How Things Work - Doha Academy of Tertiary Studies

90 QUaLItatIVe ReSeaRCH
researcher prefers. 3 Some qualitative researchers give high priority to
open-ended questions, minimizing categorical and yes–no questions,
and these have value when it is the interviewee’s story or the program
history that is needed. But many questions and views needed to develop
a research question have to be composed by the researcher to get information.
Such questions are illustrated in Box 5.2 (p. 96). Any one of
the questions could be followed by a yes–no probe, such as “Have you
opposed that development?” or a more open-ended question, such as
“Tell me how that got started.” Qualitative research will find a place for
any method sooner or later.
Many well- developed methods for qualitative research already
exist. Many are catalogued in handbooks, textbooks, and journals such
as Qualitative Inquiry and on the Web (Denzin and Lincoln, 2006;
Johnson and Christensen, 2008; Seale, Gobo, Gubrium, and Silverman,
2004). Using a method, protocol, or approach that has been tried and
found useful repeatedly can save time and increase meaningfulness. But
few will be just what the researcher and the research question want. A
review of the literature should give some attention to how other researchers
gathered data for similar research questions. The emphasis in this
chapter is on the strategies of data gathering more than on particular
techniques.
5.1. OBseRviNG
Many qualitative researchers prefer observation data— information that
can be seen directly by the researcher or heard or felt 4 —to other kinds.
The eye sees a lot (and misses a lot), simultaneously noting who, what,
when, where, and why (as newspaper people are supposed to do) and
particularly relating them to the story or the assertions forthcoming—
that is, to the research question. The story, assertion, the boxes, and
3 Many formal proposals for research include a methods section. It should describe
what will be done rather than teach what certain methods do. The methods section
or chapter of a final report should provide detail as to what was done (and therefore
cannot be completed before the research is completed).
4 The apprentice qualitative researcher asks, “How do I do it? What do I look for?”
There are no simple answers, no dependable generic checklists—for good reason.
Observation methods need to be made particular to the situation. One of the most
thorough writings on these techniques for qualitative researchers is by Patricia Adler
and Peter Adler (1994).