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9l-16716

2. I
Introduction
Entering tlteField of QualitariveResearcJt
NORMAN
YVONNA
Q UALI TATI VE r csear chh a sa lo n ga n dd istin '
guishcdhist or yin ( hchum and iscip lin cs.In so ci-
ology rhc s'ork of thc "Chicagoschool"in the
1920sand 1930scst ablish cdth e imp o rta n cco f
qualitativcrcscarchfor thcstudyofhumangroup
lif c.I n ant hr opology.dur ingth csa mcp e rio d .th c
pathbrcakingstudicsof Boas, Mcad, Benedict,
Bat eson.Evans- Pr ir chard ,R a d cliffe -Bro wn ,a n d
M alinowskicbar t cdt hcoutlin e so f th eficld wo rk
mcthod,u'hcrcinthe obscrvcrwcnl to a foreign
scttingto srudl'thccustomsandhabitsof another
socict yandculr ur c( f ora cr itiq u co fth istra d itio n ,
seeRosaldo.1989,pp. 25-45).Soonqualitativc
rcscarchu.ouldbc employcdin othersocialsci-
cnccdisciplincs,includingcducation.socialwork.
andcommunications.Theopcningchaptcrin Part
I oJthisvolumc,by Vidich andLyman.chartskcy
fcaturcsof rhishisrory.
ln thisintroductorychaptcrwc u'ill bric0y dc-
fine thc ficld of qualitativcrcsearch,thcnrcvicw
t hc hist or yof gualir at iver cse a rchin th c h u ma n
disciplincs.so rhatthis volurncand irs conrcnrs
maybe locatcdin thcirpropcrhisroricalmomcnr.
A conccptualframeworkfor rcadingrhcqualila-
tivevgt.rr.t actasa mullicultural,gcndcrcdproc-
csswill b c p rcscn le d .Wc *'ill th cnp ro vidca brief
in tro d u ctio nto th cch a p tcrslh a tfo llo w.
D e f i n i t i o n a l I s s u e s
Qu a lita tivcrcsca rchis a ficldo f in q u iryinirs
o wn rig h t. ll cro sscu tsd iscip lin cs.fields,and
subjcctmattcr.lA complcx.intcrconnectedfam-
ily o f te rms,co n ccp ts,a n da ssu mp tio n ssurround
lhc term quolitotiveresearch.Thescincludethc
traditionsassociatcdu,ithpositivism.poststructu-
ralism,andthcmanyqualitativcrcsearchpcrspcc-
tivcs,or methods,connectcdto culturalandinter-
prctivestudics(thc chaptersin Part ll takc up
thcscparadigms).Thcrcarcscparatcanddctailcd
litcra tu rcso n lh e ma n ),mcth o d sa n da p proaches
thatfall undcrthecatcqoryof qualitativcrcsearch,
su cha sin te rvicwin g .p a rticip a n to b scrvation.and
visualmcthods.
Qualitativcrcsearchopcratcsin a complcxhis-
toricalficldthatcrosscutsfivc historicalmomenls
(we discussthcsein detail bclorv).Thcsc fivc
K. DENZIN
S. LINCOLN
AUTHORS'N"OTE:wc arc gratcfulIo rhcmanypcoplcwho havchclpcdwith thischrptcr.includingMirch Allcn
KathcrincE. Ryan.rnd Harry Wolcotr.

3. 2
mom ent ssim ult aneouslyoper at ein th e p rcscn t.
We descr ibet hemast het r adit ional( 1 9 0 0 -1 9 5 0 ),
thc modernistor goldcnagc( I 950-| 970).blurrcd
genr es( 1970- 1986) .t hc cr isisof r ep rcse n ta tio n
(t986-1990).andpostmodcrnor prcscn(rnomcnrs
(1 990- pr csent ) .Thc pr cscntm om cn tis d cfin cd .
La ur elRichar dson( 1991)ar gucs,b y a n e w scn -
sib ilit y. t he cor c of which "is dou b t th a t a n y
discour schasa pr ivilcgedplacc,an y mcth o do r
theor ya univer sr lr ndgcncr alclaimto a u th o rita -
tivc knowlcdgc"( p. 173) .
Succcssivcwavcsof epistemologicallheoriz-
ing movc acrossthescfive momcnts.Thc tradi-
tionalperiodisassociatcdrviththcpositivistpara-
digm. Thc modernistor goldcnagc and blurrcd
genresmomen!sareconncctedto theappcarance
of post posit ivistar gum ent s.At t hc s a metimc.a
variet yof new int cr pr et ivc,qualit ativcp crsp cc-
livc56n6. t heirpr cscncef clt ,includ in gh e rmc-
ncutics.structuralism.scmiotics,phcno4nenology.
cultural studies.and feminism.?tn th=eblurred
gen r esphaset hc hum anit iesbccamcce n tra lra .
sour ccsf or cr it icr l.int cr pr et ivct he o ry.a n d th c
qualitativcresearchprojcctwasbroadlyconccivcd.
The blurredgcnrcsphascproduccd(hcnex(stage.
thc cr isisof r cpr escnt at ion.r vher ere se a rch e rs
struegledwit hhor vt o locat et hcm sclve sa n dth cir
subjecrsin reflexivetexrs.The postmodernmo-
ment is char act er izcdby r ncw scn sib ilityth a r
doubt sallpr cviouspr r adigm s( scct hcch a p tcrsin
Par tVl) .
Any_descr ipt ionoI whatconst it utcsq u a lita tivc
researchmustwork u'ithinthiscomplc..<historical
ficld.Qualirativeresearchmeansdiffcrcntthings
in eachof t hescm om ent s.Nonet heless..a nin itia l,
qen er icdcf init ioncanbe of [ cr ed:Q ua ]ita tivcrc-
sca r chis m ult im cr hodin f ocus,invo lvin ga n in -
Ierprctivc.nrturalisticapproachto irssubjectmat-
ter.T his m canst harqualir ar ivcr csca rch e rsstu d y
thingsin (heirnr(ural-sc((ings,atrcmptingro makc
senseof . or int er pr cl,phenom enain tcrmso f th e
meaningspeoplcbr ingr o t hem .Q ua lita livcrc-
sear chinvolvest hest udicduscandco lle ctio no f
a vrr iet yof em pir icalm ar cr ials- casestu d y.p e r.
son alcxper icnce.inr r ospecr ive,lif c sto ry,in tcr.
view .obscr vat ionr l,hislor ical.int er actio n a l,a n d
visualtcxts-thrr dcscriberourincand problcm--
a(icm om ent sandm eaningsin individ u a ls'livcs.
Accordingly,qualirrtiveresearchcrsdcploya rvidc
rang cof int er connecr edm ct hods.hopin ga lrva ys
to gcta bet t crf ix on t hesubjcctm at rcra t h a n d .
Thc Q ualit at iveRescar cherx Br icoleu r
The m ult iplcm er hodolosicsof gurlirrrivcre .
searchmav bc vicrrcd as a bricolagc,and thc
resear cheras br icolcur .Nelson.Tr e ich lcr.a n d
Crossber g( 1992.p. 2) .Levi- Sr r auss( 19 6 6 .p . l7 ),
a n dW c i n s t e i nr n dW e i n s l e i n( 1 9 9| . p . l 6 l ) c l a r -
H A N D B O O K O F Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
ify the mcaningof theset**'orerms.lA bricoleur
is a " Ja cko f a ll tra d e so r a kin d o f p ro fcssio nal
do-it-yourselipcrson"(LCvi-Strauss.1966.p. l7).
Thc bricoleur producesa bricolage.that is, a
pieced-togethcr,close-knirset of practicesthat
providcsolutionsto a problemin a concretesitu-
arion."Thc solurion(bricolage)which is the rc-
sult of thc bricolcur'smcthodis an {cmcrgcntJ
construction"[Wcinstcin& Weinstein,199I, p. l6l)
that changesand takes ncrv fp1rr15as diffcrcnt
tools,mcthods,and techniguesarc addcdto the
puzzlc.Nclsonet al.( 1992)dcscribethemcthod-
ologyof culturalstudies"as a bricolagc.Itschoice
oI practicc,that is, is pragmatic,srralcgicand
scif-rcflc.rive"(p.2). This undcrstandingcan bc
appliedcquallyto qualitativcrcscarch.
Thc qualitativcrcsearchcr-as-bricoleurusts thc
loolsof his or hcr mcthodologicaltradc.deploy-
ing whatcverstratcgics.mcthods,or cmpiricalma-
tcria lsa sa rca th a n d(Bccke r,1 9 8 9 ).lf n cw to o ls
havelo bc inventad,or pieccdtoge(hcr,thcn thc
rcsearchcrwill do this.Thc choiccof whichtools
to usc.whichrcscarchpracticcsto employ,is not
sctin advJncc.Thc "choiccof rescarchpractices
d cp e n d su p o nth cq u cstio n s(h a ta rca skcd ,a n dth c
q u e stio n sd cp cn do n th circo n te xt"(Nclso nct a l..
1 9 9 ? ,p . 2 ), wh a tis a va ila b lcin th eco n te xt,a n d
wh a trh ere se a rch e rcrn d o in th a tscttin g .
Qu a lita tivcrcsca rchis in h crcn tlymu ltimcth o d
in fo cu s(Brcwir& Hu n te r,1 9 8 9 ).Ho we vcr,th c
u seo f mu ltip leme th o d s.o r tria n g u la tio n ,re flccts
a na tlcmp (lo sccu rca n in -d cp thu n d crsta n d in go f
th e p h cn o mcn o nin q u csrio n .Ob jcctivcrca lity
canncvcrbecapturcd.Triangulalionis not a tool
o r a stra re g yo f va lid a tio n ,b u t a n a ltcrn a tivcto
va lid a tio n(Dcn zin .1 9 8 9 r,I9 8 9 b .p . 2 4 4 :F ie ld -
in g & F ie ld in g ,1 9 8 6 .p . 3 3 :F lick,1 9 9 2 .p . l9 a ).
T h c co mb in a tio no f mu ltip lcme th o d s,cmp irica l-
matcrials.pcrspectivesand observersin a single
studyis bestundcrslood,thcn.as a strategythat
addsrigor.brcadth,anddcprhto anyinvestigation
(se cF lick,1 9 9 2 .p . l9 -l).
The bricoleuris adcpt at pcrforminga largc
numberof divcrsctasks.rangingfrom intcrview-
ing to observing.to interpre.tingpersonaland
hisroricaldocumcnts,to intcnsivcscl[-rcl'lection
andintrospection.Thc bricoletrrreadswidcly and
is kn o wlcd g ca b lca b o u t th c min y in tcrp rctivc
paradigms(fcminism.ivlrrxism.culturclstudies.
co n s(ru ctivism)rh a tca n b e b ro u Sh tro a n y p a r-
ticularproblem.Hc or shcmaynot,hou'cvcr.fccl
th a tp a ra d ig msca n b e min g lcd ,o r syn th csize d .
T h a t is. p a ra d ig msa s o vcra rch in gp h ilo so p h ica l
syste msd e n o rin gp a rticu la r-o n to lo g ics.cp iste -
molo_sies,and mcthodologiescannotbe easily
movcd betrvcen.They represen(bclicf.systcms
th a t a tta chth c u se r to ü p a rricu la rwo rld vie rv.
Pcrspcctivcs,in contrast.arc lessu'elldevclopcd
systcms,lnd canbe morecasilymovcdbctrvcen.
Thercsearchcr-as-bricoIeur-thcoristu'orksbctrveen

4. lntroduction: Entering the Field o/ Quolitotive Research
and $' it hincom pct ingand ovcr lappingp e rsp e c-
rivesandpar adigm s.
The bricoleurundcrstandsthat rescarchis an
interactivcprocessshapedb1,his or her personal
historl'.biography.gcnder,socialclass,racc,and
cthnicit y,andt hoseof t he pcoplcin t hc sctrin g .
Thebricoleurknou,sthatscienccis power,for all
rcscarchfindingshavcpoliticalimplicarions.Therc
is no valuc-frccsciencc.The bricoleuralsokno*'s
that rcscarchersall tcll sroricsaboutthc worlds
theyhavestudicd.Thusthc narrativcs,or storics,
scicnliststcll arc accountscouchcdand framcd
within spccificstoryrcllingrradirions,ofrcn da,
fincdasparadigms(c.9..positivism,posrposiriv-
ism.constructivism).
The productof thcbricoleur'slaboris a brico-
lagc.a complex.densc.rcncxivc,collagclikecrea-
tion thal rcprcscntsthc rcscarchcr'simagcs,un.
dcrstandings,andint er pr ct at ionsof t hc wo rldo r
phcno m enonundcranalysis.This br ico la g cwill.
asin th ecascof a social( hcor istsuchasSimmcl,
connec!thcpartsto ther'hole,strcssingthemcan-
ingfulr clat ionshipslhatopcr at cin r hcsiru a tio n s
and social rr'orldsstudicd(Wcinstein& Wcin-
s t e i n ,l 9 9 l . p . l 6 a ) .
Qualitat ivcRcsear chasa
Sitcof M ult iplcM cr hodologics
andRcscar chPr acr ices
Qua lit at iver escar ch,as a sct of intcrp rg tivc
practices,privilcgcsno singlcmerhodologyovcr
anyothcr .As a sir cof discussion.or di sco u rse ,
qualitat ivcr cscar chis dif f icultr o def incclca rly.
It hasno t heor y,or par adigm ,t haris distin ctlyirs
own.As Par tll of t hisvolum er evcals,mu lrip lc
(hcorct icalpar adigm sclaimuscof qualira (ivcrc-
scarchmcthodsand stratcgics,from constructiv-
ism to cult ur alsr udics,f em inism ,M ar xism.a n d
ethnic modelsof srudy.Qualitariverescarchis
usedin m any separ at edisciplines,as wc will
discussbclow. Ir does nor belong to a singlc
disciplinc.
Nord oesQ ualit at iver esear chhavca distin ctsct
of mcthodsthatarc enlirclyirs o*'n. Qualitativc-
rcscarchcrsuscsemiotics,narrativc,contcn(,dis.
coursc ,ar chival,and phoncm icanalys is.cve n
statistics.They alsodr aw upon and ut ilizerh c
approaches,mcthods,and technigucsof cthno.
methodology,phenomcnology,hcrmencutics,femi-
nism.rhizom at ics. - dcconst r uct ionism,erh n o g ra --
phics.inrerviews,psychoanalysis.culruralstudics,
Surveyrcscarch,andpanicipantobscrvation,among
orhcrs(sceNclsoncral. ,1992,p. 2) . 1All of rh csc
rcscarchpracticcs"canprovideimponantinsights
andknowlcdge"( Nclsoncr al. , 1992,p. 2 ). No
spccificmcthodor practicecanbc privilcgedover
any other ,and nonecan be "clim inat edo u r o f
h a n d "( p . 2 ) .
Many of thescmethods.or researchpractices.
a rea lsou se din o th e rco n te xtsin th eh u ma nd is-
cip iin e s.Ea chb ca rsth e(ra ccso f itso u 'nd iscip li-
naryhistory.Thusthcreis anextensivehistor.yof
thcusesandmeaningso[ cthnograph-vandcthnol-
o g y in cd u ca tio n(Hymcs. 1 9 8 0 ;L cCo mp tc&
Pre isslc,1 9 9 2 ):p a rticip a n (o b scrva tio na n dcth -
nographyin anthropology(Marcus.Chapter35.
thisvolumc),sociology(Atkinson& Hammerslel',
Ch a p te r1 5 . th is vo lu me ),a n d cu ltu ra lstu d ie s
(Fiske.ChapterI l. thisvolumc):tcxtual,hcrmc-
n cu tic,fcmin ist,p sych o a n a lytic.scmio tic,a n d
narrativcanalysisin cinemaand litcrarystudics
(Lentricchia& Mcl:ughlin. 1990:Nichols.1985:
scc alsol"tanning& Cullum-Swan.Chaptcr29.
th is vo lu mc):a rch iva l,ma tcria lcu l(u re .h isto ri-
ca l,a n dd o cu mcn ta n a lysisin h isto ry,b io g ra p h y.
and archacology(Hoddcr.Chaptcr?J. this vol-
u me ;Smith ,Ch a p tcr1 8 ,th isvo lu mc:T u ch ma n .
Ch a p tcr1 9 ,th isvo lu rp ):a n dd isco u rsca n dco n -
vcrsa tio n a la n a lysisin co mmu n ica tio n sa n dcd u -
ca tio n(Ho lstcin& Cu b riu m.Ch a p tcr1 6 , th is
vo lumc).
Thc manyhistoricsthatsurroundcachmethod
o r re se a rchstra te g yre vca lh o u 'mu ltip lcu se sa n d
mca n in g sa rc b ro u g h lto ca chp ra cticc.T cxtu a l
a n a lysisin litcra ryslu d ics,fo r cxa mp le ,o fte n
trcat(ex(sasself-containcdsystems.On thcothcr
hand,a rcscarchcrcrnployinga culturalstudicsor
fcmin istp crsp cctivcwo u ldrca da tcxlin tcrmso f
itslocationwithina historicalmomentmarkcdby
a particulargendcr.racc, ot classideology.A
culturalstudicsuscof cthnographywouldbrin-ca
set of undcrstandingsfrom postmodcrnismand
p o ststru ctu ra lismto th c p ro jcct.T h cscu n d cr-
sta n d in g swo u ld like ly n o t b c sh a re db y ma in -
strca mp o srp o sitivistso cio lo g ists(sccAtkin so n
& Ha mmcrslcy.Ch a p tcr 1 5 . a n d Alth cid c &
J o h n s o n .C h a p t c r3 0 , t h i s v o l u m e ) .S i m i l a r l y .
postpositivistand poststructuralhistoriansbring
d iffcre n tu n d crsta n d in g sa n du se sto (h emc(h o d s
a n dfin d in g so f h isto rica lrcse a rch(se eT u ch ma n .
Chaptcr19.thisvolumc).Thcsctcnsionsandcon-
tradictionsarc all cvidcnt in thc chaptcrspre-
sentcdhcrc.
Thcscseparateandmultiplculcsandmcanings
of thc merhodsof qualitativcrcsearchmakc it
difficult for rcscarchcrsto agrcegn an)'csscn(ial
d e fin itio no f th c ficld , fo r it is n e vcrju st o n e
rh in g .5Srill,a d cfin itio nmu stb c csta b lish e dfo r
usc hcrc.We borrow from. and paraphrase.Nel-
so nct a l.'s( 1 9 9 2 ,p . 4 ) a ttcmp tto d cfin ccu llu ra l
stu d ics:
Qu clita tivcrcsca rchisa nin rcrd iscip lin a ry.tra n s-
disciplinary,and somc(imcscountcrdisciplinary
ficld.lr crosscutsthc humaniticsandthc social
andphl'sicalscicnccs.Qualitalivcrcscarchismrny
th in g sa tth csa mcrimc.It ismu ltip a rrd ig ma ticin
focus.lts practitioncrsarcscnsitivcto thc vrlue

5. 4
of thcmultimcthodapproach.Thcyarccommittcd
to thcnaturalisticpcrspcctivc,rndto thcintcrprc-
rivc understandingof humrncxpcricncc.At thc
samctimc. thc ficld is inhcrcntlypoliticaland
shapcdby multiplccthicalandpoli(icalpositions.
QualitativcrcscarchcmbraccsIwo lcnsionsat
thcsamctimc.Onthconchrnd,it isdrawntoabrord.
intcrpretivc,postmodcrn,fcminist,rndcriticalscn-
sibility.On thc othcrhrnd, it is drawnto morc
narrowlydcfincdpositivist.postpositivist.humcn-
istic.andnaturrlisticconccptionsof humancxpc-
r icnccandit sanalysis.
This rathcrawkwardstatcmcntmeansthalquali-
tativc rcscarch,as a sct of practices,embraccs
wit hinit sown m ult iplcdisciplinaryh isto ricsco n -
stanttcnsionsandcontradictionsovcrtheproject
itsclf. including its mc(hodsand rhc forms its
findingsandinterpretationstakc.Thc freldspru*'ls
bc t wecnand cr osscut sall of t he hu ma nd isci-
pli ncs,cvcnincluding.in som ccases.(h cp h ysica l
scicnces.lts practitioncrsare variouslycommit-
tcd to modcrnand postmodcrnsensibiliticsand
thc appr oachest o socialr csecr cht he tth e scscn -
sibilit iesim ply.
Rc sist ancest o Q ualit at ivcSt udics
Thc academica_nddisciplinaryresistrnccslo
qu alit at iver csear chillust r at clhc politicscmb cd -
dcd in this ficld of discoursc.Thc challcngesto
gualit at ivcr cscar char c m any. Q ua lita tivere -
scarchcrsarccalledjournalists,or softscicntists.
Their rvork is tcrmedunscicntific,or only cx-
plo r at or y,or cnt ir elypcr sonalandf u ll o f b ia s.lt
is calledcriticismand not theory,or il is inter-
prct edpolit ically,asa disguisedvcr sio no f Nla rr-
ism.or hum anism .
Thcscresistancesrc0cc(an uneasyawareness
tha rt hct r adit ionsof qualit at ivcr csca rchco mmit
the resccrcherto a critiqueof thc positivistpro-
ject . But t hc posit ivistr csist ancet o g u a lita tivc
rescarchgocsbcyondthe"cvcr-prcsentdesircto
ma int aina dist incr ionbct wcenhar dscicn cca n d
soft scholarship"(Carc.v,1989,p. 99).Thc posi-
tivc scicnccs(physics,chcmisrry,cconomics.and
psychology,for example)are ofren seenas thc
cro wningachievem ent sof W esr er nc iviliza lio n ,
andin t hcirpr act iccsir isassum ed( ha r" rru (h "ca n
transccndopinionandpcrsonalbias(Carey.1989,
p.9 9) . Q ualit at ive1s59316his scenasa n a ssa u ll
on this tradition.rvhoseadhercnrsoften rctrcar
into a "valuc- f r ccobjccr ivistscicn cc"(Crrc1 ,,
1989,p. 10.1)modclto dcfcndtheirposition.They
seld oma( t em ptt o m akcelplicit .or to critiq u e ,
the "m or al and polit icalcom m ir m cn (sin th e ir
owncont ingcntwor k"( Car ey.1989.p . l0 J).T h e
opposit iont o posit ivescicnccby t hc p o stp o si-
tivis t s( seebelow)and ( hc post st ru c(u ra listiis
H A N D B O O K O F Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
sccn .th e n ,a sa na tta cko n re a so na n dtru th .At th c
sa mctime ,th cp o sitivescicn cca tta cko n q u a lita-
(ivcresearchis regardedasan a(tcmptto lcgislate
onc vcrsionof truthoveranother.
This politicalterraindcfines thc many tradi-
tio n sa n dstra n d so fq u a lita tivcre sca rch :th cBrit-
ish tra d itio na n d its p rcscn ccin o th crn a tio n al
conlcxts:thc American pragmatic.naturalistic,
and intcrprctivctraditionsin sociology.anthro-
pology,communications,andcducation;thc Ger-
manandFrcnchphcnomcnological.hcrmcncutic,
scmiotic,Marxist.structural,and poststructural
pcrspcctivcs:fcminist,AfricanAmcricanstudies,
Latinostudics,gayand lcsbianstudics,andstud-
iesof indigenousandaboriginalcultures(Nelson
ct a l., 1 9 9 2 ,p , l5 ). T h c p o liticso f q u a lita tivc
rcscarchcreatcsa tensionthatinformscachof thc
abovetraditions.This tcnsionitsclfis c'onstantly
bcingrccxamincdandintcrrogatcd.asqualita(ivc
rcscarchconfrontsa changinghistoricalworld,
n cw in te lle ctu a lp o sitio n s.a n d its o wn in stitu '
tio n a la n da ca d cmicco n d itio n s.
T o su mma riza :Qu a lita tivcre sclrchis ma n y
rhingsto many peoplc.lts csscnceis twofold: a
co mmitme n tto so mcvcrsio no f th cn a tu ra listic,
intcrprctiveapproach(o itssubjcctmrttcr.andan
o n g o in gcritiq u co f th c p o liticsa n d mcth o d so f
p o sirivism.Wc tu rnn o w to a b ricfd iscu ssio no f
rh c ma jo rd iffcrcn ccsb ctwce nq u a lita tivca n d
q u rn tita tivca p p ro a ch csto rcse a rch .
QualitativcVersusQuan_tilativcRescarch
The rvordqualitotivcimplics an cmphasison
proccsscsand mcaningsthal arc not rigorously
cxa min cd .o r me a su rcd(if mca su re da t a ll). in
rcrmsof quantity,amount.intensity.or frequency.
Qu a lita tivercsca rch crsstrcssth c so cia llyco n -
stru c(e dn a tu rco f rcclity,th c in tima tere la tio n -
shipbctwccnthc rcscarchcrand *'hct ts studicd
a n dth esitu a tio n a lco n stra in tsth a (sh a p cin q u ir,v
Suchrescarchcrscmphasizcthc valuc-ladcnna-
turc of inquiry.Thcy scck ans'*'crsto guestions
thatsrrcsshow socialcxpericnceis createdand
g ivcnme a n in g .ln co n tra st,q u a n tira (ivestu d ics
emphasizethcmcasurcmcntandanalysisof causai
rclationshipsbct*'ccn variablcs.not processes.
ln q u iryis p u rp o rte dto b c with in a va lu c-[rce
framcwork.
ResearchStyles:
DoingthcSaneThingsDillerentlt'?
Of co u rsc.b o th q u a lita ti" . rn O q u a n tita rivc
rcsearchcrs"think they know somcthingabout
so cictywo rth le llin g(o o (h crs,a n d th cy u sc a
va rictyo I fo rms,mcd ir ln d me a n sro co mmu n i-
catctheirideosandfindings"(Bccker.I986,p. I ?2).

6. Introduction:EnteringtheFieldo/ QualirariveRcsearch
Qualir at iver cscar chdif f er sf r omgu a n tita tivere -
scar chin f ive signif icantways( Bccke r,1 9 9 3 ).
Thcscpointsof diffcrencclurnon diffcrcnru'avs
of addr essingt hcsam csctof issucs.T h e yre tu rn
al wayst o t he polit icsof r cscar ch ,a n d u 'h oh a s
lhc powcrt o lcgislat ecor r cctsolutio n sto th cse
Pr oblcm s.
Usesof positivitm. First,both pcrspectivesare
shapcdby thc positivistand postposilivisttradi-
rionsin thc physicalandsocialscienccs(sccrhc
discussionbelow). Thcsc trvo positive scicnce
rra dit ionshold t o naiveandcr it ica lre a listp o si-
Iionsconcerningrcalityanditsperccption.In thc
posirivistversionit is contcndcdthat thcrcis a
realityout (hercIo bc sludicd.captured.andun-
dcrstood,whcrcaspostpositivistsarguctha(rcal-
ity canncvcrbc fully apprehendcd,only approxi-
ma t ed( Cuba,1990.p. 22) .Post positivismrclics
on multiplemcthodss5 3 rr'ä/ of capturingas
muchof r ealit yas possiblc.AI t hc sa metime ,
cmphasisis placedon thcdiscovcryandvcrifica-
tion of t hcor ies.Tr adit ionalcvalua(io ncritcria .
suc hasint er nalandcxt er nalvalidit y,arestre sse d .
as is the use of gualitativcproccdurcsthat lend
thcm sclvcslo slr uct ur cd( som ct im e ssta tisrica l)
ana lysis.Com put cr - assist edm cr hod so f a n a lysis
tha(pcrmilfrcqucncycounts.tabulations,andlow-
lcvclstatisricalanalyscsmayalsobc cmploycd.
Thc posit ivistandpost posit ivisrr ra d ilio n slin .
gcr like long shador vsovcr t he gua lita tivcrc-
scarchproject.Historically.qualitativercscarch
rvasdcfinedwithintheposilivisrparadigm,u'herc
qualitativcrescarchersarrcmprcdto do goodposi.
tivist rcscarchwith lcss rigorousmethodsand
procedur cs.Som e m id. ccnt ur ; ,gua lita tiverc-
sca r cher s( c. g. ,Becker .Ceer ,Hughcs ,& Srra u ss.
l96l) r cpor t edper t icipanlobscr vat io niin d in g sin
tcrm sof quasi- st är islic!As r ecenr ll'a s1 9 9 0 ,tu 'o
lcadcrsof thegroundedrhcoryapproachro quali-
(ativercscarchattemptcdto modifyrheusualcan-
onsof good(positivistic)scicnccto fir rhcirou'n
post posit ivistconccpt ionof r igor ousre se a rch
(Strauss& Corbin.I 990;secalsoSrrauss& Cor-
bin.Chapt crl?. t hisvolum c;buralsosccCla scr.
1992).Somcapplicdrcsearchers,whilc claiming
to beathcoretical,fir withintheposirivistor posr-
posit ivistf r am cwor kby dcf ault .Spin d le ra n d
Spindler( 1992)sum m ar izcr hcirqua lita rivca p .
proacht o quant it at ivcm at cr ials:"lnstru mcn ta -
Iionandguantificationarcsimplyproccdurescm-
ploycdto cxrendand reinforcecertainkinds of
data.intcrprcrationsand tesr,hyporhcscsacross
sam plcs.Bot h m usrbe kcpt in r heirpla cc..On e
mustavoid thcir prcmaturcor ovcrly extcnsivc
uscasa securitymcchanism"(p. 69).
Althoughmany qualitativerescarchcrsin rhc
posl posit ivistt r adir ionusc sr a( isr ica lme a su rcs.
mcthods,and documenrsas a way of locatinga
groupof subjcctswithina largerpopularion,rhcy
se ld o mrcp o rtth cirfin d in -e sin (e rmso f th ekin d s
o f co mp lcxsta tistica lme a su re so r me th o d sto
wh ich q u a n tita tivcrcse a rch e rsa rc d ra wn (e .e ..
path.regression.or log-lin:aranall'scs).l',luchol
applicdresearchis alsoathcorctical.
Acceptonceof postmodcrnsensibilities.Thc usc
o f g u a n tita tive ,p o sitivistme th o d sa n d a ssu mp -
tions hasbeenrejcctcdb)' a new ,scncrationof
qualilalivcrcscarcherswho are attachedto post-
s(ructural.postmodcrnscnsibilitics(sec bclow:
secalsoVidich& Lyman.Chaptcr2, andRichard-
son,Chapter32,this r'olumc).Thcscrcscarchcrs
arguethalpositivistmethodsarc buronc *'a1'of
tellinga storl'aboutsocier)'or thc socialworld.
Thcy maybc no belteror no 'orscthrn rny othcr
rncthod:thcl'justtell a diffcrcntkind of story.
This tolcrantview is not sharcdb1'cVcryone.
Ma n y mcmb crso f th c critica lth e o rt,co n s(ru c-
tivist,p o ststru ctu ra l,a n d p o stmo d crnsch o o lso f
thou-ehtrcjectpositivistandpostpositivistcriteria
u'hcncva)ualingtheir own u'ork.Thcv sccthcsc
critcriaas irrclcvantto thcir work. rnd contend
th a trh e sccrite riarcp ro d u cco n lya ccrta inkin do f
scicn cc,a scicn ccth a tsilcn ccsto o m3 n yvo iccs.
Thcsc rcscarchcrsscck aitcrnativcmcthodsfor
cva lu a tin gth cir wo rk, in clu d in gvcrisimilitu d c.
cmo rio n a lir)',p e rso n a lrcsp o n sib ilitl',a n cth ico f
ca rin g .p o litica )p ra xis,mu ltivo iccdtcxts.a n d
d ia lo g u csrvithsu b jccts.ln re sp o n sc.p o silivists
-a n d p o stp o sitivistsa rg u cth a t wh a t th cy d o is
goodscicnce,frccof individualbiasand subjcc-
tivity:a sn o tcda b o ve .th e vse ep o stmo d e rn isma s
an auackon rcasonand truth.
Copturingthe individual's point o/r'iex'. Both
g u a lita tivca n dq u a n tita tivcre sca rch crsa rc co n -
ce rn cda b o u tth cin d ivid u a l'sp o in to f vicw.Ho *'-
cve r,q u a lira tivcin ve stiBa to rsth in kth e yca ng c(
clo se rlo lh c a clo r'sp e rsp cctivcth ro u shd e ta ilcd
intert'ic'ingand observation.Thcl' arguc lhat
quantitativerescarchcrsscldomarc ablc to cap-
turc thesubjcct'sperspcctivcbecauscthel'have
to re lyo n mo rcrcmo te .in fcre n tia lcmp irica lma -
rcrials.The empiricalmaterialsproduccdby thc
softcr.intcrprctivcmcthodsarcrccardcdby many
quantilativcrcsearchcrsas unrcliab)c.imprcssion-
istic,andnotobjectivc.
Erotniningtlrcconstraintso! cven'dayli[e.Quali-
ta tivcrcsca rch e rsa rc mo relikcly th a nq u a n tita -
tivc rcscarchersto confronttheconstrainuof thc
cvcryda)'socialrvorld.They sec this wor)d in
a c(io na n dcmb e dth e irfin d in g sin it.Qu a n tita tivc
rcscarchersabstractfrom this u'orldand scldom
stu d yit d irccrly.T h e y se e kä n o mo th ctico r e tic
scicnccöascdon probabilitiesderivcdfrom thc
sludl'of largcnumbcrsof randomll'sclectidcases.
T h csckin d so f sta te me n tssta n da b o vca n d o u l-
sid eth eco n s(ra in tso f cvcryd a vlifc.Qu a lita tivc

7. o
rcscarchersarccommit(cd(o an cmic, idiographic.
casc- basedposit ion,whichdir cctsrh e ira rre n tio n
t o t hespecif icsof par t icularcases.
Securing rich descriprio nl Qualiuü ve rescarchers
b elievct hatr ichdcscr ipr ionsof rh eso cia lwo rld
arc valuable,whcreasguantitativcrescarchers,
wit h r heirct ic,nom or her iccom mitme n ts.a rclcss
concernedwith suchdctail.
Thc five pointsof differcncedcscribedabovc
(usesof posirivism.acccptanccof postmodcrn
sensibilit ies,cr pr ur ingr hc indivi d u a l'sp o in ro f
vicw, cxaminingrhecons(raintsof cverydaylife,
and securingrich descriptions)rcflecrcommir-
ments to diffcrcnr srylcsof rcsearch.diffcrcnt
cpist em ologies,and dif f cr cnt f o rms o f re p rc-
s ent at ion.Eachwor k t r adir ionis go ve rn e db y a
differcntsetof gcnres:cachhasits own classics.
its own prcferrcdformsof rcprcscntarion,inrcr-
pr ct at ion,and t ext ualcvaluar io n(se eBcckcr,
1986.pp. 134- 135) .Q ualir ar ivcr c se a rch e rsu sc
ct hnogr aphicpr osc,hisr or icalna rra rivcs,firsr-
p cr sonaccounr s.sr illpho( ogr aph s,life h isto rics,
fict ionalizcdf act s,andbiogr aphica la n da u ro b io -
graphicalm ar er ials.am ongor hcrs.e u a n tita tivc
rcscar cher susc m r t hem at icalm odcls.sra tistica l
ta bles,and gr aphs,and of r cn wr irc a b o u rth e ir
rescarchin impcrsonal,third-pcrsonprosc.
With [hc differencesbcrwsgnrheserwo rradi.
tio nsundcr st ood,we r vill now of f cr a b rie fd is-
cu ssionof t hehisr or yof qualir ar ivcrcsca rch .Wc
canbr cakt hisinr of ourhisr or icalm omcn rs.min d -
fult hr t anyhist or yisalwayssom cwh a ra rb irra ry.
' I
he Hist or - vof
Q u a l i t a t i v e R e s e a r c h
T hc hist or yof qualit at iver esearchre ve a ls,a s
Vi dichandLym anr cm indus in Chap re r2 o f rh is
vo lur nc,lhar t hc r nodcr nsocialsc icn ccd isci-
plincshavct akenas r heirm ission,.rh ca n a lysis
and under st andingof t he pat ( er ncdco n d u cra n d
socialproccsscsof socicry."The noriontharrhis
taskcouldbe car r icdout pr csuppo se dth a tso cia l
scientistshad rhc ability to observcrhis worlo
ob ject ivcly.Q ualit ar ivcm cr hodswcrc a ma jo r
too lof suchobscr var ions. 6
T hr oughourr hehisr or yof qualir a tivercse a rch ,
invcst igat or shavcalw6y5def inedt he irwo rk in
tcrm sof hopesand valucs."r cligiou sfa irh s,o c.
cup at ionaland pr oiessionalideologie s"(Vid ich
- & L ym an.Chapr erl. r hisvolum e).e u a lita rive
rescarch(likeall research)hasalwaysbecnjudged
on t hc "st andar dof wher hcr( hex. orkco mmu n i.
c a t e so r ' s a y s ' s o m e l h i n gr o u s " ( V i d i c h& L y -
ma n.Chapt er2) , basedon hor vwc con ce p ru a lizc
H A N D B O O K O F Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
our rcalityandour imagesof rhc world.Episre.
mologyis the u'ord that hashisroricallydelined
th e scsta n d a rd so f cva lu a tio n .In lh c co n te mpo-
rarypcriod,asarguedabovc.manyrcccivcddis-
coursesonepistemologfhavs66.n"disprivileged."
or caslin(odoubt.
T h c h isto ryp rcscn te db y Vid ich a n d L yman
in Ch a p tcr2 co vcrsth e fo llo win g(so me rvl3l)
overlappingstagcs:carlycrhnograph.y(rorhescv-
e n te cn thce n tu ry):co lo n ia le (h n o g ra p h y(scven.
te e n th .,cig h tccn th -.a n d n in c(e e n rh .ccn ru rycx-
plorcrs);thccthnographyof thc AmcricanIndian
as "othcr" (latcninetccnth-and carll'twenrierh-
cen(uryan(hropology):thc c(hnographyof rhc
" civico th cr."o r co mmu n irysru d ics,a n dcrh n og-
raphicsof Amcricanimmigrants(earlytwcnticrh
ccn !u ryth ro u g hth e 1 9 6 0 s):stu d ie so f e rh n iciry
andassimilation(mid-ccnrurythroughrhc 1980s):
and thc presen(.which wc call thc/ilth moment.
In cachof thcsccrasrescarchcrsucrc andhavc
bccninflucnccdby thcir poliricalhopcsand idc-
o lo g ie s,d isco vcrin gfin d in g sin th cir rcsca rch
lhat confirmcdprior thcoricsor bclicfs. Errly
cthnographcrsconfirmcdthc racialend cultural
d ive rsityo f p e o p lcsth ro u g h o u tth c g lo b e a n d
a ttcmp tcdto fi( th isd ivcrsiryin toa rh co rya b o ur
th co rig ino f h isto ry,th era ccs,a n dciviliza rio ns.
Co lo n ia lcth n o g ra p h e rs,b cfo reth ep ro fcssio n ali-
za rio no f cth n o g ra p h yin rh c rwcn ricrhccn ru ry.
fo sle re da co lo n ia lp lu ra lismrh a tlclr n a rive so n
their own as long Js thcir lcadcrscould bc co.
o p re db y lh eco lo n ia la d min isrra rio n .
EuropcanethnographcrssrudicdAfricansand
qhcr Third Worldpcoplcsof color.E:rly A meri-
cin cth n o g ra p h crsstu d ie dth c Amcrica nln d ia n
from thc perspcctiveof thc conqueror.rvhosarv
tlic life world oI theprimiriveasa u.indowro rhc
p te h isto ricp a st.T h eCa lvin istmissio ntosa verh e
Indian was soon transfcrrcdro thc mission of
sa vin gth e " h o rd cs"o f immig ra n tsl'h o e n tcre d
th eUn itcdSta tcswirhth cb cg in n in g so f in d u srri.
a liza tio n .Qu a lita tivcco mmu n iryslu d icso f rh e
cthnicothcrprolifcratedfrom rhccrrll' 1900sro
thc 1960s,and includcdthc work of E. Frcnklin
Frazicr.Robcrtfark. cnd RobcrrRcdficld and
th cirstu d cn ts.a s rvclla s Willia mF o o rcWh yrc.
th e L yn d s,Au g u stHo llin g sh ca d ,Hcrb e rrCa n s.
SunfordLyman,AnhurVidich.andJoscphBcnsman.
T h e p o st-1 9 6 0 s'cth n icitysru d icsch a llcn g cdrh c
" mcltin gp o t"h yp o th csiso f Prrk a n dh isfo llo rv-
e rsa n dco rre sp o n d e dto th ce me rg e n c:o f cth n ic
stu d ie sp ro g ra ms(h a tsa r,NrtiveAmcrica n s,L a t-
in o s,Äsia nArire rica n s,a n d Africa nAmcricrn s
3 rtcmp tin gto ta kcco n tro lo vcrth estu d yo f th cir
o wn Pe o p le s.
Thc postmodernchallcngcemcr,qedin themid-
1 9 6 0 s.lr g u cst;o n cdth e a ssu mp rio n sth a r h a d
o rg a n ize dth isca rlie rh isro ry,in e a cho i irsco lo -
nializingmorncnrs.Qualirarivercsearchrh3lcrosscs
th c" p o stmo d e rnd ivid e "re q u ire so n c,Vid icha n d

8. lntroduction:EnreringtheField o/ QualirarivcResearch
Lym anar guein Ch: pt er2, t o "abando na ll e sta b '
lishedandprcconccivcdvalucs,theories.PersPec'
rivcs, . . . andpr cjudiccsas r csour ce sfo r cth n o -
gra phicst udy. "I n t his ncu' er a t he q u a lita tive
rcsaarcherdoesmorcthanobservchistory;heor
shcplaysa par lin it . Neu' t alcsof t h c ficld *'ill
nou'bc*'ritten,andthel'rvillrcflcctthcresearchcr's
dircctandpcr sonaicngagem cntwit h th ish islo ri'
cal period.
Vidich and L1' m an' sanalysiscovcrsth c fu ll
5u'ccpof cthnographichistory.Ours, prescntcd
bclou' .is conf incdt o t he t wcnt ict hce n lu r)'a n d
com plcm cnt sm anl'of t hcirdivision s.Wc b cg in
wirh t hc car lyf oundat ionalwor k of th c British
andFrcnch,aswcllthcChicago,Columbia,Harvard,
andBcrkele-vschoolsof sociologyandanthropol'
ogy. This early foundationalpcriodcstablished
rhenormsof classicalqualitativeandcthnographic
rescarch.
The FiycMontents
o f Q u a l i t a t i v eR e s e a r c h
As not edabove,r vcdividcourhist o ryo f q u a li-
rariver cscar chin t hiscent ur yint o f ive p h a scs.
cachof r vhichis dcscr ibedin t ur nbclow.
Thc TraditionalPcriod
We callt hef ir stm om entt hct r adit io n a lp crio d
(thiscover sVidichandLym an' ssccon da n dth ird
phascs) .lr bcginsin t heear lyI 900sandco n tin u e s
until W or ld W ar ll. ln t his per iod,qu a lita tive-
rescarchersu'rotc"objectivc,"colonializingac-
coun(sof ficldcxpcricnccsthatu'crcrc0cctivcof
thepositivistscicntistparadigm.Thcy u'crccon-
cernedwithofferingvalid,rcliablc,andobjcclivc
interpretationsin thciru'ritings.Thc "othcr" *'ho
wasstudicdg'asalien.forcign.andstrangc.
Hercis l''talinowski( 196?)discussinghis ficld
expericnccsin Ncs' Guineaand the Trobriand
l s l a n d si n t h cy e a r sl 9 l 4 . l 9 l 5 a n dl 9 l ? - 1 9 1 8 :
Nothingwhlrcvcrdra*'smetocthnographicstud-
ics. . . . O nt hcu, holct hcvillagcst r uckmc ra lh cr
unf avor ably.Thcr cisa ccr t aindisor gan iza tio n ...
thcrowdincssandpcrsistcnccof thcpcoplcu'ho
laughand strre andlic discouragcdmc somc-
u'hat. . . wcnt lo rhevillagchopingto photo-
grapha fcu'sragcsof thcborodancc.I handcdout
half-sricksof tobrcco,thcnr.'atchcda fcrvdanccs:
thcn tookpictures-butrcsultswerc poor.
thcywouldnorposclongcnoughfor timc cxpo-
surcs.At momcntsI u asfuriousJ((hcm,prrticu-
larlybccruscaftcrI grvc thcmthcirportionsof
robaccothel' a)l wcnr au'a'.(quotcd in Cecrtz.
| 9 8 8 .p p .7 3 -? r)
ln a n o th e ru ,o rk,th islo n cly.fru stra te d ,iso la te d
ficld-g'orkerdescribeshis merhodsin thefollori'-
in,qwords:
ln th cficldo n ch a sto fa ccr ch a o so ffa cts....in
thiscrudcformthcl'arcnotscicntificfactsat all:
lh c;'a rca b so lu tcli'clu sivc.a n dca no n lyb efixcd
by intcrprctation.. . . Only larvsandgcncraliza-
rionsarcscicntificfacts.andficldu'orkconsists
only andcxclusivclyin thc intcrprctationof thc
chaoticsocialrirlity, in subordinatingit to gcn-
cra lru le s.(Ma lin o wski,l9 l6 /1 9 4 8 ,p .3 2 8 :q u o tcd
in Cccrtz,1 9 8 8 .p . 8| )
Ma lin o rvski'sre ma rksa rc p ro vo ca tivc.On th e
o n c h a n d th e l'd isp a ra g cficld wo rk,b u t o n th c
o th e rth e y sp ca ko f it with in th e g lo rifie dla n -
g u a g co f scicn cc,u 'ithla wsa n dg e n cra liza tio n s
fa sh io n cdo u to f th issclfsa mecxp crie n cc.
The ficld-u'orkcr.duringthispcriod,u'aslion-
izcd .ma d cin toa la rg cr-th a n -lifcfi3 u rcwh orvcn l
into andthcnreturncdfrom thc ficld u'ithstorics
a b o u tstra n g cp e o p lc.Ro sa ld o(1 9 8 9 )d cscrib cs
th isa s th ep crio do f th c L o n c Eth n o g ra p h cr.th c
storyof thc man-scicntistu'howcntoff in search
o f h is n a tivcin a d ista n tla n d .T h e rcth is [ig u rc
" e n ö o u n tcrcdth c o b jccto f h is q u e st. . . Ia n d ]
u n d e rwcn th is ritc o f p a ssa g cb y cn d u rin gth e
u ltima rco rd ca lo f
'ficld wo rk" '(p .3 0 ).Rctu rn in g
homewith hisdata,thc LoneEthnographcrwrotc
u p a n o b jcctivca cco u n lo f th ccu ltu rch estu d icd .
Thcscaccounts'crcstructurcdby thCnormsof
classicalc(hnoSraphy.This sacrcdbundleof terms
(Ro sa ld o .1 9 8 9 ,p . 3 l) o rg a n izcdcth n o g ra p h ic
te xlsin tcrmso f fo u rb clie fsa n dco mmitme n ts:a
commitmcntto objcctivism.a complicity nith
imp e ria iism.a b clicfin mo n u me n ta lism(th ce th -
n o g ra p h ywo u ldcrca tca mu scu mlikcp ictu rco f
th ecu ltu rcstu d ie d ),a n da b clicfin timclcssn e ss
(u,hatwasstudicdncverchangcd).This modelof
th e rcsca rch cr.wh o co u ld a lso write 'co mp le x,
dcnsethcoricsaboutwhat *'as studicd.holds to
thc presen(day.
Thc mythof thcLoncEthnographerdepictsthe
b irth o f cla ssiccth n o g ra p h y.T h e le xtso f Ma li-
nowski. Radcliffc-Brown.MarSarctlricad. and
Crcg o ryBa tcso na re still ca rcfu llystu d icdfo r
rvh a rrh e y ca n te ll th c n o vicca b o u tficld rvo rk,
raking field notes.and rvritingthcory (sec thc
discussionof Batcsonandlr'lcadin Harpcr,Chäp'
rcr 2 5 , th is vo lu mc).T o d a yth is ima -sch a sb ccn
shatrcred.The worksof theclassiccthnographcrs
are secnby many as ralics of thc colonialpast
(Rosaldo,1989.p.44).Althoughmanl'[cclnostal'
gic aboutthis imagc.otherscelcbratcits passing.
Rosaldo(1989)quotesCoraDu Bois,a rctircdHar-
vard anthropologyprofessor,who lamcntcdthis

9. 8
passingat a conferenccin I 980,reflectingon the
crisis in anthropology:"fl feel a distanceJfrom
thcc om plexit yanddisar r cyof whatI o n ccfo u n d
ajust if iableandchallengingdisciplinc.. . . It h a s
bee nlike m ovingf r om a dist inguish e da rt mu '
seumint o a gar agcsale"( p. 44) .
Du Bois r cgar dst heclassicct hnog ra Ph ie s3 s
piccesof timclcssartwork,suchasthoscconrained
in a museum.Shedetcststhc chaosof thegarage
sale.which Rosaldovalucs:"lt Ithc garagcsalcJ
providesa prcciscimagaof thc postcolonialsitu.
arionwhereculturalanifactsflowbetweenunlikely
places,andnothingissacrcd,pcrmancn!,or scalcd
off. Thc imagc of anthropologyas a garagcsalc
depictsour presentglobalsituation"(p. aa). Old
srandardsno longer hold. Ethnographicsdo not
producctimclesstrurhs.Thc commitmentto objcc-
tivismis nowin doubt.Thccomplicitywithimperi-
alismis openlychallcngcdloday.andthebeliefin
monumen(rlismis a thingof thcpast.
The legacicsoI thisfirstpcriodbcginat thccnd
of theninet ecnt hccnt ur y,whcnt hcnove la n dth c
socia lscienceshadbecom edist inguish e da sscp a -
ritc syst em sof discour sc( Clough.1992 .p p .2 l -
22). Howevcr .t heChicagoschool.with its e m-
phasison t hc lif e st or yand t hc "slicc-o f-life "
appro acht o elhnogr aphicm r t er ials,sou g h tto d e -
velopan interpretivemethodologythatmaintained
theccntralityof thcnarratedlifc historyapprorch.
This led ro thc productionof the textsthatgave
the rc sear cher - as- aut hort hc powert o re p rcse n t
thc subject'ss(ory.Writtenundcrthc mantlcof
s(raiehIforu'ard,sentimcnt-frcesocial rcalism,thesc
textsuscdt helanguageof or dinar ypeop lc.T h e y
articu lat eda socialscienccvcr sionof lite rcry
naturalism.rvhichoftenproduccdthc sympatheric
illusi ont hata solut iont o a socialpr o b le mh a d
beenf ound.Like f ilm saboutt hc Dcpr cssio n -cra
j u v e n i l ed e l i n q u e n ta n d o t h e rs o c i a lp r o b l e m s
(Roffm an& Pur dy.198l) , t hcscaccoun tsro ma n -
ticizedt hesubject .Theyt ur nedt hcdcvia n tin toa
socio logicalver sionof a scr ecnher o.Th e seso -
ciolog icalst or ics,likc t hcir f ilr n cou n tcrp a rrs,
usual lyhad happycndings.ast heyf oll o wcdin -
dividualst hr ought hc t hr ecst agesof t h ecla ssic
moralit yt ale:e. r ist cnccin a st at eof gr ace .se d u c.
(ionby evil andt hef all.and f inallyr cd cmp tio n
lhroughsuffcring.
The !lodernistPhasc
The modernistphase,or secondmomenr.builds
on thecanonicalwor ksof t hc r r adir iona lp crio d .
Socia lr ealism ,nat ur r lism .andslice. of.lifee rh -
nographiesar cst illvr lucd.This phasce xre n d cd
throusht hepost war) ' e3r st o t hc 1970s:it is srill
prese n(in t her vor kof m any( sccW olco rr,1 9 9 2 .
for a rcvicw) .ln t hisper iodm cnyt ext sarrcmp re d
to formalizequalit at ivem et hods( see,f o r cxa m-
H Ä N D B O O K O F Q U Ä L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
p le .Bo g d a n& T a ylo r,1 9 7 5 :Cico u re l.t9 6 4 :F il-
stead,1970;Claser& Str;russ,1967:J. Lofland.
l9 ? l: L o fla n d& L o fla n d ,1 9 8 4 ).7 T h cmo d e rn isr
ethnographerandsociologicalpanicipanrobscrver
a tte mp tcdrig o ro u s,q u a lita tivcstu d icso f imp o r-
ta n tso cia lp ro ce sse s.in clu d in gd cvia n cca n dso -
cialcontrolin theclassroomandsocicty.This *'as
a momenlof crcarivcfcrrnent.
A nervgenerationof graduatestudents,across
th eh u ma nd iscip lin e s,e n co u n tcrcdn cwin 1 3 1 p r.-
tive theories(ethnomethodology.phcnomcnology,
criticaltheory,fcminism).Thcy wcrc drarvnto
qualitativcresearchprac(icesthatwouldlet them
givc a voiceto society'sundcrclass.Postpositiv-
ism functionedasa powcrfulcpistemologicalpara-
digmin lhismomcnt.Rescarchcrsartcmptedto [ir
th c a rg u me n tso f Ca mp b clla n d Sta n le y.(1 9 6 3 )
a b o u tin te rn a la n dcx(e rn a lva lid ityro co n srru c-
tio n ista n d in tcra clio n istmo d clso f th ercse a rch
act.Thcyretumedtothctextsof theChicaeoschool
assourccsof inspiration(secDcnzin,I970,| 978).
A canonicaltc.rt from this momcnt rcmains
Bo ysin lVlite (Bccke rct a l.. l9 6 l). F irmlye n -
trcnchedin mid-ccnturymethodologicaldiscourse,
th isrvo rka tte mp te dto ma kcq u a lita rivere se a rch
a srig o ro u sa sitsq u a n tita tiveca u 6 l.rta r(.Ca u sa l
n Jrra tivcsrve reccn tra lto th isp ro jcct.T h is mu l-
(ime th o dwo rk co mb in cdo p e n -cn d e da n dq u a si-
structurcdintcrvie*'ingwith particip:nLobscrva-
_ tio na n dlh c ca re fu la n a lysiso f su chmrtcria lsin
sla n d a rd ize d ,sta tistica lfo rm.ln a clrssica rticle .
" Pro b lcmso f ln fe re n cca n d Pro o fin P:rticip a n t
Ob scrva tio n ,"Ho wa rdS.Be cke r( I 9 5 6 /19 7 0 )d e -
scrib e sth eu seo f q u a si-strtistics:
Participantobscrvationshrt. occcsilnrllybccn
gathcrcdin srrndrrdizcdform crprblcof bcing
tre n sfo rmcdin tolcg irimrrcsra risrica ld e tr.Bu r
th c cxig cn cicso f th c ficld u su a llyp rcvcn tth c -
collcctionof dctr in such r form lo mccl thc
assumptionsof statisticaltcsrs.so rhrr thc ob.
scrvcrdcrls in rvha(havcbccnccllcd"quasi.srr.
tistics."Hisco n clu sio n s.wh ilcimp licitlvn u mcri-
cal.do notrcquircprcciscqurnrificrtion.(p. 3 I)
In theanalysisof data,Beckcrnotes,thcgualita-
tivc re sca rch crta ke sa cu e fro m s(rtis(ica lco l-
lcagucs.The rescarcherlooksfor probabilitiesor
supportfor argumentsconcerningthc likclihood
thrt,or frequcncywith which.a conclusionin fact
appliesin a specificsituation.Thusdid gork in thc
modcrnistperiodclothcitselfin thc laneurgcrnd
rhetoricof positivistandposlposirivisrdiscoursc.
This rvrsthcgoldcnagcof rigorousqualir:rtivc
rnalysis.brackctcdin sociologyby Bo1'sin ll'hite
(Bcckcret al.. | 96I) al onccnd andTheDiscover)'
o I Gro u n d e dT h e d n '(Cla scr& Stra u ss.1 9 6 ? )o r
(h eo th e r.ln e d u ca tio n ,q u a lita tivere sca rchin th is
p e rio dwrs d e fin cdb y Ge o rg ea n d L o u isaSp in .
d lcr,Ju le sHe n ry,Ha rryWo lco rr.a n dJo h nSin -

10. lntroduction: Enrering the Field ol Quolitotive Reteorch
gleton.This f or m of gualit ar ivcr csearchis srill
prcsentin theu'orkof suchpersonsasSrraussand
Corbin( 1990)andMilcsandHuberman( 1993),and
is rcpresentedin theirchaptcrsin thisvolume.
Thc "goldcnagc"reinforceda picrureofquali.
latjveresear cher sas cult ur alr om ant ics.lmb u e d
with Pr om et heanhum anpower s.t heyva lo rize d
villainsand out sidcr sas hcr oest o m a in strca m
socicly.Thcy cmbodicda belicf in thc conrin.
Scncyof sclf and socicry,andhcld ro cmancipa-
tor),idcalsfor u'hich"onc livesanddies."Thc1,
put in placc a traeic and ofren ironic r.iew of
socictyandsclf. andjoincd a long linc of lcflis(
cultura|romanricsrhatincludcdEmerson.Marx.
Jamcs,Dewel'.Cramsci.andN4arrinLurherKing.
Jr.(Wcst ,1989,chap.6) .
As this m om cntcam ct o an cnd.t he Vie tn a m
War was cverywhcrcprejcntin Amcricansoci-
cty. ln 1969,alongsidelhcsepolit icalcu rrcn rs,
Herbe r tBlum erand Evcr cr rHughcsm c r with a
groupo f youngsociologisr scalledt hc "Ch ica g o
lrregulars"a{theAmcricanSociolo-cicalAssocia-
tion mcetingshcld in San Franciscoand sharcd
thcir mcm or iesof r hc "Chicr go ycars." L yn
Lofland( 1980)dcscr ibcsr hc 1969m cerin g sa sa
rnorncntof crcalivcfcrmcnt-scholrrlyandpo.
litica l.ThcSr nFr anciscom ccr ingswir ncsscdn o r
simp lyt hcBlum cr - Hughcscvcnlbuta "co u n lcr.
r c v o l u l i o n . " .. r g r o u pf i r s rc a m cr o . . . t r l k
abourthc problcmsof bcingr sociologisrand!
fcmalc.. . . thc disciplincsccmcdlircrallyro bc
burst ingu' it hncw. . . ideas:labellingt hco ry,crh .
nomcthodolog),.conflicrrhcor),.phcnomcnology,
dramarurgicalanalysis.(p. 253)
Thusdid t hcm odcr nisrphasecom er o ane n d .
BlurredG cnr es
By thebcginningof rherhirdsrage( I9?0-I986).
which rvc call rhe momcnrof blurrcd genrcs,
gualitativcrcscarchershada full complcmenrof
paradigm s,m cr hods.andsr r at cgicst o emp lo l,in
their rcsearch.Thcorics rangedfrom s)'mbolic
intcractionismroconsrrucrivism,riaturalisricinquiry,
positivi smandposr posir ivism ,phenom e n o lo g y,
clhnomet hodology,cr ir ical( M ar xisr ) ,semio rics,
structuralism .f cm inism ,andvar iouscr hnicp a ra .
digms.Applicdqualir ar iver escar ch* ' asga in in g
in staturc,andr hcpolir icsandct hicsof qualira tive
rsscarchwcretopicsofconsidcrableconcern.Rc.
scarchst r ar cgicsr angedf r om gr oundcdth co ry
to thc casesrudy,ro merhodsof historical,bio-
graphical.cr hnogr aphicacr ionänd clinica lrc-
search.Diverscwaysof collcctingandanalyzing
empiricalm ar er ialswcr calsoavailablc.inc lu d in g
qualitativeinr er vicwing( opcn- cndedandq u a si-
structurcd)and obser vat ional,r ' isual,ge rso n a l
cxperiencc.anddocumentar-'methods.Comput-
crswe ree n le rin gth csitu a tio n ,to b c fu llyd e Ye i-
o p cd in th c n cxt d cca d c.a lo n gwith n a rra tivc.
co n le n t,a n dscmio ticmcth o d so f rca d in gin tcr-
vicwsa n dcu ltu ra lte xts.
Two books b1'Geertz,The lntcrpretorionof
Culrures(1973) and Locol Knou'ledge(1983).
d cfin e dth cb cg in n in ga n dcn do f th ismo me n t.In
thcsc(wo works.Ccertzargucdthatthcold func-
rional.positivist,behavioral,totalizin,eapproachcs
to the hurnandisciplincsu'cregivin-cu'ay to a
morc pluralistic.intcrpretive,opcn-cndcdperspec-
tive. This ncw pcfspcctivctook culturalrcPrc-
scn ta rio n sa n dth cirme a n in g sa s its p o in to f d e -
panurö.Callingfor "thickdcscription"of particular
cvents,rituals,and customs,Gecrtz suggcsted
thatall anthropologicalwritingsrvcrcintcrprcta-
tionsof intcrprctations.Thc obscrvcrhadno privi-
lcgcdvoicc in the intcrprctalionsthat'crewrit-
tcn.The ccntraltaskof theor)'g'asto makcscnsc
o u to EaIo ca lsitu a tio n .
Ccer(zwcnl on to proposcthrt thc boundaries
b ctwccnth c so cia lscicn ccsa n d th e h u ma n itics
had bccomablurred.Socialscientislsu cte no!'
tu rn in g(o th c h u ma n iticsfo r mo d cls.th co rie s.
a n d mcth o d so f a n a lysis(scmio tics.h crmcn cu -
rics).:Aform of gcnredispersion'csoccurring:
d o cu me n ta ricsth a trca dlikefictio n(l'la ilcr).p a r-
a b lcsp o sin ga scth n o g ra p h ics(Ca sta icd a ),th co -
rcticaltrcati5csthatlook likc travclogucs(Livi-
Stra u ss).At th csa metimc.ma n yn e u 'a p p ro a ch e s
werccmerging:poststructuralism(Barthcs).neopo-
sitivism(Ph ilip s).n e o -Ma rxism(Alth u sscr).mi-
cro-macrodcscriptivism(Gccrtz).ritualtheorics
of dramaandculturc(V. Turncr).dcconstruction-
ism (Qcrrida).cthnomcthodology(Carfinlel).Thc
goldcnagcof thc socialscienccswasover.anda
new agcof blurrcd,intcrPrctivcgenrcs'asuPon
us. Thc cssayas an art form u'asrcplacingthc
scie n tifica rticlc.At issu cn o q 'is th c a u th o r's
prcscnccin thc intcrpre(ivelcxt. or ho$' (he rc-
searchcrcanspcakwith authoritfin an agewhcn
thercareno longcrany firm rulcsconccrnin-gthc
tcxt.its sla n d a rd so f cva lu a tio n .a n d its su b je ct
ma ttcr(Cccrtz.1 9 8 8 ).
T h e n a tu ra listic,p o stp o sitivist.a n d co n stru c'
tionist paradigrnsSainedporvcrin this period.
cspcciallyin cducationin thc works of Harry
Wolcott, Egon Cuba. Yvonna Lincoln, Robcrt
Sta kc,a n dEllio rEisn e r.By th ccn d o f th c l9 ? 0 s
severalqualitativcjournalsr,"crcin placc,from
Urban Life (nou' Journol o/ Contetnporo4' Eth'
nograpl:r)to QuolitotiveSociologs',SvmbolicIn'
tcraction, andStudicsin Synbolic lnteraction.
Crisiso f Re p rcscn la tio n
A p ro fo u n dru p tu rco ccu rrcdin th cmid -1 9 8 0 s.
Wh a t wc ca llth c fo u rthmo mcn t.o t (h ccrisiso f

11. l 0
rcprcsentation,aPpearcdwith Anthropologyas
CulruralCritique(Marcus& Fischcr,1986).IAc
,Anthrspslogyof Experience(Turner & Bruner,
1986),WriringCulture(Clifford& ivlarcus,1986),
l4orksand Lives(Ceerrz,| 988),andThePredica-
mentof Culture(Clifford,1988).Thescworksmade
re sear chand wr it ingm or c r ef lexive ,a n d ca lle d
int oquest ion( heissuesof gendcr ,cl a ss,a n dra cc.
They articulatedthc consequcnccsof Gcertz's
"blur r edgcnr es"int er pr ct at ionof t h cficldin th e
ea r ly1980s.
Ncw m odelsof t r ut handm et hodwcrcso u g h t
(Rosaldo,1989) .Thc cr osionof classicn o rmsin
an r hr opology( object ivism ,com Plicitywithco lo -
nia lism ,sociallif c st r uct ur edby f ixcdritu a lsa n d
cu st om s,et hnogr aphiesas m onumcn tsto a cu l-
ture) was complctc(Rosaldo.1989,pp. 44-45).
Crit icaland f cm inistcpist cm olog ie sa n dcp iste -
mo logiesof color now com pet cf or a tte n tio nin
thi sar ena.I ssucssuchasvalidit y,r e lia b ility,a n d
objectivity,whichhadbcenscttlcdincarlierphascs,
areonccm or cpr oblcm at ic.lnt er pr ctivc(h co rics,
as opposedto groundedthcories,arc now more
com m on,as wr i( cr scont inucI o cha llcn g co ld cr
mo delsof t r ut handm eaning( Rosa ld o ,1 9 8 9 ).
St ollerr nd O lkcs( 1987)descr ibch o rvth ccri'
sis of r epr escnt at ionwas f elt in t hc irfie ld wo rk
amongt he Songhayoi Niger .St olle ro b se rve s:
"Whcn I beganto writc anchropologiciltexts.I
fol lor vedlheconvenr ionsof m y t r ainin g .I
'g a th -
ired dat a, 'andoncct he
' dat a'wcr ca rra n g cdin
nea tpiles,I
' wr ot e
t hcmup. 'I n oneca seI re d u ccd
So nghayinsult st o a ser icsof neatlog ica lfo rmu -
las"( p.227) .St ollcrbecam edissat isficdwithth is
form of wr it ing. in par t bccausch c lca rn cd
" c v c r y o n eh a dl i e dr o m e a n d . . . t h cd a t aI h a d
sopainstaliinglycollectedrvcrervorthlcss.I learncd
a le sson:lnf or m ant sr out inelylic t o th e ira n th ro -
pol ogist s"( St ollcr& O lkcs,1987.p. 2 2 9 ).T h is
discover ylcd t o a sccond.t hathc hr d ,in fo llo w-
ing t heconvent ionsof ct hnogr aphi cre a lism,e d -
ited him selfout of his t ext .This lcd Sto llcrto
producea differcnt type of (ext. a mcmoir, in
whi chhc bccsm ea ccnt r alchlr act erin th esto ry
he told.This story.rn rccountof hise.rpcricnccs
in th cSonghaywor ld.bccam can r na lysiso f th c
clashbetrvecnhisrvorldandrhcworldof Songhay
sorccr y.Thus did St oller ' sjour neyre p rcse n ta n
attcm ptlo conf r ontt hecr isisof r epr ese n ta tio nin
thc f our t hm om ent .
Clough( 1992)clabor at est hiscr isisa n dcriti.
cizesthoscrvho would argucthatncrvformsof
rvrit ingr epr cscnta wayoutof it : _
Whilcm r nysociologist snowcom mcn lin go nth c
criticismof cthnogrrphyviov rvriringrs "down.
ri ghtccnt r alt o t hcclhnogr aphiccnr c rp risc"IVa n
N lr cncn.I938.p. xil, t hcpr oblcm sof writin gcrc
still vicrvcdas diffcrentfrom the problcmsof
mct hodor f icldwor kit sclf .Thust hcso lu tio nu su .
H A N D B O O K O F Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
a llyo ffcrcdis cxp crimcn tsin u ririn g ,rh a ris a
sclf.co n scio u sn cssa b o u twririn g .(p . 1 3 6 )
Howevcr.it is thisinsistenceon thedifferenccbe-
tweenwritin8andfieldworkrhatrnus!bc analyzed.
ln writin g ,th e fie ld -wo rkcrma kcsa cla im ro
mo ra la n dscie n tifica u th o rity.T h e sccla imsa llo w
th cre a lista n dth ce xp crimcn ta lcth n o g ra p h icte x(
to fu n ctio na sso u rccso f va lid a tio nfo ra ne mp iri-
ca lscicn cc.T h e ysh o w,th a tis,th a rrh cwo rldo f
rca llivcdcxp cricn ccca nstillb eca p ru rcd ,ifo n ly
in th e writcr'sme mo irs,fictio n a lcxp crime n ta-
tions.or dramaticrcadings.Thcscworkshavelha
dangerof directingattcntionarvayfrom rhcways
in rvh ichth etcxtco n stru c(sscxu a llysiru a rcdin -
dividualsin a ficld of socialdiffercncc.Thcy also
perpcrualc"empiricalscience'shegemony"(Clough,
1 9 9 2 ,p .8 ),fo r th cscn cw writin gtcch n o lo g icso f
thcsubjectbccomcthesitc"for thcproductionof
kn o wlcd g e /p o we r...Ia lig n cdJ with ... th eca p ita V
sta tca .ris"(Aro n o witz.1 9 8 8 .p . 3 0 Q g u o te din
Clough,1992,p. 8). Suchc.rperimcn-tscomeup
against,andthcnbackaway from. thediffcrcncc
b e twccncmp irica lscicn cca n d so cia lcriticism.
Too oftenthcy fail to cngagc[ully a ncrvpolitics
o f rcxtu ä lityth a t wo u ld " rcfu scth c id cn rityo f
e mp irica lscie n cc"(Clo u g h .1 9 9 2 .p ._1 3 5 ).T h is
n e wso cia lcriticism" wo u ldin tcrve n ein th crclr-
tio n sh ipo f in fo rma tio ne co n o mics,n a tio n -sta tc
p o lilics,a n d tcch n o lo g icso f ma sscö mmu n ica -
tio n , e sp ccia llyin lcrms o f th e cmp irica lsci-
e n ccs"(Clo u g h ,1 9 9 2 ,p . l6 ). T h is.o f co u rse ,is
th cte rra ino ccu p icdb y cu ltu ra lsru d ics.
Rich a rd so n .in Ch a p te r3 2 o f th isvo lu mc,a n d
Cla n d in ina n dCo n n clly.in Ch a p tcr? 6 .d cve lo p
th ca b o vea rg u mcn ts,vicwin grvririn gr.sa me th o d
o f in q u iryth a tmo vcsth ro u g hsu cccsiivcsra g e s
o f sclf-rcflcctio n .As a se rie so f *'ri1 i6 g 5 ,1 1 '.
fie ld -wo rkcr'ste xtsflo w fro m rh e [icld cxp e ri.
cn ce .th ro u g hin te rmcd ia tcwo rks,to la tcrrvo rk,
a n d fin rlly to lh e re sca rchte xrth a tis rh ep u b lic
p rcse n lstio no f th c cth n o g ra p h ica n d n a rra tivc
experiencc.Thus do ficldwork and u'1i1ing!lu1
in to o n c a n o th e r.T h e rcis, in th e fin a la n a lysis.
nodiffcrenccbetwcenwritingandfield*'ork.Thcsc
two p e rsp cctivcsin fo rm ca cho th e rth ro u g h o u t
e vcrych a p te rin th is vo lu mc.ln th cscwa ys th c
crisisof reprcscn(ationmovcsqualitrrivcrcsearch
in n e w.critica ld ircctio n s.
A Do u b leCrisis
The cthnographcr'sauthorityrcmrinsundcras.
saulttodav.A doublecrisisof-rcpresentationand
legitimationconfrontsqualitrtiverescrrchersin thc
socialscienccs.Embeddcdin rhcdiscourses'ofposr-
structuralismcnd postmodcrnism(Vidich & Ly.
man,Chaptcr2. and Richardson.Chapt:r32. this
volumc),thcsetwo criscsarc codedin multiple

12. lntroduction: Entcring the Field of Qualirarive Reseorch
rcrms.variouslycalledandassociatedu'iththein'
terpretive.Iinguis:ic.andrhetoricalturnsin social
rhcory.This linguisticturn maJ:csproblemrtictu'e
ke1'assumptionsof gualitativercsearch.Thefirstis
(h atqualit aliver escar cher scandire ctll'ca p tu re
livedexpcrience.Suchcxpericnce,it isnowargued.
iscreatcdin thesocialtcxtwrittenb1'thcrcscarcher.
This is rhe reprcsentationalcrisis.it confrontsthe
incscapablcproblemof reprcscntalion,but docsso
u.irhina frameworkrhatmales thc directlinl be-
ru,eencxperienceandtcx(problematic.
Thc sccondassum pt ionm akcst h e tra d itio n a l
crir cr iaf orcvaluat ingandinlcr pr ctin Sg u a lira tivc
rescarchproblematic.This is thelcgitimationcri-
sis.lt involvesa ser iousr ct hinkingof su chtcrms
asvaIidi rt, generaIi:abiIirS',andreIiabi/it)', tcrrns
already'retheorizcdin postpositivist,consrn,ctionist.
nar ur alist ic( Lincoln& G uba,1985,p .3 6 ),fcmi-
nist( Fonow& Cook,I 99l, pp.l- 13;Smith .1 9 9 2 ).
an d int er pr ct ivc( At kinson,1990:Ha mme rsle y,
1992:Lathcr,1993)discourscs.This crisisasks.
How arcqualitativcsrudiesto bc evaluatcdin the
po st st r uct ur alm om cnt ?Clcar lyt hesctwo crise s
blur together,for an1'rcprescn(ationmustno*' le-
_qitimatc
jtsclfin termsof somesctof critcriathar
allowsthcauthor(andthercader)ro rnaJ:cconncc.
tionsbcl*'ccnthctextandthcu,orldrvrittcnabout.
Thc Fifrhl"lomenl
Thc fifth momenlis thc prescnt.dcfinedand
sbapcdby the dual crisesdcscribedabor'c;wc
sha llsal' agr ca(dcalaboutI hism om cn tin o u rla st
cha pt er .Thcor iesar cnou' r cadin nar ra tivctcrms.
as"t alesof t hc f icld"( Van M aanen.1 9 8 8 ).Pre -
olcupationswirhlhcreprcscntationof thc"orher"
remain.-:.vcwepisrcmologiesfrom preyiouslysi-
lcncedgroupsemcrgero offcr solutionsto this
pro blcm .Thc conceprof t hcaloofr esca rch crh a s
beenabandoncd.l,Joreaction.,aclivisr-oricnted
rcscarchis on thc horizon,as arc morc social
criticismandsocialcririgue.Thc scarchfor grand
narr ar ivcswill be r cplaccdb; ' m or clo ca l.sma ll.
scalctheoricsfiircdro spccificproblcmsandspe.
cificsir uar ions( Lincoln.1993) .
Rca dingHislor y
We drawfourconclusionsfromthisbriefhisrory.
notinqthatir is, likc all hislorics.somc*,hararbi.
trary.Firsr,eachof rhcearlierhisroricalmomentsis
stillopcratingin rhepresent,cirheras)egacyor asa
setof pracriccsrharrescarchcrsstillfollou.orarguc
against.The mulriplc,and fracturcd,hisrories-of
qualitalivcrcscarchnor.r,makc ir possiblcfor an;'
Sivenrcscarcherro atracha projcctto a canonical
lcxt from any of rhc above-dcscribedhisrorical
moments.Multipiccrirgriaof cvaluationnos'com.
1 t
ptte for auentionin this field. Second.an embar-
rassmentof choicesnorr'6[313s1.rizcsthc field of
qualitativcresearch-There have never been so
ma n 1 ,p a ra d ie ms.srra rcg icso f in q u i1 1 ..o r me rh-
odsof anrlysisto dras'uponandutilize.Third,rve
arein a momentof discovcryandrcdiscovcr.v.as
new u,a)'sof lookin*e,intcrpretin-t.areuing.and
u'ritingarcdebarcdanddiscussed.Founh.theguali-
utivc rescarchact can no longcr bc vicrvedfrom
withina neutral,or objcctivc.posirivisrpcrspecri.c.
Class.racc,gendcr,andethniciryshapcrheproccss
of inquiry,makingrcscarcha mulriculruralproccss.
It is to thistopicthatwe nexrrurn.
Qu a lita tive Re sca rch a s Pro ce ss
Thrcc interconnccted,gencricactiviriesdcfine
thcqualitativcrcscarchproccss.Thel'gob1'avari.
etyof differentlabcls,includingtheon.,ncrlrcdand
anolysis,anöontologs',eplstemology,andntethod.
o/o31'.Behindthesc(crmsstandsrhcpcrsonalbiog.
raphyof thcgendercdrcscarchcr,u,hospeaksfron,
a particularclass,racial,cultural,anderhniccom.
munitl,pcrspectivc.The gendcrcd,mulriculruralll,
situatedrcscarchcrapproachesthe*'orldrvirha scr
of ideas.a framcwork(rhcory.onrolog;,)tharspcci.
ficsa setof questions(cpistcmology)rhararerhcn
examined(methodology,anall,sis)in specificrvavs.
Thatis,empiricalmaterialsbcaringon thcgucst;on
arecollcctedand thenanalyzcdand u,ritrcnabour.
Evcryrcscarchcrspcaiisfromwithinadisrinciinrer.
prctivecommunity,whichconfigurcs.in itsspccirl
*'ay.themulticultural,gcndcredcomponentsof rhe
rcscarchac!.
In th isvo lu mcwc tre a tth e scg cn crica c(ivirie s
undcrfi vc hcadings,or phases:rhcrcscarchcrand
th e rcsca rch e da s mu lticu ltu ra lsu b je cts.ma jo r
paradiemsandintcrpretivcperspcctivcs,rcscarch
stra tcg ie s,me (h o d so f co llcctin ga n d a n a ll,zin g
cmp irica lma te ria ls,a n drh ea rro f in tcrp rcra rio n.
Bch in da ll o f th cscp h a se ssta n d sth c b io g ra p h i.
ca lly situ a tcdre se a rch cr.T h is in d ivid u a le n te rs
thc rescarchprocessfrom insidcan intcrpretive
communitythat incorporatcsits o*'n hisroric:l
re sca rchtra d itio n sin to a d istin ctp o in to f vicu ..
This pcrspcctivcleads thc rescarchcrto adopt
p a rticu la rvicwso f th c" o th cr"wh ois stu d ie d .At
rb es3 mctime ,th c p o liticsa n d th c cth icso f re .
searchmustalsobc considcrcd.for theseconcerns
p€rmcatcevcrl'phaseof thc rescrrchproccss.
T h c O t h e r a s R c s c a r c h S u b i e c t
F ro m its tu rn -o f-th e -ccn tu ryb irrhin mo d crn ,
in tcrp rctivcfo rm, q u a lita tivercse a rchh a s b ccn

13. t 2
haunt edby a double- f acedghosr.On rh e o n e
hand,qualit at ivcr csear cher shavca ssu mcdrh a r
q ualif ied.com pc( cntobscr ver scanwirho b je ctiv-
i t y, clar it y,and pr ecisionr epor(o n rh e iro wn
o bser vat ionsof t hc sociaiwor id, in clu d in grh e
cxper iencesof ot her s.Second.r cse a rch crsh a ve
h eldt o a belicfin a r ealsubject ,or re a lin d ivid u a l,
who is prescntin thc rvorld and able, in somc
form, to repor(on his or her cxpcricnccs.So
armcd,rcscarchcrscouldblendrhcirobscrvarions
with theobservationsprovidedby subjccrsrhrougl
in t er vicwsand lif e st or y,pcr sona lcxp e rie n ce ,
cascst udy,andot herdocum cnt s.
Thcsc (rvobcliefshaveled qualitacivercscarchcrs
rcrossdisciplinesto sccka merhodrhatrvouldallow
them to recordtheir own observationsaccuratcly
while still uncovcringrhe meaningsrheirsubjccu
bringtotheirlifcexperiences.Thismerhodwouldrely
upon (hcsubjectivcvcrbaland writrencxprcssions
of rneaninggivcnby thcindividualssrudied,rhcsc
erpressionsbcingwindorvsinrothcinncrlifc of rhc
person.SinccDilrhey(1900/1976),rhisserrch'fora
methodhasled to a percnnialfocusin the human
disciplineson qualitarive,inlerprcrivcmc(hods.
Recenrly.rhisposirionandits bclicfshavccomc
underattrck.Poststrucruralisrsandpostmodemists
haveconrriburcdto Iheunderstrndingthalrhercis
ooclcarrvindowinrorheinncrlifeof anindividual.
Any gazeis alwaysfilrercdrhroughrhc lcnsesof
languagc,gendcr,socialclass,race,andethnicity.
Thereareno objectiveobservarions,only observa.
tionssociallysituarcdin rheworldsof rheobscrvcr
rnd theobscrvcd.Subjccts,or individuals,arcscl-
- dom ablcto givc [ull explanarionsOf theiracrions
or intentions:all lhcy can offer are occounrs,or
stories,aboutwharrheydid and why. No single
merhodcangraspthesubrlevariatiorsin ongoing
hu m ancxper iencc.As a consequen ö e .a sa rg u cd
above.qualilarivcrescarchcrsdcploya wide range
of inler conncct cdinr er pr ct ivem er h o d s,a lwa ys
seekingbctrerwaysto makemoreunderstandablc
thervorldsof cxpcriencethir h3vcbecnsrudied.
Tablcl. I dcpicrsrherclarionshipsi". s.c orong
the fivc hcadings,or phascs,rhardcfinc rhc rc-
sea r chpr ocess.Bchindall buroneof th e sep h a scs
standsthebiographicallysiruaredresearcher.Thesc
fivelevclsof act ivit y,or pr act icc,workth cirwa y
throught hebiogr aphyof r her esearch cr.Wc ra kc
thcm up bric0y in ordcr hcrc: u.e discussrhc
pha scsm or ef ullyin r heinr r oducr ion sro rh ein d i.
viduulpar t sof t hisvolum e
Pha se) : Thc Resecr cher
Our r em ar ksaboveindicar e( hcdep lhg n dco m.
plexit yof t her r adir ionaland applicdq u irlira rive
rescar chper specr ivesint o whichr socia llysiru -
ctsdresearchefcnlers.Thescrrudirionslocarethe
rcse ar cherin hisr or y.bor hguidingandco n srra in -
H A N D B O O K O F Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
T ABL E 1 .1 T h eRe se a rchPro ce ss
Phcscl: Thc Rcsc:rchcr:sr rlulriculruralSubjccr
historyandrcsearchtradilions
conccptionsof sclfand thc othcr
cthicsrnd politicsof rcscrrch
Phrse2: ThcorcticalPcrudigmsand Pcrspectivcs
positivism.poslpositivism
conslructivism
fcminism(s)
crhnicmodcls
lvtcrxistmodcls
culturolsrudicsmodcls
Phrsc3: RcsearchStrutcgics
studydcsign
cJsc5ruoy
cthnogr:phy.prrticipentobscrvrtion
phcnomenology,cthnomcthodology
groundcdthcory
biogr:phicalmcthod
historic:lmethod
rctionrnd spplicdrcscrrch
clinicrlrcscrrch
Phrsc.,1:lvlcrhodsof Collcctionand Anrlysis
intcrvicwing
observing
crtif:cts.docurncnts.:nd rccords
visu:l mcrhods
person:lcxpericncemcthods
drt: m:nrgcmcntmcthods
compulcr.assistcdcnrlysis
tdxlu!lJnsly5iJ
PhrscJ: Thc Art of lntcrprctationandPrcscntrtion
critcrirforjudgingrdcgu:cy
theart rnd poliricsof inrcrprclation
writingas intcrprctxtion
policyanalysis
cvalu:tiontrrditions
r n n l i e r l r . < e r r e h
in g wsll th a twill b c d o n cin a n y sp e cificstu d .v.
T h is ficld h a sb ce nch a ra cte rizcdco n sta n tlyb y
d ivcrsitya n dco n flict,a n dth e se ,Da vidHa milto n
a rg u csin Ch a p tcr3 o f th is vo lu mc,a rc i(s mo s(
cn d u rin gtra d itio n s.As a ca rrie ro f th isco mp lcx
a n d co n tra d icto ryh isto ry.th e rcsca rch e rmu st
Jlsoco n fro n tth ee th icsa n d p o liticso f re se a rch .
T h c a g eo f va lu c.frcein q u iryfo r th eh u ma nd is-
cip lin e sis o vcr.a n dre se a rch e rsn o w s(ru g g lcro
dcvclopsituationaland transsituationaiethicsthrr
a p p lyto a n yg ive nrcse a rcha ct.
Ph a sel: ln te rp rctivePa ra d ig ms
All q u rlit;rtivere se a rch e rsa rep h ilo so p h e rsin
that"universalsenscin *'hichall humrnbcinss. . .

14. lntroduction: Enrering the Field oJ Quolitotive Research
T A B L E 1 . ? l n t e r p r e l i v eP a r a d i , s m s
Porodigm/Thcon' Crittria Fortn o/ Thcon Typc o/ h'orrcrion
Posirivist/postpositivisr
ConsrructivjsI
Fcminist
Ethnic
r1:rxist
Cultunl srudics
intcrnrl.c.xrcrn:lvalidirl,
rrusncorthincss.crcdibilirl'.
transfcrabilit;,.confirm:bili 11'
Afroccntric.livcd crpcri.
cncc,dicloguc,cering.
rccountabilir;,racc.chss.
gcndcr,rc0cxivirl',praxis.
cmolion.concrclcgroundinc
A froccntric.livcd cxpcri.
cncc,dirloguc.cering,
accountrbilirl',rccc,chss,
gcndcr
crncncip:torythcory.
frlsifirblc. di:logical.racc.
clrss.gcndcr
culturclprcctices.prrxis.
socialrcxrs.subjccrivirics
logicrl-dcducrivc.scicnrific
groundcd
substrntivc.formal
- . : , : - - t . . - - 2 - ^ : - '
r r r L r L d r r ) t r i l u P u l i l t
strndpoint,criricel,
hisroricrI
scicntificrcport
intcrprctivccsscsrudics.
cthno-rr:phicficrion
cssi!S.StOricS.cxpcri-
nrcnt:lrvritinc
cssals,frblcs.drrmas
c r i t i c : l . h i s r o r i c J l . c c o n o m i ch i s t o r i c s l . c c o n o m i c .
.socioculturrl rn.:lysis
s o c i r lc r i t i c i s m c u l r u r c lr h c o r l . r s
c t l l l c l ! m
arcSuidedby highlyabsrracrprinciplcs"(Bareson.
1972.p. 320) .Thescpr inciplescom bin cb e lie fs
abouto nr ology( W hatkindof bein- eis r h ch u ma n
being?W haris r henar ur eof r ealir y?) ,ep isrcmo l.
o,e1'(W hatist her elalionshipbcr weenr hcin q u ire r
endthe known?).and merhodology(How do wc
knou,rhc world, or gain knowlcdgcof ir?) (scc
G u b a .1 9 9 0 . p .l 8 : L i n c o t n& C u b a .I 9 6 5 . p p .l a -
l5: sec alsoCuba & Lincoln,Chapre r6 , rh is
volum c) .Thcscbclicf sshapeho ' r hequa lira rive
rcsearchcrseesrhc world and ac(sin it. The rc.
scarcheris"boundr r . ir hina ncroicpis( cmo lo g ica l
and on t ologicalpr cm iscswhich- r egardlcsso f
ultimat et r u( hor f alsir y- becom epar r ia llyse lf.
valida r ing"( Bar eson,1912,p. 319.
This net thatcontainJ(hc researchcr'scoistc-
mological.on(ological,and mc(hodologicalprcm.
iscsmay bc rermcd a parodignt (Cuba. 1990.
p. l7), or int cr pr er ivcfr am ewor k,a . ' basic
se to f
bcliefsr harSuidcsact ion"( G uba,1990,p . l? ).
All rcscarchis inrcrprcrivc,guidcd by a ser of
bclicfsand fcelingsibour rhe s,orldand hor+,il
shouldbeundcrsroodandsrudicd.Somcof rhcse
bcliefsm ay bc t akcnf or gr anr ed,only assu me d :
olhcrsarehighly problcmaricand conrrovcrsial.
Howev er ,eachint cr pr ct ivcpar adigmm a kcsp a r-
lrculardcm andson t hc r escar chcr ,includ in eth c
questionst h3tar c askcdand t he inr er p rcra iio n s
lhatarcbr oughtt o t hcm .
.
Al thc most_eenerallevel,four majorinrcfpre.
tlvcparadigntsstrucluregualirativercscarch:posi-
lrvjstandpostposirivist,ionsrructivist-inrcrDrctivc.
critical( M ar xisr ,cm ancipar or y) .and f cmin isr-
poststructural.Thcsefourabsrracrparadigmsbc-
co rn cmo rcco mp lica tcda t lh c lcvclo f co n crclc
sp e cificin tcrp re tivcco mmu n irie s.Ar th isie ve lir
is p o ssib leto id cn rifyn o to n l;'rh cco n srru ctir.ist.
b u t a lsomu ltip lcvcrsio n so f fe min isr(Afro ce n -
trica n dp o ststru clu ra l)8a swcll a ssp e cifice (h n ic.
lvlarxist.and culturalsludics paradigms.Thcsc
p crsp cctivcs,o r p a ra d ig ms.a rce xa min e din Pa rt
ll o f th isvo lu mc. _
The paradigmsexaminedin Parrll u'orkagainsl
a n da lo n -e sid c(a n dso mcwirh in )rh cp o sirivisra n d
postpositir'istmodelt Thcy all u'orku'ithinrcla'
tivisto n to lo g ics(mL rlrip lcco n srru crcdrca lirie s).
interprctivccpistemologics(iheknowerandknorvn
in te ra cta n dsh a p co n ea n o rh e r).a n din rcrp rcrivc.
n a tu ra listicmcth o d s.
T a b le 1 .2p re se n lsrh e scp a ra d ie msa n d rh cir
sssu mp tio n s,in clu d in gth circrircriafo r cva lu a t.
ingrcscarch.andthctypicalform rhataninrcrprc.
tivc or thcorcricalstatcmcntassumesin rheoara.
d ig m.9Ea chp a ra d ig miscxp lo rcdin co n sid cra b le
d cta iiin Pa rtII, b y Gu b a(Ch a p re r6 ). Sch *'a n d r
(Chaptcr7). KincheloeandMcLarcn(Chaprer8).
Olcscn(Ch a p tcr9 ). Sla n ficld(Ch a p tcrl0 ), a n d
F iske(Ch a p tcrI | ). T h c p o si(ivisra n dp o srp o si.
tivistparadigmshavcbccndiscussedabovc.Thc1,
wo rk fro m rl'ith ina rca lisra n d cririca lrca lisr
ontolog)'and objccliveepistemolbgies,and rcly.
u p o ncxp crime n ta l,q u a si.cxp crimcn ta l.su rve ),.
and riSorouslydefincdquali(ariteme[hodologics.
Hu b crma na n d Milcs (Ch a p re r2 7 ) d e vclo pclc.
mcn tso f th isp a ra d ig m.
Thc constructivistparadigmassumesa rclarivist
onrology(thcrcarc mulriplc rcalirics),a subjec.
tivist cpistcmology(knowcr and subjectcrearc

15. l 4
under st andings) ,anda nat ur alist ic(in th en a tu ra l
wor ld)setof m et hodologicalpr oce d u rcs.F in d -
in gsar cusuallypr esent edin t er m sof th ecrircria
of gr ounded( heor y( seeSt r auss& C o rb in ,Ch a p -
ter 17, this volumc).Terms suchas credibiliry,
rronsferobiIi ry,dep endabiIirS',and confi rmabiIirs
re placct hcusualposit ivistcr it er iaof in te rn a la n d
externalvalidiry,reliabilirT',andobjectivity.
Fem inist ,et hnic,M ar xist .andculru ra lstu d ics
mo dclspr ivilegca m at cr ialist - r e a listo n to lo g y:
thatis,t hcr calwor ldm akesa m at eria ld ifkre n ce
in termsof racc,class.and gcndcr.Subjccrivisr
cpistcmologiesandnaruralisticmethodologics(usu.
-all yet hnogr aphics)ar calsocm ploye d .Emp iricrl
materialsandthcorcticalargumentsarcevaluatedin
termsof theiremancipatoryimplications.Critcria
fromgendcrandracialcommunitics(c.g.,African
American)may be applied(crnotionalityand fecl.
ing,caring,personalaccountability,dialoguc).
-; Poststructuralfeministthcoricscmphasizcprob-
'lcmsr vit ht hesocialr cx( ,ir slogic,andirsin a b iliry
everlo r epr esentf ully t hc wor ldof livcde xp cri.
ence.Positivistandpostpositivistcriteriaof cvalu.
rtionarercplacedbyothcrs,includingrhcrcflexive,
mu lt ivoiced( cxt ( ha(is gr oundcdi, nlh c e xp e ri.
-cnc esof oppr esscdpcoples.
T hecult ur alst udicspar adigmis mu lrifo cu se d ,
rvithm anydif ler cntst r andsdr awingfro m N'la rr--ism .
f em inism ,and t he post m odcrnse n sib iliry
(Richr r dson,Chapt erJ2,t his- volumc).T h e rcisa
tensionbc(weenhumanisticculruralsrudicsstress-
ingl ivcdexpcr ienccsandm or cst r uctu ra lcu ltu ra l
studicspr oject sst r cssingt hcsr r uct ura la n dmrrc-
rialdet er m inant s( r ace,class,gende r)o f cxp e ri.
.cnce.Thccult ur alst udiespar adiqmuscsme th o d s
tstrotegically.
thatis.asr.rour.., ior undersranding
andf or pr oducingr esist ancest o localstru cru re s
of d om inr t ion.Culr ur alsr udicsschola rsma yd o
close( ex( ualr cadingsand discour sca n a lysiso f
cult ur alt c. r t s( Fiske.Chapr erI l. r hisvo lu me )a s
rvcll as local er hnogr aphies,open- e n d e din te r-
vierving,and par r icipantobscr var ion .T h e fo cu s
isonhor vr ace,class,r nd gcndcrr r c pro d u ccda n d
enlcr edin hislor icallyspec; f icsit uatio n s.
Par adigmand hist or yin hand.f ocu scdo n a
concre(c_cmpiricalproblcm (o cxaminc,thc re-
searchcrnov rnovcsto thc ncxt stageof thc rc.
scarchpr ocess,nam ely,wor kingwit h a sp ccific
stra t egyof inquir y.
P h a s e3 : S t r a r e g i e so f I n q u i r y
andl nlcr pr et ivcPr r adigm s
Tablel. I pr csenr ssom eof r hem ajo rstra lcg ie s
oi inquir yc r eser r cherm ay usc.Phase3 b c_ e in s-
rvithr esear chdcsign.w. hich.br oadlyco n ccivcd .
involvesa clearf ocuson r her esear chq u csrio n .
lhep ur posesof t hesr udy."r vharinf or ma rio nmo sr
appropr iat clywill answerspccif icr csca rchq u c5 .
H A N D B O O K O F Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H
tio n s,tn d wh ichstra te g ie sa remo stcffcctivcfo r
o b ra in in git" (L e Co mp te& Pre isslc,1 9 9 3 .p . 3 0 ).
A rescarchdcsiqndescribcsa flcxiblcsctof guidc-
linesthatconncctsthcoreticalparadigmsrosrratc-
g ie so f in q u irya n dme rh o d sfo r co lle crin gcmp iri-
calmatcrial.A rcscarchdesignsituatcsresearchcrs
in rh ee mp irica lwo rlda n dco n n e ctsrh cmto sp e -
cillcsite s,p e rso n s,g ro u p s,in stitu rio n s,a n db o d -
iesof rclevantintcrprctivemarerial,includingdocu-
mentslnd archivcs.A rcscaichdesignalsospccifics
how rhc invcsrigarorwill addrcssrhc rwo crirical
issucsof reprcscntationandlegirimarion.
A stra te g yo f in g u iryco mp riscsa b u n d lco f
skills,a ssu mp tio n s,a n dp ra criccsrh a rre sca rch e rs
cmployas thcy movc from theirparadigmro rhc
e mp irica lwo rld .Srra re g ie so f in q u iryp u ( p a ra .
d ig mso f in tcrp rcra rio nin romo lio n .Ar rh csa me
timc,srrategicsof inquiryconnectrhcrcsccrchcr
to sp ccificmcrh o d so f co llccrin ga n d a n a lyzin g
cmp irica lma rcria ls.F o r cxa mp lc.rh cca scsru d y
me rh o drclicso n in tcrvicwin g ,o b scrvin g ,a n d
d o c u m e n ta n a l y s i s .R c s c a r c hs r r a r c g i e si m p l e -
mentand anchorparadigmsin specificempirical
sires,or in specificmethodologicalpracriccs.such
asmrliingacasc!n objcctofsrudy.Thcscsrratcgies
includcrhecrsesrudy.phenomenolo-eicalandcrh.
nomethodologicrlrcchniqucs.aswell astheuscof
groundedrheory._rhcbiographical.hisrorical.ac-
tion,andclinicalmerhods.Eachof rhcscsrrategics
is conncctcdto a complexliteraturc:cach has a
scpara{chistory.cxemplaryworks.and prefencd
waysfol pu(tingthcslrategyintomorion.
Ph a se4 : Me th o d so f
Co llcctin ga n dÄn a lyzin g
Emp irica litla rcria ls
ThetcscrtchcrhrsseverrlÄcrhodsforcollccring
cmp irica lma rcrirls.l0rrn g in gfro mrh cin rcrvicrvtä
directobservation.to theanalysisof arrifacrs.docu.
mcnts.and culruralrecords.to tha useof visucl
materirlsor pcrsonalcxperiencc.The researcher
mayalsousea varietyof differcntmerhodsof read-
ing andanalyzingin(ervic*'sor culrunl tcxrs,in.
cludingconrcnr.n3rrar;vc,andsem;oricstrctcgics.
Facedwirh larecamounrsof qualitarir.emarerials.
theinvestigatorseekswaysof mcnagingandinrcr-
pretingthesedocumcnts.andhcrcdatamanagcment
mcthodsandcompurer-assisredmodclsof anllysis
maybcof usc.Hubermanand,1ilcs,in Chaptcr27.
andRichardsandRichards,in Chaprcr?8,rale up
rhcsetechniqucs.
Ph a sc5 : T h e Arr o f ln re rp rcra rio n
Qu rlita rivere se a rchis e n d lcssli.crca tivein d
in te rp rctivc.T h e re sce rch e rd o cs n o rju st lcrvc
th c fie ldwith mo u n trin so f cmp irica lma rcria is

16. lnrroducrion: Entering the Field o/ Quolitotit'e Research
a ndt hcneasilywr it euphisor herf in d in g s.Qu a li-
rariveinterprel.ationsaleconstructcd.The rescarchct
fir srcr eat csa f ieldt cxtconsist ingo f ficldn o tcs
anddocum enr sf r omr hcf icld.wharRo g crSa n je k
(1 990,p. 386)calls"indexing"an d Da vidPla th
( 1990,p. 374)calls"f ilcwor k. "The s'rite r-a s-in -
tcrpretcrmovesfrom this (cxl to a rcscarchtext:
notesandintcrprctationsbascdon thc ficld tcxt.
This textis thenrc-crcatcdasa rvorkinginterpre-
ti vc docum cntt hatcont ainst he r r'ritcr'sin itia l
ar t cm pt st o m akescnscoul of whath c o r sh ch a s
lear ncd.Finally.t hc wr it erpr oduccsth c p u b lic
re xt( hatcom cst o t hcr cadcr ,Thisf i n a lta leo f th e
field may assumcscveralforms: confcssional,
rcalist .im pr essionist ic,cr it ical,f orma l.lite ra ry.
analytic,groundcdrhcory,and so on (secVan
M a a n e n .1 9 8 8 ) .
Thc int er pr ct ivcpr act iccof m akin gscn sco I
on c' sf indingsis bot har t f ulandpolitica l.l''lu lti-
plc critcriafor cvaluatingqualitaEveresearchnow
cxis( ,andt hosc$' ccm phasizcs( r css(h csitu a tcd ,
rclat ional.and t cxt ualst r uct ur eso f th c cth n o -
gr aphiccxper ience.Ther eis no sing lcin tcrp rc-
tivet r ut h.y' , 5wc ar guedcar licr ,t hcrca rcmu ltip le
int er pr et ivecom m unit ies.cach havin gits o wn
crit cr iaf or evaluat ineanint cr pr ct atio n .
Pr ogr amcvaluat ionis a m ajorsitco f q u a lita -
tivc r csear ch,andqualit at ivcr esca rch crsca nin -
flucncesocialpolicy, inim por t antu ,a ys.Da vid
Ham ilt on.in Chapt cr3 of t hisvolumc,tra ccsth c
richhist or yof applicdqualit at ivcr cse a rchin th c
socialscicnces.This is t hc cr it icalsitc wh e rc
theor y,m ct hod,pr axis,or act ion,an d p o licya ll
comctogelher.Qualitativcresearcherscanisolate
targctpopulations,showthcimryediatceffcctsof
ccr t ainpr ogr am son sucher oups,andiso la tcth c
co nslr aint st hatopcr ar cagainstpolicych a n g csin
su chset t ings.Act ion- or icnt cdandclin ica lll,o ri-
cntcdqualitativercscarcherscanalsocrcatcspaccs
for thoservhoalc srudicd(rhcorhcr)to spcak.The
cvaluat orbecom cst heconduirf or ma kin gsu ch
vo iccshcar d.G r ccnc,in Chapt cr33,a n dRist.in
Chapt cr34,dcvcloplhescr opics.
T h e F i f t h M o m e n t :
W h a t C o m e sN c x t ?
M ar cus.in Chapr cr35, ar gucst harwc a rca l-
readf in rhepost"post" pcriod-post-posrsrruc-
turalism ,posr - posr m oder nism .W hat th is mca n s
for int cr pr er ive,clhnoer aphicpr acr ic csis stilln o t
cle ar ,bulit is ccr r ainr harr hingsr villne ve rb c rh e
samc.Wc arc in a ncu,agc *'hcrcmcssy,uncer-
tain,mulrivoicedrexrs,cuiruralcriricism,andnew
cxp cr im ent alwor ksu. illbecom em orcco mmo n .
aswili 6619r ef lcxivcf or m sof f ieldwo rk,a n a ly-
sis,andint er r cxt ualr cpr csent at ion.Thesu b jccto f
o u r fin a le ssa lin th is vo lu meis th is " fifth mo-
me n t."lt is tru eth a t,a sth c p o ctsrid ,lh e ce n ter
cannothold./ccan rcflccton rr'h:tshouldbe at
a n c'ce n le r.
T h u s*'c co mefu ll circlc.T h e ch a p tcrsin th is
vo lu meta kcth c re sca rch e rth ro u g hcvcrv p h a sc
of thc rcscarchacl.The contributorsexarnineIhc
relevanthistories,conlroversies,andcurrenlprac-
ricesassoc;atedu'irhcachparadigm,stratcgl',and
method.Thcy also offcr projcctionsfor thc fu-
1u1s-*'hercspccificparadigms,stratc-eies.or meth-
odsrvill be l0 ycarsfrom now.
In re a d in gth ech a p te rsth a tfo llo *'.it is imp o r-
ra n rro re me mb crth a tth c ficld o f q u a lita tiverc-
se a rchis d cfin cdb y a scrie so f tcn s;o n s.co n lra-
d ictio n s.a n dh e sita tio n s.T h iste n sio n*'o rksb a ck
and forrhbctwccnthc broad,doubtingpostmod-
e rn scn sib ililya n dth c mo reccrta in ,mo rc tra d i-
rionalpositivist,postpositivist,andnaturalisticcon-
ceptionsof this project.All of thc chaptcrstha(
follou'arccaughtin andaniculatcthistension.
.
N o t e s
l. Qurliotivcrcscr.rchh:-sscprr:tcud distinguishcd
h i s t o r i c si 1 c d u c r t i o n ,s o c i : l u o r k . c o m m u n i c : t i o n s ,
psychologl'.history.orgrnirrtionclstudics.mcdicelsci-
cncc,anthropology.rnd sociology.
?. Dcfinitionsof somcof thcsclcrmsatc in ordcr
hcrc. Potiti|ism Jsscrtsthr( objcctivc accountsof thc
u,orldcrn bc givcn.Postpositit'isuholdsth:t only prr=
riellyobjcctivccccountsof thc world crn bc produccd.
bcc:usc rff methodsrrc flru'cd. Structurolistnesscrts
rhat ony systcmis mrdc up of r sct of opposition:l
crtcgoricscmbcddcdin l:ngurgc.Scnioticsis thc sci-
enccof signsor sign systcms-r structuralistprojcct.
Accordingtopottttrucrurolism,languegcis an unstrblc
s;'stcmof rcfcrcnts.thusit is impossiblccvcr lo caPlurc
complctclyIhcmc:ningof cn action,tcrt, or intcntion.
Pottmodcrnismis a contcmporaryscnsibility.devclop.
ingsinccWorldWar Il, rhrtprivilcgcsno singlcauthor-
iry,mcrhod,or prrcdigm.Hcrmencuricsis an approrch
ro rhc rnrlysisof tcxtsthrt strcsscshgu'prior undcr-
standingscndprcjudiccsshrpcthcintcrprctivcProccss.
Phcnomcnologt'isa complcxsystcmof idcasrssoci.
319iu'irhthcu'orksof Husscrl.Hcidcggcr,Sartrc,l'4cr.
Ic:u-Pont1'.rnd Alfrcd Schutz.Cultural studics is a
complcx.intcrdisciplinar;'ficldthatmcrccscriticclthc-
or1. fcminism.rnd poststructuralism.
3. Accordingto /cinstcinand 'cinstein(1991).
"Thc nrcrningo[ bricolcurin Frenchpopulrrspccchis
'somconcu'ho*'orks u'ith his (or hcr) hrnds and uscs
dcviousmc!Di compJrcdto thosEof thccrrftsmrn' . . .
rÄcbricoleuris practicslandgetsthcjob.donc"(p. | 6 I ).
Thcscruthor.rprovidea historyof thistcrm,connecting
ir ro Ihc wors of thc Gcrmcn sociologistand social
rhcorist6corgSimmcland,by implicarion.Baudclairc.
t

17. t o
4. Hercit is rclcr':ntto m:ke c distinctionbetwccn
tcchniqucsthctrrc uscd:crossdisciplincsrnd mcthods
t h r t a r c u s c dw i t h i nd i s c i p l i n c s .E r h n o m c t h o d o l o g i s t s .
for cxrmple.cmploythcirrpprorchesa method.*,hcrcos
othcrssclcctivclyborro*'thctmcthodes: tcchniqucfor
rhcirown applicarions.Hcrry Wolcotr(pcrsonrlcom.
municrtion.1993)su_egcststhisdistinction.lr is rlso
rclcvanlto mrkc distincrionsamongtopic,mc(hod.and
rcsourcc.ivtcthodscrn bc srudicdrs ropicsof inquiry-
for instcncc.how l crscstudygctsdonc.ln rhisironic,
clhnomclhodologicrlscnsc,mclhodis both r rcsourcc
cnd a topicof inquirv.
5. Indccd,any !ucmpt lo givc an csscnriildcfini.
tionof quclitativcrcsc:rchrcquircsa qurlir:rivcan:ly-
sisof thccircumsrrnccsrhsrproducesuchr dcfinirion.
6. In thisscnsc:ll rcscrrchis qu:lir:rivc.becausc
"thc obscrveris ct thc ccnlcroI lhc rcscarchproccss"
(vidich & Lymcn.Ch:prcr?. thisvolumc).
7. Scc Lincoln rnd Cub: ( 1935)for rn c.rrcnsion
andclabor:tionof thistr:dirionin thc mid.1930s.
8. Olcscn(Chtptcr9. thisvolumc)idenrificsrhrcc
strrndsof feministrcsc:rch:meinsucamempiricrJ,stend.
pointandculturalstudics.rnd posrstrucrur:1.posrmod-
crn.pl:cingA froccntricrnd othcrmodclsof colorundcr
thccultur:l studics:nd postmodcrnc:rcgorics.
9. Thcsc,of coursc,rrc our intcrprctrtionsof thcsc
p r r c d i g m sc n di n t c r p r c t i v cs t y l c s .
10. Etnpiricul notctialt is thc prcfcrrcd rcrm for
rvh:rcre tr:ditioncllvdcscribcdrs d:r:.
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