Chapter 2- Qualitative traditions: epistemology and ontology

Exercise:

Reading and Reviewing:

You might like to read some of the following papers, selected to illustrate the use of particular methods, or combinations of methods, and reflecting qualitative research practice in a range of disciplinary fields:

Alinejad, D. (2011) “Mapping homelands through virtual spaces: transnational embodiment and Iranian diaspora bloggers”, Global Networks, 11(1): 43-62.

Allen, L. (2009b) “The 5cm rule: biopower, sexuality and schooling”, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30(4): 443-456.

Fletcher, A.L. (2009) “Clearing the air: the contribution of frame analysis to understanding climate policy in the United States”, Environmental Politics, 18(5): 800-816.

Heikklä, R. (2011) “Matters of taste? Conceptions of good and bad taste in focus groups with Swedish-speaking Finns”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 14(1): 41-61.

Mason, J. & Muir, S. (2011) Conjuring up Traditions: Atmospheres, Eras and family Christmases, Realities at the Morgan Centre Working Paper #18
http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/realities/wps/

Miller, D. (2011) “Being called to account: understanding adolescents’ narrative identity construction in institutional contexts”, Qualitative Social Work, 19(3): 311-328.

Radcliffe, E., Lowton, K. & Morgan, M. (2013) “Co-construction of chronic illness narratives by older stroke survivors and their spouses”, Sociology of Health & Illness

Räsänen, Jenni-Mari (2012) “Producing norm talk of fact-based case recording in interviews with emergency social workers”, Qualitative Social Work, 11(1): 6-22.

Wynn, J.R. (2012) “Guides through cultural work: a methodological framework for the study of cultural intermediaries”, Cultural Sociology, 6(3): 336-350.

N.B. Some papers are more accessible than are others.  Don’t worry if this makes for challenging reading.  All of these papers are featured and discussed elsewhere in the book, so you should put your chosen papers to one side and re-visit them once you have read further chapters and are, thus, sensitized to more of the issues involved and are better equipped to judge the contribution these papers make.

Having read a few papers, you should then ask:

• How are research questions formulated?
• Which methods appear to be most popular?
• Is the focus on issues relating to practice, evaluations or theoretical concerns?
• How do authors locate their studies with reference to other qualitative work and theoretical frameworks within your discipline or sub-discipline?