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Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.zathe basis of the intercorrelations between indicators. It remains theresponsibility of the researcher to demonstrate the relationship between factor I(ABC) and factor II (DEF), and the theory that is being used. It should be clearthat demonstrating the relationship is a matter of interpretation, and thatalternative interpretations could exist. Referring once again to the example ofalienation, one would expect that Dean would have found highintercorrelations between items 1 to 9 (social isolation), 10 to 18(powerlessness), and 19 to 24 (normlessness). He would, however, haveexpected low correlations between the items that measure social isolation,normlessness, and powerlessness respectively.So far we have limited our discussion to the problems surrounding operationalizationin quantitative studies. Strictly speaking, it is obvious that onecannot refer to operationalization (in the more technical sense as we have usedit so far) in the case of qualitative studies. Nonetheless, the samemethodological problems concerning the relationship between theory(constructs) and measurement or observation exists. The specific problems are,however, somewhat different.One of the major distinguishing characteristics of qualitative research is thefact that the researcher attempts to understand people in terms of their owndefinition of their world. In terms of Decker’s distinction, the focus is on aninsider-perspective rather than on an outsider-perspective. In qualitativeresearch the natural and subjective components of the sample are emphasized.It is for this reason that qualitative research is also referred to as naturalisticresearch. From a naturalistic perspective, one of the major assignments inresearch of this nature is correctly to identify the native or indigenous conceptsor conceptualizations of the subjects being investigated. It is only after theresearcher has correctly identified the indigenous concepts, or use of concepts,that the researcher will attempt to integrate them within the framework of anexisting social scientific theory or model. The approach would, therefore, moreaccurately be classified as inductive, rather than deductive when it is comparedwith quantitative research (cf. chapter 5). A leading qualitative researcher,Norman Denzin, defines operationalization in qualitative research in thefollowing manner:Naturalists link their theoretical components to the empirical worldthrough the collection of behavior specimens. They operationalize thoseconcepts through a careful analysis of their specimens. Starting with loosesensitizing definitions of their concepts, they empirically operationalize theconcepts only after having entered the worlds of interaction that they wishto understand... They include as many behaviors as possible as indicationsof the concept in question, through the use of naturalistic indicators whichrepresent any segment of the subjects: behavior that reflects one, ordescribes, a sociological concept. An indicator is naturalistic if it derives(preferably spontaneously)from the subjects: world of meaning, action, and70