Steps in a Process, QUALITATIVE INQUIRY AND RESEARCH DESIGN, Creswell, chapters 4, 5, 6

     Finally, a glimmer of light has dawned at the end of a provocative and fascinating tunnel.  There will still be twists and turns aplenty, no doubt.  While reading chapters 4, 5, and 6, it was helpful to me to think of a qualitative research idea that interests me.  It may or not be the one I ultimately choose (or I may choose many), but, by superimposing my thoughts over the skein of pathways presented, I was better able to better comprehend the five approaches presented.

      I had been drawn to the narrative approach. The story of Vonnie Lee was liberating in a number of ways.  The answer to Vonnie Lee’s fascination with the symbol of the heart was hidden in the normal presuppositions that I would certainly have held along with the author.  However, the author was able to step outside of his training and prejudice to come to a delightful understanding:  the young man was just tickled to ride the badly scheduled bus.  My father once said “Don’t feel sorry for people because you would be devastated to find yourself in their circumstances.  They may be happier than any of us will ever be.”  Despite Vonnie Lee’s challenging circumstances, there were things that made him very happy.  The author was unknowingly able to facilitate and later understand the hidden meanings.  My idea of working with college students who have Attention Deficit Disorder and are trying to come to terms with life away from the schedule and aid of family members might not fit into the narrative schema, but I certainly gained a new kind of sensitivity and focus from reading Vonnie Lee's study.

     The phenomenological study about persons with Auto Immune Deficiency Disorder could probably jive with some of my thoughts about students with ADD.  There could be systematic data analysis and a central phenomenon.  I like that the authors set aside their own experiences to explore the lived experiences of their subjects.  So, yes, there is a possibility.  But a larger number of subjects was required for this study compared to the narrative study.   The grounded study of women who had suffered sexual abuse was systematic and scientific, but there was much care and sensitivity taken with the subjects.  Might I develop a theoretical model and relate it to the research I have done about secondary students trying to cope with post-secondary education settings?  Perhaps, but I needed to know more.  I have always enjoyed reading ethnographic studies, way before I had any idea what the term meant.  The research of Margaret Mead is fascinating.  Would I spend months or years immersed in a subculture?  Probably not right now.  What a thought for future studies!  The case study, with a system bounded by time and place to create a complex picture, might be tweaked to work with my idea.  I read on.  The idea that each type of study involved a special type of focus was causing me to become a bit more focused. 

     Chapter 6 brought it all home for me (inasmuch as it, indeed, at home).  There were steps, procedures that were becoming understandable.  Somewhat.  The research question is posed and tied to the issue.  It made sense to me that there would be a back and forth in order to integrate components, because it has seemed that preconceived notions are anathema to the qualitative researcher.  I like that so much!  I think I might have a population that has been most understudied.  The students with ADD, yes, but I have also been interested in those gifted students who seem to have an unwarranted difficulty creating writing, especially narrative writing.  Might that be an area of research for me? 

     The author continued to take each step of research through all five types of studies.  The steps leading to the development of a purpose statement were familiar from a study of single subject research design.  The ensuing  identification of an approach, encoding, foreshadowing, and developing a central question,  sub-questions and procedural questions, were, yes, somewhat understandable.  Even encoding seemed to be something that I might someday tackle. I have breathed a sigh of relief.  Thank you, Mr. Creswell.