METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES AND PRACTICES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

This article considers some methodological issues that arise when empi rical inquiry is conducted within the framework of qualitative assumpt ions about the nature of reality and how we as humans can know it. The se assumptions posit an empirical reality that is complex, intertwined , best understood as a contextual whole, and inseparable from the indi viduals-including the researchers-who know that reality. Four primary issues are considered in this article: the researcher as interpreter; the emergent nature of qualitative research; understanding the experie nce of others; and trustworthiness in qualitative research. Further, t he article discusses methodological practices that have arisen in the context of qualitative assumptions and issues. The practices described are drawn from diverse qualitative research traditions, including par ticipant observation, naturalistic inquiry, grounded theory, hermeneut ic approaches to the interpretation of texts (and actions as texts), q ualitative evaluation, and a body of methodological literature that ca lls itself generically ''qualitative research.'' The goals of the arti cle are threefold: (1) to present the internal rationale of qualitativ e research as issues and practices that arise within the context of as sumptions about reality and what we can know about it; (2) to encourag e researchers to examine the relevance of qualitative assumptions, iss ues, and practices to their own research problems; and (3) to point re aders toward more detailed discussions of qualitative research.