{"id":2577,"date":"2019-07-16T08:11:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T00:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/?p=2577"},"modified":"2019-07-16T08:11:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T00:11:24","slug":"what-are-the-characteristics-of-qualitative-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/what-are-the-characteristics-of-qualitative-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the characteristics of qualitative researchers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I constructed this short vignette\u00a0<\/a>few years ago and use it as an activity worksheet when I discuss the introduction part of qualitative research.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A short vignette from a qualitative researcher<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a researcher in education, I am interested to know about teaching and learning practice and the people involve in it (the teaching and learning practice).\u00a0 The question of how and why a scenario in teaching and learning practice happens in certain way always intrigue me to explore more.\u00a0 Using qualitative research as a methodology to explore educational issues, one of the ways to collect the data is through listening to my participants\u2019 narrations by meeting them face to face.\u00a0 I want to know more about my participants\u2019 experiences, thoughts or views from their own narrations.\u00a0 I want to be where the data is and for this manner, I become the tool to collect the data as compared to using a survey as an instrument where my samples can leave their responses.\u00a0 However, it is quite a challenge to know someone\u2019s life in details unless I explore it from the narrator\u2019s views.\u00a0 As an example, I have a student who belongs to a well-known notorious gang when I was exploring gangsterism in Malaysian schools.\u00a0 From this student\u2019s story, I understand more the intricacies of being a member of a gang from the perspective of a member.\u00a0 Such data could not be measured and gained through a survey questionnaire.\u00a0 Even though there are theories which can provide some explanations about gangsterism and being a member of a gang yet, it is hard to be dismissed the fact that the decision to be a member of a gang is not straight forward one.\u00a0 The decision of one member from the another might be similar, yet different.\u00a0 Such uniqueness intrigues me to explore it from qualitative perspective.\u00a0 Like any other participants, I usually meet the student in places where he\/she feel comfortable to share his\/her experiences, thoughts and feelings.\u00a0 I was invited to his\/her school and home.\u00a0 In this regards, I also able to gain data from observing him\/her in natural setting.\u00a0 Apart from talking to him\/her, I can see how he\/she behaves in such settings.\u00a0 Sometimes, he\/she shows some pictures or documents.\u00a0 By meeting the participant personally, I have the opportunity to ask him\/her about the pictures and documents and its significance in his\/her lives.\u00a0\u00a0 In this regards, I need to be flexible in gathering my data which can be time consuming.\u00a0 This is because the data can be gathered not only through interview which is most likely to be assumed as the main method to collect data in qualitative research.\u00a0 With rich data at hand, I often feel overwhelmed in terms of how to start my analysis.\u00a0 Should I use more than one analysis for the different sets of data or should I stick to one analysis regardless of the data that I have gathered?\u00a0 As a researcher, while looking at the data, I often reflect on the similarities and differences of my participants\u2019 experiences, thoughts or views from my own.\u00a0 Even though I have to be reflective, however, I cannot be too overly subjective in interpreting my participants\u2019 experiences, thoughts or views with my own.\u00a0 After all, I acknowledge the complexity of one\u2019s own experiences, thoughts and views.\u00a0 \u00a0In this regards, it is not easy to interpret and later on to present the data accordingly because I need to stay true to myself as a researcher while ensuring my participants\u2019 narrations are as authentic as the way they mean it without disregarding my own personal constructs as a researcher.\u00a0 I know that even though there is no firm guideline on how I should conduct my research, yet as a researcher, I am subjected upon others\u2019 judgment and review while maintaining the transferability of my study.\u00a0 Ah, what an enchanted journey as a qualitative researcher!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I constructed this short vignette\u00a0few years ago and use it as an activity worksheet when I discuss the introduction part of qualitative research.\u00a0\u00a0 A short vignette from a qualitative researcher As a researcher in education, I am interested to know about teaching and learning practice and the people involve in it (the teaching and learning … Continue reading What are the characteristics of qualitative researchers?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":851,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random-rambling","category-teaching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2579,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577\/revisions\/2579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/hadijahjaffri\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}