Research assistance
5 writing and presenting qualitative research
the write-up of a qualitative research project and its consequent dissemination depend on such factors as the researcher’s purpose and the targeted audiences. But most important to consider is selecting the most appropriate representational and presentational modes that will best describe and persuade for your readership the core content and analytic outcomes of the study. Like literature, qualitative research and inquiry can be reported in many diff erent forms and formats, ranging from an in-class paper to a thesis or dissertation to a journal article submission, conference session presentation, technological presentation (Internet site, video, etc.), arts-based presentation (performance, exhibit, etc.), and so on.
Literature has multiple and complex genres, elements, and styles. Some of the most familiar genres to us are the short story, essay, novel, poetry, and drama. Add to that the dichotomous and traditional class ifi cation of a work as either fi ction or nonfi ction, plus general tones of writing such as naturalistic, absurdist, tragic, comic, roman- tic, and so on, and the diversity of possible products are virtually limit- less. Chapter 1 introduced you to various genres of qualitative research such as ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, and others, plus various styles of writing such as realist, confessional, descriptive,
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interpretive, and so on. As you’ve proceeded through your study, research design decisions and analytic outcomes have hopefully off ered some guidance as to what your fi nal report might look like. Th is book cannot address every single permutation of reporting, but it can address some fundamentals of representation and presentation applicable to most genres and styles of qualitative research.
Trusting Your Voice
I always wondered what it meant when my teachers and colleagues told me I was trying to “fi nd my voice” in my early writings. It took awhile, but I fi nally discovered on my own that “fi nding” my voice actually meant trusting my voice. Trusting your voice does not give you license to publish whatever comes to your head. Good ideas, like good coff ee and good tea, need time to brew and steep. Trusting your voice means having confi dence in what you write because you have rigorously analyzed and carefully thought through what your data mean. Write initial analytic memos to yourself freely and unabashedly. But as the study progresses, acknowledge that what you write needs to become more accessible to a public readership. And if you are still at a loss for explaining what happened in your study, then have the confi dence to say, “I don’t have all the answers, but here’s what I know thus far.”
Writing in the First Person
Assuming a third person stance in your writing does not make your research more objective, nor does it necessarily add more credibility and trustworthiness to your account. A tone such as, “Th e researcher interviewed ten participants who volunteered for the study,” isn’t more but less readable than, “I interviewed ten participants who were willing to take part in my project.” Th e latter is conversational, makes you appear more personable, and hopefully makes for a more engaging read. Unless recommended otherwise, write in the fi rst person for your qualitative report.
Elegance and Clarity
One of my biggest mistakes as a beginning researcher was feeling the need to sound “scientifi c” in my writing. For some reason, I believed
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that academic and scholarly prose meant using a complex vocabu- lary woven into long sentences. My reviews of the literature were exhaustive, and I quoted others extensively to support my case. I felt the need to “prove” my assertions by including vast amounts of detail over hundreds of pages. It wasn’t until my professional colleagues as peer reviewers of my research bluntly (and, from a few, ruthlessly) told me they were confused by my presentations and pointed out the grave methodological errors in my thinking and thus my writing.
One of my other colleagues, Laura A. McCammon ( 1992 , 1994 ), was highly praised by jurors for her award-winning work. And aft er reading it, I understood why. Her research was well-told sto- ries. Th ey included most of the standard elements of qualitative research — the literature review, conceptual framework, major cat- egories, and so on — but she wrote with what one critic called ele- gance . Some think that elegance means “fancy” or “elaborate,” but it’s quite the opposite. Elegance means simplicity . Writing that is elegant relies on trusting the power of the research tale itself, told in a clear and straightforward manner. You needn’t try to impress anyone with convoluted prose. It is most oft en the ideas that will make a lasting impact and impression on your reader. It is the rare exception when we feel we must quote something exactly as writ- ten, because the writer’s way of telling it is better than ours. But what gets quoted and cited by other scholars is one of the highest compliments paid to a researcher.
I facetiously yet honestly advise my students that, when it comes to qualitative reports, “I’d rather read something short and good, rather than long and lousy.” Less is more, as the famous design saying goes. Edit, reduce, condense, and distill your work until you feel you’ve captured the essence and essentials of your study.
Keywords
In this age of electronic searches, relevant keywords in your title and abstract should help your fellow researchers fi nd what they’re looking for. Th is may result in a seemingly boring title to you and others, but the payoff is that your work will be “hit” more oft en during online searches. A creative yet nebulous title for an article like “In the Middle of the Maelstrom” may sound intriguing but suggests little to a reader about what to expect from the piece. A more descriptive subtitle may clarify the content for audiences,
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such as: “In the Middle of the Maelstrom: An Ethnography of Employee Tensions in a State Social Service Agency.” If you feel that an evocative rather than descriptive title is absolutely neces- sary for the genre of your work, at least include major keywords about the study in your abstract to assist with online searches. Simply imagine what words or phrases another investigator might type into a search engine fi eld that could access or reference your own study and make sure those words are embedded in your report’s front matter.
Front Loading the Findings
I appreciate being told early in a more traditional qualitative report what the “headlines” of the research news are. If you have under- taken a project whose fi ndings include major categories, themes, concepts, a key assertion, or a theory, tell the reader what they are as close to the beginning of the report as possible. Th e technique frames the audience for what to be aware of as the report is reviewed. Be up front with labeling the major items by using such specifi c phrases as, “Th e core category of this grounded theory study is … ”; “Th e three major themes that emerged from my analy- sis are … ”; “Th e key assertion of this study is … ”; and so on. It may appear as if I’m prescribing sterile writing, but these effi cient indi- cators, or cognitive signposts, help immensely when other research- ers are conducting literature reviews and wish to build on the fi ndings of your own work.
Analytic Storylining
A plot in dramatic literature is the overall structure of the play. Th e storyline is the linear sequence of the characters’ actions, reactions, and interactions, and episodic events within the plot. Kathy Charmaz ( 2008 ) is a masterful writer of process, or what play- wrights call storylining , in grounded theory. Her analytic narra- tives include such active processual words and phrases as “it means,” “it involves,” “it refl ects,” “when,” “then,” “by,” “shapes,” “aff ects,” “happens when,” “occurs if,” “shift s as,” “contributes to,” “varies when,” “especially if,” “is a strategy for,” “because,” “diff ers from,” “does not … but instead,” “subsequently,” “consequently,”
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“hence,” “thus,” and “therefore.” Notice how these words and phrases suggest an unfolding of events through time.
Not all qualitative reporting is best told through a linear story- line, and remember that the positivist construction of cause and eff ect can force limited parameters around detailed descriptions of complex social action. Nevertheless, if there is a story with condi- tions and consequences to be told from and about your data, explore how the words and phrases quoted above can be integrated into your own written description of what is happening to your participants or what is active within the phenomenon.
Evidentiary Support
Research is an act of persuasion. Your reader is convinced of your analysis or moved by your artistic rendering of social life if your text presents evidence that “you were there” and that you under- stood what was happening.
Sometimes, the small details that no one else would be aware of make the case for having been there. But an excessive amount is not needed, just a few revealing ones. For example, a newspaper report on the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech campus shooting mas- sacre by a disturbed university student recalled the horrifi c events of the aft ermath. One of the most heart-wrenching details I will never forget described the police and paramedics in one classroom of dead bodies, looking for survivors and transporting the corpses outdoors to ambulances. Th e workers felt slightly alarmed and helpless in the surreal atmosphere as dead students’ cell phones kept ringing and ringing, unanswered.
Another tactic for providing evidentiary support is quoting participants verbatim. However, extensive indented quotations can become fatiguing to read, and not every story speaks for itself. Keep the number of quotations to a respectable minimum, and no longer than half a page in length for each one.
Fewer Questions, More Answers
One of my most contested recommendations is my personal appeal for fewer questions and more answers in qualitative research writ- ing. I do not refer to the study’s initiating central and related
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research questions, but to a report’s closure. Some researchers may pose a series of fi nal, unanswered questions for further inquiry suggested by the study. I take no issue with this. What I fi nd fatigu- ing is a long series of refl ective yet extraneous questions that go unanswered in the report such as, “Why does this problem still exist today? What can we as a society do to solve it? Is it in our nature to be our own worst enemies? Are humans destined to live like this forever?” I advise my students, “Don’t pose a question in your fi nal write-up’s conclusion if you don’t have an answer — or at the very least, a hunch or your best guess. Otherwise, as a reader I’ll question back with, ‘Why are you asking me this? Don’t you know?’ ”
Perhaps this need for fewer questions and more answers stems from my action-oriented perspective that sees urgency and imme- diate need in solving social problems, or from my masculinist yet marginalized status as a gay person of color who feels that quick solutions are necessary for achieving social justice within my life- time. In the end and at the end, I don’t fi nd reading other writer’s questions interesting — it’s their answers I fi nd interesting.
Rich Text Features
Key assertions and theories should be italicized or changed to bold- face for emphasis in a fi nal report . Th e same advice holds for the fi rst time signifi cant codes , themes , and concepts are addressed. Th is simple but rich text formatting better guarantees that salient and important ideas do not escape the reader’s notice, especially if he or she should be scanning the report to quickly search for major fi ndings. Plus, the tactic is a way of confi rming to yourself that your data analysis has reached a stage of synthesis and crystalliza- tion. Also, use headings and subheadings frequently throughout a written report. Th ese cognitive signposts help organize the units of your research document, and keep your readers on track with your write-up. Data-based headings and subheadings might consist of major codes, categories, themes, and concept labels, or signifi cant in vivo phrases from participants. Nonprint formats such as Internet sites and CD-ROM fi les can also explore such cosmetic devices as font size, color, and of course, accompanying graphics or pictorial content for emphasizing what matters.
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Formatting
Most readers are already familiar with format manuals published by such organizations as the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA). Some discip- lines like anthropology’s American Anthropological Association have also established their own unique formatting standards for publication. Book publishers may or may not specify which format manual they prefer for manuscript submissions, but they may require that writers’ fi nal draft s conform to their particular in- house styles and rules.
When I review articles for academic journals, I check carefully to determine if the writer has followed the submission guidelines, including format manual requirements, prescribed by the publica- tion to see if they “know the code.” It’s a way of telling me the researcher is familiar with the scholarly industry’s technical ways of working. It may sound trivial, but I feel that if a writer cannot properly follow directions for form, how can I trust him or her with the content? If class or journal guidelines state that your sub- missions should adhere to APA format, follow them to the letter (though APA has not yet specifi ed what to do exactly for some arts-based and progressive genres of qualitative research writing and reporting).
Oral Presentations
In-class presentations and conference sessions are opportunities to orally and, in some cases, visually deliver your work to an audi- ence. I off er the following pieces of advice to make these types of presentations more accessible to others. First, don’t sit behind a table in front of a group; stand in front of them for all to see you. I myself prefer to read aloud from a prewritten text bound in a slim three-ring notebook, especially if there is a strict time limit for my presentation. (Plus, a time limit better guarantees that you will present only the essence and essentials of your study.) Practice delivering your presentation aloud at least twice before the event, and time yourself to insure that you’re staying within the parame- ters of your assigned time block. If you feel you’re speaking too fast, your report needs to be edited for length.
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I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to honor any assigned time limits for your work. If there are four presenters scheduled during one ninety-minute conference session, and the fi rst and/or second presenter exceeds his/her time limit, it’s dis- courteous and a disservice to the remaining presenters who must speak quickly, or spontaneously reduce the length of their work, to accommodate the remaining time. If there is a chair or coordina- tor for the session, ask him or her to serve as a strict timekeeper for the event.
Technology can visually supplement and enhance your presen- tation. Well-designed overhead transparencies or PowerPoint slide projections, progressing at a moderate pace, help bullet point for audiences the main ideas of your research study and can include rich participant quotes. But be prepared for technical glitches by planning ahead. Arrive early to your presentation room, if possi- ble, to become acquainted with the equipment, and to set up and test your visual displays. As an audience member at conference presentations, I appreciate from all presenters a hard copy handout of some type that consists of the paper itself, the PowerPoint slides with room for my personal notes, or, at the very least, a one-page abstract of the report with a selected bibliography and the pre- senter’s name and contact information (mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number) on it for follow-up. Of course, the best visual aid of them all is maintaining eye contact as much as possible with your audience during a presentation.
Styles of Qualitative Research Writing
Now that some of the mechanics and techniques of writing and presentation have been briefl y addressed, the chapter now turns to how selected styles of qualitative research writing might read (van Maanen, 1988 ; Wolcott 1994 ). Which one(s) — and notice the plural option — you choose for your presentation depends on such factors as your preselected and evolving genre, conceptual frame- work, epistemology, research questions, data analysis, and intended readership. Based on almost three decades of my own inquiry experiences, a qualitative researcher can and does employ a variety of genres and styles on an as-needed basis with assorted projects. Th ere are many times when these styles blur and intermingle, for
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one can write both realistically and confessionally, or literarily and collaboratively, or analytically and critically, even within the same sentence. Th ere is also no hierarchy or preference intended by the order in which these styles are profi led. Writing literarily can be just as rigorous as writing analytically.
Writing Descriptively and Realistically
Wolcott’s description and van Maanen’s realist tale suggest writing that is factual with “studied neutrality.” Although bias-free, objective reportage is virtually impossible, descriptive and realistic accounts remain fi rmly rooted in the data themselves. No judgment or cri- tique is proff ered, only straightforward details of the fi eld site. Th is style of writing may help the reader imagine the setting more vividly and lend a sense of credibility to the author’s experiences — in other words, “I was there, and this is what I saw and heard.”
In this ethnographic writing sample based on extensive fi eldnotes (Saldaña, 1997 ), a profi le of a lower class, inner-city neighborhood is sketched through descriptive and realistic language. It is placed toward the beginning of the article to provide readers contextual background of the culture surrounding an elementary school:
Abandoned warehouses and storage yards for construction and machinery parts are scattered within a fi ve block radius of the school. A United Way community center lies directly west and provides residents with immigration information, translation services, and classes in basic job skills and literacy. Directly north is a branch offi ce of a local Hispanic social service agency, La causa , which provides credit and loans to those in need. Most houses around the periphery of the school were originally constructed in the 1930s –1940s. Th e exteriors now exhibit peeling paint and rotted wood. Chain link fences barricade numerous front yards, while German shepherds growl and bark loudly at passers-by. Layers of spray painted graffi ti cover trash cans, rusty abandoned cars, and the walls of some unoccupied (and occupied) homes. Th e three modest churches in the fi ve block radius appear well- kept, but a few decaying houses in the neighborhood have dirt fl oors and no indoor plumbing or electricity. (p. 28)
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Descriptive realism can also precede the analytic section in a report to more solidly ground the data before their meanings are put forth.
Writing Analytically and Formally
Writing analytically and formally presents the researcher’s system- atic procedures and thinking of how the data come together to explain how things work. Descriptions and explanations of such features as research design and methods, including codes, pat- terns, categories, themes, concepts, assertions, and theories, are spelled out and sometimes self-critiqued for their eff ectiveness. For lack of a better term, this style is robust technical writing because it focuses on the techniques and outcomes of traditional qualitative data analysis. Writing analytically should not be per- ceived as necessarily dry or sterile, but as potentially thought pro- voking for readers through its proposed discoveries and insights.
Laura A. McCammon’s ( 1994 ) doctoral fi eldwork explored fac- ulty group dynamics in an educational setting. Th e title of her article-length report begins with a phrase that crystallizes the pri- mary theme, while the subtitle includes specifi c, descriptive key- words related to the content: “Teamwork Is Not Just a Word: Factors Disrupting the Development of a Departmental Group of Th eatre Teachers.”
In the “Method” section, McCammon begins with the purposes of her study, which integrate her earlier discussed conceptual framework — stages of group development:
Th ere were two purposes for this qualitative case study: 1) to chronicle the formation of a teacher workgroup in the per- forming arts magnet of a high school over the course of a school year, and 2) to determine the organizational factors which aff ected the four theatre teachers as the group devel- oped. Th e success or failure of the four sequential stages of group development — orientation, confl ict, resolution, and production … — were observed through “focused data collec- tion” or data that were collected through participant obser- vation … (p. 3)
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Further into the “Method” section, McCammon describes the specifi c data collection and analysis processes of her project:
Th e researcher was in the fi eld 93 days during the 1990–91 school year. Most observations were during 4th and 5th peri- ods, the time set aside by the school for teachers’ meetings, conversations between and among teachers, class sessions, rehearsals, performances, and fi eld trips. Field note data [were] coded to determine the frequency of teacher talk and levels of collegiality during each phase … . Assertions were formed concerning the formation, dynamics, and transitions between stages of group development and the role organiza- tional support played in each stage. Confi rming and discon- fi rming evidence … was sought for each assertion through collection and analysis of the over 1,400 pages of fi eldnotes, interview data, existing school documents, and previous fi eld work by the researcher … . (p. 4)
In the “Results” section of the report, McCammon starts her narrative by appropriately giving readers the “headlines” (i.e., major fi ndings) of the research news fi rst through a series of clear, explana- tory assertions (Erickson, 1986 ):
Th e events which occurred during the 1990–91 school year were almost a perfect example of how not to build a team. An eff ective group did not form primarily because the theatre teachers were never thought of or treated as a team. Further- more, the culture of Valley Vista High School seemed to pro- mote teacher autonomy and noninterference instead of collegiality. Th ree organizational factors were instrumental in preventing this group from developing eff ectively. First, no attention was given to building a team during the crucial orientation phase. Second, the extent and limits of the team’s authority were never established. Th ird, the teachers had inadequate training and administrative support. A closer look at the story of the school year demonstrates these organizational factors. (p. 4)
Writing analytically is a litmus test, of sorts, that the researcher has carefully thought through such aspects of data as interaction,
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interplay, and interrelationships. Th e challenge of this style is to both distill and detail social complexity in elegant terms.
Writing Confessionally
Writing confessionally provides readers with the backstage account of what happened during the study. Such matters as the investiga- tor’s personal biases, fi eldwork problems, ethical dilemmas, and emotional responses are openly addressed alongside the partici- pants’ stories. Autoethnographic work, in which the researcher discloses personal experiences or worldviews, can also be consid- ered confessional.
In the example below from one of my own confessional tales (Saldaña, 1998 ), I describe the postpresentation period aft er a study concluded with Barry, an eighteen year-old who had just graduated from high school. Th is longitudinal case study was a young man I had tracked since he was age fi ve. Barry exhibited during adolescence a passion and talent for acting, and the research presentation was an ethnodrama that showcased Barry portraying himself and his life story on stage. But it wasn’t until aft er the study concluded that I learned of secrets kept hidden from me by him and his family during interviews and fi eldwork:
In January 1998 I reunited with Diane, one of Barry’s former teachers, at a local theatre conference. “Did you hear about Barry?” she asked. “No,” I replied, inferring that some type of tragedy had occurred, “I haven’t seen him for about fi ve months.” My last contact with Barry was a month aft er the [research study was completed]. He was working as a cashier at a bagel and coff ee shop near [my university] campus. I was delightfully surprised to meet him there, and Barry told me he was auditioning for a role in a community theatre produc- tion later that week. I felt a twinge of irony that [his mother’s] prediction of minimum wage jobs for him had come to frui- tion. When I visited the shop a few days later he was no longer working there.
Diane updated me on … what she had heard as rumour: Barry, still living at home with his parents, was despondent over the break-up between himself and his girlfriend. He was also in
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fl ux about his life and future. A suicide attempt was made followed by extensive hospitalisation. Diane also told me that this was his second attempt (if this was indeed reliable infor- mation), the fi rst having occurred during his early adoles- cence — something Barry and his mother never shared with me … . I was reluctant to telephone him — I have diffi culty with awkward situations such as this — but I did mail a greet- ing card the next day with a message of concern and out- reach. I wrote, “I heard you may have been going through a rough time lately,” but did not reveal my source. “If this is so, and you’d like to talk, give me a call.” At the time of this writ- ing I have not heard back from Barry.
Also ironic was a statement I heard a week later, made by the chairman of [my university’s] Human Subjects Review Board at their monthly business meeting: “I’m happy to report that there have been no incidents of adverse eff ects on partici- pants as a result of research from any studies we approved.” Most qualitative methods texts relegate a chapter on ethics to the end of the book, as if it were an obligatory chapter, yet irrelevant to the author’s primary discussion on data gather- ing and analysis. Like those texts, ethical issues in this project did not emerge prominently until the latter stages, but they had been waiting in the wings all along to make their entrance. (pp. 193–194) 1
(For those concerned about the young man profi led above, as of summer 2010, Barry is alive, on health maintenance for a late diag- nosis of bipolar disorder, and working toward a Master’s of Divinity degree to become a pastor for the United Methodist Church.)
Rarely is any study perfectly executed, but we needn’t burden our readers by describing every single glitch that came our way. Being honest with what we didn’t foresee or what may have gone wrong makes us appear more human. I myself resonate with a writer when he or she confesses that selected problems were encountered because I, too, have faced some of those same issues in my own research projects. Confessional tales can also serve as cautionary tales and are very useful when they make colleagues aware of potential problems that may occur in future projects of their own. But a confessional tale can also go too far if a writer
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exploits, rather than explores, the presentation to deal with per- sonal, unresolved issues that may be more appropriate through private journaling or counseling.
Writing Impressionistically
Van Maanen’s ( 1988 ) impressionist tales utilize rich narration and language’s power of imagery, metaphors, and evocation to write about the signifi cant, memorable, and rare moments of fi eldwork. Vignettes and stories render insight into the researcher’s and par- ticipants’ personalities and their “episodic, complex, and ambiva- lent realities” (p. 119). Impressionist tales “crack open the culture” of the immediate fi eldwork experience so we can learn through the exceptional and dramatic, rather than the typical and mundane.
Harry F. Wolcott’s ( 2002 ) classic and mesmerizing account of “Brad,” a young drift er and high school dropout, profi les their ini- tial relationship as researcher–participant for a case study in edu- cational anthropology, which later evolves into a romantic and sexual relationship. Unfortunately, Brad develops paranoid schizo- phrenia as time continues, and Harry feels helpless dealing with his mental illness and irrational behavior. Brad leaves unexpectedly one day, leaving Harry heartbroken, but he returns several months later with dangerous, delusional thoughts. Wolcott recalls the events of one tragic evening in descriptive but haunting detail (in the excerpt below, “Norman” refers to Harry’s lifetime partner):
I was the fi rst one home at about 5:30 p.m. on the evening of November 8, 1984. Norman had not yet returned. Nothing seemed amiss as I drove around the house and parked in back. I noticed that the basement light was on, but thought that Norman had forgotten to turn it off , as he frequently did on dark mornings. Only later did I remember that I had checked the basement light myself that day before I exited through the back door. I unlocked the door, then the key- locked deadbolt, and stepped into the house.
I was struck immediately by two things. Th e fi rst was the strong smell of stove oil. An oil furnace, fed from a 500-gallon tank on the hillside above, heated the house. My guess, from the looks of things and the overpowering smell of fuel, was
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that the furnace had blown up and wreaked the havoc I saw. Th e second thing that struck me was a 2-by-4, or some simi- lar wood object. I fell to the fl oor. From behind stepped Brad, hitting and kicking and screaming: “You fucker, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you. I’m going to tie you up and leave you in the house and set the house on fi re.”
For a moment I could not discern who my attacker was. I asked: “Is that you, Brad? What are you doing this to me for? Why don’t you run away, get away from here? Th is is crazy!”
“I am crazy,” came his reply. “I’m going to kill you, burn the house down, tie you up. You hate me.”
“Why are you doing this? You know I love you. I loved you when you were here and I still love you.”
“No you don’t, you hate me. I’m going to kill you.”
Still on the fl oor, I defended myself as best I could, but I was in no position to fi ght off my assailant, who was towering above me and striking me repeatedly. (pp. 73–74) 2
Harry and his partner escaped and survived the ordeal, and Brad did indeed set the house ablaze and was later arrested and convicted. But Wolcott was forever changed by this traumatic event and its ethics-laden aft ermath from some in the research community.
Not every qualitative project has to be as dangerous or life changing as the one described above. I am just as impressed with elegant analytic writing as much as I am with impressionist epiphanies. And, sometimes the most heart-wrenching stories can be those about the smaller things that matter most in our lives.
Writing Interpretively
I was once told by one of my instructors, “ All research is inter- pretive.” But Wolcott’s interpretation reaches beyond a particular study to fi nd broader application, meaning, and sense-making dimensions that address the higher-level question, “What is to be made of it all?” A broad array of genres can include interpretation because interpretive writing ranges from theory construction to
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autoethnography to narrative and arts-based representations. To me, however, interpretation focuses on how the study relates to the researcher’s personal experiences in addition to the participants’. Writing interpretively aims for higher or deeper levels of thought — the “big ideas” about the nature of what’s been investigated.
It is diffi cult to fi nd a brief, intact passage that coherently exem- plifi es writing interpretively, for the act depends on the reader’s familiarity with the contents and contexts of a preceding research story. Plus, good interpretation takes time and space to unfold. Instead, what I present below is a weaving of observations taken from the various writings of Harry F. Wolcott ( 2002 ) that both relate to the “Brad” case study and capture rich interpretive dimen- sions. In this passage, Harry refl ects on and tries to make sense of how elusive meanings can be, even to qualitative researchers:
In a professional lifetime devoted to teaching, research, and writing, I know little and understand even less about this case, the one that’s aff ected me the most, and the one that continues to haunt me for answers I doubt I’ll ever fi nd.
I felt I knew Brad so well, so intimately, that I would get a straight story — and get the story straight. I was reeling then, and continue to do so to this day, from realizing how little we ever know, heightened in this instance by the feeling that this time, in my own cultural milieu, my own language, and even in my own backyard, I had fi nally gotten it right .
I just wish that it all might have turned out diff erently.
What is this really a study of? Th e meaning of the story isn’t precisely clear because meanings themselves aren’t all that apparent or clear. We don’t have neat fi ndings, tidy hypothe- ses, conclusions that can be summarized or reduced to tables and charts. Th ere are no guarantees, no umbrellas or safety nets, no foolproof scientifi c method to follow.
Fieldwork consists of more than collecting data, something that catapults it beyond simply “being there.” And whatever constitutes that elusive “more” makes all the diff erence. Regardless of outcome, I think the critical test is how deeply
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you’ve felt involved and aff ected personally. Provocative , not persuasive .
Aft er years of attending so singularly to the sanctity of meth- ods, I fi nally realize that only understanding matters. We must not only transform our data, we must transcend them. Insight is our forte! Th e whole purpose of the enterprise is revelation ! When you emphasize description, you want your audience to see what you saw. When you emphasize analysis, you want your audience to know what you know. And when you emphasize interpretation, you want your audience to understand what you think you yourself have understood.
In the end, we only abandon our studies; we never really complete them. Th e human condition doesn’t remain static long enough for the work to be completed, even for an instant. You need to recognize when to keep reaching, when to focus, and when to stop.
So. How do you “conclude” a qualitative study?
You don’t. (pp. 209–210)
Since data are not just transformed but transcended, interpreta- tion then becomes not so much a style of writing as much as a level of understanding .
Writing Literarily
Some of the literary qualitative genres profi led thus far have been narrative inquiry, poetic inquiry, and arts-based representations such as ethnodrama. Th e researcher becomes a storyteller, in its traditional sense, using the elements and devices of fi ctional writing to portray real-life participants as “characters” in refl ective soliloquy, active storylines, or through poetic renderings. Th e work can also focus on the researcher him- or herself, thus presenting autoethnographic experiences for readers.
Margarete Sandelowski, Frank Trimble, Elizabeth K. Woodard, and Julie Barroso ( 2006 ) collaborated to create a DVD production titled, Maybe Someday: Voices of HIV-Positive Women . Interviews and
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an exhaustive literature review served as source material to develop documentary narrative and composite monologues of HIV- positive women’s experiences. In one scene, a narrator’s voice-over informs health care workers (one of the intended audiences for the work):
Some women struggle with issues beyond their HIV status. Th ese include the extra stigma and discrimination connected with being a woman, being a minority woman, and being a mother. Sometimes women are looked down upon because people make assumptions that their illness is related to drug use, prostitution, promiscuity, poverty, or homelessness. (p. 1363)
Maybe Someday profi les how the themes of stigma associated with HIV status infl uence and aff ect women’s perceptions, as in this monologue, spoken by an actor to an off -camera interviewer:
WOMAN #4 (African American): People talk about minority this and minority that. Well, let me tell you somethin’. You try bein’ a Black woman with HIV and see how far you get. See the men, well, they HIV victims . You know, they may face some discrimination, but mostly there’s concern and money and support. Th en there’s the people who caught HIV, you know, because they was doin’ somethin’ they shouldn’t been doin’ and got “caught,” you know? Yeah, them’s mostly minority women, or poor women, or women with too many children, whatever “too many” is. I am sick of that shit! I am physically sick and then I have to handle all that other shit on top of it. It’s too much. It’s just too much. So what if a HIV person ain’t always been good, or maybe is still doin’ some of that junk? Sure, a woman needs to change her life if it hurts her and maybe other people, but we have all been hurt by this disease and need to help make things better. But I keep doin’ the best I can. Have to. Just have to. Because … my children, you know? You don’t know me. No one knows me. But my children … they know me. And I want to keep it that way. (p. 1364) 3
Some mentors advise that beginning qualitative researchers fi rst learn how to write descriptively and analytically before tackling lit- erary adaptations of the data. Other mentors cultivate an aesthetic
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approach to research writing from the very start. Th e license to write literarily thus depends on the guidance and encouragement you receive, and your own comfort level with listening to the artist within yourself.
Writing Critically
Critical writing focuses on the political and social ramifi cations of fi eldwork, with a deliberate focus on the injustices and oppressions of the world ranging from unfair practices at the local level, to atrocities against life at the international level. Th e goals of both the research and the write-up are to expose inequities through fac- tual information and testimony, to increase awareness among readers about the issues at hand, and to work toward emancipa- tion, balances of power, and the dignity of human rights.
Barbara Ehrenreich’s ( 2001 ) Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America , reports her experiences working at and living on minimum wage jobs for a period of time to learn how the approxi- mately sixty percent of United States workers coped with making less than what Th e Economic Policy Institute called a decent “living wage.” Aft er detailing her account of the challenging environments of selected workplaces and the meager monies she earned, Ehrenreich evaluates the project and presents an analysis and com- mentary on why things are as they are:
Th ere seems to be a vicious cycle at work here, making ours not just an economy but a culture of extreme inequality. Cor- porate decision makers, and even some two-bit entrepreneurs like my boss at Th e Maids, occupy an economic position miles above that of the underpaid people whose labor they depend on. For reasons that have more to do with class — and oft en racial — prejudice than with actual experience, they tend to fear and distrust the category of people from which they recruit their workers. Hence the perceived need for repressive management and intrusive measures like drug and personal- ity testing. But these things cost money — $20,000 or more a year for a manager, $100 a pop for a drug test, and so on — and the high cost of repression results in ever more pressure to hold wages down. Th e larger society seems to be caught
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up in a similar cycle: cutting public services for the poor, which are sometimes referred to collectively as the “social wage,” while investing ever more heavily in prisons and cops. And in the larger society, too, the cost of repression becomes another factor weighing against the expansion or restoration of needed services. It is a tragic cycle, condemning us to ever deeper inequality, and in the long run, almost no one benefi ts but the agents of repression themselves. 4
Critical writing should emerge from sound investigative research, not knee-jerk reactions, personal vendettas, or hidden agendas. But there is nothing wrong with the strategic employment of such lit- erary devices as irony and satire, or emotion-laden tones such as anger, in the narrative. In fact, critical writing demands a symp- athetic, empathetic, emotionally engaged, and socially conscious perspective on the world and its people.
Writing Collaboratively
Collaborative writing is a jointly told, polyvocal construction in which the researcher and researched share narrative space equitably, some- times as a coauthored account. Th ose with feminist, action research, arts-based, investigative journalist, and critical inquiry approaches may be more inclined to adopt this style. Writing collaboratively is perhaps the most underutilized form in the literature.
Jacquie Kidd’s ( 2009 ) doctoral research explored the impact of nursing on nurses themselves. Kidd drew from her own back- ground and eighteen others in the profession whom she inter- viewed to explore the pressures to perform in a rapidly changing health industry. Kidd developed a poem from the data and created a work that “bears witness to our collective story” (p. 317). Only an excerpt from the work is included below:
Being a nurse is everything to me. It feels like home.
Community expectations … accountability transparency responsibility Intense stress levels.
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I just broke down crying I feel like crap. Doing nursing work means everything to me. I thought if I cared enough, then people would care for me.
Nursing expectations … expertise distance mastery
I became very depressed and anxious, suicidal and psychotic.
Th is is deeply distressing to me It hurts too much.
Tears, panic, fear, hiding medication packages and wine bottles, dread, anxiety, bruises, comforting food, agonising purging, isolation, isolation,
ISOLATION … (pp. 317–318)
Notice how the poetic inquiry example above is not just a col- laboration of people, but also of styles — writing collaboratively and literarily. (One could even argue that the poem contains tints of the confessional and critical to it.)
Finally, there is an emergent and niche subfi eld in qualitative inquiry called duoethnography (Norris, 2008 ) in which two peers collaborate to exchange refl ections about a mutually agreed- upon cultural topic. Some of these exchanges may occur through e-mail correspondence/“dialogue” with one responding to another’s refl ections. Th e genre can reverberate between the ethnographic and autoethnographic.
Writing the Report – A Checklist
Most beginning researchers will learn their craft and art in a quali- tative methods course. A capstone assignment may oft en consist of a traditional written report (or sometimes a more progressive pres- entation such as arts-based research) based on a short-term fi eld- work assignment. What follows below is a cursory checklist that summarizes the major components of a study from preparation to write-up, rearranged slightly from the order they were discussed in
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this book, with some additional considerations. Remember that several elements can be addressed concurrently, and that a deci- sion about or modifi cation to just one of them may also trigger decisions about or modifi cations to others. Th is checklist is not intended as a template that must be followed slavishly, since each project has its own unique parameters and content. Its purpose is to summarize and review the fundamentals of most types of quali- tative research studies conducted by newcomers to the fi eld. Some of the items below may not be applicable to selected genres, such as narrative inquiry and autoethnography.
Preparation and Design
• Select the topic of inquiry , based on disciplinary or social needs, pragmatic parameters, personal passion, opportunity, and/or assignment.
• Review the related literature to inform your study about previ- ous research in your topic and for your conceptual framework.
• Develop a conceptual framework to drive the epistemologi- cal, theoretical, and methodological underpinnings of the research design.
• Write a statement of purpose to further narrow the research topic and to identify the main elements of the study.
• Write a central and related research questions based on the statement of purpose.
• Identify the most appropriate participants for the study who can help answer your research questions.
• Locate the most appropriate fi eld sites to observe social action, reaction, and interaction to help answer your research questions.
• Specify the data collection methods that will be employed during fi eldwork.
• Propose the data analytic methods for the study. • Propose the representation and presentation modalities of
the project such as genre, style, and format. • Speculate on the outcomes for participants, readership/
audiences, and the researcher. • Generate a calendar and timeline for the project’s schedule
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WRITING AND PRESENTING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH : 161
• Secure all necessary permissions and approvals with insti- tutions and participants to conduct the study.
Fieldwork and Data
• Insure ethical compliance during all stages of fi eldwork (e.g., treating participants with respect, maintaining confi dentiality, exhibiting personal integrity).
• Collect data through the proposed methods (e.g., facilitating interviews, conducting participant observation, reviewing documents and artifacts).
• Manage data collected through recording storage, transcription, fi ling, and so on.
• Analyze data as fi eldwork is conducted (coding, themeing, assertion development, etc.).
• Revise the original research design (conceptual framework, purpose of the study, research questions, etc.) on an as-needed basis.
• Compose preliminary write-up material through analytic memos, vignettes, poems, rough draft s, and so on.
• Draw any necessary illustrations such as diagrams or charts to inform the analysis and presentation.
• Assess credibility and trustworthiness through such methods as participant response to preliminary fi ndings, adequate data collection and analysis, and so on.
• Confi rm that fi eldwork matters conform to the proposed research genre (e.g., that data collected are suffi cient for developing grounded theory, conducting a content analysis, composing an original narrative).
• Continue reviewing the related literature during fi eldwork for additional insights.
Representation and Presentation
• Insure ethical compliance by maintaining anonymity and using pseudonyms in references to participants and locations in the write-up.
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• Compose the report in an appropriate genre(s) for the research (e.g., ethnography, case study, action research).
• Compose the report with appropriate writing styles for the genre and the study (e.g., descriptively, analytically, confessionally).
• Organize the report in an order that best suits its genre and publication/presentation venue (e.g., a traditional outline may consist of such components as an abstract, introduction, conceptual framework, literature review, methodology and methods, analysis of fi ndings, discussion, and references).
• Revise and proofread draft s of the report to enhance its technical features (e.g., elegance and clarity, use of keywords and rich text features, proper formatting).
• Rehearse the presentation , if given orally. • Develop reference material (hard copy abstracts,
bibliographies, contact information, etc.) for distribution to audiences at the presentation.
• Search for additional forums and venues for the research study’s dissemination (e.g., conferences, print and online journals, Internet sites).
Evaluating Qualitative Research Representation and Presentation
Several items outlined in the checklist above also serve as criteria for evaluating other writers’ qualitative research representations and/or presentations available in print, online, and at venues such as conferences, exhibits, and performances. For example, as you read an article you might assess whether the researcher has pro- vided an adequate literature review of related or relevant works. You might also assess whether the data analysis seems to have cap- tured an elegant number of salient categories or intriguing ways of looking at a phenomenon. Or you might assess whether the narra- tive or artistic rendering of a qualitative experience evokes within you a strong emotional response.
Th e problem, though, with trying to develop a standardized or even just a recommended set of criteria relevant and applicable to the multiple and various genres, elements, and styles of qualitative
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WRITING AND PRESENTING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH : 163
research is that only superfi cial generalities can be constructed, at best. Criteria to assess the merits of a traditional grounded theory study are completely irrelevant for assessing the success of a poem that attempts to capture an individual participant’s experience. Plus, evaluation is subjective, even when we try to quantify it. What is novel and new to one person may be mundane and “old hat” to another.
So, how do we evaluate qualitative representation and presenta- tion? I recommend that you do so in context — meaning, attending to your personal and subjective responses to a particular experience. As you read earlier in this chapter, I am not fond of posing questions without accompanying answers, so I will not phrase my guidelines below as inquiries (e.g., “Is the writer’s analytic approach to the data rigorous?”). Instead, I off er my openly subjective perspectives on what I believe “good” qualitative research consists of. But even the word “good” is a subjective quality that can be interpreted diff erently by others, ranging from “satisfactory” to “excellent.” Nevertheless, over decades of academic preparation and a scholarly career, I have read or attended thousands of reports, presentations, performances, and the like. I off er nine factors to consider as you experience others’ research and refl ect on the merits of their work, regardless of form or format, representation or presentation:
• Engagement— “Good” qualitative research keeps me intellectually interested and emotionally invested. Whether I’m reading a technical report or listening to a conference paper session, I am intrinsically motivated and attentive to what the author/creator has to share.
• Clarity— “Good” qualitative research is written or presented in accessible, elegant, and/or evocative language. It is complex, when necessary, yet told in such a way that enables me to follow and absorb the ideas.
• Utility— “Good” qualitative research is unpretentious. Th e author/creator “keeps it real” by keeping theory to a minimum and emphasizing the pragmatic.
• Rigor— “Good” qualitative research persuades me that the author/creator has “done his homework” with a suffi cient literature review, time spent with the study, and an exhaustive data analysis.
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• Priorities— “Good” qualitative research respects, honors, and emphasizes the participants’ voices, especially marginalized groups such as people of color and children, when relevant to the study.
• Unity— “Good” qualitative research maintains a sense of focus on its primary topic. Th e representation and presentation modalities chosen are consistent throughout and appropriate for the study.
• Payoff — “Good” qualitative research provides me with new knowledge, fresh insights, keen awareness, personal discoveries, and deeper understandings — quite simply, things I didn’t know before.
• Relevance— “Good” qualitative research, regardless of the presentation’s topic or discipline, has some applicability and transferability to my own practice as a researcher or practitioner. I feel that the work has become part of me and even changed me.
• Respect— “Good” qualitative research earns my respect for the author/creator because he or she presents the work with scholarly and/or artistic integrity. A reputation is both made and earned and makes me want to experience more of what the writer has published or presented.
Closure
It is virtually impossible to adequately cover every qualitative research genre’s writing styles within the limited number of pages accorded to this book. Besides, reading about how to write can only go so far. Th e best advice I can off er is: to become a better writer of qualitative research, read a lot of it. I have grown immensely in my practice as a scholar by reading a broad spectrum of research reports of various representations and presentations. And, read selected qualitative research studies outside of your subject area. You may learn that you actually have much in common with other academic fi elds, and your perspective and knowledge bases become much more multidisciplinary.
Th e next and fi nal chapter of this book off ers specifi c recom- mendations for additional readings, and available resources for networking with qualitatively oriented colleagues.
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Notes 1. Saldaña, Johnny (1998). Ethical issues in an ethnographic performance text:
Th e “dramatic impact” of “juicy stuff .” Research in Drama Education 3 (2), 181–196. Reprinted by permission of the publisher (Taylor & Francis Group, http://www.informaworld.com).
2. Republished with permission of AltaMira Press, from Sneaky Kid and Its Aft ermath: Ethics and Intimacy in Fieldwork , Harry F. Wolcott, 2002; permis- sion conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
3. Sandelowski, Margarete, Frank Trimble, Elizabeth K. Woodard, and Julie Barroso. From synthesis to script: Transforming qualitative research fi ndings for use in practice. Qualitative Health Research, pp. 1363–1364, copyright © 2006 by SAGE Publications. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.
4. Barbara Ehrenreich, “Excerpt from Evaluation,” from Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America , pp. 212–213. Copyright © 2001 by Barbara Ehrenreich. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
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