Sarma (2015) and White and Dotson (2010) both examine the implications of the scientific turn to qualitative research. Sarma (2015) focuses on how such research is often viewed as inferior to that done from a quantitative approach. Sarma expands on this, highlighting and debunking key misconceptions regarding qualitative research such as beliefs that it is contrary to quantitative research or lacks empiricism and rigor. He finds that these unbacked misconceptions stem from researchers utilizing quantitative standards to assess qualitative research. Moreover, he argues for the usefulness of the qualitative approach and calls for it to be accepted more widely. White and Dotson (2010) discuss similar misconceptions as well as introduce their own scientific background and perceived pressure to conform to positivist and quantitative standards. They explain that such pressures lead them to engage with Afrocentric and critical feminist research and subsequently reject notions of individualism and quantitative superiority and embrace ideas of self-knowledge and politicization of the personal experience. White and Dotson praise the qualitative approach for its ability to address complex issues and understand individuals’ reasonings. They even use the approach in their study by completing narrative interviews with feminist-identified black men, with hopes to express differences among black men to illustrate how negative experiences with power can encourage them to reject the patriarchy and embrace feminism. 

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To me, the frameworks that Sarma (2015) outlines as pertinent to qualitative research are seen come to life in White and Dotson’s (2010) perspective and research. Sarma’s ideas of the inherent subjectivity of qualitative work, contextualization, and the acknowledgment of the human element in research, are reflected in the values White and Dotson center in their research. Such values, particularly those involved in the Afrocentric approach, suggest that it is difficult to understand a person outside of their relationship to others and that notions of collective experience are imperative to research (White & Dotson, 2010). I related this to misconceptions Sarma presents regarding the perception of qualitative research to be difficult to generalize due to its attention to context and sampling techniques. While such attributes do not serve generalizability, that is not the aim of qualitative researchers such as White and Dotson. Seemingly, White and Dotson ignore many positivist standards of rigor to instead follow qualitative standards of research. Sarma argues that such standards ensure qualitative research to be empirical and rigorous, even if by quantitative standards ideas like subjectivity and researcher presence would reduce the quality of the research. White and Dotson even use these qualitative values of subjectivity in their research with feminist-identified black men. Such a topic, White and Dotson argue, could only be understood completely when there was a relationship between the researcher and the participant.

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Ideas raised by both Sarma (2015) and White and Dotson (2010) provoke critical reflection into how we perceive qualitative research. With my positivist upbringing, I have even had thoughts fueled by the qualitative misconceptions mentioned by these researchers. Reading these articles made me reexamine these thoughts critically, and allowed me to dismantle some of my internalized and learned preferences for quantitative establishments of rigor. While rigor is also important in qualitative research, is it imperative that qualitative research conforms to established assessments of rigor? Or is it up to the researcher to discern their own standard of rigor? Moreover, these articles inspire consideration of qualitative frameworks and values, particularly their application in research. Many researchers default to quantitative research even though it has been established that qualitative research is capable of gaining insight into complex issues and individual’s understandings. With this in mind, one may ask, could all research questions be examined from a qualitative lens?

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References

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Sarma, S. K. (2015) Qualitative Research: Examining the Misconceptions. South Asian Journal of Management, 22(3). pp. 176-191.

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White, A. M., & Dotson, W. (2010). It takes a village to raise a researcher: Narrative

interviewing as intervention, reconciliation, and growth. Journal of Black Psychology, 36, 75-97.

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