Qualitative Research in Practice : Stories From the Field - Blogs Unpad

Qualitative research in practice
people able to be included in the study. This also places limits on
generalisability. However, if one considers the unit of attention
as the phenomenon under investigation, rather than the number of
individuals, then the sample is often much larger than first appears.
Thus in the studies of Anne Coleman, Cheryl Tilse or Robyn
Munford and Jackie Sanders, the number of interactions or contacts
investigated would have been infinitely larger than the number of
individuals or families involved.
Third, we can see from these examples that in qualitative inquiry
the researcher cannot be and should not be written out of the text.
This relates to the development of the research question and, as we
shall see, it permeates all parts of the qualitative research process.
The qualitative researcher is inextricably immersed in the research;
thus qualitative research requires a high level of ‘reflexivity’ or selfreflection
about one’s part in the phenomenon under study. For
some qualitative researchers the questions they explore grow out of
a strong ideological commitment and the pursuit of social justice.
Some qualitative researchers are happy to acknowledge this and
discuss their role in terms of ‘positioning’, arguing that all claims to
knowledge are situated and partial (Marcus, 1994). This may give
the research its driving force and provide an entrée into particular
social worlds—but there is also a risk that the researcher may avoid
finding what they do not want or do not expect to find.
For the reader interested in generating their own research questions,
we would suggest that the conception of the question is
usually not too difficult for those curious about the world around
them and it may be more difficult choosing which of many questions
to explore. For some, it is a matter of recognising that they
already have questions waiting to be crystallised and that the task
is one of noticing the questions embedded in the conversations they
have about their work with themselves or others.
Developing the embryonic question into a researchable form is
more difficult and in qualitative research the question(s) may
continue to be refined throughout the whole study. This is where it
is important to have others, preferably not too closely involved
with the site of the research, who can act as a sounding board on
how the question is best framed, as this will shape how it can be
investigated.
It is also important to discover what other research has already
been done in relation to the question. Some important material may
exist only in the form of unpublished reports, which have to be
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