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When a cigar is not just a cigar: alternative takes on data and data analysis
1School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Research in Nursing & Health
|April 12, 2011
Summary
Qualitative research data offers multiple interpretations, influenced by researchers' interpretive skills. A broader repertoire enhances understanding and accounts for diverse data perspectives, regardless of research method.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Research Methodology
Background:
- Qualitative research acknowledges data's interpretive flexibility.
- The dependence of this flexibility on researchers' interpretive repertoires is less explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how researchers' interpretive repertoires influence data interpretation.
- To challenge conventional distinctions between research methods and analysis types.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of qualitative research principles.
- Literature review on interpretive flexibility and researcher repertoires.
Main Results:
- Interpretive flexibility is significantly shaped by the breadth of researchers' interpretive repertoires.
- The distinction between valid and invalid interpretations is blurred by interpretive flexibility.
Conclusions:
- Researcher's interpretive repertoire is key to understanding varied data perspectives.
- Focusing on researchers' interpretive capacity, not just methods, advances research quality.
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