질적 / 후기 실증주의 연구작업에서 고려해야 할 방법적 이슈들 = Methodic Issues in Qualitatitive / Postpositivist Research

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

As a qualitative research methodologist, I suggest and discuss four methodic issues or ideas as minimum guidelines that qualitative researchers are advised to apply to their research work. I believe that reading these four issues will help Korean qualitative researchers to first, develop an overview of how to legitimatize a qualitative research work methodologically and second, to see to what direction theorization of ㅂ ㄱ qualitative research is progressing. The four methodic issues to be discussed here are as follows : (1) issues of validity ; (2) self-reflectivity ; (3) ethics ; (4) alternative writing styles The first methodic issue/procedure in qualitative research is validity. Unlike the traditions of quantitative/positivists research paradingms, the necessity and legitimacy of usefulness of validity in social science research are continuously questioned in qualitative research. Furthermore, claims for warranting validity are differently framed. Among many turbulent ideas on new standards of validity for qualitative research, Lincoln and Guba`s trustworthiness criteria and Lather`s scheme seem to be well accepted. I suggest four research activities as requirements for warranting trustworthiness of qualitative research : (1) triangulation; (2) members check ; (3) progressive subjectivity ; (4) catharsis validity The second methodic issue is self-reflectivity. It means that a qualitative researcher need to reflect what kinds of his/her subjectivities may influence the whole course of the research. The revelation of the researcher`s subjectivity must work not as the limitation of the research but as the resource for having a better understanding on how the data/interpretation/results have evolved. The third methodic issue is research ethics. A distinctive goal of qualitative research is to politicize the unequal research relationships between the researcher and the researched, which hasㅂ been characterized under positivist research orientations. Thus, in addition to successful observance of the bureauratic ethical guidelines, a qualitative researcher continuously needs to think over ethical and political questions related to the participants` life, such as how the description and analysis could impact the life of the researched. The fourth methodic issue is alternative writing styles in qualitative research. A body of recent qualitative researchers has pointed out the limitation of traditional writing style and searched for the alternative/postmodern experimental writing styles. These are believed to deliver the human emotions, subjectivities, and inner experiences more colsely and effectively to readers. Under the idea of blurred genre, new writing conventions (poem, ethnographic drama, and deconstructive tales) are emerging across social science disciplines.