Construct And Interpret

Let’s revisit a diagram from the first Handbook in Collection 3 that shows how research methods are organized and grouped. This time, all the various levels are filled out for qualitative research.

While the concepts of ontology and epistemology are abstract, philosophical ideas, it’s helpful to understand how they affect qualitative research. Instead of defining these concepts, let’s look at how two ideas, constructivism and interpretivism, directly affect your qualitative research. (Check out this resource to learn more).

First constructivism. Qualitative research works under the notion that the “truth” is constructed. You can think of the “truth” as the most accurate answer to your qualitative research questions, while constructed means that that answer must be created, not observed or recorded. There isn’t one objective version or interpretation of the “truth,” but multiple. (You can read more here.)

To understand how people construct meaning for their lives, you have to interpret that meaning.  Let’s look at an example: below is a single comment taken from a company’s “Leave a comment” survey. There’s also two different interpretations — from two different researchers — of what the commenter means or is implying with their comment.

Did one of those interpretations resonate with you? Did they both feel “wrong?” No matter what you feel, your interpretations are technically “correct.” Even with the smallest pieces of information, you’re able to interpret that comment and understand the underlying intention or meaning.

With time and practice, you can become skilled at recognizing and interpreting what someone means. You can think of yourself as becoming more “sensitive” as a qualitative researcher when this happens.

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Qualitative Sensitivity

In quantitative research, you create an instrument – like a survey tool – to collect data for you. In qualitative research, you are the instrument that’s collecting data. As a qualitative instrument, you can be more or less sensitive. If you’re more sensitive, you’re good at picking up non-obvious, implicit, or latent meaning from what someone says or does.

In qualitative research, you are the instrument that’s collecting data.

It doesn’t mean you become Sherlock Holmes, the famous English detective, and predict what someone will say or do next. But you can become better at interpreting what someone means from their “inside” (emic) perspective.

Below are some strategies you can use to become a better qualitative instrument (many of these strategies are covered in this handbook, later on, or inside a guide).

Strategies to Increase Qualitative Sensitivity

• Practicing reflexive thinking (read more below)
• Remaining neutral when collecting data
• Building rapport with participants (read more in this topic)
• Learning from multiple sites, cases, or locations
• Learning from diverse participants (across variables or populations)
• Studying questions in someone’s “natural” or “everyday” context or spending prolonged time in the relevant context
• Taking thick, right descriptive notes (read more in this topic)
• Using member-checks (read more in this topic)
• Recording post-session voice summaries or memos (read more in this topic)

There are a few guides for some of these strategies, but let’s take a look at a critical strategy to increase your sensitivity when running qualitative research: reflexivity.

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Reflexivity: Awareness of You(r Influence)

Let’s start with an awkward, uncomfortable example: imagine that you’re a loud, talkative, male, older, extroverted researcher interviewing someone who’s female, younger, quieter and introverted. Your study is about a sensitive topic, such as sex or religion. Over the course of the interview, the participant stays very quiet, giving brief examples. In your mind, you consciously assume that this participant isn’t very informative and wrap up the interview early.

Now step back. You might think this seems like a common occurrence. But ask yourself this: was the participant actually uninformative or did the researcher not allow space for the participant to tell their story? What this fictional researcher didn’t do was practice reflexive thinking during or after the interview.

When you’re aware of your influence on your research, you’re practicing something known as reflexivity. This is when you're recognizing how your unique lens on the world, actions, and personality affect the quality and “truthfulness” of your data and findings. It’s an active process of reflecting and minimizing your biasing influence on a study. And make no mistake, your involvement in any qualitative study leads to some amount of influence on your participants.

Humans are social creatures. You learn socially and are influenced by your peers and those around you. But during qualitative research, you need to manage that influence. Or at least, become aware of your influence on your participants to understand how it may be biasing your data.

Who you are and how you act can greatly influence the data you collect.

Reflexive thinking can be incredibly intimate. You first have to understand yourself if you want to understand your participants fully. What angers you? What dreams are you chasing? What’s real and important to you? All these ideas and emotions, you bring with you into every qualitative study.

When someone says or does something you don’t agree with, your goal is to be mindful of the cognitive dissonance and continue with a session. You don’t react or antagonize participants when you’re uncomfortable but let them speak their truth.

Reflexive thinking can also mean an understanding of yourself. How aware are you of the fleeting, barely recognizable thoughts in your head? What do you think about others? Are you aware that the thoughts and beliefs about the people around you could be wrong, skewed, or biased?

Reflexive thinking matters in quantitative research too.

While you can get a closer look in the next Handbook, it’s important to know that you should also practice reflexive thinking in your quantitative research. In your surveys, you ask only a handful of questions with a limited number of response options.

How do you know if your questions themselves are biasing or influencing each respondent? Or when you use specific language or terms, does each respondent understand what you mean? Are you unintentionally excluding a certain type of person or community? Regardless of your study’s nature, you need to be aware of your influence across every phase of any study you run.

A great place to start practicing reflexive thinking is by journaling. To be efficient, you can - and should - have a section in your analysis journal strictly for reflexive thinking on a per-study basis. You’ll realize from study to study how different thoughts, opinions, or beliefs of yours are challenged or strengthened.

Guide 11: Using an Analysis Journal

Below are topics or questions to help you practice reflexive thinking. They’re generic but the provided resources at the bottom can help expand what you choose to ask yourself.

Starting Reflexive Topics to Reflect and Journal in Your Analysis Journal

• Your demographics, personal history, and experiences (relative to your participants)
• Your relationship, proximity, or past knowledge about your participants
• Your attitudes, opinions, or beliefs about your study topic
• Your thoughts about how your specific study/approach can impact your data or findings
• Your expectations or anxieties about the data you'll collect, the things you'll learn, or the participants you'll interact with

There isn’t a correct or perfect way to practice reflexivity or journal about it. But not practicing reflexive thinking is the wrong thing to do.  Be in the habit of regularly writing reflexive thoughts in your analysis journal. Without the thoughtful and regular reflection of you and your influence, you might arrive at skewed findings or miss out on important insights.

For a closer look at reflexivity, check out this article or this one. You’ll notice in these articles all come from the personal viewpoint of a qualitative researcher, as they should. Different kinds of reflexivity are also listed in the search below for additional reading.

When you use those strategies, you make it more likely that you’re conducting “good” qualitative research. But what does “good” qualitative research look like?