The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1 - 93

Counselor, Teacher, Role Model

This study provided RAs an avenue to
discuss their work. The metaphors they chose
allowed them to explore the RA jobs in a more
creative manner. Since research has found
that RAs are a powerful force in residence
halls (Butler & Campbell, 2003) and play a
significant role in developing a living-learning
community conducive to the intellectual and
personal growth of the residential students,
we feel it is vital that we understand how RAs
perceive their role in educating them. Further,
many student affairs professionals strongly
believe that RAs are an integral part of any successful residence hall program, so it is crucial
that we find ways to select students who are a
good fit for the RA position.

RESEARCH METHODS
The research questions for our study were
as follows:
1. What metaphors do first-year RAs choose
to describe their jobs?
2. What relationship(s), if any, exist between
an RA’s metaphor and their success on
the job?
A qualitative methodology was chosen for
this study because “qualitative researchers stress
the socially constructed nature of reality, the intimate relationship between the researcher and
what is studied, and the situational constraints
that shape inquiry” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005, p.
10). The researchers used multiple case-study
research methodology (Hamel, 1993; Merriam,
1998; Yin, 1989) to conduct the study. One of
the goals of case-study research is to “build a
general explanation that fits each of the individual cases, even though the cases will vary in
their details” (Yin, 1989, p. 114).
The setting for this study was a four-year

public research university located in the midAtlantic region of the United States. Participants were recruited in the spring/summer
of 2003 shortly after hiring notifications had
been made. All students who were offered the
RA position for the fall were also offered the
opportunity to participate in this study. The
study was intentionally restricted to new RAs;
no returning RAs participated in the study.
The researchers made the decision to exclude
returning RAs because it was felt they would
already have an idea of what the job is like.
The intent of this study was to compare the
perceptions that new RAs had about the job,
about the realities of the job once they started
working, and how they used metaphors as a
way to understand their experience.
Since there were three different areas of
campus, four students from each area were selected, taking into consideration the gender and
ethnicity of the participants to achieve a sample
that, in regards to race and gender, would better
reflect the RA staff working at this university.
One of the initial 12 participants did not complete the study, and her data was not used. Six
women and five men completed the study, and
their data is reported here. Three of the participants were Black, one was Asian, and seven
were White. This sample closely matched the
demographics of the RA staff employed by the
university where this study took place.
The respondents who expressed interest in
participating in the study were asked to sign a
waiver that allowed the researchers access to
their performance appraisals. By having access
to their performance appraisals as a form of
document analysis (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992),
including self and formal evaluation, the researchers were able to make a reasonable asV O L U M E 3 9 , NO. 2 • 2 0 1 3

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1