KWALON - Volume 20, Issue 3, 2015

Editorial

This editorial offers an introduction to the current issue.

Discussion on the interview as research method

In discussing the interview as a research method Evers prefers Focus Group discussions of medicine users to assess behavioural patterns, Krebbekx mentions reactions of the interviewees on the personal background of the interviewer, and De Boer discusses the social and subjective nature of the information obtained. In contrast, Smaling sees the interview as a necessary source to complete observational data and Nijhof promotes the interview for specific unknown realities like the experiences of the chronic ill.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis: more associated with the qualitative research tradition than with the quantitative approach

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is an approach that enables systematically comparing qualitative case study data. The fact that QCA borrows certain elements from quantitative methods (such as the use of Boolean algebra and the quantification of conditions and outcomes) may raise questions about the qualitative character of QCA. Based on a discussion of four criteria relating to causal analysis, we argue that QCA belongs to the qualitative research tradition. Where QCA borrows characteristics from the quantitative approach, this is only for the sake of a qualitative objective: to better understand the conditions underlying a particular outcome or phenomenon.

Soccer fans as imagined community?

Football fandom in Germany is said to unite people who, outside of football, do not have much contact: it creates imagined communities. To study how that works, I carried out anthropological fieldwork among fans of Borussia Dortmund. While interviews and observations initially confirmed the presence of an imagined bond among the fans, later on I observed many cleavages between the fans, based on socio-economic and ideological factors. Other than celebratory high points of football matches, it appears that the imagined community does not transcend such cleavages. It shows that fanhood is a partial identity marker, which is ultimately weaker than identification with the direct community of family and other significant others.

Under the surface of everyday care. On the development of an underwater screen, an instrument that identifies institutional influences on the everyday care relationship

In our qualitative research project we look at the everyday interactions between young people with a mild intellectual disability and their caregivers, and we are interested in the institutional impact on the everyday dealings. We have developed an analysis tool that helps to identify these institutional influences. In addition, we have used the research methodology institutional ethnography. This tool also offers opportunities for other areas of research, because it sensitizes the researchers for the ruling relations that shape the everyday interaction between people.

Review

In this contribution the authors review Action research in nursing and healthcare by G.R. Williamson, L. Bellman and J. Webster.

Review

In this contribution the authors review An introduction to qualitative research by Uwe Flick.

Review

In this contribution the author reviews Qualitative methodology, a practical guide edited by Jane Mills and Melanie Birks.

Review

In this contribution the author reviews Researching organizations: The practice of organizational fieldwork by Matthew Jones.

Review

In this contribution the author reviews Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing by Max van Manen.

Review

In this contribution the author reviews Understanding social research: Thinking creatively about method by Jennifer Mason & Angela Dale.

Review

In this contribution the author reviews Kwalitatieve analyse: kunst én kunde by Jeanine Evers.

Datum: vrijdag 11 december 2015Tijd: 13.00-18.00Plaats: hoofdgebouw Vrije Universiteit, AmsterdamZaal: Lecture Hall 10A-33Toegang: € 25,-Aanmelden via: www.kwalon.nl