Qualitative Secondary Analysis in Austere Times: A Reply to Coltart, Henwood and Shirani
In their article, published in this journal, COLTART, HENWOOD and SHIRANI raise a number of issues regarding the effective and ethical conduct of qualitative secondary analysis. In doing so they seek to exemplify general points about secondary analytic practice and ethics with reference to the UK Timescapes research programme in which they were involved as primary researchers and we were involved as secondary analysts. They position our work in ways we find unrecognisable, and potentially misleading. We briefly re-describe aspects of our work, and our key arguments, with reference to the timing of secondary analysis, knowledge claims and the contextual embeddedness of qualitative data.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1401231
Quelle: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2100
Review: Gerald Beck (2013). Sichtbare Soziologie. Visualisierung und soziologische Wissenschaftskommunikation in der Zweiten Moderne [Visible Sociology. Visualization and Socio-Scientific Communication in the Second Modernity]
Visualizations of knowledge are little used within the field of sociology. In his book "Visible Sociology," Gerald BECK seeks to understand the relationship between sociology and visualizations, to identify related problem areas, and to increase the awareness for the work with visualizations. To do so, he examines nine cases of appropriate and less appropriate visualizations in the context of the Second Modernity. However, his approach fails to consider important aspects of the relation between sociology and pictures. As a consequence, BECK's recommendations (increase the number of visualizations and visual competence) are of little use in overcoming the skepticism in sociology regarding visualizations.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1401228
Quelle: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2094
Autoethnographic Realisation of Legitimacy of Voice: A Poetic Trail of Forming Researcher Identity
During my research with home-based care volunteers in South Africa I used autoethnography and poetic reflection to document the parallel realisation of my changing identity as a researcher and the home-based care volunteers' realisation of their identity as significant contributors to the HIV/AIDS care and support networks in their community. I explored how the concepts of space and witnessing were operative in the realisation of a legitimate identity for the participants and me. Physical space or distance from familiar environments, experiences and ideas promoted alternative perspectives and stimulated the development of an understanding of personal identity. Dialogical space created through engagement with others encouraged identity development in both different and similar ways for me as a researcher and the participants. In this article, I recount my role as a witness to the participants’ realisation of identity whilst concurrently being witnessed by others in the process of developing my identity as a researcher. Witnessing is recognised as acknowledgement and affirmation in the process of identity development. A series of poems written during and after the primary data collection illustrate aspects of the discussion.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1401212
Quelle: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1996
Conference Report: The First ATLAS.ti User Conference
This report on the First ATLAS.ti User Conference shares our impressions and experiences as longstanding ATLAS.ti users and trainers about the First ATLAS.ti User Conference in Berlin 2013. The origins, conceptual principles and development of the program are outlined, the conference themes discussed and experiences shared. Finally, the future of the program is discussed.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1401197
Quelle: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2096
Ways of Doing Qualitative Content Analysis: Disentangling Terms and Terminologies
In the discussion of qualitative content analysis different renderings of the method are considered, such as structured-thematic, evaluating, scaling, summary, or typological qualitative content analysis. There has been little discussion, however, of how these versions relate to each other. The present contribution sets out to describe the different renderings and to compare them to each other. This results in two basic versions of the method: structured qualitative content analysis and qualitative content analysis by extraction. The other forms of qualitative content analysis that are mentioned in the literature are reconstructed not as discrete versions of the method, but as variations on specific steps in the course of structured qualitative content analysis. The method lends itself to additional variations which are presented as part of a tool box for qualitative content analysis.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1401185
Quelle: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2043
The Futures of Qualitative Social Research
In this contribution I begin by reviewing past views on the future of qualitative social research. In different ways, all of these views give the same account of a problematic present state which must be overcome by following their own particular "mandatory directives" for future developments. I then discuss four structural mechanisms from which current problems in the transmission of qualitative and interpretative designs or approaches originate. Recently, supporters of "post-qualitative research" have addressed such problems by arguing for a form of strong theorism in qualitative social research. However, this type of response can lead back to an outdated dominance of theory over research and empirical substance. In conclusion, some alternative options for navigating qualitative and interpretative research through post-positivist waters are discussed.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1401165
Quelle: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2116
„Hope is that fiery feeling“: Using Poetry as Data to Explore the Meanings of Hope for Young People
Poetic inquiry is a contentious area of qualitative research. In this article, we discuss some of the issues plaguing this field of inquiry. We then analyse a collection of poems about hope written by a sample of young people from Tasmania, Australia. The poems were written as part of the 2011 Tree of Hope project, which utilised multiple, arts-based methods to provide insights into what young people hope for in the future and the role of hope in their lives. Participants utilised one of three poetic structures. While each structure produced distinct themes, a connection between "hope and happiness" overlapped the two structured types of poetry—the acrostic and sense poetry. However, when writing free verse poetry, the expression of additional dimensions of hope, including the flipside of both having hope and losing hope was evident. We conclude that hope is particularly important to young people and that inviting participant-voiced poetry is an effective technique for investigating conceptual topics such as young people and hope.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs140194
Quelle: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2013