Kibbutzniks in the Diaspora

Appendix A: The Research Methodology

Appendix A: The Research Methodology The characteristics of the qualitative research method, in particular the "life history" branch, which is the methodological basis of this study, are described in this Appendix. The Characteristics of Qualitative Research In utilizing a qualitative approach, researchers are not attempting to verify hypotheses. They shape their concepts as the data accumulates and is analyzed. This research openness enables them to uncover factors during the reporting process which they had not thought of previously or did not know about in advance; some of these factors may in retrospect turn out to be pivotal, from the standpoint of the subject as well as of the researcher. A qualitative study is particularly appropriate when the researcher wants to understand a phenomenon, not only to explain it by formulating rules and generalizations. In other words, it is a restructuring-in the researcher's mind-of the atmosphere , moods, thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the research subjects (Sabar 1990; Goetz and LeCompte 1984). The understanding belongs to the domain of overt information gained from observing objects, behaviors, phenomena, and events; the interpretation belongs to the domain of covert information, which is not gained from open observation but rather from interviews and other introspective means. The history of qualitative research as described by Denzin and Lincoln can be divided into five periods: the traditional, 1900-1950; the modernist or golden age, 1950-1970; blurred genres, 1970-1986; the 151 152 KIBBUTZNIKS IN THE DIASPORA crisis of representation, 1986-1990; and the post-modern, 1990 to the present (Denzin and Lincoln 1993,2). The crisis of representation is a transitional period in which both quantitative and qualitative methods tried to coexist, and thus maintain the epistemological basis of classical anthropology that aimed to describe reality in writing while preserving validity and objectivity The crisis of representation arose as researchers realized that they were unable to describe human reality in a detached way, that their writing was influenced by their o\vn identity characteristics, and that at the same time, the reality they \vere studying reacted to them and changed accordingly The solution that emerged during those years was to write a narrative that cOlnbined the reality of both researcher and subjects. This is the basis for the narrative method and for the ideas of constructivism-a major epistemological element in qualitative research. Constructivism became substantiated during the post-modern period, during whicrl the main problern contended with is how a researcher can represent reality The problem is how to create a legitimate set of rules that will enable us to find out if the researcher's representation of reality is precise. Qualitative research means different things during each period. However, one can say that qualitative research is TI1ulti-method in focus and involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, and attempt to make sense of phenomena through the meanings people bring to them. It involves the use of a wide range of interconnected methodsintrospective , observational, life history, case study, historical, visual, etc.-to describe routine or extraordinary moments in people's lives in the hope of arriving at a picture of the subject matter studied. A key feature of qualitative research is its cyclic course, as well as its flexibility in formulating the research questions and the questions posed to the subjects, which are influenced by the way the study develops . In. the course of the study, preliminary research questions may become meaningless, while others that could not have occurred to the researcher in advance turn out to be important to an understanding of the phenomenon being studied. Consequently, during the research, one can formulate clear-cut problems, and quite often in its final stages, new problems and dilemmas arise that sometimes necessitate the collection of new data in the field. People-the researcher and his or her subjects-are the major tools for collecting information in work of this kind: ApPENDIX A The speakers, the listeners and the observers are subjects who, as the work is being written, are supposed to turn into objects of research and understanding. Hence, every discussion about the reliability and validity of the material extracted in field work is in fact a discussion about the researchers and their informants. eEl-Or 1992, 31) 153 In a qualitative study the researcher must try to interpret the impressions he/she has collected, experienced, and documented, as...