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Not limited to science, this handy book describes the basic designs that rese...
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IntroductiontoQualitativeResearch
SharanB.Merriam
D
rawingfromalongtraditioninanthropology,sociology,andclinicalpsy-chology,qualitativeresearchhas,inthelasttwentyyears,achievedsta-tusandvisibilityinthesocialsciencesandhelpingprofessions.Reportsofqualitativeresearchstudiescanbefoundatconferences,ontheWorldWideWeb,andinjournalsinsocialwork,nursing,counseling,familyrelations,ad-ministration,health,communityservices,management,allsubfieldsofeduca-tion,andevenmedicine.Inaddition,therearenumerousmethodologicaltextsonqualitativeresearchavailableinfieldsasdisparateasgerontology(Reinharz&Rowles,1988)andorganizationalscienceandmanagement(Lee,1999).Whatisthenatureofqualitativeinquirythatithascapturedtheattentionofsomany?Thepurposeofthischapteristoexplainwhatqualitativeresearchis,howitdiffersfromthemorefamiliarpositivistorquantitativeresearch,whatvariationsexistwithinthequalitativeparadigmitself,andhowonegoesaboutconductingaqualitativestudy.Thischapterandthefollowingchapteroneval-uatingandassessingqualitativeresearchofferthebackdropforexploringthecollectionofqualitativestudiesandauthorcommentariesthatfollow.
TheNatureofQualitativeResearch
Thekeytounderstandingqualitativeresearchlieswiththeideathatmeaningissociallyconstructedbyindividualsininteractionwiththeirworld.Theworld,orreality,isnotthefixed,single,agreedupon,ormeasurablephenomenonthatitassumedtobeinpositivist,quantitativeresearch.Instead,therearemultiple
4
QualitativeResearchinPractice
constructionsandinterpretationsofrealitythatareinfluxandthatchangeovertime.Qualitativeresearchersareinterestedinunderstandingwhatthoseinter-pretationsareataparticularpointintimeandinaparticularcontext.Learninghowindividualsexperienceandinteractwiththeirsocialworld,themeaningithasforthem,isconsideredan
interpretive
qualitativeapproach.Ifyouwerein-terestedinstudyingtheplacementofachildinfostercare,forexample,youmightfocusonunderstandingtheexperiencefromtheperspectiveofthechild,thefos-terfamily,theagencyinvolved,orallthree.Drawingfromcriticalsocialtheory,youmightalsoinvestigatehowthesocialandpoliticalaspectsofthesituationshapethereality;thatis,howlargercon-textualfactorsaffectthewaysinwhichindividualsconstructreality.Thiswouldbea
critical
qualitativeapproach.Usingthesameexampleofplacementofachildinfostercare,fromacriticalqualitativeperspectiveyouwouldbeinterestedinhowthesocialinstitutionoftheplacementagency,orthefosterfamily,isstruc-turedsuchthattheinterestsofsomemembersandclassesofsocietyareservedandperpetuatedattheexpenseofothers.Whoseinterestsarebeingservedbythisplacement?Howdopower,privilege,andoppressionplayout?Criticalsocialscienceresearchhasitsownvariations.Muchoffeministresearchdrawsfromcriticaltheory,asdoesparticipatoryorparticipatoryactionresearch,aformofresearchthatinvolvesparticipantsinthedesignandimplementationofastudy.Somecriticalresearchincorporatesastrongemancipatoryagendaalongwithcri-tique;thatis,theoverallobjectiveistoempowerparticipantsintheprocessof
conductingtheinvestigation.
.
Another,morerecent,philosophicalstanceiscalled
postmodem
or
poststmc-tural.
Hereresearchersquestionallaspectsoftheconstructionofreality,whatitisandwhatitisnot,howitisorganized,andsoon.AsBruner(1993,p.1)writes,meaningis"radicallyplural,alwaysopen,and
...
politics[is]ineveryaccount."Forexample,apoststructuralinquirywouldquestionand"disrupt"thedichoto-mies(forexamplefoster-nonfosterfamily,child-adult)inherentintheresearchproblemabove.Lather(1992)laysoutthesethreeoverarchingtheoreticalper-spectivesintermsof
understanding
(interpretive),
emancipation
(criticalandfeministareincludedhere),and
deconstruction
(postmodern).AlthoughIhaveincludedexamplesofcriticalandpostmodernstudiesinthisvolume,theemphasisison
interpretive
qualitativeresearchstudies.Asaqualitativeresearcher,youcanapproachaninvestigationfromanyofthephilosophicalortheoreticalstancesoutlinedabove.Yourparticularstancewilldeterminethespecificresearchdesignthatyouemployforactuallycarryingoutyourstudy.Ifyourprimaryinterestisinunderstandingaphenomenon,youhavemanyoptions,themostcommonbeinggroundedtheory,phenomenology,narra-tive,ethnography,casestudy,orjustabasicinterpretivestudy.Critical,feminist,postmodern,andparticipatorystudiesallhavegoalsthatincludebutgobeyondunderstanding.Severalkeycharacteristicscutacrossthevarious
interpretive
qualitativere-searchdesigns(alsocalledforms,types,orgenresbyvariousauthors).Thefirstcharacteristicisthatresearchersstriveto
understandthemeaning
peoplehave
Introduction
toQualitativeResearch
5
onstructedabouttheirworldandtheirexperiences;thatis,howdopeoplemakesenseoftheirexperience?AsPatton(1985,p.1)explains:Qualitativeresearch'~is.anefforttounderstandsituationsintheiruniquenessaspartofaparticular
'context
andtheinteractionsthere.Thisunderstandingisanendinitself,sothat~itisnotattemptingtopredictwhatmayhappeninthefuturenecessarily,buttounderstandthenatureofthatsetting-whatitmeansforparticipantstobein:)!hatsetting,whattheirlivesarelike,what'sgoingonforthem,whattheirmean-jngsare,whattheworldlookslikeinthatparticularsetting....Theanalysis;trivesfordepthofunderstanding.".:'.,Asecondcharacteristicofallformsofqualitativeresearchisthat
theresearcher'~theprimaryinstrument
fordatacollectionanddataanalysis,Sinceunderstand-'hgisthegoalofthisresearch,thehumaninstrument,whichisabletobeim-.iediatelyresponsiveandadaptive,wouldseemtobetheidealmeansofcollectingIldanalyzingdata.Otheradvantagesarethattheresearchercanexpandhisorierunderstandingthroughnonverbalaswellasverbalcommunication,process'~formation(data)immediately,clarifyandsummarizematerial,checkwithre-pondentsforaccuracyofinterpretation,andexploreunusualorunanticipated!sponses..H(,However,hehumaninstrumenthasshortcomingsandbiasesthatmighthaveimpactonthestudy.Ratherthantryingtoeliminatethesebiasesor"subjec-vities,"itisimportanttoidentifythemandmonitorthemastohowtheymay
.~
shapingthecollectionandinterpretationofdata.Peshkin(1988,p.18)goesbfarastomakethecasethatone'ssubjectivities"canbeseenasvirtuous,for:isthebasisofresearchersmakingadistinctivecontribution,onethatresults:pmtheuniqueconfigurationoftheirpersonalqualitiesjoinedtothedatatheyavecollected."
.:
Oftenqualitativeresearchersundertakeaqualitativestudybecausethereisackoftheoryoranexistingtheoryfailstoadequatelyexplainaphenomenon.lerefore,anotherimportantcharacteristicofqualitativeresearchisthatthepro-:essis
inductive;
thatis,researchersgatherdatatobuildconcepts,hypotheses,Iftheoriesratherthandeductivelyderivingpostulatesorhypothesestobetestedasinpositivistresearch),Inattemptingtounderstandthemeaningaphenom-~nonhasforthoseinvolved,qualitativeresearchersbuildtowardtheoryfromIbservationsandintuitiveunderstandingsgleanedfrombeinginthefield.1YP-cally,findingsinductivelyderivedfromthedatainaqualitativestudyareintheformofthemes,categories,typologies,concepts,tentativehypotheses,andevensubstantivetheory,Finally,theproductofaqualitativeinquiryis
richlydescriptive.
Wordsandpiqturesratherthannumbersareusedtoconveywhattheresearcherhaslearnedaboutaphenomenon.Therearelikelytobedescriptionsofthecontext,thepar-P-cipantsinvolved,theactivitiesofinterest.Inaddition,dataintheformofquotesomdocuments,fieldnotes,andparticipantinterviews,excerptsfromvideo-~apes,electroniccommunication,oracombinationthereofarealwaysincluded
i~
supportofthefindingsofthestudy.Thesequotesandexcerptscontributeto
tpedescriptivenatureofqualitativeresearch.
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Introduction to Qualitative Research-Merriam 2002
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Very helpful. Thanks for sharing. :)
Thank you. A very useful resource.