International Journal of Qualitative Methods: ARCHIVE
Not a member yet
403 research outputs found
Sort by
El Investigador Como Instrumento Flexible de la Indagación
No full textLa reflexividad convierte al investigador en actor de su estudio e instrumento de la indagación con que construye el diseño, como producto de las decisiones que toma. Esto se mostrará con una investigación sobre el cuidado familiar de pacientes con demencia avanzada. En la construcción de la pregunta me presento como sujeto situado (Rosaldo, 1991) y en el desarrollo del estudio como parte del mundo social (Hammersley y Atkinson, 1995); aquí doy cuenta de las oportunidades, ajustes y dificultades que lo moldearon. Con ello pretendo ilustrar el carácter emergente de un estudio, y en concreto resaltar que el investigador lo construya a través de múltiples y superpuestos procesos sociales. Los investigadores cualitativos reconocen su presencia, tratan de comprenderla y explicar sus efectos (Rossman y Rallis, 1998). La reflexividad contribuye a la validez y desde el punto de vista del interaccionismo simbólico, el proceso reflexivo dota al investigador de un self indagador.La reflexividad convierte al investigador en actor de su estudio e instrumento de la indagación con que construye el diseño, como producto de las decisiones que toma. Esto se mostrará con una investigación sobre el cuidado familiar de pacientes con demencia avanzada. En la construcción de la pregunta me presento como sujeto situado (Rosaldo, 1991) y en el desarrollo del estudio como parte del mundo social (Hammersley y Atkinson, 1995); aquí doy cuenta de las oportunidades, ajustes y dificultades que lo moldearon. Con ello pretendo ilustrar el carácter emergente de un estudio, y en concreto resaltar que el investigador lo construya a través de múltiples y superpuestos procesos sociales. Los investigadores cualitativos reconocen su presencia, tratan de comprenderla y explicar sus efectos (Rossman y Rallis, 1998). La reflexividad contribuye a la validez y desde el punto de vista del interaccionismo simbólico, el proceso reflexivo dota al investigador de un self indagador
The Pink Elephant Paradox (or, Avoiding the Misattribution of Data)
No full textThe pink elephant paradox refers to the threat to inductive thinking caused by the difficulty of inadvertently proving the existence of a concept or phenomena just because it overtly or insidiously exists in one’s thoughts, leading to misattribution, or miscategorization of data, and thus subverting inductive processes. As Morse and Mitcham discussed in Part I, this is reduced through inductive strategies, including processes of saturation, replication, and verification. In this article, I present a story of how the phenomenon of interest in nurse-patient interaction evolved and emerged through a number of qualitative projects. At each stage, concepts were identified, explored, and developed in order to more elucidate the central phenomenon. I will show how, while at times I could identify and avoid the pink elephant, at other times there were one or a herd lurking in the shadows or rampaging through my work. I think that discussing both the successes and pit falls is one way to acknowledge and address the fact that, although we accept the evolution in ideas and thought processes in qualitative research, we still may not be comfortable in articulating the far more complex and insidious threats to inductive processes.
Some schools of qualitative inquiry consider analysis of the literature a hindrance—in fact an invalidity—before commencing fieldwork. To the contrary, when a researcher is studying a concept rather than letting a concept emerge from a setting, it is essential to undertake a thorough theoretical and conceptual analysis of the literature (Morse, 2000; Morse et al, 1996). In my own program of research, the concept analysis was a study in, and of, itself, with the purpose of examining the maturity of concepts, and the explicit and implicit theoretical and research models. The literature constituted data that could be analyzed and formed the basis for a reconceptualization of the original concept by contrasting it with the theory derived from the fieldwork studies
Interpreters/Translators and Cross-Language Research: Reflexivity and Border Crossings
No full textIn this article, the authors examine the implications of extending calls for reflexivity in qualitative research generally to cross-language research with interpreters. Drawing on the concept of ‘borders’, they present two research projects to demonstrate the need to locate the interpreter as active in producing research accounts. They extend the concept of ‘border crossing’, relating this to identity politics and the benefits of making the interpreter visible in research
Fotonovela as a Research Tool in Image-Based Participatory Research with Immigrant Children
No full textIn this article the authors explore the effect of word-image relationships on the collection of data and the reporting of research results for a study involving the development of a series of fotonovelas with immigrant children in an inner-city school. The central question explored in this article is Can experiences such as producing visual narratives in the form of fotonovelas stimulate multiple expressions of voice and position and bring awareness of embodied ways of communicating in a culture-rich school context? The processes involved in collaboratively developing the photographic narrative format of the fotonovela combine visual elements and structures and embodied, reflective performance together with written text. As a research method fotonovela does not merely translate verbal into visual representations but constructs a hybrid photo-image-text that opens new spaces for dialogue, resistance, and representation of a new way of knowing that changes the way of seeing and has the potential to change the author’s and the reader’s self-understanding
Qualitative Interviewing Using Interpersonal Process Recall: Investigating Internal Experiences during Professional-Client Conversations
No full textInterpersonal process recall (IPR) interviewing uses video-assisted recall to access conscious yet unspoken experiences in professional caregiving interactions. Although IPR has been employed across the helping professions, little has been written about effectively conducting IPR interviews. Drawing on their IPR-based counseling research on hope, the authors provide a framework for the use of IPR interview strategies and for addressing challenges unique to IPR. Specific issues include (a) preparing the research team and setting, (b) issues specific to IPR interviewing, including framing IPR questions, (c) working with heightened emotion, and (d) negotiating professional/researcher roles. Finally, they discuss participant experiences and potential applications of IPR
Reciprocity and Constructions of Informed Consent: Researching with Indigenous Populations
No full textIn 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
The Research Poem in International Social Work: Innovations in Qualitative Methodology
No full textIn 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 Influence of Setting on Findings Produced in Qualitative Health Research: A Comparison between Face-to-Face and Online Discussion Groups about HIV/AIDS
No full textThe authors focus their analysis in this article on online focus groups (FGs), in an attempt to describe how the setting shapes the conversational features of the discussion and influences data construction. Starting from a review of current dominant viewpoints, they compare face-to-face discussion groups with different formats of online FGs about AIDS, from a discourse analysis perspective. They conducted 2 face-to-face FGs, 2 chats, 2 forums, and 2 forums+plus+chat involving 64 participants aged 18 to 25 and living in Italy. Their findings seem not only to confirm the hypothesis of a general difference between a face-to-face discussion setting and an Internet-mediated one but also reveal differences among the forms of online FG, in terms of both the thematic articulation of discourse and the conversational and relational characteristics of group exchange, suggesting that exchanges on HIV/AIDS are characterized by the setting. This characterization seems to be important for situating the choice of tool, according to research objectives, and for better defining the technical aspects of the research project
Developing culturally competent health knowledge: Issues of data analysis of cross-cultural, cross-language qualitative research
No full textThere is a growing awareness and interest in the development of culturally competent health knowledge. Drawing on experience using a qualitative approach to elicit information from Mandarin- or Cantonese-speaking participants for a colorectal cancer prevention study, the authors describe lessons learned through the analysis process. These lessons include benefits and drawbacks of the use of coders from the studied culture group, challenges posed by using translated data for analysis, and suitable analytic approaches and research methods for cross-cultural, cross-language qualitative research. The authors also discuss the implications of these lessons for the development of culturally competent health knowledge
Exploiting Exceptions to Enhance Interpretive Qualitative Health Research: Insights from a Study of Cancer Communication
No full textAlthough 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