Qualitative Research Basics: A Guide for Engineering Educators

• Gather the stories of the individual through multiple data sources.
• Collect information on the context within which these stories occur.
• ”Restory” these experiences into a general framework that may link key elements,
provide a chronological story, or explore larger themes.
• Explore the meaning of these stories, with input from both the researcher and the
subject.
Although narrative analysis is focused on the experience of single individuals, when
framed properly it can provide insights into larger issues that cut across multiple
experiences. For example, Merriam (2002) reprints a narrative study in which a woman
in a management position in a large corporation confronted and dealt with issues of
sexism (Bloom, 1996). Use of narrative can be a powerful tool for illuminating and
understanding broader issues beyond the single individual.
Basic Interpretive
Merriam (2002) defines a basic interpretive study as one in which “the overall purpose is
to understand how people make sense of their lives and their experiences” (p. 38) (italics
in original). While this goal underlies all qualitative studies, Merriam states that studies
based on other strategies have additional purposes not found in basic interpretive studies
(e.g. developing theory in grounded theory, identifying the essence of a phenomenon in
phenomenology, etc.). For Merriam, the basic studies are those that do not share the
special characteristics of the other strategies. She gives the example of a study that
examines adult learning in a non-Western culture. Although the culture was an important
aspect of the interpretation, this is not an ethnography because it did not involve a
prolonged stay or the researcher as a participant-observer.
Summary
Research strategies are a set of qualitative research practices that have their own methods,
history, and literature. Identifying which research strategy you are using in your own
study can be useful to help situate your study in a particular literature and to guide your
choice of data collection and analysis methods. At the same time, however, the types of
research strategies enumerated in the literature should not be considered prescriptive.
Qualitative researchers need to maintain their flexibility, selecting methods that answer
their research questions and are consistent with the theoretical perspective of the study.
Merriam’s identification of basic interpretive studies as a research strategy highlights this
flexibility. As she points out, “They are probably the most common form of qualitative
research found in education…” Careful consideration of whether or not your study falls
into one of these strategies, and if so, which one, can provide guidance as you move into
the research design.
References Cited in This Section
Bloom, L. R. (1996). Stories of one's own: Nonunitary subjectivity in narrative
representation. Qualitative Inquiry, 2(2), 176-197.
14