ABSTRACT
While working on this research I found the following definition from Nelson et al., (1992, p. 4) cited in Denzin and Lincoln (2000, p. 7) quite grounding:
“Qualitative research is an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and sometimes counterdisciplinary field … . Qualitative research is many things at the same time. It is multiparadigmatic in focus. Its practitioners are sensitive to the value of the multimethod approach. They are committed to the naturalistic perspective and to the interpretive understanding of human experience …”.
This definition captures the process this research took me through, the excitement about what I was finding and the fear of being overwhelmed by “many things at the same time”. It was orgasmic surrendering to the intense experience somehow out of one’s control yet needing to be interpreted and understood from various standpoints.