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Reaction paper to Saldana Chapter 2: This needs to be a reaction paper to Saldana based of your on opinion and reaction.

a survey of
qualitative data
collection methods
to live in the social world is to experience and refl ect upon it
daily. But to understand it deeply from a researcher’s perspective
requires that we collect suffi cient evidence to document the patterns,
categories, and meanings that humans have created. Th is
documentation helps us to systematically and credibly examine,
extract, and construct from the complexity of living its essences
and essentials in order to exist in a better world. But there are also
times when the complexities and ambiguities of being human are
exactly what we need to document and report to contemplate the
messy mysteries of it.
Some qualitative research studies may employ only one data
collection method, such as interviewing participants, because the
personal histories and worldviews of individuals will best answer
the researcher’s questions. Other studies will incorporate at least
three diff erent methods, such as interviews, participant observation,
and written surveys, to gather a broader spectrum of evidence
and perspectives to enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of
an analysis. Other studies may not include interaction with participants
at all, relying solely instead on the examination of documents,
artifacts, and other material products humans have created.
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32 : FUNDAMENTALS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
During data collection, you’ll certainly use several tools of the
trade such as notepads and pens, laptop computers, digital voice
recorders, and so on to document your fi eldwork. But it is the
researcher him- or herself who is generally regarded as the primary
data collection instrument in qualitative research. Methods
are not just seemingly mechanical techniques such as observing,
writing, counting, and transcribing; methods also include your
cognitive and aff ective processes such as inferring, intuiting, empathizing,
and evaluating. Th ese, too, can and should be documented
because what you think, feel, and do during the entire research
process are data as well.
Th is chapter surveys several data collection methods most oft en
used by qualitative researchers. It is deliberately placed before the
chapter on qualitative research design, fi rst to acquaint you with
the technical vocabulary of the fi eld, and later to consider the methods’
appropriateness for your particular project’s purpose, research
questions, and proposed representational and presentational forms.
Also keep in mind that virtually all of the methods described in this
chapter assume that you have secured any necessary institutional
approvals and individual participant consent beforehand to conduct
the study and collect the data (see Chapter 3).
Interviewing Participants
Many, if not most, qualitative research studies rely on interviews
with participants. Th e data collection method is an eff ective way
of soliciting and documenting, in their own words, an individual’s
or group’s perspectives, feelings, opinions, values, attitudes, and
beliefs about their personal experiences and social world, in addition
to factual information about their lives. Your research topic,
purpose, and questions form the basis for the subjects you cover
and types of questions you ask during an interview, but the improvised
conversation may also generate unexpected areas and insights
for further inquiry.
Interview formats can range from highly structured, consisting
of a set of prepared and specifi c questions to be asked in a particular
order of each participant, to unstructured, consisting of nothing
more than a general list of topics for possible exploration. Interviews
can be prearranged but also happen spontaneously, such as when
Saldana, Johnny. Fundamentals of Qualitative Research, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
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A SURVEY OF QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION METHODS : 33
an opportunity arises to speak to a participant aft er you’ve observed
her at work, and a span of ten minutes or so becomes available for
a brief chat. Interviews can be conducted with just one person, several
individuals separately, a couple, a family, or a larger number of
people organized as a focus group. Depending on several factors,
participants can be interviewed once or several times across the
fi eldwork period.
Selecting Participants to Interview
Determine which specifi c persons are appropriate for interviews
and those most likely to provide substantive answers and responses
to your inquiries. Of course, if your project is a case study of one
particular individual, that selection is a given. But if your fi eldwork
is at a site where there are several people from which to
choose, consider whose perspectives will best represent the diverse
landscape of the social and cultural setting. For example, if your
fi eldwork is at a public school, individual interviews could be conducted
with teachers and children from all grade levels, children’s
parents, the administrative staff (including the principal and secretaries),
the service staff (such as janitors, cafeteria workers, and bus
drivers), the school district’s board members and superintendent,
and others related in tangential to embedded ways to the setting’s
daily operations.
Of course, limited time, budget, and researcher energies will
not enable you to interview everyone involved with the culture of
schooling. Th us, sampling — the strategic, referred, random, and/or
serendipitous selection of participants — will be used for relevant
research purposes to collect a representatively broad to tightly
focused overview of perspectives. If your research questions deal
with a specifi c subset of a population, such as gender, ethnicity, age
group, sexual orientation, occupation, status, or those with particular
background experiences or histories, soliciting volunteers
from among those cohorts is the obvious approach.
But how many participants are “enough” to fi nd out what you
want to learn? Th ere are varying opinions on this. Studying the
single individual case in depth makes for a rich profi le, but the
individual is not always representative of the population at large.
Some studies have compared two diverse individuals separately
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34 : FUNDAMENTALS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
to compare and contrast their perspectives. A small group of three
to six people provides a broader spectrum of data for analysis,
while others attest that, for selected methodologies, a minimum of
ten to twenty participants is needed to insure more credible and
trustworthy fi ndings. Still others will recommend that you continuously
interview people only until you’re learning nothing new. At
the opposite end of the spectrum, a large-scale project with a staff
of research team members may interview hundreds of individuals
across several years to assess longitudinal participant change. How
many participants are “enough” can depend on many factors, but as
long as you have suffi cient interview data, whether from one person
or twenty, you’ll then have a suffi cient corpus for analysis.
A caveat on convenience sampling: Some beginning qualitative
researchers want to know if they can ask their friends to serve
as participants in their projects. Th is request perhaps stems from
the need to feel secure working on a new endeavor with people
they already know and can easily access. But I do not recommend
it. Depending on the topic, you may put your friends in awkward
situations during interviews and observations. You might also
make too many assumptions about what you feel you already
know about your friends. And, you lose out on some valuable experience
on what is takes to gain entry to a new site and to secure all
necessary permissions and arrangements for fi eldwork. Th e optimal
choice is to research people you’ve never met before, or those
with whom you’re merely acquainted, and in specifi c locations and
settings you have not visited or studied in depth. A famous ethnographic
saying goes, “Make the strange familiar and the familiar
strange,” meaning that our goal is to come to new and intimate
awareness and understanding about unfamiliar and taken-forgranted
aspects of social life. Studying good friends you already
know contributes little to your growth as a qualitative researcher.
Preparing for the Interview
Attend to the logistical matters of the preplanned interview. Contact
or connect with your participant to negotiate an interview date,
start and end time, and specifi c location — all at the participant’s
convenience. Th e day and time block should be one in which the
participant will not feel fatigued or rushed, if possible. Th e specifi c
Saldana, Johnny. Fundamentals of Qualitative Research, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
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A SURVEY OF QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION METHODS : 35
location chosen should be free of noisy distractions, one that permits
relative privacy to talk, and one that makes the participant
feel comfortable and secure. If the space, such as a breakout room,
needs to be scheduled with an administrator or facilities manager,
the interviewer should attend to this detail and get some type of
confi rmation that the room is available and reserved for the date
and time block. Contact your participant at least one day before
the interview by phone and/or e-mail (if the participant has access
to this technology) as a courtesy reminder, or to reschedule, if necessary,
in case the participant needs to change the date, time, or
location. Th ough not always necessary, it is sometimes useful to
tell the participant ahead of time what will generally be covered at
the interview.
Available time during interviews is most oft en limited, so every
question asked should serve some purpose toward the research
agenda. A fi rst-time interview with a participant may go more
smoothly if you develop a set of questions and prompts beforehand.
Some methodologists have labeled this an interview protocol . Th e
interview questions are most oft en diff erent from the research
questions but should derive from them to keep the study grounded.
Generally, good interview questions solicit participant perspectives
and stories. For example, if one of your study’s research questions
is: “What is the relationship between an individual and a
pet?,” some possible interview questions and prompts suggested by