a means of gaining greater understanding on social phenomena.

Explore my published work...

Dokolo and Apac's Women's Perspectives

Spence, J. R., Redwine, T., Rutherford, T., & Dooley, K. (2023). Unanticipated unity and independence: A photovoice of Ugandan gender-based agriculture issues. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 4(2), 74–90. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v4i2.283

What we learned in Ghana

Dado, M., Spence, J. R., & Elliot, J. (2023). The case of contradictions: How prolonged engagement, reflexive journaling, and observations can contradict qualitative methods. The International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231189372

Taking in teachers' perspectives

Spence, J. R., Letot, C., Foster, D., Redwine, T., McCubbins, A., & Miller-Foster, M. (In Press). Global guides: Defining teachers’ viewpoints about global food insecurity using Q methodology. Journal of Agricultural Education, 64(4). https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i4.151

UPCOMING RESEARCH

Take a moment to look into my upcoming work on data that has been collected with IRB approval.

The work of women.

I utilized narrative inquiry and arts-based drawing methods to explore community and gender identity in Northern Ghana.

Through these innovative and culturally-appropriate methods, we gained greater insight into how women farmer view themselves, their gender identity, and their community.

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Factoring food insecurity.

I employed Q method with over 10 Ghanaian agriculture teachers to better understand how these individuals view matters on food insecurity.

Because these teachers have the power and responsibility to educate the youth of Ghana on agricultural topics, it is vital we understand their personal and subjective stance on relevant food insecurity issues.

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Understanding international experiences.

I used photovoice as a method to understand both long-term international experiences with American agricultural graduates in Ghana, and short-term immersive experiences with American agriculture teachers in Uganda.

We know that international experiences can have positive personal and professional development for both recent graduates and educators, but we know less about how the length of time and immersive experiences can contribute to this development. Photovoice allows the participant to take hold of the narrative and explore their experience.