Estrategias e instrumentos

The qualitative or naturalistic paradigm offers a world view that suggests there are multiple, subjective realities in existence.59 These multiple realities are not fixed but exist within a certain context and many constructions are possible.60

Understanding within a qualitative paradigm assumes that the social world does not exist independently, but is constructed by people, often under the influence of specific historical, geopolitical, and cultural factors that lead to shared

constructions.61 Human beings have the unique ability to reflect on and interpret their experiences.62 Dilthey calls the process by which we comprehend the expressions of people who live in the world (that is, their actions, gestures, behaviours) understanding.63 The systematic study of understanding in order to comprehend expressions Dilthey termed ‘interpretation’.64

Research within the qualitative paradigm endeavours to understand and interpret the lived experience of people as they exist in this world. Qualitative inquiry honors the dimensions of lived experience and human meaning, recognizing that different knowers hold different ideals and values and can construct different meanings, even in the same situation.65 As research is undertaken with people as individuals (and collections of individuals) who live in a world that is constructed from the social, political, cultural and economic contexts within which people find themselves, qualitative research enables the researcher to explore these peoples lives alongside them whilst also acknowledging that a researcher is located within the same world.66 The inquirer’s worldview becomes part of the

59 _{D.F. Polit and C.T. Beck, Essentials of Nursing Research: Methods, Appraisal, and Utilization,}

6th ed. (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2006).

60 _{Polit and Beck, Essentials of Nursing Research: Methods, Appraisal, and Utilization.} 61 _{E. Guba and Y. Lincoln, Fourth Generation Evaluation (Newbury Park, California: Sage}

Publications, 1989).; N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, "Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research," Handbook of Qualitative Research, eds. N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Incorporated, 2000).

62 _{M. Tappan, "Interpretive Psychology: Stories, Circles, and Understanding Lived Experience "}

From Subjects to Subjectivities: A Handbook of Interpretive and Participatory Methods, eds. D.L. Tolman and M. Brydon-Miller (New York: New York University Press, 2001). p.46.

63 _{H.P. Rickman, ed., Dilthey: Selected Writings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976).}

p.9.

64 _{Rickman, ed., Dilthey: Selected Writings. p.10.}

65 _{Denzin and Lincoln, "Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research."} 66 _{Denzin and Lincoln, "Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research." p.3.}

construction and representation of meaning in any particular context – researcher bias, experience, expertise and insight all become part of the meanings

constructed. In the case of this study, as a woman and mother, owner of my own and my children’s Plunket books, and user of Plunket nurse services, I cannot separate myself from the voices of my participants and acknowledge that my own voice and experiences very much inform my interpretation of the diverse sets of data that have contributed to this study.

By recognising my position in the research I acknowledge that the way in which I view and interpret the data is through a particular lense framed by my own social, cultural, political and economic experiences. Although this may not appear explicit throughout the thesis, it is my overall interpretation that is framed within this context and must be read accordingly. Further detail regarding my position specifically related to the interviewing approach utilised can be found below.

Qualitative researchers examine people in their own environment or natural setting and endeavour to interpret people’s various experiences in terms of the meanings that the people themselves bring to them.67 The terms ‘environment’ or ‘natural setting’ initially sound incongruent with oral history which listens to people’s reflections on their lives and the events that have shaped them. Although one cannot observe those activities that the participant is reflecting on personally; by the very nature of reflection, the participant is giving the researcher a glimpse into the natural setting or environment within which the participant has existed and that has shaped their lives.

Qualitative research can be divided into numerous differing perspectives and approaches. Each approach has a differing means of viewing the world and the creation of and understanding of knowledge within that world. I have outlined here some of the underlying principles of the qualitative paradigm as a means of demonstrating that the underlying principles with which this study has been undertaken are based on a world view that holds that reality is constructed by the

people who exist in that world under the influence of multiple historical, geopolitical, and cultural factors. The stories that the participants in this study have shared are their experiences of the world as they tell it. I bring to those stories my own lived reality and biases and interpret the stories in light of this. Perhaps the closest perspective to the way in which this study has been

undertaken is that of social constructionism in that what I offer is only one interpretation of a complex set of data, however, I am ever mindful of the words of Thomas Schwandt when he says:

In wrestling with the ways in which these philosophies forestructure our efforts to understand what it means to “do” qualitative inquiry, what we face is not a choice of which label – interpretivist, constructivist, hermeneuticist, or something else – best suits us. Rather, we are confronted with choices about how each of us wants to live the life of a social enquirer.68

Qualitative methods will do what a researcher asks of them. Indeed, one of the difficulties inherent in a study such as this one is the diverse and divergent sources from which data is drawn. However, one of the attributes of qualitative research is the ‘…wide range of interconnected interpretive practices…’69 _{that the}

researcher can draw upon to examine such diverse data. Taking the role of bricoleur,70 the qualitative researcher can produce a montage or bricolage – a series of representations that are woven together to create a coherent picture of a complex situation.71 This study draws on data from a wide range of sources including participant interviews, archival documents, and varying primary and secondary sources of literature. Each set of data must be analysed and then

interpreted in light of the remaining data sets. Oral history as an approach enables the qualitative researcher to utilise such diverse sets of data ensuring the differing representations within the bricolage remain true to the voice of the participants.

68 _{T.A. Schwandt, "Three Epistemological Stances for Qualitative Inquiry: Interpretivism,}

Hermeneutics, and Social Constructionism," Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. N.K. Denzin, & Lincoln, Y.S., 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2000). p.205

69 _{Denzin and Lincoln, "Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research." p.3} 70 _{For further discussion on the concept of a}

bricoleur (or ‘jack-of-all-trades’ – someone who uses

a number of non-specialised tools for a wide variety of purposes) see C. Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind (La Pensee Sauvage) (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966). and D. Weinstein and M.A. Weinstein, "Georg Simmel: Sociological Flaneur Bricoleur," Theory, Culture & Society 8 (1991).