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Modes of Thinking for Qualitative Data Analysis
Modes of Thinking for Qualitative Data Analysis argues for engagement with the conceptual underpinnings of five prominent analytical strategies used by qualitative Categorical Thinking, Narrative Thinking, Dialectical Thinking, Poetical Thinking, and Diagrammatical Thinking. By presenting such disparate modes of research in the space of a single text, Freeman not only draws attention to the distinct methodological and theoretical contributions of each, she also establishes a platform for choosing among particular research strategies by virtue of their strengths and limitations. Experienced qualitative researchers, novices, and graduate students from many disciplines will gain new insight from the theory-practice relationship of analysis advanced in this text.
154 pages, Paperback
Published April 28, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 3, 2021
This was not an entirely unhelpful book in regards to navigating qualitative analytic methods. However, if you want to understand why the intellectual environment in the United States has taken the turn it has over the last 20-30 years, then just read this book. The author quotes the likes of Friedrich Engels, who she identifies merely as a "political theorist," and Michel Foucault without providing any background as to the ideological motivations with which these men wrote.
As an educator, she does a disservice to her students by treating writers like Engels, Foucault, and others as nothing more than disinterested observers of human behavior that employ methods of qualitative analysis in order to get to the bottom of things. Perhaps she just assumes that her students already understand these writers' ideological backgrounds and expects them to accept them as given, if not preferred, as orientations for social research.
And therein lies the problem. Without explicitly saying it, this book presents qualitative social science research as a project of the political left. That doesn't mean I think this is, in and of itself, a bad thing. People are free to pursue research from whatever ideological position they choose. That is, after all, the source and fodder of debate within a free society. What I find problematic is how this book presents the task of qualitative research without even acknowledging any other point of view.
One of the fundamental ethical requirements in qualitative studies is for the researcher to be open and transparent about their own ideological and political motivations. This book--like a lot of the qualitative research that's published--fails on this account. Qualitative research is not only about disrupting normative spaces and seeking revolutionary conceptions of society. It certainly can be about those things, but presenting those motives as objective and neutral methods for the tasks of social science is misleading and false. I'm not saying researchers ought not or cannot have an agenda--they certainly can and, in many cases, should. What I am saying is that when they do have such an agenda, they should state it openly in clear terms. This book does not do that. Rather than being explicit about the author's (and her sources') ideological orientation, it leaves it up to the reader to figure it out through implication.
As an educator, she does a disservice to her students by treating writers like Engels, Foucault, and others as nothing more than disinterested observers of human behavior that employ methods of qualitative analysis in order to get to the bottom of things. Perhaps she just assumes that her students already understand these writers' ideological backgrounds and expects them to accept them as given, if not preferred, as orientations for social research.
And therein lies the problem. Without explicitly saying it, this book presents qualitative social science research as a project of the political left. That doesn't mean I think this is, in and of itself, a bad thing. People are free to pursue research from whatever ideological position they choose. That is, after all, the source and fodder of debate within a free society. What I find problematic is how this book presents the task of qualitative research without even acknowledging any other point of view.
One of the fundamental ethical requirements in qualitative studies is for the researcher to be open and transparent about their own ideological and political motivations. This book--like a lot of the qualitative research that's published--fails on this account. Qualitative research is not only about disrupting normative spaces and seeking revolutionary conceptions of society. It certainly can be about those things, but presenting those motives as objective and neutral methods for the tasks of social science is misleading and false. I'm not saying researchers ought not or cannot have an agenda--they certainly can and, in many cases, should. What I am saying is that when they do have such an agenda, they should state it openly in clear terms. This book does not do that. Rather than being explicit about the author's (and her sources') ideological orientation, it leaves it up to the reader to figure it out through implication.
March 4, 2019
"I am also sure that when considering their [modes of thinking] applicability to your own research you found yourself drawn to some aspects of each, while discarding others" (p. 116). There were sections of this book that resonated with me and sections that certainly didn't. I also found insightful the few pages that discussed writing as a qualitative researcher--I wish more time would have been devoted to that chapter as a whole.
"Writing, like analysis, is made up of false starts, careful thinking, narrow and broad wanderings, and untraceable leaps of imagination. There is no right way to go about doing and no guides for when to end" (p. 124).
"Writing, like analysis, is made up of false starts, careful thinking, narrow and broad wanderings, and untraceable leaps of imagination. There is no right way to go about doing and no guides for when to end" (p. 124).
November 4, 2024
Excellent book for anyojne interested in Qualitative Research
This book was wonderful. It has helped me redirect a lot of what I plan to present in my dissertation defense as it allows me to pinpoint how my thinking changes and evolves considering the different aspects of context I am discussing. Recommended to anyone coinsdering doing a QUAL study for their dissertation, and certainly as an excellent reference to qualitative researchers for various prspectives of what can be worked with.
This book was wonderful. It has helped me redirect a lot of what I plan to present in my dissertation defense as it allows me to pinpoint how my thinking changes and evolves considering the different aspects of context I am discussing. Recommended to anyone coinsdering doing a QUAL study for their dissertation, and certainly as an excellent reference to qualitative researchers for various prspectives of what can be worked with.
May 27, 2017
Great text for qualitative data analysis. Very accessible and easy to understand.
April 17, 2023
Lol, this book means a lot to me, totally open the door to qualitative research for an amateur like me. I really have beautiful curses when immersing in this book =))))).
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews