Naturalism

Naturalism

You might well have asked how it is possible for one researcher to know what is happening or has happened in a certain situation – he or she has only one set of eyes and ears. A classic problem in qualitative research is the ‘elsewhere’ syndrome – a constant feeling that the important business is happening somewhere other than where the researcher is. Even in the situation where one is, one has to choose a focus. The basis for the selection is not always made clear. Would different researchers choose different foci? Would they see different things in the same foci? Representations of reality in these matters always involve some kind of selection and interpretation. One can guard against abuse of this fact by:

Being aware of it, and making one’s selection a principled one, as far as that is possible (for example by appropriate sampling – see later);

Making reasonable claims in the research report;

Making the bases of one’s selections and methods clear, and including some biographical information about the researcher. Seen like this, the researcher is not some faultless, detached recorder of an absolute truth, but a participant in the research process.