Longitudinal Qualitative Research: Analyzing Change Through Time

213 Pages·2003·7.48 MB·English

by  Johnny Saldaña

Longitudinal Qualitative
Research

Longi tudinal Quali tativ e
Research
Analyzing Change through Time
Johnny Saldana
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ALTAN\IRA
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Saldana, Johnny.
Longitudinal qualitative research: analyzing change through time / Johnny Saldana.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7591-0295-3 (hardcover: alk. paper)-ISBN 0-7591-0296-1 (paperback:
alk. paper)
1. Social Sciences-Research. 2. Qualitative research. 3. Longitudinal method.
1. Title.
H62.S31862003
001.4'2-dc21 2002043908
Printed in the United States of America
Q€9 TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction Looking toward the Journey ix
Chapter 1 Longitudinal Qualitative Studies, Time, and Change 1
Chapter 2 Longitudinal Qualitative Research Design 15
Chapter 3 Longitudinal Qualitative Data Analysis 45
Chapter 4 Framing Questions 67
Chapter 5 Descriptive Questions 99
Chapter 6 Analytic and Interpretive Questions 127
Conclusion Looking Back at the Journey 157
Appendix Longitudinal Qualitative Data Summary 171
Notes 173
References 175
Index 187
About the Author 199
v

Acknowledgments
Thanks are extended to:
Tom Barone and Mary Lee Smith, my qualitative research instructors at
Arizona State University, for teaching me how to fly while keeping
both feet on the ground.
Harry F. Wolcott, whose writings and collegiality strengthen my practice
as an artist and scholar.
The National Endowment for the Arts; the Arizona Commission on the
Arts; the Arizona State University Department of Theatre, Institute for
Studies in the Arts, and Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts;
and the International Drama in Education Research Institute for their
financial support during various stages of my longitudinal studies.
Erin Dye, Carole S. Miller, and the anonymous reviewers and jurors of this
book's prospectus or manuscript for their revision recommendations.
Ted Barrington of QSR International's Research Services for his consulta
tion on NVivo qualitative data analysis software and image contribu
tions to this book.
Mitch Allen, editor, who opened the door and invited me in.
The thirty-two participants profiled in this work, who spent years with me
as I observed their changes through time.
Permission to quote from articles published in Youth Theatre Journal
granted by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. These ar
ticles are as follows. "Teamwork Is Not Just a Word: Factors Disrupting
vii
viii ~ Acknowledgments
the Development of a Departmental Group of Theatre Teachers" by
L. A. McCammon from Youth Theatre Journal (vol. 8, no. 3 [1994],
pp. 3-9). "A Quantitative Analysis of Children's Responses to Theatre
from Probing Questions: A Pilot Study" by Johnny Saldana from Youth
Theatre Journal (vol. 3, no. 4 [1989], pp. 7-17). "'Is Theatre Necessary?'
Final Exit Interviews with Sixth Grade Participants from the ASU Lon
gitudinal Study" by Johnny Saldana from Youth Theatre Journal (vol. 9
[1995], pp. 14-30). "'Significant differences' in Child Audience Re
sponse: Assertions from the ASU Longitudinal Study" by Johnny Sal
dana from Youth Theatre}ournal (vol. 10 [1996], pp. 67-83). "'Survival':
A White Teacher's Conception of Drama with Inner-City Hispanic
Youth" by Johnny Saldana from Youth Theatre Journal (vol. 11 [1997],
pp. 25-46). "Playwriting with Data: Ethnographic Performance Texts"
by Johnny Saldana from Youth Theatre Journal (vol. 13 [1999],
pp. 60-71). Copyright © American Alliance for Theatre and Educa
tion. Reprinted with permission.
Permission to quote from The Sociology of Social Change by P. Sztompka
granted by Blackwell Publishers. Copyright © 1993 by Blackwell Pub
lishing. Reprinted with permission.
Permission to quote from Grounding Grounded Theory: Guidelines for Qual
itative I1UJuiry by Ian Dey granted by Academic Press, an imprint of El
sevier Science. Copyright © 1999 by Elsevier Science. Reprinted with
permission.
Permission to quote from "What Is 'Appropriate Practice' at Home and in
Child Care? Low-Income Mothers' Views on Preparing Their Children
for School" by Holloway et al. from Early Childhood Research Quarterly
(vol. 10 [1995], pp. 451-473) granted by Elsevier Science. Copyright
© 1995 Elsevier Science. Reprinted with permission.
Permission to quote excerpts from Scared Straight! Twenty Years Later cour
tesy of Arnold Shapiro Productions. Copyright © 1999 AIMS Multi
media. Reprinted with permission.
Permission to quote from 42 Up: "Give Me the Child Until He Is Seven and
I Will Show You the Man" edited by Bennett Singer granted by The New
Press. Copyright © 1998 by The New Press. Reprinted with permission.
Introduction: Looking
toward the Journey
"The longest journey begins with a single step."
-Ancient proverb
Longitudinal Qualitative Research: Analyzing Change through TIme is recom
mended as a supplement to introductory texts in qualitative inquiry or as a
handbook for researchers conducting long-term fieldwork. This book out
lines basic concepts and recommended questions for analyzing qualitative
data collected from longitudinal studies conducted by novice researchers in
education and selected social sciences. I describe transferable methods de
veloped from my own and others' research experiences, but I also acknowl
edge that each study is context-specific and driven by its particular goals,
research questions, conceptual framework, methodology, and other matters.
I do not discuss statistical procedures for longitudinal quantitative data or
fundamental techniques of interviewing, participant observation, or docu
ment review, except when they are relevant to longitudinal qualitative data
gathering and analysis. This book also does not focus on the theoretical
macro- or mezzolevels of social process (Sztompka, 1993), or sociology's
mesodomain analysis (Hall, 1995). Instead, it focuses on micro levels of
change observed within individual cases or groups of participants.
My primary field of study is theatre education, and my research and publica
tions cover a spectrum of genres in both the traditional quantitative and quali
tative paradigms: semantic differential surveys (Saldana and Otero, 1990),
experimental research in drama (Saldana and Wright, 1996), educational
ix