You Have to Make Something of All That Rubbish, Do You? An Empirical Investigation of the Social Process of Qualitative Research

Bibliographic Data

ID4633113
AuthorsStacy M Carter (0000-0003-2617-8694, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,, corresponding author), Christopher F C Jordens (0000-0001-9454-1059, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), Catherine Mcgrath (0000-0003-3335-0528, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), Miles Little (0000-0002-5539-5754, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia)
Year2008
Volume18
Issue9
Pages1264-1276
Publication date2008-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732308321753
PMID18689538
OpenAlexW2143048632
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited28

In this article, we examine participants' talk about qualitative research. We provide empirical support for post-structural theorizations of the interview and propose three distinct but related dimensions of qualitative research: emotional, purposive/relational, and epistemic/ontological. In this study, participants often became upset but constructed participation as enjoyable and cathartic. The purpose of participation was to assist the communities to which one belonged. Participation was an active, reflexive practice that reconstructed the self and changed knowledge about one's self. This latter epistemic/ontological dimension of participation appeared to be the most compelling for participants, but it is also the hardest to observe, with implications for how we consider the costs and benefits of participation. We suggest two practical measures for researchers and institutional review boards to consider in light of our findings: routinely asking questions about the research experience in qualitative studies and reformulating patient information statements to particularize them to qualitative research

Empirical research · Epistemology · Qualitative property · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Applied Psychology · Computer Science · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access