International Journal of Qualitative Methods: ARCHIVE
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403 research outputs found
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A Pathway for Interpretive Phenomenology
No full textIn this article, a qualitative method for research is offered that clearly incorporates Heideggerian philosophy into an interpretive phenomenological research design. Several unique contributions to interpretive research are provided. Tested Hermeneutical Principles for Research (HPR) are outlined. These frame the design and method, and practically integrate the underlying philosophy
Developmental Coordination Disorder: Validation of a Qualitative Analysis Using Statistical Factor Analysis
No full textThis study investigates triangulation of the findings of a qualitative analysis by applying an exploratory factor analysis to themes identified in a phenomenological study. A questionnaire was developed from a phenomenological analysis of parents’ experiences of parenting a child with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). The questionnaire was administered to 114 parents of DCD children and data were analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis. The extracted factors provided support for the validity of the original qualitative analysis, and a commentary on the validity of the process is provided. The emerging description is of the compromises that were necessary to translate qualitative themes into statistical factors, and of the ways in which the statistical analysis suggests further qualitative study
Understanding Emotional Experience in Fieldwork: Responding to Grief in a Northern Aboriginal Village
No full textIn this article, the author explores the experiential aspects of ethnographic fieldwork, especially in terms of a fieldworker’s emotional response to the hardships faced by local people. He presents an ethnographic example concerning fieldwork in a northern Canadian Aboriginal village that evoked an intense emotional reaction from him. He explores this reaction in the context of the epistemological implications of emotional experience in qualitative research and argues that such introspection is a necessary yet understudied component of exploring subjectivity in ethnographic fieldwork
Metaphors as a Bridge to Understanding Educational and Social Contexts
No full textEducational 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
Pieced together: Collage as an artist’s method for interdisciplinary research
No full textAs a visual artist undertaking doctoral studies in education, the author required a research method that integrated her studio practice into her research process, giving equal weight to the visual and the linguistic. Her process of finding such a method is outlined in this article, which touches on arts-based research and practice-led research, and her ultimate approach of choice, collage. Collage, a versatile art form that accommodates multiple texts and visuals in a single work, has been proposed as a model for a “borderlands epistemology”: one that values multiple distinctive understandings and that deliberately incorporates nondominant modes of knowing, such as visual arts. As such, collage is particularly suited to a feminist, postmodern, postcolonial inquiry. This article offers a preliminary theorizing of collage as a method and is illustrated with images from the author’s research/visual practice
Practical Tips & Techniques for Qualitative Researchers
No full textAn introduction to a new feature that highlights practical tips and techniques for qualitative researchers
Horizons Revealed: From Methodology to Method
No full textIn this article, the author reports on a method crafted to interrogate the data of a Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenological study that explored hope seen through the eyes of a small number of Australian youth. She advocates for transparency throughout data analysis, by commencing with an explication of Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenology, followed by a description of the manner by which the data were interrogated. It is a basic premise of this work that all too often authors have adopted thematic analysis uncritically, and have used this method of analysis without considering its fit to the philosophical or methodological orientation of the study, and this practice has remained, by and large, unchallenged. While not advocating against thematic analysis per se, the author disputes that this analytical method is appropriate for studies that are grounded by the philosophical underpinnings of Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenology, and therefore offers a unique method of data analysis
Representation, Legitimation, and Autoethnography: An Autoethnographic Writing Story
No full textThe purpose of this article is to critique representation and legitimation as they relate to the peer review process for an autoethnographic manuscript. Using a conversation derived from seven reviewers’ comments pertaining to one autoethnographic manuscript, issues relating to (a) the use of verification strategies in autoethnographic studies; and, (b) the use of self as the only data source are discussed. As such, this paper can be considered as an autoethnographic writing story. The problematic nature of autoethnography, which is located at the boundaries of scientific research, is examined by linking the author’s experiences of the review process with dominant research perspectives. Suggestions for investigators wishing to produce autoethnographic accounts are outlined along with a call for the development of appropriate evaluative criteria for such work
Using Phenomenology to Examine the Experiences of Family Caregivers of Patients with Advanced Head and Neck Cancer: Reflections of a Novice Researcher
No full textFaced with a number of research methods, astute researchers carefully choose the method of research most appropriate for their inquiry. Even when there is a goodness of fit between the research design selected to conduct the study and the topic of interest, all designs pose challenges for investigators that need to be considered and addressed. This paper represents the reflections of a novice researcher regarding the issues and decisions made in the course of selecting a phenomenological approach to conduct research examining family caregivers’ experiences caring for tube feeding–dependent patients with advanced head and neck cancer. As such, the article is aimed at sensitizing other novice investigators about things to consider in selecting a phenomenological perspective to answer their own research questions
The Performative Pull of Research with New Media
No full textIn this paper the author tells the story of how the technology she used in her research reshaped her thinking about her research as she reshaped the technology for purposes beyond its initial intent. Her research story provides a real-life example of the dialectical relationship between humans and technology. When she immersed herself in a multimedia authoring environment called Flash in the process of her research, the experience led to the reorganization or restructuring of her thinking, and her research looks very different than it would have if she had used technology only as initially planned. She discusses the performative potential of new media and, in particular, a digital environment she created to store, organize, and represent her data, and she discusses the role of the digital environment in providing a meeting place for the participants and the researcher in the study. Thinking with new media on an ongoing basis in her study meant thinking about research data, analysis, and presentation through the lens of new media’s affordances: multimodality, multilinearity, and performance