International Journal of Qualitative Methods: ARCHIVE
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Issues in Multi-Method Research: Constructing Self-Care
No full textIn this article, the authors examine claims that using more than one method in research automatically enhances validity. They argue that if the findings from different methods are the same this does not automatically prove the study is valid. It may show that the researchers looked only for evidence that supported the findings from one method. Complementarity of methods does not mean that different methods have to produce the same findings. That different methods work together as equal partners has to be demonstrated rather than assumed. A study of self-care in relation to people with diabetes is used to draw out some of the issues in the operationalisation of multiple method validation
Design and Control Issues in Qualitative Case Study Research
No full textSome methodologists have pointed to similarities between experimental method and case study research in terms of design, theory testing and development. However, little is known about how these debates inform qualitative research rationales. The use of a sequential dual case study provided an opportunity to examine these issues and their impact on the unfolding research process. The interplay of inductive and deductive approaches was evident throughout in decisions determining the nature of the research enquiry
Maintaining Validity: The Development of the Concept of Trust
No full textMaintaining validity while moving a concept to a higher level of maturity is a dilemma that faces all qualitative researchers. In this section, research projects related to the concept of trust will be used to illustrate how new studies can be built on previous ones and then all studies integrated to develop a comprehensive model without compromising validity. The multiple stages of inquiry will be elucidated using the strategies of deconstruction, development of a skeletal framework, and scaffolding as described by in the opening section by Morse and Mitcham.
The strategy of deconstruction was used in the initial project (Morse, 2000), which was a multidisciplinary concept analysis to determine the level of conceptual maturity. Once it was determined that trust was not well developed in the context of health care interactions, literature was used as data (Morse, 2000) to advance the concept further for the purposes of concept clarification. Although this began the process of identifying the structural features of the concept, these data left us with many questions, particularly since the trust literature was context bound and thus not easily applied to health care relationships. A skeletal framework was then developed to investigate trust in health care relationships using grounded theory (Hupcey, Penrod, & Morse, 2000). This project also advanced the concept further toward maturity, but some aspects still remained unclear. For example, risk as a precondition for trust as found during the concept clarification was not necessarily seen when trust was applied to health care relationships. The strategy of scaffolding was then used as data collection continued with other types of participants and in different contexts to clarify discrepancies in the data and verify the developing model of the concept of trust in health care interactions (Hupcey, Clark, Hutcheson, & Thompson, in press; Thompson, Hupcey, & Clark, in press). Here, I focus on the process of deconstruction, and briefly describe the development of a skeletal framework and the scaffolding process for this research program related to the concept of trust
Hermeneutic Inquiry: Paying Heed to History and Hermes An Ancestral, Substantive, and Methodological Tale
No full textHermeneutic or interpretive inquiry is a living tradition of interpretation with a rich legacy of theory, philosophy, and practice. This paper is not intended to be a treatise on the right way to view and practice this tradition, but an exploration of the legacies that inform the philosophy of practice as the author has taken it up. In this explication, the author examines the ancestral, philosophical, and methodological histories that inform a current practice of hermeneutic inquiry
The Argumentative Quality of the Qualitative Research Report
No full textThe author argues that, to be convincing, the claims of a qualitative research report must be logically and clearly supported. Eight rules for good argumentative dialogue are presented. The author then presents the process of analogical reasoning to support cross-case generalization
How to Do a Research Project: A Guide for Undergraduate Students by Colin Robson. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 2007
No full textGrounded Theory and Sensitizing Concepts
No full textGrounded theory is a qualitative research approach that uses inductive analysis as a principal technique. Yet, researchers who embrace this approach often use sensitizing concepts to guide their analysis. In this article, the author examines the relationship between sensitizing concepts and grounded theory. Furthermore, he illustrates the application of sensitizing concepts in a study of community-based antipoverty projects in Jamaica. The article contains commentary about trustworthiness techniques, the coding process, and the constant comparative method of analysis, as well as a synopsis of study findings
Implicated Audience Member Seeks Understanding: Reexamining the “Gift” of Autoethnography
No full textResearchers 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
Naturalistic inquiry in e-learning research
No full textIn this article, the author explains how and why one particular qualitative research approach, the naturalistic inquiry paradigm, was implemented in an e-learning research study that investigated the use of the World Wide Web technology in higher education. A framework is presented that situates the research study within the qualitative research literature. The author then justifies how the study was compliant with naturalistic inquiry and concludes by presenting a model for judging the quality of such research. The purpose of this article is to provide an example of how naturalistic inquiry can be implemented in e-learning research that can serve as a guide for researchers undertaking this form of qualitative inquiry. As such, the focus of the article is to illustrate how methodological issues pertaining to naturalistic inquiry were addressed and justified to represent a rigorous research approach rather than presenting the results of the research study
Action Research in the Classroom: A Process that Feeds the Spirit of the Adolescent
No full textThrough action research the question “What nourishes the spirit of the adolescent in the classroom” was subjected to an inventive strategy. The inquiry centered around student-driven questions inserted into a holistic intrapersonal curriculum. Recognition of the penury of literature in adolescent self and spirituality led the researcher to formulate the question, to organize and implement sessions with engaged students in a fluid way, to create an appropriate environment, to collect the data, and to analyze the data along thematic lines. Ultimately, the concept that interconnected components such as competence, encouragement, confidence, and self-esteem allow holistic teaching to flourish when creativity, choice, imagination, and constructivism nourish the adolescent spirit in the classroom. A theory clearly rises from the research. Teaching from a holistic perspective, a teacher can offset the solely outcome-based curriculum directives. The teacher and the adolescents committed to learning can continue to regard outcomes while focusing our commitment to process. To nourish the spirit is key. It is an ongoing process of infinite proportions capable of unleashing the energies of all stakeholders in education: teachers, students, parents, officials. The process, if pursued in a determined and mindful way, will witness the establishment of a civil society, one that endures in a renewable way at all levels: home, school, and community