Qualitative ResearchAnd Evaluation

Dr. Jeffrey K. Edwards, Ed.D., LMFT

Introduction to Qualitative Studies

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BeginningSession # 1

• Introduction to Syllabus (on web page)

• Introduction to each other

• Power Point – what is Qualitative Inquiry?

• Introduction to first Field Assignment

• Practice and discussion

• Go home

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• A Look at the Syllabus and the web page

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• In pairs, interview each other according to the slip of paper I give you, with the end being your brief presentation of your partner to the rest of the class.

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Our Beginning to Understand Qualitative Inquiry and Research

(Together)

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Qualitative Research Today we will discuss

• Uses

• Philosophical assumptions

• Common terms and ideas

• Examples

• First Field Assignment

• Practice

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Users of Qualitative Research –• Anthropology

• Hermeneutics (Religion and the Word of God)

• Sociology

• History

• Business

• Education

• Family Therapy

• Counseling

• Psychology

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• Quantitative vs Qualitative – Quantitative research requires large #

samples reduced to numeric properties, in controlled situations, on some variable or variables, and statistic analysis to interpret. Prove hypotheses.

– Qualitative research uses smaller sample sets, in naturalistic settings using rich textual data for (thick) descriptions of personal experiences, or events.

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Albert Einstein

• "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

(Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Modernity - (truth)Functionalism - Structuralism -

Logical positivism – Postmodernism – (unsure of “truth”)

Second Order Cybernetics -

Constructivism (radical and social)

Epistemology -

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Modernity –Modernity, which began intellectually

with the Enlightenment, attempted to describe the world in rational, empirical and objective terms. Sees the world and universe as a large machine with parts that can be understood. It assumed that there was a truth to be uncovered, a way of obtaining answers to the question posed by the human condition.

Philosophical frameworks to ponderModernity - Functionalism -

Functionalism says that mental states are constituted by their causal relations to one another and to sensory inputs and behavioral outputs. Functionalism is one of the major theoretical developments of Twentieth Century analytic philosophy, and provides the conceptual underpinnings of much work in cognitive science.

In architecture, functionalists believed that all that was required of buildings was that they do their job. Mies Van Der Rohe

Function of the symptom -

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Modernity - Structuralism –

In the 1960's, the structuralist movement, based in France, attempted to synthesize the ideas of Marx, Freud and Saussure. They disagreed with the existentialists' claim that each man is what he makes himself.

For the structuralist the individual is shaped by sociological, psychological and linguistic structures over which he/she has no control, but which could be uncovered by using their methods of investigation.

“Why” Questions

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Modernity - Logical positivism –

Twentieth-century philosophical movement that used a strict principle of verifiability to reject as meaningless the non-empirical statements of metaphysics, theology and ethics. Under the influence of Hume, Russell, and the early Wittgenstein, the logical positivists regarded as meaningful only statements reporting empirical observations, logic and mathematics.

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Postmodernism – Post Positive, structural and functional

Second Order Cybernetics

Constructivism (radical and social)

Epistemology –

Narrative -

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Postmodernism –

Post-structuralism and deconstruction can be seen as the theoretical formulations of the post-modern condition. Modernity, which began intellectually with the Enlightenment, attempted to describe the world in rational, empirical and objective terms. It assumed that there was a truth to be uncovered, a way of obtaining answers to the question posed by the human condition. Post-modernism does not exhibit this confidence. The underlying certainties that reason promised are considered with skepticism, and reason is seen as a particular historical form, and truth is subject to scrutiny.

Gone are “truth” and the need for hierarchical positioning. Life and meaning can be deconstructed, and new meanings provided with equal validity.

Wicked -- Narrative Therapy -- Changing views of reality through language

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Postmodernism – Second Order Cybernetics

All knowledge is based on what we have learned, not on truths. Subjective vs objectiveTo be involved or research is to change what you are researching

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Postmodernism –

Constructivism (radical and social)

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Postmodernism –

Constructivism (radical and social) -

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Postmodernism –

Epistemology –

The study of knowledge, or how we know what we know.

Philosophical frameworks to ponder

Postmodernism – Narrative –All of history as well as knowledge are made

“true” by those who are in power, (not by all who are stakeholders) who put forth the knowledge. Concepts and knowledge are “colonized” by those in power who are doing the reporting and recording those who are researched are “marginalized.”

Our stories all have meaning, and through the telling and retelling (deconstructing) they change and create new meanings, The stories that have been told about us by others (family and other groups) maintain and constrain us in our positions and behaviors.

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Getting the larger perspective• Imagine the Pacific Ocean, and Seal Island

point off shore of San Diego. It is a habitat for all sorts of marine life, and harbor seals and walrus actually come here to play. It is fully ocean, and those who live there believe it to be ocean. Now back away from this and see the ocean, of which Seal Island is only a piece of the magnificent and larger piece of ocean. Your understanding of life is like that! A piece of a larger, more magnificent and unknowable whole.

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Common Terms and Ideas in Qualitative Inquiry

• Empiricism

• Truth

• Post Positivism

• Subjects vs. Informants

• Action Research

• Ethnography

• Hermeneutics

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Common Terms and Ideas in Qualitative Inquiry

• Content Analysis

• Event Structure Analysis

• Grounded theory

• Narrative Inquiry

• Phenomenology

• Q Methodology

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Common Terms and Ideas in Qualitative Inquiry – But what about??

• Random Sampling

• Objectivity (is there such a thing/think?)

• Representative sample

• Validity

• Reliability

• Generalize

• Triangulation

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Empiricism(Empirical Studies)

• Left over from the Newtonian, and the Enlightenment Eras.

• a theory which holds that the origin of all knowledge is sense experience. The term also refers to the method of observation and experiment used in the natural sciences. Often, empiricism is contrasted with rationalism, a theory which holds that the mind may apprehend some truths directly, without requiring the medium of the senses.

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Truth – the heart of it all• T1 are metaphysical truths, that cannot be tested against some

external norm, logical deduction, or professional standards of conduct, but are basic beliefs that are accepted at face value.

• T2 are ethical truths. Those who assert these are in conformity with moral or professional truths.

• T3 are logical truths, claims or hypotheses of such are mathematically or logically consistent with other claims known to be true.

• T4 are empirical truths in the form of a hypothesis that are consistent with nature or preserve the appearance.

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•  The basic idea behind empiricism is that knowledge can be derived through careful observation and cataloging of phenomena and extrapolating laws or principles from these observations.

• Empiricism came mostly from Aristotle, who reacted against the abstractions of Plato and the Pre-Socratic philosophers by developing a more or less universal system of intellectual inquiry: when investigating a subject, he would first consult all the experts and written texts and catalog their ideas, he would next observe as much phenomena related to the inquiry that he could and then derive laws from his observations, and then use those laws against the previous authorities.

• Empiricism. Retrieved May 29, 2006 from: http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/EMPIRIC.HTM

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• Italian Renaissance

• That word, experiment, is derived from the same world that gives us "experience." An experiment simply described is a "controlled experience"; this control allows the experience to be repeated in exactly the same way. In this way, experience can be shared, that is, others can verify the truth of the experience by repeating it.

• Empiricism. Retrieved May 29, 2006 from: http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/EMPIRIC.HTM

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• Enlightenment Glossary    

• Western empiricism was built on the idea of a mechanistic universe; the universe both physically and socially was eventually conceived of as a vast machine whose principles of operation could be grasped by the human intellect without recourse to divine or superstitious explanations.

• Each aspect of the universe was seen to operate in a different manner: the machine of physical phenomena operated differently from the machine of social phenomena. Empirical science in the West, then, also involved the separation of bodies of knowledge one from the other. Physics could not explain politics, ethics could not explain chemistry, and so forth. This separation of areas of knowledge one from the other is perhaps the single most important aspect of Enlightenment empiricism for it allowed knowledge in each area to develop very rapidly.

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Pre-positivist, Positivist and Post Positivist

• Positivism - A trend in bourgeois philosophy which declares natural (empirical) sciences to be the sole source of true knowledge and rejects the cognitive value of philosophical study. Positivism claims to be a fundamentally new, non-metaphysical ("positive") philosophy, modeled on empirical sciences and providing them with a methodology.

• The Dictionary of Philosophy, Progress Publishers. Positivism. Retrieved

May 29, 2006 from: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/help/mach1.htm

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Comparing

• Quantitative research sets Hypotheses and tests them for truth (T4) by investing in large samples, converting variables to numeric, using a control, and statistic analysis to prove or disprove them.

• Qualitative research starts with Intellectual puzzles and uses rich textual data from individual cases, small sample sizes, and uses intuition, and the person of the researcher to develop theories that may or may not be tested qualitatively later.

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• Qualitative analysis: Richness and Precision.

• The aim of qualitative analysis is a complete, detailed description. No attempt is made to assign frequencies to the linguistic features which are identified in the data, and rare phenomena receives (or should receive) the same amount of attention as more frequent phenomena. Qualitative analysis allows for fine distinctions to be drawn because it is not necessary to "shoehorn" the data into a finite number of classifications. Ambiguities, which are inherent in human language, can be recognized in the analysis. For example, the word "red" could be used in a corpus to signify the colour red, or as a political categorization (e.g. socialism or communism). In a qualitative analysis both senses of red in the phrase "the red flag" could be recognized.

• The main disadvantage of qualitative approaches to analysis is that their findings can not be extended to wider populations with the same degree of certainty that quantitative analyses can. This is because the findings of the research are not tested to discover whether they are statistically significant or due to chance.

• But they are useful for Theory building and understanding locality.

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• Quantitative analysis: Statistically reliable and generalizeable results.

• In quantitative research we classify features, count them, and even construct more complex statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed. Findings can be generalized to a larger population, and direct comparisons can be made between two corpora, so long as valid sampling and significance techniques have been used. Thus, quantitative analysis allows us to discover which phenomena are likely to be genuine reflections of the behavior of a language or variety, and which are merely chance occurrences. The more basic task of just looking at a single language variety allows one to get a precise picture of the frequency and rarity of particular phenomena, and thus their relative normality or abnormality.

• However, the picture of the data which emerges from quantitative analysis is less rich than that obtained from qualitative analysis. For statistical purposes, classifications have to be of the hard-and-fast (so-called "Aristotelian" type). An item either belongs to class x or it doesn't. So in the above example about the phrase "the red flag" we would have to decide whether to classify "red" as "politics" or "color". As can be seen, many linguistic terms and phenomena do not therefore belong to simple, single categories: rather they are more consistent with the recent notion of "fuzzy sets" as in the red example. (discrete variables) (DSM IV-R)

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• Quantitative analysis is therefore an idealization of the data in some cases. Also, quantitative analysis tends to sideline rare occurrences. To ensure that certain statistical tests (such as chi-squared) provide reliable results, it is essential that minimum frequencies are obtained - meaning that categories may have to be collapsed into one another resulting in a loss of data richness.

• Qualitative vs Quantitative Analysis. Retrieved May 29, 2006 from: http://www.tele.sunyit.edu/QualitativevsQuantitative.htm

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Quote• One of the opportunities --- and challenges

-- posed by qualitative approaches is to regard our fellow human beings as people instead of subjects, and to regard ourselves as humans who conduct our research among rather than on them.

• Wolcott, H.F. (1990). Writing up qualitative research. Qualitative Research Methods Series, Vol. 20. Newberry Park: Sage.

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Subjects vs. Informants vs. Stakeholders

• Usually, Subjects are the object of quantitative study. We manipulate, experiment and assign variables to evaluate during quantitative study.

• Informants can be used in either quantitative or qualitative studies. Informants are the people you go to for informed information and access to others for more informatin (Doc – Whyte).

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Subjects vs. Informants vs. Stakeholders

• Informants

• Stakeholder is a qualitative word we use to show respect and deference for the people we interview. Stakeholder denotes that both of us – the person we are receiving information from as well as ourselves – both have a stake in what is happening during the process of study. It also shows the premise of qualitative studies that denies the quantitative position of neutrality, lack of bias and objectivity.

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Stakeholder Definitions• Stakeholder (person holding the bet of someone)

People who will be affected by the project or can influence it but who are not directly involved with doing the project work. Examples are Managers affected by the project, Process Owners, People who work with the process under study, Internal departments that support the process, customers, suppliers, and financial department.

Alternative definition:People who are (or might be) affected by any action taken by an organization. Examples are: Customers, owners, employees, associates, partners, contractors, suppliers, related people or located near by.

Alternative definition:Any group or individual who can affect or who is affected by achievement of a firm's objectives.

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Theory

• A theory is just a model of the universe, or a restricted part of it, and a set of rules that relate quantities in the model to observations that we make. It exists only in our minds and does not have any other reality (whatever that might mean).

• Steven Hawkins, A Brief History of Time, 1996.

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• According to Stephen Hawking in A Brief History of Time, "a theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations." He goes on to state, "any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis; you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the result will not contradict the theory. On the other hand, you can disprove a theory by finding even a single repeatable observation that disagrees with the predictions of the theory."

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• Theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on the context and their methodologies. In common usage, people use the word "theory" to signify "conjecture", "speculation", or "opinion." In this sense, "theories" are opposed to "facts" — parts of the world, or claims about the world, that are real or true regardless of what people think. (consensus – DSM??)

• In science, a theory is a proposed description, explanation, or model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theory which explains why the apple behaves so is the current theory of gravitation.

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Theories, hypotheses, and intellectual puzzles

• Qualitative research is engaged in the search for ideas and answers to an intellectual puzzle, rather than to prove hypotheses.

• As our answers are placed into categories, and comparisons we can begin the process of theory building.

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• Qualitative researchers attempt to understand meanings that people give to their deeds or to social phenomena. Qualitative researchers try to see people from the inside. For example, when conducting interviews with users of a residential treatment facility (RTF) for children with emotional problems, one would be obtaining personal views of how the children feel about their ordinary lives in the house, i.e., how do they think of staying, what sort of limitations do they have while in this residence, how do they deal with conflicts with workers and other children, or what rules cover their human relations? Such questions would be very interesting for counselors who want to improve care from the viewpoints of the users (Stakeholders).

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Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a suggested explanation of a phenomenon or reasoned proposal suggesting a possible correlation between multiple phenomena. The term is derived from the ancient Greek, hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose." A scientific hypothesis must be testable and generally will be based upon previous observations or extensions of scientific theories.

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• a hypothesis refers to a provisional idea whose merit needs evaluation

• Propositions may come in the form of an assertion of a correlation between, or among, two or more things, but without asserting that there is necessarily a cause and effect relationship, e.g.: "When A changes, so does B." Or, a proposition may take the form of asserting a causal relationship (e.g., "A causes B"). An example of a proposition that often but not necessarily involves an assertion of causation is: If a particular independent variable is changed there also a change in a certain dependent variable. This is also known as an "If and Then" statement, whether or not it asserts a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

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• OK, now that you are all asleep after going through all that boring old philosophical stuff that doctoral programs are made of, let’s move on to the real stuff….enough of this “smart doctoral stuff!!”

• Let’s talk about…..ME!!

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• My first experiences – data from surveys – “other” category.

• First surveys – crude use of categorizing data – Data are textual not numericMentor’s interest and a course in qualitative research

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Cheri Erdman’s work – Nothing to Lose

• Ethnographic work of large women who have made a place for themselves, and are healthy.

• Debunks the traditional methods

• Starts with a personal statement

• Interviews several women

• Looks for common themes

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My qualitative resume• Edwards, J.K. (1987). Continuity and orchestration of after care services to

disturbed children: From residential treatment to adoptive home. Journal of Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 4,4,53-67. (Single Case Studies)

• Edwards, J.K. (1991). The use and administration of family therapy in residential treatment for older adolescents: Demographics, family contacts and therapy parameters, and ideographic responses- A national survey. Journal of Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 9, 55-73.

• Edwards, J.K. (1991). The Relationship Between the Use of Family Therapy in Children’s Residential Treatment Facilities and Length of Treatment. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Northern Illinois University.

• Edwards, J.K., & Nejedlo, R.J. (1993). Family Counseling in Children’s Residential Treatment. Illinois Association for Counseling and Development, Quarterly, 131, 2-20.

• Edwards, J.K. (1994). Children in residential treatment: How many, what kind ? Do we really know ? In G. Northrup (Ed.), Applied Research in

Residential Treatment, New York: Haworth Press.

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• Isham, J., Pistorio, C., & Edwards, J.K. (1995). An Initial Survey of Marriage and Family Therapy Education and Training in Illinois. Illinois Association for Counseling and Development, Quarterly, 140, 2-10.

• Edwards, J.K., and Pyskoty, C. (2003). Clinical Training Needs of Illinois Counselors: A Survey of Internship Sites. Illinois Counseling

Association, The Quarterly.

• Edwards, J.K. (2003). Beginning on-line delphi ethnographic research: The bolder method. The Qualitative Review, 8, (2), 257-285. Retrieved [insert date here], from

http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR8-2/Edwards.pdf

• Edwards, J.K., White, L., Chen, M.W., & Bradley, D. (manuscript in preparation). Narrative/Postmodern Psychotherapy In a Managed Care World: An Electronic Qualitative Delphi Study

• Scheurer, JA., Edwards, J.K. (manuscript in preparation). The Coping Mechanisms of Sexual Abuse Survivors: A Qualitative Study.

• Edwards, J.K., Murata, A.K., & Giblin, N. (in process). Using the Multi-Generational Family Genogram as a Tool to Discover

How Cultural Traumas Influence Families.

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Clinical Training Needs of Illinois Counselors: A Survey of Internship Sites

Jeffrey K. Edwards, Ed.D., LMFTCharlene E. Pyskoty, M.A., M.P.H.

• Qualitative Data• An open-ended question asked: “What other skills or

knowledge do you believe are important for the interns who are placed at your site to have prior to their beginning?” This provided over 390 pieces of data to further understand what students might need prior to internship.

• Data were coded into 14 primary (open) codes (see Table 2), and two of those primary codes were broken down further into subcodes. It is clear that many sites are very specialized and would want to have interns made to order. There is also a good deal of need from specific sites to have second-level or advanced counseling skills and experience.

•

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Clinical Training Needs of Illinois Counselors: Continued

• According to the qualitative data, there are job-related skills that need more attention. For instance, training in areas related to work with children and families, domestic violence, and the needs of special populations were mentioned. One specialty that seems to stand out is substance abuse treatment.

• “Greater concern from site supervisors, however, seems to be situated with a student’s ability to work as a teammate. Sites also want students who are not only skilled as trained counselors, but as people who have maturity and good character. Comments ranged from ‘self starters,’ ‘patience,’ ‘positive job attitude,’ ‘confident,’ and ‘good work ethic,’ to ‘ability to set boundaries,’ ‘adaptable,’ ‘good intentions,’ ‘creative,’ and ‘good self-care’” (p. 9).

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Edwards, J.K., White, L., Chen, M.W., & Bradley, D. (unpublished manuscript). Narrative/Postmodern Psychotherapy In a Managed Care World: An Electronic Qualitative Delphi Study.

Steinglass’s editorial on Family Therapy’s Future, (Family Process, 1996), reported that “Narrative approaches to family therapy have surely captured the imagination and interest in our field, reflected in the fact that manuscripts about these approaches represent the largest group of submissions to our journal these days.” (p. ). Within the short time span of five years, Nichols and Schwartz (2001) wrote that the narrative model “dominates family therapy” (p. 387).  

Hallmarks of a postmodern /narrative therapy usually include a non pathologizing stance, the flattening of hierarchy, and a collaborative or co-constructed therapy experience, as opposed to the modernist, traditional medically modeled therapies (Edwards & Chen, 1999). To a postmodern/narrative therapist, the person isn’t the problem, the problem is, and they argue that “too often clients aren’t heard because therapists are doing therapy to them rather than with them” (Nichols and Schwartz, 2001, p.205). In addition, modernist therapists are usually essentialists believing that there is a core to each human being, while postmodernists see people as evolving and changing according to the context with which they interact (Gergen, 2000 ).

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Where as Narrative and Postmodern therapies may be prime forms of psychotherapy being practiced by family therapists today, managed care with it’s emphasis on cost containment and Empirically Supported Treatments (EST’s) have also become prominent and mostly mandated (c s both Duncan, 2001, and Simon, 2001 for competing views.

Our Intellectual PuzzleManaged Care has created problems for many

forms of psychotherapy. For instance, it has been reported that Psychodynamic therapies have experienced great distress with regard to basic concepts such as who makes the decisions regarding the treatment protocols, the length of treatment, and the primacy of the doctor/patient relationship (Barron, & Sands, 1996). Postmodern and Narrative therapies, new as they are, may be having the same sort of problems staying vibrant and viable, under this regime.

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A number of constraints, under managed care such as greater accountability and shorter duration or dose of treatment among agencies have come into being of late. Hallmarks of managed care are greater control of case outcome by a party other than the client or therapist, thus cost containment by shortening of services provided. With that being the case, we wondered first, how those who are using these concepts and practices of care are adapting, changing, and faring today, and second, if their theoretical ideas of “therapy” have changed within the scope of their practice by any by these constraints. Additionally, our questions ponder if postmodern ideas and approaches are used less, as the need for practitioners to stay alive gives way to the pragmatics and mainstream ideas of diagnosis and pathologically oriented treatment. Finally, what creative methods are these practitioners using to integrate postmodern ideas into clinical work given the real time constraints today?

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Scheurer, JA., (2002). The Coping Mechanisms of Sexual Abuse Survivors: A Qualitative Study. Unpublished Masters Thesis. Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL.

• Purpose of the Study• The purpose of this study was to discover the

coping mechanisms of adults who were sexually abused as children. In looking at the dynamics of their condition, asking the participants themselves, and viewing the narratives of their stories, a review for possible new techniques or further generation of hypothesis developed the fundamental goal. What coping mechanisms are being used and which ones may lead us to new paths of discovery was the focus for this researcher.

• Research Question• The research question was: during the abuse and

after the abuse, while in the process of recovery; what were your most difficult times and how did you find the strength to go on?

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Edwards, J.K., Murata, A.K., & Giblin, N. (in process). Using the Multi-Generational Family Genogram as a Tool to Discover How Cultural Traumas Influence Families.

During the fall of 2004 one of us (Edwards), as usual, required students in his Introduction to Family Counseling class to research their family of origin by constructing a Multi-Generational Genogram, and then write a reaction paper (see Appendix A for a Genogram Template).

Genograms, a family therapy technique for uncovering generational patterns, are used to see how their family of origin (McGoldrick & Gerson, 1985) influences a family’s current functioning. Psychiatrist Murray Bowen, whose theory of family dynamics was based on the concept of intergenerational transmission, first pioneered the use of the Genogram. The diagram of the family provides a schematic that can be used to understand the behaviors and world-views that families pass on, like the need to be strong, or the importance of education. This interesting theory of the creation of context is fundamental to both systems thinking and to family therapy. Intergenerational transmission describes how world views -- patterns, such as child rearing practices, beliefs about relationships, religion, personal rights and responsibilities, if the world is a safe or fearful place, and how you deal with emotions -- are all related to family rules passed down through generations (Bowen, 1977).

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During the class mentioned above two of the students’ papers included information that had unique and interesting information that related to severe emotional experiences which had occurred generations ago, but were currently providing what they both described as interesting outcomes they attributed to these “cultural” events. One woman described how constructing her Genogram helped her see how her family was still in the throws of an emotional detachment she attributed to her family losing members during the holocaust. Another woman described how her experience in constructing the genogram filled her with a new sense of belonging to American history, as she saw the effects of her family’s enslavement to plantation owners, a most interesting outcome to a cultural traumatic event, to be sure. She felt not rage or anger, but national belonging!

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We knew of at least three groups where there was cultural traumas -- recently increased to four -- that could potentially be mined (data gathering) researched and evaluated; 1) the slavery of African Americans in America (Cross, 2003; Jenkins, 2001; Ruef & Fletcher, 2003), 2) the Holocaust for Jews (Kaslow, 2000; Kellermann, 2001; Koren-Karie, Sagi-Schwartz, & Joels, 2003; Sagi-Schwartz et al., 2003; Tauber & van der Hal, 1998; van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Sagi-Schwartz, 2003; Weiss & Weiss, 2000), 3) the internment of the Japanese during the Second World War (Asakawa, 2003; Hayashi, 1995; Kleinman & Kleinman, 1997; Mass, 1986; Nagata, 1993; Tateishi, 1999; Yoshiko Uchida, 1998), and 4) the re-situation of Native American tribes onto reservations ((Abadian, 2000; Beauvais, 1992; List, 1997; Nebelkopf, & Phillips, 2004; Yurchak, 2004). A cursory look at the abstracts for this literature shows that there is ample evidence for trauma to be present and resultant from the events that are in question. It is hoped that the use of Genogram can both trace and document the progressions and iterations of the family transmissions for each group.

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Intellectual PuzzleWe are interested in understanding, if, as well as

how, a Multi-Generational Genogram could be used as an impetus for gathering and documenting ethnographic textual data of a cultural trauma to a family, and also if there are similarities of the data among and between the different cultural trauma victims.

Methodology• This study will be a multiple venued (theses)

phenomenological qualitative project using Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) as the basis of our data evaluation. Ary, Cheser-Jacobs & Razavieh (1996), in their comparison between quantitative and qualitative research point out a different methodological assumption between the two.

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• The subject matter of the human sciences being fundamentally different from the natural sciences, a different set of methods for investigation should always be considered. Several of the characteristics of qualitative research are pertinent to the present work: 1) Qualitative design looks at relationships within a system or culture, 2) Qualitative design refers to the personal, face to face, and immediate, 3) Qualitative design demands that the researcher develop a model of what occurred in the social setting, 4) Qualitative design requires the researcher to become the research instrument, 5) Qualitative design incorporates informed consent decisions and is responsive to ethical concerns, and 6) Qualitative design requires ongoing analysis of the data (Ary, Cheser-Jacobs, Razavieh, 1996, p. 477-478).

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Two ways of knowing – exercise.

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How can you know about the people in this class? One way is by making some assumptions and testing them out, and the other is by having an open-ended question – an intellectual puzzle, and asking questions.

• Both ways gather data, but the data is different.Let’s do that with this class now. First, what sort of intellectual puzzle might we have about this class – what are you curious about that pertains to the people in this class?

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• NPR – Public Radio – a great source of hearing one-on-one interesting interviews about intellectual puzzles. Check it out!!

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Field Assignment # 1Key Words

• FIRST FIELD ASSIGNMENT: Participant Observation• “The Starbucks Experience”• You are to make a descriptive observation in a public setting - somewhere

that people congregate easily with open access. Some examples of settings are: a coffee house, park, zoo, or public transportation waiting room. Ideally, the setting should be somewhere you haven't spent a lot of time. In selecting a setting to observe, please keep in mind issues of safety as well as consideration for others. You must clear your choice with me before you begin observing. You should observe for at least one hour.

• At the beginning of your visit make a "grand tour" observation, and then proceed with continuous observation with ad libitum (repeated or at random) sampling as your method. Work on sharpening your observation skills, and for the first 10 minutes don't take any notes. Instead concentrate on seeing, hearing, smelling, and noticing as much as possible. If the setting is familiar to you, try to "see" things you might not normally notice. Once you start taking notes, jot down words and phrases that will help you remember what you see and hear; try to develop your own shorthand. Be careful not to spend so much time writing that you stop observing. After the observation time is finished, fill out your notes with more details as needed. Do this soon - memories fade quickly.

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Field Assignment # 1Key Words

• Later, at home or somewhere away from the field, type a 3 to 5 single-spaced typed pages of "expanded field notes". As in all future assignments type notes on the left hand side, giving yourself about 2 inches of space on the right hand side. Give the reader a "feel" for the place. Describe the setting and what "goes on" there - who are the people in the setting, what are they doing there? How are they interacting with one another? When making such statements, tell us what criteria you're using - how you think you know. (e.g. if you say there's "mostly young professionals", or "mostly students" there, tell us what cues you are using (clothing, what they're carrying, conversations overheard, etc.).

• Finally, write a 1 to 3 page "critique" of your field experience. In this you should include such things as your feelings about your role as an observer, what techniques you found effective in making and recording your observation, what obstacles or difficulties you experienced, and what you might do differently if you were to repeat the exercise. Think about some aspect of your observation that might be interesting to investigate further, and briefly describe how you might go about doing a more focused observation in the same or a similar setting. (Spradley's descriptive question matrix may be helpful for generating ideas). You will turn in your "raw" field notes, your expanded field notes, and your critique in two weeks.

• We will be sharing and critiquing each others field notes and expanded field notes in class, so make enough copies for the whole class and your instructor/

• (This protocol, and several of those that follow, have been modified from those used by Dr. Nadine Peacock, UIC Community Public Health program, 1999).

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Classroom Practice

• Try to be a participant observer know. Take a few moments to do a Grand Tour, then begin to notice what is happening in the room, with the people around, outside, etc. What are you sensing, feeling, experiencing, and what can you begin to know or hypothesis about this room. Write brief notes.