Showing papers in "Qualitative Research in 2006"

Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: how is it done?

Abstract: This article seeks to move beyond typologies of the ways in which quantitative and qualitative research are integrated to an examination of the ways that they are combined in practice. The article is based on a content analysis of 232 social science articles in which the two were combined. An examination of the research methods and research designs employed suggests that on the quantitative side structured interview and questionnaire research within a cross-sectional design tends to predominate, while on the qualitative side the semi-structured interview within a cross-sectional design tends to predominate. An examination of the rationales that are given for employing a mixed-methods research approach and the ways it is used in practice indicates that the two do not always correspond. The implications of this finding for how we think about mixed-methods research are outlined.

Validity in qualitative research revisited

Abstract: Concerns with the issues of validity in qualitative research have dramatically increased. Traditionally, validity in qualitative research involved determining the degree to which researchers’ claim...

Mixing methods in a qualitatively driven way

Abstract: This article makes an argument for a ‘qualitatively driven’ approach to mixing methods. It focuses on the value of mixed-methods approaches for researching questions about social experience and lived realities. It suggests that ‘qualitative thinking’ is a useful starting point for mixing methods, but that it is ultimately more helpful to think in terms of multi-dimensional research strategies that transcend or even subvert the so-called qualitative-quantitative divide. Mixing methods helps us to think creatively and ‘outside the box’, to theorize beyond the micro-macro divide, and to enhance and extend the logic of qualitative explanation. Mixed-methods approaches raise challenges in reconciling different epistemologies and ontologies, and in integrating different forms of data and knowledge. The article argues that we should think more in terms of ‘meshing’ or ‘linking’ than ‘integrating’ data and method. It goes on to argue for the development of ‘multi-nodal’ dialogic explanations that allow the distin...

How can systematic reviews incorporate qualitative research? A critical perspective:

Abstract: Systematic review has developed as a specific methodology for searching for, appraising and synthesizing findings of primary studies, and has rapidly become a cornerstone of the evidence-based practice and policy movement. Qualitative research has traditionally been excluded from systematic reviews, and much effort is now being invested in resolving the daunting methodological and epistemological challenges associated with trying to move towards more inclusive forms of review. We describe our experiences, as a very diverse multidisciplinary group, in attempting to incorporate qualitative research in a systematic review of support for breastfeeding. We show how every stage of the review process, from asking the review question through to searching for and sampling the evidence, appraising the evidence and producing a synthesis, provoked profound questions about whether a review that includes qualitative research can remain consistent with the frame offered by current systematic review methodology. We conclude that more debate and dialogue between the different communities that wish to develop review methodology is needed, and that attempts to impose dominant views about the appropriate means of conducting reviews of qualitative research should be resisted so that innovation can be fostered. Copyright © 2006 SAGE Publications.

Triangulation and integration: Processes, claims and implications

Abstract: Researchers who advocate the use of multiple methods often write interchangeably about ‘integrating’, ‘combining’ and ‘mixing’ methods, sometimes eliding these descriptors with ‘triangulation’, whi...

Graphic elicitation: using research diagrams as interview stimuli

Abstract: Diagrams are effective instruments of thought and a valuable tool in conveying those thoughts to others. As such, they can be usefully employed as representations of a research domain and act as st...

Credibility, authenticity and voice: dilemmas in online interviewing

Abstract: This article explores the methodological issues encountered when using email as a web-based interview in on-line qualitative research. By drawing on two separate research studies that used this met...

Abduction as the type of inference that characterizes the development of a grounded theory

Abstract: In this article, abduction is introduced in relation to theorizing in grounded theory. Theoretical insights are inevitable cornerstones of the development of a grounded theory and abduction is worked out as a type of inference that characterizes this development. How abduction could be used in grounded theorizing is shown in a grounded theory research on ‘organizing doubt’, i.e. the way Dutch army units are formed with self-organizing capabilities that can be deployed during crisis operations. The authors show that two concepts from organizational theory that are central in this grounded theory’s analytical framework - i.e. ‘dynamic complexity’ and ‘self-organization’ - are developed and embedded in a substantive theory on ‘organizing doubt’ by abductive reasoning.

Researching researchers: lessons for research ethics

Abstract: There is widespread debate about ethical practice in social research with most social researchers arguing that situational relativist approaches are appropriate for resolving the ethical issues tha...

Trying similarity, doing difference: the role of interviewer self-disclosure in interview talk with young people

Abstract: Advocates of semi-structured interview techniques have often argued that rapport may be built, and power inequalities between interviewer and respondent counteracted, by strategic self-disclosure on the part of the interviewer. Strategies that use self-disclosure to construct similarity between interviewer and respondent rely on the presumption that the respondent will in fact interpret the interviewer's behaviour in this way. In this article we examine the role of interviewer self-disclosure using data drawn from three projects involving interviews with young people. We consider how an interviewer's attempts to ‘do similarity’ may be interpreted variously as displays of similarity or, ironically, as indicators of difference by the participant, and map the implications that this may have for subsequent interview dialogue. A particular object of concern relates to the ways in which self-disclosing acts may function in the negotiation of category entitlement within interview interactions.

‘The outsider within’: dilemmas of qualitative feminist research within a culture of resistance:

Abstract: Feminist research practice is firmly established within the academy and is concerned to develop ways of understanding reality that place women at their centre. However, researching women who do not...

Close encounters of the ‘CA’ kind: a review of literature analysing talk in research interviews

Abstract: Findings from ethnonmethodological (EM) and conversation analytic (CA) studies have contributed significantly to an understanding of how social order is produced on a moment-by-moment basis. Recent...

Expressions of personhood in Alzheimer’s: moving from ethnographic text to performing ethnography

Abstract: This article discusses the translation of ethnographic research on embodied selfhood in Alzheimer’s disease into a dramatic production for nurses and ancillary health care professionals working wit...

Writing small discoveries: an exploration of fresh observers’ observations

Abstract: Taking field notes (or otherwise documenting observation) is at the very core of ethnographic research. However, relatively speaking, this task has hardly been covered in the research methods literature. With this as a point of departure, this article draws on an analysis of 247 short field notes taken in various situations by student observers. It aims to explore the immediate act of taking field notes while doing observation. By inductive analysis, 10 different ‘modes’ of observation are drawn from the field notes. This analysis demonstrates on one hand that fresh observers are capable of quickly grasping important aspects of observed interaction and on the other hand that principles of field note taking and researcher positioning need to be addressed further.

Varieties of habitus and the embodiment of ballet

Abstract: The overall aim of our research was to produce an ethnography of ballet as a social practice. We draw upon our fieldwork at the Royal Ballet (London) where we conducted 20 in-depth interviews with ...

Focusing researchers’ minds: contrasting experiences of using focus groups in feminist qualitative research

Abstract: In this article, we reflect on our contrasting experiences of using focus groups in two different empirical research projects, one that explored the attitudes of mature students in further educatio...

Sharing the world: the researcher and the researched

Abstract: This article explores the methodological opportunities and challenges I encountered, as a disabled researcher, while doing research on the educational experiences and career aspirations of a group of young disabled people, still in full-time mainstream or special education. While the key barriers facing disabled researchers are recognized, they are challenged in this article and rather seen as opportunities. Further, they are diluted by the ontological privileges that are at the disposal of the disabled researcher, including the use of empathy, which provides a way of understanding other people's experiences in the context of both similarities and differences between the researcher and the researched. This article focuses on three methods of qualitative enquiry – namely, classroom observation, forum theatre workshops and individual interviews. It explores how they were employed to ensure the voices of young disabled people were captured by the research process in ways that reflect their views and recognize them as active social agents who are able to make decisions about their own futures.

Crossing fields: the case of a multi-disciplinary research team

Abstract: There are increasing opportunities for researchers to work in multi-disciplinary research teams; however, the extensive literature on research practice barely refers to the challenges inherent in t...

Compounding mixed-methods problems in frame analysis through comparative research:

Abstract: This article presents a novel methodological program for frame analysis of textual data and discusses its application in cross-national research. The proposed approach systematizes recent theoretical developments in frame analyses, and offers a step-by-step program for frame identification and measurement, which synthesizes the implications of aforementioned developments into a coherent methodological framework. Frames are identified with analysis techniques borrowed from sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and dictionary-free quantitative content analysis. The results of the identification process are subsequently validated via latent class analyses of data matrices, which are obtained with the help of coding techniques that utilize computer-assisted qualitative software packages. Since more interpretative, qualitative elements of frame analysis are combined with quantitative content analysis, findings are of high conceptual validity and generalizability. Comparative broadening of the approach consider...

Make yourself at home: the social construction of research roles in family studies:

Abstract: This article reflects upon the author's experiences in two separate research projects that involved interviewing and observing families with school-age children to learn about how they use media in the home. It focuses on the points at which the researcher intersects with the family, and the ways in which meaning-making is negotiated. Using a social constructionist approach, the article outlines how different families define the researcher's ‘role’ (student, person, guest, negative agent) and how the role may shape the research environment. Ultimately, the article argues that it is critical to explore the complex ways in which families respond to being studied in their natural environment, and the long-term impact the research encounter may have on both the observed and the observer.

Unreliable narrators? ‘Inconsistency’ (and some inconstancy) in interviews:

Abstract: A potentially problematic aspect of the qualitative interview is the propensity towards tensions that emerge - ambiguities, inconsistencies, contradictions etc. - especially when transcripts are an...

Back to the ‘old school’: bicycle messengers, employment and ethnography:

Abstract: This article examines issues that arose from a mixed method study of bicycle messengers in the UK that included an ethnographic phase of research in which the researcher worked as a bicycle messeng...

Interpreting imaginative lifeworlds: phenomenological approaches in imagination and the evaluation of educational practice

Abstract: Interest in the promotion of creativity and emotional intelligence has been subject to a recent revival in English state education. At the same time, preoccupations in educational policy continue to revolve around themes of efficiency and peformativity. With an emerging focus on the merits of school self-evaluation, the advancement of practice in understanding and evaluating such things as pupils’ creative, imaginative and emotional development is likely to become increasingly necessary. It is in pursuit of this practice that phenomenological approaches to educational research may offer important possibilities for the promotion and qualitative evaluation of these areas. Drawing on the findings of an Ed D study conducted in six primary schools, this article considers perceptions of imagination in education; dispositions to educational practice; and how the use of phenomenological research processes might illuminate and strengthen qualitative evaluation in schools.

Negotiating the indistinct: reflections of a Korean Adopted American working with Korean Born, Korean Americans

Abstract: The article addresses the ambiguities around my researcher role and racial/ethnic identity as a Korean Adopted American qualitative researcher working with Korean Born, Korean American high school ...

Researching Irish gay male lives: reflections on disclosure and intellectual autobiography in the production of personal narratives:

Abstract: This article explores the difficulties encountered by researchers as they embark on personal narrative study. It is based on research conducted with Irish gay men as they reflect on their lives, co...

Postmodernism and qualitative research

Abstract: It is suggested at some point in each of these books that, instead of taking features of the social world like gender or race for granted, as happens in positivist or objectivist social science, constructionist or postmodern qualitative researchers (the terms are used inter-changeably) should examine how they are used in talk, and how their meaning changes in different circumstances or over time. A good example, which for some reason is not discussed, is the term ‘postmodern’ which enjoyed a few years of popularity in social science during the 1990s, but has since almost disappeared from social scientific discourse. At the height of the movement, the term appeared in almost every title in publisher’s catalogues, and there were liberal references in every paper given at conferences. Today, it remains in vogue in certain sub-fields of qualitative research, and in cultural studies, but has been side-lined in sociology. You will not, for example, find postmodernism given much emphasis in introductory textbooks, and the average undergraduate is more likely to learn about qualitative research through coding transcripts into analytic themes rather than writing poems or experimenting with new literary forms. In reviewing these texts, I will consider what is distinctive about postmodern qualitative research, focusing on the epistemological assumptions, the implications for practice and the concept of an ‘interview society’. The general argument in each book is that a new kind of qualitative research is desirable and necessary: one that celebrates indeterminacy and constructionism through exposing the short-comings of positivism as an R E V I E W E S S AY 267

Book Review: Handling Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide:

Abstract: itative data. It has been written with those in mind who encounter qualitative data unprepared, either because they lack relevant training or because they are looking for alternative modes of explanations. Handling Qualitative Data will appeal to contract researchers, consultants and others working with tight deadlines and to anyone who needs to come to terms with qualitative data but lacks the resources, or inclination, to sign up for more conventional introductions to qualitative research methods. One of the pioneers of qualitative software, Lyn Richards has drawn on decades of experience gained from developing and teaching subsequent versions of N*dist and NVivo. Her central message is that qualitative research is not an esoteric art form but can be done by anyone provided they receive appropriate training. Following the steps outlined in the book, Richards promises, will enable those new to qualitative methods ‘to do justice to their research data [from the book’s back page]’. Divided into ten chapters, Handling Qualitative Data covers the major stages of the research process, from initial plans to the final presentation. The first three chapters, grouped together under the heading Setting Up advise novices on how to design their research and create a log trail, but also stresses the need to examine their preconceptions and familiarize themselves with the relevant software. Chapter 2 deals with ways of ‘making data’ through interviews, observation and textual sources, but also reminds the reader that his or her thoughts, comments or moments of confusion are valuable data in themselves. An inset with exercises designed to improve students’ ‘field note awareness’ provides helpful suggestions for those involved in teaching qualitative research methods. Richards’ exhortation to seize every opportunity to talk about the project will also be helpful to the learner, not only because ‘telling’ is easier than ‘writing up’, but also because it helps the students to develop a 421

Book Review: Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory after the Postmodern Turn

Abstract: compounded when the researched are often marginalised and disaffected groups – ‘powerless’ and potentially vulnerable. Being of the same ethnicity may well be a constructive feature of the research process, people’s changing ethnic identities as well as the developing intellectual, social, and cultural norms and values, of the both the researcher and the researched, are also part of the ‘problems’ that might emerge – the issue of the double hermeneutic. The implications of participant subjectivities (interviewer/interviewed) in intercultural interviewing are further compounded because of the additional factor of communicating across different cultural contexts. Even in same-ethnicity interview settings there will always be some inter-cultural mismatch. Indeed, qualitative research has an all-pervasive aspect to it because it is ‘entry’ at a certain point, leaving an imprint or at least some ‘reverberation’. This unwelcome or uninvited dimension is made more acute in intercultural settings. The outsider-researcher is potentially lacking a detailed knowledge or appreciation of particular religious, cultural, and ethnic factors and can be considered a ‘social intruder’. Furthermore, it can be seen as an infringement that may or may not be deemed acceptable to the researched, particularly in traditional and often marginalised ethnic minority communities. The participants may avoid revealing their personal and private thoughts and observations without the outsider-researcher ever being aware of it. In exploring the association between power and knowledge, Gunaratnam cleverly underpins her sharp analysis with a detailed discussion of ethnicity. In particular, a focus on the inherent problems of using ethnic categories themselves is found throughout. What Gunaratnam has managed to this in this monograph is to usefully explore, analyse and conceptualise the issues in relation to carrying out qualitative research in this area. The book is lucidly written, with a detailed bibliography and case study material. It is important to remain aware that this is a book on methodology and not on methods. Information on the latter can be gleaned from many of core textbook but issues in relation to the complexities of researching ‘race’ are rarely covered as well as Gunaratnam’s. It is an invaluable book that is of tremendous significance not just for ethnic minority researchers but also ethnic majority. It is likely to remain so for some time to come.

Book Review: Analyzing Race Talk: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Interview:

Abstract: This book is a valuable and illuminating contribution to the literature in several respects; and it serves as a fitting tribute to the memory of one of its editors, Hanneke Houtkoop-Steenstra, who died before it was published. First, it is virtually unique in bringing together exponents of different forms of analysis to examine the same set of qualitative data (though see also Dillon et al., 1989 and Armstrong et al., 1997). These data were collected by Margaret Wetherell in New Zealand in the mid-1980s, and were previously analysed in her book with Jonathan Potter Mapping the Language of Racism (full transcripts of the three interviews are provided as an appendix). In part, then, the aim of the book is to allow comparison of different forms of discourse analysis. Second, the book is about research interviews as interactional encounters, with some chapters drawing implications for research methodology. Finally, as highlighted in the title of the book, there is a concern with the nature of talk about ‘race’. After an introduction by the three editors, Wetherell contributes the first chapter, which both provides some background information about the data and outlines the kind of critical discursive psychology she has developed since her earlier work with Potter. Derek Edwards then offers an exemplification of his version of discursive psychology, looking in particular at ‘mind-world relationships’. Next, David Lee offers a cognitive linguistics perspective. Srikant Sarangi examines institutional, professional and lifeworld frames in interview talk. Charles Antaki looks at ‘the uses of absurdity’ from a broadly conversation analysis point of view. Richard Buttny investigates ‘multiple voices in talking race’, focusing on reported speech, while Harry van den Berg examines the issue of contradictions in interview discourse. Maykel Verkuyten discusses ‘racism, happiness and ideology’, Titus Ensink employs frame analysis to look 121

Book Review: Researching, ‘Race’ and Ethnicity: Methods, Knowledge and Power

Abstract: Gunaratnam’s book is about ‘methodology, the production of knowledge and the politics of doing research on ‘race’ and ethnicity, and the interrelations with other forms of social difference such as gender, class and disability’ (p. 3). When this book was originally published in 2003 there was nothing like it. Today, writing in mid-June 2006, there is still nothing quite like it. It remains the definitive product in the market in relation to a detailed text that explores the issues, complexities, ambiguities and tensions involved when a researcher with similar ethnicity to the researched is engaged in primary empiricism or when a researcher is engaged with research involving notions of ‘race’, ethnicity and difference per se. Indeed, it is true that researchers are often in at least one social relation with the researcher as there is no omnipotent form of ‘otherness’. For example, people with disabilities are not only that they may well also possess an ethnicity, be middle class, of the Sikh religion or women for example. There are in most research settings multiple social relations between the researched and the researcher. In addition, one can clearly be a member of a dominant group in one situation or society but an ‘other’ in other situations. This is apparent in relation to ethnic, linguistic, or cultural groups but it applies at least as equally as well to other social divisions, and they are informed by the particular ontological and epistemological position of the researcher and the researched. In general, a genuine consideration in social research settings, given all the possible factors important in the relations between researchers and researched, is one of power. Not only does it assume the authority of ‘the truth’ but it has the power to make itself true. There is no objective truth as such; rather it is a discursive formation sustaining a regime of truth. Discourses themselves are the bearers of various subject-positions; that is, specific positions of agency and identity in relation to particular forms of knowledge and practice. The truth about ethnicity in the process of generating qualitative knowledge is a function of the power of the researched in relation to the researcher. The interviewee is under scrutiny with power held in the hands of the interviewer. Matters are 559