Qualitative Research as Jazz

Bibliographic Data

ID9733297
AuthorsPenny Oldfather (Elementary Education at the University of Georgia, 427 Aderhold Hall, Athens, GA 30602 and a principal investigator with the National Reading Research Center. She specializes in student motivation, with particular interest in qualitative research methods that explore students' perspectives on literacy learning, corresponding author), Jane West (0000-0001-7148-205X, Education at Agnes Scott College, Box 734, 141 E. College Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030. Her work focuses on social aspects of literacy learning, collaboration with classroom teachers, and qualitative methodologies in education)
Year1994
Volume23
Issue8
Pages22-26
Publication date1994-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducational Researcher (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-189X • E-ISSN: 1935-102X
PublisherAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3102/0013189x023008022
OpenAlexW2160144287
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited26

A metaphor of qualitative research as jazz is developed to illuminate qualities embedded in processes of qualitative inquiry. The jazz metaphor creates a pathway for making explicit the tacit understandings that enable us to make our way as researchers without fully orchestrated scores. As jazz is guided by a deep structure of chord progressions and themes, qualitative inquiry is guided by epistemological principles, socially constructed values, inquiry focuses, and findings emerging through analytic methodologies such as constant comparison

Art · Chord (peer-to-peer · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Grounded theory · Improvisation · Jazz · Linguistics · Literal and figurative language · Mathematics education · Metaphor · Pedagogy · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Art Education and Development · Computer Science · Diverse Music Education Insights · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Psychology