Showing papers in "The International Journal of Qualitative Methods in 2006"

Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development

Abstract: In this article, the authors describe how they used a hybrid process of inductive and deductive thematic analysis to interpret raw data in a doctoral study on the role of performance feedback in the self-assessment of nursing practice. The methodological approach integrated data-driven codes with theory-driven ones based on the tenets of social phenomenology. The authors present a detailed exemplar of the staged process of data coding and identification of themes. This process demonstrates how analysis of the raw data from interview transcripts and organizational documents progressed toward the identification of overarching themes that captured the phenomenon of performance feedback as described by participants in the study.

The Development of Constructivist Grounded Theory

Abstract: Constructivist grounded theory is a popular method for research studies primarily in the disciplines of psychology, education, and nursing. In this article, the authors aim to locate the roots of constructivist grounded theory and then trace its development. They examine key grounded theory texts to discern their ontological and epistemological orientation. They find Strauss and Corbin’s texts on grounded theory to possess a discernable thread of constructivism in their approach to inquiry. They also discuss Charmaz’s landmark work on constructivist grounded theory relative to her positioning of the researcher in relation to the participants, analysis of the data, and rendering of participants’ experiences into grounded theory. Grounded theory can be seen as a methodological spiral that begins with Glaser and Strauss’ original text and continues today. The variety of epistemological positions that grounded theorists adopt are located at various points on this spiral and are reflective of their underlying ontologies.

Reflections on the Narrative Research Approach

Abstract: In her reflections on the narrative research approach, the author starts by placing narrative research within the framework of sociocultural theory, where the challenge for the researcher is to examine and understand how human actions are related to the social context in which they occur and how and where they occur through growth. The author argues that the narrative as a unit of analysis provides the means for doing this. She then presents some of the basic premises of narrative research before she reflects on the process of narrative inquiry and addresses the issue of the “true” narrative. Throughout the article, the author refers to educational research and in the concluding section argues that the results of narrative research can be used as thought-provoking tools within the field of teacher education.

An Autoethnography on Learning About Autoethnography

Abstract: Autoethnography is an emerging qualitative research method that allows the author to write in a highly personalized style, drawing on his or her experience to extend understanding about a societal phenomenon. Autoethnography is grounded in postmodern philosophy and is linked to growing debate about reflexivity and voice in social research. The intent of autoethnography is to acknowledge the inextricable link between the personal and the cultural and to make room for nontraditional forms of inquiry and expression. In this autoethnography, the author explores the state of understanding regarding autoethnography as a research method and describes the experience of an emerging qualitative researcher in learning about this new and ideologically challenging genre of inquiry.

Photo Elicitation Interview (PEI): Using Photos to Elicit Children’s Perspectives

Abstract: When conducting photo elicitation interviews (PEI), researchers introduce photographs into the interview context. Although PEI has been employed across a wide variety of disciplines and participants, little has been written about the use of photographs in interviews with children. In this article, the authors review the use of PEI in a research study that explored the perspectives on camp of children with cancer. In particular, they review some of the methodological and ethical challenges, including (a) who should take the photographs and (b) how the photographs should be integrated into the interview. Although some limitations exist, PEI in its various forms can challenge participants, trigger memory, lead to new perspectives, and assist with building trust and rapport.

Reciprocity and Constructions of Informed Consent: Researching with Indigenous Populations

Abstract: In this article, the authors present a discussion of institutional review boards and potential challenges qualitative researchers may face when presenting human subjects research proposals to these boards for approval. In particular, they focus on issues of consent and reciprocity with Indigenous populations, whose culture and traditions might be quite different from those review boards typically see. After presenting these issues, the authors close with a framework that can be used as a guide for ethical considerations in research with Indigenous peoples.

Metaphors as a Bridge to Understanding Educational and Social Contexts

Abstract: Educational researchers and practitioners are frequently asking questions about how better to understand educational theory and practice. Through the years, they have employed a variety of both quantitative and qualitative methods to elucidate the world of education. In this article, the author explores the epistemological legitimacy of metaphor analysis as a viable means for qualitative educational inquiry. In so doing, he explores the concepts of the theory of abduction, educational research and social constructivism, categories of metaphors, and metaphorical analysis in educational research. In addition, a review of the literature on educational research that uses metaphor analysis as the primary methodology revealed five major themes.

Culture: Can You Take It Anywhere? Invited Lecture Presented at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California at Santa Barbara

Abstract: This is a written version of a lecture delivered at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Eduction at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The original series of lectures can be viewed at http://www.education.ucsb.edu/thematicschool/. In this “culture“ lecture, the author explores the difficulties in using the concept in contemporary research with particular reference to its relational nature, its partiality, and the various problems that ethnography now addresses. In the end, the concept might have outlived its technical use, even as popular use increases.

The Research Poem in International Social Work: Innovations in Qualitative Methodology

Abstract: In this article, the authors explore the use of the research poem, a powerful method of qualitative research, in an international social work context. Using ethnographic poems as data, the authors demonstrate a method for creating research poems. They discuss potential strengths and limitations of this approach and explore implications for social research and international social work practice.

The Qualitative Research Interview: Participants' Responsive Participation in Knowledge Making

Abstract: Discussions of qualitative research interviews have centered on promoting an ideal interactional style and articulating the researcher behaviors by which this might be realized. Although examining what researchers do in an interview continues to be valuable, this focus obscures the reflexive engagement of all participants in the exchange and the potential for a variety of possible styles of interacting. The author presents her analyses of participants’ accounts of past research interviews and explores the implications of this for researchers’ orientation to qualitative research interviews.

Insight, Inference, Evidence, and Verification: Creating a Legitimate Discipline Keynote Address for the II Congreso Iberoamericano de Investigación Cualitativa en Salud Madrid 22-25 de Junio de 2005

Abstract: Challenges to the subjective nature of qualitative inquiry, recent interest in evidence-based practice, and the advances in mixed-method design have all contributed to the value and utilization of qualitative inquiry. The author is concerned, however, that the value placed on evidence and the agenda of qualitative-quantitative mixed-method design will devalue the role and contributions of insight and inference in our research. In this address, she argues that research using insight and inference can and must be used and valued in qualitative inquiry. Insights invariably arise from single instances, exemplars, or single-case studies, albeit often, but not always, verified in other instances. But the knowledge gained from insight might make a greater contribution to scholarly study than replication and verification, for without insight, research can be mundane and obvious.

Exploiting Exceptions to Enhance Interpretive Qualitative Health Research: Insights from a Study of Cancer Communication

Abstract: Although it has long been understood that a well-constructed data set ought to be filled with complexities and contradictions, observations that challenge or contradict analytic interpretations are not often given sufficiently serious attention in the methodological qualitative health literature. When researchers attempt to produce comprehensive or “holistic” findings, they all too often set aside or gloss over the negative cases that fail to conform to their emerging interpretive generalizations. In this article, the authors challenge fellow qualitative health researchers to engage actively in identifying and exploiting both actual and theoretical exceptions as a valuable analytic strategy. They argue that heightened sensitivity for negative cases uncovers the assumptive claims deriving from our various methodological orientations and illuminates alternative explanations. They propose that thoughtful attention to contradictory or challenging observations can deepen our expectations about the kinds of knowledge products that qualitative research ought to yield, thereby helping us advance the credibility of our findings and the ultimate utility of our empirical conclusions.

Subjectivity and the “Native” Ethnographer: Researcher Eligibility in an Ethnographic Study of Urban Indian Women in Hindu Arranged Marriages:

Abstract: In this conversation, the author’s goal is to discuss subjectivity/s as evolving and temporal representational emergences in ethnographic fieldwork. She uses her participation in a narrative ethnographic study of women’s experiences in Hindu arranged marriages to show how her positions traveled and constantly shifted in the years of fieldwork. Ultimately, she shifts focus to her fieldwork and explores the ways in which her co-participants shifted her selves and, in so doing, “represented” their own marital stories. As she does so, she shows herself caught between eligibilities granted to her by her participants and how these shaped what she discerned in the narratives. Her broader goal in enacting these tough yet healthy tensions is to facilitate a dialogue on how the resculpting of the ethnographer shows us the recursive relationship among subjectivity/s, representation, and interpretation.

Student Researchers Negotiating Consent in Northern Aboriginal Communities

Abstract: In this article, the authors discuss what students are doing to reconcile the differences between institutional ethical review standards and the reality of community-based, qualitative research, particularly in northern Canada. They examine the experiences of 12 students who are currently undertaking or have recently completed qualitative research in the North. Students raised concerns about what informed consent really mean; the contentiousness of obtaining written consent, and modified consent forms and the flexibility of research ethics board (REB) standards. The authors demonstrate that significant judgment is required in the introduction of ethics procedures in northern Canadian research. More work is needed to guide novice researchers and help build their agency for making ethical judgments in the field.

Implicated Audience Member Seeks Understanding: Reexamining the "Gift" of Autoethnography

Abstract: Researchers have characterized autoethnography as a highly evocative and personalized mode of discourse that affects authors and their audiences. In this article, the author examines autoethnography by recalling experiences communicating with Tillmann-Healy’s (2005) “The State of Unions: Activism (and In-Activism) in Decision 2004,” an autoethnographic poem about recent U.S. election results, civic inactivity among gay men, and the need for their political engagement. Sparked by a philosophical goal more to understand and respond than to admonish and territorialize, the author uses hermeneutic phenomenology and narrative reflections to consider the complexities of autoethnographic communication, and the hope and challenges that such personalized accounts of “experience” make possible for conversational partners.

Getting Started: Initiating Critical Ethnography and Community-Based Action Research in a Program of Rural Health Studies

Abstract: Rural populations experience higher rates of illness, less access to health care resources, and lower rates of health insurance coverage than do urban populations. A need exists to identify and address the health care needs of rural communities and other isolated populations and to contextualize the findings in the larger rural health environment. Critical ethnography combined with community-based action research is a constructive approach for improving the health status of rural elders as well as other members of isolated communities. Detailed guidelines on how to initiate an ethnographic community-based action study, as shown through a study that explores the definitions of health, health care perceptions, and health care issues for rural elders in the southwestern United States, highlight the value of this type of research for the study of the health care issues of rural populations.

Processes of Metastudy: A Study of Psychosocial Adaptation to Childhood Chronic Health Conditions

Abstract: Metastudy introduces a systematically aggregated interpretive portrayal of a body of literature, based on saturation and the synthesis of findings. In this metastudy, the authors examined qualitative studies addressing psychosocial adaptation to childhood chronic health conditions, published over a 30-year period (1970-2000). They describe metastudy processes, including study identification, strategies for study search and retrieval, adjudication of difference in study design and rigor, and analysis of findings. They also illustrate metastudy components through examples drawn from this project and discuss implications for practice and recommendations.

The Incremental Marketization and Centralization of State Control of Public Higher Education: A Hermeneutic Interpretation of Legislative and Administrative Texts

Abstract: In this article, the author reports on an analysis and interpretation of institutional accountability legislation enacted by the Colorado General Assembly from 1985 to 2005. The method of inquiry for the study was grounded in the principles of hermeneutics and narrative policy analysis. Analysis and interpretation of legislative and administrative texts reveal how they rationalize marketized higher education and centralized state control of public colleges and universities. This interpretation also explains how a new integrated funding and accountability framework creates de facto institutional missions validated by marketization and secured by centralization of state control.

How Can the Intersections between Gender, Class, and Sexuality Be Translated to an Empirical Agenda?

Abstract: The social categories of gender, sexuality, class, and ethnicity, and their relation to subjectivities have received theoretical attention, but their empirical interrelationships remain underexplored. In this article, the authors consider how class, gender, and sexuality interrelate in practice by drawing and reflecting on (a) an empirical study of women in the wine industry that they have undertaken and (b) a selection of contemporary works that links multiple social categories. In conclusion, they argue that to investigate power and tension within and across multiple social categories meaningfully, a useful approach is to combine life histories with theories of embodiment.

A Talmud Page as a Metaphor of a Scientific Text Michal Rozenberg, Miri Munk, and Anat Kainan

Abstract: The authors’ aim in this article is to deal with a new option of writing a hermeneutical text by using the metaphor of a Talmud page They present this through the multiplicity in which three researchers contemplate a single set text This case concerns the life story of Zoheira, a Bedouin student at a teacher’s college The use of the Talmudic layout as a metaphor of a scientific text presents a preference of a polyphony of voices, rather than one voice, when dealing with ambiguous texts It also changes the places of both the reader and the researcher

Challenges for a North American Doing Research with Traditional Indigenous Guatemalan Midwives

Abstract: The purpose to this article is to narratively explore the process of doing research in a transcultural setting. The research project was an ethographic design using the method of participant observation. The setting was the highlands of Guatemala, and the participants were traditional indigenous midwives with a divine mandate to practice. Using the experience of the research process, the author makes recommendations to future student researchers.

Making the Personal, Political—Using Autoethnography as a Method in Mental Health Nursing Research

Abstract: Autoethnography is method that aims to connect the researcher’s personal self to the broader cultural context. Evocative writing, where the writer shares personal stories on their own experiences, is used to extend understanding of a particular social issue. Stories convey lessons, embody experiences and connect people, perhaps inspiring a collective identity and commitment to change. In this way, an issue which may have previously been considered personal becomes political. Although autoethnography is increasingly used within social science research, it is newly emerging in mental health nursing research. In this presentation the authors, all mental health nurses, discuss the particular resonance that autoethnography combined with narrative inquiry has for mental health nursing research. We use one particular study into the experiences of adult children of parents with psychosis to illuminate insights and issues that may be helpful to other researchers considering a design to powerfully evoke the personal experience so that it is moved into the realm of political and practical change.; ;