Observing an animal
6/23/13
No amount of time can erase the memory
of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur
from your couch. ~Leo Dworken
Writing
about my cat…I think and talk about my cat, but I have never written about my
cat. He really is the best pet I have ever had. Since before I have clear
memories, I have lived with pets. I have known wonderful pets, dogs and cats
that have been a joy to live with and care for but this pet has been the best.
I could have told hours of stories from all the experiences we have had with
him in our home that have brought us laughter and happiness. From thinking
about how to describe him for an audience, about what to say to show how I see
and feel his presence in my life, I learned that years of writing papers in the
third person, technical writing and business writing, has made it difficult to
bring my experiences to a reader in any form but dry. It took some effort to express myself using the word ‘I’. I
have written recommendation letters or complaint responses that required the
occasional ‘I’, but these are relatively impersonal. Writing about a subject I am
involved with and care about was much more challenging.
As
a qualitative researcher, I would not always be apart from the subjects and the
stories they shared would at least in part come from what I as a participant in
the conversation could elicit. This idea is at odds with the quantitative
approach, where the researcher acts as the observer and minimizes interaction
to minimize opportunity for bias. This will be a new way of thinking and will
require some real, creative effort at understanding. I don’t read much qualitative research,
preferring the reassurance of p
values and confidence intervals. For the next observation, I will seek out and
read at least a few qualitative studies on a topic that I have read
quantitative research on and see what more there is to gather when the subjects
speak rather than just letting the numbers do the talking.
Note.
From “Research methods: Quantitative vs. qualitative comic strip” by Bartley,
Davis, & Rambler, 2009, retrieved from http:// http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmulkCjHqqw
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