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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Qualitative Research Methods is a comprehensive, all-inclusive resource for the theory and practice of qualitative/ethnographic research methodology.
- Serves as a “how-to” guide for qualitative/ethnographic research, detailing how to design a project, conduct interviews and focus groups, interpret and analyze data, and represent it in a compelling manner
- Demonstrates how qualitative data can be systematically utilized to address pressing personal, organizational, and social problems
- Written in an engaging style, with in-depth examples from the author’s own practice
- Comprehensive companion website includes sample syllabi, lesson plans, a list of helpful website links, test bank and exam review materials, and exercises and worksheets, available upon publication at www.wiley.com/go/tracy
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Seitenzahl: 851
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012
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Contents
Preface
CHAPTER 1 Developing contextual research that matters
Overview and introduction
Three core qualitative concepts: self-reflexivity, context, and thick description
A phronetic approach: doing qualitative research that matters
Foci of qualitative research
Moving from ideas to sites, settings, and participants
EXERCISE 1.1 Field/site brainstorm
CONSIDER THIS 1.1 Sources of research ideas
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 1.1 Feasibility challenges with hidden populations
TIPS AND TOOLS 1.1 Factoring the ease of fieldwork
Moving toward a research question
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 1.2 Published examples of research questions
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING, AND IMPROVISING
In summary
EXERCISE 1.2 Three potential field sites
CHAPTER 2 Entering the conversation of qualitative research
The nature of qualitative research
CONSIDER THIS 2.1 Why am I standing in line?
EXERCISE 2.1 Action vs. structure
Key characteristics of the qualitative research process
Key definitions and territories of qualitative research
Historical matters
In summary
EXERCISE 2.2 Research problems and questions
CHAPTER 3 Paradigmatic reflections and theoretical foundations
CONSIDER THIS 3.1 A paradigm parable
Paradigms
EXERCISE 3.1 Verstehen/understanding
CONSIDER THIS 3.2 Whose stylistic rules?
Paradigmatic complexities and intersections
EXERCISE 3.2 Paradigmatic approaches
Theoretical approaches that commonly use qualitative methods
CONSIDER THIS 3.3 How do i know myself?
In summary
CHAPTER 4 Fieldwork and fieldplay
A participant observation primer
Knock, knock, knocking on participants’ doors: negotiating access
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 4.1 Contact information log
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 4.2 Sample access proposal
Abandoning the ego, engaging embodiment, embracing liminality
EXERCISE 4.1 Self-identity audit
Navigating those first few visits
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 4.3 Initial reactions speak volumes
TIPS AND TOOLS 4.1 Participant observation tips
Exploratory methods
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 4.4 Participant information table
EXERCISE 4.2 Map and narrative tour
In summary
CHAPTER 5 Proposal writing
Getting started with institutional review
The IRB proposal: rationale, instruments, informed consent, and confidentiality
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 5.1 Participant consent letter
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 5.2 Gatekeeper permission letter
Different levels of IRB review
The quirks of IRB
Creating the scholarly research proposal
TIPS AND TOOLS 5.1 Research proposal components
TIPS AND TOOLS 5.2 What belongs in a qualitative methods section?
TIPS AND TOOLS 5.3 What to include in a qualitative project budget
In summary
CHAPTER 6 Field roles, fieldnotes, and field focus
Field roles and standpoints of participant observation
CONSIDER THIS 6.2 When playing is uncomfortable
Writing fieldnotes
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 6.1 Fieldnote header
CONSIDER THIS 6.3 Noticing the data as evidence
TIPS AND TOOLS 6.1 Fieldnote writing tips
Focusing the data and using heuristic devices
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING, AND IMPROVISING
EXERCISE 6.1 Fieldnotes
In summary
CHAPTER 7 Interview planning and design
CONSIDER THIS 7.1 Yin and yang: taijitu
The value of interviews
EXERCISE 7.1 Self-reflexive interviewing
Who, what, where, how, and when: developing a sampling plan
TIPS AND TOOLS 7.1 Sampling plans
Interview structure, type, and stance
TIPS AND TOOLS 7.2 Interview structure, types and stances
Creating the interview guide
EXERCISE 7.2 Strategizing interviews
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 7.1 Research questions versus interview questions
TIPS AND TOOLS 7.3 Interview question types
EXERCISE 7.3 Interview guide
In summary
CHAPTER 8 Interview practice
Negotiating access for interviews
Conducting face-to-face interviews
Technologically mediated approaches to interviewing
TIPS AND TOOLS 8.1 Mediated interviews: advantages and disadvantages
The focus-group interview
TIPS AND TOOLS 8.2 Planning a focus group
Overcoming common focus group and interviewing challenges
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 8.1 Remedial–pedagogical interviews
EXERCISE 8.1 Role-playing interview challenges in a fishbowl
Transcribing
TIPS AND TOOLS 8.3 Common transcribing symbols
In summary
CHAPTER 9 Data analysis basics
Organizing and preparing the data
Analysis logistics: colors, cutting or computers?
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 9.1 Manual coding visual display
Data immersion and primary-cycle coding
Focusing the analysis and creating a codebook
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 9.2 Codebook excerpt
CONSIDER THIS 9.1 Focusing the data analysis
Secondary-cycle coding: second-level analytic and axial/hierarchical coding
Synthesizing and making meaning from codes
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 9.3 Analytic memos
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 9.4 Loose analysis outline
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING,AND IMPROVISING
In summary
EXERCISE 9.1 Iterative analysis basics
CHAPTER 10 Advanced data analysis
Computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS)
Advanced approaches for analyzing qualitative data
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 10.1 Table for organizing dissertation findings
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 10.2 Matrix display
TIPS AND TOOLS 10.1 Flowchart depicting iterative analysis process
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 10.3 Micro, meso, macro sources
FOLLOWING, THEN FORGETTING THE RULES
In summary
EXERCISE 10.1 Advanced data analysis/interpretation
CHAPTER 11 Qualitative quality
The criteria controversy
TIPS AND TOOLS 11.1 Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research
Worthy topic
Rich rigor
EXERCISE 11.1 Gauging worth and rigor
Sincerity
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 11.1 Sincerity word cloud
Credibility
TIPS AND TOOLS 11.2 Inter-coder reliability
Resonance
Significant contribution
EXERCISE 11.2 Gauging significance
Ethical research practice
CONSIDER THIS 11.1 Recruiting difficult populations
CONSIDER THIS 11.2 Situational and relational ethics
Meaningful coherence
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING, AND IMPROVISING
CONSIDER THIS 11.3 The ten lies of ethnography
In summary
CHAPTER 12 Writing Part 1
Types of tales
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 12.1 Poetic inquiry
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 12.2 Dialogue as a powerful literary tactic
The archeology of a qualitative essay
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 12.3 Methods data display
EXERCISE 12.1 Which writing strategy?
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING,AND IMPROVISING
In summary
CHAPTER 13 Writing Part 2
Writing to inquire
How to write qualitative evidence
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 13.1 Visual representation
Setting yourself up for success by considering the audience first
EXERCISE 13.1 Article format model
TIPS AND TOOLS 13.1 Journals that have published qualitative communication research
Submitting, revising, and resubmitting for journal publication
Git R done: overcoming common writing and submission challenges
TIPS AND TOOLS 13.2 Steps for writing an ethnography
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING, AND IMPROVISING
In summary
CHAPTER 14 Qualitative methodology matters
Navigating exit from the scene
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 14.1 Thank you note
Ethically delivering the findings
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING, AND IMPROVISING
Moving toward research representations with public impact
RESEARCHER’S NOTEPAD 14.2 Staged performance with impact
EXERCISE 14.1 Making an impact via public scholarship
FOLLOWING, FORGETTING, AND IMPROVISING
In summary
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
References
Index
About the website
This text has a comprehensive companion website which features resources for instructors and students alike.
Instructors
Powerpoint slides to accompany each chapter
Sample syllabi for both undergraduate and graduate courses
A testbank, containing problems for each chapter, including answers
Lesson plan outlines for each chapter
23 additional activities created by guest contributors
Students
Master list of key terms and definitions
Worksheets for each chapter
Exam guides, containing key terms and concepts for each chapter
List of helpful websites, videos, movies, and blogs
Please visit www.wiley.com/go/tracy to access these materials.
This edition first published 2013© 2013 Sarah J. Tracy
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I dedicate this book to all my past students, research participants, mentors, and colleagues who have taught me that anything worth doing well is worth doing badly in the beginning.
Preface
Is this book for me?
As I’ve developed this book on qualitative methodology, I’ve consistently kept in mind Bud Goodall’s (2000) suggestion inWriting theNew Ethnographythat good writing engages the reader as a participative audience. A good read is dialogic and creates space for a conversation. The reader of this book will ultimately be its judge. But, before we begin, I want to share several ways this book and my experience may be of value in your own qualitative journey.
This book takes a “praxis”-centered approach. Stanley Deetz, my advisor at the University of Colorado-Boulder, first turned me on to the idea of problem-centered analyses as a method for doing research that matters (consider Deetz, 2009). Since then, I have written about problem-focused research, and colleagues at Arizona State University have further motivated me to value public scholarship that can improve or transform life for everyday people. Similarly, and as informed by the recent move toward positive scholarship, another poignant starting place comes through examining how positive issues like passion, energy, compassion, or resilience may be constructed and maintained.
This approach has laid the groundwork for my researching a variety of contexts and writing in a range of styles. My home field of speech communication, like many disciplines, is marked by paradigmatic arguments about whether the best and most valid research comes from counting or narrating. Even those who live squarely in the qualitative camp find other issues to debate – definitions of terminology, whether telling stories about ourselves is a valid way to do research, how we should best write or perform our research, and so on.
Some students may not know or care to know about these controversies. However, others view their choice of research method as a decision laden with political ramifications. The book covers paradigmatic debates. However, in what may be of greater interest and value, my advice comes from the standpoint of someone who has practiced a variety of approaches. I will spend more time focusing on what methods will impact the issue at hand than discussing whether one methodological brand is inherently better than another. Indeed, I think researchers can successfully practice a variety of approaches to qualitative methods. My research includes journal articles in traditional deductive form, but also creative nonfictions and performance scripts for the stage. I have fruitfully worked with colleagues who specialize in autoethnographic performance texts as well as with those who use qualitative methods as a complement to their grant-funded quantitative research.
Good qualitative scholarship is rigorous, interesting, practical, aesthetic, and ethical. Of course, sometimes not all the aims can be equally achieved in the same piece. The aspects of research that should be most highlighted may largely depend on the audience – whether that is a group of scholars, of employees, or of artists. Here I provide a big-tent approach to evaluating qualitative quality, one that can help students strive for high-quality qualitative methods despite their paradigmatic approach. Further, I provide a detailed step-by-step explanation of qualitative data gathering, writing, and analysis.
Indeed, another aim of the book is to fill a gap in terms of data analysis. This book provides astep-by-stepexplanation of analysis in commonsense terms, understandable both to newcomers and to those well versed in the practice. My focus on data analysis has developed through discussions I have had with a variety of qualitative methods experts over the years – people including Bud Goodall, Robin Clair, Amira DeLaGarza, Carolyn Ellis, Larry Frey, Patricia Geist Martin, Bob Krizek, Bryan Taylor, and Nick Trujillo. We have discussed a number of joys and challenges associated with teaching qualitative research in the communication discipline. We have also agreed that our students have a wealth of available pedagogical resources on how best todesignqualitative research,gatherqualitative data through interviews, focus groups, and fieldnotes, andwrite upthe research report. However, as a community, qualitative researchers could better communicate and teach the qualitative dataanalysisprocess. Indeed students often complain that they need more instruction on what happensin betweenthe time they collect the data and the time they write it into a polished research report. In other words, little explicit instruction exists that clearly delineates a variety of systematic data analysis practices.
The book is designed to be accessible to advanced undergraduate students, yet provide enough methodological detail to be helpful to graduate students and advanced scholars. I try to convey methodological information in an easy to understand and engagingmanner. People are more attracted to readingsomething that has a plot line, and they best retain information in the form of narratives. Hence, in thecourse of discussing the building blocks of qualitative research methods, I share my own joys and frustrations.By sharing these stories – marked as they are by twists and turns, celebrations and disappointments – I aim to make the research process poignant, interesting, real, and occasionally humorous.
This book is appropriate for a variety ofdisciplines and classes. My examples rely heavily on interdisciplinary communication scholarship, but the qualitative methods described here also apply to students and scholars in numerous otherfields, such as management, sociology, psychology, education, social work, justice studies, and ethnic and gender studies. The book is appropriate for college courses that appear under course names such as research methods, qualitative research methods, ethnography, ethnographic methods, critical research methods, interpretive research, grounded approaches to research, naturalistic inquiry, autoethnography, performance studies, narrative research methods, and field methods. And, although this book is designed primarily for an academic audience, practitioners wishing to engage in qualitative research to solve organizational and societal dilemmas may also find good advice within these pages.
I should note that, although this book presents unique aspects, its format is similar to that of some of the most popular qualitative books on the market. Therefore it should be fairly easy to adopt and transition into. The book is an all-inclusive treatment that leads readers through a qualitative research project from beginning to end. It can be adapted both to one-semester/quarter and to two-semester/quarter classes. Furthermore, although the book includes a story of myself as researcher (and therefore it differs from a “manual”), it need not be read from cover to cover in order to be useful. A summary of the chapters is as follows:
Chapter 1 introduces qualitative methods, discussing the importance of self-reflexivity and context, introducing the notion of phronetic research, and providing tips for choosing a topic and devising research.
Chapter 2 overviews qualitative terminology, discusses how qualitative research focuses
on action and structure, examines significant historical issues, and concludes with
current controversies that situate qualitative methods today.
Chapter 3 discusses four primary research
paradigms and how qualitative research is situated
in each – in a way that makes theoretically dense material easy to understand even for those who are new to research methods. The chapter also reviews seven theoretical approaches that commonly use qualitative data and methodology,
namely Geertz’s interpretivism, symbolic
interactionism, ethnography of communication,
sensemaking, participatory action research,
feminism, and structuration theory.
Chapter 4 introduces the concept of field “play” and examines methods for navigating access in order to conduct qualitative research. These include tactics like keeping a contact log, creating an access proposal, organizing a participant table, or considering early investigative methods.
Chapter 5 provides an explanation of human subjects review, tips for navigating institutional review boards, and a step-by-step guide to writing a research proposal.
Chapter 6 gives insight on different participant–observer roles, on how to write fieldnotes, on methods for focusing on data collection, and on how to manage various ethical dilemmas in the field.
Chapter 7 offers the nuts and bolts of planning and
designing good interviews, including how to choose the best samples and how to write, structure,
and order interview questions and dialogue.
Chapter 8 focuses on conducting an actual interview or focus group session. It discusses
recruitment, developing rapport, ethical engagement, logistics, transcription, and considering advantages and disadvantages of various interview formats – face-to-face, mediated, one-on-one, or group.
Chapters 9 and 10 detail how researchers can best analyze their interviews, fieldnotes and docu
ments. I provide step-by-step best practices for transforming
a heap of data into meaning
endowed with theoretical and practical signif
icance. In doing so, I reference tried-and-true grounded analysis
methods, but I also introduce
new approaches such as discourse tracing.
Furthermore, I cover the role of computer-aided data analysis software.
Along the way, I present vignettes and methodology
text examples from my own and others’ projects to illustrate.
Chapter 11 offers an overview of qualitative quality – something that is often missing or
implicit in other methodology books. In doing so, it reviews traditional measures of research quality and then lays out a multi-paradigmatic approach for ensuring that qualitative research is rigorous, ethical, and credible.
Chapters 12 and 13 provide detailed information on how to write the qualitative research report.
There I talk about various types of qualitative
tales, about writing nuts and bolts, about
overcoming common errors, and about how to
write a lot!
Chapter 14 comes full circle, overviewing
logistical issues for leaving the scene and showing how researchers can frame and deliver their qualitative work so that it impacts the world.
Along the way, I include recurring text boxes. These highlight activities and assignments labeled “Exercise,” examples and narratives stored under“Consider this,” practical “Tips and tools,” anddata excerpts or experiences called “Researcher’s notepad.” Some of these boxes are written in the words of other scholars and students – words in which they talk about their particular experiences. The text boxes provide a break and encourage reader engagement and activity along the way.
Furthermore, I intermittently include sections called “Following, Forgetting, and Improvising.” Practicing any interpretive art requires learning the “rules” first, and only then playing with them and improvising. I suggest ways in which researchers might fruitfully improvise with qualitative best practices, or in some cases forget them altogether. Like in all dialectics, the paradox of “following, then forgetting” qualitative best practices is not something that can be solved or resolved. But, by discussing the tension, we can manage it rather than being trapped by it. There’s no easy way out; but there are better ways of navigating than others. I hope this book can serve as a guide.
Finally, an accompanying website with teaching manual materials is available with the book. Materials include:
sample syllabi for both undergraduate and graduate
classes;
lesson plan outlines of each chapter;
a list of helpful website links, such as videos, blogs, tutorials, and methodology programs;
test bank and exam review materials;
auxiliary exercises and worksheets, some by guest contributors;
power point slide masters.
These materials will help those who are new to teaching qualitative research methods: they’ll be up and running in no time. For experienced instructors, they may serve as a supplement and launching pad for new pedagogical options.
Acknowledgments
Let me close by offering some acknowledgments. I am blessed to have worked with a host of good mentors and colleagues. You’ll see me repeat some of their advice verbatim; and, where I do not, remnantsand iterations of their wisdom are indeliblystamped upon the guidance offered here. I am indebted to Bryan Taylor, my ethnography instructor at University of Colorado-Boulder and co-author ofQualitative Communication Research Methods– his coauthored book on qualitative methods, now in its third edition (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). Hopefully,the book in your hand can serve as a complement and extension to the pearls of wisdom I first read years ago and have since used in my teaching so many times.
I also am thankful to other mentors at University of Colorado-Boulder. Stanley Deetz offered me invaluable insight on examining the larger structures that liberate and constrain everyday practices and talk. Karen Tracy trained me in close discourse analysis and helped me forge an entrée to my first field project with 911 call-takers.Margaret Eisenhart,in the School of Education, provided a cross-disciplinary examination of ethnography andintroduced me to the multiple ways in which cultures can be envisaged, approached, and studied. Bob Craig introduced me to grounded practical theory, and this informs my phronetic problem-based approach to qualitative methodology (Tracy, 2002a).Furthermore, Brenda Allen, George Cheney, Sally Planalp, and Phil Tompkinshave served as wonderfulfriends and life-long mentors.
Colleagues in the Hugh Downs School of HumanCommunication and throughout Arizona StateUniversity have also contributed to the development of this book.Jennifer Scarduzio and Elizabeth Eger havebeen instrumental in editing, developing teacher manual materials, creating the glossary of terms, and reference checking. Additionally, Shawna Malvini Redden, Kendra Rivera, Lisi Willner, Scott Parr, Desiree Rowe, Karen Stewart, Timothy Huffman, Deborah Way, Amy Pearson, Ragan Fox, Kurt Lindemann, MiriamSobre-Denton, Amy Way, and Emily Cripe – among many former COM 609 students – have provided excellent input.
I feel thankful to Patricia Geist-Martin and her students, who “test ran” the book. Bud Goodall provided extensive internal reviews, Kory Floyd book-writing advice, Larry Frey an invaluable qualitative reference list, and Angela Trethewey buoyed the project. Furthermore, local colleagues Amira De La Garza, Johnny Saldaña, and Michael Shafer have provided support along the way.
Additionally, I feel indebted to Wiley-Blackwellacquisitions editor Elizabeth Swayze. Over coffee at multiple scholarly conventions, and numerousemails, Elizabeth persuaded me that this would be a good project. Along the way, she and her Wiley-Blackwell team – and especially Amanda Banner,Ginny Graham, Simon Eckley, Julia Kirk, and Deirdre Ilkson – have provided support, patience,and promotion. I am also so appreciative of Kitty Bocking at Pixlink who found the perfect photos and Manuela Tecusan (and Hazel Harris, the projectmanager) for providing such timely,supportive, and expert copy-editing of the project. This book is a team effort and I am eternally grateful for your help with it.
Finally, I feel appreciative of my friends, colleagues, and family who provided encouragement, advice, and feedback. A special thanks tomy family – Boyd, Malinda, Judi, Merl, Van, Julia, Zander and Lydia. My “mastermind sisters” Isa and Amy listened and helped me make sense of my misgivings and triumphs. Other friends – Belle, Dan, Alec, Catherine, Karen, Lori, Jess, and my entire Facebook family – encouraged me throughout the long journey. Most especially, thank you to Brad for being my patient cheerleader, for believing in me, and for providing much laughter, even as I spent way too many weekends writing in the casita. All of these people made the whole book-writing processnot nearly as lonely as it would have been otherwise –which is important for a qualitative researcher who likes to spend time in the field playing with others, and not just behind the computer. May their joy and hope infuse these pages and motivate others as much as they motivated me.
CHAPTER 1
Developing contextual research that matters
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words, “research methods?”
Many people never think explicitly about this question, and if they do, they think that research methods are difficult to learn and painstaking to conduct. However, you might be surprised to discover that you engage in research every day – and these methods not only provide important resources for understanding the world, but are actually a common and enjoyable way to spend our time.
We ask questions, listen to stories, watch others, participate in meetings, check our text messages, gossip, and engage in dialogue. In doing so, we gather qualitative data about social phenomena. Through talking to others we learn about their quirks, interests, pet peeves, and sense of humor. We learn about their culture. We think about these experiences, make patterns of meanings, and absorb the scene.
Simultaneously, share our own understandings in conversations, blog entries, and emails. In telling these stories we call out the most important players and evaluate their behavior. We do this to pass the time, interact, and have fun. But we also do it to understand the world and our place within it. We make sense through our talk, and our meaning making helps us know what to expect at future events. So, at a basic level, we all engage in research everyday. The focused study of research methods takes these everyday actions one step further: to a systematic analysis that may lead to better understandings – not only for us, but for others.
Overview and introduction
This book guides readers step by step through the qualitative methods process – research design, data collection, analysis, and creating a representation that can be shared with others, be that a class paper, a publication, a performance, a service portfolio, a website entry, or a letter to the editor. I will impart aspects of qualitative research I have found most methodologically sound, helpful, beautiful, fun, and interesting. I will also pause to discuss concepts that I have not practiced myself, but that are common in the field. This book offers guidance no matter whether you are a graduate student learning the basics of qualitative methods, an undergraduate completing a service project, a critical performance artist wishing to interrogate power relations, a rhetorician interested in complementing textual analysis, or a quantitative researcher hoping to augment statistical findings through qualitative insights.
Chapter 1 opens by introducing three central concepts that can jumpstart a qualitative project: self-reflexivity, context, and thick description. Next, I overview the unique, praxis-based, contextual approach of the book and how qualitative research is well poised for researching a number of disciplinary areas. Finally, I discuss the first steps in conducting a research project, including choosing a context and developing research questions.
Three core qualitative concepts: self-reflexivity, context, and thick description
Self-reflexivity
Self-reflexivity refers to the careful consideration of the ways in which researchers’ past experiences, points of view, and roles impact these same researchers’ interactions with, and interpretations of, the research scene. Let’s examine this definition in more detail.
Every researcher has a point a view, an opinion, or a way of seeing the world. Some people call this “baggage”; others call it wisdom. Rather than deny our way of seeing and being in the world, qualitative researchers acknowledge, and even celebrate it. A person’s demographic information provides the basic ingredients of a researcher’s perspective. For example, I am female, white, heterosexual, forty-something, partnered, and an aunt. My work roles have included professor, public relations coordinator, and cruise ship activities director. I raced an “Ironman” triathlon, and I drive a Mini Cooper Clubman. I believe that success rewards virtuous action and that good research provides opportunities for transformation.
This background shapes my approach toward various topics and research in general. Likewise, your own background, values, and beliefs fundamentally shape the way you approach and conduct research. The mind and body of a qualitative researcher literally serve as research instruments – absorbing, sifting through, and interpreting the world through observation, participation, and interviewing. These are the analytical resources of our own “subjectivity.” Of course, our bodies and minds also live in a context.
Context
Qualitative research is about immersing oneself in a scene and trying to make sense of it – whether at a company meeting, in a community festival, or during an interview. Qualitative researchers purposefully examine and make note of small cues in order to decide how to behave, as well as to make sense of the context and build larger knowledge claims about the culture.
Clifford Geertz, sometimes referred to as the father of interpretive anthropology, focused specifically on context, preferring to examine the field’s rich specificity. As Geertz (1973) famously put it: “Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning” (p. 5). Ethnographers construct meaning through immersion in a context comparable to that of scientific research – say, an experimental laboratory study – that isolates variables and controls circumstances, so that findings can be replicated.
Indeed qualitative researchers believe that the empirical and theoretical resources needed to comprehend a particular idea, or to predict its future trajectory, are themselves interwoven with, and throughout, the context. Social theories are based in the ever-changing, biased, and contextualized social conditions of their production. So, for example, we can read detailed analyses of inner-city poverty and glean emergent theories of social justice from these rich evocations.
Thick description
Directly related to context is the idea of thick description, according to which researchers immerse themselves in a culture, investigate the particular circumstances present in that scene, and only then move toward grander statements and theories. Meaning cannot be divorced from this thick contextual description. For instance, without a context, a person’s winking could mean any number of things, including that the person is flirting, is trying to communicate secretly, has an uncontrollable facial twitch, or is imitating someone else’s twitch (Geertz, 1973). The meaning of the wink comes precisely from the complex specificity and the circumstances that inform interpretations of intention; “The aim is to draw large conclusions from small, but very densely textured facts; to support broad assertions about the role of culture in the construction of collective life by engaging them exactly with complex specifics” (p. 28).
By describing the background and context of action, researchers can decipher a twitch and tell it apart from a wink and from a parody of a wink – and they may interpret the meaning(s) of all these gestures and help predict whether we are likely to see the behavior again. This process of interpretation is dependent upon the scene’s particulars. This being the case, context provides a central role for qualitative research, while a priori theory takes a back seat. Given the focus on context, the driving force of much qualitative research is practical in nature.
A phronetic approach: doing qualitative research that matters
I take a praxis-based or “phronetic” approach to research (Tracy, 2007). This approach suggests that qualitative data can be systematically gathered, organized, interpreted, analyzed, and communicated so as to address real world concerns. I suggest that researchers begin their research process by identifying a particular issue, problem, or dilemma in the world and then proceed to systematically interpret the data in order to provide an analysis that sheds light on the issue and/or opens a path for possible social transformation. Doing “use-inspired” (Stokes, 1997) contextual research is especially well suited for service learning, socially embedded research, public intellectualism, funded projects, and community partnerships.
What is phronetic research? The ancient Greek noun phronēsis is generally translated as ‘prudence’ or ‘practical wisdom’ (Aristotle, 2004). Phronēsis is concerned with contextual knowledge that is interactively constructed, action oriented and imbued with certain values (Cairns & Śliwa, 2008). Research conducted under its guidance serves “to clarify and deliberate about the problems and risks we face and to outline how things may be done differently, in full knowledge that we cannot find ultimate answers to these questions or even a single version of what the questions are” (Flyvbjerg, 2001, p. 140). This approach assumes that perception comes from a specific (self-reflexive) subject position and that the social and historical roots of an issue precede individual motivations and actions. It also assumes that communication produces identity for the researchers as well as for those researched, and that it generates knowledge that benefits some more than others. Qualitative methods are especially suited for examining phronetic questions about morality and values. Social action is always changing; therefore contextual explanations and situated meanings are integral to ongoing sensemaking.
Strengths of qualitative research
Through a phronetic approach that focuses on self-reflexivity, context, and thick description, qualitative research has a number of advantages as a research method. First, many researchers – especially young scholars who do not have the luxury of comfy offices or high-tech laboratories – are all too happy to escape their shared apartments and cramped graduate school offices and venture into the field. This may be why so many excellent ethnographies are conducted by people under the age of 30. As Goffman (1989) said about naturalistic field research: “You’re going to be an ass… And that’s one reason why you have to be young to do fieldwork. It’s harder to be an ass when you are old” (p. 128).
Second, qualitative research is excellent for studying contexts you are personally curious about but have never before had a “valid” reason for entering. Third, in addition to personal interest or disciplined voyeurism, qualitative data provide insight into cultural activities that might otherwise be missed in structured surveys or experiments.
Fourth, qualitative research can uncover salient issues that can later be studied using more structured methods. Indeed field research may lead to close and trusting relationships that encourage a level of disclosure unparalleled in self-reports or snapshot examinations of a scene. Such work has the potential to provide insight about marginalized, stereotyped, or unknown populations – a peek into regularly guarded worlds, and an opportunity to tell a story that few know about. Such was the case with Lindemann’s (2007) work with homeless street vendors who sell newspapers in San Francisco to survive.
Fifth, qualitative research is especially well suited for accessing tacit, taken-for-granted, intuitive understandings of a culture. Rather than merely asking about what people say they do, researching in context provides an opportunity to see and hear what people actually do. Rather than relying on participants’ espoused values, we come to understand participants’ values-in-use (Schein, 2004) and how they live out these values on a daily basis. The more researchers become immersed in the scene, the more they can make second-order interpretations – meaning that researchers construct explanations for the participants’ explanations.
Sixth, and perhaps most importantly, good qualitative research helps people to understand the world, their society, and its institutions. Qualitative methodology can provide knowledge that targets societal issues, questions, or problems and therefore serves humankind. In summary, qualitative research:
is rich and holistic;
offers more than a snapshot – provides understanding of a sustained process;
focuses on lived experience, placed in its context;
honors participants’ local meanings;
can help explain, illuminate, or reinterpret quantitative data;
interprets participant viewpoints and stories;
preserves the chronological flow, documenting what events lead to what consequences, and explaining
why
this chronology may have occurred;
celebrates how research representations (reports, articles, performances) constitute reality and affect the questions we can ask and what we can know;
illustrates how a multitude of interpretations are possible, but how some are more theoretically compelling, morally significant, or practically important than others.
In short, qualitative methods are appropriate and helpful for achieving a variety of research goals – either on their own or in a complementary relationship with other research methods.
Foci of qualitative research
Qualitative research can be found in a range of disciplines and topic areas. The annual Congress for Qualitative Inquiry held at the University of Illinois regularly boasts representation from over 40 disciplines and 55 nations. This involvement serves as a testament to the global reach and cross-disciplinary popularity of qualitative methods.
Understanding the self
Critical self-examination offers one important context for qualitative research. Autoethnography is an autobiographical genre of writing that connects the analysis of one’s own identity, culture, feelings, and values to larger societal issues. Jago (2002), for instance, undertakes a powerful examination of mental illness and academic life in critically examining her own “academic depression.” Goodall (2006) takes readers along on his own journey of understanding the secrets of his family life and of his father’s cloaked career in the Central Intelligence Agency. Ellis (2008) chronicles personal life loss and trauma by constructing “narrative snapshots” and compiling them together, in a manner akin to that of a video or text in motion.
Qualitative researchers frequently consider their own personal stories or experiences as spaces for further exploration, examination, and representation. A particular joy, tragedy, or experience is especially fruitful for study if it is rare or understudied, if it connects up with larger social narratives, or if current research on the topic is lacking in personal standpoint. Focusing on the micro-events of one’s own life can also provide important lessons about larger societal structures and problems. Through a vivid focus on power and justice, autoethnography can improve social conditions and unpack the personal implications of difficult issues – such as abortion (Minge, 2006) or eating disorders (Tillmann-Healy, 1996).
Understanding relationships
Qualitative research can also provide important insight into interpersonal relationships. Through interviews and participant observation, researchers examine romantic partnerships, friendships, customer-service encounters, superior–subordinate and doctor–patient relationships (Real, Bramson, & Poole, 2009), learning why people engage in such relationships, the way their interactions emerge and change, and how they evidence their feelings for each other. For example, Vande Berg and Trujillo (2008) bravely told their final love story in Cancer and death: A love story in two voices. Erbert and Alemán (2008) interviewed grandparents about the tensions of surrogate parenting. Qualitative studies can also illuminate the “dark side” of relationships, including conflict, emotional abuse, and deviance (Olson, Daggs, Ellevold, & Rogers, 2007).
Much qualitative research is itself relational, in that data are gathered by using one-to-one interactions between researcher and participants. For example, Ellis (2010) interviewed holocaust survivors and their children and in doing so explored what happens when the interviewer and the interviewee jointly construct the meaning of an historical event. Such methods provide an opportunity for learning “what it feels like” to be in one of these relationships.
Understanding groups and organizations
Families, work groups, sports teams, clubs, support circles, or volunteers are often the topics of qualitative research. For example, Adelman and Frey (1997) volunteered at the Bonaventure House facility for people living with AIDS and studied how communication practices mediate the tension between individual clients’ needs and the groups’ need for a community. Other qualitative research on groups covers topics such as the shared ideology espoused in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (Right, 1997), the communication dialectics in a community theater troupe (Kramer, 2004) and coping processes in post-divorce families (Afifi, Hutchinson, & Krouse, 2006).
Organizational studies are replete with qualitative accounts of a wide variety of topics: gender, power, leadership, followership, socialization – and more. These come in the form of the famous Harvard Business School Case Studies – detailed narratives of business situations describing typical management dilemmas and no obvious right answers – as well as in a myriad of other examinations of organizational culture (Tracy & Geist-Martin, in press).
Some qualitative researchers become full participants in the organization – as employees, interns, or volunteers (Murphy, 1998). Other researchers gain enough access to attend meetings and generally to hang out (Ashcraft, 2001). Meanwhile, others conduct qualitative research that speaks to hot-button issues like sexual harassment – and they do it by interviewing stakeholders (Scarduzio & Geist-Martin, 2008) or by textually examining emails, training materials, or news articles (Lyon & Mirivel, 2011).
Contexts of organizational qualitative study may include profit-making organizations (Nike, Disneyland), governmental institutions (prisons, institutions in a military context), nonprofit organizations (Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross), educational contexts, hospitals, or churches. Qualitative studies provide an insider’s view on organizing – through examining meetings, power lunches, water-cooler chat, and after-hours parties.
Understanding cultures
Qualitative research is useful for understanding a range of societal issues that arise from particular cultural contexts (Drew, 2001; Covarrubias, 2002; LaFever, 2007). For example, in order to better understand tourist (mis)behavior, Schneider-Bean (2008) coupled the qualitative analysis of promotional material related to tourism with the on-site study of exotic vacation spots.
The qualitative analysis of today’s stories and yesterday’s historical documents is integral to understanding significant societal events such as social movements (Pompper, Lee, & Lerner, 2009). For instance, Haskins (2007) examined how people across the globe catalogued and wrote their own views of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, and by the same move uncovered how cultural members narrate their own history.
Furthermore, issues such as ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual orientation can be understood, critiqued, and transformed through contextual studies that examine how demographic categories are ever-changing and communicatively constituted (Trethewey, 2001). For instance, Lindemann and Cherney (2008) coupled a field study of quadriplegic rugby players with an analysis of the movie “Murderball,” providing a fascinating examination of masculinity and disability.
Understanding mediated and virtual contexts
Finally, qualitative research is increasingly being used to study virtual and mediated contexts. Romantic relationships and the “hook-up” culture can be analyzed through websites such as Match.Com, E-Harmony, Facebook, and MySpace. Forums and chat-rooms open a window into marginalized cultures – such as those of drugs, or those of extreme thinness (Murguía, Tackett-Gibson, & Lessem, 2007). The best way to gather data from students and to learn about their communication tactics may be through text-messaging. Personalized blogs and podcasts can give insight into a number of contemporary issues, for instance teenager self-presentation (Bortree, 2005). Online data may also provide access to illegal, blasphemous, or stigmatized activities that may otherwise be unavailable.
In short, although qualitative analysis is linked to some disciplinary areas more than to others, it is a research method that is increasingly being used by a variety of researchers across topical areas. As reviewed above, qualitative research is salient for the understanding of personal, relational, group, organizational, cultural, and virtual contexts in a range of different ways.
Moving from ideas to sites, settings, and participants
Some researchers choose a particular research site that fascinates them without knowing what to expect. For instance, researchers interested in medicine may hang out in a hospital’s waiting room, unsure of what exactly they will end up studying. Potential foci may include the flow of patients in the waiting room, or the frequency of buzzers, beeps, or announcements broadcast across the loudspeakers. This open-ended approach is particularly worthwhile for brand new researchers who are perfectly content studying “whatever happens.” Other researchers begin by studying a specific phenomenon, defined in advance by some grant priority or by the desire to advance a particular line of research. In such cases, first they determine what they want to focus on, and only then do they find a scene.
A middle option is an iterative approach (Miles & Huberman, 1994), in which the researcher alternates between considering existing theories and research interests on the one hand, emergent qualitative data on the other (see Figure 1.1). In this scenario the researcher may first determine a general idea, then come up with several potential sites, and then gradually become more specific about the phenomena to be studied. For example, when my co-author Debbie Way studied a hospice, at first she was interested in burnout, then she learned that the theoretical lens of compassion suited the data more clearly (Way & Tracy, in press).
In determining a potential research site, it is important to remember that the phenomenon under study is not the same as the field of study. The phenomenon – or locus of study – is the issue or theme brought to bear by research questions (e.g. burnout, code switching behavior, socialization, terrorist activity, greeting behaviors). The field of study, in contrast, is the collection of spaces and places in which the phenomenon may be found and explored. So, for instance, a person interested in the phenomenon of “hazing” might be particularly attracted to studying groups that put new members through rigorous rites of passage. Potential fields of study could then include army boot camp, fraternity/sorority pledge periods, or the training of investment bankers.
Within the field there are sites, or specific geographical or architectural areas (e.g. a fraternity house), and within the site there are even more specific settings, which refer to the specific parameters of the space (e.g. the basement). Also, within each site there are different sets of participants – the focal people of the study (e.g. the alumni, the officers, the pledgers). A field consists of many potential sites, settings, and participants. However, some sites or participants will be more valuable than others for studying certain phenomena. I use the term scene to refer generally to the field, sites, settings, and groups of participants.
Figure 1.1 An iterative approach alternates between considering existing theories and research interests on the one hand, and emergent qualitative data on the other.
Table 1.1 The “field” for this brainstorm consists of all the spaces and places where employees regularly show a negative or controlling emotion toward their clients/customers as a paid part of their job, and where doing so repeatedly may challenge their emotional well-being.
Sources of research ideas
Just as in learning to ride a bicycle or learning to paint a picture, the best way to learn qualitative research is by actually practicing it. Where should you begin? The first step is devising potential research ideas and considering the suitability of various contexts.
Some of the best ideas for qualitative research come from your personal life. Ask yourself: what has happened to me, or around me, that is particularly interesting or puzzling? Perhaps your life has been touched by certain religious practices, political beliefs, or health issues that encourage deeper reflection. Experiences such as travel, education, work, family, sports, or volunteering can also suggest venues for research. The best ethnographers read a lot about the world around them and live interesting, rich, and multi-faceted lives. They dip into these knowledge reservoirs for research inspiration.
Another good source for research ideas are societal problems or organizational dilemmas. For example, I first became interested in 911 emergency communications because of a number of highly publicized cases in which emergency help had not been dispatched in a timely manner. My colleague Karen Tracy and I entered the research with the goal to learn more about the behind-the-scenes interactions of citizen calls to the police and about how calls could go awry (S. J. Tracy & K. Tracy, 1998).
A third resource for research ideas is current events. Good ethnographers keep apprised of societal trends, policy debates, politics, and issues in which target populations are struggling or succeeding. They consistently read newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs associated with their key interests.
A fourth resource for ideas are scholarly research texts. For example, “state of the discipline” research articles synthesize current theoretical concerns and provide suggestions for future work. These pieces offer guidance, a wealth of background literature, key theoretical advancements, and a ready-made study rationale. Good launching points for research inspiration can emerge from inconsistent findings, gaps in current theories, topics or concepts that have only been studied through certain methodologies, or the study of established theoretical concepts in new contexts. I encourage you to read widely from a variety of interdisciplinary sources in order to find ways to bridge and transform arguments in novel ways. What is “old news” to one group of scholars can be the hottest new way of approaching an issue in another discipline. The lack of research in a certain context or on a specific topic may also point to a promising area for study. However, scholars should be cautious about adopting a study simply because “no one’s ever studied this before.” Such a rationale invites counterargument. Furthermore, there may be a very good reason why something has not been studied in the past (maybe the topic or angle of research is not feasible, or not very significant).
Additional sources of ideas are the field contexts and the participants themselves. Participatory action research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005) is based on the notion that researchers should work together with research participants to help them address, make sense of, or improve upon local issues or dilemmas. In this way qualitative research is well positioned to address contextual priorities pinpointed by consulting, grant, and contract work (Cheek, 2005). At the same time, keep in mind that focusing on organizational research priorities – especially when the research is funded – increases the ethical and political complexities of the project. For instance, it is difficult to know what might happen if the organization suggests a certain research question, but in analyzing this question it turns out that low-power employees are required to provide information that negatively impacts their job security. Those new to qualitative research, in particular, are certainly encouraged to listen to contextual priorities for research inspiration, but they would be wise to avoid promising too much to research participants about their specific research foci.
Finally, when considering various topics or issues for study, it can be helpful to consider, design, and develop a list of advantages and disadvantages of several different research approaches. As human beings, we tend to satisifice – meaning that it is common to come up with a single decision that is merely adequate rather than with one that is optimal (Simon, 1997). By considering several potential research ideas, we are more likely to come up with a better, more creative, and smarter array of research options.
Compatibility, suitability, yield, and feasibility
Compatibility, yield, suitability, and feasibility are key considerations to entertain before diving into a qualitative research project (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). Given that the researcher is the qualitative research instrument, it is important to consider your personality, demographic background, traits, and preferences. Important questions to consider are: How will I fit into the scene? How will I be accepted or regarded? How will I navigate, make sense of, or bracket my preconceived notions? Will my being different or similar to the participants be helpful or problematic? What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of my subjectivity?
Good qualitative researchers think carefully about how they, personally, will experience research in a certain context, both despite of and because of who they are. For instance, a current employee who wants to study the organization where she is employed will have the advantages of already being “in” the scene and of understanding a wealth of background information. However, this same background limits fresh insight, and the researcher will have to navigate the power and personality issues that come with her position (e.g. interview responses will be affected by the fact that she is also an employee).
Some researchers prefer to study people who have similar subject positions (e.g. a triathlete studying a triathlon club). However, researching an unfamiliar group of people can provide a unique standpoint – offering insights that an insider would not have (e.g. an outsider might be able to better pinpoint the unique race day rituals that triathletes come to see as normal – such as wearing baggies on their feet as they slither into wetsuits). No matter the site, self-reflexive researchers carefully consider how their culture, age, gender, sexuality, and physical appearance will be interpreted by others. A white male Brit might find it more difficult to study a group of Middle Eastern women than would someone who has more similarities to the participants (Whitaker, 2006). At the same time, it’s important to weigh “fit” with other factors. When researchers only study people like themselves, this exacerbates the fact that huge portions of the population are remarkably underrepresented in academic scholarship.
In terms of identity, researchers should also critically consider their own ego and the extent to which they are willing to adapt in order for participants to accept them. Conquergood (1992b), for instance, moved into the “Big Red,” a Chicago slum neighborhood, and was treated as an outsider and impostor for a long time before he was able to finally gain the trust of the community and to conduct his intended research project with gang members. Researchers must thoughtfully consider whether they have the personal sustenance and resilience for the countless phone calls, follow-up emails, and “courtship rituals” required in order to get access to their chosen scene of study.
Another issue to consider is your level of passion and drive for the project. Qualitative research includes a wide range of emotions and challenges. As Lindlof and Taylor (2011) note, researchers face “stretches of confusing, disagreeable, or apparently pointless activity” in the field (p. 86). Your interest in the project must rise above and propel you through these moments of frustration, difficulty, and tedium. You are most likely to enjoy a project that is complex enough to keep your attention, but simple enough that you do not get overwhelmed and frustrated.
A good research project must also provide appropriate yield in terms of research results. Researchers should ask themselves a very practical question: Will this study deliver my desired outcome? Outcomes could include a class paper, a job experience, a thesis or dissertation project, research that will build a tenure-worthy research program, a project that attends to the priorities of a funded research grant, or a publication. Although pursuing qualitative research also has intrinsic joy, most of us must produce specific outcomes. Hence considering the potential yield of a study is crucial from the beginning.
The research project also needs to be suitable, in that it should encompass most, if not all of the theoretical issues and characteristics of interest in terms of the research topic or problem. When I was choosing directions for my dissertation research, I learned several key issues: (1) there was still much to understand about a concept called “emotional labor” (expressing emotion for organizational pay) and, although many studies had focused on cheery customer-service settings, few had analyzed employees who got angry or had to remain stoic; (2) I wanted to study a significant social or organizational problem (e.g. burnout and turnover); and (3) I held an enduring interest in the notion of “total institutions” (24-hour organizations in which certain members never go home) (Tracy, 2000). On the basis of these considerations, a suitable group of participants would need to have the following characteristics: (1) perform emotional labor – preferably of a type that varied from traditional customer-service type settings; (2) experience challenges with burnout; and (3) work in a total institution. I chose to pursue research in prisons and jails – contexts that satisfy these criteria, and therefore were suitable.
Researchers must additionally ask whether a certain project is feasible or practical. Finding a site that is perfectly suited to your identity and to your research problem is unlikely if access to the site – or to the key informants – is impossible within the research timeframe. Researchers need to ask themselves tough questions about how quickly they might gain access and, more importantly, how long they need to be in the field before developing the relationships necessary to understand participants’ cultural practices, rules, and ways of being – especially when the context is very different from the researcher’s familiar territory. Qualitative research can take you to places far away, as it did for Sundae Bean, who studied tourist–host encounters in Belize (Schneider-Bean, 2008). However, Sundae pursued this study only after a year’s worth of planning and conducting a pilot study closer to home.
Gaining access to secretive organizations – such as the FBI, the border patrol, or backstage at Disneyland – can be interesting, but challenging. Gheeta Khurana (2010) studied Marriages of Convenience (MOCs) – arrangements in which homosexual South Asian Indians heterosexually marry another South Asian, yet secretly agree to carry on relationships with their actual homosexual partners. The MOCs are “convenient” because they allow participants to simultaneously please their family, yet maintain their romance with their “true” love – a person whom they fear would be rejected by their family. For obvious reasons, this population is largely hidden from view. In Researcher’s Notepad 1.1, Gheeta discusses how she negotiated access.
Despite the allure of hidden populations, when a researcher is new to qualitative research, focusing on issues or sites that are close to home can be easier. Many excellent research projects have emerged from public places like airports, amusement parks, college campuses, virtual worlds, rock concerts, and restaurants (see Bryant, 2010 for a study of community and technology usage on the city’s metro shuttle bus). Researchers can also fruitfully conduct research in a place that is local, yet not personally familiar; such was the case with Trujillo’s (1992) study of baseball and ballparks as American cultural institutions.
Finally, when thinking about a topic and context, I recommend that you seek advice. Other students may have leads. Professors or colleagues can provide a fresh viewpoint on a project’s advantages and disadvantages. Internet list-serves and forums provide quick input from specialists across the world. Given the role of peer review in many journal articles, it simply makes sense to get the opinion of others before spending hours, semesters, or years pursuing access to a context, collecting field observations, conducting interviews, and interpreting the data.
As you make decisions about your data and about the context of qualitative examination, I encourage you to consider the factors of compatibility, suitability, yield, and feasibility, as well as factors that ease or complicate research in the field (see Tips and Tools 1.1). These tips are especially relevant for those who are new to qualitative research, or have a specified time period within which to observe and cogently make sense of a data set.
