Foundations of Qualitative Research: Interpretive and Critical Approaches

FOUNDATIONS OF

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Copyright © 2007 by Sage Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For

information: Sage Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 E-mail: order(gsagepub.com

%

Sage Publications Ltd. 1 Oliver's Yard 55 City Road London EC 1Y ISP United Kingdom Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd. B-42, Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 110 017 India Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

Data

Willis, Jerry, 1942Foundations of qualitative research : interpretive and critical approaches /Jerry W Willis. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4129-2740-6 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-1-4129-2741-3 (pbk.) 1. Social sciences—Research. I. Title. H62.W537 2007 001.4'2—dc22 2006027192 This book is printed on acid-free paper. 07

08

09

10

11

Acquisitions Editor. Editorial Assistant: Production Editor: Copy Editor: Typesetter: Proofreader: Indexer: Cover Designer: Marketing Manager:

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

Lisa Cuevas Shaw Karen Greene Catherine M. Chilton Carol Anne Peschke C&M Digitals (P) Ltd. William H. Stoddard Diggs Indexing Services Edgar Abarca Stephanie Adams

3

2

1

Brief

Contents

List of Definitions

xiii

List of Articles of Interest

xv

Preface

xix

Acknowledgments

xxiii

1. World Views, Paradigms, and the Practice of Social Science Research

1

2. History and Context of Paradigm Development

27

3. Foundational Issues: Postpositivist and Critical Perspectives

67

4. History and Foundations of Interpretivist Research

95

5- Frameworks for Qualitative Research

147

6. General Guidelines for Qualitative Research

185

7. Methods of Qualitative Research

229

8. Approaches to Data Analysis and Interpretation

287

9. 21st-century Social Science Research: Peering Into the Future

321

Index

353

About the Author

367

Detailed

Contents

List of Definitions

xiii

List of Articles of Interest

xv

Preface

xix

Acknowledgments 1. World Views, Paradigms, and the Practice of Social Science Research

xxiii

1

Case 1. Quantitative Research Case 2. Qualitative Research What This Book Is and Is Not About Just What Is a Paradigm? Family Resemblances Within Paradigm Groups Thinking About the Foundations and Practice of Research What Warrants Our Attention? The Traditional Canon Alternative Paradigms New Techniques or New Paradigms? Summary Questions for Reflection

13 15 16 17 19 22 23

2. History and Context of Paradigm Development

27

Three Paradigms Positivism: A Response to Metaphysical and Magical Explanations The Middle Ages (330-1450) The Renaissance (1450-1600): The Beginning of Empiricism The Age of Enlightenment (1600-1800): Empiricism as a Major Source of Knowledge

1 2 6 8 11

32 32 33 34 36

Critical Theory: A Response to Inequities in Society What Did Marxism Respond To? The Frankfurt School: The Beginnings of Critical Theory Interpretivism: A Response to the Excesses of "Scientific" Social Science The Response to Objectivism: Interpretivism The Rise of Verstehen and Hermeneutics in the Social Sciences The Special Cases of Postmodernism and Feminism Postmodernism Feminist Theory and Research Summary Questions for Reflection 3. Foundational Issues: Postpositivist and Critical Perspectives Social Science Research: The View From the Postpositivist Paradigm The Foundations of Postpositivist Research Nature of Reality Purpose of Research Acceptable Methods and Data Meaning of Data Relationship of Research to Practice Examples of Postpositivist Research Social Science Research: The View From the Critical Theory Paradigm Nature of Reality Purpose of Research Acceptable Methods and Data Meaning of Data Relationship of Research to Practice Examples of Critical Research Summary Questions for Reflection 4. History and Foundations of Interpretivist Research Nature of Reality Purpose of Research Verstehen

44

44 47 48 51 53 54 54 57 60 61 67 72 74 74 75 76 77 78 78 81 83 84 86 86 87 87 91 91 95 95 98 100

Hermeneutics Phenomenology (and Existentialism) Acceptable Methods and Data Meaning of Data Relationship of Research to Practice Implications of an Interpretivist Approach What Sorts of Research Are Worthwhile? Examples of Interpretive Research Summaiy Questions for Reflection . Frameworks for Qualitative Research Postpositivist Research Moments of Qualitative Research The Traditional Period (Early 1900s-World War II) The Modernist Phase (1940s-1970s) Blurred Genres (1970s-1986) Crisis of Representation (Mid-1980s) A Triple Crisis (Today) The Fifth or Postmodern Moment The Sixth or Postexperimental Inquiry Moment (1995-2000) The Seventh or Methodologically Contested Moment (2000-2004) The Eighth Moment: Methodological Backlash (2005-?) Some General Frameworks for Qualitative Research Altheide and fohnson 's Analytic Realism Denzin and Lincoln's Interpretive Perspective Eisner's Connoisseurship Model of Inquiry Coherence Consensus Instrumental Utility Insightfulness Semiotics The Phenomenological Psychological Model (and Structuralism) Poststructuralism and Postmodernism Symbolic Interactionism Summary Questions for Reflection

104 107 109 111 117 122 131 132 139 141 147 147 150 151 152 152 153 154 155 155 156 156 158 158 160 162 166 166 167 167 168 111 174 176 181 181

6. General Guidelines for Qualitative Research Guidelines for Qualitative Research Situated or Contextual Understanding, Not Truth, Is the Purpose of Research Accept Multiple Sources of Influence Expect Multiple Perspectives and Seek Them Take a Foundational Rather Than Technique Perspective Practice Recursive (Iterative) and Emergent Data Collection and Analysis Use Multiple Sources of Data Think of Research as a Reflective Process-. The Researcher Is the Primary Tool for Data Collection and Analysis Emphasize Participatory Research Adopt an Open Approach Deal With Bias Directly Select Natural Contexts for Research Research Should Be Holistic, Not Atomistic Research Involves More Than Induction and Deduction: Analogical Reasoning, Abduction, and Family Resemblances Alternatives to Postpositivist Criteria for Believability: Validity and Reliability Alternative Approaches to Validity and Reliability: Triangulation and More Alternatives to Triangulation Conclusions? Aren't They Generalizations? Summary Questions for Reflection 7. Methods of Qualitative Research Case 1: Action Research on a Pediatric Surgical Ward Part I. Established Qualitative Research Methods Ethnography An Ethnographic Case (Herodotus, 5th Century в.CE.) General Framework for Ethnographic Research Case Studies: Another Form of Qualitative Observation General Framework of Case Studies Variations in Case Study Research Interview Research Historiography Case 2: Racial Gerrymandering in Cincinnati Case 3: Black Participation in South African Policymaking

185 188 188 191 192 195 200 203 203 206 209 210 211 211

213 216 218 220 222 224 224 229 229 232 233 233 236 238 240 242 244 247 247 249

Historical Research and Paradigms Historiography: The Research Methods of History Part II. Innovative Methods: Participatory Qualitative Research Cooperative Inquiry Participatory Action Research Postpositivist Action Research Interpretivist Action Research Critical-Emancipatory Action Research Ways of Doing Action Research Participatory and Conslructivist Instructional Design Recursive (Iterative), Nonlinear Design Reflection Emancipatory Research Critical Emancipatory Action Research Summary Questions for Reflection 8. Approaches to Data Analysis and Interpretation Purpose of Research General Theory local Theory Objective Description Hermeneutic (Verstehen) Understanding Storytelling and Narrative Data Analysis Families Eyeballing the Data Connoisseurship: A Global Perspective Hermeneutics as a Data Analysis Method Grounded Theory Analytic Induction The Ethics of Research Summary Questions for Reflection 9. 21st-century Social Science Research: Peering Into the Future Will the Cacophony Continue? Why Can't Social Science Converge on the Answer? Dialog as an Alternative to Competition Three Approaches to Knowing in Greek Thought Accepting Plato, Aristotle, and the Humanities: There Is Absolute Truth

252 259 260 262 264 265 267 269 269 271 272 273 21A 277 278 279 287 288 288 291 292 293 295 297 298 300 301 306 310 311 316 318 321 322 323 326 327 328

Rejecting Plato, Accepting Aristotle: Empiricism (and Later the Scientific Method) Is the Royal Road to Knowledge Accepting Plato, Rejecting Aristotle: Social Science Is Separate From the Humanities Suppose We Chose Poorly? Rejecting the Fundamentalism of Both Aristotle and Plato-. The Search for Knowing Is Continuous Rejecting Aristotle and Plato Again: Value Many Sources of Knowledge, Not Just One Rejecting Plato and Accepting Aristotle's Advice About Poets: Link Closely With the Humanities Two Theories That May Help Us Build 21st-century Social Science Poetic Logic Chaos and Complexity Theory: Another Route to a Nonlinear Social Science Some Core Concepts in Complexity and Chaos Theory Sensitive Dependence on Initial Setting Conditions: The Butterfly Effect Strange Attractors: Another Challenge to Linearity Fractal Geometry and Social Behavior Chaotic Systems Have Special Characteristics Summary Questions for Reflection

330 330 330 331 331 334 336 337 340 343 343 346 347 348 350 350

Index

353

About the Author

367

List of

Definitions

Chapter 1 Personalized System of Instruction (PSI)

1

Reflection

4

Interpretivism

6

Ontology and Epistemology

9

Positivism

12

Propositional Logic

18

Chapter 2 Scientific Determinism

28

Dialectical Materialism

29

Empiricism and Rationalism

36

Logical Positivism

40

Chapter 3 Parametric and Nonparametric Statistics

68

Chapter 4 Emic and Etic

Ю0

Ordinary Language Philosophers

102

Foundationalism

105

Antirepresentationalism

116

Tacit Knowledge Versus Explicit Knowledge

120

Critical Rationality

124

Hypothetical Construct

127

Chapter 5 Deconstruction

168

•

xiii