ABSTRACT
Introduction In Chapter 5, we discussed qualitative research methods such as interviews, focus groups, usability tests, field observations, and document analysis, techniques that draw on research methods frequently used in the social sciences. We noted that these qualitative methods typically involve three phases: observing behavior, recording data, and analyzing the data. We defined the standards of rigor and ways of ensuring rigor in qualitative studies, and we also described coding and categorization schemes used to record and analyze qualitative data. In this chapter, we will examine a sample article reporting the results of qualitative research. The chapter contains the full text of Greg Wilson and Julie Dyke Ford’s “The Big Chill: Seven Technical Communicators Talk Ten Years After Their Master’s Program,” which appeared in the May 2003 issue of Technical Communication, as well as a detailed commentary on the article.
